WASHINGTON — A federal grand jury in Arizona has indicted Tucson shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner on 49 counts in the January rampage that wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 12 others and left six dead, including a chief federal district judge.
Employing a novel legal argument, the superseding indictment adds 46 additional federal charges to the case against Loughner on the theory that the crime at the Safeway where Giffords was meeting with constituents occurred on protected federal ground, as if it happened inside Congress.
Loughner was initially indicted in Phoenix on three federal counts of attempted murder against the Democratic congresswoman and two of her aides, all of whom were considered federal officials performing federal duties when they were shot.
The new indictment returned Thursday adds charges for the killing and wounding of victims who are not federal employees. It also adds charges for attendees at the event who were not injured.
Loughner, 22, faces the death penalty if convicted. He will be arraigned on the new charges Wednesday inside the same federal district courthouse in Tucson where the deceased judge, John Roll, presided.
Some legal experts called the strategy risky, saying it could raise appellate issues.
“I am unfamiliar with that legal theory,” said Aitan Goelman, a former federal prosecutor who helped prosecute Oklahoma City bombers Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols. “In Oklahoma, we charged McVeigh and Nichols with eight counts for the federal agents who were killed. We did not charge 168 murder counts for the other 160 people who were inside the federal building.”
Loughner’s attorney, Judy Clarke of San Diego, did not respond to phone calls seeking comment.
All of the state’s public defenders recused themselves in the case, leading to Clarke’s appointment.
Loughner is accused of opening fire during the first “Congress on Your Corner” event Giffords had staged since her fall re-election to Congress. Witnesses say he ran up to the congresswoman, shot her at close range and then turned his Glock 19 semiautomatic handgun on her staff and the crowd. Among those killed were three people in their 70s and a 9-year-old girl, Christina Taylor Green.
Also Friday, Giffords’ staff posted a photo on Facebook taken of the lawmaker shortly before the shooting rampage. It shows the congresswoman listening intently as she talks with two of her constituents.
Giffords is wearing a red coat and bold red necklace, and her hands are clasped in front of her as she speaks to Jim and Doris Tucker of Tucson. Jim Tucker was one of the 19 people shot, and he survived the attack. A message left at his home wasn’t immediately returned Friday evening.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
