The men and women who will decide the fate of James Holmes are being selected now, and BYU-Hawaii students from Colorado said they are interested in how the case will turn out. In July 2012, James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 during the midnight premier of “The Dark Knight Rises” in Aurora, Colo. Holmes has been “charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty. Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity,” reported the Associated Press. BYUH students from Colorado still remember the event and said they have strong feelings towards the case. McKenna Hawkins, a freshman from northern Colorado, said Holmes’ sanity shouldn’t be a factor. “Honestly, even if he were insane, I still don’t think that should affect his consequences because what he did was atrocious and not something that should be pardoned,” Hawkins said emphatically. According to AP, court officials had originally summoned 9,000 people. That number has already dropped to 7,000 due to undeliverable summonses and pardons given out. Judge Carlos Samour began the screening on Jan. 20, and will finish the first phase Feb. 9. Potential jurors have been excused for a variety of reasons. Those who have been excused so far had “doctors' notes, didn't speak English, or weren't residents of Arapahoe County, where the 2012 attack occurred,” said AP. Potential jurors have tried to be excused using a whole host of reasons, such as claiming their business will suffer if called into the jury, or that they know a police lieutenant in Aurora. During screening, a potential juror took pictures of the screening questionnaire against Judge Samour’s orders. Some have hand-written letters to Judge Samour elaborating their own reasons in hopes to be pardoned. Defense attorney Daniel King warned that excusing too many potential jurors this soon could be a problem, according to AP. Being excused from sitting on the panel that decides the answer to the question of Holmes’ sanity during the shooting hasn’t been easy. AP reported that one woman stated she felt “violently ill” and requested an ambulance, however her summons was only delayed, not excused. According to AP, King told Judge Samour, “You have to consider the fact that people may not want to sit on this jury.” BYUH student Zack Cusworth, a freshmen from Colorado studying psychology, said it is going to be hard to find unbiased jury members because of the mass amounts of information available. “If I were a jury member, I would have to listen to all the evidence given and as an American citizen I would have to follow the judicial system to make a decision.” Cusworth continued, “It’s going to be hard to find the right verdict. I think it is possible, but it’s going to be a lot of work.” AP estimated it could take until June to fill the 12 juror slots and the 12 alternate slots. Uploaded Feb. 3
Writer: Kaitlin Broyles
