Colorado shooting suspect's 1st court appearance

The 24-year-old former graduate student accused of killing 12 people and wounding 58 at a Colorado movie theatre last week has made a brief court appearance, looking sleepy and disoriented with dyed orange-red hair.

James Holmes kept his eyes downcast and said nothing during the brief hearing. He is scheduled to be formally charged next Monday.

Holmes was arrested outside a movie theatre in Aurora shortly after a mass shooting at a midnight Friday screening of the latest Batman film.

He has been held in solitary confinement at a Denver-area county detention facility, Aurora police Chief Dan Oates said, and is not co-operating with police.

"He's not talking to us," Oates said.

District Attorney Carol Chambers said Monday her office is considering pursuing the death penalty against Holmes. She said a decision will be made in consultation with victims' families. Uniformed sheriff's deputies were stationed outside the courthouse, and deputies were positioned on the roofs of two buildings at the Arapahoe County Justice Center.



Conflicting portrait of accused
Before the court appearance, new details emerged about Holmes's personal life. He had applied to join an area gun club on June 25, saying that he was not a user of illegal drugs or a convicted felon, said owner Glenn Rotkovich.

'He had some goals. He wanted to succeed, he wanted to go out, and he wanted to be the best.'
—Jerald Borgie, senior pastor at James Holmes' former church
When Rotkovich called to invite him to a mandatory orientation the following week, he heard a message on Holmes' voicemail that he described as "bizarre — guttural, freakish at best."

Rotkovich later told his staff not to accept him into the club, he said.

Meanwhile the pastor for the suspect's family said he was a shy boy who was driven to succeed academically.

"He wasn't an extrovert at all. If there was any conversation, it would be because I initiated it, not because he did," said Jerald Borgie, senior pastor of Penasquitos Lutheran Church.

"He had some goals. He wanted to succeed, he wanted to go out, and he wanted to be the best," Borgie said. "He took pride in his academic abilities. A good student. He didn't brag about it."