Defense Rests In Theater Shooting Trial
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4) - The defense has rested in the Aurora theater shooting trial.
The defense has been trying to prove gunman James Holmes was insane when he shot 12 people and injured dozens more in July 2012 in an Aurora movie theater.
Witness testimony during the defense in the case lasted for two weeks.
The defense chose to end its case on Friday morning not with words, but videos of Holmes from two different locations to drive home their point that he had very serious mental issues.
LIVE VIDEO: Watch The Trial Live At CBS4's Theater Shooting Trial Special Section
The first video showed Holmes naked in his jail cell in November 2013. At one point in the video he rams his head into the wall, falls to the ground and then waits for jail personnel to arrive. There was a court hearing scheduled at that time.
"While they may have showed planning, that they were all part of this psychosis in this schizophrenia," said CBS4 legal analyst Karen Steinhauser.
The jury was then presented with a 45 minute video of Holmes at Denver Health Medical Center.
He was in a bed and it appeared he was trying to get out of it. Numerous personnel came in and out of the room in the video and it looked like they fastened restraints to hold him down.
The prosecution then asked the defense investigator who presented the videos a question. After that the defense said it would not play any more exhibits, and with that they rested.
"In all of the videos that we have seen this morning from November of 2012, those were all taken almost 4 months after the defendant killed 12 people and shot a dozen more at the Century 16 theater," said prosecutor Karen Pearson.
And with that, 10 weeks of testimony concluded.
The jury will soon have to decide if what happened was the work of a man who was insane or not.
Tuesday morning the jury will get its instructions, then each side will have up to two hours in closing arguments. Deliberations may not begin until the following day.
How long it will take to reach a verdict is anyone's guess.
Closing arguments will be live streamed on our website.
