CENTENNIAL — Prosecutors and defense attorneys in the Aurora movie theater shooting trial argued over the final details of jury instructions Monday, one day before closing arguments in the nearly 3-month-long trial.
Jurors are expected to get the case late Tuesday afternoon, after a combined by both sides and a reading of the instructions by Judge Carlos Samour Jr. The instructions provide jurors with a road map to the law they must interpret when deciding whether James Holmes was sane when he killed 12 people and wounded 70 more inside the Century Aurora 16 theater in July 2012. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
For about three hours Monday, the attorneys and Samour debated minute changes to the language of the instructions that could have a big impact on how jurors view the case. In one instance, they haggled over whether a statement about Holmes’ thoughts that killing people should read “a delusional belief,” “delusional beliefs,” or “his delusional beliefs.” Samour ultimately settled on the last of the three choices.
Jurors must decide Holmes’ guilt on 165 separate charges involving murder, attempted murder and explosives possession.
