Aurora Theater Shooting: Juror Dismissed in James Holmes Trial After Tearing Her Hair Out

Holmes is charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder for the July 20, 2012 attack

Photo: RJ Sangosti/Getty

A prospective juror was dismissed in the James Holmes trial on Tuesday after she fell to the ground in tears and tore her hair out.

Jury selection began Jan. 20 in the trial of the gunman who allegedly opened fire in a Colorado movie theater during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises.

The juror in question answered her summonses on Tuesday with a child in hand, CBS Denver reports.

When asked why she had brought the child, she said it was because the child had not been immunized for measles and thus could not be taken to daycare. She then asked to be released from jury duty, but was instead told to come back another day.

At that point, she burst into tears and began pulling chunks of her hair out. She was excused from duty shortly after.

Holmes is charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder for the July 20, 2012, attack, which left 12 dead and injured 70 more. He has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity.

Jury selection is expected to take several months because of the publicity surrounding the case. Nine thousand candidates have been summoned to appear at the Arapahoe County Courthouse in groups of 250, where each will fill out a 75-question survey.

The incident on Tuesday was not the first with potential jurors in the case. Two have shown up intoxicated, while another was escorted out in an ambulance after becoming violently ill, according to CBS Denver.

Still, the judge presiding over the selection has insisted the process is moving faster than anticipated. “I like the fact that we are ahead of the game,” Judge Carlos A. Samour Jr. said.