James Holmes trial jury selection begins in Colarado

Jury selection has started in the Colorado cinema shooting trial after a judge called an unprecedented pool of 9,000 potential jurors to hear the death penalty case.

The first wave of potential jurors reported to a courtroom to hear the judge explain the process and fill out a form gauging whether they are suitable to be brought back for further questioning.

It will take weeks to come up with a panel that will decide if defendant James Holmes was sane at the time of the shooting and recommend whether he should be executed if convicted.

Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to killing 12 people and injuring 70 others in the July 20 2012 attack on the Denver-area cinema.

Some potential jurors carried books or newspapers or looked at their mobile phones as they waited to get through security in the hallway, their second screening since entering the courthouse.