Updates on the Colorado Theater Shooting
HAMMER: Today, the suspect in the Colorado shooting rampage was formally charged with the murders of 12 people in an Aurora movie theater during the opening night of "The Dark Knight Rises" just two weeks ago. Unlike his first hearing, this time, there were no cameras allowed in court today. So where there any surprises? Joining me now LeVar Burton, who has been teaching children on the award- winning "Reading Rainbow" on PBS for over two decades. And LeVar also has this terrific new PSA that deals with Colorado tragedy. It`s good to have you back here, LeVar. Also joining me from Miami, criminal defense attorney and former prosecutor, Mark Eiglarsh. All right, guys. A lot of charges filed today in court. I want to run them down for you. First of all, Colorado prosecutors formally charged James Holmes with 24 counts of first degree murder, 116 counts of attempted murder. And he is charged with one count for possession of explosives classified as a felony. As police claim when they tried to enter Holmes` apartment, it was booby-trapped. Mark, I want to start with you. Any surprise about the number of charges that were filed today?</s>MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think so. Typically, you don`t have prosecutors charging both theories. The premeditation and then a separate theory would be extreme indifference to human life. I guess the thought is that there may be some juror, I guess, or jurors with defects in character that can`t see that this was clear premeditation. So just in case, let`s have an alternate theory that anybody who goes into a crowded theater and begins shooting commits an act that has such extreme indifference to human life that you could find him guilty under either theories.</s>HAMMER: OK. And there were no cameras in court today. And for those families who don`t even want the killer`s name uttered on TV, I`m betting that that was actually relief not to have the suspect`s face plastered all over TV during the hearing. The aunt of victim Ashley Moser, whose six-year-old daughter died in the shooting, told HLN today why she felt that she needed to be in the courtroom. Let`s watch that together.</s>MARY ELLEN HANSEN, AUNT OF ASHLEY MOSER, VICTIM OF COLORADO SHOOTING: It was very important to come in and see him as who he was. And there was a lot of anger that anybody had the right to do something like that. And I just wanted to have the opportunity to really watch his gestures, to get a sense of the type of character he was, to study him as much as I could.</s>HAMMER: Wow. I mean, I can`t even imagine what she`s going through. You just hear the raw emotion in her voice. LeVar, you`ve said we need to do more to focus on the victims. What in your mind needs to be done at this point?</s>LEVAR BURTON, HOST, "READING RAINBOW": I think the judge having barred cameras from the courtroom this morning is a great step in the right direction. Look, I`m not a criminologist. I don`t profile criminals for a living by any stretch of the imagination, but it does seem that all of the experts agree that part of the motivation is some sort of fame. And to deny him that just makes sense, and it certainly does ease the healing process of the families of the victims to not continually see this man`s name glorified and repeated again and again and again. So no cameras. I think the news media just calling him the shooter, not even kyroning(ph), you know, during the news reports, the guy`s name. All serves to minimize the repeated pain that the families go through every time they hear this guy`s name uttered.</s>HAMMER: Yes. I mean, again, it`s just hard to imagine what anybody involved with this is going through. We learned that one of the mothers of one of the victims, 32-year-old, Rebecca Wingo, is planning to sue the movie theater on the basis that the theater didn`t have an alarm on the emergency doors. That`s how the shooter got into the theater. Mark, in your mind, how plausible is a lawsuit like this in the eyes of a judge?</s>EIGLARSH: You know, I shake my head at something like this. First, obviously, I feel for the victims. You just knew the civil lawsuits were coming. The door - an alarmed door would have prevented this? Armed security guards? Yes, in theory. And then, we`ll pay, what, $500 a ticket to get into the theater. At some point, we have to accept that this guy could have committed this abhorrent tragic act regardless, and nothing would have prevented it.</s>HAMMER: Well, we continue to wish our best and send our thoughts and prayers out to the families involved. LeVar, Mark Eiglarsh, appreciate you both being here. Thank you so much. As we move on, wait until you see this young woman. She opened for Elton John. She`s now taking the world by storm and she`s 13.