07-30-2015, 11:29 PM
Jury Instructions / Mitigating Factors -- Life or Death Deliberations Begin
![[Image: 943520_3fe7863eba124ecea44f796a21634f5e....00_jpg_srz]](http://static.wixstatic.com/media/943520_3fe7863eba124ecea44f796a21634f5e.jpg_srz_321_242_85_22_0.50_1.20_0.00_jpg_srz)
The judge ^ reminded jurors that they already agreed that aspects of Holmes' crimes justify capital punishment, including the fact that he killed multiple people, created a grave risk of death to others, acted in a cruel or depraved manner and laid in wait for his victims.
But he said Holmes has asserted factors that could point to mercy, including his age and emotional state at the time of the crime, his limited capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct, his cooperation with authorities, and any other evidence introduced by his defense.
Then, he enumerated more than 50 such mitigating factors, including that:
-All experts agree that Holmes suffers from schizophrenia, is not faking the illness that caused the events, and if he had been healthy, the crimes would not have taken place;
-"Holmes was genetically loaded to experience a psychotic disorder," given the extensive history of schizophrenia on his father's side of the family;
-he was 24 in 2012, the age when schizophrenics most frequently experience the onset of mental illness;
-he was never arrested before of a crime;
-he was raised in a loving home, surrounded by caring friends and neighbors;
- many people who encountered him later in Colorado missed signals that his mind was deteriorating;the drugs he was prescribed before the attack could have increased his mania and other dangerous symptoms.
-he remains on anti-psychotic and anti-depressive medicine today to treat brain diseases for which there is no cure.
-Holmes still struggles to explain, even years later, why his "mission" took such irrevocable control over his mind.
-his mental illness was, and still is, the sole cause of his shooting.
-committing the attack was not an act he enjoyed or took pleasure in.
-despite the horrific crime, Holmes has friends and family who continue to love and care about him.
"This is an individual decision and not a group decision," Samour stressed, and each juror must give each aggravating and mitigating factor as much or as little weight as they alone determine. "This decision is not mechanical nor mathematical," he said.
Holmes was found guilty of 24 counts eligible for the death penalty because each killing was counted twice, as first-degree murder "after deliberation" and first-degree murder "after extreme indifference." All jurors have to agree that at least one of these counts still justifies the death penalty for capital punishment to be considered in their final deliberations.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jurors-instr...lmes-life/
The judge ^ reminded jurors that they already agreed that aspects of Holmes' crimes justify capital punishment, including the fact that he killed multiple people, created a grave risk of death to others, acted in a cruel or depraved manner and laid in wait for his victims.
But he said Holmes has asserted factors that could point to mercy, including his age and emotional state at the time of the crime, his limited capacity to appreciate the wrongfulness of his conduct, his cooperation with authorities, and any other evidence introduced by his defense.
Then, he enumerated more than 50 such mitigating factors, including that:
-All experts agree that Holmes suffers from schizophrenia, is not faking the illness that caused the events, and if he had been healthy, the crimes would not have taken place;
-"Holmes was genetically loaded to experience a psychotic disorder," given the extensive history of schizophrenia on his father's side of the family;
-he was 24 in 2012, the age when schizophrenics most frequently experience the onset of mental illness;
-he was never arrested before of a crime;
-he was raised in a loving home, surrounded by caring friends and neighbors;
- many people who encountered him later in Colorado missed signals that his mind was deteriorating;the drugs he was prescribed before the attack could have increased his mania and other dangerous symptoms.
-he remains on anti-psychotic and anti-depressive medicine today to treat brain diseases for which there is no cure.
-Holmes still struggles to explain, even years later, why his "mission" took such irrevocable control over his mind.
-his mental illness was, and still is, the sole cause of his shooting.
-committing the attack was not an act he enjoyed or took pleasure in.
-despite the horrific crime, Holmes has friends and family who continue to love and care about him.
"This is an individual decision and not a group decision," Samour stressed, and each juror must give each aggravating and mitigating factor as much or as little weight as they alone determine. "This decision is not mechanical nor mathematical," he said.
Holmes was found guilty of 24 counts eligible for the death penalty because each killing was counted twice, as first-degree murder "after deliberation" and first-degree murder "after extreme indifference." All jurors have to agree that at least one of these counts still justifies the death penalty for capital punishment to be considered in their final deliberations.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/jurors-instr...lmes-life/