James Holmes Found Guilty in Aurora Movie Theater Shooting

James Holmes has been found guilty on all 24 counts of first-degree murder in a movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado that left 12 people dead and 70 people wounded at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises in 2012. He was found guilty on all 165 counts that were charged against him.

Holmes showed no reaction as the verdict was read.

The former University of Colorado-Denver neuroscience graduate student had pleaded not guilty. His lawyers claimed he suffered from a mental illness and could not differentiate between right and wrong. However, they never denied that he was the gunman who started shooting at the crowd in the movie theater.

The prosecutors claimed Holmes was not insane and that he had been planning the attack, saying he lost his purpose in life when he broke up with his girlfriend and he dropped out of his doctoral program. They provided evidence from two court-appointed psychiatrists who found Holmes to not be legally insane at the time of the crime.

The jury listened to nearly three months of testimony. They deliberated for 13 hours over the span of two days. Now the jurors must determine if he should receive the death penalty or life in prison without the possibility of parole.