Record number of jury summonses sent for Holmes trial
Nine thousand jury summonses for the Aurora movie theater murder trial hit the mail Thursday, the largest jury call for a single case in Colorado history.
The postage alone for the summonses was estimated to cost nearly $3,500, said Rob McCallum, a spokesman for the Colorado Judicial Branch. Judge Carlos Samour, who ordered the unprecedented call, has said such a big jury pool is necessary to find 12 jurors and 12 alternates who can hear the long-awaited, highly publicized and months-long trial and then decide the case fairly at the end.
Jury selection is scheduled to start on Jan. 20, with potential jurors coming in waves over a couple of weeks to the Arapahoe County courthouse. The prospective jurors will hear a brief introduction from Samour, fill out a lengthy questionnaire and then return home. Those selected for the next phase of jury selection will be called back starting in February.
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CENTENNIAL, CO – JUNE 04: Arapahoe County district judge, Carlos Samour, Jr. presides over an advisement hearing for James Holmes Tuesday morning June 04, 2013 at the Arapahoe County Justice Center. Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and injuring 70 others in a shooting rampage at an Aurora theater, July 20th, 2012. The court accepted James Holmes plea of not guilty by reason of insanity and has ordered a sanity evaluation at the Colorado Mental Health Institute of Pueblo. (Photo By Andy Cross/The Denver Post)