US News

Accused Arizona gunman ordered to undergo month-long psychological exam

TUCSON, Ariz. — Jared Lee Loughner, the man accused of gunning down six people and injuring 13 others in a January rampage, was ordered Monday to undergo a month-long psychological examination to determine whether he is fit to stand trial.

Loughner, 22, will be transferred from Tucson, Ariz., to Springfield, Mo., where Bureau of Prisons (BoP) psychologists, neurologists and other forensic staff will try to figure out if he can be considered sane.

He has pleaded not guilty to 49 charges of murder and attempted assassination, including one against Rep. Gabrielle Giffords (D-Ariz.), the congresswoman whose event he allegedly interrupted with a hail of gunfire Jan 8. in the parking lot of a Tucson supermarket.

The order, from US District Judge Larry A. Burns, came over the objections of Loughner’s attorneys, who argued that the government was attempting to isolate Loughner thousands of miles from his defense team and perform the psychological tests with biased, federally-funded doctors.

“In view of the nature and seriousness of the charges the defendant faces and questions that have arisen regarding his recent mental history, several days or even several weeks is not an unwarranted amount of time for conducting the competency exam,” Burns wrote in a ruling.

Burns added that if Loughner’s team does not agree with diagnosis of the BoP doctors, the judge will allow for a second examination by independent psychologists in Tucson.

The judge did agree with a defense request to have all of Loughner’s examinations videotaped, though he rejected out-of-hand the suggestion that the alleged shooters’ attorneys should have a say in how he is evaluated.

“The scope of the examination shall … be limited to whether Mr. Loughner is presently competent to stand trial; the examination shall not focus on the defendant’s sanity at the time of the alleged offense, nor shall the examination purposefully attempt to explore potential aggravating or mitigating sentencing factors in this case,” Burns wrote.

Loughner could face the death penalty if found guilty.