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James Holmes guilty of murder in theater massacre

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[h=4]James Holmes guilty of murder in theater massacre[/h]The critical question for jurors deliberating the fate of James Holmes is whether they believe he was legally sane when he opened fire in a packed movie theater near Denver, killing 12 people and wounding 70.

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Take a look back at some of the biggest moments surrounding the Aurora, Colorado theater shooting and the trial for the suspect, James Holmes.


Lonnie and Sandy Phillips, left, whose daughter Jessica Ghawi was killed in the 2012 Aurora movie theater massacre, enter the Arapahoe County District Court on the day of closing arguments in the trial of Aurora movie theater shootings defendant James Holmes, in Centennial, Colo., July 14, 2015.(Photo: Brennan Linsley, AP)


CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Rejecting his insanity defense, a jury convicted James Holmes of first-degree murder Thursday for killing 12 people when he shot up a packed movie theater in a Denver suburb<span style="color: Red;">*</span>three years ago.
The 27-year-old former University of Colorado<span style="color: Red;">*</span>neuroscience researcher could<span style="color: Red;">*</span>face the death penalty when he is sentenced.
His carefully planned<span style="color: Red;">*</span>July 20, 2012, attack in Aurora also wounded 70 people for which he was charged with attempted murder.
The first guilty verdict was announced about 4:15 p.m., MT (6:15 p.m. ET). It's expected to<span style="color: Red;">*</span>take about 90 minutes to read through all 165 counts.
Wearing khakis and a blue dress shirt, Holmes stood impassively, hands in his pockets, as Judge Carlos Samour Jr. repeatedly said "guilty" as he<span style="color: Red;">*</span>read through the jury forms, which stretched to 658 pages.
“It sounds like they made a good decision,"<span style="color: Red;">*</span>Jarell Brooks, who was wounded when he shielded<span style="color: Red;">*</span>a mother and her two small children, said in a email to USA TODAY.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>"Hopefully we can move on from it.”
Now a 21-year-old senior marketing major at Metropolitan State University<span style="color: Red;">*</span>in Denver, Brooks was 17 years old the night he took one of Holmes' steel-penetrating bullets in the thigh. Learning to walk again and life life fully has been arduous, he said. He credited his parents faith -- both are ministers -- with helping him come to terms with what Holmes did to him and the other victims.
The critical question for jurors deliberating Holmes' fate was whether they believed he was legally sane the night he opened on an audience gathered to watch the opening of the latest Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises.
The issue formed the final day of arguments before the jury began deliberating Wednesday.
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James Holmes, shown in a July 12, 2012 file photo, who was charged with killing 12 moviegoers and wounding 70 more in a shooting spree in a crowded theater in Aurora, Colo., in July 2012, sits in Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colo.<span style="color: Red;">*</span>(Photo: RJ Sangosti, The Denver Post, AP)

Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler dismissed the diagnoses and brain scans indicating that Holmes suffered from schizophrenia, saying they did not prove that his ability to tell right from wrong was impaired, which is the legal standard. "He wasn't insane," the prosecutor said.
He argued that two court-appointed psychiatrists had found Holmes sane at the time of the attack.
USATODAY.COM
BEHIND THE BLOODSHED: THE UNTOLD STORY OF AMERICA'S MASS KILLINGS




"The law doesn't care what he thinks is right or wrong," Brauchler told jurors on the 49th day of the trial. "It cares whether he thinks that society thinks it's right or wrong."
In his final argument, however, defense attorney Dan King told jurors they "cannot divorce the mental illness from this case or from Mr. Holmes. Because the mental illness caused this to happen. Only the mental illness and nothing else."
He said that to "pretend that Mr. Holmes is not mentally ill is misconstruing the evidence."
Recapping evidence, testimony, victims' stories and Holmes' statements to doctors, Brauchler painted a portrait of deception and meticulous planning leading to the shooting.
"He wasn't insane when he did it," Brauchler said, interspersing his argument with photos of the victims. "We know that he intends to kill everyone that he can inside the theater."
During the trial, prosecutors played numerous hours of video recorded interviews conducted with Holmes by a court-appointed psychiatrist.
In the recordings made nearly two years after the shootings, Holmes rarely showed any emotion or regret. Instead, he matter-of-factly explained how he faked a phone call to duck outside as the previews rolled, put a clamp on the emergency exit to hold it open, and then returned a few minutes later as The Dark Knight Rises began playing.
Police and prosecutors say Holmes also rigged his apartment with homemade explosives and incendiary compounds, along with gasoline and napalm made from Styrofoam cups.
Contributing: Melanie Eversley
USA TODAY
'Not a monster': Holmes' parents plead for his life




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Theater shooter's psychiatrist found his behavior bizarre




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Accused Aurora shooter says he had a 'broken mind'




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