AURORA | District Attorney George Brauchler hammered the defense’s star witness — psychiatrist and schizophrenia expert Raquel Gur — during cross examination Wednesday in the Aurora theater shooting trial of James Holmes.
Brauchler, whose cross examination started late Tuesday and continued into Wednesday afternoon, said Gur was the only doctor who said Holmes used the phrase “call to action” when he met with her.
With another doctor, Holmes said he had never used the phrase in his life.
“You don’t find in the record anywhere other than with you that this defendant has ever written, texted, chatted or uttered the phrase ‘call to action,’” Brauchler said.
Gur, who is expected to continue testifying Thursday, said the discrepancy makes sense considering Holmes’ mental illness and his desire not to discuss it. Plus, she said, Holmes could have simply felt more comfortable with her than he did with other doctors.
“He didn’t want to appear sick, he didn’t, so he was trying to do his best not to reveal the significant mental defect that he had,” she said.
But Brauchler said “call to action” was Gur’s phrase, not Holmes’. He pointed to a book she wrote in 1991 about adolescent schizophrenia where she named a chapter “Call to Action.”
Gur scoffed at that and said the context of her book chapter was completely different from the context in which Holmes used the phrase.
The cross examination was contentious throughout, but wasn’t as bruising as Brauchler’s previous questioning of defense expert Jonathan Woodcock. During that testimony, Judge Carlos Samour Jr. warned the witness about answering questions that weren’t asked several times, and Woodcock seemed shaken by the end of it.
Gur did seem upset toward the end of her testimony when she started rattling off some of Holmes’ writings, which she said showed how disorganized his thinking was in the weeks before the shooting.
Much of what Gur testified to wasn’t in her notes or in her reports, Brauchler said. Gur disputed that and said her testimony was her trying to explain things in the notes, so naturally what she said was occasionally different.
Brauchler also disputed Gur’s finding that Holmes didn’t know right from wrong.
Before the shooting, Holmes not only stockpiled weapons, but also body armor. Those purchases, Brauchler said, show that Holmes knew what he was doing was wrong and knew that police would want to stop him. He also said the fact that Holmes put black tape inside his gas mask to cover some of his sight lines showed he knew what he was doing was wrong because, as the shooter told Gur, he wanted to see less of what he was doing.
Gur said that while Holmes knew what he was doing was illegal, he didn’t believe it was wrong and believed the people he killed wanted to die.
“He knew that what he was doing was illegal but he did not, in his state of mind, have the capacity to distinguish between right and wrong,” she said.
Brauchler also said Gur appeared to combine different thoughts from Holmes into single quotes in her notes.
Gur said that may have happened, but was a matter of forgetting an ellipses and nothing more.
Brauchler also pounced on Gur’s decision not to talk to Holmes’ parents before she made her diagnosis.
Gur said with the Holmes family in San Diego and her in Philadelphia it was difficult to align their schedules. Plus, Gur said, she reviewed reports from the family written by other doctors so she had a good idea what Holmes’ childhood and background were like.
But, Brauchler said, Gur could have just called the Holmes family but opted not to and instead relied on reports provided to her by Holmes’ lawyers.
Still, Gur said, even after she talked to the Holmes family — nearly two years after she wrote her first report — they didn’t provide her with any information that was different from what she knew when she wrote the report.
Also Wednesday, Judge Samour sided with prosecutors and barred the defense from showing a video of Holmes at Denver health Medical Center in November 2012.
The video, which was recorded during a hospital stay following an apparent mental break down by Holmes, shows Holmes talking to investigators from his lawyers’ office about nightmares and hallucinations he had the night before. Samour said the video was only referred to by one expert — Gur — so it wasn’t particularly important in terms of expert testimony.
Plus, Samour said, the video is incomplete and was recorded by the defense so he has no way of knowing if there was other recording that has been edited out.
Holmes is accused of killing 12 and wounding 70 others during the July 2012 attack on an Aurora movie theater. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity and prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
The defense is expected to wrap their case this week, and closing arguments could start Monday.
Regardless of the testimony, the man is definitely a mental case. We need to simply lock him up throw away the key and save millions of dollars and years of court time on this guy.
Normally I would agree with you, but those keys always seem to have copies made. Note all the federal and state death given to convicted people, who were changed to life with all the soft-hearted PC crowd, and now are released to the streets. And the illegal alien convicted ones supposed to be deported, are still walking our streets all over USA. We know that most convicts with mental convictions, stay for a time, when they somehow become sane, and are released. Somehow I think Colorado is stuck with Holmes when he should have been retained in California, and be their expense, rather than let him come to Colorado to kill.
In what world would this case be tried in California? The act occurred here. He was living here. The fact he is from California means nothing at all.
you don’t read very good for a tweeter. Should be a bit more observant. In my last sentence I covered that for people like you jump at first sentence. He is California born, educated, could not get job with credentials he had in that area. He came to Colorado and applied for advanced school here and to another school, where he was rejected. —————-:Why CU even considered him I have no idea, and I don’t care. But in the year he was here, he met with doctor at CU couple times or so, accumulated guns, explosives, and set up his ‘night to educated a few folks’ while checking out other theatres. If you had known anything about the case, you would understand why he should have been retained in California, and sent to one of their mental facilities, called prison these days. Now do you understand my comment?
Tweeter? This isn’t Twitter, so I have no idea what you are referring to. In response to your comment – no, I still have no idea what you are talking about. Your comment makes no sense from a legal standpoint.
He had displayed enough irregular emotional problems in California that he should be in mental facility there,, before anyone died there, or here. Obviously you did not know much of the case. All that crap has been on paper over and over, with titillating same bunch, who now fuss to sit in trial and hearing.
What behavior did he display in California that could have possibly warranted locking him up or even playing him on a mental health hold?
Will let you research that for yourself. Whole case was laid out in Denver Post and Sentinel when it occurred. I was not that involved or interested at the time, and am not now. I simply commented on folks moving to Colorado , or any state, to commit crimes, because they outlived their welcome where they were born. Grandson 16 at the time, wanted to go see Batman that night, and father said no. Next morning he was glad he didn’t, and I bought the DVD next month at Sam[s Club for $20 or $30. Whatever, much cheaper and safer, to view it at home, on large screen TV, in HD as many times as he wanted. I have to admit I enjoyed Superman and Batman in comic books, but had no desire to see in theatre. Went to “Back to the Future” as last movie I saw in theatre. Never went again to any. Some woman about 60, wearing a hat about 3 feet in Diameter, sat in front of me, and instead of watching move, I think she was building a nest. About 250 lbs. ———
Very few movies attract my attention these days, and if they do, I buy the DVD. Cheaper than popcorn and any snack.
Well…I thought I was confused at this discussion between you and Colo31 and with this comment that makes absolutely no sense to the discussion, I no longer think I’m confused, I am confused.
Then you need to select channel on TV and really get confused. Long, drawn out trial, and only question for jury, and hopefully not as confused as you or Colo31, is whether he was insane at that moment, or sane. Lot of money, time, effort with years of expense to Colorado. WHY? Not my job to unconfused anyone. I just commented at first, he had shown irregular childhood in Calif, came here, and in next year shot up the theatre. And why? gun free zone.
Im with lynn
Me too. Why are we spending so much on this one individual. All lives matter. But does his matter more than all of us, and we will keep paying, same as his family, and the families of his victims. When we all were born, we had a day to die. Some would help society, if their day was sooner than others. So both of you have joined all the rest of us on this planet. CONFUSED. Only last 7 years has been more unstable, unpredictable, than any others in my 85 years.
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