Loughner considered incompetent to stand trial

Jared Lee Loughner, the male accused of a Jan 8 shooting spree in Tucson, Ariz., has been ruled incompetent to stand trial. U.S. Marshals dragged Loughner out of the courtroom Wednesday following an angry outburst.

Tucson shooting killed six wounded 13

Gabrielle Giffords is a U.S. Representative who was having a community meeting outside a supermarket where the shooting spree occurred on January 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 individuals were killed. There were thirteen individuals total which 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. Because of the January 8 shootings, he was charged with 49 federal charges.

What he mumbled

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.” It was not clear to whom he referred.

Loughner was asked by U.S. 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.”

Needing survivors to view what occurred

At least two survivors of the attack were in the courtroom and heard the episode. Present was Pam Simon, Gifford’s aide, who was shot in the chest and right wrist. Army Col. Bill Badger was also there. He was hit in the back of the head by a bullet. Badger is one of the individuals who helped subdue Loughner after the attack.

Defendant deemed not competent

Today’s hearing was a result of prosecutors asking Judge Burns in March to order an examination to determine whether Loughner was competent enough to endure trial. Burns made his decision after Loughner was examined by a psychologist from the Jail Bureau, as well as a court-appointed expert. Loughner was considered incompetent by both. ”The defendant was not able to comprehend the charges,” according to Burns.

Federal facility to hold Loughner

Loughner will be sent to a federal facility for four months or until doctors are convinced of his competency. September 21 will be when his next hearing happens. He will be able to stay even longer after the four months are up. This is assuming he is considered incompetent still. It doesn’t matter how long he stays there. His stay could be extended several, several times.

How the defense will use this

An insanity defense may very well be used by Loughner’s lawyers. They have described him as a “gravely mentally ill man” and say that the condition will make a difference to the trial in the courtroom filings though.

Articles cited

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