In this March 12, 2013 file photo, Aurora, Colo., theater shooting suspect James Holmes sits in the courtroom during his arraignment in Centennial, Colo.
Messages posted on two dating sites can be used as evidence in the accused Colorado theater shooter’s trial, a judge has ruled.
Holmes exchanged messages using AdultFriendFinder.com and Match.com in the months before the July 2012 shooting. On the websites, Holmes reportedly posted, “Will you visit me in prison?” Prosecutors say the records prove Holmes had planned the shooting for months, understood it was wrong, and expected to go to prison as a consequence. They hope to use the records to undermine the insanity defense his lawyers are pushing. District Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. ruled on Thursday that the records can be used as evidence in the trial.
Holmes will stand trial for first-degree murder and more than a hundred other counts after he allegedly opened fire on a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colo., killing 12 and injuring 70. Jury selection in the trial is scheduled to begin in February of next year, and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
[AP]