James Holmes offers guilty plea to avoid death penalty
Source: USA Today
Attorneys for Denver-area theater shooting suspect James Holmes have offered to have him plead guilty and be jailed for life to avoid the death penalty, KUSA-TV is reporting.
The prosecution has not yet responded to the offer, which came in a court filing Wednesday.
"Mr. Holmes is currently willing to resolve the case to bring the proceedings to a speedy and definite conclusion," the filing reads.
The defense team said the case could end Monday if the Arapahoe County district attorney accepts the deal. Prosecutors planned to announce Monday whether they would seek the death penalty.
Holmes, 25, is charged with first-degree murder for the July 20 rampage that killed 12 moviegoers and wounded nearly 60 others at the premiere of the latest Batman film at a multiplex in Aurora.
On March 12, a judge entered a not guilty plea on Holmes' behalf but said Holmes could enter a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity later.
Trial is set for Aug. 5.
Read more: http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2013/03/27/colorado-theater-killings-guilty-plea-offer/2025809/
slackmaster
(60,567 posts)TIA.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)SharonAnn
(13,778 posts)Peter cotton
(380 posts)Were it up to me...
xtraxritical
(3,576 posts)guilty. Myself, I would prefer a quick death to life in solitary confinement. He'll have to be put in solitary because he won't last a night in general population, and the 'mates will surly get him anyway. Give him life and it's a sure death sentence for him. Guilty with life is best for all concerned.
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)what does his lawyer have to work with to keep him from getting the dp in a jury or bench trial? If he managed to avoid a conviction based on an insanity defense, he would avoid the dp - but be locked up in a psych institution the rest of his life. so why take the chance? after a likely conviction, there would have been the ultimate parade of horrors in the sentencing phase - which would have led him straight to death row.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)and it was rejected...
arely staircase
(12,482 posts)but if life without parole is real in Colorado, he will never walk the streets again. and the families won't have to go through the excruciating trial. Justice served, money saved, further emotional trauma avoided.
Ash_F
(5,861 posts)HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)Ash_F
(5,861 posts)That's not common.
That was serious question for people who might know more about the case then me at this point. Don't be a smartass.
HereSince1628
(36,063 posts)Ash_F
(5,861 posts)It's ok, not many DUers do.
alp227
(32,052 posts)But I think Holmes is being a pig right here.
Comrade Grumpy
(13,184 posts)The dead are dead and are not coming back no matter what the verdict.
This would keep Holmes behind bars for life and save Colorado taxpayers hundred of thousands, if not millions, of dollars.
xtraxritical
(3,576 posts)even in protective custody the inmates will find away to get to him. Way to go.
joshcryer
(62,276 posts)However, it's still possible, it just hasn't been done in almost 20 years. I suspect Coloradans would want to see Holmes be executed, however. It'd be a shame if Colorado let him be the reason for the end in the near two decade gap between executions, though.
iandhr
(6,852 posts)But I would not loose sleep over Holmes.
Third Doctor
(1,574 posts)First he surrenders to people that are armed and can actually kill him after murdering unarmed people and now he does not want to face death. I usually oppose the death penalty but I may reconsider for this guy.
dballance
(5,756 posts)They get housed in a more expensive unit of jails. Then there are automatic appeals in some cases that have to be fought no matter whether or not the defendant and his attorney wish to. In some cases I don't believe these can be waived but I'm not sure. Anyone who knows CO law and CO DP law feel free to chime in and correct me with actual facts (but nicely please). These court proceedings cost the state as well as the defendant.
Yes, I'm basing my opinion on cost-benefit.
Of course, it can't be pleasant to be locked up until you die of old age. At this guy's young age that might be viewed as a fate worse than death. I, personally, would view it as a fate worse than death. It's not like he can expect some future governor or president to pardon him or commute his sentence. He's not going to get out with testing of new DNA evidence that proves he didn't do it (the way some wrongfully convicted people are). He killed multiple people. No politician will ever touch that.
Even if some enterprising lawyer comes up with alleged technical reasons he should be freed I sincerely doubt any court will grant a hearing on them. They'll find their own technical reason why they shouldn't hear them.
The plea seems like the least offensive option to me.
Tender to the Bone
(93 posts)and there is agreement that it is extremely costly.
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/new-voices-colorado-district-attorney-says-death-penalty-costly-time-consuming-and-unfair
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/studies-colorados-death-penalty-rarely-applied-and-arbitrary
http://www.deathpenaltyinfo.org/angolite-tells-story-wrongful-execution-colorado
Hope that information helps.
struggle4progress
(118,338 posts)Douglas Carpenter
(20,226 posts)emotional reaction - It is common sense that no one- absolutely no one makes a conscious choice to become that twisted. But even liberals don't want to reason things like this through anymore. The abandonment of reason is not limited just to right-wing circles, so it seems
Seeking Serenity
(2,840 posts)Put him behind bars. Have done with it.
Samurai_Writer
(2,934 posts)NGRI=not guilty by reason of insanity. If he was found NGRI, he'd be coming to CMHIP -- where I work. Let him take the deal and stay in prison (probably SuperMax in Canon City) for the rest of his life. Cheaper for the tax payers than the death penalty, and the families will have closure on this tragedy. And honestly, I don't want him at my hospital.
LisaL
(44,974 posts)Being mentally ill does not equal legally insane.
Samurai_Writer
(2,934 posts)But every patient I have on my unit who has been found NGRI is severely mentally ill. A defendant has to have the capacity to understand that what he has done is wrong... most severely mentally ill people do not have that capacity.
LisaL
(44,974 posts)There was a lot of planning involved.
Samurai_Writer
(2,934 posts)I have patients who planned their crimes down to the last detail... because their voices told them to do it. All I'm saying is, from what I have seen and read about this guy, he is very much like some of the patients I have seen who have been found NGRI.
LisaL
(44,974 posts)I do think prosecution should take the deal. This way there is no chance he is found NGRI and gets out one day.
Samurai_Writer
(2,934 posts)People think that if a person is found NGRI, that they stay in the hospital a couple of years, then the doctors just let them walk out the door, 'cured'. That is the furthest thing from the reality of it. I would say 99% of NGRI patients never leave the state hospital (well, until they die, then they can leave).
LisaL
(44,974 posts)Ash_F
(5,861 posts)I've never heard of it. Not even for a single murder, though maybe it has happened. I certainly doubt it has happened in the case of any mass shootings. Though I have not heard of anyone being found NGRI for a mass shooting either.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)NGRI is a very tall legal hurdle, and I've never known it to be successful in mass shootings with this much premeditation...
Festivito
(13,452 posts)Other than that, his life should be in forfeit.
Justice
(7,188 posts)Kalidurga
(14,177 posts)Personally I don't think I would want to live 40 or more years in a high security prison. But, if that is what he wants I think he should get it. He might think it's all fun and games now because he still has a lot of media attention and a lawyer. But, eventually it will all go away. If he gets life his lawyer is gone. The media will be tired of him about 5 minutes from now. His family if they are visiting him now may grow tired of that, I sure would, I would start finding things to do and not be able to make visitation. He will likely spend a lot of time in solitary. If he goes to general he will have to deal with a lot of inmates that will very likely be hostile. The guards might be worse. It won't be fun in any case, he will likely never have a friend.
bubbayugga
(222 posts)Arkana
(24,347 posts)You can only kill him once.
Let him rot in solitary confinement in a SuperMAX for the rest of his life--no visitors, no phone calls, no anything. Isolation from all of society is the worst thing we could possibly do to him.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,198 posts)...but I see no purpose on putting a clearly mentally ill person on trial simply so that he can get the death penalty and the state gets its pound of flesh.
Take the deal, keep him alive, let him rot away in jail for the rest of his life, and have him serve as a reminder of what "legal" gun owners can do with their weapons.
No one's coming back to life just because the state sticks a needle in his arm. "Justice" can never be served that way.