Federal authorities plan to move trial of Tucson shooting suspect

[ProudProgressiveNow]

Source: Washington Post

Federal authorities are planning to move the trial of the alleged gunman in the Jan. 8 mass shooting in Tucson to San Diego because of extensive pretrial publicity in Arizona, federal law enforcement sources said Sunday night.


Jared Lee Loughner, 22, is charged in federal court in Arizona, but court officials plan to move the case out of the state within several weeks, the sources said.

They cited publicity and the sensitivity of the case in Arizona, where one of those fatally shot was John M. Roll, the state's chief federal judge.

The new chief judge, Roslyn O. Silver, will make the final decision about any venue change, but one law enforcement official said "it's going to happen. It's just a matter of time.''

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/01/16/AR2011011604721.html?wpisrc=nl_natlalert

[ElsewheresDaughter]

1. I expect nothing less...seeing as how a Fed Judge was killed....all AZ Judges recuse themselves LINK

PHOENIX (AP) - All federal judges in Arizona have recused themselves from hearing the case against the man accused of shooting Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and four other federal employees.

An order issued Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Roslyn Silver says the impartiality of the Arizona judges could be questioned given that one of people killed in the shooting was U.S. District Judge John Roll of Tucson. Roll was the chief federal judge for Arizona.

Alex Kozinski, chief judge for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, will appoint a judge from outside Arizona to hear the case.

Jared Loughner faces federal charges of trying to assassinate Giffords, killing Roll and a Giffords staffer and wounding two other Giffords staffers.

http://www.kgun9.com/Global/story.asp?S=13832092

[Tx4obama]

2. This is stupid.

Where wasn't there extensive pretrial publicity?
There is NO WHERE in the USA that didn't have extensive around the clock news of the shooting and every detail regarding the shooter and the victims.
Moving the trial to another state will only make the whole process more expensive and more inconvenient for the witnesses and everyone else involved!

[ElsewheresDaughter]

3. All Federal AZ judges recuse themselves in Loughner case...link

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/01/12/5822540-federal-az-judges-recuse-themselves-in-loughner-case

All federal judges in Tucson have taken themselves off the case of Jared Loughner.

A brief order filed late Wednesday by Judge Raner Collins, on behalf of the other Tucson federal judges and magistrate judges, said, "n order to avoid the appearance of impropriety, and because a judge has a duty to disqualify him or herself if his or her impartiality could be reasonably questioned, whether or not such impartiality actually exists, this Court must recuse itself."

Judy Clarke, Loughner's defense lawyer, has been notified by a court clerk that if she wants to claim that every federal judge in Arizona should also be disqualified, she must file a motion promptly.

[intheflow]

5. Interesting.

I wonder if that's because they agree with him, or they're afraid of getting on a Tea Party hit list if they find him guilty.

[Tx4obama]

7. It is because

Judge Roll was a United States federal judge, who had served as the chief judge for the United States District Court for the District of Arizona.
So, it is appropriate for all the judges that knew him and/or worked under him to distance themselves from the case/trial.

[intheflow]

8. Right. Of course. That makes sense. n/t

[Tx4obama]

6. I know that.

It was reported a few days ago that ALL the Arizona judges would be recusing themselves from the case.
And they said that a judge from OUT OF STATE would be brought in.
So, there is no reason to move the whole trial out of Arizona.

[Liberty Belle]

10. Defendant's lawyer and the judge assigned are both in San Diego.

Would also be hard to get an impartial jury in Arizona so makes sense to move the trial.

[Rhiannon12866]

4. Right, like nobody outside of Arizona has heard about this...

Good luck with that. :crazy:

[Liberty Belle]

9. Swell, just what San Diego doesn't need--high security costs for the nutjob trial of the century.

Hope I don't get called for jury duty!

[Monsoon]

11. McVeighs trial was moved to Denver so this doesn't seem

unprecedented in the least.

[Tx4obama]

12. Trial will stay in Arizona - see update on link below

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x4700002