CENTENNIAL, COLO. (AP) -- Nearly six months after bloody rampage in a Colorado movie theater left 12 people dead, prosecutors have begun laying out their case against former neuroscience graduate student James Holmes.
A preliminary hearing got under way Monday morning for Holmes, who's charged with multiple counts of murder and attempted murder.
The hearing is expected to take all week. Afterward, the judge will rule whether the evidence is sufficient to put Holmes on trial.
Investigators say Holmes wore body armor and a gas mask when he tossed two gas canisters and then opened fire during the midnight showing of the Batman movie "The Dark Knight Rises," killing 12 people and wounding dozens.
Legal analysts say the hearing could set the stage for a negotiated plea agreement by giving each side a better understanding of the other's case.
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