Local Police Reports

Initial Appearance for Jared Lee Loughner


Phoenix, AZ-(ENEWSPF)- The United States Attorney for the District of Arizona, Dennis K. Burke, announced that Jared Lee Loughner made his initial appearance in federal court today before Magistrate Judge Lawrence Anderson.

The United States has moved to detain Loughner because he is accused of a crime of violence. The defendant remains in federal custody pending a detention hearing.

“This office is reviewing all the evidence in the case, consulting with the victims and their families of these crimes, and teaming and coordinating with our law enforcement partners. We will consider all appropriate charges at the indictment stage of the case,” said the United States Attorney Dennis K. Burke. “I have been in consistent contact with Attorney General, Eric Holder, as well as Deputy Attorney General Cole, apprising them of the developments in this case. We are devoting all the necessary resources that a case of this magnitude demands from our office and the Department of Justice. We are focused and we are determined to achieve justice.”

The maximum penalties for the offenses charged in the Criminal Complaint are as follows:

Count 1: Attempted Assassination of a Member of Congress, 18 USC 351(c) – life imprisonment

Counts 2, 3:
 Murder of Judge John Roll and Gabriel Zimmerman, 18 USC 1114 and 1111 – death or life imprisonment

Counts 4, 5:
 Attempted Murder of Pamela Simon and Ron Barber, 18 USC 1114 and 1113 – 20 years’ imprisonment

Loughner has been charged by criminal complaint of shooting U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, Chief Judge John Roll, and Giffords’ staff members Gabriel Zimmerman, Pamela Simon, and Ron Barber on Saturday, January 8, 2011, in Tucson. A criminal complaint is simply the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt. An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The United States Constitution and the Rules of Criminal Procedure require that a grand jury review the evidence and issue an indictment within 30 days of the defendant’s initial appearance.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona is in the process of considering charges and drafting an indictment against Loughner.


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