Jury selection eventually started on January 20 , 2015 , after a request by Holmes ' lawyers for yet another continuance was denied . The juror selection process lasted three months and summoned 9,000 candidates , making it the largest jury summons in U.S. history . On April 15 , selection ended , with a total of nineteen women and five men serving . There were concerns about the selection of the jurors since at least two from the pool of twelve primary jurors , along with twelve alternatives , had ties to the 1999 Columbine High School massacre : " Juror No. 535 " , the aunt of a Columbine survivor ; and " Juror No. 737 " , a man who was a student there at the time and also a former friend of the shooters . The trial began on April 27 with opening arguments by the prosecution explaining that Holmes intentionally went to the movie theater that evening with the deliberate intent to kill as many people as possible in a mass shooting spree . The defense opened up their argument by admitting all the facts that Holmes was indeed the shooter , but that he is mentally ill with severe schizophrenia and was never in control of his right mind . Starting on April 28 , and over the next few weeks , prosecution testimony included various survivors of the massacre and the after-effects it had on the survivors
Columbine High School massacre
Columbine High School massacre
James Holmes (mass murderer)