james holmes will formally receive his sentence, the life sentence is binding on the judge. it will take place in a three-day sentencing hearing beginning august 24. three days because victims will have a chance to speak and holmes, who has remained silent for the last three years, will have one last chance to speak to the public. alex? scott, do we know if they plan to have him speak to the public or not? are we just waiting? well he has declined every attempt. he s had chances to testify and make statements at various stages throughout the trial and the sentencing and he s chosen not to. this would be the time to do it if he s going to do it but we have no idea if he ll take advantage of it. thank you very much scott cohn from colorado. to politics now, donald trump causing a flash point moment in the run for the nomination. news week s latest issue profiles the will have him or hate him candidate. let s bring in the author newsweek writer bill powell. this is good. just
theater shooter james holmes. that is under way. and you are looking at images there from inside the courtroom in centennial colorado. this phase will likely include heart-wrenching testimony from those who lost loved ones in the 2012 shooting. jurors decided yesterday to keep the death penalty on the table for the convicted aurora movie theater shooter. that same jury found holmes guilty for killing 12 people and injuring 70 others. msnbc s scott cohn is covering the trial for us. tell us more about this phase three and how it could be considered some of the most gut wrempl wrenching and heartbreaking that we ve heard so far. it is definitely living up to that francis. the court is now in a 90-minute lunch break. but if there was ever any doubt that three years after the aurora shooting would dull any of the pain for victims, this morning s testimony is putting that to rest. we heard just before the break
like garden variety discipline they treat them like law enforcement problems. and it leads to the kind of inappropriate response that we saw here. reporter: the covington school district which is not named in the suit declined to comment on these incidents. but says deputies like sumner are in schools to maintain the safety of students and staff and are not called upon to punish or discipline a student. meanwhile, the aclu attorney says the boy in the video is haunted by what happened to him. for an 8-year-old kid to get handcuffed behind your back by a big man like that it was a terrifying experience and it stayed with him. reporter: as a federal court is now being asked whether it violated his constitutional rights. john yang, nbc news chicago. coming up surrender, the man accused of murdering a memphis police officer turns himself in to u.s. marshals. and then developing news in a courthouse in colorado. victims taking the stand in the
in centennial colorado. appreciate the update. thank you. a new update on the death of sandra bland who police say hanged herself in a jail while in custody. her family has filed a wrongful death lawsuit against a texas sheriff s office. bland s family says they need more information like a full toxicology report and the time of her death. mother my inner is telling me that she did not do that. now, i m the first one to tell you if the facts, the facts, i m not talk about the fiction, if the facts show without a doubt that that was the case you know, i ll have to be prepared to deal with that. but the bottom line is she never should have been inside of the jail. bland was found dead in her waller county texas, jail cell three days after her arrest. used a plastic bag to hang herself which her family has strongly called into question.
the jury here is whether the mitigating factor james holmes mental illness, the fact that he had a clean record beforehand all the things they heard over the last week whether that s enough to outweigh the aggravating factors, the heinousness of the crime of the theater shooting in 2012. if they unanimously agree the aggravateing factors outweigh the mitigating factors then they move on to a third phase in which they decide once and for all whether he should get the death penalty or life in prison. in that third phase if it comes to that they will hear a lot of statements and testimony on impact to the victims and their families. so again, the jury will deliver this verdict it will be read in court at 2:30 eastern time 12:30 local time here in centennial, colorado. andrea? two quick questions. if anyone of those jurors decides that it should be taken off the table, that s the end of the penalty phase and the death penalty is no longer an option? that s the end of it. right. that s