Loughner faces charges in Tucson courtroom Wednesday

Jared Lee Loughner will be arraigned Wednesday on 49 federal charges in the Jan. 8 mass shooting that killed 6 and wounded 13 others.

Wednesday afternoon will be Loughner's first appearance in a Tucson courtroom. He faced the original charges in the case at a federal courthouse in Phoenix, where a not guilty plea was entered for him by a judge.

The 22-year-old faces charges of attempted assassination of a member of Congress; attempted murder in the wounding of two of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords' aides; causing injury or death to particpants at a federally provided activity; and using a gun in a violent crime.

Beside a plea, U.S. District Judge Larry Burns told attorneys to prepare to discuss several motions that have been made:

• A move by defense attorneys to push back the beginning of the trial more than a year past Burns' suggested September start.
• A request by prosecutors that Loughner provide a handwriting sample.
• A motion by news organizations to release search warrants and documents filed under seal.
• A request by the defense to block the release to the prosecution of prison records and detailed observations made of Loughner by prison officials.
• A move by the prosecution to have the government give Loughner a psychiatric exam.

Loughner is being held at a maximum security federal penitentiary in Tucson.

He was indicted on 49 counts in the Jan. 8 mass shooting in Tucson that left six dead and 13 wounded. The death penalty is a possibility in 14 of the counts, if prosecutors choose to pursue it.

A decision on whether to seek the death penalty will likely not be made for months.

Loughner is accused of the attempted assassination of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, the murder of six people and the wounding of 12 others at a "Congress On Your Corner" meet and greet event on Jan. 8.

Killed were U.S. District Judge John Roll and Gabriel Zimmerman, a Giffords staffer, and bystanders Christina-Taylor Green, Dorothy Morris, Phyllis Schneck and Dorwan Stoddard.

Giffords is undergoing treatment at a Houston rehabilitation center. The other victims were released from the hospital in January.

Autopsy reports on the six who were killed were released by the Pima County Medical Examiner's Office on Monday.

Phyllis Schneck, Dorwan Stoddard and Gabriel Zimmerman died from gunshot wounds to the head, the reports said.

The other three killed—Christina-Taylor Green, Dorothy Morris and Judge John Roll—were shot in the torso.

Check back for updates in the afternoon.