Accused Aurora shooter James Eagan Holmes sat in a Colorado court room with red-and-orange-dyed hair and heavy eyelids this morning at his advisement hearing, speaking not a word and appearing to nearly nod off. The 24-year-old looked confused, blinked slowly, and struggled to keep his head up, leading the press to wonder if he’d been drugged. Arapahoe County district attorney Carol Chambers said she had no information on Holmes’s medical state. In a press conference following the hearing, she also stressed that “there is no such thing as a slam dunk case” and insisted this is “still a very active and ongoing investigation.”
Holmes is expected to face first-degree murder charges in Friday’s Dark Knight Rises rampage that left twelve people dead and 58 wounded, with formal charges likely to be filed in the next 72 hours.
Chambers, who the Times reports “has a reputation in Colorado for seeking the death penalty in capital cases,” said a decision about whether or not to seek the death penalty is months away and that the victims’ families will be consulted. The trial itself may be more than a year off.
Below is CNN’s insta-analysis on Holmes’s glassy-eyed demeanor: “Is he tired? Is he delusional?” He is certainly unsettling.
