A general view of the newly revamped movie theater where 12 people were killed in a shooting rampage at a Batman film in July 2012 in Aurora, Colorado in a January 17, 2013 file photo. [Photo/Agencies]

NOT CONTESTING ANYTHING

The life sentence was a big win for the Colorado public defender's office, which legal analysts say has long been among the country's strongest death penalty defense attorneys.

Given that the jury dismissed Holmes' insanity plea and found him guilty last month on all counts, then quickly determined that aggravating factors in the case outweighed mitigating ones, many in the court had expected them to deliver a death sentence.

Nine jurors were in favor of the death penalty, a member of the panel said later, while two were on the fence and one said early on Friday afternoon that she could not vote for death.

"We respected everyone's opinion, but it was clear we weren't going to come to a unanimous decision," Juror 17 said.

The trial was unusual because, from the start, Holmes' court-appointed lawyers had said they were not contesting that he was the sole shooter. Only his state of mind at the time should be in question, they said.

If they were not contesting anything, the prosecution countered, Holmes could plead guilty. Otherwise, the state would try the case the way the district attorney's office saw fit. And so began proceedings which featured 306 witnesses over 60 days, and nearly 2,700 pieces of evidence.

Brauchler said he did not believe Friday's verdict was a repudiation of capital punishment.

"One strong holdout? That's not a resounding rejection of the death penalty," Brauchler told Reuters.