James Holmes apparently tried unsuccessfully to call a University of Colorado psychiatrist nine minutes before his attack. Tamara Brady, Holmes' attorney, said Thursday that Holmes placed a call to an after-hours number at a hospital at the University of Colorado, Anschutz campus. The defense attorney argues that Holmes thought he could reach psychiatrist Lynne Fenton at that number. The detail saw the light of day during a hearing about Holmes' relationship with Fenton, to whom he mailed a package containing a notebook that reportedly contained violent descriptions of an attack. Holmes is accused in the July 20 shooting that left 12 people dead and 58 wounded.

Earlier Thursday, Fenton said she never reported suspected gunman James Holmes as a "threat to harm," although she did express concerns to campus police. Fenton, director of the University of Colorado, Denver's mental health services, filled out a client report after meeting Holmes just once on June 11, five weeks before he allegedly opened fire at a midnight movie screening of "The Dark Knight Rises" in Colorado. Fenton's testimony comes as investigators seek to have access to a notebook sent to her by Holmes on July 19, the day before the deadly shooting at Aurora Theaters. A court order currently has the contents of the notebook sealed, but prosecution lawyers believe it contains descriptions of a violent attack and argue that the evidence is critical in establishing a motive in their case against the former student.