Prosecutors drop murder charges against shooting suspect Loughner
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BReddy2
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it's like that now huh
Prosecutors have filed to drop two murder charges against shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner, but a U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman called the move "just a procedural thing."
They plan to refile the murder charges soon as part of a superseding indictment, said Robbie Sherwood, spokesman for the Phoenix office.
Sherwood said court deadlines gave prosecutors 30 days to either bring charges with an indictment or temporarily dismiss them. Prosecutors opted for the latter, he said, because of the lengthy investigations necessary in murder cases.
"As a matter of procedure, because there was a clock ticking, we moved to dismiss, but we plan to bring them back," Sherwood said.
Loughner, 22, is accused of opening fire at a political meet-and-greet at a Tucson Safeway on Jan. 8, shooting U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killing six people, including U.S. District Judge John Roll and congressional aide Gabe Zimmerman.
On Jan. 9, a formal complaint lodged in federal court charged Loughner with killing Roll, 63, and Zimmerman, 30.
The complaint also charged Loughner with attempting to murder Giffords and two other members of her staff, Pamela Simon and Ron Barber.
Loughner was indicted on the three attempted-murder charges on Jan. 19.
Prosecutors dropped the murder charges in the deaths of Roll and Zimmerman Friday, Sherwood said.
Read more in Monday's Arizona Daily Star
get rid of the POS... asap. ? trial, they got the concrete evidence. blah blah blah
Prosecutors have filed to drop two murder charges against shooting suspect Jared Lee Loughner, but a U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman called the move "just a procedural thing."
They plan to refile the murder charges soon as part of a superseding indictment, said Robbie Sherwood, spokesman for the Phoenix office.
Sherwood said court deadlines gave prosecutors 30 days to either bring charges with an indictment or temporarily dismiss them. Prosecutors opted for the latter, he said, because of the lengthy investigations necessary in murder cases.
"As a matter of procedure, because there was a clock ticking, we moved to dismiss, but we plan to bring them back," Sherwood said.
Loughner, 22, is accused of opening fire at a political meet-and-greet at a Tucson Safeway on Jan. 8, shooting U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and killing six people, including U.S. District Judge John Roll and congressional aide Gabe Zimmerman.
On Jan. 9, a formal complaint lodged in federal court charged Loughner with killing Roll, 63, and Zimmerman, 30.
The complaint also charged Loughner with attempting to murder Giffords and two other members of her staff, Pamela Simon and Ron Barber.
Loughner was indicted on the three attempted-murder charges on Jan. 19.
Prosecutors dropped the murder charges in the deaths of Roll and Zimmerman Friday, Sherwood said.
Read more in Monday's Arizona Daily Star
get rid of the POS... asap. ? trial, they got the concrete evidence. blah blah blah