The defense in the theater shooting trial has one more week to prove to the jury that accused gunman James Holmes was suffering from a psychotic break and could not control his impulse to kill the night he opened fire into a crowded premiere of The Dark Knight Rises. As the tenth week in the trial comes to an end, the gloves are off.
The lawyering was intense in Courtroom 201 Thursday as attorneys duked it out over whether or not two neuropsychological evaluations given to the defendant 20 months apart indicate that he is in the throes of scizophrenia. Dr. Robert Hanlon, a board-certified neuropsychologist from Northwestern University, conducted the testing on the defandant for the defense in April of 2013, 8 months after the shooting, and then again this past January. Hanlon, who testified that he has administered thousands of these tests, told the jury that the defendant’s IQ decreased significantly in the 20 months between tests. His score started with a “superior” rating of 123 in April of 2013 and plummeted to an “high average” 116 this past January, according to the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale. Hanlon told Public Defender Dan King that the 14 point decrease was unexpected, unusual, abnormal and “strongly suggestive of a pathologic process.” Hanlon adding, “That type of decline is consistent with what we know about changes with scizophrenic affective disorder.”
But District Attorney George Brauchler challenged the reliability of the the test scores pointing out that Holmes, as a former neuroscience graduate student, could have had the knowledge to manipulate the results to make it seem like he has a serious mental illness. The admitted shooter has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity for murdering 12 people and injuring 70 more on July 20th nearly three years ago.
Brauchler also brought up the point that though Hanlon has an impressive resume’, he has only testified for the defense and never for the prosecution. The insinuation is that Hanlon is a hired gun.
Hanlon’s extensive lecture schedule at defense attorney gatherings were also fodder for the prosecutor. The title of his conference talks? “Everything You Need to Know About Handling a Death Penalty Case,” “Jury Persuasion for Life : A Capitol Case Training,” and “Life in the Balance.”
When Brauchler dug into the time dependency of the tests, King fired back, suggesting to the jury that this kind of questioning is irrelevant. “Beyond the scope,” objected King during one battery of questions. “We’re getting into the particulars of the test.”
“Overrulled,” said Judge Carlos Samour, “He is challenging the reliability of the (test) score.”
Things got heated when King, a large man, stood up to challenge the DA for asking questions of his expert about the notebook and planning the defendant did before the shooting. Hanlon was not brought to the stand to testify to Holmes’ sanity or opine about his life leading up to the shooting. He was there to give the results of an objective test.
Even though it has been a long, tedious week of testimony involving hours of discussion about the intricacies of mental health, the jury paid attention and took notes. One of them brought in a cupful of candy to get her through the last half of the day and others kept their water bottles handy as they concentrated on the early firework show happening in front of their eyes.
In just about a week and a half these 5 men and 14 women will be asked to go to a back room and begin deliberating whether Holmes’ life will be spared. Judge Carlos Samour described the verdict form the jurors will be required to fill out once each has made a decision. They will have two choices: “A” denotes guilty or not guilty. If they choose guilty, then they will move on to the sentencing phase of the process. If their verdict is not guilty, then they go on to the next step. “B” will give them the option to decide whether the defendant was not guilty but insane the night of the shooting, or not guilty but sane.
Court takes the day off tomorrow and resumes Monday at 9 a.m.