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CENTENNIAL, Colo. — In James Holmes’ own words, the most important thing people should know about him is “that I’m kind of shy, I guess.”

Few would agree. The general public knows Holmes not for his shy demeanor but for his decision, on July 20, 2012, to walk into a packed movie theater and fire into the crowd.

Now facing the death penalty, Holmes has spent the past five weeks wordlessly watching his own trial. Thursday marks the first time since opening statements that the court has heard from the defendant himself.

Prosecution screened the first of nine interview sessions between Holmes and psychiatrist William Reid late Thursday. Jurors will eventually watch all 22 hours of the videotaped psychiatric evaluation, which took place over five days beginning in late July 2014.

[video:https://vimeo.com/129166925]

, Staff writer
May 28, 2015
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By Kelsey Ray
CU News Corps

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — In James Holmes’ own words, the most important thing people should know about him is “that I’m kind of shy, I guess.”

Few would agree. The general public knows Holmes not for his shy demeanor but for his decision, on July 20, 2012, to walk into a packed movie theater and fire into the crowd.

Now facing the death penalty, Holmes has spent the past five weeks wordlessly watching his own trial. Thursday marks the first time since opening statements that the court has heard from the defendant himself.

Prosecution screened the first of nine interview sessions between Holmes and psychiatrist William Reid late Thursday. Jurors will eventually watch all 22 hours of the videotaped psychiatric evaluation, which took place over five days beginning in late July 2014.

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Court lasted 30 minutes longer than usual to accommodate the video, but earlier in the day it seemed possible the trial wouldn’t continue at all.

The defense called for a mistrial after Reid made a bold statement about Holmes’ sanity.

“Whatever he suffered from, it did not stop him from forming the intent and knowing what he was doing and the consequences of what he was doing,” Reid said on the witness stand.

But District Attorney George Brauchler hadn’t asked for Reid’s opinion yet, and the defense argued such a proclamation was out of line. Judge Carlos Samour Jr. ultimately denied the defense’s call for a mistrial, and court resumed without incident.

In the video, the shooter wore a dark, loose-fitting prison uniform shirt and rested his arms on his lap. Reid engaged him in smalltalk about his family life, hobbies and experience as an inmate.

Asked if he had any regrets, Holmes said “yes” — about the shooting.

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The prosecution’s desire to show the video in court sparked months-long controversy before the trial began. Some legal experts still don’t think it’s a good idea.

“The danger of showing these videos is that it makes jurors into amateur psychiatrists,” defense attorney David Lane from Denver said in an interview.

“If other psychiatrists viewed the tapes and said that the psychiatrist was inappropriate in asking A, B, C or D,” Lane said, “then the jury is going to have to work through their own views and might disregard the professionals.”

Aside from specific interview questions, the timing of the evaluation is troubling to some. Reid didn’t speak with Holmes until two years after the shooting, when he’d been medicated for quite some time.

Denver University law professor Karen Steinhauser says that’s important to remember.

“The jury will have to keep in mind that [the interviews] did take place after he was medicated and not while he was having the psychotic delusions that the defense is arguing he suffered from at the time of the act,” she said in an interview.

Given the lag time, Steinhauser is not sure the interviews are relevant to the jury.

“I’m not sure how helpful the interviews will be in making the determination of whether or not he was insane at the time of the acts instead of the time of the interviews,” she said.

It’s clear that the prosecution hopes Holmes’ calm demeanor and lucid answers in the video will prove his sanity to the jurors. The outcome won’t be revealed for months.

In the meantime, the entire courtroom has a lot of watching to do.

[video:https://vimeo.com/129166054]

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Editors note: CU News Corps will honor the victims of the shooting in every post via this graphic.