Judge: Colorado theatre shooting defendant must undergo 2nd evaluation in death penalty case

DENVER – The judge in the Colorado theatre shootings case says defendant James Holmes must undergo a second psychiatric evaluation at the state mental hospital.

The ruling Wednesday says Holmes’ first evaluation last summer was incomplete and inadequate. The critical findings of that evaluation haven’t been made public.

The judge granted prosecutors’ request for a second evaluation but said it should be done by another doctor at the state hospital, not by doctors chosen by the prosecutors.

If jurors eventually decide Holmes was insane, he would be acquitted of the crimes and committed indefinitely to the state hospital. If they decide he was sane, he could be convicted and sentenced either to be executed or spend life in prison without parole.

Holmes is charged with killing 12 people and injuring 70 in a 2012 attack on a suburban Denver movie theatre. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.