SAN DIEGO — A judge ruled Wednesday that prison officials can forcibly give the Tucson shooting rampage suspect anti-psychotic drugs in a bid to make him mentally fit for trial.
U.S. District Judge Larry Burns’ decision came after Jared Lee Loughner’s attorneys filed an emergency request last week to prevent any forced medication of their client without approval from a judge. The judge said he did not want to second-guess doctors at the federal prison in Springfield, Mo., who determined Loughner was a danger.
Defense attorneys said Loughner had been forcibly medicated since June 21.
Loughner, who was not at the hearing in San Diego, has been at the Missouri facility since May 28 after the judge concluded he was mentally unfit to stand trial and help in his legal defense. Mental health experts had determined the 22-year-old college dropout suffers from schizophrenia, and they will try to make him psychologically fit to stand trial.
Prosecutors said in a filing Tuesday that Loughner “is properly receiving medication.” They cited an April 4 incident where Loughner spat on his own attorney, lunged at her and had to be restrained by prison staff. They also brought up an outburst during a March 28 interview with a mental health expert in which Loughner became enraged, cursed at her and threw a plastic chair at her.
Loughner has pleaded not guilty to 49 charges in the Jan. 8 shooting that killed six people and injured Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 12 others.
