TUCSON - State prosecutors are researching whether they have to wait until after the federal case against the suspect in Saturday's mass shooting is resolved, or if they can proceed with local charges at the same time, a prosecutor said Monday.
Jared Loughner, 22, of Tucson, made his first court appearance Monday in Phoenix on federal charges stemming from the fatal shooting of six people, including a federal judge, and injuring or wounding of 14 others, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords.
He is charged in federal court with one count of attempted assassination of a member of Congress, two counts of killing an employee of the federal government and two counts of attempting to kill a federal employee.
Those stem from the killing of U.S. District Court Judge John M. Roll and Gabriel Zimmerman, a Giffords aide, as well as the attempted murder of Giffords and two other aides, Pamela Simon and Ron Barber.
In state court, there are countless potential local charges, said Barbara LaWall, Pima County attorney.
"We have exclusive jurisdiction over all the individuals who are not federal employees who are victims on this case," she said.
"So we have the deceased victims, we have individuals who were injured and shot but survived, and then we have literally dozens of victims or people who were in the line of fire who were victims of endangerment."
Because Loughner will remain in federal custody, the normal deadlines wouldn't apply to local prosecutors if they proceed, LaWall said.
The added time would allow attorneys for the state to research and compile a thorough case before making decisions on charges, she said.
Slabside posted at 12:24 pm on Mon, Jan 10, 2011.
It gives this idiot of a law enforcement official more time to bad mouth Arizona.
rrjenn posted at 12:39 pm on Mon, Jan 10, 2011.
I blame Obama. (June 14, 2008- WSJ)- Mobster wisdom tells us never to bring a knife to a gun fight. But what does political wisdom say about bringing a gun to a knife fight?
That’s exactly what Barack Obama said he would do to counter Republican attacks “If they bring a knife to the fight, we bring a gun.”
patrick posted at 1:06 pm on Mon, Jan 10, 2011.
How can you say it was the Pima Sheriffs fault? This was a crazed nut job with a gun and had it out for the Congresswomen...nothing more.
rrjenn posted at 1:45 pm on Mon, Jan 10, 2011.
Now I understand why the sheriff has been laying the blame for the Rep Giffords tradegy. Jared Loughner has been making death threats by phone to many people in Pima County including staff of Pima Community College, radio personalities and local bloggers. When Pima County Sheriff’s Office was informed, his deputies assured the victims that he was being well managed by the mental health system. It was also suggested that further pressing of charges would be unnecessary and probably cause more problems than it solved as Jared Loughner has a family member that works for Pima County. Amy Loughner is a Natural Resource specialist for the Pima County Parks and Recreation. Every victim of his threats previously must also be wondering if this tragedy could have been prevented if they had been more aggressive in pursuing charges against Mr. Loughner. Perhaps with a felony conviction he would never have been able to lawfully by the Glock 9mm Model 19 that he used to strike down the lives of six people and decimate 14 more. This was not an act of politics. This was an act of a mentally disturbed young man hell bent on getting his 15 minutes of infamy. The Pima County Sheriff’s Department was aware of his violent nature and they failed to act appropriately. This tragedy leads right back to Sherriff Dupnik and all the spin in the world is not going to change that fact.
Slabside posted at 2:25 pm on Mon, Jan 10, 2011.
Very interesting rrjenn.
NotFondOfLibs posted at 2:48 pm on Mon, Jan 10, 2011.
I can understand why Clarence Dufus, er, Dupnik has not filed state charges against Jared Loughner. He's too busy making inflammatory statements about Conservatives who have no connection to Loughner, and generally trashing the state of Arizona for allegedly being "a mecca for prejudice and bigotry." Too bad he can't prove his case. This guy is not fit to be a public servant in Arizona at any level. He is as bad or worse than the fat slob Raul Grijhalva, who called for a boycott of the state because of SB1070. In Dufus's case, (sorry, Dupnik), he is obligated to enforce all laws of the state whether he likes them or not. If he won't enforce the laws, he should resign. Likewise, he should resign if he can't refrain from making political statements instead of conducting a criminal investigation.
EmperorSmith posted at 12:48 pm on Tue, Jan 11, 2011.
The feds will extradite, this lost soul goodbye into that night. Why was are money.
EmperorSmith posted at 12:49 pm on Tue, Jan 11, 2011.
waste