Feature: A surprise at end of Colorado movie theater gunman's 103-day trial

Colorado movie theater shooter James Holmes will spend the rest of his life in jail without the possibility of parole, as one woman juror refused to give him the Death Penalty that many predicted, according to a ruling handed down by a local court Friday.

One of the 12 jurors talked to Xinhua after the surprise decision, saying she was blindsided by the "last minute" holdout that made the jury's unanimous decision impossible and dictated a life sentence for the notorious Batman movie shooter.

A lawyer in her 40s with short, brown hair, "juror 17," preferring to remain unnamed, said the dissenting juror was " solidly in that position" and that no other jurors tried to convince her otherwise.

"There was nothing further to discuss at that point. It only takes one," she said.

Nine jurors wanted Holmes to die by lethal injection. Two other jurors were reportedly "on the fence."

The non-budging juror was reluctant to confer death due to Holmes' severe schizophrenia, according to the juror, following the defense's argument not to put someone to death "who is sick."

"I think the issue of mental illness was everything," said the juror.

After the verdict was read out, a deeply disappointed District Attorney George Brauchler addressed more than one hundred media members outside the Arapahoe Justice Center, surrounded by 50 family members, police and his prosecution team.

"You can take failure for others far better than you can for yourself, and I failed for others," said Brauchler, who apologized personally to family members.

Three prior jury votes went against Holmes, including the July 16 verdict that found him guilty on 164 counts of murder and attempted murder in the surprise attack at a nearby movie theater that killed 12 people and injured 70 more in July 2012.

Friday's decision, however, mattered the most to family members who wanted Holmes to die for his crime, and officially ended their quest to execute the 27-year-old former University of Colorado neuroscience Ph.D. student.

Friends and families of the victims sobbed in dismay when judge Carlos Samour, Jr. read the verdict, many holding their heads in their hands.

Several dashed from the courtroom before all the verdicts were read, defying the judge's demand, and their cries were heard in the hallway outside.

"Those were the sounds I heard, and that hurt the most," Brauchler said, who was defended vociferously by all family members present, one saying he would "walk into the jaws of death" for the prosecutor.

When the life sentence was read, Holmes' mother's body slumped into her husband Robert, and she shook with tears. The parents pleaded for their son's life last week.

The mass murderer, wearing a light-gray collared shirt and beige khakis, stood without emotion as he has done throughout the trial, when Samour read the verdicts.

About half the family members wanted the Death Penalty according to Tom Teves, who wore a picture of his slain 24-year- old son Alex on his chest.

Anger and bitterness from some family members was palpable, including Robert Sullivan, grandfather of the murdered 6-year-old Veronica Sullivan, who said, "the verdict didn't make sense," that he didn't believe it and that he thinks Holmes "may be killed in prison."

"Our loved ones were ripped from us and slaughtered in the movie theater," said Sandy Phillips, whose 24-year-old daughter Jessica Ghawi, an aspiring sports reporter, was shot to death by Holmes.

Phillips, not a Death Penalty advocate, bowed her head and cried when hearing the verdict, but then reached forward to touch the shoulder of wheelchair paraplegic Ashley Moser, paralyzed from the waist down, who was also in tears.

Moser went to the movie that hot July 20 night in 2012 with her daughter Veronica to celebrate her new pregnancy.

As Holmes' bullets sprayed across the theater, Moser was hit four times, lost her baby, was paralyzed from the waist down, and fell on top of her daughter who bled to death from a gunshot wound to the abdomen.

"How do you treat him like someone who killed one person .. that is not justice," said Brauchler, believing the heinous nature of Holmes' action required a stiffer sentence than life in prison.

Despite the verdict, Brauchler said, "the jury did a helluva job" and that "while I'm disappointed, I'm not disappointed with this system, and this process."

While some family members wanted to give Holmes life in prison from the start of the legal process that would have prevented the 103-day trial, Brauchler said he alone made the decision to go to trial, a decision questioned by some.

After public defenders refused to give him Holmes' mental health records, Brauchler chose to take the case to trial, a process that has cost an estimated 5 million U.S. dollars thus far.

And Brauchler seemed proud that the jury rejected Holmes' "not guilty by reason of insanity" defense in a huge July 16 decision, finding him guilty on 165 counts, including a charge of making incendiary devices.

"Mental health is not a term that gets you protection for your evil conduct," Brauchler said.

Holmes' family issued a short statement from attorney Lisa Damiani after the decision, saying they "are deeply sorry that victims and survivors have suffered such a tremendous loss."

Holmes will not go to prison until a sentencing hearing, scheduled for Aug. 24-26, is held. Endite