CENTENNIAL — The first week of jury selection for the Aurora movie theater shooting trial ended Friday with hundreds in line to be called back for individual questioning.
By the end of the day Friday, the judge and attorneys in the case had agreed to release 213 jurors from service after reading questionnaires those jurors filled out or hearing other excuses. But roughly 900 jurors showed up for jury duty during the week, meaning approximately 700 jurors will return for . That phase will start in mid-February and will involve in-depth one-on-one questioning by the judge and attorneys on the case.
As he did , Judge Carlos Samour urged attorneys in the case to be proactive in agreeing to release jurors who, based on the answers they gave on questionnaires, won’t be able to be impartial. He also told the lawyers Friday that he would be willing to cut short the initial questionnaire phase of jury selection if they think they’ve reached a sufficient number of jurors to move forward.
Jury selection resumes Monday, with waves of potential jurors arriving at the courthouse in the morning and afternoon of each weekday.
Samour and the lawyers on the case for 12 jurors and 12 alternates to weigh fairly 166 charges of murder, attempted murder and other offenses filed against James Holmes for the July 2012 attack at the Century Aurora 16 movie theater.
John Ingold: 303-954-1068, jingold@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johningold
