ipl-logo

James Holmes Arguments Against The Death Penalty

547 Words3 Pages

Witnesses at the Century Aurora 16 complex said minutes into the special midnight screening of “The Dark Knight Rises” on July 20, 2012 in Aurora, Colorado, James Holmes had slipped through an emergency exit door of the sold-out movie theater, propped it open, and returned armed with three guns and wearing a ballistic helmet, body shields, a gas mask obscuring his face, his hair tinted orange. He tossed two hissing gas or smoke canisters and calmly walked up the aisle open firing at moviegoers, killing 12 and wounding 70. Arrested without resistance while he was standing next to his car behind the Century 16 theater shortly after the shooting and jailed without bail awaiting trial, James Holmes was described by law-enforcement officials as …show more content…

Holmes was convicted on 24 counts of murder and 140 counts of attempted murder for the 2012 Aurora shooting that killed 12 people and injured 70 others. He had no known criminal record prior to the shooting. “We believe that the death penalty is morally wrong, especially when the condemned is mentally ill,” his parents had written in a letter. “He is a human being gripped by severe mental illness. We realize treatment in an institution would be best for our son. We love our son, we have always loved him, and we do not want him to be executed.” The Holmes’s said that their son should be sentenced to life without parole and that the attention that would have gone into a trial should be dedicated to victim recovery. “Our family has not given interviews to the media because we do not want coverage of ourselves,” the couple wrote. “We mourn the deaths and the serious injuries and emotional trauma of the others who were in the theater. The focus should be on the injured and their

Show More
Related

  • Who Is Responsible For Drh Holmes

    211 Words  | 1 Pages

    They then realized what they had discovered, they saw the torture chamber holmes used to kill his victims. Holmes was first charged with insurance scams and then later on he was charged for first degree murder of Benjamin Pitezel.

    Read More

  • Sullivan Vs Florida Case Study

    466 Words  | 2 Pages

    The jury only took 35 minutes to convict Sullivan. Even though there was no physical or biological evidence linking Sullivan to the crime, as well as the lack of testimony from the victim, who was unable to identify her attacker; poor Sullivan was sentenced to life without parole (Agyepong, children left behind

    Read More

  • James Holmes Research Paper

    1321 Words  | 6 Pages

    One can see, that this case was very unusual and not an ordinary case, resulting in a delay in the case. One of the prosecutor’s, Brauchler, was for the death penalty and publicly wrote about it an Op-Ed in the Denver Post. Holmes was not mentioned, but he “wrote of capital punishment as an important tool of justice” (NBC- Justice is Death). “Repealing the death penalty would result in acts similar to those in Newtown, Connecticut, or the acts of Tim McVeigh being punished no differently than a single murder of one gang member by another,” the prosecutor wrote (The Denver

    Read More

  • Markeeth Lloyd's Argument Against The Death Penalty

    491 Words  | 2 Pages

    1) The reason why the death penalty in Florida was determined to be unconstitutional were due to the U.S. Supreme Court believing judges had too much power in deciding whether someone should be sentenced to death, or receive the lesser penalty of life. Legislators decided to require only ten out of twelve jurors to agree imposing a death sentence in regard to capital criminal cases, when the law was changed earlier this year. While Florida legislators believed their system was rational, the state's high court opposed. The U.S. Supreme Court declared in January that judges had too much say in sentencing someone to death, when constitutionally it was the jury alone.

    Read More

  • The Argument Against Seaman Holmes

    171 Words  | 1 Pages

    In the verdict against Seaman Holmes the verdict was just according to the law. “The law of the sea required that passengers must always be saved in preference to seamen except those indispensable for operating the boat. If. After sacrificing the lives of the expendable sailors, passengers still must be sacrificed, lost must be drawn, assuming there is time to do so” (Pojman and Vaughn, 2014, pg. 195). Seaman Holmes did not do this when he threw out 14 male passengers in order to save the long-boat.

    Read More

  • James Holmes Conspiracy Essay

    588 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to the police, Holmes was wearing protective clothing during the horrific perpetration, amongst them being a gas mask and protective vest. Moreover, he was backed up by military weapons, the arsenal which indicated that he had a huge plan to commit the crime. In addition to these, his house was wired with bombs which took the police a whopping two days to disarm. It takes someone in the right mind to plan all this. Holmes, obviously cognizant of his actions, did not try to resist arrest.

    Read More

  • The Colorado Theater Massacre

    801 Words  | 4 Pages

    But, the story is coming to an end soon. In the article “James Holmes found guilty of murder in Colorado Theater shooting” the journalist wrote “The jury also found Holmes guilty of attempted murder on all of the 140 counts against him for the 70 people wounded in the shooting. Additionally, he was found guilty of one count of possession or control of an explosive or incendiary device”. Life in prison without parole is a punishment while death penalty is only an execution. Death penalty may be too barbaric and too expensive.

    Read More

  • Rhetorical Analysis Of The Devil In The White City By Erik Larson

    1381 Words  | 6 Pages

    Eventually Holmes was imprisoned and later hanged, but Holmes’ murders went unnoticed for years. Euphemisms show how unaware people were of Holmes’ actions. For example, Larson uses euphemisms when expressing the hiding of Holmes’ bodies: “He remained in Minneapolis until May 1886, when he left for New York City, planning to take “a part of the material there,” and to leave the rest in Chicago” (43). By using the word material instead of bodies or cadavers, the murders are again perceived as not influential. Most people were not suspicious of Holmes because of his charming capabilities.

    Read More

  • Nathan Leopold Research Paper

    1699 Words  | 7 Pages

    It is important for there to not be the death sentence because like previously mentioned, all you’re doing is getting revenge, not helping anyone. In a sense, we aren’t any better than the person being killed. We are basically killing someone because they killed someone. So because of the murder trial of Bobby Franks, the plea for insanity has been used more and has worked

    Read More

  • Abolitionists Arguments Against The Death Penalty

    975 Words  | 4 Pages

    They claim that it is heathenistic to permit the killing of someone by the state in front of a crowd of people. Abolitionists also say that the U.S. is hypocritical when it comes to foreign leaders murdering their own people when we do just about the same thing. They also oppose with the idea that the added legal procedures associated with capital punishment jam up the court systems. They claim that all the extra appeals, motions, hearings, briefs, etc. burn of valuable time and financial resources that could be spent on other legal matters.

    Read More

  • In Cold Blood Corruption

    1135 Words  | 5 Pages

    The newsman states that he never killed four people in cold blood, to which the prosecutor replies that “hanging the bastard” is “pretty goddamn cold-blooded too” (Capote 306). In this statement, the prosecutor expresses his belief that it is not morally correct to hang a murderer who has had such a traumatic past without testing for any sign of mental illness or

    Read More

  • Apprendi Vs New Jersey Case Study

    860 Words  | 4 Pages

    Apprendi vs. New Jersey Apprendi vs. New Jersey landmarked United States Supreme Court decisions dealing with provoking factors in crimes. Furthermore, it was found that judges were prohibited to sentence beyond the maximum amount because of factors other than the ones found by the jury. Beyond a reasonable doubt was the key word in this case. This case decision has been the precedent for the rights of people in jury trials. This case set the tone for other trials where an increased prison term was questionable.

    Read More

  • Summary Of The Penry Vs. Lynaugh Case

    1119 Words  | 5 Pages

    In 1989, The Supreme Court decided the Penry v. Lynaugh case. Penry, the petitioner, was convicted of rape and murder and was sentenced to death. It was found that Penry, in a competency evaluation, was mentally retarded, known today as intellectually disabled, with an IQ of 54 (Penry v. Lynaugh,1989). Despite Penry’s IQ, the jury found that Penry was competent to proceed and further sentenced him to death. Although there was also an insanity plea, the jury rejected the defense and again sentenced him to death.

    Read More

  • H. H Holmes Papers

    1586 Words  | 7 Pages

    Holmes is found guilty with the murder in the first degree. He has the penalty of dying by hanging. While waiting for death, he says he had committed 27 murders. Henry Webster Mudgett met his demise on May 7,1896. It is unsure how many people Holmes has killed, but it is definite that he had killed 9 people.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay: Texas Death Penalty In The United States

    932 Words  | 4 Pages

    Former Harris County District Attorney Johnny Holmes sought the death penalty as often as possible. It is record that after he left the office the number of death sentences as reduced drastically. The reasoning makes sense because of course the elected officials are here to serve the public, however they should not allow their egos and personal career stand in the way of giving out proper sentences to those that are

    Read More

More about James Holmes Arguments Against The Death Penalty

Open Document