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James Holmes, the man accused of firing into a movie theater crowd in Aurora, Colorado on Friday morning, made his first court appearance this morning. Holmes, 24, had his hair dyed different colors of red and sat in the court without blinking for long periods. Holmes originally told police that he was ‘The Joker’ when he was arrested. He is being held in isolation at the Arapahoe County Jail.
“The charges on which the court found cause included first-degree murder,” Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers said to reporters outside the courtroom, according to CNN. “I would say there’s no such thing as a slam-dunk case. We’re still looking at the enormous amount of evidence.” Chambers said that the decision to pursue the death penalty will be a lengthy one that will include opinions from victims and relatives.
Holmes is accused of killing 12 and wounding 58 moviegoers who were at the Century Aurora 16 movie theater to see the premiere of the new ‘Batman’ movie, ‘The Dark Knight Rises.’ No motive has yet to be released by investigators. Frank Fania, a police spokesman, said that Holmes is being uncooperative and has asked for an attorney, according to CNN. Assigned to the case is Arapahoe County public defender James O’Connor.
Holmes’ family lives in San Diego and released a statement on Friday that said: “Our hearts go out to those who were involved in this tragedy and to the families and friends of those involved. We are still trying to process this information.”
Daniel Oates, the Aurora Police Chief, said this weekend that there is “evidence of, I think, some calculation and deliberation.” The accused, over the past four months, had deliveries come to his home and work. Some of those deliveries could have been items used in the attack and in his apartment.
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Spread across five hospitals, there were still 17 people hospitalized, eight of them in critical condition as of Sunday night. On Sunday, President Barack Obama visited with the survivors and the relatives of the deceased. Obama talked to reporters outside the University of Colorado Hospital and said:
“I confessed to them that words are always inadequate in these kinds of situations, but that my main task was to serve as a representative of the entire country and let them know that we are thinking about them at this moment, and will continue to think about them each and every day. It reminds you that even in the darkest of days, life continues and people are strong and people bounce back and people are resilient. Out of this darkness, a brighter day is going to come.”
