CENTENNIAL, Colo. – Jury selection in the Colorado theater shooting case is entering its second phase as the judge, prosecution and defense ask prospects about their feelings on the death penalty and mental illness.
Attorneys on Wednesday will begin to individually question hundreds of people who were not excused after filling out lengthy questionnaires. Prosecutors will seek jurors who have no reservations about the death penalty. Defense attorneys will look for those sympathetic to mental illness.
Once chosen, a jury will decide whether James Holmes was legally insane at the time of the July 2012 attack in a suburban Denver movie theater that killed 12 people and injured 70 others. If the jury rejects his insanity claim, it will decide whether he should be executed.
Holmes has been present in the courtroom since jury selection began Jan. 20.
The second phase could take up to four months.
The hottest stories ripped from the headlines, from crime to courts, legal and scandal.
