Jared Loughner found mentally unfit for trial

PHOENIX (AP) — A federal judge ruled Wednesday that the suspect in the Tucson shooting rampage that wounded U.S. Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords is mentally incompetent to stand trial, putting the criminal case against him on hold indefinitely.

At least one of the doctors testifying to his competency described Jared Lee Loughner as a paranoid schizophrenic, a courtroom source told CBS News.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns means Loughner, 21, will be sent to a federal facility for up to four months in a bid to restore his competency.

Loughner, dressed in a khaki prison suit and sporting bushy, reddish sideburns, was removed from the hearing after an outburst and had to watch part of the proceeding on a TV screen in another room. Burns had Loughner escorted from the courtroom after Loughner lowered his head and said what sounded like: "Thank you for the freak show. She died in front of me." His head was inches from the table in front of him.

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Loughner was later brought back into the courtroom, and the judged told him he had a right to watch the hearing. Burns asked Loughner if he wanted to stay in the courtroom and behave or view the proceeding on a screen in another room.

Loughner responded: "I want to watch the TV screen."

At least two survivors of the Jan. 8 attack looked on: Giffords aide Pam Simon, who was shot in the chest and right wrist; and retired Army Col. Bill Badger, who is credited with helping subdue Loughner after a bullet grazed the back of Badger's head.

The ruling came after Loughner spent five weeks in March and April at a federal facility in Springfield, Mo., where he was examined by two court-appointed mental health professionals. The two were asked to determine whether Loughner understands the consequences of the case against him.

The competency reports by psychologist Christina Pietz and psychiatrist Matthew Carroll haven't been publicly released.

Loughner has pleaded not guilty to 49 federal charges stemming from the Jan. 8 shooting at a meet-and-greet event that wounded Giffords and 12 others and killed six people, including a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge.

Prosecutors had asked for the mental exam, citing a YouTube video in which they believe a hooded Loughner wore garbage bags and burned an American flag.

The judge gave the two mental health professionals access to Loughner's health records from his pediatrician, a behavioral health hospital that treated him for extreme intoxication in May 2006 and an urgent care center where he was treated in 2004 for unknown reasons.

Loughner will be sent to a federal facility for a maximum of four months to see if his competency can be restored. If he's later determined to be competent, the case against him will resume.

If he isn't deemed competent at the end of his treatment, his stay at the facility can be extended. There are no limits on the number of times such extensions can be granted.

If doctors conclude they can't restore his mental competency, the judge would have to decide whether the suspect can be restored. If the judge decides there's no likelihood of restoration, the judge can dismiss the charges against him. In that case, state and federal authorities can petition to have him civilly committed and could seek to extend that commitment repeatedly, said Heather Williams, a federal public defender in Tucson who isn't involved in the Loughner case.

The doctors who examined Loughner were ordered not to focus on his sanity at the time of the shooting.

Loughner's lawyers haven't said whether they intend to present an insanity defense. But they noted in court filings that his mental condition will likely be a central issue at trial and described him as a "gravely mentally ill man."

[JimBrittTN]

The judge that found this scum 'incompetent' should be fired! This guy knew EXACTLY what he was doing. This is why the cops should have blown his head off during the arrest; the taxpayers have already spend over $1 million on this fool and the expenses have just begun! We need JUSTICE and JUSTICE demands that he be executed.

A trial is only needed to prove guilt and there is zero doubt of his guilt. He is sitting in an air-conditioned cell watching HBO laughing at the taxpayers as he enjoys his vacation and ponders his book deal!

[Lawyers-Guns-n-Money06]

by ilpalazzo-2009 May 25, 2011 7:08 PM EDT
Baggy? Why does it seems like you're calling him a Tea 'Bagger'? Did you just wake up today and hear about this guy? He's not a Tea 'Bagger', as much as you'd like to lick his balls and all.
============

This kid must be new here. Somebody ought to set him in a corner and take away his toys for being an insolent brat.

[ToolMangler1]

Loughner is crazy alright, "Crazy like a Fox".
This man is playing the system and winning...

[user000049586849302948603]

by user000049586849302948603 May 25, 2011 3:47 PM EDT
Good. Now let's talk about what should be done to keep firearms out of the hands of crazy people BEFORE they go on shooting sprees.


by Nnmrnq May 25, 2011 3:53 PM EDT
What would be your test for crazy?...

_________________________________________________________

Anything like you.

[ilpalazzo-2009]

Oh how clever! You don't even know the person you're responding to, yet you continue the climate of name calling Pee-Wee Herman style. Here's a better question, what should be done to prevent imbeciles like you away from the internet? You're pretty much part of the problem, ya know.

[user000049586849302948603]

by ilpalazzo-2009 May 25, 2011 7:10 PM EDT
Oh how clever! You don't even know the person you're responding to, yet you continue the climate of name calling Pee-Wee Herman style. Here's a better question, what should be done to prevent imbeciles like you away from the internet? You're pretty much part of the problem, ya know.

_____________________________________________________________

I know that, if he's advocating letting the mentally ill so reveal themselves to be so with shooting sprees rather that by some simple, "a priori" test like those used on police officers, I'd just as soon he (and you) didn't have access to firearms.

[ilpalazzo-2009]

Go Jared!He deserves to be ruled incompetent AND have the charges dropped against him, seeing as how the media and politicians have CONTINUES to escalate their climate of fear and hate after the assassination attempt. Remember when they said they were to blame? Remember how that lasted all of like what.. 24 hours? Less than a week? If no lesson was learned, then this guy deserves to go free.

[gmcken]

He "deserves to go free"? I guess you don't care about the safety of others he might target if he gets out

[ToolMangler1]

If you truly believe that, then you should be in the same cell as he is, for the same Length of time... (Because neither of you should be loose on the streets of America.)

[bilrobi1]

Also The question is he fit to stand trial? Can he follow whats going on and contribute to his own defense? He can still go away forever.

[Brokennews]

Is he too old circumcise his head??

[elem187]

Liberalism at its best right here... Hang the leftist bastard.

[documemts]

You wish.

[lloydbest1]

To elem187:

Dude, neither you nor I nor anyone else for that matter has any real insight to what his political preferences are. In fact it is the position of several talking heads - including some fairly extreme rightists - that his politics, such of them as he has, are also right wing. But as I said, no one knows for sure.

[lloydbest1]

Mentally incompetent or no, Loughner is STILL liable for his actions. I do not care what the circumstances are and he does not have to be "responsible" for anything but he must still bear the burden of liability.

What this means is he must be under close and exacting supervision 24-7 for as long as he lives. He can not have any access to the outside world other than immediate family and (possibly) a lawyer. And even with his family and attorney, topics of conversation and exchange of material are to be strictly monitored.

When a mental pathology has reached the point it has with Jared, cure is flatly and frankly impossible and even preventing a further deterioration of mental state is EXTREMELY difficult. Even with the aid of the powerful antipsychotics we have in our pharmaceutical arsenal, keeping him from getting worse is going to be a job of work. Curing him simply ain't gonna happen.

In my opinion, one of the biggest challenges a civilized society has facing it is the managment of the criminally insane. How we do that is one of the measures of validation for a society's existance. The warning signs were there as far back as when Mr. Loughner was still in high school. We coulda/woulda/shoulda intervened then or even before - when there was at a faint hope of mitigating his illness. Now there is none, and the fit has truly hit the shan.

We need to spend much more money, time and energy in treating mental disorders. The incidence of mental instability and incompetence has increased dramatically in recent years and the increase has little to do with better diagnostic tools and widening of diagnostic criteria. In English, that means the proportion of mentally ill is increasing relative to the general population. And is doing so at an alarming rate. If we don't get a handle on treatment and management of these pathologies when they first surface in children, we will have more such messes to clean up when these people become adults. The choice is simple: shell out now when the expense is relatively small or shell out later after the carnage....but we WILL shell out one way or another.

Very few psycho's are criminally minded; most are harmless. But those who aren't are as dangerous as they come and when one falls through the cracks as far as has Jared Loughner we have only two ways of dealing with the outcome:
Confine him permanantely or kill him.

[documemts]

In a corporate-democracy the corporate interests (right-wing) decide if it is cost beneficial to their profits to treat or prevent mental illness in its pool of willing worker-serfs. Since it is not necessary for corporate profits, therefore it will not be done. YOU the taxpayer will continue to have to live with the armed-criminally insane among you. Don't you remember when Reagan cut HHS services for the criminally insane and let them out on the streets of America in the early 80's? Corporate America understands that it's either their profits or your safety. You get a gun and they get your money.

[user000049586849302948603]

Good. Now let's talk about what should be done to keep firearms out of the hands of crazy people BEFORE they go on shooting sprees.