Colorado theater shooting suspect makes first court appearance

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Holmes showed his face to the public for the first time since he was incarcerated² in connection to the worst mass shooting in U. S. history, which left 12 dead and 58 wounded at the premiere of a Batman movie, the Dark Knight³ Rises, early Friday morning.

Five victims' family members were present in the packed courtroom at Colorado's Arapahoe County District Court as Holmes, tied with leather anklet, entered the court at 9:30 a.m. local time (1630 GMT) for his initial advisement hearing, appearing calm and subdued⁴ with no facial expression.

Holmes was wearing a maroon⁵ jail jumpsuit, his mop of orange- dyed hair sitting atop an unshaven face, and with thick, brown sideburns. The defendant⁶ opened and closed his eyes several times during the ten-minute "Initial Advisement" hearing, as if tired or dazed. One time he even closed his eyes. He never looked at people in the packed courtroom.

"We were looking to see a monster, but we didn't see that," said 52-year-old local resident John Vogt, one of 40 citizens who joined 40 members of the media and 20 officials at the hearing.

Holmes will be back in court again on July 30 when formal charges are expected to be filed against him. While declaring Holmes' offence as First-grade murder, Chief Judge William B. Sylvester granted a gag order to prosecutors⁷ out of caution to not compromise jurors in a case that is already highly publicized.

A four-prosecutor team, including veteran Chief Deputy Karen Pearson as the lead, and Rich Orman, Jocob Edsonwill, have been working on the case. While Daniel King from the Arapahoe County Public Defender's office entered his appearance as Holmes' attorney. King refused to speak anything on Holmes after the around-10-minute hearing.

Prosecutors were granted an unusual extension until next Monday on the 72-hour mandated⁸ time for "Filing of Charges" by Sylvester, who told Holmes, "ordinarily individuals are entitled to bail⁹, but given the nature of the charges, you are being held without bond."

Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers¹⁰ told Xinhua she doesn't expect to extend next week's deadline for formal charges. According to Chambers, at least 24 first-degree murder charges are expected to be filed against Holmes, due to Arapahoe County's double-list murder laws, and experts say more than 100 total charges are likely to be filed.

"The death penalty won't be sought until 60 days after the arraignment," Chambers told reporters at a press conference following Holmes' hearing. "Deciding whether to pursue the death penalty is a long process that involves input¹¹ from victims and their relatives," she said.

Chambers added that next Monday's hearing may be postponed¹² if there are any special circumstances.

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