James Holmes Spared Death Penalty

James Holmes, who killed 12 people and injured 70 others in 2012 when he opened fire at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, has been spared the death penalty. He will serve life in prison without parole. The majority of the case has centered on Holmes’ mental health—multiple state and defense psychiatrists have testified that he suffered from a mental illness, mainly schizophrenia. Defense argued that giving him the death penalty would be unjust, but the jury rejected arguments that his illness prevented him from knowing right from wrong.