CENTENNIAL — A Colorado Bureau of Investigation analyst said Wednesday that all the bullets recovered from the scene of the Aurora movie theater shooting linked back to guns police believe the perpetrator used.
The analyst, Dale Higashi, specializes in the study of unique marks that individual firearms make on bullets and shell casings.
Higashi said he looked at about 150 bullets, shell casings and fragments from the theater shooting scene. Of those items he could trace, Higashi said, all linked back to the rifle, handgun or shotgun investigators say James Holmes used inside the theater in July 2012.
“There was not an item that showed up that could have been fired by another gun,” Higashi said.
The testimony was the continuation of a hearing that started Tuesday. The purpose is to determine whether three crime evidence analysts are sufficiently knowledgable — and their techniques sufficiently reliable — to be allowed to testify as expert witnesses at trial.
Thus far, the experts’ testimony has been technical but not exactly revealing.
On Tuesday, a Federal Bureau of Investigation metallurgic examiner testified that several strips of metal taken as evidence in the case were made of magnesium. But she didn’t say what significance that held.
Later, a Colorado Bureau of Investigation analyst testified that swabs of Holmes’ face and hands, as well as a gas mask and a pair of gloves taken off of him, tested positive for particles typically associated with gunshot residue. But, under cross-examination, she said such a finding cannot prove that someone actually fired a gun or was even nearby when one was shot.
Expert testimony on physical evidence is not expected to play a major role in the trial, which will likely focus more on why Holmes committed that shooting than whether he did. Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, meaning psychiatric exams — like the second court-ordered one scheduled to begin soon — will play a much bigger part.
The trial is now scheduled to begin in December.
John Ingold: 303-954-1068, jingold@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johningold
