The attorneys for James Holmes intend to argue on Tuesday that anything he told officers when arrested following the mass shooting in Aurora Colorado last July should be barred from his trial, The Associated Press reported. Upon his arrest, officers asked him questions pertaining to whether he had additional weapons and explosives, all before reading him his Miranda rights.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, intend to counter that the officers were in urgent need to find out whether Holmes had an accomplice with him who may have simultaneously been killing others at the movie theater. They contend the questions were "legal under a public-safety exemption to the Miranda rule," The AP said, and also said they are seeking the death penalty against Holmes.
"There were many locations inside and outside of Theater 9 where other assailants could be hidden," prosecutors wrote in recent weeks.
Holmes is accused of opening fire on more than 400 people during a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora Colorado on July 20, 2012. Twelve people were killed and 70 were injured in the mass shooting.
Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to more than 160 counts of murder and attempted murder. While his lawyers acknowledge he was the shooter, they say their client was having a psychotic episode.
When he was arrested, they repeatedly asked him if he had an accomplice.
"It's just me," Holmes reportedly said, although, later on, he did not saying anything, and merely "smirked" when asked the same question by other officers, according to documents and testimony, The AP reported.
The Colorado court also told potential jurors last week that the trial could last up to eight months, ABC News reported. Legal experts said that it will be "unprecedented" in the state's history.
"The Court will instruct prospective Jurors that individual voir dire will last approximately two to three months and that the trial itself may last four to five months," Arapahoe County District Court Judge Carlos Samour wrote in a Wednesday court order. "As such, they should plan to be available to serve on this case for six to eight months."
"Six to eight months is an extremely long time, especially in Colorado," attorney David Beller told ABCNews.com. "It's very, very rare for there to be a lengthy trial like that. Colorado does not bring death penalty cases very often and even less often actually imposes it. However, this crime is obviously particularly horrific."
The trial is scheduled to begin in February, news reports said.
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