Jared Loughner Pleads Not Guilty to 49 Charges, Including Murder
Man accused of killing six, wounding 13 in Tucson, Ariz., smirks at hearing.
March 9, 2011— -- Jared Loughner, accused of opening fire on a Tucson, Ariz., crowd in January, killing six people and wounding 13 others including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, pleaded not guilty today to 49 charges, including murder.
Wearing a tan prison jumpsuit and a large grin, Loughner, 22, only said, "Yes, it is," when a federal judge asked him if his name was correctly entered in the court record.
Wearing the same smirk he had in the mug shot taken after his arrest, Loughner still had his head shaved but had grown a wispy beard.
Thirteen people were wounded and another six people, including a 9-year-old girl, were killed Jan. 8 at an event Giffords, D-Ariz., was hosting outside a Tucson grocery store.
Inside the courtroom were several victims and family members, including a wheelchair bound Suzie Heilman. Heilman was injured at the shooting, where she brought a neighbor girl, 9-year-old Christina Taylor Green, who was fatally shot.
Loughner was arraigned on 49 new federal charges that included the murders of U.S. District Judge John Roll and Giffords aide Gabe Zimmerman.
He was charged with causing the deaths of four other people, causing injury and death to participants at a federally provided activity, and using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime.
Loughner previously pleaded not guilty to earlier charges that he tried to assassinate Giffords and kill two of her aides.
The college student also likely will face state charges in Arizona following a federal trial.
Following the shooting, investigators found documents in Loughner's home they said indicated the crime was premeditated and which they planned to introduce at trial.
Police found handwritten notes in a safe that read, "I planned ahead," "My assassination" and "Giffords." Another note read "Die, bitch," which investigators believed was a reference to Giffords.
Prosecutors want Loughner to submit a handwriting sample, but Loughner's attorneys argue that a sample would violate his right to not incriminate himself.
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