Tania Covarrubias
Criminal Justice 234
Tina
January 30, 2018
Case Involving James Holmes
Facts of the case involving James Holmes
On July 20, 2012 James Holmes, murder twelve people and injured seventy people in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. On July 16, 2015, “James Holmes was found guilty on all 165 counts against him: 24 first-degree murder, 140 attempted murder and one count of possession or control of an explosive or incendiary device” (“Colorado Theater”, 2017). Holmes proposes to plead guilty to dodge the death penalty. His request was denied. Holmes processed by declaring guilty for reason of insanity and the judge accepts.
Defendant’s Charges
The following month on August 26, 2015. A judge in Colorado sentences Holmes to twelve
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Holmes is taken to the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo for supervision.
A month later, Holmes Attorneys defended his client, by saying, "Mr. Holmes suffers from a severe mental illness and was in the throes of a psychotic episode when he committed the acts that resulted in the tragic loss of life and injuries sustained by movie goers on July 20, 2012” (“Colorado Theater”, 2017). Holmes defense to his actions was because he believe the reason he killed everyone is because he was unable to control his actions because of the movie he watched.
Theory of Holmes’ Case
My theory of this case is to believe this case wasn’t a case of insanity because this individual clearly planned his actions. Holmes stepped out of the movie theater and returned wearing protective gear. His outfit was described wearing a “ballistic helmet, protective gear for his legs, throat and groin, black gloves and a gas mask. He props open the door, before throwing two tear gas canisters into the theater” (“Colorado Theater”, 2017). According to officials, his apartment was wire “at the front door that would have touched off an array of explosives and flammable liquids” (“Colorado Theater”, 2017). Homes knew how to physically protect himself and his home. A man to be insane would have done his actions impulsive, not by covering his
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I believe why he writes “why” several times is because inside he has much anger and questions why he failed in life. This could have been a method to cover his tracks and later tell the judge being guilty of insanity. After reviewing his mental health history. He’s parents took him to a “school counselor in hopes to help his son with his social communication” (“James Holmes”,2018). Homes was a shy child but got angry at his mother for moving him at a young age. He’s mother stated he was “awkwardly social” and at the age eleven attempt to commit suicide. Although he wasn’t socially accepted he was able to be accepted to a university. Holmes life changed when “three days after failing a key oral exam at the university in early June 2012, Holmes dropped out of his studies without further explanation,” (“James Holmes”,2018). My theory is he never felt accepted and after failing in college he was confused on what to do. This man in my option wasn’t insanity but wanted revenge and attention. On July 20,2012 he wanted the world to know who he was and what he was capable of
MILLERSBURG — Two evaluator say he is not guilty by reason of insanity, now it’s up to a judge to make a final finding in the case against a Millersburg man who allegedly wrote threatening letters to three deputies and a judge while incarcerated in the Holmes County Jail in December. Rhett Neville, 43, of 10489 Township Road 262, previously entered a plea of not guilty by reason of insanity in Holmes County Common Pleas Court to four counts of intimidation. Since, Neville has undergone psychiatric evaluations and two doctors have expressed opinions he should be found not guilty by reason of insanity. The consistency of the two evaluations, according to court discussions has brought the case to a point where defense attorney Andy Hyde said
As we all know 27 year old James Eagan Holmes opened fire in a crowded movie theater, Century 16, on July 20,2012. Holmes had over 700 rounds of ammunition with him, killing 12 and injuring 70. Not long ago, over 3 years after the shooting, on August 7th, Holmes was sentenced to 12 life sentences and 3,318 years without parole. Holmes was a former grad student.
James Holmes did not live a normal childhood. He attempted suicide at a young age. He would see things starting at a young age that (although not actually there but they were in his mind) involved loud noises throughout the night and people fighting and killing each other with weapons and firearms. I think a stronger focus on James Holmes younger years could have helped out the defense a great deal and they didn’t really seem to focus on it that much during the
Insanity Defense Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, today I will be presenting why Edward Anderson is mentally ill and needs to be placed in a mental hospital. We discovered that Edward Anderson went inside Xavier Vanderbilt’s room at midnight for eight nights straight. One night when Edward saw Xavier’s eye, he decided to kill him at that moment. The crime scene occurred on 13130 Morrison St. Moreno Valley CA 92555. The crime took place on December 9, 1852, at 1:12 a.m.
When he was arrested, Aurora police officer Jason Oviatt, said he was “completely compliant.” "He was just standing there not doing anything, not urgent about anything," Oviatt testified. He also said that “Holmes didn't resist, not in the slightest.” Many of the victims and the victims families showed up to the trial. One victim is Farrah Soudari.
(151) This was a way for Holmes both to get the pleasure of murder and capitalize on the death. Holmes would
In reviewing the Supreme Court case of Roper v. Simmons 543 U.S. 551 (2005), we review the allegation of the violation of the Eighth Amendment in the trial court’s use of cruel and unusual punishment in its sentencing of Christopher Simmons; who was a juvenile at the time of the crime; to a sentence of death. In reviewing the facts of the case, we find that Christopher Simmons, then 17 and a junior in high school, along with Charles Benjamin and John Tessmer, planned the commission of a burglary with the intent to commit murder under the perception that they were minors and as such would be able to get away with the crimes. Upon his capture, Simmons, admitted to the crimes and provided law enforcement with the details of the crimes. Because of his age and the nature of the crime, Simmons was considered to be
Devil in the White City by Erik Larson is a nonfiction novel that takes is based around true events surrounding the building of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, a monumental event that holds great prestige, not unlike hosting the Olympics or Super Bowl today. The creation of the Chicago World’s Fair was designed to celebrate the discovery of america by Columbus, as well as to show the world that Chicago had recovered from the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which destroyed most of the city. This bid to host the World’s Fair in America followed the great success of the 1889 French Exposition in Paris, where the Eiffel Tower, built to be a temporary landmark, stood as a monument to French beauty and sophistication. In this non-linear novel
You may think Mr.Smith was most likely insane when he admitted to two police officers that he killed the Mr.Johnson, dismembered the corpse, and hid the body parts under the floorboards. Let's say you think someone is insane what do you think of when you think of insane. I’d believe you would think of someone who has huge mood swings, excessive worrying or anxiety, hallucinations or delusions, and inability to cope with daily problems and activities. You will most definitely see in my essay that Mr.smith was not insane but just a murderous sane man. First of all, Mr.smith was a very intelligent man and planned every single move and procedure of this murder precisely , which is the exact opposite of uncontrollable or impulsive behavior.
Attending the university and working towards getting his medical degree, Holmes was surrounded by corpses and easy access to medications. As a medical student [in order to keep up with tuition]… he stole [the] corpses, which he used to make false life insurance claims (Erik Larson, 2003). With these insurance claims he managed to emphasis and perfect his fraud technics that would later be used throughout his criminal career. As a young boy Holmes preferred to operate on living animals, [had a good precision], became skilled in disabling the creatures without killing them(Depraved, 1994 Harold Schechter pg 11)but while attending the university, Holmes would also use some of the corpses to experiment and perfect his precision skills needed to cut a body without hitting any fatal veins.
Holmes had another con man that claimed dead so that way they could claim a $10,000 life insurance claim. They both would go and sell things that would “make you feel better” but in reality these were just poisonous liquids that he would use just to kill people. The Police would soon catch on to
Yes, taking these precautions was sane of him, but stalking, murdering, and hallucinating are all traits that lead towards being insane. In the end, the narrator did prove to be insane, with his reasonless murder, and absurd hallucinations. But all in all, even if the evidence does lead to the narrator being insane, as Poe once said, “The scariest monsters are the ones that lurk within our
Conspiracy theories have become a prevalent part of today’s society as the ever-looming belief that the government cannot be trusted further continues to be present thought. A leading conspiracy theory is that the infamous serial killers H.H. Holmes and Jack the Ripper were in fact one in the same. It is believed that H.H. Holmes committed anywhere from 20 to 200 murders during the middle to late 1800’s. He was arrested and tried for the homicides in 1894, but was not convicted until 1895. The next year, in May of 1896 H.H. Holmes was hung for the murder of one of his victims, Benjamin Pitezel, later being laid to rest in a cemetery in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
MOVIE THEATHER MASSACRE! Headlines in bold print took over the local and major news networks. On July 20 2012, the horrific event known as the Aurora Colorado shooting took place. 25-year old James Holmes, clad in black ballistic body armor that covered his entire body, entered century movie theater and unleashed several smoke and gas canisters. He then opened fire on the crowd.
What can a man do when his world comes crashing down around him? Does he give up and wait for the inevidable? Does he fight back even if he knows he's going to lose? Lose what, actually? How can you lose something that's already lost?