I finally figured out today what those little laptops are that are on each of the lawyer's tables. Apparently they're real time displays of what the court reporter is typing. Either that means she's typing in full english, or she has software that translates her shorthand into english right away. That's pretty cool as I thought the court report still had to re-type everything into english at a later date.
This morning the thingy at the defense table is causing them trouble. But they did start court around 9am and I think are spending today and tomorrow going over the details of the sentencing hearing.
Hmmmm ... there's also a new dude at the prosecution's table. Never saw him during the actual trial. Maybe he's a prosecutor who specializes in sentencing stuff?
Both sides and the judge spent most of the morning going over the instructions for the jury for Phase 1 of the sentencing hearing (which starts Wednesday morning). Next on the agenda was to go over the judge's introductions to Phase 1, but I missed that part. I think at some point today or tomorrow they were also going to go over the introductions and instructions for Phase 2 because everyone thinks the jury won't be out too long deliberating for Phase 1. The defense is hoping to start Phase 2 on Wednesday afternoon - mostly because they have witnesses they're trying to schedule who aren't available again until mid-August.
I'm not exactly sure what the three phases of a sentencing hearing are, but phase 1 seems to have something to do with 'aggrevations' - meaning the specific circumstances under which the first degree murder was carried out. Some examples that were talked about were things like ambush, torturous acts, killing a child under 12, and that sort of thing. I guess if all these things apply it makes the situation that much more worse, and I think pretty much all those things apply to Holmes.
They also talked about the fact that while Holmes could be found guilty on two counts of first degree murder per victim, he can't be sentenced for two counts of first degree murder. The two counts are technically added together and the sentencing decided upon, in essence, is for both combined. In reality it doesn't really change anything because there are only two options - death or life in prison without parole. So it doesn't really matter if you sentence him to death 12 times (for each of the 12 victims) or 24 times (for each of the counts).
Speaking of 'Holmes' - when the judge reads the instructions he refers to Holmes as "the defendant." But the defense asked that he referred to as "James Holmes." They claimed it was his constitutional right. The judge disagree and will be sticking with "the defendant." He said it's because that's how it's always done and he isn't making an exception in this case.
Mr. Orman, from the prosecution, is doing all the talking for the prosecution so far, but there are at least 3-4 other lawyers with him. I guess that's his specialty? But that new guy - whom I'm assuming is another lawyer, hasn't said a word. Weird.
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It's now after lunch - 2:13pm my time and Colorado time - and court is back in session. This afternoon it appears they're doing an interview with one of the defense's witnesses who is unable to attend in the coming weeks. They're doing the whole thing with the witness, without the jury, and will play the video of it for the jury at the proper time. The downside to this is that the jury will be unable to ask questions of this witness, but the defense doesn't seem to think that's an issue.
The witness is referring to Holmes as "Jimmy" because that's what he would have been called in this witness's grade 5 class back in 1998/1999. The defense was also calling him "Jimmy" and the prosecution objected that the court had been told to always refer to people by their last names or titles (i.e. Mr. Holmes or the defendant). The judge sustained the objection and now they're having a bench conference as the two sides argue about it further. The judge still sustained the objection.
The witness, overall, was rather useless if you ask me. He was Holmes' fifth grade teacher. He hadn't seen or spoken with Holmes since fifth grade! That was a long time ago. He talked about how smart, friendly and popular Holmes was in fifth grade and how he trusted this kid. That's nice, but he's no longer that same kid. And I don't know about you, but I sure wouldn't want to be judged NOW based on how I behaved or what I did in fifth grade! I seriously doubt the jury will lend this witness any weight in their decision.
After the witness finished testifying they went back to talking about various instructions, etc., for phase 2. I went home in the middle of this, so I didn't see how it ended. It's now 9:11am on July 21st and there's no livestream ... yet. I'm not sure if that means there won't be at all, or if they're starting later. I guess it's possible they finished everything yesterday.
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