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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