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Prosecution pushes death penalty for Colorado theater shooting suspect

Pilot

Pilot

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Prosecution pushes death penalty for Colorado theater shooting suspect - CNN.com
Prosecutors said Monday they will seek the death penalty for Colorado movie theater shooting suspect James Holmes despite his offer last week to plead guilty in exchange for avoiding a death sentence.

"It is my determination and my intention that in this case for James Eagan Holmes, justice is death," Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler said.
Before reaching the decision, the district attorney said he spoke directly with dozens of victims' family members.

Bryan Beard, whose close friend was killed in the massacre, said one thought ran through his mind when he heard the district attorney announce his decision in court: "Thank goodness. I am so happy this is happening."

"The only way death will receive justice when somebody murders somebody else is death," Beard told CNN Denver affiliate KMGH-TV during a break in Monday's court proceedings. "I guess you fight fire with fire."

Last week defense attorneys filed documents saying Holmes had offered to plead guilty and spend the rest of his life behind bars in exchange for avoiding the death penalty.
Prosecutors took the defense to task for publicly offering it, saying they hadn't been given enough information to even consider such a deal.

"Not only improper, but grossly improper," prosecutors said in a Thursday court filing. "For the intended purpose of generating predictable publicity."

Holmes faces 166 counts of murder and attempted murder for last year's shooting at an Aurora movie theater that left 12 people dead and 58 wounded.
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Right decision IMO. I'm glad the prosecution is not taking a plea bargain for this case. They seem to have an airtight case against Holmes, so I see no reason they shouldn't go for the death penalty.
 
Pilot said:
Prosecution pushes death penalty for Colorado theater shooting suspect - CNN.com


Right decision IMO. I'm glad the prosecution is not taking a plea bargain for this case. They seem to have an airtight case against Holmes, so I see no reason they shouldn't go for the death penalty.
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I agree. Scum like that should be executed.Hopefully he is limited on the number of appeals he has so that we are not reading about his execution 10-20 years from now.Its a shame they just can't take him out back after the guilty the verdict and put a bullet in head.
 
Apparently he "doesn't want to die". Guess he's sane enough to realize that death is permanent for himself...but for everybody else it's just...I dunno, a thrill?
 
muciti said:
I honestly hate the fact that he is still alive.
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I hate the fact that we don't apply common sense and kill him on the spot. Think of the time, money and effort wasted on him.
 
Mathematician said:
I hate the fact that we don't apply common sense and kill him on the spot. Think of the time, money and effort wasted on him.
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I dont agree with on the spot, but once it is determined that it was him then I dont see the point in keeping him alive. And there has been 0 doubt about whether it was him or not for quite some time.
 
That he did the shootings is not really in question.
Some may question his sanity.
Will he EVER be safe to release to the public, unlikely.
Maybe a Lobotomy would render him safe enough to live out his days
as a ward of the state.
Once he is found guilty, if not insane, The Death penalty does seem to fit the crime.
I think a firing squad is called for, sleepy juice, is too tame for his sort.
 
longview said:
That he did the shootings is not really in question.
Some may question his sanity.
Will he EVER be safe to release to the public, unlikely.
Maybe a Lobotomy would render him safe enough to live out his days
as a ward of the state.
Once he is found guilty, if not insane, The Death penalty does seem to fit the crime.
I think a firing squad is called for, sleepy juice, is too tame for his sort.
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Being insane, to me, does not justify this type of action. I understand someone being mentally retarded who doesn't understand their actions. I dont care if he was depressed, or picked on, or if his mommy didnt hug him. This man was fully functional. He understands life and death. He robbed people of their lives. His reason is irrelevant. He should be given the same opportunity he gave his victims. They didn't get to plead to him that they didn't get their favorite toy for christmas when he was 12. Insane should not be a legal defense.
 
longview said:
That he did the shootings is not really in question.
Some may question his sanity.
Will he EVER be safe to release to the public, unlikely.
Maybe a Lobotomy would render him safe enough to live out his days
as a ward of the state.
Once he is found guilty, if not insane, The Death penalty does seem to fit the crime.
I think a firing squad is called for, sleepy juice, is too tame for his sort.
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I don't really care about his sanity. People are dead. He is responsible. Whether he is sane or not is entirely irrelevant, he still willingly caused the death of others. Put a bullet in his head and be done with it.
 
muciti said:
I dont agree with on the spot, but once it is determined that it was him then I dont see the point in keeping him alive. And there has been 0 doubt about whether it was him or not for quite some time.
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Catching him on the spot and finding the apartment booby-trapped is beyond a reasonable doubt. You admit that zero doubt was quite some time ago, so why in the hell are we wasting time on him again? I don't care if you think he'd come out of rehab a saint in 40 years, he killed and injured so many he doesn't deserve any opportunity whatsoever.
 
While I fully support the DP in theory, in practice it is very, very rarely used especially in CO. CO has had over 550 1st degree murder convictions since 1999 yet has placed only 2 perps onto death row out of that total. CO now has 3 inmates on death row (one has been there since 1996); this moron (when convicted) will it make 4. The 8th amendment makes cruel and unusual punishment unconstitutional - statistically the CO DP would certainly make a good case for considering it to be quite unusual. CO will now spend millions on convicting this moron, and much more on appeal(s), when they could just accept a plea and let nature (of prison life) take its course.

Colorado death penalty law unconstitutional, study contends - The Denver Post

This CO moron seemed like the poster child for the DP, yet did not even have his case charged as a capital offense:

Transgender murder, hate crime conviction a first - CNN.com

A close runner-up (also not charged with DP offense):

Edward Romero sentenced to life in Alicia Martinez murder, dismemberment - The Denver Post
 
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Pilot said:
Prosecution pushes death penalty for Colorado theater shooting suspect - CNN.com


Right decision IMO. I'm glad the prosecution is not taking a plea bargain for this case. They seem to have an airtight case against Holmes, so I see no reason they shouldn't go for the death penalty.
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Agreed, but there are a lot of lawyers who will put in a lot of billable hours (payable by the taxpayers) over many years before the case is finally closed. I agree the sensible course is a bullet to the head tomorrow at sunrise.
 
Its a stupid decision. What this means is that rather than this case being done and the guy spending the rest of his life in prison, the case will drag on for years costing the tax payers millions of dollars and the end result will likely be the same, because even if the jury returns a death verdict, very few death sentences are ever carried out. This is yet another example of government beauracracy and the criminal justice money machine. A life sentence would serve the interest of justice and would save tax payers MILLIONS.
 
Diogenes said:
Agreed, but there are a lot of lawyers who will put in a lot of billable hours (payable by the taxpayers) over many years before the case is finally closed. I agree the sensible course is a bullet to the head tomorrow at sunrise.
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Blame that on the Constitution. You either follow it or you get rid of it. The way our systems is set up, if you wanna seek death, it is going to cost you. The death penalty is a very expensive luxury.
 
ttwtt78640 said:
While I fully support the DP in theory, in practice it is very, very rarely used especially in CO. CO has had over 550 1st degree murder convictions since 1999 yet has placed only 2 perps onto death row out of that total. CO now has 3 inmates on death row (one has been there since 1996); this moron (when convicted) will it make 4. The 8th amendment makes cruel and unusual punishment unconstitutional - statistically the CO DP would certainly make a good case for considering it to be quite unusual. CO will now spend millions on convicting this moron, and much more on appeal(s), when they could just accept a plea and let nature (of prison life) take its course.

Colorado death penalty law unconstitutional, study contends - The Denver Post

This CO moron seemed like the poster child for the DP, yet did not even have his case charged as a capital offense:

Transgender murder, hate crime conviction a first - CNN.com

A close runner-up (also not charged with DP offense):

Edward Romero sentenced to life in Alicia Martinez murder, dismemberment - The Denver Post
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You make a great point, but I disagree with the last two links

The transgender murderer was duped into thinking he was dating woman and flipped out. It was in the heat of the moment and only one person.

The child murderer should have received the DP, but he was not caught at the scene of the crime like Holmes was, and he plead not guilty by reason of insanity, Holmes offered to plead guilty.

Basically, I think both cases would have had a much harder time getting the DP than the prosecution will here.
 
I have to disagree for the simple reason that if the man is proven to be mentally incompetent as appears likely, he should not be executed. It's hard for me to square moves to come down harder on those with mental illness as a way to reduce gun violence because they are too unstable to legally handle gun ownership with this.

If people with mental illness are treated the same as "normal" people in courts, many in society will resist any moves to detain or institutionalize those who would benefit from such detention.

There was a case here in Toronto where a mentally ill man stole a snow plow, causing a great deal of damage around the city and also ran over a police officer killing him. A jury found him not guilt of first degree murder, which the prosecution pushed for, and he will now be institutionalized, for how long no one now knows. It was a controversial decision but most people respect that the jury made the right decision based on the medical evidence presented at trial. Many feel it is a failure of society at large that this man didn't receive the help he clearly needs before this incident. The kid in the Colorado case seems to scream that the system failed him and failed the community and putting him to death is in no way a deterent or even retribution in such a case.
 
disneydude said:
Blame that on the Constitution. You either follow it or you get rid of it. The way our systems is set up, if you wanna seek death, it is going to cost you. The death penalty is a very expensive luxury.
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Ah yes, the Constitutional right to very expensive lengthy trials :roll:
 
disneydude said:
Blame that on the Constitution. You either follow it or you get rid of it. The way our systems is set up, if you wanna seek death, it is going to cost you. The death penalty is a very expensive luxury.
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Agreed in part. Our legal system has morphed into a game rather than a search for truth and justice, and that is what makes it so expensive.
 
Diogenes said:
Agreed in part. Our legal system has morphed into a game rather than a search for truth and justice, and that is what makes it so expensive.
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That's the problem, it's not about truth and justice, it's about legal maneuvering and putting off the inevitable for as long as possible. I think that once you're convicted of a capital crime and get your single mandatory appeal, you must be executed within 1 calendar year unless you can produce actual evidence that you are factually innocent of the crime for which you have been convicted. There will be no appeals for any reason other than factual innocence. That will cut down on the cost and the abuse of the system.
 
I agree with this decision. I DO have reservations on the use of the death penalty as I believe the standard is too low. However, the standards I hold for the use of the death penalty: 1. heinous crime and 2. absolute certainty of guilt - seem to be met here. I don't accept 'beyond a reasonable doubt' for the use of the death penalty. Doesn't seem to be a problem here.
 
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