Capital Crime in an Incident of Mass Shooting - Essay Example

It was broadly anticipated that his attorneys would try defending him by entering a diminished capacity plea. However, in the preliminary hearing, they said they needed more time because they were not yet ready to enter such a plea yet (Ingold 2). A plea of diminished capacity is a defense excuse in which the accused agrees to have broken the law but argues that they cannot be fully liable of the crime due to compromised, diminished or impaired mental functionality (Mandery 45).According to Bronner (1), Holmes’ attorneys said in the preliminary hearing that they required more time to review and peruse the huge pile of documentation regarding the case.

The presiding Judge in the preliminaries, William Blair Sylvester of Colorado State District Court, also wary of moving the case too fast due to the possibility of eventual appeal that could gather its support from the manner in which the case was handled agreed to a later date rather than proceeding with the arraignment. After the attorney of the accused claimed that Holm was unprepared to enter any plea on March 12, 2013, the Colorado judge entered the not guilty plea (Ingold 2). According to Ingold (2), two weeks later on March 12, the accused attorneys communicated their intention of pleading guilty in order to avoid the death penalty.

On the next day, the prosecutors said that they would not accept that offer. Therefore, on 2013 June 4, Holmes pleaded not guilty on the grounds of insanity. The judge accepted this plea thereafter scheduling the trial for 2014 October.Considering the whole matter from Holmes’ attorney point of perception there are two options for his defendant. His client may plead diminished capacity or he may plead insanity, which he already has. Diminished capacity, which was a possibility in the early stages of the case is now not an option for the defense team.