TUCSON – Jared Lee Loughner, accused of killing six people and trying to assassinate a member of Congress in a January 8th shooting spree in Tucson, Arizona, has been ruled not competent to go on trial.
US district judge Larry Burns issued his decision at a hearing yesterday in federal court in Tucson.
Loughner was examined by Bureau of Prison psychologists as well as by an independent court-appointed expert, both of whom concluded he was incompetent.
Lawyers on both sides declined to question the doctors who conducted the two examinations at the hearing.
Mr Burns ordered that Loughner remain in US custody for treatment for four months or until doctors determine he is competent. The judge scheduled a hearing for September 21st.
Prosecutors in March asked Mr Burns to order an examination of whether the accused was competent to go on trial because video clips Loughner posted online suggested that he might have “mental issues”. In one video clip, a hooded and masked person, believed to be the suspect, is wearing garbage bags on his lower body and burning an American flag.
US representative Gabrielle Giffords, an Arizona Democrat, was among 13 wounded at the shooting rampage outside a supermarket where she was holding a community meeting. Ms Giffords survived a gunshot wound through her head. Bystanders wrestled the suspect to the ground.
Loughner (22) has pleaded not guilty to murder and attempted murder charges.
He was removed from the courtroom by marshals after an outburst at the start of the hearing. The judge said he could return if he was calm; he chose to watch the proceedings on closed circuit television.
Pima Community College on May 19th released e-mails by college administrators and campus police detailing Loughner’s behaviour in classrooms last year, including “creepy stares” and challenging teachers.
Loughner told one counsellor who questioned how he was acting in a maths class that “my instructor said he called a number six and I said I call it 18”. He also asked the instructor “how can you deny math instead of accept it”, according to the e-mail the counsellor sent to campus administrators.
“He has extreme views and frequently meanders from the point,” according to the counsellor’s report. – (Bloomberg)