Will mental illness save the Aurora theater shooter’s life?
Colorado has executed only one person in the last 40 years. The Aurora theater shooter’s attorneys hope their client’s mental illness will save him from being added to the state’s death row.
The trial is now in the second part of the penalty phase. Jurors must decide whether the defendant, James Holmes, merits the death penalty or life in prison for killing 12 people and injuring 70 in an Aurora movie theater July, 2012. The defense is relying on the shooter’s diagnosed mental illness and positive testimonies of friends and family to win the jury’s grace.
There is no record of a person with a diagnosed mental illness ever being executed in Colorado. In 2002, the controversial topic was brought to the Supreme Court of the United States in the case of Atkins v. Virginia. The Supreme Court ruled that executing intellectually disabled individuals violates the Eighth Amendment’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment. Individual states are left to define who is intellectually disabled and, in turn, who can be executed.
In two separate cases concerning capital punishment for mentally ill people, the Supreme Courts of Florida and Georgia held that the mere presence of mental illness does not exempt a person from execution. An insane person cannot be executed in Colorado, but a jury can sentence a mentally ill person to death if they decide the crime outweighs any mitigating — or redeeming — factors.
The jury in the Aurora theater trial found the shooter to be sane and every mental health professional that testified in the case diagnosed the shooter with a mental illness.
Dr. Jeffrey Metzner was brought to the stand for a second time to speak on how the shooter’s mental illness impacted his decision to plan and carry out a killing rampage. The defendant claimed that he killed others in an attempt to improve his own self worth and — according to the defense —continues to believe in his own theory of human capital: a person gains points for every life taken.
“It’s hard to argue that it’s not a selfish decision,” Metzner said of the shooter’s actions. “(But) I’d add that it was tied into delusional, psychotic thinking.”
Metzner testified that the defendant knew his actions were morally wrong but that he was also suffering from a severe mental illness that impacted his decision-making ability.
District Attorney George Brauchler aims to sway the jury that the shooter’s mental health does not overshadow the gravity of his heinous crime.
“He was choosing improving how he valued himself over the lives of others,” Brauchler said to Metzner on cross-examination.
“Yes,” Metzner agreed.
As president of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law in 2001, on the death penalty until the law prevented the execution of mentally disabled people.
If the jury believes the shooter’s self-described “broken mind” played an essential role in his committing the crime, then his life may be spared.
The parents of deceased victims Jessica Gahwi and Alex Teves, who have regularly attended court since April, are reportedly taking the week off from the trial. The defense plans to continue display of family photos, videos and the direct examination of witnesses who speak of the shooter’s positive, potentially redeeming characteristics until Wednesday, tentatively.
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