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Jurors In Aurora Theater Shooting Represent Different Walks Of Life

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4)- The 12 jurors and 12 alternates seated in the Aurora theater shooting trial represent different walks of life.

The people who will decide the fate of gunman James Holmes vary from a female plumber to a man who works at a gas station and a female marksman who works with explosives.

One juror said she believes in "an eye for an eye" and another remarked that Holmes is someone's loved one.

In seat number five will sit a woman who suffered from depression and was admitted to the hospital for mental illness.

James Holmes Courtroom Arapahoe County Court
The courtroom (credit: CBS)

A woman who was a paramedic for 20 years and transported mentally ill people will occupy seat 13.

RELATED STORIES: Aurora Movie Shooting Story Archive

A man already too familiar with mass casualty attacks will be in seat 17. He is a survivor of the Columbine High School shootings in April 1999.

CBS4 Legal Analyst Karen Steinhauser said the jurors must share a common trait, "Be willing to take the time to listen carefully, to deliberate and to give both sides a fair trial."

Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the July 2012 shooting inside a movie theater in Aurora.

One of the jurors is a teacher who has three students with schizophrenia.

In seat number 24 will sit an older man whose daughter is bipolar and attempted suicide.

One of those on the panel said she would like to see a possible verdict of insane but guilty, but that is not in the law.

If found not guilty, the defendant would be sent to the state hospital for treatment. One juror has already told the court she doesn't believe in the not guilty by reason of insanity defense.

All of the jurors and alternates agreed they could deliver a sentence of death, if warranted.

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