Posted on 05/25/2011 7:05:18 PM PDT by lbryce
A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Jared Lee Loughner was not mentally competent to stand trial on charges of opening fire Jan. 8 at a constituent event for U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, of Arizona, killing six and injuring 13, including Giffords.
The ruling by U.S. District Judge Larry Burns means Loughner, 22, will be sent back to the federal medical center for prisoners in Springfield, Mo., until Sept. 21, when a hearing will be held to determine whether he understands the 49 federal charges against him and can help in his defense.
Doctors will try to medicate Loughner to see if they can restore his competency to a point where he understands the case against him. Prosecutor Wallace Kleindienst said he didn't know if Loughner would agree to be medicated.
Loughner has pleaded not guilty to the 49 federal charges stemming from the shooting, which wounded Giffords and 12 others and killed six people, including a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge.
Burns' ruling came after he said two mental-health professionals had concluded Loughner suffers from schizophrenia and is mentally unfit for trial.
(Excerpt) Read more at seattletimes.nwsource.com ...
Damn good defense lawyer ftw..../s =.=
Lock'em in the nut house for whatever it takes then, when he's deemed okay to be released---try'em and then give him the needle!
“Just remember how we rehearsed it kid...”
The bin is supposed to be to heal people. Those that do things like this should be put to sleep.
IOW no trial, no discovery, no determination of Gifford’s ability to serve her office if ever.
That about Sarah Palin? Isn’t she charged with murder or anything???
It ingenious ! /sarc
Competent to plan and commit the crime.
But not competent to understand the charges.
Justice served would have yielded his public hanging by now.
Thanks lbryce. Just hang his sorry ass and be done with it.
he didn’t know if Loughner would agree to be medicated.
And people think this is justice?
Could they try to try him in AZ court on the charges? Perhaps the AZ courts have a different interpretation on mental competence.
However, it appears that the state of AZ murder charges were rolled into the Federal incitement.
Even when he is deemed to be competent (if ever), his lawyer will argue that he was mentally ill at the time of the murders and therefore is not guilty by reason of insanity.
FTFY
I agree, then nuts like this may think twice before they kill.
IMHO...
The natural and beneficial effect of “equal justice for all”, “swift justice” and “certain justice” is that a message of consequences for crimes is received by all citizens, both those considering committing crimes of any kind and those who are not; the former take warning, the latter take comfort. The prosecution of justice affirms that the law is being upheld, that we live in a righteous nation.
Crime and punishment, like righteous war, is a reaffirmation of the triumph of good over evil. When justice demands and a nation neglects them, life descends into nothing but purposeless murder and mayhem as people are left to fend for themselves without protection or recourse. When men forget the purpose and meaning of justice they are doomed to pay a costly price to learn them again.
In the words of George C. Scott in Patton:
“Wonder weapon?
My God, I don’t see
the wonder in them.
Killing without heroics. Nothing
is glorified, nothing is reaffirmed.
No heroes, no cowards, no troops.
No generals.
Only those that are left alive
and those that are left. . .
. . .dead.
I’m glad I won’t live to see it.”
No surprise at all. The dude is clearly a paranoid (or mixed type) schizophrenic based on age, gender, and reports of increasingly bizarre behavior over the previous months that is typical of developing schizophrenics.
The real tragedy is that this guy was allowed to just walk about becoming more and more delusional until he finally exploded, because schizophrenia is both common (1% incidence in population older than 18 worldwide) and treatable.
I agree but it's not at all a matter of being allowed to just walk free....until he finally exploded. He may have been mentally deranged throughout life but until he went on a shooting rampage, there were no symptoms to alert authorities of him being a danger.
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