THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21, 2015
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Key issues as Colorado theater shooting trial begins
DAN ELLIOTT Associated Press
RJ SANGOSTI/ASSOCIATED PRESS
James Holmes, who is charged with killing 12 moviegoers and wounding 70 more in a shooting spree in a crowded theatre in Aurora, Colo., in July 2012, sits in Arapahoe County District Court in Centennial, Colo., on July 23, 2012.
CENTENNIAL, Colo. Jury selection in the trial of the man accused of killing 12 people and injuring 70 others in an attack on a Colorado movie theater is set to begin, with the first of 9,000 prospective jurors reporting to court on Tuesday.
Their task will be to decide whether James Holmes was legally insane at the time of the July 20, 2012, attack during a showing of a Batman movie in the Denver suburb of Aurora.
Holmes, now 27, is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder, and has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. If jurors agree, he would be committed indefinitely to the state psychiatric hospital.
Prosecutors dispute that Holmes was insane. They will ask jurors to convict him of murder and sentence him to die, though Colorado has executed only one person in the past 40 years.
Here is a look at the key issues in the case:
THE CRIME
About 420 people were watching a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" when a masked figure standing near the screen tossed gas canisters into the audience and opened fire. Witnesses described a scene of hellish chaos as victims fled or dived for cover. Holmes surrendered to police outside the theater.
THE VICTIMS
The dead included a 6-yearold girl, two active-duty servicemen, a single mom, an aspiring broadcaster who survived a mall shooting in Toronto and a 27-year-old celebrating his birthday and wedding anniversary. Several of the victims died shielding their friends and loved ones.
THE DEFENDANT
Holmes had just dropped out of a Ph.D. program in neuroscience at the University of Colorado, Denver, after flunking a key test. Prosecutors suggested he was angry his once-promising academic career ended in failure. Defense attorneys acknowledged Holmes was the shooter but said he was mentally ill and
in the grips of a psychotic episode. Holmes first appeared in court with a dazed look and jarring orange hair. In more recent months he has appeared nonchalant, sometimes with a bushy beard and hair, other times clean-shaven with hair combed back.
WHY THE TRIAL IS SO LATE
The death penalty and the insanity plea introduced multiple, complicated and time-consuming legal requirements. Holmes has undergone two court-ordered sanity evaluations, and the two sides have amassed 85,000 pages, 366 CDs and 282 DVDs of evidence.
THE CRUX OF THE TRIAL
The key question before jurors will be whether Holmes was legally insane — unable to tell right from wrong because of a mental disease or defect. If Holmes is found guilty of murder, the jury would then decide whether he should be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole or executed. If he is found not guilty by reason of insanity, he would be committed indefinitely to the state mental hospital. A straight not-guilty verdict is considered unlikely because his lawyers have acknowledged he was the gunman, and the evidence that
HOW THE JURY WILL BE CHOSEN Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. called an unusually large number of people for jury duty, citing the difficulty in finding an unbiased panel. Samour expects it to take until May or June before he can find 12 jurors and 12 alternates. Prosecutors will try to ensure jurors have no reservations about the death penalty while defense attorneys will look for those sympathetic to mental illness and uneasy with the idea of executing a person.
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Topeka prison works to improve safety at facility
ASSOCIATED PRESS
@AP
TOPEKA - The Topeka Correctional Facility has increased security and added staff to prevent the sexual abuse of female inmates by corrections officers and other inmates, according to Warden Hope Cooper.
A federal investigation in 2012 confirmed state reports that sexual misconduct and abuse of inmates was rampant at the prison. On Jan.9, the U.S. Department of Justice and the state announced a settlement that required several steps the prison must take in response to the allegations, The Topeka Capital-Journal reported.
The settlement requires an independent monitor to oversee the reforms and issue a compliance report every six months. The state also must maintain adequate staffing levels supplemented by video monitoring, form a classification system for the
prisoners and identify potential victims and predators. A grievance procedure that allows prisoners to privately report abuse along with procedures for investigations and staff accountability also are part of the settlement.
Cooper, who became warden after the Capital-Journal reported on a sex scandal involving staff members and inmates in 2009, said many of those changes had begun before the settlement was announced.
Having a woman leading the prison has helped resolve the problems, Cooper said, and the supervisor who will oversee implementation of the agreement between the Justice Department and state is also a woman.
The prison has formed a strategic plan and set high standards for inmates and staff members, Cooper said.
"We have added females in some key positions," she said. "We have great staff here. They want to do what is best. We are going to keep moving forward. We continue to strive, to learn, to be the best."
More than 300 security cameras have been added to the prison, bringing the total to 449 compared with 120 in 2009. The prison also has added a video monitoring room and increased access to the cameras.
The prison now has 260 staff, with 179 corrections officers an increase of 24 officers in the last two years, she said. The prison also is working to increase the number of female corrections officials.
That coincides with a higher prison population, from 550 inmates a day in October 2009 to an average of 750 a day.
The prison was found to be 100 percent compliant with the federally mandated Prison Rape Elimination Act, which protects inmates from rape and sexual misconduct, corrections department spokesman Jeremy Barclay said.
Students notified of academic probation
For many students, winter break is a relaxing time with few worries. But for some University students, winter break is a time where they are notified they are on academic probation.
ALICIA GARZA
@Aliciaoftheudk
According to the University's Undergraduate Advising Center, a student is put on academic probation if his or her cumulative GPA falls below a 2.0. However, every school has different levels of GPA that are deemed in good standing.
Students are notified via email if they are on probation.
While plans can be made with an academic counselor to boost the grade and GPA of a student on academic probation, students do need to take their own initiative to raise their GPA.
and they can track the progress of their courses and grades through the myKU portal.
"I am going to study more and work on ... attending class more often no matter what," Villegas said. "I signed up for closing shifts at work in order to be able to go to class and do all homework before work."
Leslie Villegas, a freshman from Phoenix, was notified about her academic probation and decided to take action.
"I am not on academic probation because I am willing to do the work and achieve the goal I need to succeed in the future," Singh said.
A student is taken off academic probation when his or her cumulative GPA is raised above the expected GPA for the school. Students who do not return into good academic standing within the allotted time will be dismissed from their particular college within the University.
Amritpal Singh, a freshman from Jalandhar, India, worked hard to avoid academic probation this past semester.
Edited by Alex Lamb
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