Posted Aug 6, 2012, 10:20 am
Accused Jan. 8 shooter Jared Loughner has requested a change of plea hearing, the judge in the case has confirmed.
Judge Larry Burns confirmed in a Monday morning scheduling order that attorneys for Loughner have requested a hearing to change the 23-year-old accused gunman's plea if the court finds him competent for trial at a Tuesday hearing.
"(A)ssuming the Court finds the defendant competent, it will also consider whether to accept the defendant’s proffered pleas at the August 7 hearing," Burns wrote.
The Los Angeles Times first reported Friday that Loughner was set to plead guilty in the case, citing anonymous sources.
Loughner is accused of killing six, including a nine-year-old girl, and shooting U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in the head in what authorities charge was an assassination attempt.
He also is charged with wounding 12 others at the "Congress On Your Corner" meet and greet with constituents at a Northwest Side grocery store on the morning of Jan. 8, 2011.
Loughner was charged with 49 federal counts in the attack. Not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf by the court.
Fourteen of the charges Loughner faces could result in the death penalty.
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In May 2011, Loughner was found incompetent to stand trial, and he was was sent to a federal facility in Missouri for treatment to restore his ability to understand the charges against him and participate in his defense.
Prison doctors have said he suffers from schizophrenia, but that he could be restored to competency for trial.
Loughner still faces the possibility of state charges in the attack.
1 comment on this story
Lets hope that we’ll “do the job the feds won’t do”. However, while I acknowledge I’m not a lawyer, my understanding is that he can’t be given the death penalty he so richly deserves if he pleads guilty at the state level, also.
Besides, our death penalty is unacceptably and inexcusably slow as it is.
What sucks about this whole thing, besides the innocent people hurt and wounded and the resulting stupidity in our community I mean, is that whatever happens now, Loughner’s punishment can never fit his crime.