MOSCOW, March 13 - RAPSI. A Colorado judge entered a plea of not guilty on behalf of James Holmes, the Colorado gunman accused of having carried out a devastating mass shooting during a midnight film screening last July, according to local news source the Denver Post.

During a midnight screening of Batman: the Dark Knight Rises on July 20, a man burst into a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado and opened fire on the massive crowd inside. 12 were killed and 58 injured in the rampage.

Holmes is accused of having carried out the attack.

A video broadcast released by the Denver Post showed courtroom footage of James Holmes with unkempt hair and a glazed look in his eyes. The agency reported that Holmes’ attorneys had explained they were not yet ready to respond to the charges pending against their client.

According to the report, Holmes’ attorneys are considering filing a plea of insanity, but have not yet completed their work toward that end. They will still be entitled to convert the plea to one of insanity, but will have the heavy burden of proving both Holmes’ insanity and justifying their right to change the plea.

The report added that prosecutors announced during proceedings that on April 1 prosecutors will announce whether they plan to seek the death penalty against Holmes. The judge announced as well that trial will begin on August 5 and is expected to last for four weeks.

Holmes was formally charged in August with 24 counts of first degree murder, 116 counts of attempted first degree murder, one count of possession of explosives, and one count of violence in connection with the mass shooting.

Prosecutors filed two first-degree murder charges for each of the 12 victims that lost their lives as a result of the attack.

The first 12 charges claim that Holmes committed the murders “after deliberation, and with the intent to cause the death of a person other than himself.”

The second 12 claim that Holmes, “under circumstances evidencing an attitude of universal malice manifesting extreme indifference to the value of human life generally, knowingly engaged in conduct which created a grave risk of death to persons other than himself, and thereby caused the death” of each such victim.

The prosecution filed attempted murder charges under both first-degree murder theories outlined above for each of the 58 injured victims as well.