Feature: Final phase to execute Colorado mass murderer begins

The anticipated death sentence for James Holmes came closer as the first of the three phases to decree death to the Colorado mass murderer ended Wednesday.

A jury last week found Holmes guilty of killing 12 and wounding 58 people by unloading hundreds of bullets into a crowd watching the midnight showing of a Batman movie three years ago.

Holmes was a 27-year-old former Ph.D. student of neuroscience at the University of Colorado.

Jurors deliberated over the first phase on Thursday morning and were expected to move forward with the execution by the end of the day, according to court sources.

The decision will trigger the second phase of the Holmes sentencing hearing, whereby the defense is expected to introduce about 30 witnesses to testify that Holmes' life should be spared.

Holmes' defense took a hit in court late Wednesday when Arapahoe County District Judge Carlos Samour, Jr. disallowed the team to show three PowerPoint slides in the second-phase opening arguments on Thursday.

The judge allowed the jury to review 55 minutes of audio and video recordings, including an interview with Holmes after the attack, in which he expressed concern for children. The clip also shows children entering the theater while Holmes was lingering in the concession area before the attack.

Prosecuting attorney Rich Orman highlighted six-year-old Veronica Moser-Sullivan, the one child Holmes killed, in his opening argument on Wednesday.

"She had four separate gunshot wounds to her little body," Orman told the court in a powerful 20-minute opening statement.

All three sentencing phases are expected to last one month, after which the jury will likely decree the death penalty, according to court sources.

But, if one of the jurors regards a "mitigating" factor like mental illness as the cause, Holmes will be spared.

The "third phase" of the sentencing hearing will showcase the prosecution's emotionally devastating and successful strategy of using victims to tearfully testify against Holmes.

The prosecution will describe "aggravating factors" of the tragedy, retelling the devastation and heavy death toll.

This emotional appeal, despite warnings from Samour, has caused strong reactions from several jurors, as well as some media representatives, who shed tears during the proceedings.

Holmes sat during the trial and sentencing with a vacant look on his face. When the judge spent one hour last week reading "guilty" on all 165 counts against him, Holmes stood up with his hands in his pockets, looking straight ahead with no emotion.

Newsweek, an American news magazine, was banned from the courtroom on Wednesday. Last week a Newsweek reporter tweeted the name of the jury foreman, triggering a firestorm and a call to desist by Arapahoe Court official Rob McCallum.

"Frankly, Newsweek should know better," Samour said, noting that other media have followed his action, and that he was "disappointed" in the reputable news organization.

Newsweek apologized immediately for violating the court order and deleted the tweet.

Defense lawyers asked the judge to hold the 83-year-old magazine in "contempt of court," which would trigger additional hearings and take considerable time.

Samour declined the contempt citation, but upheld the ban.

Coincidentally, the jury foreman, a young man in his late 20s, is a survivor of the Columbine High School massacre in 1999. His senior year prom date was killed in the attack, which took 13 lives in a nearby high school.

Wednesday's proceedings paused several times. With a vacuous half-smile, Holmes often swiveled slowly in his chair with his feet shackled.

At one point Wednesday, Holmes turned and nodded toward his anxious parents, Arlene and Robert, who have sat behind their son since his trial began three months ago.

This was the first open communication between them in court.

Court sources say Holmes' parents rarely visit their son in jail.

Holmes looks much different today than he did on the night of July 20, 2012, when he slipped into the exit door of a movie theater and shot the audience with three guns.

The orange-haired, skinny, wild-eyed youngster took selfies hours before the attack, smiling fiendishly, brandishing guns, wearing black contact lenses, and displaying an arsenal of weapons on his bed.

On Wednesday, Holmes appeared in court wearing a light blue, collared shirt, with receding short brown hair and a stubble beard. The 27-year-old has gained 30 to 40 pounds in the past two years since he started taking heavy doses of antipsychotic drugs. Endi