CENTENNIAL, Colo. — Jurors in the Colorado theater shooting trial heard for the first time in the gunman’s own words that he regretted the attack and sometimes cried about it at night.

James Holmes’ comments came about two years after the shooting, in a videotaped interview with a state-appointed psychiatrist.

On Thursday, jurors watched the video and heard testimony from the doctor, William Reid, who said he believes Holmes knew the consequences when he opened fire at a “Batman” movie premiere in July 2012.

In the video, Reid asks Holmes if he got emotional when his parents visited him in jail for the first time. Holmes responds, “Nope,” but concedes in short answers that he may cry before he goes to bed because he feels bad about the attack.

“What brings tears to your eyes?” the psychiatrist asks.

“Just regrets,” Holmes responds. “Usually it’s before I go to sleep.”

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“Regrets about?” Reid asks.

“About the shooting.”

Earlier in the day, Reid testified about his conclusions from the July 2014 interviews, saying “whatever he (Holmes) suffered from” that night, he knew what he was doing.

Reminded that his task was to determine whether Holmes was legally sane during the attack, Reid declared, “whatever he suffered from, it did not prevent him from forming intent and knowing the consequences of what he was doing.”

The comment briefly frustrated the prosecutor, who said his witness had jumped ahead of him, and prompted the defense to ask for a mistrial. Judge Carlos Samour denied the request.

Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the attack that killed 12 people and injured 70. Colorado law gives the state the burden to prove he was sane, and therefore guilty. Prosecutors want him executed.

Reid said he spent about 300 hours preparing for the sanity exam, including viewing more than a week of videos of Holmes in jail.

“There was nothing to indicate insanity,” Reid said.


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