An official at the University of Colorado — Denver considered purging James Holmes' academic records on the advice of a lawyer, the Associated Press reported Wednesday, citing internal university emails.
Holmes, who dropped out of a neuroscience doctoral program at CU, is facing more than 150 charges stemming from a shooting this summer at the premiere of "The Dark Knight Rises" that left 12 dead.
Following the shooting, an official at the university said in an internal email that a lawyer told him to "purge" notes from Holmes' recruitment interview, among other data, from university computers, according to the AP.
While that attorney specified in a subsequent email that the information should not be purged, had the university destroyed such evidence it could have been in quite a bit of trouble.
"If someone is investigating you, or your employer, and if you have emails, text messages, notes or other documents, expect that they will be requested by authorities and that you will have to produce those documents," notes Idaho Criminal Defense Blog. "Destroying the evidence in this digital age is virtually impossible and illegal."
A spokesman for the university did not immediately respond to Business Insider's request for comment on Friday morning.
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