That's the title of an editorial published in today's Aurora Sentinel, in Colorado. It's subtitled, "This much money and energy should be spent on preventing the next massacre, rather than seeking unattainable revenge for this one." Here's the beginning:
The effort to seek justice for victims of the Aurora theater shooting is no longer a court trial. It is now a wildly expensive and ineffective bureaucratic contraption seeking to serve itself, rather than some notion of closure and fairness.
To understand just how wrong the trial against admitted shooter James Holmes has gone, you have to look at the facts of the case and the events so far.
The evidence against Holmes acting by himself to plan and carry out the July 20, 2012, slaughter inside a crowded Aurora theater was overwhelming just hours after police found him outside the Century 16 theater — and even just minutes after he killed 12 and wounded about 70 more people.
Through his attorneys, Holmes admitted to the crime.
It was then, when Holmes’ attorneys offered up a plea, that the case began to go awry. Arapahoe County District Attorney George Brauchler turned back the plea deal, announcing he would seek the death penalty against Holmes.
Since then, Brauchler’s office has already spent a whopping $667,000 on prosecuting the case, according to records obtained by Channel 4 News in Denver. It’s unknown how much the defense has spent so far, but they have enlisted the aid of California trial and jury consultants that without doubt, will not come cheap.
Earlier coverage of the James Holmes case begins at the link. Also available, more recent news from Colorado.
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