Jury of 19 women, five men picked for Colorado cinema massacre trial

Source: Yahoo! News / Reuters

CENTENNIAL, Colo. (Reuters) - Lawyers in Colorado's cinema massacre case picked a jury of 19 women and five men on Tuesday to hear the long-awaited murder trial of gunman James Holmes, which is due to start this month.

The dozen jury members and 12 alternates were selected from an initial pool of 9,000 possible candidates in the trial of Holmes, who is accused of fatally shooting 12 moviegoers and wounding dozens more in July 2012.

Holmes' public defenders concede he opened fire inside a crowded midnight screening of a Batman movie at a Denver-area multiplex, but they say the 27-year-old southern California native was in the throes of a psychotic episode at the time he plotted and carried out the rampage.

Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder.

Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/jury-19-women-five-men-picked-colorado-cinema-003846220.html