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Last Updated: Thursday, October 1, 2026 at 04:50 PM
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Aurora Gunman James Holmes Won't Testify During Sentencing Phase

Speaking for one of the few times since his trial began, James Holmes says he won't testify as jurors begin deciding whether he should live or die.
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James Holmes won't speak on his own behalf when the same jury that convicted him in the Colorado theater massacre reconvenes Wednesday to begin deciding whether he should live or die.

Holmes, 27, was convicted in Centennial, Colorado, last week of 165 counts of murder, attempted murder and other charges in the July 20, 2012, attack, which killed 12 people and injured 70 others at a movie theater in nearby Aurora. The sentencing phase of his trial, which gets under way Wednesday morning, is expected to take about a month.

Related: James Holmes Has Been Convicted, but Aurora Trial Is Far From Over

Prosecutors and defense lawyers spent Monday and Tuesday working out the details of the sentencing phase before Arapahoe County Chief District Judge Carlos Samour.

Speaking for one of the very few times since his trial began, Holmes told Samour that he has spoken to his attorneys and would neither testify nor make a statement of explanation to the jurors, who rejected his insanity defense in convicting him last week.