James Holmes, the man accused of killing 12 and injuring dozens more during a shooting rampage before a July 20, 2012 showing of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Co., has decided to revise his plea from "not guilty" to "not guilty by reason of insanity."
Judge Carlos Samour will wait until May 31 to announce if he will accept the change of plea, according to The Associated Press. The reason for the delay is so Samour can make it clear to Holmes what rights he gives up by pleasing insanity.
In Colorado state doctors must determine if Holmes knew the difference between right and wrong. If they determine that Homes knew his actions were wrong doctors must then determine if his mental condition made him unable to stop himself from committing the crime, according to USA Today.
Pete Maguire, a former Colorado prosecutor, explained the complicated legal issue to USA Today.
"The question is not whether or not he's mentally ill," Maguire said. "The question is whether he is legally insane under the statute."
Maguire said that it is very rare for state doctors to rule someone not guilty by reason of insanity, so if the defense is entering this plea after two months of mentally testing Holmes on their own, they are relatively confident that Holmes will be found insane, according to USA Today.
Dan Recht, a former president of the Colorado Criminal Defense Bar, told the Associated Press that proving Holmes sane will be "a significant burden on the prosecution."
"It's literally a life-and-death situation with the government seeking to execute him and the government, the same government, evaluating him with regard to whether he was sane or insane at the time he was in that movie theater," Recht said.
The mother of shooting victim AJ Boik, Theresa Hoover, believes Holmes proved he was sane the minute he started stockpiling weapons and planning the attack on the movie theater.
"What he did was nothing short of evil," Hoover said. "He absolutely knew what he was doing was wrong. I think he's evil, and there's a difference between evil and crazy. I don't think he's insane by any means."
According to the AP, Holmes' trial is expected to begin in February of 2014.
