Juror No. 17: 'It Only Takes 1' No Agreement On Death
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (CBS4)- One juror who sat on the Aurora theater shooting trial talked about why the jury couldn't reach an agreement on the death sentence.
"The split was one juror solidly in favor of a life sentence and two that were undecided, more or less, which would go to life and the rest were in favor of the death penalty," said Juror #17, who only wanted to be identified by her juror number 17.
When asked whether the group tried to dissuade the one juror who was against the death penalty, she replied, "No. That person was solidly in that position, we learned. There was nothing further to discuss at that point. It only takes one."
The woman said she was a real estate attorney. She said the issue of mental illness was the biggest determining factor in the jury's decision making.
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"I think the issue of mental illness was everything," said the juror.
On Friday, the jury failed to reach an agreement on the death penalty so the Aurora theater gunman will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole.
"We did our best to serve justice and while I'm not willing to state my position, personally, we all did our best to serve justice. I think we all have great empathy for the victims, the victims in this are forever impacted and all of us, no matter what the decision, just felt terrible for all the victims," said the juror.
Jurors convicted James Holmes on July 16 on 24 counts of first-degree murder, two counts for each person murdered in the July 20, 2012 attack inside an Aurora movie theater. That made Holmes eligible for the death penalty. He was also convicted of attempted first-degree murder, two counts for each of the 70 people he injured that night.
When asked why the jury quickly rejected the insanity defense, the juror replied, "There is a very narrow definition of insanity in Colorado and we did not feel that the defendant was insane at the time that he committed the crimes."
Holmes showed no emotion as he stood before the judge when the verdict was read in court on Friday evening. The official sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Aug. 24 and is expected to last three days.
Juror number 17 also talked about Judge Carlos Samour, Jr. and how much respect the jury had for him.
"We all really, really liked Judge Samour. He was an excellent judge and a very competent judge. He kept a little levity in the courtroom under very, very difficult circumstances. We all felt that he tried to be fair to both the defense and the prosecution as much as he could and I just think he did his best," said the juror.
Jurors have heard from 306 witnesses and have seen more than 2,000 pieces of evidence during the trial.
She also talked about how difficult it was for some of the jurors to deal with such a huge decision after months of testimony, "I think for some of the jurors it's much, much more difficult than others, just typical of a group of 12. I think some of us are handling it pretty well and I think others are taking it really hard."
The court has offered psychological counseling for the jurors. When asked whether she believed they would take advantage of that, she replied, "That I don't know, I don't know. That's something we did not discuss openly."
Jurors were not allowed to discuss the case with anyone. This is the first time that anyone on the jury was allowed to talk about what happened in the courtroom or jury deliberations after weeks of testimony.
"It's very difficult. It's almost impossible to watch the news and not have the information. And so, just keeping yourself busy with everything else that you have to do in life," said Juror number 17.
She also said she was glad she got to sit on the jury.
"It was a learning experience, it was an excellent experience," said Juror #17.
