Taxpayer costs for investigating and prosecuting the Colorado theater shooting case have risen to more than $2.2 million before the trial even starts, and that doesn’t include legal costs for defendant James Holmes.
Officials in Aurora, where the July 2012 massacre occurred, say they have spent more than $928,500 on the case. That includes more than $517,000 in overtime pay for police and other city employees.
John Schneebeck, business manager for the Aurora Police Department, said Wednesday the total includes other city departments, but he said a list of those departments and a breakdown of their share wasn’t available.
Schneebeck said more than $200,000 of the overtime was for police officers who responded to the theater and to Holmes’ apartment, where explosives were found. The U.S. Department of Justice reimbursed that expense, he said.
Prosecutors previously said they have incurred more than $920,000 in costs directly attributable to the case, not including salaries, which would have been paid anyway. Court officials say they have spent $435,000, mostly on courtroom security.
Holmes’ taxpayer-funded lawyers refused to disclose their expenses, citing attorney-client privilege. Holmes, who had just dropped out of graduate school at the time of the shootings, is represented by state public defenders because he can’t afford a private attorney.
The FBI and the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Department also refused to release their expenses in the case.
