Editor鈥檚 note: 听CU News Corps, like many media outlets, has published the notebook in its entirety. Reporter Lo Snelgrove presents a different perspective on sharing this piece of evidence with the public.听
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CENTENNIAL, Colo. 鈥� Today, the Arapahoe County Court released a photocopied, PDF version of the Aurora theater shooter鈥檚 personal notebook. Upon its release, multiple news organizations 鈥� including CU News Corps 鈥� published the entirety of the notebook online.
Forensic psychiatrist Dr. Park Dietz said the release of this notebook to the public can do only harm.
鈥淣o good can come out of that kind of unfiltered dissemination of someone鈥檚 inner-most thoughts,鈥� Dietz said.
Dietz does听work for 听the FBI鈥檚 Behavioral Analysis Unit and听has participated in many high-profile cases, including those involving the assassination attempts on President听Reagan and on Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, more than 25 serial killer cases, the Unabomber case, and the Columbine High School shootings.
鈥溾�he (notebook鈥檚) content will cause some readers, if only a small proportion, to say, 鈥榯his guy is like me鈥�. And when that happens in that small fraction of the readership, that identification鈥ith the killer emboldens them and encourages them to consider similar action.鈥�
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Steve Zansberg, a Denver attorney who represents media companies in relation to this trial, said the court was being consistent in their legal promise to release to the media all non-graphic exhibits that jurors view. Zansberg also said the public has a right to see the notebook.
鈥淭he public should have access to these exhibits in a meaningful way,鈥� Zansberg said.
Dietz, however, said that no positivity can be rendered by the notebook鈥檚 publication. Rather, he suggests, it should be reviewed by professionals with the intent of better understanding the defendant鈥檚 mind or mental illness in general.
Following the mass-murder in the Aurora, Colo., movie theater on July 20, 2012 that killed 12 and left 70 injured, there were multiple reports of potential copycat cases.
: A man in Turnpike, Maine arrived armed with a gun to an afternoon showing of 鈥淭he Dark Knight Rises鈥�. When arrested, police found an assault rifle and several handguns, 10,000 rounds of ammunition and newspaper clippings about the Aurora theater shooting.
: A man in Norwalk, Calif. made threats at a showing of 鈥淭he Dark Knight Rises鈥� and verbally alluded to the Aurora shooting. Witnesses reported that the man said, 鈥淚 should go off like in Colorado. Does anybody have a gun?鈥�
: A New York man who worked for the NYC Department of Education was arrested after telling police he was obsessed with the Colorado movie massacre. Authorities found photos of the Aurora theater shooter 鈥渁ll over (the man鈥檚) desk鈥�. The man told police that he sympathized with the killer.
: A Maryland man went to his workplace, called himself 鈥渁 Joker鈥� and threatened to 鈥渟hoot the place up.鈥� At the man鈥檚 home police found 25 guns, including semi-automatic rifles and pistols. Prince George County Police said it was an attempted copycat of the Aurora theater shooting.
: A Minnesota man was arrested after making repeated references to 鈥渢he Joker鈥� and the Aurora theater shooting, telling police he understood the shooter鈥檚 motives and planned to have his own killing spree.
Loren Coleman believes that because the notebook was released nearly three years after the massacre occurred, the likelihood of people being inspired by the writings is decreased. Coleman authored the book, 鈥淭he听Copycat Effect: How the Media and Popular Culture Trigger the Mayhem in Tomorrow鈥檚 Headlines鈥�.
鈥溾�here is less danger that the James Holmes鈥� notebook will have a widespread copycat impact,鈥� Coleman said. 鈥淭hat is, as long as the words of Holmes don鈥檛 become a media phenomena and go virtual via social media.鈥�
On various blogging websites, some people actively express support and admiration for the Aurora theater shooter, and there is paraphernalia featuring his face and words for sale online. Dietz said these supporters are unlikely to pose a threat to public safety, and 鈥渨hat鈥檚 wrong with them is highly variable, mostly immaturity. Only a small fraction of them are dangerous.鈥�
鈥�(The notebook) may fuel the imagination of similarly situated people,鈥� Dietz said. 鈥淚 see it as part of a broader phenomenon that has to do with the search for identity among those whose character is insufficiently developed.鈥�
The forensic psychiatrist explained that if the readers of the notebook mirror the general population, then with a million readers, 鈥溾�here are 10,000 people in that group who are psychotic and 30,000 who are psychopathic. And of those 40,000 at-risk people only half of them are armed鈥�.and of that, maybe one person will go do something awful because they read this diary.鈥�
But is one person too much?
鈥淔or me it is,鈥� Dietz said.
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Editor鈥檚 Note: CU News Corps will remember the victims of the tragedy with every post via this graphic.
