Aurora cinema shooting suspect James Holmes was formally charged with 24 counts of murder for the 12 victims who died, once for showing deliberation and once for showing extreme indifference to human life. He also faces 116 counts of attempted murder for the 58 injured (many still in critical condition), 1 count of possession of an explosive device and one count of committing a crime of violence, bringing the total to 142.

If guilty on the murders alone he could be sentenced to thousands of years in prison and there is no word yet on whether prosecution will ask for the death penalty. A pre-trial hearing is set for Sept. 27 and a preliminary hearing for Holmes the week of Nov. 13. As with any case of this nature, the journey will be a long one.

THREE DEBATES

There are hundreds of opinions and thousands of discussions on this man and this event. The first debate has been the gun debate, slow to get started and not really taking hold, perhaps out of shock, perhaps out of respect for the victims.

Secondly, the insanity debate, also slow to get started because what is the evidence so far? He was seeing a psychiatrist, but that doesn't make you crazy. Arguments now surround the alleged notebook with shooting plot details possibly contained therein, sent to his therapist. Is doctor/client privilege to be invoked or is this evidence? Most of us might say, "to do something like this one must be crazy" yet we wouldn't want it used an excuse to avoid punishment.

The 3rd debate as I see it, is that involving shooting victim Ashley Moser. Ashley was paralyzed in the shooting and her 6 year old daughter, Veronica Moser-Sullivan was killed. Ashley was also 8 weeks pregnant. The fetus initially survived the ordeal but on the weekend Ashley miscarried. Is this a 13th murder victim?

Obviously opinions vary and it is a divisive issue. Some say a person is formed at the moment of conception, some say 10 days later at implantation. Some say 6-8 weeks after the first heartbeat is detected and others 16 weeks when movement begins. Abortion laws vary between 20-24 weeks. Yet others says birth is when a fetus becomes a baby.

Colorado abortion laws usually refer to 16 weeks of pregnancy. In states like North Carolina, Florida and Wisconsin murder charges have been laid in the death of a fetus. This is different than the abortion debate because that is a pro-choice matter agreed upon by people and governments for the majority. What is someone chooses life, and has no intent of ending that pregnancy, but has it forcibly ended at the hands of a murderer? Should that killing not be added to the count? LEAVE COMMENTS.

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