Colorado Springs defense attorney Dennis Hartley knows the in and outs of a mass casualty case like the shooting at a movie theater in Aurora. Hartley was appointed to represent Timothy Mcveigh on appeal after Mcveigh was convicted of the Oklahoma City bombing.
The heinous nature of the crime brings the possibility of the death penalty. It would also add years to time in court. Hartley says the district attorney is smart asking victims if the death penalty is better than life in prison. "What she's going to explain to them is, we can have this over in about a year or we can drag it out for two to three years and through appeals maybe 14 or 15 years."
The suspect James Holmes made strange facial expressions, at times seeming incoherent during his first appearance in court on Monday. Insanity? "It's really not that easy to make a television diagnosis on a complex criminal mind that is very deranged," said Hartley. He says proving insanity is difficult. You have to show the person doesn't know right from wrong.
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