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 Holmes, a 27-year-old former neuroscience graduate student, could
face the death penalty if convicted of opening fire inside a packed
midnight premiere of a Batman film in July 2012, killing a dozen
people and wounding 70 others.
He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to multiple counts
of murder and attempted murder, and his long awaited trial began
this week in a courtroom on the outskirts of Denver.
On Wednesday, the prosecution called witness Joshua Nowlan, a former
U.S. Navy sailor who worked on aircraft carriers.
He went to the movie, "The Dark Knight Rises," at the Century 16
multiplex in the Denver suburb of Aurora with friends who had just
returned from their honeymoon in Florida.
About 15 or 20 minutes into the film, a tear gas canister was thrown
into the theater, and then the shooting started.
Nowlan, who shielded his friends from the bullets, was shot twice
and has undergone multiple surgeries. He used the cane he now needs
to walk to show jurors what he saw next.
 "I assumed it had to be the shooter, from his stance ... He was
walking around, and I can see him pointing the gun in a circular
motion that looked like he was searching for more people ... I was
terribly scared," Nowlan told the court.
"My thought process was that he was searching for other people and
that he was going to start going row by row, and that anybody he
would see in that row who was still moving, he would shoot."
DISTURBING ACCOUNTS
He described the gunman firing booming, three-round bursts for what
"felt like hours."
Asked if the gunman moved fast or methodically, Nowlan said: "He was
definitely moving slowly."
The hushed courtroom was shown horrific photos of the wounds
sustained by Nowlan, who described his companions trying to push
muscle and tissue back into a hole in his leg.
"It felt as if someone was taking a rusted railroad nail and jamming
it into my leg," he said. "I almost believed that my arm was
completely blown of."
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Defense lawyers objected to the repeated gruesome testimony from
wounded victims, saying that, since the defense does not contest
Holmes fired guns in the theater that night, the focus on disturbing
accounts could threaten his right to a fair trial.
Arapahoe County District Court Judge Carlos Samour rejected that
argument and agreed with the prosecution, which responded to the
public defenders' motion with scorn.
"I don't know what it means that they're not disputing anything. If
they don't want to dispute, they can plead guilty!" said prosecutor
Rich Orman.
"Otherwise, everything's in dispute ... We have to prove our case
the way we think is appropriate, not the way (they) think."
Prosecutors say Holmes, who was armed with a handgun, shotgun and
semiautomatic rifle, carried out the massacre because he had lost
his career, girlfriend and purpose in life, and did it "to make
himself feel better."
Holmes' public defenders say he was suffering from schizophrenia;
that he heard voices in his head telling him to kill; and that he
was not in control of his actions "or what he perceived to be
reality."
The trial is expected to last four or five months.
(Reporting by Keith Coffman; Writing by Daniel Wallis; Editing by
Andre Grenon)
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