Prelim Doc

! ! ! ! !

! ! ! ! ! The People v. James Holmes

! ! ! ! ! Preliminary Hearing Report ! ! ! ! ! !! ! ! ! ! ! BlueThunderr ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !

Key

Black italic font = personal thoughts ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! [ ] Extra James related information located at the end of the report.

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People v. James Holmes Preliminary Hearing Report

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! ! ! ! Monday 7th January 2013

James’ appearance/ demeanor

! While James was in the courtroom for this hearing, he seemed relatively detached. He sat still for the most part, staring into either space or at the stand. He did however, seem to sometimes watch the defense and prosecution move around the room and would turn his head to view whatever was being shown on the screen or flip chart stand at that time. At one point at around 11:55 he seemed to be slightly rocking backwards and forewords in his chair which later manifested into a small swivel that he continued to do throughout the hearing. He appeared to have put on weight both in the stomach and face and his biceps seemed a lot more defined. He still had a beard but it was very short and nothing major.

People call Officer Jason Oviatt (Officer for the police force since May 2006)

! Oviatt stated that the first call to dispatch was from somebody inside theatre nine reporting a shooting taking place and that the culprit was still opening fire on the audience. He explained that it only took him a few minutes to arrive as he was close by. When he arrived at the scene he saw that some officers were already there on the east corner of the theatre, tending to bleeding victims. Oviatt then began looking for a way inside the theatre, running along the outside with his gun drawn when he saw a trail of blood. As he began to follow the trail he noticed a white two door parked immediately outside of the theatre nine exit. He stated that he saw someone standing by the drivers side, with his hands on top of the cars roof. They were wearing a gas mask and ballistic gear and at first, Oviatt thought it was another police officer. However when he approached, he noticed that the persons armour and mask were different to the ones issued by the force. At this point he realised it was the shooter and held him at gunpoint. ! At this moment, Oviatt was joined by officer Sweeny, who told the suspect to raise his hands. He clarified in court that the suspect complied immediately and was therefore capable of understanding what was going on around him. They proceeded to put James on the ground and turn him onto his front. At this point, they noticed a handgun laying on the roof of the car where James had been resting his hands. Sweeny told Oviatt that he’d seen a rifle case in the suspects car. All the while, James remained silent. During the initial search of James, which immediately followed, the officers found him to be wearing heavy body armour. They decided that it would be safer to cuff James and move him away from the car before continuing the search. So officer Oviatt ‘dragged’ James away from the car and over to the sidewalk. He noted that James did not resist in the slightest and even went as far as to say that even natural muscle tension seemed to be absent. He was absolutely limp. ! As Oviatt dragged James over, a handgun magazine fell out of James‘ pocket. He continued the search and found James to be wearing leg armour and found a knife clipped to his belt. He was also wearing a thick, long black coat which contained built in armour. At this point, James was still wearing the gas mask so officer Oviatt proceeded to remove it and then placed him in the back of his police car. After about a minute or so, Oviatt, now joined by Officer Blue, both decided that they were not comfortable with their initial search and so decided to remove James from the car. They then removed his clothes, leaving him in only his boxer pants and socks, before putting him back in the car. At this point Oviatt said that he heard Blue mention the word “explosives” to James which was answered with ‘At my apartment”. He then stated he heard Blue ask “to go off?” and that James replied “if you trip them”. He ended his statement by saying he saw a rifle at the exit door of theatre nine.





Defense team (Daniel King) Question Officer Oviatt

! After cross examining Oviatt, King had gotten him to clarify the following details

- On the way to the theatre, the dispatch offered no information about the number of suspected shooters

- That Oviatt also realised James was not an officer because he was not acting in a normal way- The driver door was open- James remained silent throughout - At no point did James attempt to escape or reach for any of his weapons - James was “very, very relaxed” (proven by the lack of muscle tension)- That Oviatt had no idea why Blue had asked about explosives but had heard James tell him that

they were located at his address which was detailed on his drivers license. - While James was being stripped, another officer was controlling his arms, which were totally limp. - The armour was too thick to cut off, and after many failed attempts to remove it, the officers were

forced to uncuff James and strip him normally. - James had no real emotional response throughout - Sometimes he looked around at sounds and flashing lights but was ultimately detached - James was absolutely dripping with sweat - Most of the time James spent in the back of the patrol car was spent staring off into the distance. - Underneath his body armour, James was wearing only a ripped t-shirt and boxer pants.- Noted that he had very messy, unkept red hair. - Said that James smelt bad “Very much so” due to “dripping with sweat” - Noted that James’ pupils were “huge” .

Prosecution re-question Oviatt

- Oviatt clarified that ballistic clothes make people sweat and that sweating (even profusely) does not indicate any form of psychosis.

- Oviatt clarified that James did not look like he was under the influence of any drugs or alcohol. (Despite previously stating that James was limp/seemed detached)

People call Officer Aaron Blue ( Officer with force for 9 years)

Officer Blue stated that he received the first dispatch call at 12:39am and arrived at the location between 3-4 minutes after. He was met by screaming movie-goers, pointing to theatre 9. He said that he could smell teargas as he passed the exit to theatre 9. At this point he saw that the officers had a suspect on the ground. ! Once the officers had put James in the back of the squad car, Officer Blue noticed that James was fidgeting a lot in the back and so decided to get him back out as it was making the officers nervous. Officer Blue then briefly questioned James and the conversation apparently went (roughly) as follows;

Blue: DId you have anyone working with you?Holmes: No.Do you have any weapons near you (or) How many weapons do you have with you? (they weren’t very clear on the question, both phrases were mentioned for what was supposed to be the same question) Holmes: Four guns.

James then offered information about the explosives at his apartment. (I’m still unclear weather the officer asked James if he lived at the address stated on his drivers license and then James told him about the explosives or if he just offered that information up and told them the explosives were at the address listed on his license.)





James explained that he had “Improvised explosive devices” (IEDs) at his apartment. Officer Blue clarified that he did not ask James about any type of explosives, remarking “He just wanted to...give me that” -slight laugh- .

Holmes: There are improvised explosive devices at my house. Blue: To go off? Holmes: If you trip them.

Officer Blue then informed his Sargent about possible explosives at Paris Street.

Defense (Tamara Brady) question Officer Blue

Tamara asked officer Blue if he had lights and sirens going off on his vehicle when he arrived at the scene. He confirmed that he had. She then asked him what exactly about James’ behavior in the back of the car worried him. Officer Blue stated that James appeared to move his legs and back as though he was shifting around. Tamara then asked him to describe the armour James had been wearing beneath the long coat. He described that he was wearing a neck guard, shin guard, cup, chest and a chest protector. The police had only managed to removed the dark shirt and pants that James had been wearing over these items with a pocket knife. The rest had to be properly removed, which they were at the scene. Once James was free of these items, the officers found only a ripped t-shirt underneath, which they also removed, leaving James in his boxer pants and socks. (No mention of him being painted red). Tamara then clarified that James had indeed said ‘Improvised explosive devices at my house” and that it was quoted correctly. Officer Blue told the court that as he had said earlier, James had just given that information to him. (But this time he said James had given him the whole “There are IED’s at my house, set to go off if you trip them” all in one go, despite earlier having said he asked ‘to go off?’ in-between)

People call Officer Justin Grizzle (worked for the police for 13 years)

Officer Grizzle started by explaining what unfolded when he arrived to find James in the back of a squad car. He first took a quick look at James’ car and saw that there was a handgun in the map pocket of the passenger door. He then asked James if anyone had helped him and said James remained silent but smirked. ( I found this strange because the other officers said they heard him reply “no”) At this point, Grizzle noticed a green laser sight beaming through the air, coming from the bushes. He went to investigate but by the time he’d gotten into the bushes, he couldn’t see the beam anymore. It was then that he turned around to face the car and noticed that the green dot was now pointed on him, but noticed it was coming from James’ car. Before leaving to investigate, he found a backpack stuffed with clothes hidden in the bushes. He retrieved this and made his way over to the car, where it became apparent that the laser was coming from the handgun that was still sitting on top of the roof. ! Officer Grizzle then described how he then entered the theatre alone. The first thing he noticed was an AR15 laying outside of the emergency exit door of theatre 9. Upon entering, he became aware of the “CS Gas” that was still lingering within the theatre because his eyes and throat started burning immediately. He also describe hearing various alarms sounding as well as numerous cell phones ringing. He explained that these had probably been dropped as everyone was trying to escape and now loved ones were trying to reach the people who had been inside. He begins telling the court about seeing “several bodies” laying on the ground as he begins to cry.

At this point I looked at James to see if he reacted. I saw him swaying his head from an upright, straight forward position to a cocked ninety degree angle in a diagonal motion. No one else has mentioned this but it wasn’t even a slight movement. To me, it was very clear. He also had that slightly zoned out lost expression which he supported during the first hearing. This, however only lasted about 4 seconds before James returned to facing the front with a blank expression.





(Apologies for the weird diagram but its the best way I can think of describing it)

Grizzle says that the experience was horrifying but by this time, James is sitting still and expressionless and usual.

! Grizzle moves on to detail how he drove two victims to the hospital in his squad car. He is still tearing as he describes the event to us. The two victims were a male a female. The female was in the back (Ashley Moser) and her husband was in the front. Mrs Moser had sustained a gun wound to her face and abdomen and her husband had been shot in the head. Throughout the drive, Mr. Moser kept asking Officer Grizzle “is my wife going to live?” and kept asking where his seven year old daughter was. During the journey, Mr. Moser tried to jump out of the moving vehicle but officer Grizzle managed to wrestle him back in and lock the doors.

People call Sergeant Gerald Jonsgaa (I think)

! The sergeant noted that when James was told to raise his hands by officer Oviatt, his movements seemed exaggerated but that he also seemed very surprised to have been apprehended. When he entered the theatre, the movie was still playing and there were what seemed like strobe lights emanating from it. He also pointed out that there was some form of irritant still in the air. He found what appeared at first to be a blue picnic clip, clipped onto the door about half way up. A second clip was found by James’ car. Inside, he counted ten bodies and also found a “beta clip and snail drum 223”

! ! ! !! ! ! !

!

! ! ! ! ! ! Lunch

People call Matt Ingui

! Mr. Ingui began by retelling some of the details which he obtained from witnesses that he’d interviewed. This went on for some time, but the main points were;

- one witness reported seeing a dark hooded figure entering through the emergency exit door of theatre 9

- They then heard shots and saw three flashes - The shooter was described by several witnesses as calm, tall and slender.- One witness said that the shooter ‘moved with purpose’.

! He then began to talk us through photos from inside theatre 9 which were now up on the screen. Each row was 20 seats across. Most of the photos were pretty blurry and not much could be seen. They consisted of a couple shots of the entire theatre (which was huge) and a few shots of each row where a body was found. Most of the 10 bodies were found in rows 8 through 12 and



AR 15 Beta Clip AR 15 223 Snail Drum



had rifle related injuries. I don’t recall Mr. Ingui recounting which victim was found in each row or pointing out anything of interest. They were literally just photos of rows 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12. ! He then began talking about the theaters digital recording system which consisted of 24 cameras in total. These cameras were located in areas such as the lobby, the concession stands, the ticket booths and the employee offices. It was made clear that there are no cameras inside the theatre rooms nor outside the actual building. James had purchased an e-ticket for The Dark Knight Rises, showing in theatre 8 on July 8th. The theatre‘s systems showed that James scanned his e-ticket on his iPhone three times on the 19th of July. First at 12:03 then twice again at 12:04. Mr. Ingui watched the footage from all 24 cameras from July 19th at 10pm to 20th July at 4am. James was located on cameras 1 through 11. Of these 11 tapes, we were shown footage from 5 of them. These were short clips that had no audio.

Camera 5: Ticket Booth 12:05am (the time on the cameras was three minutes fast so the actual time was 12:02am)

! In this clip, James can be seen entering the theatre through the main doors and holding the doors open for ‘a couple of customers’. This was later sighted in the media as ‘a couple’, however it was not. Mr ingui literally said ‘A couple of customers’. James is wearing dark pants, a dark skull cap and a light button down shirt. !

Camera 6: Overhead view ! James walking past towards ticket booth to scan the ticket on his iPhone. He walks off of the screen but shortly returns to talk to the ticket agent (we later found out that he had trouble scanning his ticket) who sends him back to the ticket booth. James once again returns after about 30 seconds and talks to the agent, before walking off towards the concessions.

Camera 4: Kiosk. ! Footage shows James scanning his iPhone various times. This footage lasts around 2 minutes.

Camera 7: General concession area ! This clip lasts for quite a few minutes and shows James just aimlessly wondering around the concessions and sometimes just stopping and standing still for relatively long periods of time. As we see from the footage (and this was clarified by Mr. Ingui) James did NOT purchase anything, despite standing at the counter for several minutes, without moving or speaking to anyone.

Camera 10: ! This short clip shows James leaving the concessions area and entering theatre 9.

James was hard to make out in these clips (with exception to the footage from cameras 6 and 7) because the theatre is busy and the cameras are quite high up, making it hard to make anyone out. However, James can be clearly identified in clips 6 and 7.

Now Mr. Ingui shows a two minute clip recorded from camera 5 which shows victims fleeing theatre 9 during the shooting.

There is no reaction from James at this point but he is watching the video intently, his hands on his lap and not swiveling in his chair as usual. He seems expressionless but also engrossed in the footage. ! ! ! !





! ! ! ! Short Break (James drinks twice)

Two forensic experts testify about the victims they found at the scene, including Veronica Moser. They examined 6 bodies each. One describes the wounds Veronica sustained. At this point the prosecution asks the expert to clarify Veronicas age, something that was not done with any of the other victims. There is a pause after the expert answers. James remains expressionless. (In my opinion, most people in the court saw this as a bit of a cheap move, since they only asked the age of one victim and it had nothing to do with the physical injuries or how they were sustained) For each victim the expert suggests the manor in which the victim was killed. For each one it is homicide.

Defense (King) questions forensic experts

King asks the experts if they agree that there are different types of homicide, such as accidental homicide, first degree and second degree homicide and homicide caused by insanity. She of course agrees and so King goes on to clarify that the term homicide refers to an action but not intent, circumstance or mental state. The term is merely used to describe the act of one person having a hand in another’s death. The expert agrees once again.





! ! ! ! Tuesday 8th January 2013

James‘ demeanor

James smiles and chuckles at one of his defense team who spins his swivel chair around so he can sit in it. [1]

People call Detective Randy Hanson

! Detective Hanson starts but explaining that there were five different showings of The Dark Knight Rises playing at Century 16 on the night of July 19th / morning of July 20th. Theatre nine was the second to begin playing the movie. The first thing to be shown was a commercial that lasted 2 minutes and nine seconds. Immediately after followed trailers that lasted thirteen minutes and twenty five seconds and finally, The Dark Knight Rises began playing at 12:20:38. This information was obtained from interviews with Susan Swan and Dan Jenson, who were the managers working on July 19th/20th.

! We are then played two phone calls which Detective Hanson talks us through. The first 911 call to be received by dispatch came in at 12:38 and lasted for 27 seconds. Only muffled speaking can be heard over the gunfire and screaming in the background. Over thirty shots can be heard during the 27 seconds that the call lasted. James remains straight faced throughout the call. [2]! The next call we listen to was made by thirteen year old Kaylam Baley and was the 33rd call received by dispatch at 12:44am. The call lasts just over four minutes and the dispatcher tries to coach Miss Baley through giving CPR to her cousins who she says have been shot and aren’t breathing (the Mosers). No gunshots can be heard during the call but there’s still a lot of panic and someone can be heard screaming “we need to get out of here” the call ends as the police arrive on scene and enter theatre nine. James again, remains straight faced.

People call Garrett Gumbinner (Bomb technician)

! Mr Gumbinner explains that he worked on James’ car and apartment, clearing them of explosives. No explosives were found on or inside the car and he only remembers seeing and iPhone, backpacks, two rifle cases, a neck protector and Jacket as well as two handguns. Mr Gumbinner adds that James’ car had tinted windows and a sunshield had been laid beneath the windshield to prevent people from being able to see inside of the car.

! Gumbinner then moves on to talk about 1690 Paris Street, Apartment number 10. The prosecution asks him to reiterate that he saw/was inside of apartment number 10 while trying to remove the IED’s. Gumbinner explains that the bomb techs first used a specially designed robot to look inside of the apartment. We are shown a photograph of the hallway leading to James’ apartment to which the door is open and the robot is in the doorway. He follows by beginning to explain the layout of the IED’s which is as follows.

A tripwire (fishing line) is connected to the door handle of the front door and leads to a thermos containing glycerine which is perched over a frying pan containing potassium permanganate at a 45 degree angle. If the wire was tripped, the glycerine from the thermos would spill into the frying pan and mix with the potassium permanganate, resulting in heat and sparks. We are shown various photos of this setup which was located within the living room. On the 20th of July, Gumbinner interviewed James in order to obtain further information about the IED’s. He stated that James was very forthcoming and told them everything that they needed to know in order to remove the explosives safely.





! At this point, the prosecution asks Mr Gumbinner to explain to the court why James had agreed to speak to them and therefore aid them in the removal of the explosives. The defense object and after about 5 minutes of quiet discussion between a member of both parties and the judge, the judge favors the objection and the question is ignored. During this time, James looks quite bored but is more animated than usual, swiveling in his chair a bit more and looking around the court room.

James informed Mr Gumbinner that he “rigged” his apartment to “draw resources” to the scene, giving him longer to carry out the shooting. He had set his laptop to play 25 minutes of silence followed by 45 minutes of loud music, in the hope that it’d draw police to the apartment. He had also scattered Ammonium Chloride by the front door to “scare the police” and create smoke, making it harder to see into the apartment and giving the illusion of a bigger fire. The carpet of the apartment was soaked in gas and oil so that it’d be easier for the fire to spread. James said that his aim was to make the apartment “explode or catch fire”. ! We were then shown a photo of various jars that sat on a T.V. stand and wooden chair which were connected by what James referred to as a “quick fuse”. Each jar consisted of three layers of explosives and the court was presented with close up photographs of each layer. On top of each of the jars sat one half of a firework shell which was filled with thermite. James had told Gumbinner that he’d made his own thermite by obtaining aluminum rods which he crushed into powder. He then mixed this with rust, which he made by leaving iron rods in water and then removing the rust from them. Gumbinner informs the court that thermite burns at such a high temperature that it cannot be extinguished with water. Beneath this was a layer of smokeless powder. The final layer was a mixture of ammunition and home made napalm which James had stated that he made by purchasing Styrofoam cups and mixing the styrofoam with gasoline in a steel bowl using a paintbrush. James told police that he used quick fuses to connect these jars

because they burn quickly. On the floor lay a number of six inch firework shells which each contained a three inch shell filled with smokeless powder. James had then filled the gap between the three inch shell and the six inch shell with gas and oil. We are then shown photos of a system that consists of a pyrotechnic firing box that is linked to several black spherical objects (pyrotechnic shells) via yellow cables. We are also shown a photo of nine pyrotechnic shells sitting on the living room table. The pyrotechnic firing box sat on top of the fridge in the kitchen. More yellow cable connected an initiating system to a cannon fuse. This was all connected to a launch control which could be activated remotely. Once activated, the far end of the wire would heat up and then run to the other

explosive devices, as well as creating sparks to ignite the carpet and other explosives. The control for the launch system was found outside his apartment complex by the trash. James told police that he had purchased a remote control toy car and left the control for the launch pad beside it. He sat these on top of a white trash bag that contained a boom box that was set to play 40 minutes of silence and then 40 minutes of music. He’d hoped that the music would attract someone who would then find the car and try to play with it using the launch pad control. However, James told Gumbinner that he hadn’t armed the system to go off, in contradiction to police reports that stated that the system was indeed armed. Although, the music did in fact attract a local man, living in the apartment complex next door, to the toy car and remote, yet the launch control was never detonated, despite being well within its 200 metre range. The boom box was recovered from the local man and the prints on it and the CD inside it, matched those of James, however the car and control were never recovered.





! Inside the apartment, police also discovered ten 2 litre bottles of Sprite which were filled with gas, Ammonium Chloride which wasn’t used but failed to find any Ammonium Nitrate. James informed police that he had shopped at six different stores in order to buy various cold packs, because these are known to contain Ammonium Nitrate. However, upon getting them home, he realised that none of the cold packs he had purchased were Ammonium Nitrate based, rendering them useless. We are shown three photos of the trash, which contained tubs of smokeless powder, a tub of Ammonium Chloride and an empty container of oil.

Defense (Daniel King) questions Gumbinner

! King reiterates that the windows of James’ car were broken by the bomb robot and were not broken by Holmes himself or police responding to the scene. He also asks Gumbinner to clarify that the initiating systems that were found in James’ apartment are made to be used with fireworks, and that the hypergolic device by the front door ( the glycerine and potassium permanganate) were successfully disarmed by the robot.

People call Steven Beggs

The prosecution ask Mr. Beggs to recount the timeline of when Holmes made several purchases. Tamara objects, stating that it is irrelevant and not fact. No receipts are being presented or referred to so there is no factual documents in court to support this timeline. The prosecution argues that it is relevant because it shows preparation and intent. The judge overrules the objection and Beggs recounts the timeline as follows;

May 10th - 2 x tear gas from DTP arms (online)

May 22nd - Glock (SW224) at Gander Mountain. (Background check made by CBI comes back clear)

May 28th - 870 12 gauge shotgun (557710F) and ammo

June 6th - Handcuffs x 2

June 7th - MP15223 Semi automatic rifle 598179, 3 x 30 round magazines, shotgun and rifle slings (Gander Mountain)

June 13th - 1 x 100 round drum, 500 12 gauge ammo, 200 12 gauge ammo, hearing protection and laser sight (Sportsmensguide.com)

June 17th - 225 tactical target, target paste, replacement stands (Online)

June 19th - Red laser - triple, Glock ammo, Glock holster (brownells.com)

June 28th - 2,050 40 cal ammo, 2,200 223 cal ammo, 2,225 12 gauge ammo (bulkammo.com)

Ballistic helmet - (Securityprousa.com)

July 1st - Snap caps, ( forces reloading drill) Scope with AR mount. There is a video of this transaction in which James is supporting orange hair.

July 2nd - Ballistic pants, torso guard, neck guard, arm guards, protective cup (bulletproofbodyarmorhq.com)

July 3rd - Launch control, plastic bowls, falling leaf fuse (cannonfuse.com)





July 6th - Glock (TFP695), targets, more ammo and gun powder (Basspro) There is a video of this transaction.

July 14th - Zink, Brass, Potassium, Aluminum Chloride, Magnesium Ribbon, Aluminum electrode strip. (sciencecompany.com)

6,200 rounds of ammo, 2,600 40 call ammo, 325 shotgun ammo, military first aid pack (misc sources)

Defense (Tamara) highlights that there is no system in place to stop the mentally ill from purchasing these items.

People call Detective Tom Walton

Detective Walton begins to refer to James’ Match.com and Adult Friend Finder profiles. James seems unfazed. Tamara objects, saying that the profiles are irrelevant. The prosecution argues that the headline found on both dating profiles “Will you visit me in prison?” shows intent. The objection is overruled. Detective Walton explains that Match.com gave police the photos that Holmes had uploaded and that they had crosschecked the users IP and billing data, all of which matched with James’ details. The Match.com profile was created on April 19th and was last checked on July 18th [3]. The detective explains that neither websites can pinpoint the date that James uploaded his photos, nor can they tell if he ever had different headlines on the profile and if so, when they were changed.

People call Detective Craig Appel

Detective Appel rounds up details that the court has already heard from other witnesses. These details are;

-James’ ticket for The Dark Knight Rises was purchased on July 7th at 9pm via Fandango.com for theatre 8. - Second tear gas canister was found in an ammo pouch, seated on the backseat (passenger side)

of the white two door. - Before the shooting, James was wearing a black skull cap and light button down shirt with black

pants. - Local resident informed police that he had found the boom box, control and toy car by the trash.- Prints on the boom box and the C.D. inside matched James’ however the control and car were

never recovered.

Defense (King) questions Appel

King asks Appel what the white bored under Holme’s car was for. He answered that its something that the bomb squad used to look beneath the car. King then goes over what James had on underneath the ballistic gear (ripped t-shirt, boxer shorts and white socks). Upon James’ arrival at the station, Appel left him alone in an interrogation room and asked for his handcuffs to be removed. He then observed James via cameras. Holmes had brown paper bags placed over his hands in order to preserve the gunpowder on his fingers. He used the two bags as puppets, moving his hands and speaking a little. He then began playing with a plastic cup which had contained water that he had been given to drink. Officers said he was trying to flip the cup over on the table. James then pulled a metal staple out of the table and tried to insert it into various electrical outlets. King asks if Appel did a blood test on James upon his arrival at the station. Appel answers that he didn’t. King questions his decision and Appel explains that he “didn’t see the need to” and that he would have “needed a warrant for that” which would have “taken a lot of time”. An





audible sigh passes through the overflow room. King asks Appel if he observed James’ strange behavior and “huge pupils”. Appel says he had. King replies “So just to be clear, your testimony is that you observed the strange behavior and huge pupils but did not see the need for a blood test?” Appel replies “Yes”.

People call Matthew Files

The prosecution then lists every victim by A-Z and every injury they obtained as a result of the shooting. This took over two hours. The format for each victim was as follows;

Files: Victims name Prosecution: “What are the counts connected with (insert victims name here) Files: Count (insert count) and (insert another count) Prosecution: “Was (insert victims name here) inside theatre nine when shots were fired?”Files: (insert victims name) was”Prosecution: Who offered the reports?”Files: (Insert name of officers who interviewed this victim) Prosecution: Was (Insert victims name) injured by gunfire?” Files: She/he was/was notProsecution: What were (victims name) injuries?” Files: (lists all injuries this victim sustained) Prosecution: “What is count (insert count)?”Files: Attempted murder in the first degree after deliberation”Prosecution: What is count (insert count)?”Files: Attempted murder in the first degree, extreme indifference





! ! ! ! Wednesday 9th January 2013

James‘ demeanor! James appears to be chewing for the first few minutes. It looks like he’s maybe chewing the inside of his cheek.

! Todays hearing was spent mostly looking through photographs by the prosecution, although first of all they mention a witeness stated that he saw a male with red hair sitting in front of him in theatre nine while they were waiting for the movie to start. The red head was on the phone and he got up out of his seat and left through the exit door of theatre nine. [4]

Photographs:

(Around the car)

Exhibit 53: Is of James’ car, taken from the north side and pointing to the south. The drivers side door is open and the trunk is up.

Exhibit 54: The back of the car showing the tinted windows and both doors are open.

Exhibit 55: The car from the south, pointing at the drivers side.

Exhibit 56: Taken from in front of the car, showing that all windows except for the windshield, were tinted.

Exhibit 57: Close up of passenger door. A Glock and a black skull cap can be seen.

Exhibit 58: Close up of the map pocket on the passenger side in which the Glock sits.

Exhibit 59: Shows the roof of the car with the 40 cal Glock on top of it.

Exhibit 60: A close up of the handgun on the car roof.

Exhibit 61: Close up of the passenger wheel where a gas mask, neck protector and a glove can be seen on the ground.

There were four gas masks on scene. Originally a first responder picked up James’ mask and carried it over to his car to put it on. He then realised his mistake, set it down and informed the crime scene analysis team.

(Photographs of the scene)

Exhibit 64: Items removed by bomb squad from the car. These include a hard rifle case, a carry all bag, a gas can and a black coat.

Exhibit 65: A photograph of the road stars.

Exhibit 66: Another photograph of the car from the north, pointing southwest. Blood and latex gloves can be seen on the ground, along with the sunshade which was removed from the car.

Exhibit 67: A close up of a can of unused teargas.





Exhibit 68: A closeup of the items that were removed from James at the scene. These include a right boot, a stun gun and a picnic clip wrapped in aqua duct tape. The clip has been modified to give it more girth on one side.

Exhibit 69: A long shot of the items listed in exhibit 68 on the walk way to theatre nine.

Exhibit 70: A close up of the modified picnic clip.

Exhibit 71: The emergency exit door of theatre nine, taken from just outside. A rifle can be seen right by the door and the picnic clip is clipped half way up of the door. Blood can also be seen on the door and ground.

Exhibit 72: Close up of the exit door and the picnic clip, which sits just above the latch.

(Photographs of the apartment)

Exhibit 73: A tabletop on which sits a battery, two rolls of duct tape - one aqua and one silver, a ziplock bag in which the picnic clips arrived in and red bullet casing.

Exhibit 74: Closeup of the ziplock bag and unaltered silver picnic clips.

The officers asked James for his phone number when they retrieved his iPhone from the car. He gave it to them and they checked to make sure the details matched and that the phone did indeed belong to him. They then took the phone to the lab and copied all of the information on it over to a computer. Tamara asks to see the photos before they are shown to the court, but has no objection after viewing them.

Exhibit 75: The interior of century 16. A photograph of some open doors and the carpet can also be seen. Taken on June 29th at 4:20pm.

Exhibit 76: A close up of the door hinges of an interior door inside century 16. Taken on June 29th at 4:21pm.

Exhibit 77: The exterior of Century 16. The sidewalk by the exit door of theatre nine. Taken on July 5th at 11:30pm

Exhibit 78: Exterior purple double doors. The sidewalk and floodlights can be seen in this photo but its main focus is on the door hinges. Taken on July 11th at 12:28am.

(Photos of James) - Tamara objects to these photographs being published but the prosecution argues that they go to showing extreme indifference and the objection is overruled.

People’s exhibit 79: Photo of James from a low angle ( no idea how he managed to take it) but its his head to about his thighs. Wearing all black ballistic gear, excluding the mask and helmet. He also wore a thick black coat with ballistic padding built in. He had his contacts in and red hair with no cap. He also had his rifle slung across his body. He looked quite business like. Photo taken on July 5th at 4:12pm

People’s exhibit 80: James kitchen counter top with mason jars containing liquid sat on top of his microwave. There were cables running out of the jar and smokeless powder could also be seen. Photo taken on July 16 at 8:26pm

People’s exhibit 81: photo of a wooden table and chair in his living room. On top of the table were wires and bottles with 9 black spheres with wires running out of them. Photo taken July 16 at 8:27pm





People’s exhibit 82: A portrait photo of James wearing a black beanie cap, black contacts and a black shirt. His tongue is out and one of his eyes are closed as if he’s winking. These contacts were later found in his apartment by police. Photo taken July 19th at 6:31pmPeople’s exhibit 83: ( My favourite) James with contacts and black shirt, red hair. Portrait but slightly raised and pointing down. He had a big toothy smile and had a handgun held under his chin. He didn’t look sinister at all. More like a cheeky kid posing with a toy. Photo taken July 19th at 6:25pm

People’s exhibit 84: James with red hair and black contacts, puckering his lips as though he’s whistling or pouting. He’s holding one of the black spheres with a fuse poking out. Portrait but camera was slightly low, pointing up. Taken on July 19th at 6:31pm

People’s exhibit 85: James on the right side of a photo taken from the right but angled to include one of the three initiation systems. ( This particular one happened to be the one police blew up inside his apartment. Black shirt, red hair, black contacts. Looking at the camera at an angle but no real expression. Photo taken July 19th at 6:40pm

People’s exhibit 86: a photo of James’ bed with all of the ballistic gear laid neatly out in piles. Duvet is a light redish/orange. The bed is made neatly. Items from right to left: ballistic vest, magazines for rifle, glock magazines, a gas mask, glock gun holster, ballistic leggings, gas container, black ballistic coat, helmet, rifle and scope, shotgun and a carry all bag (all black). Photo taken on July 19th at 5:17pm

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! ! ! ! ! Friday 11th January

! This was a very short hearing in which the dates for various other hearings were set. The defense explain that they still haven’t decided on a plea and ask for the deadline to be postponed until march. The prosecution argue that they are “ready to go now” and so object to the prolonged deadline. The judge asks if pushing the deadline back until late January would be acceptable but the defense reject it with Tamara saying that she requested March because it will take them until march to get everything in order saying “the reason we asked for March is because we wont be ready until march”. The judge states that he sympathizes with the victims desire to get to trial but he also needs to ensure that everything is done fairly and that a rushed plea could be withdrawn later on, meaning the preliminary hearings would need to take place again. For this reason, the judge set a deadline for february 28th at 5pm which Tamara agreed to. A new arraignment hearing was scheduled for March 12 at 9am. The judge also added that he would keep the first week of April free, incase there is a need for further hearings to discuss any issues that may arise. ! As we were leaving a man stood up and shouted “Rot in hell Holmes!”. This man, we later found out was Steve Hernandez, farther of Rebecca Wingo. As the media chased Mr. Hernandez out of the building in a Frenzy, he was apprehended by officers and we all made our way back into the court room. James seemed to hear the insult but did not react to it in any major way. While Mr. Hernandez stood up in court and addressed the judge, James did not look in his direction at all. Instead, he remained staring foreword and, as usual, swiveling slightly in his chair.

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! ! ! ! ! ! Appendices

[1] Throughout the week, James appeared to have trouble getting into his swivel chair. On the first day, after the first break, his chair was facing the opposite way and, despite his many efforts to line it up, he just couldn’t do it. There was nothing actually wrong with him, but the chair appeared to be his nemesis. After lunch, his chair was, once again facing the wrong way. However, this time he stood and just stared at it until a member of his defense team turned it around for him. James appeared to have this type of trouble at every hearing. At the hearing in which he chuckled, a member of his defense team waited for him to enter the court room, before turning the chair away from him briefly. James chuckled at this before sitting down.

[2] This was the only thing that slightly disturbed me throughout the hearings. Hearing the gunshots and screaming was quite unnerving.

[3] I find it strange that James checked the profile the day before the shooting, as well as listing that he was interested in a long term relationship. I think things like this show that he was still in two minds about the shooting right up until the event its self.

[4] As far as i’m aware, the only call James made just before the shooting was to the helpline. In my opinion going by the time that the movie started and the length of the call, it’s probably that James was on the phone to the helpline at this time. More evidence to support James’ wavering and unsteady state of mind.





Documents

Prelim Doc