Accused Colorado gunman was restrained in psych ward
Accused movie theater gunman James Holmes was held in restraints for several days at a psychiatric hospital last November after jail officials determined he was a threat to himself, his lawyers said in a court filing made public on Friday, according to Reuters.
The disclosure came in a motion by Holmes' public defenders to have a videotape of his hospitalization turned over to them by the Arapahoe County Sheriff's Office, which runs the jail where he is being held without bond.
Arapahoe County District Judge William Sylvester ordered the sheriff's office to preserve and maintain the videotape "pending further order of the court."
The court filings were made public on the same day that Sylvester rejected a motion by defense attorneys to declare Colorado's insanity defense law unconstitutional. Holmes, 25, is scheduled to enter a plea in the case on Tuesday.
Holmes is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder in the July shooting rampage that killed 12 moviegoers and wounded 58 others during a screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" Batman movie in Aurora, Colorado.
Defense lawyers said in the motion that Arapahoe County attorneys not involved with the prosecution asked a judge last November 15 to transfer Holmes to a hospital because he was a danger to himself and in "immediate need of a psychiatric evaluation."
That same day, Holmes was transported by ambulance from the jail to Denver Health Medical Center's psychiatric unit "where he remained for several days, frequently in restraints," the motion said.
That hospitalization, defense lawyers noted, was separate from an earlier incident where Holmes was treated at a hospital for injuries "that resulted from potential self-inflicted head injuries in his cell."
Newsfeed
Videos
Artur Vanetsyan: I think you'll see me more often at various events in future
