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By Kathy Arnold
Prosecutors in the Jared Loughner case yesterday dropped two murder charges against Loughner, the man behind the shooting rampage in Arizona. The feds dropped the charges from the original complaint filed against Loughner and it is certain that the charges will reappear in a new indictment against Loughner. The new indictment is expected sometime before March 9, when Loughner’s hearing will begin in the court.
The shooting rampage happened on January 8, killing six people and wounding 13 others. Loughner attacked a supermarket parking lot when U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was meeting with constituents. Giffords suffered critical head injuries in the attack and she is undergoing rehabilitation. Under the federal laws, only five of the shootings, including the attempted assassination of Giffords and two of the murders, which include a 9-year-old girl and a federal judge, can be charged.
A Pima County Superior Court jury will give justice to the rest of the victims when the federal case is over. Loughner was charged with those five crimes in the initial criminal complaint on January 9. The defendant has to be indicted by a federal grand jury before a case can proceed. The grand jury determines if there is probable cause that a crime occurred.
Loughner has only been indicted on three counts: the attempt against Giffords and the attempted murders of Giffords aides Ron Barber and Pam Simon. Initially, he was also charged with the murders of U.S. District Court Judge John Roll and Giffords staffer Gabe Zimmerman. The federal Speedy Trial Act of 1974 makes it mandatory to hand over the indictment within 30 days of arrest.
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