reporter: yeah. he initially gave more to democrats than republicans. over the years, he had added up money to hillary clinton and john kerry and the like, almost to $600,000. then in 2011, he shifted more money over to the republican side. they caught up and then surpassed that number with donations over the years, bob dole and phil graham and rudy giulia giuliani. that s a lot of money going out into the campaign on both sides, more the republican side now, but plenty to go around. a lot of money and not the last we heard of it. thanks so much. next, breaking news. moments ago the jury returned a verdict in the sentencing of james holmes, the colorado movie theater shooter. how did he avoid a death sentence? he shrugged, he scowled.
without the possibility of parole. the jury was unable to reach a unanimous sentencing verdict for holmes killing 12 people and wounding 70 others. holmes had pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. anna cabrera is live outside the courthouse. anna, this seems a surprising verdict. what was the reaction inside the courtroom? reporter: well, understandably there were a lot of people on edge. it s been three years since the shooting. lots of family members of those who were killed, survivors of the shooting were all anxiously awaiting this final sentencing verdict. some sobbed. a couple of people got up and left after just the first couple of counts were read. jurors looked ashen in their faces, very grim as they were filing into the courtroom. and then the judge reading that they were unable to reach a unanimous verdict on any particular of the 24 counts resulting by default in a life sentence without parole for
james holmes. now again, it s been three years since the day he committed the crime, july 20th, 2012. and these jurors have sat through 15 weeks of testimony from 306 witnesses. they deliberated for about seven hours before coming back and saying they were unable to reach that unanimous verdict. but the prosecution all along had been arguing and pushing for the death penalty saying justice is death. the defense urged mercy. and their argument was james holmes was mentally ill when he committed the crime. and he still suffers severe mental illness. in fact, there were several experts throughout this trial who testified that holmes does indeed suffer severe mental illness. and so the doefs telling jurors you can t kill a sick person. perhaps that was part of what made the deliberations difficult and the reason they did not reach a unanimous verdict. but in the end, again, life in prison without parole for the man convicted of one of the
@cnnsitroom. thanks for watching. erin burnett outfront starts right now. it s all about donald trump, after dominating last night s debate, he is still topic number one for the other candidates today. this debate last night showed that he doesn t have a lot of specifics. is trump digging republicans into a hole with women? outfront tonight, the contestant who was the target of one of trump s crudest lines. breaking news. we re standing by right now for the sentencing verdict in the colorado movie theeater massacr. will james holmes get the death penalty? let s go outfront.
CNN Erin Burnett OutFront August 7, 2015 23:50:45 archive.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from archive.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.