Dark Knight Rises Shooting Suspect James Holmes Makes First Court Appearance

Accused mass murderer appears in court looking out of it as a judge advises him of his rights

By Josh Grossberg Jul 23, 2012 4:32 PMTags
James HolmesAP Images

James Holmes just got his first of what will likely be many days in court.

The alleged gunman in last Friday's massacre at a Dark Knight Rises midnight screening in Aurora, Colo., made his first formal appearance Monday since being accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 in the worst mass shooting in U.S. history.

Sporting his dyed orange-red "Joker" hair (as law-enforcement officials termed it last week) and looking stone-faced and somewhat bewildered, Holmes sat quietly beside his public defender as a judge decided there were grounds to hold the 24-year-old former grad student without bail and then advised Holmes of his rights.

"We do an initial probable cause determination to make sure there's an overview of the evidence so the court knows there's enough evidence to continue to hold the defendant," Arapahoe District Attorney Carol Chambers told reporters after today's proceeding at the courthouse in the nearby town of Centennial.
 

Prosecutors now have 72 hours to file formal charges against him. He will be formally arraigned in court on July 30.

Holmes did not make eye contact with any of the victims' families in the courtroom. Instead, his gaze was turned down during most of the hearing.

Before he made his way before a judge, Holmes was being held in solitary confinement at the Arapahoe County detention facility since police took him into custody on Friday.

He has not cooperated with authorities at all since his apprehension. Per Chambers, prosecutors are considering seeking the death penalty in the case.