Patriot Update

James E. Holmes showed no visible reaction on Monday as he learned that he faced 142 criminal charges and the possibility of the death penalty over a deadly shooting rampage inside a Colorado movie theater.

Mr. Holmes, making his second court appearance, was formally charged with 24 counts of murder and 116 counts of attempted murder — two for each of the 12 people killed and 58 wounded. For each victim, Mr. Holmes was charged once for showing deliberation and once for showing extreme indifference to human life.

He was also charged with illegally possessing explosives, a nod to the hive of explosive booby traps that the police found inside his apartment after he was arrested outside the movie theater moments after the shooting on July 20.

The hearing here, in a second-floor courtroom packed with reporters, relatives of victims and members of the public, focused mostly on procedural issues and offered a glimpse of how slowly the complex and voluminous legal case against Mr. Holmes is likely to move in the months ahead.