Feature: Jury begins deliberation in Colorado theater shooter trial

U.S. jurors here on Wednesday began deliberating on the fate of gunman James Holmes, who opened fire on a packed Colorado theater three years ago.

The jury of three men and nine women started wading through testimony from 250 witnesses and thousands of pieces of evidence.

Of singular importance is whether prosecutors during the three-month trial met their burden of proving Holmes was legally sane when he ripped hundreds of bullets into a midnight movie theater crowd, killing 12 people and injuring 70 others three years ago.

Actually, emotion has run high as powerful closing arguments rocked the Colorado courtroom Tuesday at the end of the mass murder trial for Holmes.

"That guy was sane beyond a reasonable doubt, and he needs to be held accountable for what he did," said District Attorney George Brauchler, pointing repeatedly at Holmes during a gripping two-hour closing argument.

Many in court wept as Brauchler showed pictures of the deceased and described where armor-penetrating bullets pierced their bodies, while Holmes, 27, wearing a light-blue collared shirt and brown khakis, sat impassively on the other side of the room.

"I hope they convict the son-of-a-bitch," said Sandy Phillips to reporters outside the courthouse. His daughter Jessica Ghawi, 24, an aspiring sports reporter, was shot and killed by Holmes.

Inside the tightly secured, overflow courtroom, defense attorney Dan King countered by saying Holmes was in the throes of a psychotic episode, and urged jurors to realize the "truth" that Holmes is mentally broken and not guilty by reason of insanity.

Ironically, jurors may give the mountain of evidence and testimony short shrift because their decision hinges entirely on whether Holmes was sane or not when he committed the mass murder.

King's closing argument detailed Holmes' history of mental illness and spiking psychosis prior to the attack, and reviewed the legal definition of "reasonable doubt."

If one jury member finds "doubt" that Holmes was not completely "sane" the night at the theater, the defense will win the case and Holmes will avoid possible execution.

Due to Holmes' personal and family history of mental disease, the prosecution had a difficult burden to prove he was sane, but recent jury questions indicate they are believing the prosecution, thanks to an effective case orchestrated by Brauchler.

But King begged the jury to carefully consider Holmes' mental illness.

"All the mental health experts told us that (Holmes) is schizophrenic and mentally ill," King said emphatically, "that he was diagnosed with it long ago, that he had serious delusions in 2012, and there is no indication he is faking."

Several family members in court shook their heads in disagreement.

Then King described how Holmes lost his girlfriend and career, failed at graduate school, and most significantly, stopped taking anti-psychotic medication that made him stable. "The mental illness caused this to happen... only the mental illness, and nothing else," he added

Brauchler painted a much different picture of Holmes, as a highly intelligent, egotistical conniver who "deceived" almost everyone while he spent months systematically assembling an arsenal of weapons, bullets, tear gas, explosives and elaborate protective gear for his murderous plan.

He described in detail how Holmes carefully planned the massacre, and was an arrogant, self absorbed misogynist who was sane at the time of the shooting and should be found guilty.

Teams of both prosecution and defense made lists of key items for why they thought Holmes was insane or not during their closing arguments.

King showed a list of five items defining schizophrenia and argued Holmes had shown and manifested each of the signs and made the argument that if members of the jury "hesitate" in making their decision, that this slight pause fits the criteria for "reasonable doubt" and would find Holmes was insane.

Meanwhile Brauchler talked about Holmes' complete detachment and "indifference" to the people he killed.

The names of the 12 victims and 70 injured were read two times by Arapahoe County Judge Carlos Samour, Jr., who has run a model capital murder trial, according to lawyer Jeffrey Gold from The Gold Report.

Samour's detailed and extensive jury instructions prior to final arguments lasted almost three hours, as the judge is being extraordinarily careful to avoid a mistrial or an overturned verdict on the appellate level. Endi