CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Juror #901 was dismissed, but she’s not leaving.
After the Aurora theater trial juror was abruptly dismissed earlier this week, she showed up unannounced Thursday and sat in the back row of the courtroom. The other jurors took notice, made glances back to the ex-juror and eventually reported it to Judge Carlos Samour, who was already aware of her presence. She has a legal right to watch the trial, he said of the fourth of five jurors to be excused.
Last week, juror #901 reported her brother-in-law was shot in a violent attempted robbery. Samour ruled in favor of the defense’s motion to dismiss the woman for possible prejudice against defendant James Holmes. Holmes is being tried for 166 charges, including the murder ofĚý12 people and wounding of 70 when he gunned down a movie theater in 2012.
When questioned, the juror insisted that she could be impartial and unbiased. She came forward to the judge on multiple occasions to address various concerns. She reported her recognition of a testifying FBI agent who interviewed her when she applied to the bureau. While still an active juror, she appeared attentive, took ample notes and was visibly cautious when handling evidence —Ěýone of the only jurors of 24 to wear latex gloves.
But the risk of biased judgment due the juror’s family member being a victim of gun violence was enough to have her ejected.
During jury selection, one man said he was friends with the Columbine High School shooters and took Columbine victim Rachel Scott to prom. He was not suspected to be biased or partial and was chosen by both the defense and prosecution to sit on the jury, where he currently remains.
Five jurors in total have been dismissed in the last two weeks, leaving 12 jurors and seven alternates. None of the jurors know if they will be in the deliberation room at the end.
There have been numerous occurrences of jurors reporting the recognition of a testifying witness or someone in the court galley, personal needs for accommodation, contact with media or accidental exposure to news related to the trial. Today, a juror interrupted proceedings because he recognized a testifying store manager because they play in the same fantasy football league.
“How long have you known him?” Samour asked the juror.
“I’ve been in his league for eight years,” the juror said.
“When was the last time you communicated with him?”
“Last fall,” the juror said. “We’re Facebook friends, too.”
Perhaps “it’s a small world” doesn’t fit here, but rather, it’s a big crime.
The web of connections between members of police enforcement, jurors, victims and other parities involved in this trial is intricate and tangly. Sixty-eight members of the Aurora Police Department plus 23 employees of the Aurora Fire Department responded to the crime scene, and many hundreds of people in total were directly involved in the shooting.
In the 2014 “After Action Report” for the mass murder, the following 21 organizations were listed as being involved in the response to or direct aftermath the event:
- City of Aurora (11 people)
- Aurora Fire Department (23 first responders)
- Aurora Parks, Recreation and Open Space (4 people)
- Aurora Police Department (68 officers)
- Aurora Public Safety Communications Center (24 dispatch and communication workers)
- Arapahoe Co. (3 – Coroner, forensic pathologist, investigator)
- Arvada Police Department (1 public information officer)
- Broomfield Police Department (1 public information officer)
- Gilpin County Sheriff’s Office (1 public information officer)
- Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office (4 officers)
- Denver Police Department (2 officers)
- ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ police (2 officers)
- Office of the District Attorney, 18th Judicial District (4 attorneys)
- Rural Metro Ambulance (6 employees)
- Denver Children’s Hospital (unknown number of medical professionals)
- ŔÖ˛Ą´«Ă˝ Health (unknown number of medical professionals)
- Medical Center of Aurora (unknown number of medical professionals)
- Federal Bureau of Investigations, Denver Field Office (4 agents)
- Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (1 agent)
- Colorado Organization for Victim Assistance (unknown number)
- Mental Health Experts (3 psychologists)
This isn’t counting friends, family members or colleagues of the 100-plusĚýunfortunate movie-goers or the law and health professionals who immediately aided the physically and mentally injured after the shooting spree.
Arapahoe County — the county in which the defendant is being tried — is home to over 600,000 people.ĚýJurors were handpicked by the defense and prosecution from the largest jury pool in American history (9,000). Finding 24 citizens immune to excessive media exposure and void of contact with parties in any way connected to this case was nothing short of a legal feat.
Holding onto that jury may be another.
Ěý
Editor’s note: CU News Corps will honor the victims of this tragedy with every post via this graphic.
