4 p.m. (MDT)

During opening statements of the Colorado theater shooting trial, James Holmes' attorney showed home videos of his client as a boy and told jurors that Holmes was a "good kid who tried hard."

The videos showed Holmes surfing and playing on a slide.

Public defender Daniel King pointed to Holmes' parents in the courtroom, Arlene and Robert Holmes, saying they were a solid middle-class couple.

"He was what we want all our children to be like," said King, noting Holmes could be "anyone's son" and that anyone's son could have schizophrenia.

District Attorney George Brauchler objected, but he was overruled by the judge.

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3:45 p.m. (MDT)

An attorney for Colorado theater shooter James Holmes says every doctor who has evaluated his client has found he suffers from a serious psychotic illness, and isn't faking it.

Public defender Daniel King said during opening statements that all the psychiatrists who have examined Holmes have diagnosed him with schizophrenia or schizophrenic spectrum disorder.

King told jurors their job is not to decide whether mass murder is wrong, how badly the victims were harmed or anything having to do with gun control.

"There is no room for retribution or vengeance," he said. "The law commands that you decide one thing and one thing only: that you fairly and rationally decide all the evidence in the case or lack of evidence, and that you decide whether (District Attorney George) Broauchler has ... proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Holmes was not insane. "

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3:35 p.m. (MDT)

A public defender says James Holmes was insane when he opened fire in a crowded Colorado movie theater in 2012.

Public defender Daniel King said during his opening statement in Holmes' trial that his client was having a psychotic break and was not in control of his thoughts, his actions or "what he perceived as reality" at the time of the attack.

"By the time Mr. Holmes stepped into that theater, his perception of reality was so skewed, was so malformed, that he no longer lived in the world that we lived in," King said. "But to him, it seemed as real as it seems to you right now.

Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to killing 12 people and injuring 70 in the mass shooting in the Denver suburb of Aurora.

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3:25 p.m. (MDT)

Multiple people sobbed during opening statements in the Colorado theater shooting trial.

A juror wiped tears from her face as District Attorney George Brauchler showed photographs of the victims' bodies, as well a photograph of 6-year-old Veronica Moser before the shooting.

Brauchler said he would show a photo of Moser's body later in the trial, but didn't show it during opening statements. He said they should only have to look at that photo once.

Holmes watched the screen with the photographs but showed no visible reaction.

There was a box of tissues at the feet of Holmes' parents but they didn't use them during the opening statements. Defense attorneys were beginning their opening statement.

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3 p.m. (MDT)

The prosecutor in the Colorado theater shooting trial showed jurors photographs of the victims before wrapping up his opening statement.

District Attorney George Brauchler described how one moviegoer draped himself over his friend, trying to protect him, and how another was nearly eviscerated by bullets.

Brauchler says the gunman, James Holmes, wore headphones and listened to techno music so as not to hear the reaction in the theater.

In the courtroom Monday, Holmes swiveled in chair ever so slightly as the prosecutor chronicled the individual killings.

Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to killing 12 people and injuring 70 in the 2012 attack.

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2:45 p.m. (MDT)

District Attorney George Brauchler showed jurors photographs of the elaborate booby trap that Colorado theater shooter James Holmes set up in his apartment.

He says Holmes used "detonation redundancy" to try to ensure its success and tactics to cause as much harm as possible.

Gasoline was put in green containers so it looked like a clear liquid.

Brauchler says Holmes planned to use magnesium to start fires that would spew out lethal hydrogen gas and be made worse by water sprayed on them.

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2:40 p.m. (MDT)

A prosecutor says James Holmes' decision to dye his bright hair red before opening fire in a Colorado movie theater had nothing to do with wanting to look like the Joker from Batman.

District Attorney George Brauchler says Holmes told an expert who examined him that he changed his hair color and wore contacts that made his pupils look black so he would stand out and be remembered.

"I thought it would look better than green or blue," Holmes said, according to the prosecutor.

Also during his opening statements, Brauchler showed jurors an FBI model of the theater. The roughly 4-foot by 6-foot model was on a table in the courtroom and had been covered with a black cloth.

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2:15 p.m. (MDT)

A prosecutor says James Holmes considered other locations and methods for his attack, including biological warfare, before deciding on a mass shooting at a suburban Denver movie theater.

District Attorney George Brauchler says Holmes ruled out a biological assault because it would require too much knowledge.

He also considered various locations, including airports and other theaters. He concluded an airport would have too much security.

Brauchler says Holmes picked Century 16 in Aurora in part because it had doors he could lock to increase casualties. He also considered factors such as police response times.

Brauchler noted before the shooting, Holmes was reluctant to give details about his thoughts to therapists he worked with. But Holmes freely talked about his desire to kill people with his ex-girlfriend, whom he continued to spend time with after their breakup.

The prosecutor said the ex-girlfriend thought Holmes was being hypothetical, and the two severed ties soon afterward.

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2 p.m. (MDT)

The prosecutor in the Colorado movie theater shooting trial says the experts who examined the gunman couldn't agree on what mental disorder he has.

District Attorney George Brauchler also says James Holmes, a former graduate student in neuroscience, gave them conflicting answers about his motives.

Brauchler noted during opening arguments that Holmes told one state expert he decided to carry out the shooting in a movie theater because of the possibility of mass casualties. But Brauchler says Holmes told a defense expert he chose the setting because he liked the movies.

When asked about the discrepancy, Holmes allegedly responded "Things change with time" and offered no other explanation.

Openings statements started Monday with prosecutors laying out their case. Each side is allowed two hours.

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1:50 (MDT)

The prosecutor in the Colorado movie theater shooting trial says for four months after his arrest, James Holmes was on no medication and seemed sane.

District Attorney George Brauchler told jurors during opening statements Monday that Holmes complained about the jail food and asked for specific books and contact-lens cleaning fluid.

"He is, in essence, like every other inmate," Brauchler said.

But the prosecutor says as the holidays neared, Holmes stopped eating and drinking, sending himself into a delirium.

Brauchler says jurors will see a video of Holmes climbing onto the bed in his cell around that time and "sort of falling off," and they'll have to decide what it means.

He says they'll also see a notebook Holmes kept that was intended to be given to his family after the shooting. It includes pages Holmes wrote on his longstanding hatred of mankind, as well as his plans for the massacre.

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1:30 p.m. (MDT)

The prosecutor in the Colorado movie theater shooting trial has played a video recording of one of James Holmes' psychiatric evaluations in which Holmes says he "only counts fatalities" in the attack and those wounded were "collateral damage."

District Attorney George Brauchler says Holmes felt differently about the people he killed and those he injured in the 2012 shooting in suburban Denver.

"The dead can't be repaired or come back to life and be normal again," Holmes said.

The wounded, meanwhile, are "collateral damage," he said.

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1:25 p.m. (MDT)

The prosecutor in the Colorado movie theater shooting trial says two mental health evaluations found that James Holmes sane at the time of the attack.

It is the first word on the results of the evaluations from different psychiatrists.

"Both of them said the same thing: that that guy was sane when he tried to murder all those people in the theater back in July of 2012," District Attorney George Brauchler said.

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1:15 p.m. (MDT)

Opening statements have started in the long-awaited death penalty trial of Colorado movie theater shooter James Holmes.

The prosecutor showed a picture of the door to the theater. "Through this door are bullets, blood, brains and bodies," he said. He played a 911 call.

Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. says each side has two hours for opening statements. The defense can make opening statement now or later.

Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to killing 12 people and injuring 70 when he opened fire at a midnight showing of a Batman movie in suburban Denver. The July 20, 2012, mass shooting was one of America's deadliest.

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12:55 p.m. (MDT)

The judge in the Colorado theater shooting trial has dismissed jurors for a short break before opening statements begin.

Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. has explained to jurors the importance of not discussing the trial with anyone, including each other. Opening statements are set to start after the break.

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12:45 p.m. (MDT)

The judge in the Colorado theater shooting trial is explaining to the jury that they must decide whether or not James Holmes was sane at the time of the attack.

Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. explained to the 12 jurors, plus 12 alternates, the guidelines of an insanity plea. Samour says the defendant is presumed innocent and does not have to prove he was insane when the shooting occurred.

Instead, he says, the prosecution must prove that Holmes was not insane.

Holmes is sitting still and watching the judge. He has not appeared to react to what he says or talk to his attorneys.

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12:20 p.m. (MDT)

The judge in the Colorado theater shooting trial has started instructing the jury.

Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. on Monday told jurors he has no opinion on the case and told them they can submit questions to him regarding witness testimony during the trial.

Samour also says jurors can take notes but they're not allowed to take those notes home. He says the jurors' notebooks will be destroyed at the end of the trial.

James Holmes acknowledges killing 12 people and wounding 70 more in a packed Aurora theater in July 2012, but he has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His lawyers will argue he was too addled by mental illness to tell right from wrong.

Opening statements are set to begin later Monday.

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12 p.m. (MDT)

A judge has started addressing jurors in the Colorado theater shooting trial.

Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. thanked jurors for being on time and told them he's taken steps to ensure their privacy. He says he has ordered the media not to identify jurors or contact them or their friends or family members.

Samour earlier seated 12 jurors, plus 12 alternates who will replace any jurors who are dismissed for health or other reasons.

The 24 people will not know if they are jurors or alternates until deliberations are about to begin. At that point, the remaining alternates will be dismissed

Opening statements in James Holmes' death penalty trial are set for later Monday.

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11:30 a.m. (MDT)

Some victims' family members and survivors of the Colorado theater shooting have arrived at court in advance of opening statements in James Holmes' trial.

They held hands as they took the elevator up to the courtroom in the Denver suburb of Centennial.

The group included Ian Sullivan, whose 6-year-old daughter, Veronica, was the youngest victim of the 2012 massacre, and Caleb Medley, who was shot in the head while on a date night at the Batman screening with his pregnant wife.

Medley's wife gave birth to their baby in the same hospital where Medley was treated. The boy is his first child.

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11 a.m. (MDT)

Many of the people who attended a morning hearing in the trial of Colorado theater shooter James Holmes have dispersed while court is in recess, including Holmes' parents.

The hearing at the Arapahoe County courthouse in suburban Denver was held to clear up last-minute requests from attorneys.

Opening statements in the death penalty trial are expected to start around 1 p.m. local time.

Meanwhile, work on other cases continued as usual Monday at the courthouse in Centennial. Court dockets show at least 100 other cases scheduled for the day.

Holmes acknowledges killing 12 people and wounding 70 more inside the packed theater, but he has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

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10:30 a.m. (MDT)

Opening statements in the Colorado shooting trial will be given by District Attorney George Brauchler for the prosecution, and public defenders Daniel King and Katherine Spengler for the defense.

Brauchler said at the morning briefing that he'll show graphic images during his presentation. He didn't elaborate.

The trial is taking place in the Denver suburb of Centennial, where it was chilly and drizzling Monday morning.

A row of TV satellite trucks sat outside the courthouse. A half-dozen TV camera crews and more photojournalists watched as spectators including former Denver Fire Chief Larry Trujillo arrived.

Trujillo's daughter, Taylor, was in the theater on July 20, 2012. She survived the shooting when a friend threw her to the floor.

Trujillo says his faith allows him to forgive. But he says that might be easy to say since his daughter survived.

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9:55 a.m. (MDT)

Court is in recess in the Colorado theater shooting case after a hearing to clear up last-minute requests.

James Holmes' parents sat in the second row in the courtroom in the Denver suburb of Centennial. His mother, Arlene, took notes in a small purple notebook and Holmes read at the defense table. No victims' families were at the hearing.

Prosecutors asked for access to records of jail visits by Holmes' parents, experts and other people besides his legal team.

Holmes' lawyers objected, but arguments on that issue were delayed until a later date.

Opening statements are expected to begin around 1 p.m. local time, after the judge addresses jurors.

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9:10 a.m. (MDT)

A hearing to take care of last-minute motions is underway in the death penalty trial of Colorado theater shooter James Holmes in suburban Denver.

Holmes is dressed in a blue shirt, khaki pants and no tie. At the start of a live video feed from the courtroom, he is seen standing behind the defense table with his hands in his pocket.

As in previous hearings, Holmes is tethered to the courtroom floor with a harness under his clothes, hidden from the jury's view.

To the right of the judge's bench is a table holding a roughly 4-foot by 6-foot object draped with a black cloth.

Among the evidence expected to be presented during the trial is an FBI model of the theater and photographs of the scene.

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8:25 a.m. (MDT)

The parents of Colorado theater shooter James Holmes have been seen waiting in line to get into the suburban Denver courthouse where Holmes' long-awaited death penalty trial is getting underway.

Robert and Arlene Holmes of Rancho Penasquitos, California, have publicly pleaded for their son's life to be spared through a plea bargain. They called him a "human being gripped by a severe mental illness."

Shortly before their arrival, some TV reporters followed Lonnie and Sandy Phillips, the parents of shooting victim Jessica Ghawi, to the door of the Centennial courthouse, in violation of the strict ground rules for media coverage.

A woman in a suit came up and scolded them.

Opening statements in the 2012 shooting case are scheduled to begin Monday afternoon.

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7:50 a.m. (MDT)

A steady stream of people walked into the courthouse on a gray and drizzly morning on the opening day of the trial of James Holmes in the 2012 Colorado theater shooting.

They were dressed in suits and dresses, and jeans and sweatshirts. About 10 television satellite trucks were parked outside.

There were no deputies stationed at the roof as seen at previous hearings in the case at the courthouse in Centennial, south of Denver.

Holmes acknowledges killing 12 people and wounding 70 more a packed Aurora theater, but has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. His lawyers will argue he was too addled by mental illness to tell right from wrong.