In this artist rendering, Jared Lee Loughner, right, makes a court appearance with his lawyer, Judy Clarke, at the Sandra Day O'Connor United States Courthouse in Phoenix, Ariz. in January.
In this artist rendering, Jared Lee Loughner, right, makes a court appearance with his lawyer, Judy Clarke, at the Sandra Day O'Connor United States Courthouse in Phoenix, Ariz. in January.
Anonymous/APJared Loughner, the 24-year-old man who plead guilty to killing six people and wounding 13 others during a shooting spree at a congressional meet-and-greet in Tucson, will be sentenced shortly.
Gabrielle Giffords, the former congresswoman from Arizona, who was shot in the head, is present at the hearing going on now in a U.S. District Court.
With his plea deal, Loughner will avoid the death penalty. But The Arizona Republic reports that Loughner is expected to be sentenced to life.
The paper adds:
"Thursday, Loughner, now 24, will be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tucson. Under terms of the plea agreement hammered out by prosecutors and defense attorneys in August, Loughner will spend the rest of his life in prison, and given his fragile mental state, most likely in a federal prison psychiatric ward.
"Neither prosecutors nor defense attorneys are forthcoming with the details of the hearing, nor with the case in general."
The paper is also tracking live tweets from the hearing. If you want to follow along, see this page.
Update at 12:32 p.m. ET. Giffords Is Back:
The New York Times' Fernanda Santos tweets that after leaving the courtroom, Giffords is back.
Wendy Halloran, of KPNX, is also tweeting the hearing. She reports that Suzie Hileman, the neighbor who took the youngest victim to the event, told Loughner that she did not want to be standing at the hearing.
"I don't want to be here at all," she said. Then she looked at Loughner and told him it was all "because of you."
Update at 12:23 p.m. ET. 'Loughner Is Competent':
Fernanda Santos, a correspondent for The New York Times, is tweeting the proceedings. She reports that a forensic psychologist treating Loughner said he was competent enough to proceed.
Giffords, reports Santos, left the court room "as second witness testified, not even 20 min into the hearing. Seems like she couldn't take it."
