James Holmes' sister gets choked up on stand

CENTENNIAL, Colo. -- On Monday afternoon the defense for Colorado theater shooter James Holmes called his sister Chris Holmes to testify. The 22-year-old is testifying for the first time as lawyers try to persuade jurors to spare her brother's life.

Choking back tears, she talked about their childhood and how difficult it was to visit and interact with him after the shooting. She only visited him once in jail. She said her brother's eyes and overall demeanor were different when she visited him in jail last year.

Chris Holmes testified Monday that he responded to questions with one-word answers during the visit nearly two years after the attack. She says his eyes were "almost bulging out of his head in a way."

Holmes' sister also testified she never thought her brother was mentally ill when they were growing up, but she said she didn't know much about mental illness then. She described a normal childhood in California, packed with vacations, but said her brother had a hard time finding friends and adjusting when the family moved to San Diego.

The trial is currently in the second phase, in which jurors must decide if any mitigating factors outweigh the murder convictions. If not, the trial then moves to phase three, in which victims and family members will be allowed to testify before final sentencing is given.

James Holmes was convicted of killing 12 people and injuring 70 others in a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado three years ago.

The jury reached a verdict in the first phase of sentencing on Thursday. Jurors unanimously decided the death penalty can be considered for Holmes and will move on to the next phase of sentencing.

They said capital punishment is justified because Holmes murdered a large number of victims; caused a grave risk of death to others; committed murder in a heinous, cruel or depraved manner; and laid in wait or ambush.

One factor jurors said prosecutors did not prove was that Holmes intentionally killed a child, but the other "aggravating factors" ensure that jurors will continue to consider whether he should die for his crimes.

The jury only had to find one of those aggravating factors valid in order to make Holmes eligible for the death penalty.

Prosecutors still must clear two more hurdles before Holmes can be sentenced to die.