Prosecutors in the Aurora movie theater shooting case have filed two motions asking for another psychiatric evaluation of the gunman.

The motions were filed Friday, and the judge in the case on Monday ordered that they be sealed. The only information available about the motions are their titles, which ask that James Holmes be ordered to undergo “further examination.” The motions also cite the statute number for the Colorado law that requires defendants who plead insanity to undergo an independent psychiatric exam.

Prosecutors rarely ask for second opinions in insanity cases, said Denver defense attorney and legal analyst Dan Recht.

“At a very minimum, this is a fascinating development,” Recht said. “It is a clear indication that the prosecution is unhappy with the state hospital’s evaluation of Holmes.”

Steven Pitt, a nationally known forensic psychiatrist, said it is difficult to say why the prosecution requested another evaluation without knowing more. The request could also be a sign that prosecutors believe the evaluation — though favorable to their case — is incomplete. Or prosecutors could want a second evaluation to counter exams done by defense experts.

“It’s like reading tea leaves,” Pitt said.

Recht, though, said it is extremely rare for prosecutors in Colorado to ask for another state evaluation when the first one went in their favor.

“I am not aware of any prior case in which the prosecution requested a further examination when the opinion of the state hospital was that the defendant was sane,” Recht said.

Holmes has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity to charges that he murdered 12 people and tried to kill dozens more inside the Century Aurora 16 movie theater in July, 2012. As part of his plea, he has already undergone one court-ordered, independent psychiatric evaluation at the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo.

The results of that evaluation have not been disclosed publicly. Earlier this month, defense attorneys filed motions — also sealed — arguing that the report from the evaluation shows that Holmes is too mentally ill to face the death penalty.

The judge does not have to grant the request for another evaluation, Recht said. Instead, prosecutors must show that they have “good cause” to have another exam performed.

That has proved to be a difficult bar to reach for prosecutors in recent years.

Boulder prosecutors lost a bid in 2011 to have a second court-ordered evaluation of Stephanie Rochester, a Superior woman who killed her 6-month-old son and who the Colorado Mental Health Institute exam determined was insane at the time of the killing. That same year, Jefferson County prosecutors tried to get a judge to order that Bruco Eastwood, the Deer Creek Middle School shooter, undergo an exam by a psychiatrist hired by the prosecution. The judge denied the request, and a jury later found Eastwood not guilty by reason of insanity.

In an opinion article last year in The Denver Post, Boulder District Attorney Stan Garnett argued that prosecutors should be allowed to conduct their own evaluation on a defendant as a matter of fairness, especially since Colorado law makes it the prosecution’s burden to prove a defendant’s sanity.

“The public cannot have confidence in the courts’ ability to resolve claims of insanity unless the prosecution has equal access to the same information as the defendant,” Garnett wrote.

John Ingold: 303-954-1068, jingold@denverpost.com or twitter.com/john_ingold