James Holmes was in “the throes of a psychotic episode when he committed acts that resulted in the tragic loss of life” at a Colorado movie theater a year ago, his attorneys said in a court filing.
It is the first time the defense has admitted that Holmes killed 12 people in the mass shooting, The Denver Post reported.
The judge in Holmes’ murder trial last month accepted the defendant’s plea of not guilty by reason of insanity.
Holmes previously offered to plead guilty and spend the rest of his life behind bars if authorities would spare his life, but prosecutors in Arapahoe County announced in April they would seek the death penalty.
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