A judge in Tucson, Ariz. today ruled Jared Lee Loughner incompetent to stand trial. Loughner is the man accused of a deadly shooting spree in Tucson on January 8. Loughner, after an angry outburst, was dragged out of the courtroom Wed by U.S. Marshals.
Tucson shooting killed 6 injured 13
Giffords is a United States Representative who was having a community meeting outside a supermarket where the shooting spree happened on Jan 8. A 9 year old girl and U.S. District Judge John Roll were both killed by Loughner as he opened fire. A total of six people were killed. There were thirteen people total that were injured also. This contains Rep. Giffords (D) who was shot in the head and is still in recovery. A not guilty plea was entered in by Loughner. Due to the Jan. 8 shootings, he was charged with 49 federal charges.
How he acted in pretrial
Although mumbled and unclear, during a pretrial hearing the 22-year-old defendant seemed to say, “Thank you for the freak show. She died in front of me.” Nobody knows who he was talking about.
Loughner was asked by United States District Judge Larry Burns is he wanted to behave in the court room or watch the court from another room on a TV screen to which Loughner said, “I want to watch the TV screen.”
Seeing those who made it out alive there
There were two survivors, maybe more, of the attack that heard the episode in the court room. Pam Simon was Gifford’s aide who was shot in the right wrist and chest. Retired Army Col. Bill Badger, who was grazed by a bullet on the back of his head, was also there. Loughner was subdued by individuals after the attack including Badger.
Not competent enough
Judge Burns was asked in March to choose whether or not Loughner would be able to endure trial, which brought on the hearing. The decision was made by Burns after two people looked at Loughner. One was a court appointed expert and the other was the Prison bureau psychologist. Loughner was considered incompetent by both. “The defendant was not able to comprehend the charges,” Burns ruled.
Federal facility for the time being
A federal facility will be responsible for Loughner for about four months. They’ll choose on his competency status. His next hearing has been set for September 21. He will be able to stay even longer after the four months are up. This is assuming he is considered incompetent still. There is no limit to the number of times the stay could be extended.
Mental problem key to proceedings
An insanity defense may very well be used by Loughner’s lawyers. In court filings, however, they describe him as a “gravely mentally ill man” and indicate that his mental problem will be a central concern during the trial.
Information from
Huffington Post
huffingtonpost.com/2011/05/25/jared-loughner-tucson-shooting_n_866723.html
Bloomberg
bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-25/giffords-shooting-suspect-loughner-taken-out-of-courtroom-after-outburst.html
CNN
cnn.com/2011/CRIME/05/25/arizona.loughner.competency/?hpt=T1
0 comments:
Post a Comment