James Holmes death penalty: Prosecutors seek capital punishment
The apartment building in Aurora, Colorado, where suspect James Holmes allegedly planned a mass shooting at a nearby movie theater.
Prosecutors argued in court today that James Holmes should be executed for killing 12 people in an Aurora movie theater last July. “For James Eagan Holmes, justice is death,” the Arapahoe County district attorney, George Brauchler, said in court.
The announcement isn't a huge surprise, as Brauchler wrote an Op-Ed this weekend defending capital punishment.
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Last week Holmes' attorneys proposed a plea deal in which he would have pleaded guilty to the shooting in exchange for life in prison with no parole. But for prosecutors, that wasn't enough, and so they rejected the plea. The decision was made by the district attorney after consulting with victims and their families, the New York Times reported. Family members cried during the prosecutors' announcement, the Times added.
Last July, Holmes stormed a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado that was screening "The Dark Knight Rises" and murdered 12 people in a hail of bullets. A whopping 70 people were wounded. His attorneys are expected to argue that he was legally insane during the shooting, the Associated Press reported.
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