James Holmes, who is responsible for the twelve deaths and
58 injuries resulting from his open fire in an Aurora, CO, theater in July, was
once a student in a prominent academic program. He was a doctoral student for
the University of Colorado-Denver’s neuroscience program, which he withdrew
from just a month before the shooting.
On Wednesday, the university chose to release over 1,500
e-mails to the public sent to and from Holmes from his school e-mail accounts.
Another 2,300 internal staff e-mails surrounding his attack were also released,
according to the LA Times. Not all of Holmes’ e-mails were released, though, as
some are part of the ongoing investigation and others would violate Holmes’
medical and psychiatric privacy.
Judge William B. Sylvester allowed the correspondences to be
made public, letting the university decide which would be made public and which
would remain sealed. While Holmes’ defense’s argument that releasing such
information is a violation of his privacy, the opposition argues that such
information is pertinent because it may reveal intent or Holmes’ state of mind
before the attack.
Currently, Holmes is being held without bail while the
defense and prosecution gather evidence. A preliminary hearing will be held
next month, January, six months after the shooting. Prosecutors will likely
present evidence against Holmes and it will be decided whether or not he will
stand trial.
It is expected that the defense will argue insanity on
Holmes’ part, as they have already contended that he is mentally unstable.
During his time at the University of Colorado-Denver, Holmes saw Dr. Lynne
Fenton for psychiatric counseling, though doctor-patient privilege bars their
conversations from being used as evidence unless Holmes made specific threats.
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