Aurora victim's dad in court: "Rot in hell Holmes"

A judge on Friday delayed the arraignment of the man charged with the Colorado theater shooting until March despite objections from prosecutors and most of the victims and their families.

District Judge William Sylvester ruled Thursday night that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence at a preliminary hearing to proceed toward trial on charges that James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 others at a suburban Denver movie theater on July 20.

Holmes, who is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder, won't have to enter a plea until March 12 after the judge granted a defense motion to delay that proceeding.

A murmur of disbelief rippled through the courtroom when the defense said it wouldn't be ready until March. Then, at the end of the hearing, the father of Rebecca Wingo, who was killed in the shooting, shouted "Rot in hell Holmes."

The judge reconvened the proceeding to talk to Steve Hernandez, who apologized and promised there would be no more outbursts. The judge was sympathetic.

"I am terribly sorry for your loss and I can onCENTENNIAL, COLO.

A judge on Friday delayed the arraignment of the man charged with the Colorado theater shooting until March despite objections from prosecutors and most of the victims and their families.

District Judge William Sylvester ruled Thursday night that prosecutors had presented sufficient evidence at a preliminary hearing to proceed toward trial on charges that James Holmes killed 12 people and injured 70 others at a suburban Denver movie theater on July 20.

James Holmes trial will proceed, according to Colo. judge

Holmes, who is charged with multiple counts of first-degree murder and attempted murder, won't have to enter a plea until March 12 after the judge granted a defense motion to delay that proceeding.

A murmur of disbelief rippled through the courtroom when the defense said it wouldn't be ready until March. Then, at the end of the hearing, the father of Rebecca Wingo, who was killed in the shooting, shouted "Rot in hell Holmes."

The judge reconvened the proceeding to talk to Steve Hernandez, who apologized and promised there would be no more outbursts. The judge was sympathetic.

"I am terribly sorry for your loss and I can only begin to imagine the emotions that are raging," Sylvester told him.

Sylvester had asked Holmes if he objected to the delay and defense attorney Tamara Brady answered for him, saying he did not. Defense lawyers didn't say why they wanted to delay entering a plea.

One possible reason could be to seek a mental health evaluation by a doctor of their choosing. Lawyers for Holmes have said he is mentally ill, raising the possibility of an insanity defense.

The Colorado massacre suspect

 

If Holmes had entered an insanity plea on Friday, an evaluation would be done by state doctors.

Prosecutors objected to the delay and said they were ready to move ahead.

Sylvester said he understood their position but wanted to make sure he did not do anything that could lay the grounds for an appeal.

"We want to avoid at all costs doing anything improper," the judge said.

Following the hearing, District Attorney George Brauchler, who took office this week, didn't specifically address the delay but said he wanted to "protect the interests of all involved in this case."

If Holmes, 25, is convicted of first-degree murder, he could face the death penalty. Prosecutors have not said whether they would pursue that sentence.

The hearing capped an emotional week in which the public, including victims and their families, got the first look at evidence gathered against Holmes and heard police officers describe attempts to save the wounded.

The Aurora shooting victims

During the preliminary hearing, witnesses testified that Holmes spent weeks amassing an arsenal and planning the attack at a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises," and that he took photos of himself hours before the shooting, including one that showed him grinning with a handgun.

They also detailed an elaborate booby trap set up at Holmes' apartment designed to explode at the same time the theater attack occurred several miles away.

Prosecution witnesses testified that Holmes began acquiring weapons in early May, and by July 6 he had two semi-automatic pistols, a shotgun, a semi-automatic rifle, 6,200 rounds of ammunition and high-capacity magazines that allow a shooter to fire more rounds without stopping to reload.

Holmes' lawyers called no witnesses during the hearing.

Another possibility in the case is that either side could argue that Holmes is not mentally capable of assisting in his own defense. If that happens, the judge would order a mental competency evaluation. Sylvester also can order an evaluation if he has his own questions about Holmes' competence.

In the case of the Tucson, Ariz., shooting that killed six people and wounded 13, including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, Jared Loughner was initially ruled incompetent to stand trial. However, after a year of treatment, Loughner was ruled competent, the case proceeded, and he entered guilty pleas.

If Holmes ends up pleading not guilty by reason of insanity, Sylvester would also order a psychiatric evaluation by doctors at the state hospital. A jury would consider that evaluation, along with testimony by expert witnesses, any other court-ordered evaluations and other evidence, in deciding at a trial whether Holmes is or is not guilty by reason of insanity.

If found not guilty by reason of insanity, Holmes would be committed to the state mental hospital for treatment. His case would be reviewed every six months. He conceivably could be released if he ever is deemed no longer insane.

"Insanity is what this case is going to turn on," said Denver criminal defense attorney Dan Recht. "This is not a whodunit case."ly begin to imagine the emotions that are raging," Sylvester told him.

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Obama Accuses Republicans of Blocking Tax Compromise

WASHINGTON — President Obama on Sunday implored Congress to act in the next 48 hours to avert the sharp tax increases and benefit cuts scheduled to take effect beginning on Tuesday, but there were no indications that negotiations on Capitol Hill were making progress.

In an appearance on the NBC News program “Meet the Press,” Mr. Obama accused Republicans of blocking action on measures to prevent taxes from rising for most Americans, threatening the still-fragile economic recovery.

“We have been talking to the Republicans ever since the election was over,” Mr. Obama said in the interview, which was taped on Saturday. “They have had trouble saying yes to a number of repeated offers. Yesterday I had another meeting with the leadership, and I suggested to them if they can’t do a comprehensive package of smart deficit reductions, let’s at minimum make sure that people’s taxes don’t go up and that two million people don’t lose their unemployment insurance.”

“And I was modestly optimistic yesterday, but we don’t yet see an agreement,” Mr. Obama said. “And now the pressure’s on Congress to produce.”

Unless Congress acts by midnight Monday, a broad set of tax increases and federal spending cuts will be automatically imposed on Jan. 1, affecting virtually every taxpayer and government program. The spending cuts were put in place earlier this year as draconian incentives that would force the president and lawmakers to confront the nation’s growing debt. Now, lawmakers are trying to keep them from happening, though it seemed likely that the cuts, known as sequestration, would be left for the next Congress, to be sworn in this week.

Talks were not going well, according to two officials with knowledge of the negotiations. Republicans were pushing for the largest deficit reduction deal they could get in the time remaining, the two officials said. They have told Democrats that they are willing to put off scheduled cuts to health care providers treating Medicare patients but that they want to pay for it with spending cuts elsewhere.

They also want to include Mr. Obama’s offer to change the way inflation is calculated to slow the growth of benefit programs like Social Security and to raise more revenue.

Democrats have balked at both, the officials said, fearing that any such concessions would only increase demands for addition concessions in the coming weeks when talks resume on a “grand bargain” to reduce the deficit.

Both sides worry that the confrontational tone that the president took on “Meet the Press” was not helpful.

Don Stewart, a spokesman for Senator Mitch McConnell, the Senator minority leader, issued a statement criticizing Mr. Obama’s remarks. “While the president was taping those discordant remarks yesterday,” Mr. Stewart said, “Senator McConnell was in the office working to bring Republicans and Democrats together on a solution. Discussions continue today.”

House Speaker John A. Boehner of Ohio, in his comments, pointed to the president as the problem. Republicans have tried to reach an agreement, Mr. Boehner said, but “the president has continued to insist on a package skewed dramatically in favor of higher taxes that would destroy jobs.”

Republicans have blamed Mr. Obama for seeking to punish the wealthy with large tax increases and have accused him of not negotiating in good faith. They say his approach would worsen the deficit by protecting Democratic constituency groups from tax increases and benefit reductions while imposing sharp penalties on farmers and small business owners.

Senator John Barrasso of Wyoming, a member of the Republican leadership, said Sunday on the CNN program “State of the Union” that Mr. Obama was not dealing with the real issue imperiling the economy — the Democrats’ “addiction to spending.”

The president and party leaders in the House and Senate have been seeking a compromise measure that would protect middle-income families from the worst of the tax increases, but there has been no agreement on where to draw the line. With the Bush-era tax cuts expiring, Mr. Obama and Democrats have said they want tax rates to rise on incomes over $250,000 a year; Republicans want a higher threshold, at perhaps $400,000.

As part of the last-minute negotiations, the lawmakers have haggled over unemployment benefits, cuts in Medicare payments to doctors, taxes on large inheritances and limits on the impact of the alternative minimum tax, a parallel income tax system that is intended to ensure that the rich pay a fair share but that is increasingly encroaching on the middle class.

Mr. Obama has said that if talks between the Senate leaders break down, he wants the Senate to schedule an up-or-down vote on a narrower measure that would extend only the middle-class tax breaks and unemployment benefits. The Senate majority leader,Harry Reid of Nevada, said he would schedule such a vote on Monday absent a deal.

In his comments, Mr. Obama singled out the top Republican leaders — Senator McConnell and Speaker Boehner — for threatening to derail any deal in order to protect the wealthiest Americans.

Under questioning from David Gregory, the host of “Meet the Press,” Mr. Obama would not accept any responsibility for the impasse. He blamed Republican intransigence and political “dysfunction” in Washington, and said he had offered multiple reasonable compromises.

“What is it about you, Mr. President,” Mr. Gregory asked, “that you think is so hard to say yes to?”

“That’s something you’re probably going to have to ask them,” the president responded, “because, David, you follow this stuff pretty carefully. The offers that I’ve made to them have been so fair that a lot of Democrats get mad at me.”

Mr. Obama said the priority for Republicans seemed to be “making sure that tax breaks for the wealthiest Americans are protected.”

At some point, he said, “I think what’s going to be important is that they listen to the American people.”

Another issue dividing Democrats and Republicans is the tax on inherited estates, which currently hits inheritances over $5 million at 35 percent. On Jan. 1, it is scheduled to rise to 55 percent, beginning with inheritances exceeding $1 million.

The political drama in Washington over the weekend was given greater urgency by the fear that the economic gains of the past two years could be lost if no deal was reached.

Some of the consequences of Congressional inaction would be felt almost at once on Tuesday, in employee paychecks, at doctors’ offices and in the financial markets. Analysts said the effect would be cumulative, building over time.

An early barometer would probably be the effect on financial markets, where skittish investors, as they have during previous Congressional cliffhangers, could send the stock market lower on fears of another prolonged period of economic distress.

Failure to reach a broader deal on taxes and spending would increase taxes further, returning rates to Clinton-era levels. January paychecks would shrink as employers start withholding more for taxes.

Many families would also suffer if Congress failed to extend emergency jobless benefits, meaning that 2.1 million Americans would abruptly stop receiving expected payments.

And come mid-January, some Medicare patients might struggle to find doctors to treat them. Without Congressional action, doctors would face two cuts to reimbursement rates: a 26.5 percent reduction in Medicare payment rates from a 1997 law, and a further 2 percent cut adopted to reduce the deficit last year.

By late February or early March, lawmakers would face another economic showdown over raising the nation’s borrowing limit again to avoid a cash-management crisis and a government shutdown. Republicans have already said they intend to use Congressional authority to increase the so-called debt ceiling to extract cuts from entitlement programs — a threat that Mr. Obama has said he will resist.

Around the same time, the government and its workers would begin feeling the cuts to defense and domestic spending.

Without a compromise, the Pentagon and its civilian contractors would face steep reductions in virtually every program. Military officials said those spending reductions — $500 billion over 10 years — would eventually force projects to shrink or be canceled and lead to large-scale layoffs of military and civilian personnel.

Hundreds of other federal programs would see cuts beginning in late January. These include reductions of about 8 percent in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children; the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program; and rental housing assistance.”

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Obama hosts fiscal cliff talks at White House

US President Barack Obama is meeting congressional leaders in talks at the White House to try to stop the US falling over the "fiscal cliff".

Reports say Mr Obama will offer a new deal in a bid to stave off tax rises.

Republicans and Democrats have only four days to reach an agreement before hundreds of billions of dollars of tax rises and spending cuts take effect.

Analysts say sliding over the "cliff" could tip the US into recession and set back the global economic recovery.

President Obama cut short his holiday in Hawaii to resume the negotiations.

New optimism?

Reports ahead of the meeting suggested the president would propose a limited package including the renewal of most expiring tax cuts, and a delay or replacement of some spending cuts.

There was no word on whether Republican House Speaker John Boehner and Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell would agree to a bipartisan deal.

Democratic Senate majority leader Harry Reid and senior House figure Nancy Pelosi were also at the White House.

Earlier, unconfirmed details of Mr Obama's plan were accompanied by newly upbeat rhetoric from some senators.

"I'm getting a little more optimistic today. Sometimes it's darkest before the dawn and there are two good signs for optimism today," senior Democrat Chuck Schumer told NBC's Today show.

Republican Jon Kyl told Bloomberg News: "Everybody recognises we're either going to get something in the next few hours or not. There's no more posturing time left."

Mr Obama's plans to increase taxes on the wealthiest Americans have remained a point of division between the two parties since he won re-election in November.tinue reading the main story

What is the fiscal cliff?

• On 1 January 2013, tax increases and huge spending cuts are due to come into force - the so-called fiscal cliff
• Deadline was put in place in 2011 to force president and Congress to agree ways to save money over the next 10 years
• Fear is that raising taxes while massively cutting spending will have huge impact on households and businesses
• Experts believe it could push the US into recession, and have a global impact on growth

The president wants tax cuts renewed for those earning under $400,000 (£250,000), with tax rises on the richest 2% in order to rein in deficit spending. But many Republicans oppose new taxes as a matter of principle, and are demanding cuts to what they see as deficit-inflating public spending, putting at risk healthcare and welfare benefit schemes popular with Democrats. An alternative plan proposed by House Speaker John Mr Boehner - which would have seen taxes rise only on those earning over $1m - failed in the House of Representatives late last week.

Speaking on Thursday, the Democratic majority leader in the Senate, Harry Reid, said he thought a deal was unlikely. Later, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said his colleagues were unwilling to sign a "blank cheque".

"Hopefully there is still time for an agreement of some kind that saves the taxpayers from a wholly preventable economic crisis."

In the Senate chamber on Thursday, Mr Reid said the requirement to get at least 60 of 100 votes to move to a vote on any legislation almost certainly doomed any new plan unless Republicans gave it strong backing.

"It looks like that [the fiscal cliff] is where we're headed," Mr Reid said.

Cuts and benefits

The term fiscal cliff refers to the combination of almost $600bn (£370bn) of tax rises and spending cuts due to come into force on 1 January if Congress does not pass new legislation.

Sweeping tax cuts passed during the presidency of George W Bush will expire, eventually affecting people of all income levels, and many businesses.

Other tax cuts and benefits to expire include:

• A 2010 payroll tax cut, the expiration of which would prompt immediate wage-packet cuts
• Benefits for the long-term unemployed
• Compensation for doctors treating patients on federal healthcare programmes
• Inheritance taxes are also likely to be affected if no deal is reached.

In addition, spending cuts mandated by a law passed to break a previous fiscal impasse in Congress will come into force, affecting both military and domestic budgets.

The cuts are expected to affect federal government departments and the defence sector, as well as hitting unemployment insurance and veterans' support.

How the Bush tax cuts were brought in
Tax year	1993-2000	2001	2002	2003-2008	2009-2012	2012 tax brackets	2013 scenarios
							Tax cuts expire	Tax cuts expire for top incomes
SOURCE: TAX FOUNDATION, IRS. TAX BRACKETS SHOWN FOR UNMARRIED INDIVIDUALS
President	Bill Clinton	George W Bush			Barack Obama
Bottom rate	15%	10%	10%	10%	10%	Up to $8,700	15%	10%
		15%	15%	15%	15%	$8,700-$35,350		15%
	28%	27.5%	27%	25%	25%	$35,350- $85,650	28%	25%
	31%	30.5%	30%	28%	28%	$85,650- $178,650	31%	28%
	36%	35.5%	35%	33%	33%	$178,650-$388,350	36%	33% or 36%*
Top rate	39.6%	39.1%	38.6%	35%	35%	Over $388,350	39.6%	39.6%
*President Obama has previously called for the tax cut to expire for those earning over $250,000

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New York firefighter shooting: killer leaves sinister note

The ex-convict who lured two firefighters to their deaths in a blaze of gunfire left a typewritten note saying he wanted to burn down his New York state neighbourhood and "do what I like doing best, killing people," police said on Tuesday.

Police chief Gerald Pickering said William Spengler, 62, who served 17 years in prison for the 1980 hammer killing of his grandmother, armed himself with a revolver, a shotgun and a semiautomatic rifle before he set his house in Webster on fire before dawn on Christmas Eve.

Two firefighters were shot dead and two were hospitalised. Spengler killed himself as seven houses burned around him on a narrow spit of land along Lake Ontario.

Pickering said one of the weapons recovered was a .233-caliber semiautomatic Bushmaster rifle, the same make and calibre gun used in this month's school massacre in Newtown, Connecticut.

The note left by Spengler did not give a motive for the shootings, said Pickering, who declined to divulge the note's full contents. He read one line: "I still have to get ready to see how much of the neighborhood I can burn down and do what I like doing best, killing people."

Pickering said authorities were still looking for Spengler's sister, Cheryl Spengler, 67, who lived with him. Their mother, Arline, lived with the pair until she died in October.

Neighbour Roger Vercruysse said Spengler hated his sister and doted on his mother.

"He loved his mama to death," said Vercruysse, but "couldn't stand his sister" and "stayed on one side of the house and she stayed on the other".

Spengler fired at the four firefighters when they arrived to put out the fire, Pickering said. The first police officer who arrived chased the gunman and exchanged shots.

Authorities said Spengler had done nothing to bring cause concern since his parole. As a convicted felon, he was not allowed to possess weapons.

Pickering said the police officer who exchanged gunfire with Spengler "in all likelihood saved many lives".

A police vehicle was used to recover the two bodies and it also removed 33 people from nearby homes. The gunfire initially kept firefighters from battling the blazes.

The dead men were identified as Lt Michael Chiapperini, 43, the Webster police department's public information officer, and Tomasz Kaczowka, 19, an emergency dispatcher.

Pickering described Chiapperini as a "lifetime firefighter" with nearly 20 years in the department, and he called Kaczowka a "tremendous young man".

The two wounded firefighters, Joseph Hofstetter and Theodore Scardino, were in stable condition on Tuesday, Pickering said.

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Obama And Boehner Meet Again; 'Fiscal Cliff' Still Looms

President Obama hosted House Speaker John Boehner today, spending nearly an hour together in which they reportedly discussed ways to avert the looming "fiscal cliff" of spending cuts and tax hikes that are due to strike at the end of 2012. Boehner left the White House at 6 p.m., ET, apparently without reaching a deal. As Politico reports, the Republican plans to return to his home state of Ohio this weekend.

The speaker's meeting with the president began around 5:10, just more than an hour after the White House announced that U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, a subject of steady criticism from congressional Republicans, had"removed her name from consideration for Secretary of State."


Obama and Boehner have recently ramped up their negotiations as the deadline for a deal to avert the "fiscal cliff" nears. The pair met at the White House Sunday, and they have traded counteroffers to each others' original plans.

The president has called for $1.4 trillion in revenue over the next decade, which would include higher taxes for the wealthiest taxpayers as well as $400 billion in spending cuts.

The speaker has put forth a plan that includes $1.2 trillion in spending cuts over the same period, as well as $800 billion in new revenue — much of it derived from restructuring the existing tax code.

This afternoon meeting between President Obama and Speaker Boehner came on the same day the Pew Research Center released a new national poll that gauged Americans' views on the fiscal cliff and the efforts to avoid it.

The poll found that 55 percent of respondents believe Obama "is making a serious effort to work with Republicans. But just 32% say Republican leaders are making a serious effort to work with Obama on a deficit deal."

Pew Research Center president Andrew Kohut discussed the poll on today's All Things Considered.

At his weekly news briefing earlier today, Boehner maintained his stance that spending cuts are the best remedy for the U.S. economy's ills. "While the president promised the American people a balanced approach, his proposals have been anything but," said Boehner, according to a partial transcript on his website.

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