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Jury convicts Colorado theater shooter of murder

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CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) — The latest in the Colorado theater shooting trial (all times local):

4:15 p.m.

A jury has found Colorado theater shooter James Holmes guilty of murder in the methodically planned attack that left 12 dead and dozens wounded.

The verdict means the 27-year-old former neuroscience graduate student could get the death penalty for the 2012 shooting.

Jurors reached their decision Thursday after deliberating for about 13 hours over two days. They must now decide whether Holmes should be executed or sent to prison for life without the possibility of parole.

Holmes pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, and his attorneys argued he was so addled by mental illness that he was unable to tell right from wrong at the time of the shootings.

Prosecutors maintained the attack was meticulously planned over months and Holmes knew what he was doing.

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3 p.m.

The families of those killed and injured in the Colorado theater shooting are arriving at the courthouse in suburban Denver where James Holmes’ verdict will be read at 4:15 p.m.

Two deputies are stationed on the roof.

The jury heard 11 weeks of testimony. The nine women and three men reached their decision Thursday after deliberating for about a day and a half.

Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the July 20, 2012, shootings. He killed 12, and 70 were wounded. It ranks as one of the nation’s deadliest shootings.

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1:23 p.m.

Jurors have reached a verdict in the trial of Colorado theater shooter James Holmes.

The panel made its decision Thursday after deliberating for a day and a half. A court spokesman says the verdict will be read at 4:15 p.m. MDT Thursday.

Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the July 20, 2012, shootings that killed 12 people and injured 70 others.

If the jury convicts Holmes, the trial will enter a sentencing phase with testimony about whether he should be sent to prison for life or sentenced to death. Jurors make that decision.

If they find him not guilty, he would be committed indefinitely to a state mental hospital.

Jurors heard nearly three months of testimony, including heartbreaking and sometimes gruesome survival stories.

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