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James Holmes: Body Language Experts On That Odd First Court Appearance

Posted: July 24, 2012

James Holmes First Court Appearance

James Holmes, the alleged shooter who killed 12 and wounded dozens more in a shooting at an Aurora movie theater, made his first appearance in court Monday. And as first impressions go, it might not have been what was expected.

From beneath his shock of orange hair, a sleepy, unshaven, eye-rolling Holmes pulled off a range of expressions which ranged from nervous to tired to twitchy to blank to drugged to outright disinterested. For the watching world, it was a curious first look at a man who could yet face the death penalty if found guilty of the shootings.

At this stage in such horrible sagas, it’s common for tabloids to contact the ‘body language experts’ they keep on speed-dial, to see what they made of the various twitches, blinks, and shuffles performed by the accused. True to form, the Daily Mail was quickly on the phone to Dr Joan Neff, a University of Virginia criminologist, who said she saw clear signs of mental illness in Holmes’ behavior, speculating this may have been why he abruptly dropped out of his PhD:

“We know that certain types of psychoses tend to have an onset in the early 20s; if that’s the case he may be in the midst of coping with that. He may not know what’s going on.”

Neff also argued that the experience of being jailed and kept in solitary confinement could have taken its toll on Holmes, especially for someone who had no previous experience of being on the wrong side of the law:

“Sometimes that can be an experience in and of itself. So his appearance is not very surprising.”

Meanwhile, CNN legal analyst Paul Callan had a simpler explanation (and the one most of us would have plumped for): Holmes was just plain knackered, and struggling to stay awake after a painful lack of sleep.

“I think you’re looking at a very tired individual combined with what his normal personality might be.”

Likewise, over at ET Online psychologist Dr. Lillian Glass discussed how Holmes looked in serious need of a hammock, but also identified a man who was on the emotional brink:

“One of the things that was very telling in terms of him getting a reality check was when he would frown. He looked like he was going to cry in several instances. There was a crinkling of the forehead, the lower lips were down, and it looked like he was going to tear up.”

Glass also noted Holmes’ apparently intentional lack of direct eye contact, something she deemed as suspicious and “telling.”

Finally, there was body language expert Janine Driver, who told Extra she saw pride in the 24-year-old’s courtroom demeanor:

“He certainly looks like he’s either medicated… or maybe he’s just exhausted. [...] What [his wild eye movements] mean [are], first, he’s proud of what he’s done and then he’s fearful of the consequences, most likely.”

There’s some footage of James Holmes’ first day in court below; how did you interpret the accused’s zombified body language?



Comments


14 Archived Responses to “ James Holmes: Body Language Experts On That Odd First Court Appearance ”

  1. Andrew John Hoffman
    Jul 24, 2012

    In China the family pays for the bullets. Holmes has a few left over. Use his AR-15.

  2. The Mommy Psychologist
    Jul 24, 2012

    As a child psychologist and a mom, I can't help but think about James Holmes' mother. I've been asking readers what they would do if they were James Holmes' mother. I'd love to hear your answer:

    http://www.themommypsychologist.com/2012/07/23/what-if-you-were-the-mother-of-james-holmes/

  3. Bella McQueen
    Jul 24, 2012

    I'm glad we are not in China and justice doesn't work as an eye for an eye ..we are not in the dark ages anymore we need to understand what happend in this very disturbed mind …but the violence in America will probably carry on as it's seems they love their guns more than the safety of the population this keep happening and will,ddly happen again….I believe the all society should take responsibility on this violence on their love for guns and maybe imagine a futur without them ,without mass killing

  4. Tim O'Shea
    Jul 24, 2012

    Story written by morons for morons. 'Experts' talk about everything but the obvious– this story has no story until the identity of the antidepressant is revealed. After that, it's all predictable, formulaic. Spare us the suspense. What 's the drug?

  5. Mar Spencer
    Jul 25, 2012

    Having seen the whole video, I saw an individual who seemed in emotional shock. I think he understood much of what was going on especially when the judge talked directly at him. That's when I could almost seem him thinking "What have I done to my life? I can't believe this is now my life." It's as if the difference between his Joker Fantasy and the reality of a real jail environment has really hit home. Though I never saw anything that would point to any remorse for those he's killed. Its still all about him.

  6. Jenny Campos
    Jul 26, 2012

    Criminals DONT CARE how many Anti Gun laws you put into place. Neither do drug cartels, drug addicts, or gangs! So why try to disarm regular people? If even ONE person had been packing a concealed carry, the shooter could have been stopped right away. Think about that.

  7. Ian Williams
    Jul 26, 2012

    You numbskulls, he was on valium or seconal or similar – have to keep the golem quiet. Look on line for photos of Holmes and whoever this is, they are quite different – if you swallow this dung you will swallow anything…suckers.

  8. Maura O'Donoghue-Wiull
    Jul 29, 2012

    ya someone firing back would have stopped it all…no one would have been caught in the cross fire….whatever

  9. Maura O'Donoghue-Wiull
    Jul 29, 2012

    its the same guy, please

  10. Indigo Child
    Jul 31, 2012

    this is for Dr Joan Neff. you're one sorry ass criminologist. Mental illness? did you pull that one out of your ass? or did you say he has mental illness for you to make money out of him by sending him to a mental health to be druged and waste peoples' tax money? Wake up you dump shit and do your job. does he look like his worried about his life? I don't think so. he looks more like tired and bored out of his mind cause he knows how the trial is going to end. wake the fuck up Dr. people like you need their head checked cause I think your either full of shit and talk out of your ass or just think about how to make more money instead of doing what's right as say what's true. a kid can do a better job than you.

  11. Indigo Child
    Jul 31, 2012

    Janine Driver I put you at the same level as Dr. Joan Neff. you both are 100% full of shit. I think you both need to go back to school and learn some common sense before saying things out of your asses. a little kid can watch this guy's body expressions especially his face and tell that his fucken tired, bored and FUCKEN sleepy. I guess you just want to say things that people want to hear and put James Holmes in a guilty position and to make you look like you really know what you doing, huh? I could careless if his guilty or not but people like you need to fucken use that shit head brains of yours and be more truthful.

  12. Katie Schwertfeger
    Jul 31, 2012

    In my opinion he should be found guilty and put in jail.. You don't just go on a shooting spree killing people and get away with it.. Like I said that's MY OPINION so yeah.. That's all i'm going to say


2 Trackback(s)

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  2. Jul 24, 2012 : Aurora Shooting Raises Questions, Should Suspected Killer James Holmes Be Blackballed By Media?