James Holmes, the gunman who massacred 12 people and left 58 others wounded in Aurora, Colorado last July 20, has decided he is now a Muslim so he can justify his barbarous assault. One prison source said, “He has brainwashed himself into believing he was on his own personal jihad and that his victims were infidels.”

Read More: http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Government/2013/03/20/James-Holmes-Now-A-Muslim

Death sought for suspect in massacre

Trial won’t take place until next year

Trevor Hughes and Gary Strauss

USA TODAY

CENTENNIAL, COLO. Arap­ahoe County prosecutors will seek the death penalty against JamesHolmes, accused of first­degree murder in the deaths of 12 Aurora movie theater-goers last July.

At a court hearing Monday, District Attorney George Brau­chler rejected a defense bid that Holmes plead guilty in ex­change for a life sentence with­out parole.

Holmes also faces charges for nearly 70 others who were wounded by gunfire or injured while fleeing. Judge William Sylvester entered a not guilty plea on Holmes’ behalf last month.

“In this case, for James Egan Holmes, justice is death,” Brau­chler said, adding that his office had spoken with 60 people who lost loved ones in the shootings.

Holmes showed no visible reaction to the announcement, but his parents clasped hands and then embraced.

NEW JUDGE

Brauchler’s decision, as well as a switch in judges, delays Holmes’ trial, initially set to be­gin in August, until next year.

Judge Carlos Samour Jr. set a four-month trial to begin next February. He replaces Sylvester, who decided he lacked the time to oversee a death penalty case.

Holmes’ court-appointed at­torneys said in a court filing last week that their guilty plea offer could have ended prolonged le­gal maneuvering. “Mr. Holmes is currently willing to resolve the case to bring the proceed­ings to a speedy and definite conclusion for all involved,” Holmes’ lawyers said.

Without such a deal, public defenders Daniel King and Ta­mara Brady said that an insan­ity defense is virtually a lock. They’ve said at prior hearings that Holmes, who dropped out of a University of Colorado neuroscience doctoral program after failing a final exam in May, suffers from mental illness. Holmes, 25, was undergoing psychiatric care before drop­ping out.

In a response to the filing, Brauchler said that the plea of­fer was a “unusual and unprec­edented” and done as a publicity ploy that violated Judge Sylvester’s standing gag order on the case.

Legal experts say without a plea deal, an insanity defense may be Holmes’ only legal re­course. At his January prelimi­nary hearing, prosecutors presented evidence that showed Holmes methodically planned his July 20 attack at Aurora’s Century 16 theater complex, buying an assault ri­fle, shotgun, two semi-automat­ic pistols, 6,000 rounds of ammunition, bomb-making material and other gear over several weeks prior to the shootings.

Photos from his cellphone showed he had staked out the rear of the theater and exit doors. Aurora police arrested Holmes in the rear of the thea­ter parking lot minutes after the shootings.

Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against James Holmes, accused of first-degree murder in the deaths of 12 people last July at this movie theater in Aurora, Colo.