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Colo. theater shooting suspect offers guilty plea

SMTA

SMTA

Tsuyo Ketsu no Anna
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Colo. theater shooting suspect offers guilty plea

DENVER (AP) — Lawyers for Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes said Wednesday he would plead guilty and serve the rest of his life in prison to avoid the death penalty.

The offer comes just days before the prosecution was set to announce whether they would seek to have Holmes put to death for the attack that killed 12 people and injured 70.
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So he was OK with killing other innocent folks, but he does not want to die himself!

What a crock of irony.
 
I wonder if he is the one making this decision. He's not competent to, IMO. From your link: "Last week, his lawyers revealed that he was taken to a hospital psychiatric ward in November because he was considered a threat to himself. Holmes was held there for several days and spent much of the time in restraints."
 
nota bene said:
I wonder if he is the one making this decision. He's not competent to, IMO. From your link: "Last week, his lawyers revealed that he was taken to a hospital psychiatric ward in November because he was considered a threat to himself. Holmes was held there for several days and spent much of the time in restraints."
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The whole scenario is odd.

His lawyers indicated at the last hearing that they would enter a plea, did not, and the judge did for him.

Lord knows what games the lawyers are playing.

The decision is up to victims/families.
 
...but I thought he was "ready to die" and wouldn't have been deterred by an armed theater-goer. :(
 
That would deprive the citizens of CO the joy of spending many more millions on a trial, followed by at least one round of appeals costing them even more.
 
theangryamerican said:
...but I thought he was "ready to die" and wouldn't have been deterred by an armed theater-goer. :(
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He may have been ready to die in the moment and not now. Or he may still be ready to die, but his lawyers are now making the decision. I don't know how you can judge his mental state during the shooting simply by a plea deal...:(
 
Or he may be on meds now when he wasn't then.
 
ThePlayDrive said:
He may have been ready to die in the moment and not now. Or he may still be ready to die, but his lawyers are now making the decision. I don't know how you can judge his mental state during the shooting simply by a plea deal...:(
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"There was only one catch and that was Catch-22, which specified that a concern for one's safety in the face of dangers that were real and immediate was the process of a rational mind. Orr was crazy and could be grounded. All he had to do was ask; and as soon as he did, he would no longer be crazy and would have to fly more missions. Orr would be crazy to fly more missions and sane if he didn't, but if he were sane he had to fly them. If he flew them he was crazy and didn't have to; but if he didn't want to he was sane and had to. Yossarian was moved very deeply by the absolute simplicity of this clause of Catch-22 and let out a respectful whistle."
 
An eye for an eye I say.

I find it disturbing that he can choose whether or not someone lives or dies and then be given the choice of whether he himself can live or die.
 
nota bene said:
I wonder if he is the one making this decision. He's not competent to, IMO. From your link: "Last week, his lawyers revealed that he was taken to a hospital psychiatric ward in November because he was considered a threat to himself. Holmes was held there for several days and spent much of the time in restraints."
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Well that hospital sure did a bang up good job helping him, huh? Maybe strapping someone in a restraint chair in solitary isn't as therapuetic afterall.
 
Just stick this scumbag in gen pop... Problem solved.
 
MaggieD said:
Personally, I'm delighted. Lots of money saved. No appeals possible. Lots of families spared the agonies of watching the defense spin some nutzo yarn to the jury. It's no happy ending, but it's the best we've got.
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Yea, if they go to trial, the defense would probably play the insanity card.
 
ChezC3 said:
Just stick this scumbag in gen pop... Problem solved.
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He may do a good acting job of acting crazy but he is not that crazy to want to go into the general population.

Even old crazy Charles Manson knows to avoid that area. Years back I had a friend's brother in Corcoran prison where Charlie is and he only ran into Charlie once when two guards were escorting Manson down a hallway. Manson he states is just a little guy who many there would find it a notch in their belt to nail him.
 
Crosscheck said:
He may do a good acting job of acting crazy but he is not that crazy to want to go into the general population.

Even old crazy Charles Manson knows to avoid that area. Years back I had a friend's brother in Corcoran prison where Charlie is and he only ran into Charlie once when two guards were escorting Manson down a hallway. Manson he states is just a little guy who many there would find it a notch in their belt to nail him.
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Right he'll either prove fit for trial or he'll have sentence passed...problem solved.
 
fry his ass
 
Here's what one victim, Pierce O'Farrill has said, citing how stressful years of court struggles would be, has said: "I don't see his death bringing me peace," O'Farrill said. "To me, my prayer for him was that he would spend the rest of his life in prison and hopefully, in all those years he has left, he could find God and ask for forgiveness himself.”

Colo. theater shooting suspect offers guilty plea

There is some indication that the prosecution is amenable to life without parale. From the same Yahoo News article:

“Dan Recht, a past president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, said prosecutors likely started talking to victims long ago.

"The defense, by making this public pleading, is reaching out to the victims' families," Recht said.”

See Maggie's Post #11 summary--this is probably the best-case scenario. Executing the mentally ill is problematic. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/23/world/americas/23iht-death.3648149.html?_r=0
 
Meh. Give him life with no parole in the worst prison the judge can send him to. I never understood why people think a quick death is a better punishment than rotting in a cell for decades on end.
 
Ok, I have a better idea. Let us declare him a witch, and then we can dunk him in a lake. If he lives through 20 minutes under water then he is a witch, and if he doesn't then he is still a mass murderer and we don't need to worry about it anymore. It is better than he deserves.
 
TurtleDude said:
I'd say let the prisoners do something different (starts with an f as well) to his ass:mrgreen:
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Turtle - I do not know what the costs are in Ohio, but here in Michigan we currently average about $35 grand a year to house somebody like this. And many prisoners live a very long time no matter how much special attention others may give them in prison. I recall the video with Chicago mass murderer Richard Speck where he and his little playmate described life behind bars as one continual vacation in Disney World for him.

Forty years at 35 grand - sorry - but lets spend that on better things.
 
ThePlayDrive said:
He may have been ready to die in the moment and not now. Or he may still be ready to die, but his lawyers are now making the decision. I don't know how you can judge his mental state during the shooting simply by a plea deal...:(
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He wants to die on his own terms.
 
haymarket said:
Turtle - I do not know what the costs are in Ohio, but here in Michigan we currently average about $35 grand a year to house somebody like this. And many prisoners live a very long time no matter how much special attention others may give them in prison. I recall the video with Chicago mass murderer Richard Speck where he and his little playmate described life behind bars as one continual vacation in Disney World for him.

Forty years at 35 grand - sorry - but lets spend that on better things.
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your point is sound and well reasoned but the cost of a capital case-due to all the required appeals and the inevitable federal parallel appeals is far more expensive. I know, I used to work on such things
 
Unitedwestand13 said:
He wants to die on his own terms.
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I don't know that this is so. I rather doubt that James Holmes knows what he wants and that he's competent to make decisions for himself. He's mentally ill. I am glad that he has legal representation and that his defense has been talking to the prosecutors.
 
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