Arizona Federal Judges in Tucson Must Recuse Themselves From Shooting Case
Federal judges assigned to Arizona’s Tucson Division were barred from presiding over the prosecution of Jared Lee Loughner in the attempted assassination of U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords and murder of U.S. District Judge John Roll.
U.S. District Judge Raner Collins in Tucson ruled today that ethics rules requiring judges to avoid the appearance of impropriety mandated the recusal. The order comes one day after Loughner, 22, made his first court appearance on five federal charges including attempted assassination and murder for the Jan. 8 shooting rampage at a Tucson shopping center that killed six and wounded more than a dozen.
Loughner, who may face the death penalty, is also accused of killing Gabriel Zimmerman, a member of Giffords’s staff, and attempting to kill two other staffers, according to a criminal complaint filed Jan. 9.
Loughner’s lawyer, Judy Clarke, said yesterday that all federal prosecutors in Arizona should step down from the case. If the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Phoenix doesn’t recuse itself, Clarke was told by U.S. Magistrate Lawrence Anderson yesterday, she could file a motion to disqualify the office.
Clarke and Manny Tarango, a spokesman for U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke in Phoenix, didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment.
Loughner remains in federal custody and is scheduled to appear again in court on Jan. 24 to enter a formal plea.
Loughner’s family said in a written statement it is “so very sorry” for the victims, according to CNN.
“We wish we could change the heinous events of Saturday,” the family said, according to CNN. “We care very deeply about the victims and their families. We are so very sorry for their loss.”
Giffords, a Democrat beginning her third two-year term in the U.S. House, was shot once in the head and remains in critical condition.
The case is U.S. v. Loughner, 11-mj-00035, U.S. District Court, District of Arizona (Phoenix).
To contact the reporter on this story: Tom Schoenberg in Washington at tschoenberg@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David E. Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.net.
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