By James Smithwick
At this point, it’s common knowledge that James Eagan Holmes is a killer. No one is arguing the Aurora, Co. police have the wrong man. Calling him the alleged gunman seems a bit silly.
On July 20, 2012, police arrested an unresisting Holmes at his car behind the Century 16 theatre moments after the shooting during a showing of The Dark Knight Rises, and claimed Holmes set off gas or smoke canisters in the theater before he (allegedly) opened fire on the moviegoers, ultimately killing 12 and wounding 70 others.
Holmes (allegedly) claimed to have booby-trapped his apartment with explosives, and when investigators arrived there to search the premises, they did find some crude homemade incendiary devices.
In the months prior to the incident, Holmes purchased two Glock 22 pistols, a Remington Model 870 shotgun and a Smith & Wesson M&P15 semi-automatic rifle through legal channels, as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition for the pistols, rifle and shotgun. He had also placed online orders for body armor, survival knives and extended magazines.
Holmes went before a judge three days later and was found to be dazed, confused and generally incoherent. He made no attempt to speak or even look at the judge as he was denied bond. Authorities say his mental capacities were immediately called into question.
The defense attorneys representing Holmes claimed in a motion he was a “psychiatric patient” of the medical director of Anschutz’s Student Mental Health Services prior to the Aurora shooting. CBS News later reported that Holmes met with at least three mental health professionals at the University of Colorado prior to the massacre.
Some of Holmes’ acquaintances suspected prior to the shooting that Holmes suffered from mental illness and could be dangerous. Two weeks before the shooting, he (allegedly) sent a text message asking a graduate student if they had heard of the disorder “dysphoric mania,” and warning the student to stay away from him “because I am bad news.”
He certainly sounds crazy, right?
Or was he laying the groundwork for a defense tactic he knew he would later need once he had (allegedly) carried out the shooting?
Fast forward to March 12, 2013, when the presiding judge in the case, the Hon. William Sylvester had grown tired of the defense team delaying the proceedings and took it upon himself to enter a plea of “not guilty by reason of insanity or mental defect” on Holmes’ behalf.
Then, the judge stated that he was in favor of allowing the use of “narco-analytical interviews” to determine Holmes’ true mental capacities. This would allow the use of “truth serums” like sodium pentathol or benzodiazepines to lower the recipient’s inhibitions and answer questions in a “more truthful manor.”
This means, anything Holmes says while under the influence of the drugs will certainly be used as evidence, quite possibly against him in court. This is tantamount to forcing someone to testify against themselves, is prohibited by the fifth amendment of the U.S. Constitution and provides Holmes with an instant appeal should he be convicted. Worse yet, an appellate judge could find that all the evidence obtained concerning Holmes’ diminished capacities is tainted and throw it all out.
All the work that went into proving the (alleged) killer was actually sane is then lost, and Holmes gets to sit in a rubber room and color with crayons all day.
Where’s the justice in that?
The CIA used narcoanalysis when interrogating prisoners, according to declassified training manuals released in 1996 and the tests were mostly ineffective. In 1963 the US Supreme Court ruled that confessions produced as a result of ingestion of truth serum were “unconstitutionally coerced”, and therefore inadmissible. The viability of forensic evidence produced from truth drugs has been addressed in lower courts – judges and expert witnesses have generally agreed that they are not reliable.
The courts need to slow it down a bit and make sure all the appropriate bases are covered here. For justice to truly prevail for the victims of this horrific crime, the justice system should crawl at a snail’s pace if necessary and make sure that the (alleged) sociopath gets the fairest trial possible. If mistakes are made due to haste, the message will be clear to all.
Who do you have to kill around here to actually go to jail?