|
|
Lawyers for the alleged gunman behind the Colorado theatre massacre declined yesterday to present witnesses at a preliminary hearing, setting the stage for a ruling on whether he is mentally fit to stand trial.
The surprise decision came as more evidence was presented, including iPhone pictures taken by alleged killer James Holmes hours before the shooting last July, showing him posing with weapons, orange hair and black contact lenses.
Judge William Sylvester adjourned the court after the defence announcement, scheduling a new hearing for tomorrow for Holmes’ possible arraignment, if the judge decides to call a trial as appears increasingly likely. Holmes, 25, is accused of killing 12 people and injuring at least 58 in the shooting in a midnight premiere screening of the latest Batman movie in a theatre in Aurora, Colorado.
Since Monday prosecutors have called witnesses who gave harrowing accounts of the slaughter, and played 911 emergency calls.
Holmes’ lawyers were expected to present witnesses yesterday to bolster a case that he may be mentally unfit to stand trial. But in the end they announced they would not.
“We’ve had a change of position,” public defender Daniel King told the court in Centennial, Colorado, where Holmes has sat vacant-eyed as he listened to the chilling evidence against him.
“This is neither the proper venue or time to present a show or some truncated defence. This is not a trial. We have no evidence or argument about probable cause,” King added.
Before the defence decision, prosecutors finished questioning a last witness, who gave testimony including about photos taken from Holmes’ iPhone hours before the slaughter on July 20 last year.
One showed him posing with a Glock handgun, with his reddish orange hair - subsequently seen in his first appearance in court after the massacre - and black contact lenses, which were later found in his apartment.