24-year-old neuroscience graduate student at the University of Colorado medical school, James Holmes may be attempting to plead mental illness as to why he committed such a heinous crime, during the screening of The Dark Knight Rises on July 20.
According to USA TODAY, an attorney for Holmes is referring to his client as being "mentally ill"
"We as a defense team cannot begin to examine the nature or depth of Mr. Holmes' mental illness until we receive full disclosure," public defender Daniel King said during the roughly 90-minute hearing in Centennial, Colo.
According to The Denver Post the hearing was momentarily disrupted by a woman who stood up and said she had information "vital to the defense." A sheriff's deputy lead her from the courtroom.
Some of the victims of the July 20 massacre were in attendance, along with members of their family.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys argued over whether a packet of information Holmes sent to a psychiatrist who had been treating him is protected by doctor-patient privilege. Sources have told news organizations the package contains a notebook, but that has not been confirmed.
Judge William Sylvester took the media's request under advisement and said he would rule later.
Holmes is due back in court next Thursday for a hearing about whether his relationship and correspondence with his psychiatrist is protected by doctor-patient confidentiality laws.
King told the judge today that the prosecution has so far turned over 2,677 pages of documents, mostly police reports, the Post writes. But the prosecution has not shared any photographs, recordings of interviews or expert reports.
The prosecution said that investigators are still working to interview witnesses and prepare the reports, and that "hundreds of people" must still be interviewed or re-interviewed, the Post says.
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