James Holmes hearing: Fox News reporter to be subpoenaed about notebook leak
Update, 1:28 p.m. December 10: The hearing broke for lunch at noon. The morning was devoted to testimony from eight law enforcement witnesses who spoke about their involvement in the discovery and handling of the notebook. Holmes's attorneys requested the hearing in order to ferret out who leaked information to the media about its contents.
Holmes is present in court today, wearing a maroon jumpsuit. His hair is brown and he has beard.
The testimony helped piece together a timeline of what happened. University of Colorado Police Chief Doug Abraham testified that he got a call on July 22, two days after the shooting, from Dr. Robert Feinstein, the director of outpatient psychiatric services at the University of Colorado Hospital, and Fenton's boss. Feinstein told Abraham that Fenton received a phone call from Holmes's lawyers saying that she was going to get a package but not to open it, because Holmes wanted it back.
Doug Abraham.
The next morning, police searched the building where Fenton's office is located and found a package that wound up being unrelated to the case. Teams of police, mail room employees and other CU employees also searched the mail room and eventually found the package in question. Witnesses described it as a regular bubble envelope with stamps and handwritten addresses on it.
The Adams County bomb squad was called to examine the package to ensure it was safe. Deputy sheriff Denzel Lukens testified that he X-rayed the package and could see the spiral from a notebook. He also examined the package in what he described as a portable vent hood provided by the FBI and found no sign of chemicals. But he saw some ash inside, which he said concerned him. When he cut the package open with scissors, he said currency fell out.
Robert Feinstein.
After the bomb squad declared the package safe, several officers entered the mail room. The notebook was still in a few layers of plastic covering, including an evidence bag. Abraham said he and the Aurora police decided that Aurora would seek a warrant to take custody of the notebook.
Abraham said he removed the notebook from the bag to see what was inside for the purpose of writing the warrant. He said he shook it to make sure there were no items stuck in it other than the burned currency.
When defense attorney Daniel King asked why Abraham didn't take a closer look at the notebook's contents, he said, "There was no reason to."
Continue for more coverage of the James Holmes case hearing.
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