Holmes Defense Lawyers Seek Subpoena on Fox Reporter


Defense lawyers for 24-year-old James Holmes are planning to subpoena a Fox News reporter who reported on information with a gag order on it. Jana Winter reported that Holmes had sent a package containing a detailed notebook of his mass-murder plans to his psychologist, an occurrence that was to stay under wraps by order of Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester.

Holmes stands accused of murdering 12 people and wounding 58 in the Aurora, CO theater shooting on July 20th this year. A previous neuroscience graduate student, Holmes had been seeing psychiatrist Lynne Fenton before failing key exams and eventually withdrawing from the program—just weeks before the shooting.

“We have not received a subpoena on Jana Winter’s behalf and will evaluate once we do,” said Fox News. Several law enforcement officers were already questioned and have sworn under oath that they did not leak the information. The notebook had previously been kept in a university mailroom.

Prosecutors now expect Holmes’ lawyers to ask the judge to impose sanctions on prosecutors because of the leak. Some believe this move is being made for the express purpose of getting the death penalty knocked off any sentence, as a punishment against prosecutors.

“There’s a real danger that the sideshow is taking over the circus,” warned Craig Silverman, who was once a Denver prosecutor and now runs a private practice. Silverman says the defense is making a big deal out of the notebook leak as a technicality to will improve Holmes’ sentence despite how the trial goes.

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