Media Object To Secret Sanity Hearing For Holmes
DENVER (AP) — A coalition of media outlets is fighting to keep the courtroom open next week for a hearing about the sanity of Colorado movie theater shooting suspect James Holmes.
Holmes' attorneys have asked the judge to bar the public and the press from hearing pretrial testimony from the psychiatrist who evaluated Holmes' sanity.
The judge hasn't ruled on the request.
Media outlets including The Associated Press filed a response Wednesday, saying the First Amendment guarantees access to pretrial hearings on a defendant's mental health.
Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges of killing 12 people and injuring 70 in a suburban Denver movie theater in 2012. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Holmes underwent a mandatory sanity evaluation last summer. The conclusions haven't been made public.
