Jared Lee Loughner pleaded guilty to killing six people and trying to assassinate U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords last year after being found mentally competent by a federal judge in Tucson, Arizona.
Loughner, 23, will face life in prison without parole under a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. With his parents looking on, the former community college student pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Larry Burns to 19 counts of murder, attempted murder and other charges related to the Jan. 8, 2011, shooting. Loughner had previously pleaded not guilty.
“I plead guilty,” Loughner said as Burns read each charge against him in court. His parents, sitting three rows behind their son in court, bowed their heads as he spoke.
About 30 victims, survivors and their representatives in the courtroom watched as Loughner changed his plea. Ron Barber, an aide to Gifford wounded in the shooting and now holding Gifford’s seat, cradled his wife after Loughner pleaded guilty to shooting him.
“In making the determination not to seek the death penalty, I took into consideration the views of the victims and survivor families, the recommendations of the prosecutors assigned to the case, and the applicable law,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in an e-mailed statement.
[h=2]Mentally Ill[/h]It was “clear” Loughner was mentally ill and not diagnosed before the shootings, John Leonardo, the U.S. Attorney for Arizona, said after the hearing. The decision not to seek the death penalty was a “certain and just resolution to the case,” he said.
Burns set Nov. 15 for Loughner’s sentencing. Pima County prosecutor Barbara LaWall said in February that state charges would be brought against Loughner after the federal case ended. A call to her media office today seeking comment on the state’s case wasn’t immediately returned.
Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, was among 13 wounded in the shooting rampage outside a supermarket where she was holding a community meeting. Bystanders wrestled Loughner to the ground. Giffords survived a gunshot wound through her head. She resigned Jan. 25 to focus on her recovery. A 9-year-old girl and a federal judge were among those killed in the shooting.
Loughner’s guilty plea comes as lawyers prepare their defense of James Holmes, the former neuroscience graduate student at the University of Colorado in Denver charged with killing 12 and injuring 58 at a theater in the suburb of Aurora during a July 20 midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises.” On Aug. 5, a man identified as Wade Michael Page killed six people in a Sikh temple near Milwaukee before police shot him dead. Page was a former U.S. Army serviceman and a member of several white-supremacist rock bands.
[h=2]Prison Psychologist[/h]Loughner understands that he will never leave prison, Christina Pietz, a Bureau of Prisons psychologist who has treated him, said during today’s hearing.
Burns had previously determined that Loughner wasn’t competent to stand trial and had ordered him to remain in U.S. custody for treatment or until doctors determined he was mentally able to help in his defense.
Loughner had been medicated with anti-psychotic drugs and confined to a federal prison hospital in Springfield, Missouri. The drugging was approved by Burns, over objections of Loughner’s lawyer, on grounds that Loughner was a danger to others.
Pietz testified that as time went on and Loughner took prescribed medication voluntarily, the weight of his actions on Jan. 8, 2011, dawned on him. “I did especially cry about the child,” Loughner told Pietz once, referring to 9-year-old victim Christina Green.
The case is U.S. v. Loughner, 11-187, U.S. District Court, District of Arizona (Tucson).
To contact the reporters on this story: A.J. Flick in Tucson, Arizona, at [email protected]; Karen Gullo in San Francisco at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at [email protected]
Loughner, 23, will face life in prison without parole under a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. With his parents looking on, the former community college student pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Larry Burns to 19 counts of murder, attempted murder and other charges related to the Jan. 8, 2011, shooting. Loughner had previously pleaded not guilty.
“I plead guilty,” Loughner said as Burns read each charge against him in court. His parents, sitting three rows behind their son in court, bowed their heads as he spoke.
About 30 victims, survivors and their representatives in the courtroom watched as Loughner changed his plea. Ron Barber, an aide to Gifford wounded in the shooting and now holding Gifford’s seat, cradled his wife after Loughner pleaded guilty to shooting him.
“In making the determination not to seek the death penalty, I took into consideration the views of the victims and survivor families, the recommendations of the prosecutors assigned to the case, and the applicable law,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said in an e-mailed statement.
[h=2]Mentally Ill[/h]It was “clear” Loughner was mentally ill and not diagnosed before the shootings, John Leonardo, the U.S. Attorney for Arizona, said after the hearing. The decision not to seek the death penalty was a “certain and just resolution to the case,” he said.
Burns set Nov. 15 for Loughner’s sentencing. Pima County prosecutor Barbara LaWall said in February that state charges would be brought against Loughner after the federal case ended. A call to her media office today seeking comment on the state’s case wasn’t immediately returned.
Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, was among 13 wounded in the shooting rampage outside a supermarket where she was holding a community meeting. Bystanders wrestled Loughner to the ground. Giffords survived a gunshot wound through her head. She resigned Jan. 25 to focus on her recovery. A 9-year-old girl and a federal judge were among those killed in the shooting.
Loughner’s guilty plea comes as lawyers prepare their defense of James Holmes, the former neuroscience graduate student at the University of Colorado in Denver charged with killing 12 and injuring 58 at a theater in the suburb of Aurora during a July 20 midnight showing of “The Dark Knight Rises.” On Aug. 5, a man identified as Wade Michael Page killed six people in a Sikh temple near Milwaukee before police shot him dead. Page was a former U.S. Army serviceman and a member of several white-supremacist rock bands.
[h=2]Prison Psychologist[/h]Loughner understands that he will never leave prison, Christina Pietz, a Bureau of Prisons psychologist who has treated him, said during today’s hearing.
Burns had previously determined that Loughner wasn’t competent to stand trial and had ordered him to remain in U.S. custody for treatment or until doctors determined he was mentally able to help in his defense.
Loughner had been medicated with anti-psychotic drugs and confined to a federal prison hospital in Springfield, Missouri. The drugging was approved by Burns, over objections of Loughner’s lawyer, on grounds that Loughner was a danger to others.
Pietz testified that as time went on and Loughner took prescribed medication voluntarily, the weight of his actions on Jan. 8, 2011, dawned on him. “I did especially cry about the child,” Loughner told Pietz once, referring to 9-year-old victim Christina Green.
The case is U.S. v. Loughner, 11-187, U.S. District Court, District of Arizona (Tucson).
To contact the reporters on this story: A.J. Flick in Tucson, Arizona, at [email protected]; Karen Gullo in San Francisco at [email protected]
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Michael Hytha at [email protected]