Theater shooting trial day 59: Phase 2 closing arguments

This afternoon, both sides will present their closing arguments in phase two of the penalty process, which focuses on mitigating factors.Jurors have already confirmed they found aggravating factors in the mass shooting for which they convicted the gunman. After closing arguments, the same jurors must decide if the mitigating factors outweigh those factors.Essentially, jurors will be asked to decide between giving the gunman a life prison sentence or moving on to phase 3 -- the final step toward the death penalty.Holmes was convicted on 165 counts including murder and attempted murder for the shooting that killed 12 and injured 70 others during a midnight premiere of the Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado. His defense attorneys unsuccessfully argued that he was insane at the time of the shooting.

3rd & 7 37yd

@Aly when have you seen JH smile?

by Danielle 7/30/2015 7:06:47 PM
Resa they just had dr Fenton talk to aunt betty

by Sophia 7/30/2015 7:06:49 PM
HIPPA would not be required- no doctors were discussing her illness.

by MW 7/30/2015 7:06:50 PM
Continuing list from instruction #4: 33. Fenton met with defendant in March 2012. He expressed he had thoughts of killing. 34. Fenton sent defendant home with prescription for SSRI. That can cause mania. Sertroline could've contributed to a symptom increase. 35. Defendant attended 7 sessions w/ dr Fenton. Denied specific targets or plans throughout. Expressed ambivalence for the treatment.

by Phil Tenser 7/30/2015 7:06:51 PM
RH-He's reading the
12, 000 mitigating factors defense came up with...ugh.

by BluesB 7/30/2015 7:07:12 PM
I dissent.

by Judge Scalia 7/30/2015 7:07:13 PM
@hey really. what part is made up, prove it

by light 7/30/2015 7:07:16 PM
Made up? This is based on testimony.

by Clancy 7/30/2015 7:07:18 PM
@ Just Thinking what if we don't make it to phase 3? Then the victims have no voice?

by Danielle 7/30/2015 7:07:21 PM
This "worsening of this mental health issue during winter/spring 11/12" is nothing more than a privileged, entitled brat who couldn't get what he wanted!

by Suzi Lewis 7/30/2015 7:07:27 PM
I'm not sure what all the snarkiness is achieving.

by Clancy 7/30/2015 7:07:31 PM
I knew that Light, but ...thank you.

by BluesB 7/30/2015 7:07:33 PM
and when DT does their closing - there will be 40 mins. more of the same statements

by mandi 7/30/2015 7:07:36 PM
@Clancy I would agree with you but can you name any of the victims of past mass murderers? I bet we all readily know the names of the murderers though (I know I do).

by Danielle 7/30/2015 7:07:44 PM
Continuing list from instruction #4: 36. Dr Fenton said defendants mental health was in decline during their meetings and she expressed worries in her notes. Fenton became so concerned that she asked Feinstein to consult. 37. Feinstein testified he was concenrdd about a psychotic episode. 38. Colorado law allows for 72hour mental health hold, but Dr Fenton didn't do so because in part he denied having a plan/target. 39. Fenton called Arlene Holmes, but never said her son was having homicidal thoughts

by Phil Tenser 7/30/2015 7:08:53 PM
I feel sorry for the court reporter if she has to document all this,
at this time!

by LK 7/30/2015 7:08:55 PM
mandi, been thinking about that.

by Tammy Garrison 7/30/2015 7:08:56 PM
@Phil, can you give me a down low on what I've missed this past hour?

by Kels 7/30/2015 7:08:59 PM
@Clancy...couldn't agree more.

by ms 7/30/2015 7:09:00 PM
@Kels: scroll down

by Phil Tenser 7/30/2015 7:09:04 PM
But just because it was in testimony does not mean it is necessarily the truth.

by Suzi Lewis 7/30/2015 7:09:09 PM
Continuing list from instruction #4: 40. During treatment with Fenton, defendant's delusional psychotic thinking worsened. He cut off from his friends and began to amass firearms and ammo and built explosives. Changed his hair. Joined adult dating websites. Asserts those were all "out of character" 41. Defendant began writing the notebook during this time. That contains his plans and exhibits his psychotic thinking. 42. At earlier points in the illness, defendant used coping mechanisms, but the delusional beliefs began to overwhelm him. In messages to Hillary Allen, he said he believed he was having dysphocirc mania

by Phil Tenser 7/30/2015 7:11:09 PM
Continuing list from instruction #4: 43. Defendant did not resist arrest and has cooperated with police. 44. In the interrogation room, he ended in odd behaviors, fidgeting, blank stares

by Phil Tenser 7/30/2015 7:11:45 PM
I thought that you can only get a mental illness such as grand parents to their children and then parents to their kids not that you can get it from like aunts and uncles. Maybe I'm mistaken . Does anyone know. I thought his dad said that his dad had depression.

by Michelle Buendia 7/30/2015 7:11:49 PM
Wow! I wonder what the jury is thinking
@Danielle - yep, and wouldn't that be heartbreakingly sad

by Just Thinkin 7/30/2015 7:11:51 PM
danielle the survivors and families made the choice to follow this path or at least enough to carry it on did they read or know the path?

by light 7/30/2015 7:11:55 PM
Who tells the judge to slow down for the court reporter?

by Suzi Lewis 7/30/2015 7:11:56 PM
This sounds like bullet points of the entire trial

by kat 7/30/2015 7:12:09 PM
@Resa, I've been here since day one but rarely post anymore.

by Liz 7/30/2015 7:12:11 PM
@PHIL- you must eat Advils like Tic Tacs. Your hands and fingers must be aching man. BTW: Can you recap what happened form day 2 of the trial? (JK) lol.

by Tired 7/30/2015 7:12:12 PM
I naïve to this part of the process. Why does the judge need to read these, shouldn't the jury rely on their memory of the testimony? Does anybody know the purpose of this statement being read by the judge?

by FPysch 7/30/2015 7:12:30 PM
@hey Couldn't agree more!

by Just Thinkin 7/30/2015 7:12:31 PM
@Suzi- if it is not then it is pergury and could be a crime.

by MW 7/30/2015 7:12:33 PM
I think Brauchler will squash all of this.

by BluesB 7/30/2015 7:12:34 PM
what kind of instructions are these? They don't seem like instructions

by kat 7/30/2015 7:12:35 PM
Continuing list from instruction #4: 44 continues that his behavior is symptom of echolalia. 45. He gave law enforcement accurate information about what was in his department. 46. Defendant remained psychotic in the jail and wrote the "galactic colonization" stuff. 47. In the jail he became floridly psychotic, with odd behaviors. 48. He was ultimately taken to Denver Health for treatment. Couldn't hold a conversation. Continued to show echolalia. 49. Every Denver HElath doctor said he was experiencing psychosis and delirium. He believed his food was being poisoned. 50. DHMC staff observed he had symptoms of psychosis, including catatonia and hallucinations

by Phil Tenser 7/30/2015 7:15:05 PM
I wonder what his mother could have really done IF Dr. Fenton told her about his homicidal ideation??? Probably nothing because she couldn't do anything about his personality during his entire life.

by mld 7/30/2015 7:15:11 PM
Oh wow, this is all the theory of mitigation, yes? Geeeesh.

by Kels 7/30/2015 7:15:12 PM
How odd that his parents thought he might have Asbergers. Isn't that saying your thoughts without having any social awareness?

by Kristle 7/30/2015 7:15:48 PM
okay - I'm a few minutes behind watching, but from your comments I see that judge is still extolling the virtues put forward by the defense. Will the judge also read off a 30 minute huge list of the virtues of the wonderful people that died? SMH

by Tami in Ga 7/30/2015 7:15:51 PM
Fenton just not care enough or JH was way way over her head She is the primary link to the event, even if she could not imagine the depth, she could have been cautious and overcome her academic protocol

by light 7/30/2015 7:15:54 PM
@lk...this is the easy part for the court reporter... just the judge reading. She's fine.. I used to do it so I know.

by ms 7/30/2015 7:15:55 PM
@LK since the judge is just reading a document, I think they can just insert it without reporting it - at least that's what I've seen done.

by Edy 7/30/2015 7:15:57 PM
Court reporter already has a copy of the instructions.

by Kristle 7/30/2015 7:15:58 PM
Continuing list from instruction #4: 51. Defendant was given 2 anti-psychotic medications and began to improve. Is still taking those now. 52. Defendant still needs his medication, doesn't fight taking them. 53. Schizophrenia and related disorders are debilitation and have no cure. 54. Experts have identified changes in the defendant's brain. 55. Szhizophrenia not cause by bad behavior. 56. Defendant didn't choose to develop mental illness or his delusions. Still can't explain his mission. 57. Dr Metzner believes defendant was significantly impaired by his psychosis and the illness is the cause of the shooting. 58. Illness is not pleasurable and is disturbing to him. 59. Committing the shooting itself was not something he enjoyed

by Phil Tenser 7/30/2015 7:18:01 PM