Holmes Death Penalty Decision: Prosecutors Seek Death Penalty for Aurora Shooter James Holmes

State prosecutors will seek the death penalty against Aurora, Colo. "Dark Knight" shooter James Holmes, they announced in court Monday.

Holmes is facing 166 charges stemming from his mass shooting last July, when he stormed the Century 16 theaters in Aurora, Colo. during a screening of "The Dark Knight" and fatally shot 12 people, and wounded another 70. 

Arapahoe County district attorney George Brauchler said he had spent months speaking with more 800 victims and their family members in order to make the decision.

"It's my determination and my intention that in this case for James Eagan Holmes justice is death," Brauchler explained to the court room, according to The Huffington Post.

The move came as little surprise after Brachler vehemently rejected a guilty plea bargain last week from shooter Holmes in exchange for avoiding the death penalty. The deal could not be seen as "genuine" as Holmes' defense team has consistently denied prosecutors information they require in order to properly evaluate the agreement, lawyers for the prosecution said, according to Yahoo News.

The prosecution did not elaborate further concerning the information that has been withheld, but it's more than likely the attorney's are referring to insight into Holmes' mental state, as little to no facts have been released by the defense. Due to the defense's refusal to cooperate with the prosecution, state's attorneys said that no plea agreement exists and one "is extremely unlikely based on the present information available to the prosecution," according to a court document.

While the deal was rejected, Holmes' attorneys could still try again to reach a plea agreement with the prosecution that would put him in prison for life. Legal experts expect Holmes' defense team to claim he is not guilty by reason of insanity. 

In a controversial decision during proceedings in April, the judge presiding over the case approved the use of truth serum in court.

At an initial hearing in the case, Holmes' lawyer told the judge that his client still wasn't ready to enter a plea, despite several trial delays. To get proceedings under way, Judge William Sylvester entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf, and said that Holmes could later change the plea to not guilt by reason of insanity if he so chose. In the event Holmes decides to make the change in his plea, Judge Sylvester ruled that prosecuting attorneys would be allowed to question him while he is "under the influence" of a truth serum, according to CBS News. The belief being that this kind of "narcoanalytic interview" could be used to determine if Holmes was legally insane when he went on the rampage July, 20 2012. 

The exact "truth serum" drug authorities would administer has yet to be announced, aside from a statement that the substance would be "medically appropriate," The Guardian reported. Legal experts suspect the drug most likely to be used for loosening up Holmes to talk would be a "short-acting barbiturate such as sodium amytal."

Courts rarely allow the use of any kind of "truth serum" in trials. According to The Guardian, their implementation has been sparse since they were first introduced in the 1950s, and have always been a polarizing subject of debate among U.S. legal authorities.

Since 1982, there have been "at least 61 mass murders carried out with firearms across the country" in 30 states, according to Mother Jones; of those, 15 occurred in 2012 alone, according to The Huffington Post.