A look at judge, attorneys in death-penalty trial of Colorado movie theater shooter

Key players in the trial of Colorado theater shooter James Holmes:

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THE JUDGE

Carlos A. Samour Jr. became a district court judge in 2007 after working as a private defense attorney, then a Denver prosecutor.

Samour moved to the United States from El Salvador in 1979, when he was 13. He received his law degree from the University of Denver.

This is Samour's first death penalty case.

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THE DEFENSE

Tamara Brady and Daniel King are chief trial deputies for the state public defender office and handle death penalty cases like this one.

King, a law graduate of the University of Denver, defended Sir Mario Owens, one of three people now on Colorado's death row. Owens fatally shot a man and his fiancee as the man prepared to testify against him in a murder case.

Brady represented a man who killed his girlfriend by dragging her behind a car with a tow strap around her neck. The man pleaded guilty in exchange for life in prison.

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PROSECUTION

District Attorney George Brauchler leads the prosecution team. Brauchler graduated from the University of Colorado-Boulder's law school, then joined the U.S. Army Reserve.

He's served two tours of duty, including one in Iraq shortly after he successfully prosecuted a Fort Carson, Colorado, soldier who shot and killed a Taliban leader in an Afghan jail cell.

Some Colorado Republicans hoped Brauchler would run for governor last year, but he said it would be impossible to run with the Holmes case looming.