U.S. cinema shooting suspect facing 142 charges, angry families

LOS ANGELES, July 30 (Xinhua) -- A different James Eagan Holmes, appearing in public for the second time since he was detained in connection with the July 20 shootings at a midnight showing of a Batman movie, entered the Arapahoe County courtroom Monday where he was formally charged on a staggering 142 counts, including 24 counts of first-degree murder, 116 counts of criminal intent to commit murder.

The handcuffed, 24-year-old Holmes, wearing a maroon¹ jumpsuit and his signature mop of unkempt, orange-dyed hair, appeared more lucid² than he did a week ago at his advisement hearing, looking ahead at District Court Judge William B. Sylvester from the defense³ table where he sat next to Arapahoe County public defenders⁴ Daniel King and Tamara Holmes.

"He looked very alert and very sane," said Maryellen Hansen, aunt of 6-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan, who was killed at the theater and her mother Ashley critically injured. Moser lost a baby she was carrying on Saturday, but legal experts say killing⁵ an unborn child will not be added to the list of murder charges against Holmes.

Hansen was one of the attendees at the Arapahoe County courthouse packed with victims and their families, law enforcement officials and the media. No cameras were allowed at the hearing because of a media gag order imposed by Sylvester last week.

"A conviction of First Degree murder carries a sentence from life-in-prison to death," Sylvester told Holmes.

Penalties in the charges against Homes add up to more than 5, 000 years in jail, although Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers⁶ says she favors the Death Penalty.

The murder charges against Holmes doubled as 12 charges of " premeditated" First Degree murder and 12 charges of "extreme indifference⁷" First Degree murder. The 116 charges of attempted murder carry a maximum penalty of 48 years each.

"He did look evil," said Hansen, "but much different from the first hearing where he just looked spaced out," she said.

Hansen said as a Christian⁸ she does not favor the Death Penalty, but would like to see Holmes tried as a terrorist and stay behind bars "living with what he did for the rest of his life."

Holmes will appear in court again on November 13 at a Preliminary Hearing that is expected to take most of that week, where more details of his crimes will be heard and his plea may be entered.

Lawyers for the defense, prosecution⁹ and the media will reconvene at the Arapahoe County courthouse on August 9 at a status conference to discuss a gag order placed on court proceedings¹⁰ by Sylvester, as well as a motion of client privilege filed by Holmes' attorneys on Friday. These motions will be decided¹¹ in a hearing a week later on August 16, according to Sylvester.

Despite "sealing" details of the case last week in a gag order, Sylvester Monday unsealed the People's"Felony Complaints" which allowed the public to see the specific charges against Holmes. The 116 counts of "Criminal Intent to Commit Murder" included the names of all 116 people at the movie theater in Aurora¹² on the night of the shootings.

On Monday, Sylvester granted Holmes' attorneys the return of the controversial "notebook" that was seized by police previously¹³ from the University of Colorado mailroom, that Holmes sent his psychiatrist¹⁴ Dr. Lynne Fenton.

Holmes' lawyers say the notebook, part of a "package" seized by police from the University of Colorado mailroom, is privileged because it's communication between a patient and his therapist. In a motion on Friday they asked for the return of the "notebook."

Also addressed at the Monday hearing were two video surveillance "discs" in the possession of the prosecution, one showing the interior of the mailroom at the University of Colorado and the other showing the Adam's County sheriff's office where the "package" was transferred and examined.

"We were told by the under sheriff that we could not see the contents of the notebook," State's Attorney Richard Orman told the court. If the information between Holmes and his psychiatrist Dr. Fenton is considered privileged, then no one but Holmes and his counsels are entitled to possess it.

Orman agreed his office would copy the discs and send them to Holmes' attorneys this week.

Colorado media attorney Steven Zansberg also addressed the court Monday, asking for media access to court proceedings that was blocked by Sylvester last week. The Denver Post and 19 other media organizations on Friday filed a motion seeking to reverse Sylvester's gag order, which will be addressed at the hearings in August.

1 maroon   

v.困住，使（人）处于孤独无助之境；n.逃亡黑奴；孤立的人；酱紫色，褐红色；adj.酱紫色的，褐红色的

参考例句：

• Five couples were marooned in their caravans when the River Avon broke its banks.埃文河决堤的时候，有5对夫妇被困在了他们的房车里。
• Robinson Crusoe has been marooned on a desert island for 26 years.鲁滨逊在荒岛上被困了26年。

2 lucid   

adj.明白易懂的，清晰的，头脑清楚的

参考例句：

• His explanation was lucid and to the point.他的解释扼要易懂。
• He wasn't very lucid,he didn't quite know where he was.他神志不是很清醒，不太知道自己在哪里。

3 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

4 defenders   

n.防御者( defender的名词复数 )；守卫者；保护者；辩护者

参考例句：

• The defenders were outnumbered and had to give in. 抵抗者寡不敌众，只能投降。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• After hard fighting,the defenders were still masters of the city. 守军经过奋战仍然控制着城市。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 chambers   

n.房间( chamber的名词复数 )；（议会的）议院；卧室；会议厅

参考例句：

• The body will be removed into one of the cold storage chambers. 尸体将被移到一个冷冻间里。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Mr Chambers's readable book concentrates on the middle passage: the time Ransome spent in Russia. Chambers先生的这本值得一看的书重点在中间：Ransome在俄国的那几年。 来自互联网

7 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

8 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

9 prosecution   

n.起诉，告发，检举，执行，经营

参考例句：

• The Smiths brought a prosecution against the organizers.史密斯家对组织者们提出起诉。
• He attempts to rebut the assertion made by the prosecution witness.他试图反驳原告方证人所作的断言。

10 proceedings   

n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• to initiate legal proceedings against sb 对某人提起诉讼

11 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

12 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

13 previously   

adv.以前，先前（地）

参考例句：

• The bicycle tyre blew out at a previously damaged point.自行车胎在以前损坏过的地方又爆开了。
• Let me digress for a moment and explain what had happened previously.让我岔开一会儿，解释原先发生了什么。

14 psychiatrist   

n.精神病专家；精神病医师

参考例句：

• He went to a psychiatrist about his compulsive gambling.他去看精神科医生治疗不能自拔的赌瘾。
• The psychiatrist corrected him gently.精神病医师彬彬有礼地纠正他。