Prosecution Rests in ‘Batman’ Massacre Trial

DENVER (CN) - After witnesses to the massacre testified Friday, some tearfully, the prosecution rested in "Batman" movie gunman James Holmes' mass murder trial.

Friday's testimony juxtaposed dry information with tearful memories: from a 13-year-old babysitter who tried and failed to resuscitate a 6-year-old girl, to a fitness center manager who testified about how often Holmes visited the gym.

Arapahoe County Undersheriff Louie Perea described the books Holmes requested during his stay at the Arapahoe County jail, which included philosophy, science fiction, and war strategy.

A friend who attended classes with Holmes at the Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Hillary Allen, detailed their conversations and texts, including a message from Holmes telling her he was "bad news bears" shortly before the shooting.

Allen called Holmes "quirky," and said he mostly "kept to himself."

She described about a class presentation Holmes gave, in which he interspersed his scientific findings with offbeat, strange jokes.

"I wouldn't have had the confidence to throw jokes around in a scientific setting," Allen said, concluding that she thought it was a "nervous tic" of Holmes', a result of his "socially awkward, introverted," personality.

The day closed with emotional testimony from the last of the prosecution's victim witnesses, Ashley Moser.

Moser, who cried frequently during testimony, described attending the midnight premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises" with her 6-year-old daughter, Veronica Moser-Sullivan, who was killed that night.

Moser, who was pregnant at the time, was shot, paralyzed, and lost her unborn child.

Moser talked about the family's 13-year-old babysitter, Kaylan Bailey, who tried to perform CPR on 6-year-old Veronica, but was unable to. Ashley, paralyzed by a gunshot, had fallen on top of the child and could not get up.

"As soon as I stood up, I just remember getting hit in the chest, and I remember falling and landing on top of [my daughter]," Moser recalled. "I thought it was a firework."

Moser spent days in intensive care before she was told that her daughter had been killed.

"I was told that she didn't make it, that she had passed away," Moser tearfully recounted. She then identified her daughter from a kindergarten photo.

After calling more than 200 witnesses, prosecutors rested.

Holmes' attorneys on Monday will recap their insanity defense: that Holmes' schizoaffective disorder rendered him incapable of knowing the difference between right and wrong.

Holmes could be sentenced to death if convicted.

Subscribe to Closing Arguments

Sign up for new weekly newsletter Closing Arguments to get the latest about ongoing trials, major litigation and hot cases and rulings in courthouses around the U.S. and the world.

Email *

Submit