James Holmes's sanity evaluation complete but contents are sealed, confidential

The sanity examination of accused Aurora theater shooter James Holmes is complete. According to a notice filed with the court on September 6 but made public this week, the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo has submitted a 128-page report with the court; copies have also been given to prosecutors...

By Melanie Asmar

September 10, 2013

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The sanity examination of accused Aurora theater shooter James Holmes is complete. According to a notice filed with the court on September 6 but made public this week, the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo has submitted a 128-page report with the court; copies have also been given to prosecutors and to Holmes's defense attorneys.

Its contents are secret; the report will be kept in a "confidential, sealed envelope until further ordered by the Court," says the notice (which is on view below).

Holmes is accused of killing twelve people and injuring seventy more by opening fire at a midnight showing of The Dark Knight Rises at the Century 16 theater in Aurora in July 2012. His attorneys have since admitted that he was the gunman. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case.

The sanity evaluation was conducted because Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to the multitude of charges against him. The original deadline for the evaluation was July 31, but Judge Carlos Samour granted an extension until September 16 after the hospital explained that its evaluator was "reviewing an extraordinary amount of documentation" in connection with the case.

That review is now complete but the public will have to wait for the results.

Read the notice to the court below.

Notice Re: Report From Colorado Mental Health Institution at Pueblo

Follow me on Twitter @MelanieAsmar or e-mail me at [email protected]

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Melanie Asmar is a staff writer for Westword. She joined the paper in 2009 and has won awards for her stories about education, immigration and epic legal battles. Got a tip? She'd love to hear it.

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