Will Prosecutors Pursue the Death Penalty Against Suspected Gunman James Holmes?
An attorney for the parents of James Holmes announced yesterday that they are standing by their son while Americans got their first look at Holmes in his court appearance where the 24-year-old looked dazed. Formal charges are expected Monday in that case, but many are asking how this case will actually play out.
The D.A. spoke yesterday in Colorado on the case, saying, “There’s no such thing as a slam-dunk case. It is a case where we’re still looking at the enormous amount of evidence and we would never presume that it would be slam-dunk. We will work very hard on this case to prosecute it just like we would any other case.”
Judge Alex Ferrer weighed in on today’s Happening Now. While he knows there aren’t any slam-dunk cases, he still thinks this is a very strong case, and said the D.A. was most likely being politically correct.
Ferrer continued, “He’s [Holmes] still going to have a defense of insanity
and we don’t know what his defense lawyers are going to dredge up to support such a claim.” He also added that he foresees them pursuing the death penalty here in this case.
In discussing Holmes’s actions in his first court appearance, Ferrer said, “He may not have slept very well, considering the fact that everyone in prison, everyone in jail wanted to shank him that night -- so he may not have very slept well and that may have affected his demeanor."
