What is the real motive or purpose of the James Holmes Aurora shooting preliminary hearing? The reason for a preliminary hearing is to establish evidence by the prosecutor that there is “probable cause” for James Holmes to go to trial. Usually, preliminary hearings last hours, not days. The Denver Post’s Jan. 8, 2013, report, however, describes more of a trial than a preliminary hearing.
The highlights of Tuesday’s James Holmes Aurora shooting preliminary hearing included Federal Bureau of Investigation agent Garrett Gumbinner’s testimony about the two active explosive systems that investigators found inside James Holmes' apartment. The purpose of both of James Holmes explosive systems were to either set his whole apartment on fire or to explode it.
In his apartment, James Holmes had used a music box, a fishing line, a thermos full of glycerin, a frying pan, “potassium permanganate to create a flame,” a petroleum-soaked carpet, fuses, “jars filled with homemade thermite, smokeless powder and stove-top napalm mixed with bullets,” and “white ammonium chloride sprinkled across the floor by the front door, that was just to scare the police.” In addition to the ingredients for his first explosive device, James Homes used “6-inch fireworks shells, a commercial pyrotechnic firing box atop the refrigerator, another boombox, a toy car and a remote control placed by a Dumpster” for his second trap.
James Holmes had not only prepared his apartment efficiently for a night of terror, but spent months preparing for his Aurora shooting spree.
In addition to FBI agent Garrett Gumbiner, who “was one of two detectives who interviewed Holmes the afternoon following the early-morning shooting, hoping to gain insight into how to safely defuse the explosive tangle they say he created,” Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agent Steven Beggs testified in detail about “the 16 separate purchases Holmes is accused of making to acquire the four guns; 6,295 rounds of rifle, shotgun and handgun ammunition; dozens of gun magazines; ballistic gear; weapon slings; two laser sights; two tear-gas canisters; hundreds of practice targets; explosive chemicals; fireworks supplies; handcuffs; and a military first aid dressing.”
James Holmes bought the items beginning from May 10 to July 4 from online retailers or “the Gander Mountain and Bass Pro Shops sporting goods stores in the metro area.”
It appears that matching James Holmes’ receipts of the purchased items to the items found at the Aurora shooting scene should provide sufficient evidence for a “probable cause.”
During Tuesday’s afternoon preliminary Aurora shooting hearing, Aurora homicide Det. Craig Appel testified that “investigators collected six shotgun hulls, 204 live .223 shells and 65 .223 casings from the theater. Most of the casing were found near the door to Theater 9. The .223 ammunition is what is typically used in an AR-15 type weapon.”
Monday’s surveillance video and testimony by Aurora police detective Matthew Ingui had already established that James Holmes’ cell phone showed that James Holmes had bought the “Dark Knight Rises” movie ticket on July 8, 2012, which was two weeks before the shooting, and that James Holmes had the Aurora movie ticket scanned three times after midnight on July 20.
It appears that James Holmes has been sufficiently linked during the preliminary hearing in People v. James Holmes so far by the prosecutor to the Aurora shooting crime scene in order to go to trial.
But Tuesday’s James Holmes Aurora shooting preliminary hearing included much more than proving “probably cause” and the Aurora shooting preliminary hearing is supposed to continue for at least one more day or even a week.
Prosecutors also established premeditation in James Holmes’ Aurora shooting attack through the testimony of Aurora detective Tom Welton who said that on two online dating profiles for websites Match.com and Adult Friend Finder, James Holmes had asked the question, “"Will you visit me in prison?"
On Tuesday, court visitors could hear the 911 calls that were made during James Holmes’ Aurora shooting spree. The first 911 call had been made by Kevin Quinonez at 12:38 a.m., about 18 minutes after the movie "The Dark Knight Rises" had started.
Monday’s emotional and heart-breaking testimony by Officer Jason Oviatt, Officer Aaron Blue, Officer Justin Grizzle, Specialist Sgt. Jerald Jonsgaard, Aurora police detective Matthew Ingui , the two pathologists, and Detective Todd Fredericksen had already described in detail James Holmes arrest, the devastation James Holmes had caused in the Aurora theater, and the “blood and gore” that became so visual that it is already imprinted in everyone’s heart and mind.
So why more of the same on Tuesday?
What is the real motive for some of the heart-breaking but unnecessary details that are being presented during the James Holmes Aurora shooting preliminary hearing? Wouldn’t those details be more appropriate for the James Holmes trial or James Holmes sentencing?
Previous article:
James Holmes: Aurora shooting new details revealed by 8 people on first day
Comments