The suspect in the Colorado shootings appeared in court for the first time Monday with dyed red-orange hair looking groggy as his eyes drooped shut during the brief proceeding.
Unshaven and wearing a burgundy jailhouse top, James Eagan Holmes, 24, sat motionless and didn't say anything as the judge advised him he is being held on suspicion of first-degree murder.
The former graduate student is accused of killing 12 people and injuring 58 when he started shooting at a midnight showing of the latest Batman movie early Friday.
Holmes appeared in court shackled in a chain that bound his legs and hands. Authorities say Holmes is refusing to cooperate and it could take months to learn what prompted the attack.
Carol Chambers, district attorney in the 18th Judicial District, which includes Arapahoe County, said after the hearing that "there's no such thing as a slam-dunk case."
She said prosecutors have not decided whether they will seek the death penalty. That decision could take at least two months and will be made after discussions with the surviving victims and the relatives of all victims.
"There's so much that victims have to take into account," she said, adding that victims are affected when the death penalty is sought because it becomes a long process that affects their lives.
Chambers said it could take a year before the case goes to trial. Holmes is scheduled to be arraigned on formal charges on July 30.
"It's still a very active ongoing investigation," Chambers said. "We are looking at this from every angle."
Mental health experts were struck by his appearance during the court hearing.
Although they say it's impossible to know Holmes' mental state from watching him on television, the lack of emotion, sleepiness and dyed hair when combined with the lack of a rational motive may suggest some form of mental illness, said Steven Pitt, a forensic psychiatrist who consulted on the 1999 Columbine High School shooting.
Many mass murderers are driven by anger over a rejection, bullying or perceived mistreatment, said Harry Croft, a San Antonio psychiatrist who specializes in post-traumatic stress disorder. Hatching and executing a plan may give them a sense of power and control.
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