Dr. Lynne Fenton: James Holmes, Aurora shooting suspect, was Fenton's patient, court documents say

Dr. Lynne Fenton, a University of Colorado psychiatrist, had Colorado shooting suspect James Holmes as a patient before last week's movie theater rampage, according to a court document filed Friday.

Her name came to light as attorneys for Holmes filed a request to have a package their client sent her handed over. They argue Holmes' communications with Fenton are protected as he was her patient.

Various attempts to contact Fenton on Friday were unsuccessful.

Fenton is the director of student mental health services at the University of Colorado's Anschutz Medical Campus in Aurora, and an assistant professor, according to a resume posted on the school's website.

As director, a position she's held since 2009, Fenton sees between 15 and 20 graduate students per week for medication and psychotherapy, coordinates a team of four mental health clinicians, supervises some residents who treat students, and lectures. She also serves as a psychiatrist for between five and 10 patients, the resume states.

University spokeswoman Jacque Montgomery said Friday the school had no immediate comment.

Fenton has held many jobs over the years. She worked as a physician in private practice in Denver from 1994 to 2005, and was chief of physical medicine with the U.S. Air Force in San Antonio, Texas, in the early 1990s, according to the resume. Since 2008, she's won various grants and contracts to study schizophrenia.

Fenton did her undergraduate work at the University of California, Davis and earned her medical degree from Chicago Medical School in 1986.

Holmes is accused of opening fire inside a crowded midnight screening of the new Batman film last week, killing 12 people and wounding more than 50.