Aurora movie theater shooting day 54: Prosecution hopes to move to next sentencing phase

Day 54 in the Aurora movie theater shooting trial – People vs. James Eagan Holmes. Today, prosecutors hope to move on to the second phase of the sentencing hearing. The jury found Holmes, the admitted gunman, was sane when he went into the midnight premiere of the Dark Knight Rises in an Aurora, Colorado, movie theater and opened fire on the audience, killing 12 and wounding 70. 7NEWS and TheDenverChannel.com will have gavel to gavel coverage of the trial starting at 8:15 a.m. (MST) everyday and ending around 5:30 p.m. (MST) Watch new live video on our YouTube channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/7NewsDenver/live Additional resources:LIVE VIDEO & BLOG: http://bit.ly/theatertrialTIMELINE of the case: http://bit.ly/theatertimelineJURY PROFILE: http://bit.ly/theaterjury CONTINUING COVERAGE: http://bit.ly/theatercoverage

3rd & 7 37yd

@Anica -- We are so quick to judge other parents on their decisions. It was the middle of summer, not a school night. And no one thought that going to a movie that day-- at 2pm, 7pm or Midnight -- was dangerous or something that needed caution. Should the parents have thought, "I won't take my kid to a late movie because they could get hurt or killed?"

Hindsight (and victim-blaming and shaming) are 20/20

by Lynn 7/23/2015 5:43:55 PM
Agree Nadine...

by Dennie Carp 7/23/2015 5:43:58 PM
THANK YOU PHIL!

by Stacie 7/23/2015 5:43:59 PM
Niki, I have wondered about his parents too. Why didn't they push a little harder to check up on their son especially when they got that phone call but also because they knew he had problems? Did they not see something, anything was off? If they did, why didn't they try harder to check up on him!

by Tammy Garrison 7/23/2015 5:44:15 PM
@lynn YES.

by blue 7/23/2015 5:46:33 PM
Im 48. Male. NY

by Tired 7/23/2015 5:46:34 PM
I think that the jury is taking this long as they are probably hung up on one of the 5 aggravating factors. I do think the rest are guilty.

by Cindy L 7/23/2015 5:46:40 PM
Sometimes parents are in denial and don't want to know. I had A LOT of obvious problems as a teen and young adult. My parents never questioned any of it.

by caz 7/23/2015 5:50:45 PM
52, Arkansas

by Tammy Garrison 7/23/2015 5:50:46 PM
wow, a lot of 60+

by Loz 7/23/2015 5:50:48 PM
@Nadine do you think that is true OR is it more that there are so many counts, so many complex instructions eg,what to consider/what cannot be considered - that build upon one another-?? There's an attorney on the jury, does that help to simplify or result in more thorough review of what is being asked of them?

by Mr. D. 7/23/2015 5:51:01 PM
The think this jury is making sure they have all their eggs in one basket and that they got it right...

by LG 7/23/2015 5:51:03 PM
Children at midnight movie: me personally wouldn't do it because my child wouldn't stay awake till then to watch it. If other parents choose to do it, that's fine if it's not a school night (and in this trial the kids were out for Summer).

by Kristle 7/23/2015 5:51:09 PM
At least 95% of us appear to be of drinking age, and probably should be right now. Cheers.

by Mark 7/23/2015 5:51:13 PM
@Niki That was a looooong post so I will only address the first part. Why didn't his parents come out to see him. He was an adult, free to live his own life. I'm close to my adult children, but my son in general does not share things with me and communicate like his sister does. He is just too busy. I've been on my own since I was 18 and some parents just don't participate with their children's lives.

by Just Thinkin 7/23/2015 5:51:33 PM
@TG, he was an adult, he was out of the nest. Stop blaming the parents. He made his own decision to do this.

by NT8 7/23/2015 5:51:38 PM
@Tammy -- Signs are so obvious in hindsight, and graduate school is a rough transition for lots of well-adjusted social butterflies. I'm sure they wonder every minute what else they could have done.

by Lynn 7/23/2015 5:51:41 PM
I am not so against the parents bringing a child to a late night showing. I think that if the material on the screen turned out bad for the child to watch than the Mom's would have taken them out of the theatre. None of these Mom's or Dad's could not have possibly known that Holmes was lying in wait to kill all of them.

by Cindy L 7/23/2015 5:51:47 PM
Got to go. Have a great day everyone. check in L8r

by Tired 7/23/2015 5:51:49 PM
Age 65 Denver

by Clancy 7/23/2015 5:51:53 PM
female,aurora

by Happy 7/23/2015 5:51:55 PM
@Tammy - Great questions. I think if things like this are ever going to end, we really need to be engaged. I was at a dinner party and someone was talking about rude people saying he has lost patience and was ready to "A.K. them all". We can't say that anymore. I asked how serious was that comment and told him why I asked. He said sorry that he would never even consider that as an option.

by Niki C. 7/23/2015 5:52:01 PM
I had a feeling I was in the 5%...

by Kels 7/23/2015 5:52:05 PM
@Joye He won't change his mind. He is on all kinds of medication now. I bet you he would address the court (though it would be crazy talk) if he was in the state of mind he was in when he shot up the theater. The same state of mind he was in when he said he wants to spend the rest of his life in a cell alone. He is subdued and on meds now. He's probably thinking a little more clearer and realizes nothing he can say will help anything after what he's done. He knows they will sentence him to death. The poor jury knows they have to put him to death. The jury KNOWS how the country will be outraged and they will spend the rest of their lives getting death threats from blood lusting lynch mobs if they don't sentence him to death. there might be 1 person that can't do it but they HAVE to! The poor jury foreman is freaking out because he knows the world knows who he is! So yeah he will make damn sure they put him to death.

That's the mentality of America in 2015. Sad but true. I blame Donald Trump and the media, lol. =P

by Despicable Me 7/23/2015 5:52:26 PM
40 M, Indiana

@anica and all, it's not "Lolz", Loz is short for Lozano :)

by Loz 7/23/2015 5:52:34 PM
Lol @Mark - agreed...

by colo 7/23/2015 5:52:41 PM
Isn't the jury watching 50min of video testimony? And with discussions, it could take awhile. I think the Judge has his bailiff checking in on them every 10min though.

by Kristle 7/23/2015 5:52:45 PM
adios Tired! Get some sleep dang it

by Loz 7/23/2015 5:52:46 PM
Anica, Thank you. Interesting.

by wp 7/23/2015 5:52:47 PM
The average age in the YouTube chat room is 35.8 - according to one user's calculations!

by anica.padilla 7/23/2015 5:53:42 PM
@Kels, you are in the 5% with anica. She can't be older than 24

by Loz 7/23/2015 5:53:53 PM
53, female, Texas

by caz 7/23/2015 5:53:55 PM
I love you Loz.

by anica.padilla 7/23/2015 5:54:03 PM
The jury only got 10 minutes to watch the video, I thought. Perhaps they are back to deliberations.

by vt 7/23/2015 5:54:13 PM
I hope to not turn the angry mob after me but I truly believe that when the Good Lord calls your name, it is time to go. Kinda like the movie Final Destination, there is no evading death....,...so all of you who are pointing fingers and placing blame of a child's death upon someone who had no premonition of what was about to happen, please stop.

by Stephany 7/23/2015 5:54:23 PM
Regarding children at movies...and perhaps this has been addressed, I just missed it. But isn't this why movies are rated? Batman - Dark Knight Rises - Is rated PG-13. Meaning teenagers are allowed with parental guidance. How can a movie theater, legally, let younger audiences in?

by kdsmith 7/23/2015 5:55:11 PM
50 yr old F..from SF Bay Area

by RLB 7/23/2015 5:55:17 PM
omg, I just got light headed reading that x)

by Loz 7/23/2015 5:55:21 PM
@ Anica or Phil, How many charges are the jury dealing with here, In this Phase 1?

by NT8 7/23/2015 5:58:10 PM
kd - parental guidance...she was with her mother. I'd have taken my sons to that movie at that hour. My oldest is now 24 and he is still hung up on Batman. He couldn't WAIT for the movie to come out.

by Tammy Garrison 7/23/2015 5:58:23 PM
PG-13 rating means parental guidance suggested for anyone under 13. You can bring kids into anything except NC-17 movies. It's all parental discretion.

by Lynn 7/23/2015 6:00:33 PM
@Me- the ENTIRE country does not expect the death penalty. Think about the debates on this blog- on an hourly basis. There is no agreement.

by Mr. D. 7/23/2015 6:00:41 PM
@Stephany If every death is supposed to happen, how do you explain the people who were mentally and physically disabled from JH's bullets? God wanted Caleb to be mentally retarded?

by polisalwaysright 7/23/2015 6:00:54 PM
@kdsmith
Yes movies have rating's but if someone under age is with someone of the correct age is they allowed into it... when was the last time you saw a movie at the theater? :)

by LG 7/23/2015 6:00:57 PM
@stephany -- by your logic, we shouldn't even have a trial then, and no one should be held guilty?

by Lynn 7/23/2015 6:01:06 PM