Judge in Colo. movie massacre case denies request for trial move

DENVER — The judge overseeing Colorado’s movie theater massacre case denied a request by lawyers for James Holmes to move his upcoming trial out of the county where he fatally shot 12 people, court papers showed on Thursday.

Lawyers for both sides are due to make opening statements on Monday afternoon. Holmes, 27, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to multiple charges of murder and attempted murder for opening fire inside a midnight screening of a “Batman” movie at a Denver-area multiplex in July 2012.

Holmes’ public defenders had sought a venue change, arguing that “pervasive pretrial publicity” and the local impact of the mass shooting jeopardized his right to a fair trial.

Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.

In his ruling, Arapahoe County District Court Judge Carlos Samour noted that substantial advances in technology let today’s media publish stories far and wide “at warp speed.”

“Therefore, transferring a highly-publicized case like this one from one large county to another within the State of Colorado would be as useful as installing a screen door on a submarine,” the judge wrote.

He also wrote that the defense itself had added to the publicity by its own actions, including an appeal by Holmes’ parents for his life to be spared.

Earlier this month, a dozen jury members and 12 alternates were selected from an initial pool of 9,000 possible candidates for the trial.

Holmes’ lawyers concede he was the sole gunman in the attack on the screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” at Aurora’s Century 16, which also wounded 70 people. But they say the former neuroscience graduate student was in the throes of a psychotic episode at the time he plotted and carried out the rampage.