James Holmes' Defense Team Will Seek to Avoid Trial

Hoping to show he is mentally unfit

CENTENNIAL, United States / Colorado — Defense lawyers for the man accused of opening fire in a US theater in July, killing 12 and wounding dozens more, readied Wednesday to call witnesses in a bid to stop the case from going to trial.

The preliminary hearing, which began on Monday, has been emotionally harrowing as relatives and police choked back tears or wept openly at testimony describing the slaughter at a packed midnight screening of the Batman film "The Dark Knight Rises".