Theater shooting jury selection moving quicker than planned

The judge in the Colorado theater shooting case says jury selection is moving more quickly than expected and that could allow the trial to begin as early as May instead of June.

The second phase of jury selection – the individual questioning of potential jurors – had been scheduled to last 16 weeks. The Aurora Sentinel reports that Judge Carlos Samour said Wednesday that it could wrap up in six weeks instead. Jurors would then be picked after a round of group questioning.

James Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the July 20, 2012 attack at a Denver-area theater that killed 12 people and injured 70 others. His lawyers acknowledge he was the gunman but say he was in the grip of a psychotic episode.