On Monday, and in a courtroom almost as tense as the officers who responded to the Aurora theater massacre in Colorado, police officer Justin Grizzle told those present that James Holmes just "looked at me and smiled," when the cop asked the shooter if he had a partner in the shooting.
James Holmes isn't smiling in court this week as his attorney seeks to portray him as an excellent candidate for an insanity defense.
The police officers in attendance aren't aiding his cause, however, with their testimony given Monday. And the Denver Post report showed Sgt. Gerald Jonsgaard's testimony shows that he even thought upon initial reaction that the suited up shooter was a member of SWAT at the massacre scene.
"My first thought was 'how did that SWAT guy get here so quick?'"
Officer Jason Oviatt painted the court a picture of an extremely relaxed criminal, and one who was so cognizant of what was going on around him that he could understand directions being given him and was able to comply with them.
Out of control psychotic people tend to not be able to communicate or respond to communications or directions from others, which the prosecution will undoubtedly point out before the week is over.
Oviatt says Holmes complied with all requests made, and that he put up no resistance physically, during the interaction. Mentally ill people who are in a psychotic state would not be as lucid or controllable as Holmes was on the fatal shooting night. So his defense lawyer definitely has his work cut out for him if he continues to seek the insanity defense angle.
Excessive sweating by the suspect can be explained away by the body armor he wore on the night in question. And his dilated pupils, which could have been the result of drug use (prescribed or illegal), can also be explained by adrenaline rush too.
And that makes it appear that the perpetrator charged with killing 12 and injuring 70 other people was likely not smiling because he was so insane he didn't know better; James Holmes appears to have smiled because he was flattered that Grizzle thought it would take two people to have accomplished what he did all alone.
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