Many of the readers here at WebProNews have memories of the awful tragedy that took place in Aurora, Colorado in July of last year. During a midnight viewing of Christopher Nolan’s “Batman: The Dark Knight Rises,” a young man named James Holmes, aged twenty four, burst into the feature, about thirty minutes in, and commenced with a fifteen-minute-long reign of terror, releasing tear gas into the crowded theater before proceeding to shoot randomly into the crowd.
Over 70 people were injured, and 12 people died, often in the act of shielding loved ones or in attempts to escape. The tragedy brought the nation together under a dark cloud of grief and mourning, sparking a huge outcry on Twitter and an official response from President Barack Obama.
Over a year has passed since that terrible day, and the trial for defendant Holmes has been in the works, and is currently in the throes of pre-trial. Prosecutors have been seeking the death penalty as penance for Holmes’ atrocious crime, but they face the obstacle of proving Holmes was sane during the shooting spree. Holmes’ attorneys have admitted that their client was the shooter, but are trying to argue insanity, thus vying for a lesser sentence. Prosecutors are currently contesting evidence to undermine the insanity plea.
It recently came to light that Holmes had the day of the shooting marked on his calender with a “unique symbol,” as well as a batman mask bearing the same symbol and a violent drawing. FBI agent Leslie Kopper testified that they had come across the items on July 20th of last year, shortly after the shooting took place. He did not explicitly describe the “unique symbol,” but did go on to say that the violent drawing had been found in a notebook, describing it as “some kind of maze game involving a serial killer.”
The defense has argued that this evidence, as well as other evidence found in the apartment, should be dismissed, since the police force and other investigators did not have a warrant at the time of the search. Prosecutors and police argue that they were entitled to the search and that the evidence is valid on the grounds that Holmes had said he had explosives in his apartment, and that, due to the imminent danger, they did not have time to wait for a warrant.
[Image courtesy of HalloweenCostumes.com]