Colorado theater shooting trial delayed

CENTENNIAL, Colo., Oct. 28 (UPI) -- A judge granted a defense request for a delay of a few weeks in the start of jury selection for the Colorado theater shooting trial.

James Holmes could face the death penalty if he is convicted of killing 12 people during a late-night showing of The Dark Knight Rises in a movie theater in Aurora in 2012. His lawyers said they needed time to review a second evaluation on his sanity.

Jury selection is expected to take months with a pool of 6,000 people summoned to the courthouse. District Court Judge Carlos Samour, as he ordered the delay Monday, released a new schedule that calls for preliminary voir dire to begin Jan. 20, 2015, and opening statements June 3.

While Samour postponed the start of jury selection from Dec. 8 to Jan. 20, he said he had already planned to begin the presentation to jurors in June.

"The Court refuses to unnecessarily delay this case," Samour wrote in his order.