CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Prosecutors on Monday said they will seek the death penalty against the man accused in last year's movie theater attack that killed 12, wounded 70 and spurred new gun control laws in Colorado.
The disclosure came in a court hearing held four days after prosecutors publicly rejected an offer by James Holmes' attorneys that the former neuroscience graduate student would plead guilty to avoid execution.
Prosecutors had said the defense proposal wasn't a valid plea bargain offer, although they could still agree to a plea before the case goes to trial.
"It's my determination and my intention that in this case for James Eagan Holmes justice is death," Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler said at the Monday hearing. He spoke quietly and deliberately without any hesitation.
There was no audible reaction from Holmes, who sat in court with his back to reporters.
Holmes' parents sat side by side in the gallery, clutching hands with fingers intertwined.
President Barack Obama is scheduled to visit Denver on Wednesday to highlight the legislation as part of his push for more gun control after December's Sandy Hook Elementary School massacre.
Read tomorrow's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.
