A request by Aurora theater shooting defendant James Holmes not to have his sanity evaluated a second time was rejected by the Colorado Supreme Court on Thursday.
Holmes underwent a psychiatric evaluation last summer, but in a 51-page court order, District Court Judge Carlos Samour called the exam "incomplete and inadequate."
Since Holmes pleaded not guilty to killing 12 people and injuring 70 in the 2012 attack by reason of insanity, Samour said the new test should focus on whether Holmes was insane at the time of the massacre.
The first evaluation and other details of the case are sealed, but Samour said the first conclusion was based on insufficient data.
The defense argued that Samour misinterpreted the law, and asked the ruling be overturned.
The Supreme Court unanimously refused to hear the defense's appeal on the second evaluation.
In a separate decision, the court rejected Holmes' request to stop survivors of the shooting from watching the trial.
The trial, originally slated for February, was then scheduled to begin in October of 2014, but it might be delayed further.
Holmes faces the death penalty if found guilty.
— Jack Chesnutt
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
