91.5 Chapel Hill 88.9 Manteo 90.9 Rocky Mount 91.1 Welcome 91.9 Fayetteville 90.5 Buxton 94.1 Lumberton 99.9 Southern Pines 89.9 Chadbourn

Colorado Theater Shooting Suspect Will Enter Insanity Plea

In a court filing today, lawyers for Colorado theater shooting suspect James Holmes said he intended to plead not guilty by reason of insanity.

Holmes will enter the plea, the court filing says, during a hearing on May 13.

Holmes is accused of opening fire in a crowded Aurora, Colo. movie theater, killing 12 people and injuring 70.

Back in March, a judge entered a not guilty plea on Holmes' behalf. That same month, his defense attorneys floated the idea that Holmes was willing to plead guilty to avoid the death penalty. Prosecutors slammed his defense team, calling that offer a "publicity ploy."

"Holmes would need a judge's permission to change his plea," The Denver Post reports.

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
Eyder Peralta is NPR's East Africa correspondent based in Nairobi, Kenya.
More Stories
  1. Jerry Seinfeld and the fraught history of comedians and 'political correctness'
  2. Bearing witness, celebrating strength: How poetry has changed lives for NPR's audience
  3. On 'Here in the Pitch,' Jessica Pratt's pop seduces listeners into a Los Angeles noir
  4. Katie Ledecky tells NPR about her plans for the Paris Olympics — and L.A. in 2028
  5. Hope Hicks, former Trump confidant, testifies against him in New York criminal trial