Loughner pleads guilty to Arizona shootings that wounded Giffords

Jared Lee Loughner pleaded guilty Tuesday to 19 charges resulting from the January 2011 shooting rampage that left six people dead and wounded 13, including then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.).

Loughner pleaded guilty to attempting to assassinate Giffords, who resigned her seat a little more than a year after the shootings that shocked Congress and the nation.

{mosads}He also admitted to planning the shooting to kill Giffords, who was hosting a regular “Congress on your corner” event outside a Tucson supermarket in her district.

Under a plea agreement worked out by Loughner’s lawyers and federal prosecutors and accepted by U.S. District Court Judge Larry A. Burns, Loughner, 23, will spend the rest of his life behind bars but will not face the death penalty.

The deal waived the defendant’s right to an appeal and prevented him from pleading insanity. It will require him — as best he can — to pay $19 million in restitution to the victims.

Loughner was ruled competent enough to stand trial following a psychiatrist’s evaluation. He has been diagnosed as schizophrenic, and has been medicated at a federal prison for more than a year.

All of the guilty pleas were accepted by Burns, who set formal sentencing for Loughner for Nov. 15. Prosecutors and Loughner’s defense have said they don’t want the case to be dragged out any longer than is necessary, according to The Associated Press.

Attorney General Eric Holder said he had chosen not to seek the death penalty to try to help Tucson get through the healing process from the crime.

“In making the determination not to seek the death penalty, I took into consideration the views of the victims and survivor families, the recommendations of the prosecutors assigned to the case, and the applicable law,” Holder said.

“It is my hope that this decision will allow the Tucson community, and the nation, to continue the healing process free of what would likely be extended trial and pre-trial proceedings that would not have a certain outcome.”

Giffords suffered a gunshot wound to the head from close range in the shooting. Ron Barber, who served as an aide to Giffords in Congress and was also wounded in the rampage, won a special election in June to fill her seat in Congress.


In a statement Tuesday, Giffords’s husband, astronaut Mark Kelly, said he and his wife had been in contact with prosecutors in the case and approved of the deal.



“We don’t speak for all of the victims or their families, but Gabby and I are satisfied with this plea agreement. The pain and loss caused by the events of January 8, 2011 are incalculable,” Kelly said in a statement, according to The Associated Press. 

In a press conference following the hearing, U.S. Attorney for the District of Arizona John S. Leonardo said that the prosecution was satisfied with the plea deal.

“While we respect the views of those who feel the death penalty should have been sought in this case, we feel that this is a certain, just and appropriate resolution in this case,” Leonardo said after the hearing. 

“The lives of these victims and the lives of their families will never be the same and nothing that the criminal justice system or anyone else can do will ever bring back what these people have lost,” Leonardo continued. “While no conclusion to this criminal prosecution will ever bring full closure to the victims of this crime, or their families, we hope that what we’ve accomplished today will be a positive step forward in the progress of healing and recovery from the tremendous losses that they have suffered.”

Barber, Giffords’s replacement in the House, also spoke at the press conference. “I truly believe that justice was done today,” Barber said. 

Some victims of the shooting on Tuesday called for stricter gun laws and noted recent mass shootings at a Colorado movie theater and a Sikh temple in Wisconsin.

“Hello, it’s good to be alive,” Eric Fuller, a disabled veteran and former campaign volunteer for Giffords, said at the press event after the hearing.

“I’ve
talked about the day that I was shot there in front of the Safeway and
others and people were killed, many times with people,” Fuller said.
“My job here — this spring anyway — has been collecting signatures
for statewide initiatives here in Tucson, Arizona. I’ve been looking for
a cure for this. We know what happened in Aurora, Colorado, we know
it’s happened in Wisconsin.

“And so, discussing politics with people
every day set me on a path toward looking for a cure for this — so this
won’t be necessary, so this won’t be another disgusting deplorable event
in people’s lives.”

—This story was posted at 3:34 and updated at 5:19 p.m.