Loughner Could Receive Death Penalty

Tucson prepares for Obama's visit; suspect's parents release statement
TUCSON, Ariz. -- As Tucson scrambled to prepare for President Barack Obama's scheduled appearance at a memorial service for the Victims of the weekend's Mass Shooting, the parents of the alleged gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, offered their first public statement Tuesday, insisting that the attack left them as perplexed as anyone else. From the home they shared with their son in a working-class neighborhood, Randy and Amy Loughner released a statement calling it "a very difficult time" and spoke of...

FBI Launches 'Bureau Special' to Probe Shooting
Hundreds of FBI agents are working on an investigation aimed at understanding why a former community College Student, with no history of violence, went on a shooting rampage outside a Tucson, Ariz., Supermarket last weekend. The suspect, Jared Loughner, 22, allegedly killed six people, gravely wounded Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-AZ) and injured 13 others as he opened fire during a political event at a local shopping center on Saturday morning. Inside the FBI, the investigation is known as a "Bure...

John Roll Killing in Arizona Puts Focus on Judges' Security
Jared Lee Loughner’s target may have been Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, but his Murder of Judge John Roll is drawing attention to the threats faced by Federal Judges, especially those serving in border states. Shushannah Walshe reports....

Arizona suspect wrote 'die bitch' on Giffords note
Jared Loughner, accused of shooting US politician Gabrielle Giffords in an attack that killed six people and wounded 14, wrote "die bitch" and "die cops" on a letter he received from the lawmaker in 2007, officials said. The note was found by FBI investigators searching the Tucson home of Loughner and his parents, Captain Chris Nanos of the Pima County Sheriff's Department said. Ms Giffords, who authorities have said was the target of the Shooting Spree in Tucson, Arizona, at the weekend remains...

New Shooting Details: Loughner's Angry Note
Source: CBS News The 22-year-old man accused of trying to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in a deadly shooting rampage wrote "Die, bitch" in a note found at his home, a sheriff's official told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Investigators believe the handwritten message was a reference to Giffords, Pima County Chief Rick Kastigar said. The note was found in a safe alongside other ones, including "I planned ahead," "My Assassination" and the name "Giffords." ----- On Saturday morning, Jare...

How Will Judy Clarke Defend Jared Lee Loughner?
Legendary public defender Judy Clarke’s roster of reviled clients includes baby killer Susan Smith and Unabomber Ted Kaczynski, but Arizona shooter Jared Lee Loughner presents a formidable challenge. Gerald Shargel on her possible strategies, from the insanity defense to disqualifying all Arizona Federal Judges and prosecutors from the case....

Bozell Column: Liberal Sickos Exploit a Rampage
Imagine the Saturday morning of congressional aide Mark Kimble. Kimble told of going to a Safeway for a typical meet-and-greet event with his boss, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Kimble said he went into the store for coffee, and as he came out, Giffords was talking to a couple about Medicare and reimbursements, and Federal Judge John Roll had just walked up to her and shouted “Hi” – when a gunman opened fire. Nobody in America should greet this scene with any other initial reaction ...

Insanity plea in Arizona shootings may be hard to make stick
The disturbing photograph of Jared Loughner that has been released after his arrest, as well as the writings and statements attributed to him, seem to point to a man with delusional thinking and Mental Illness. Even if that is found to be true, the attorneys for Loughner, the 22-year-old College Dropout who has been charged in the Tucson shootings, may find it difficult to mount a successful insanity defense. The rules regarding such a legal strategy were tightened over the years in the wake o...

APNewsBreak: More warning signs on day of shooting
Source: AP By AMANDA LEE MYERS and JUSTIN PRITCHARD, Associated Press – 28 mins ago TUCSON, Ariz. – Investigators revealed more disturbing details about the events leading up to the Assassination attempt against U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, including a menacing handwritten note in the suspect's home with the words "Die, bitch." And on the day of the shooting, a mumbling Jared Loughner ran into the desert near his home after his father asked him why he was removing a black bag from the trunk of ..

The Tucson Tragedy's True Lesson
Now that someone with Mental Illness has shot one of Washington's own, maybe Congress will start to pay attention to its abysmal failure to provide care for the most seriously mentally-ill Americans. We'll see. Lawmakers took a brief lunge in that direction after mentally-ill John Hinckley shot Ronald Reagan in 1981, and an even smaller step in 1988 when Russel Weston, another mentally-ill man, entered the Capitol and shot two police officers. But most mentally-ill people are not violent -- and ...

Bloodshed in Arizona turns spotlight on political landscape of anger and hate
As Democratic Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona battles for her life after an Assassination attempt, the nation is trying to grapple with the violent tragedy that took the lives of 6 and wounded 14 people on Saturday morning, casting a dark shadow on the start of this year. On the morning of January 8th, while U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was meeting with constituents at a ‘Congress on Your Corner’ event at a local shopping center in Tuscon, a gunman opened fire on the gat...

Alleged gunmans family breaks silence
Stumble This! The US lawmaker shot in the head in an attack killing six in Tucson can now breathe unaided, doctors said Tuesday as the gunman's family broke their silence to say they were "so very sorry." Surgeons gave an upbeat outlook for Representative Gabrielle Giffords' condition, as President Barack Obama prepared to travel to Arizona and a harrowing account emerged about the youngest Victim in Saturday's Shooting Spree. "She's holding her own," said Mic...

In Arizona, Obama to honor memories, speak of hope
(01-11) 20:15 PST WASHINGTON (AP) -- Under high expectations to provide healing, President Barack Obama on Wednesday will try to convert the horror of the Arizona shootings into a moment of national unity, centering his memorial Speech in Tucson on the lives of the Victims and the heroism of those who rushed to stop the madness. The president was crafting his Speech on Tuesday, and his aides were reluctant to discuss it even broadly in its unfinished form, other than to say it will emphasize t...

Jared Loughner Appears In Court, Giffords 'Still Fighting' (LIVE UPDATES)
PHOENIX — The nation got its first look on Monday at the 22-year-old loner accused of trying to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. Jared Loughner, head shaved, a cut above the right temple and his hands cuffed, scanned a packed courtroom and sat down. His attorney, who defended Oklahoma City bomber Timothy Mcveigh and "Unabomber" Ted Kaczynski, whispered to him. (SCROLL DOWN FOR LIVE UPDATES) The judge asked Loughner if he understood that he could get life in Prison - or the death pen...

While Giffords Heals, Loughner's Parents Cry
Photo: AFP It was a good day for Gabrielle Giffords: While she remains in critical condition, doctors are reporting her to be healing and responsive. Doctors say that the third and fourth day after a traumatic brain injury are actually the most critical, and are optimistic that, though she's still not able to speak, her recovery is going well. More on Giffords, shooter Jared Lee Loughner and how Arizona is healing, below: Dr. Peter Rhee, the director of medical trauma at the University Medical...

From the Unabomber to Loughner
Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of the Tucson Shooting Spree on Saturday, is to be defended in court by the renowned Trial Lawyer Judy Clarke. Clarke is no stranger to high-profile cases: she has represented the 9/11 conspirator Zacarias Moussaoui; Eric Rudolph, the Atlanta Olympics bomber; Susan Smith, the South Carolina woman who murdered her two sons, and Ted Kaczynski, the Unabomber. The Kaczynski trial was the subject of a 1999 Reporter at Large by William Finnegan, “Defending th...

01.11.11 Open Thread
For all of of US Open thread aficionados, here’s tonight’s, squeezed between two very hot posts … … by Reverend Amy and Mssr. Johnson, the bad-boy, brilliant writer of irony and satire. Tonight, I’d like to point you to David Brook’s op-ed on the Tucson shootings in The New York Times: “The Politicized Mind.” Yes, well, it IS David Brooks. However, he sometimes makes very astute, insightful remarks, and this is such a case. Brooks’ op-ed wo...

Jesse Jackson's Bizarre Rant: is Rev ok?
In an oddly rambling, semi-coherent manner, the Reverend Jesse Jackson took to the airwaves yesterday to blame everything including the kitchen sink for Arizona's violent Shooting Spree. He appeared in-studio as a guest on the syndicated Al Sharpton Show. You must login to comment. The Fox Nation is for those opposed to intolerance, excessive government control of our lives, and attempts to monopolize opinion or suppress freedom of thought, expression, and worship. Read more... We invite all Ame...

Must we put his name in lights?
I haven’t posted much on the Arizona killings. The enormity of the tragedy demands a respectful silence, unless one actually has something useful to say. Most everything constructive I would say has already been said by someone else with greater force than I would muster. I would mention again the importance of long-term care and rehabilitative medicine. The typical 9mm bullet is quite adequate to lacerate Human Body parts, sometimes beyond repair. Every day, thousands of doctors, nurses,...

New Shooting Details: Loughner's Angry Note
With all the evidence against the suspected Tucson shooter Jared Loughner, a Guilty verdict could still prove very difficult. Jan Crawford reports on the latest details of the case. (CBA/AP) The 22-year-old man accused of trying to assassinate Rep. Gabrielle Giffords in a deadly shooting rampage wrote "Die, bitch" in a note found at his home, a sheriff's official told The Associated Press on Tuesday. Investigators believe the handwritten message was a reference to Giffords, Pima County Chief Ri...

Tighter Gun-control Laws A Long Shot
(NewsCore) - The Tucson shootings have renewed an effort among Northeast lawmakers to strengthen federal gun-control laws, but a partisan climate and an influential gun lobby mean that talk may be as far as it gets, The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday. On Tuesday, Rep. Carolyn McCarthy (D-N.Y.), whose husband was killed by a lone gunman in a 1993 Shooting Spree, said she would introduce Legislation to reinstate a ban on high-capacity magazines like the one used by the Tucson shooter. Rep. P...

Rep. Giffords' condition improves after shooting
TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - Representative Gabrielle Giffords is breathing on her own and doctors on Tuesday were hopeful about her recovery from a head wound suffered in an Arizona Shooting Spree that killed six people. Giffords, a popular 40-year-old Democrat, is still in critical condition at a Tucson Hospital but is "holding her own," responding to simple commands and breathing without the aid of her ventilation tube, her doctor said. "She has no right to look this good. We're hopeful," Dr. ...

Family of accused Arizona shooter expresses sorrow
TUCSON, Arizona | Tue Jan 11, 2011 6:13pm EST TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - The family of a 22-year-old man accused in an Arizona Shooting Spree that killed six people and injured 14 others expressed sorrow on Tuesday for the rampage and asked for the media to respect their Privacy. "There are no words that can possibly express how we feel. We wish there were, so we could make you feel better," according to the statement attributed to accused gunman Jared Lee Loughner's family. "We don't unders...

Family of accused Arizona shooter expresses sorrow
By Brad Pool TUCSON, Arizona | Tue Jan 11, 2011 9:11pm EST TUCSON, Arizona (Reuters) - Family members of a 22-year-old man charged in an Arizona Shooting Spree that killed six people and injured 14 expressed sorrow on Tuesday and said they didn't understand why the rampage happened. In an eight-sentence statement that never mentions the accused gunman, Jared Lee Loughner, his family says the shooting's aftermath was a "very difficult time" and asked for Privacy. "There are no words that can p...

Loughner Parents: Sorry About Those Murders (ignore that skull in the back yard??)
These parents have a LOT of explaining to do.    “Sorry” isn’t going to be enough. The family of Tucson shooting suspect Jared Loughner handed out a written statement to reporters standing in front of their home late Tuesday afternoon. This is a very difficult time for us. We ask the media to respect our Privacy. There are no words that can possibly express how we feel. We wish that there were, so we could make you feel better. We don’t understand why this ...