Though it wasn’t clear why he was in the hospital, James Holmes, the suspect in the Colorado Batman massacre in July, was returned to jail today.
Holmes was supposed to appear in court on Tuesday for a hearing, but his defense attorneys told the judge he couldn’t make it because he was in the hospital. Then they proceeded to tell the judge they couldn’t disclose why because it was privileged medical or psychiatric information.
According to several Denver media outlets, Holmes was injured when he hit his head on a wall, apparently intentionally. But authorities wouldn’t comment.
District Judge William Sylvester granted the delay, believing the situation was serious. While the judge said the defense did not have to reveal further details, deputy Dist. Atty. Rich Orman was not pleased.
Orman accused the defense of being too vague about the nature of Holmes’ illness or injury and that the court deserved more information. He argued that although Holmes’ medical and psychiatric condition is normally privileged, the defense opened the door by mentioning the problem.
“The defendant’s position seems to be that he can request that the court take action on his claim of a ‘condition’ and at the same time keep information about that ‘condition’ secret from the prosecution,” the prosecution wrote in a motion filed hours before the hearing.
“I don’t believe the law works that way,” Orman said in court. He then added that he took the unusual step of polling victims of the shooting and 19 objected to the continuance. There were no victims or family members at the hearing.
Holmes was charged with 24 counts of murder for killing 12 people and injuring 58 others at the Aurora movie theater rampage. For each victim who died in the rampage, Holmes, 24, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, one for allegedly intending to cause harm and another for allegedly acting with extreme indifference to human life, according to court documents.
Prosecutors also filed 116 counts of attempted murder against Holmes, who Aurora police said booby trapped his apartment with the intent to kill any officers responding there the night of the theater attack.
Holmes has been held in isolation at the Arapahoe County jail since his arrest minutes after the shooting. Attempts to reach authorities at the jail were unsuccessful late Wednesday. The next hearing in the case is now scheduled for Dec. 10.