Aurora Shooting Trial: Jury Allows Death Penalty as Possible Punishment

A jury has decided in the Aurora massacre trial that the death penalty will remain an option for James Holmes.

Holmes has already been found guilty on all 165 counts related to the July 2012 shooting, which left 12 dead and 70 injured, but the verdict has now been reached in a second phase of the trial.

This afternoon it was announced that the jury has decided that mitigating factors do not outweigh the aggravating factors for the 12 people who were murdered, meaning that the death penalty is going to be considered as a possible punishment.

Holmes' parents were quietly emotional in court today, as his mother could be seen dabbing her eyes with a tissue. A man on the victim's side of the court was seen pumping his fist.

Now the jury will move on to the third phase and be faced with deciding whether or not to sentence him to death or life without parole. It took the jury just three hours to reach this decision and they will resume court for the third phase tomorrow.

If today's decision went the other way, then the trial would have effectively ended, sentencing him to life in prison with the death penalty removed as a possible sentence.

During this second phase of the trial, the jury heard from a key psychiatrist, Holmes' relatives, teachers, church leaders, soccer buddies and camp counselor friends.

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