Plea Deal Reached In Case Of Giffords Shooter

(AP Photo/U.S. Marshal's Office, File)

PHOENIX — The judge overseeing the deadly Tucson, Ariz., mass shooting case on Monday scheduled competency and change of plea hearings for defendant Jared Lee Loughner.

U.S. District Judge Larry A. Burns' scheduling order confirms that a plea agreement has been reached in the shooting that left six dead and former Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 12 others wounded.

Before Loughner can enter the plea, Burns must find that Loughner is mentally competent and understands what is happening. The hearings are set for Tuesday in Tucson.

Loughner has spent more than a year in a federal medical facility in Missouri being treated for mental illness.

Loughner had pleaded not guilty to 49 federal charges stemming from the Jan. 8, 2011, shooting outside a Tucson supermarket where Giffords was holding a meet-and-greet with constituents.

Burns had ruled that Loughner wasn't psychologically fit to stand trial, but that he could be made ready for trial after treatment. Experts have concluded that Loughner suffers from schizophrenia.

A person familiar with the case told The Associated Press on Saturday that a court-appointed psychiatrist is to testify that Loughner is competent to enter a plea. The person was not authorized to discuss the case publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

The person said the plea agreement would have Loughner receive a life sentence, taking the possibility of the death penalty off the table in the federal case.

The top prosecutor in southern Arizona's Pima County said last year that she may file state charges in the case that could carry the death penalty.

The state prosecution has been suspended while the federal case went forward, and County Attorney Barbara LaWall was not available for comment on Monday. Her spokeswoman, Isabel Burruel-Smutzer, declined to comment, saying the office did not have an active prosecution against Loughner.

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Associated Press writer Pete Yost in Washington contributed to this report.

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Gabby Giffords Shooter To Plead Guilty

Jared Lee Loughner will plead guilty to the 2011 shooting in Tucson, Ariz., that killed six and injured 13, the LA Times reports.

The victims of the Jan. 8 shooting included then-Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), who was speaking to constituents at public event. Loughner had previously pleaded not guilty.

According to the Associated Press, a court-appointed psychiatrist will testify on Tuesday that Loughner is fit to stand trial. Loughner's guilty plea would result in a sentence of life in prison, a source told the AP.

The Wall Street Journal and Fox News also reported that Loughner will plead guilty.

Loughner has been charged with 49 counts, including murder and attempted assassination of a member of Congress. Among those killed was a federal judge, an aide to Giffords and 9-year-old girl.

Giffords suffered severe brain injuries that damaged her abilities to speak and move. After months of rehabilitation, she returned to Congress in August 2011 to vote on the debt ceiling bill. In January 2012, she announced her resignation.

The shooting has sparked a debate about gun laws in Arizona and across the nation. Critics say that Loughner, who had two previous offenses and a history of unusual behavior, should never have been able to purchase a gun. One survivor called the incident an "extremely tragic example of what is at stake each and every time a gun falls — or is placed — in the wrong hands."

Loughner is currently receiving treatment for mental illnesses at a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility, where he will remain until a judge decides he is fit to stand trial. He is expected to enter his plea on Tuesday.

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