Defense rests in theater shooting trial, DA won't present rebuttal

DA George Brauchler cross examines Dr. Raquel Gur, who declared James Holmes insane at the time of the Aurora theater shooting, on July 10, 2015.

by: Will C. Holden

Posted: Jul 10, 2015 / 11:09 AM MDT

Updated: Jul 10, 2015 / 12:33 PM MDT

This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

CENTENNIAL, Colo. — The defense team in the Aurora theater shooting trial rested their case on Friday morning, and the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s office indicated it will not present a rebuttal case.

“The people don’t see a reason to put on a rebuttal case,” District Attorney George Brauchler told the court Friday morning.

The next step major step in the trial process is closing arguments, which have been scheduled for the morning of July 14. You can watch next week’s closing arguments live here on KDVR.com.

After those arguments are presented, the jury will begin deliberations.

Admitted gunman James Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason on insanity to 166 charges in the case that stem from the July 20, 2012 shooting at the Aurora Century 16 theater, which left 12 dead and 70 injured.

The penultimate witness for the defense was Dr. Raquel Gur, who declared Holmes was insane at the time of the shooting, and also indicated he suffers from schizophrenia.

Brauchler spent much more time over the course of almost two and a half days with Gur than the defense did. In his heated cross examination, Brauchler took aim at the brevity of Gur’s 15-page report and her credentials — she is only a psychologist, not a psychiatrist.

Dr. William Reid, the court-appointed psychiatrist who was appointed to perform a sanity evaluation of Holmes, also testified in the case. The jury was presented with his 22 hours of video and made aware of his 160-page report.

While he agreed with Gur that Holmes suffers from “significant mental illness,” Reid found him sane at the time of the shooting.

“My opinion is that whatever he suffered from, it did not prevent him from forming the intent as well as knowing what he was doing and the consequences of what he was doing,” Reid said in late May.

If Holmes is found guilty, the trial will proceed to a sentencing hearing. The jury is expected to get the case on July 14, at which point in time 12 jurors will go into deliberation and the remaining seven alternate jurors will be sequestered until a verdict is reached.

The trial, which began on April 27, started with 12 jurors and 12 alternates. Five of those 24 jurors have since been released for a plethora of reasons.

The identity of the actual and alternate jurors is known only to the counsels and judge, and that information will remain concealed until the conclusion of a sentencing hearing, if it is necessary.

The trial, which was expected to last as long as four months, is far ahead of schedule.