Aurora shooting suspect James Holmes (Creative Commons/Seatsonsnet)

Holmes, 25, who is charged with the murder of 12 people and injuring dozens of others last July during a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises," was declared not guilty by insanity by Judge William Sylvester in a Centennial, Colo. courtroom.

According to the New York Times, the decision comes after Holmes' defense team spent days being indecisive about the plea. Holmes is able to change the plea, but prosecutors vowed they would challenge any such change.

Should Holmes decide on retaining the not guilty plea, Sylvester will, controversially, allow the prosecution to use a "truth serum" like sodium amytal, and then interview Holmes under a drug-induced state.

From The Guardian:

The idea would be that such a 'narcoanalytic interview' would be used to confirm whether or not he had been legally insane when he embarked on his shooting spree on 20 July last year.

William Shepherd, chair of the criminal justice section of the American Bar Association, whose members include both prosecutors and defence lawyers, said that the proposed use of a "truth drug" to ascertain the veracity of a defendant's plea of insanity was highly unusual in the US. He predicted it would provoke intense legal argument relating to Holmes's right to remain silent under the fifth amendment of the US constitution.

Though the trial is set to begin in August, the numerous delays that have already occured along the way could make that date unlikely. Prosecutors are set to announce on April 1 whether they will seek the death penalty for Holmes

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