Centennial , Colorado ( CNN ) After months of intensive questioning , a jury has finally been picked for the trial of Colorado movie theater massacre suspect James Holmes . Twelve jurors and twelve alternates are on the list . The group includes 19 women and five men . It 's almost entirely white and mostly middle-aged . It 's a key step in the case , and it 's been a long time coming . Jury selection started in January with 9,000 potential jurors . But the legal wrangling is the case is just revving up . Holmes ' defense attorneys asked for a change of venue after the jury was seated Tuesday . The judge denied their request , noting that a jury had already been seated . Opening statements in the trial are scheduled to begin on April 27 . Holmes is accused of killing 12 people and injuring 70 others when he allegedly opened fire inside a packed theater during the midnight showing of `` The Dark Knight Rises '' on July 20 , 2012 . The one-time neuroscience doctoral student faces 165 counts , including murder and attempted murder charges . Now 27 , he has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity . If convicted of the most serious charges , he could face a death sentence . Wearing a gray dress shirt and tan slacks , Holmes sat quietly in court on Tuesday , looking relaxed and leaning back in his chair for much of the day as lawyers made their picks from the jury pool . He looked down often , but smiled occasionally , such as when the judge made a joke about a juror needing to share his Cheetos and when the district attorney accidentally addressed a male juror as a `` Miss . '' Even though he looked calm , defense lawyer Tamara Brady started her question and answer session with jurors Tuesday by expression concerns about Holmes getting a fair and impartial trial , saying `` I 'm nervous '' and `` my client is nervous . '' District Attorney George Brauchler warned jurors to brace themselves . Tuesday 's court session , he said , was the lawyers ' last chance to find out if there is `` any reason you should n't be one of the 24 to sit through the four to five months of a horrible roller coaster through the worst haunted house you can imagine . '' CNN 's Ana Cabrera and Sara Weisfeldt reported from Centennial City . CNN 's Catherine E. Shoichet reported from Atlanta . CNN 's Michael Martinez contributed to this report .
In the murder trial of James Holmes , 12 jurors and 12 alternates have been selected . The mostly middle-aged group includes 19 women and five men . Jury selection started in April 27 ; opening statements are scheduled to begin on January .