Aurora Shooting Suspect James Holmes Faces New Charges

Aurora shooting suspect James Holmes may face new charges after prosecutors requested to add 14 counts of attempted murder to the mass of charges against Holmes on Thursday.

Prosecutors have also amended five other counts that have already been brought on Holmes, 24, though details about the new charges have not been made public, reports USA Today.

Holmes is accused of a shooting rampage in Aurora, Colorado on July 20,where he allegedly donned body armor and killed 12 people and injured 58 more in the crowded midnight premiere of The Dark Knight Rises.

Holmes, a former neuroscience graduate student, sat quietly during Thursday’s court hearing, which lasted 75 minutes. He showed no reaction when Dan King, a defense attorney, stated that there is so much preliminary investigation still remaining that “we cannot begin to examine the nature and depth of Mr. Holmes’ mental illness.”

Attorneys for both the defense and the prosecution continued objections during Thursday’s meeting about the efforts of the media, on behalf of the public, to learn more details about the highly publicized case against James Holmes.

The Denver Post adds that, if the additional 12 counts of attempted murder are approved by the court, they will bring the total number of counts against the accused Aurora shooter to 166.

Other developments in the case against Holmes include an announcement by the accused shooter’s defense attorneys that they will no longer sanction the efforts of the prosecution to release a new mugshot of their client. Prosecutors also announced that they have shared more than 18,000 pages of investigation documents along with 99 CDs and 210 DVDs with the defense team. Despite this, they are not confident that the case is ready for its crucial preliminary hearing, which is presently scheduled for November 13.

The preliminary hearing is very important because it will be the first time evidence against James Holmes in unveiled in a public court hearing. The judge will then determine if there is enough evidence for the case to go forward.

The new charges put forth by the prosecution against accused Aurora shooter James Holmes will be weighed by the judge before a decision is made.