Tucson shooting survivors attend Loughner hearing

[March 10, 2011]  TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) -- In a tense courtroom scene, Susan Hileman stared intently from her wheelchair at the smiling suspect who authorities say wounded her and 12 others and killed six people in a Tucson shooting rampage in January.

Wednesday's hearing in Tucson was the first time that survivors of the violence, that also left U.S. congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords severely injured, came face-to-face with suspect Jared Lee Loughner since the shooting.

Two others -- retired Army Col. Bill Badger and Mavanell "Mavy" Stoddard -- sat on the opposite side of the courtroom as the 22-year-old Loughner, whose once-shaved head featured short, dark hair and sideburns. Two U.S. marshals stood just feet behind Loughner throughout the hearing.

Badger, 74, is credited with helping to subdue Loughner at the scene after a bullet grazed the back of Badger's head.

Stoddard, 75, was shot in the leg three times. Her husband, Dorwin, dove to the ground and covered her. He was shot in the head and died at the scene.

Hileman, 58, was holding 9-year-old Christina Taylor-Green's hand when the shooting erupted. The woman was shot three times; Christina was killed.

Loughner made one brief comment, at the beginning of the hearing. The judge asked the 22-year-old if Jared Loughner was his name. "Yes, it is," Loughner responded as he stood behind the defense table.

Loughner then pleaded not guilty to dozens of federal charges, including trying to assassinate Giffords, attempting to kill two of her aides, and murdering federal judge John Roll and Giffords staffer Gabe Zimmerman. The hearing took place in the same courthouse where Roll worked before he was killed in the tragedy.

Loughner also is charged with causing the deaths of four others who weren't federal employees, causing injury and death to participants at a "federally provided activity" and using a gun in a crime of violence.

He likely will also face state charges stemming from the attack outside a Tucson grocery store. Hileman, Badger and Stoddard were among those wounded at the meet-and-greet event held by Giffords, who is now at a Houston hospital and undergoing rigorous therapy to recover from a gunshot wound to the head.

The suspect's father, Randy Loughner, also made his first appearance in the gallery during his son's criminal case. Dressed in a pressed charcoal-colored shirt and blue jeans, the father with bushy salt-and-pepper hair sat three rows behind his son, his arms folded.

Randy Loughner kept his eyes fixed on the floor and wall, glancing up only a few times to see the court action. After the hearing, he rushed out of the courtroom without acknowledging reporters asking him for comment.

Also Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Larry Burns decided search warrants from Loughner's home should be made public. He also scheduled a May 25 hearing to determine if Loughner is competent to stand trial.

The search warrants contained details about the items found by investigators at the suspect's home, including two shotguns, ammunition and drawings of weapons.

The warrants say police also seized a printout of the U.S. Constitution, a journal, a notebook with writing, poems, song lyrics and a handwritten note that read: "What is government if words don't have a meaning?"

The Arizona Republic and KPNX-TV argued there was no basis for documents related to the search of Loughner's home to remain sealed and that the public had a right to the records. The documents have been sealed since Jan. 11.

Loughner's attorneys argued their client's right to a fair trial might be harmed by the records' release. They said the documents contain potentially inflammatory statements by a law enforcement officer.

The judge said lawyers on both sides raised valid concerns, but last week's indictment signaled the end of the investigation that led to the charges. "We are past the point where there's a need for secrecy," Burns said.

Ninety percent of the material in the search warrant records has already been made public, the judge added.

Burns ordered that the records be unsealed but agreed to edit out some new information about the case that was either inflammatory or not likely to be admissible at trial.

The judge also expressed concern about Loughner's mental competency and whether the defendant understands the court proceedings.

Prosecutors had asked Burns to commit Loughner to a federal facility where he could be evaluated by psychologists to determine whether he suffers from a mental defect that makes him incompetent to stand trial.

Loughner attorney Judy Clarke asked that the judge confront the issue of her client's competency at a later date, arguing the request for a mental evaluation was premature.

She said she was concerned a psychological evaluation would interfere with her ability to work with and develop trust with Loughner.

But prosecutor Wallace Kleindienst said federal law allows prosecutors to request mental evaluations for defendants.

"We have a person who was irrationally obsessed with Congresswoman Giffords," Kleindienst said, adding Loughner distrusts the government and judges and believed the FBI and CIA were bugging him.

It wasn't decided where the psychological exam would take place.

[Associated Press; By JACQUES BILLEAUD]

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