Feature: Death penalty deliberated for Colorado theater shooter as court endures disruption

A Colorado jury will continue deliberating the critical death penalty decision for mass murderer James Holmes on Monday, as court recessed for the week after a courtroom disturbance.

Just as District Attorney George Brauchler was finishing his closing argument on Thursday to execute Holmes, a screaming, distraught woman in the back row of the courtroom yelled out "don't kill him...he's sick!" and started climbing over seats towards Holmes.

Deborah Cave, a homeless woman in her 40s was tackled and dragged from the courtroom by deputies, later admitting she suffered from bipolar disorder.

A half-hour later, Judge Carlos Samour Jr. sentenced Cave, standing before him in chains, to three weeks in jail for "disruptive conduct."

Prosecutors are pressing for death for Holmes, who pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, in the sentencing phase of the trial, which started last Wednesday, two days after the anniversary of the July 20, 2012 rampage.

Holmes was found guilty earlier this month of opening fire on a packed screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Aurora, Colorado, in a meticulously planned attack during which he wore body armor and used tear gas to prevent victims from escaping.

In a powerful closing, Tamara Brady, the defense's most experienced attorney, quoted four psychiatrists who examined Holmes, who all say if not for his extreme schizophrenia, the massacre at the Batman movie premiere never would have happened.

"Mental illness can strike like cancer, without regard to your background, without regard to your status in life, without regard to how intelligent you are," Brady told the jury.

Minutes later, Brauchler asked the jury to hold Holmes accountable for one of the worst mass murders in U.S. history.

"Is mental illness going to be a shield here to protect someone?" Brauchler asked, noting that Holmes had "the ability to make a million decisions and act completely rationally in every other aspect of his life."

Using a PowerPoint presentation to punctuate his point, Brauchler said Holmes has "an obsession to kill" and "wants to be remembered for this act," showing private emails between Holmes and his girlfriend to support his claim.

The sentencing phase of the trial, which began in April, comprises three stages. The jury takes them one by one -- progressing to the next phase depending on their finding in the previous one.

This second phase of the sentencing hearing is the defense's best chance to convince jurors to spare Holmes' life.

Judge Samour began Thursday's proceedings by reading the jury their instructions that included 62 possible "mitigating facts" to consider.

If jurists conclude next week that the heinous aspects of the crime (aggravating factors) outweigh Holmes' mental sickness and previously stellar life (mitigating factors), sentencing will move to a final hearing that allows Brauchler to highlight the crime's horrific aspects.

So if the "sentencing hearing" moves past the second phase, Holmes will have little chance of avoiding a death penalty decree. Endi