Jared Loughner, Tuscon Shooting Suspect, Found Not Competent To Stand Trial

His eerie smile said it all to me. When I saw Jared Loughner's expression in his arrest picture I believed he was psychotic. Loughner was charged in the January Tuscon shooting of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. He was also charged with wounding thirteen others and killing six people. Yesterday, a Federal Judge found him not competent to stand trial.

Many people confuse competency to proceed with the insanity defense. One way to understand the difference is that competency to stand trial refers to the defendant's present mental state.Insanity and other psychiatric defenses focus on the defendant's mental state at the time of the crime.

I have conducted thousands of competency to stand trial evaluations. It is the most common type of forensic evaluation and assesses whether a defendant has "sufficient present ability to consult with his lawyer with a reasonable degree of rational understanding and have a rational as well as factual understanding of the proceedings against him." (New York Penal Law Section 40.15)

U.S. district Court Judge Larry Burns concluded that Loughner was psychotic, delusional and incompetent to stand trial. He based his conclusion on the reports prepared by two evaluators: psychologist Christina Pietz, and psychiatrist Mathew Carroll. Dr. Pietz, a Bureau of Prisons psychologist, prepared a 52-page evaluation. The report of Dr. Carroll, an independent psychiatrist, was 43 pages.

Drs Pietz and Carroll diagnosed Loughner with schizophrenia; they described his thinking as incoherent. Both concluded that Loughner was not malingering, i.e. faking mental illness. In making his decision, the judge also considered another piece of information. The defendant had written him two letters without consulting his attorneys.

Judge Burns concluded that Loughner was delusional and could not form a working relationship with his attorney. The Judge cited Loughner's irrational distrust of his attorneys.
http://articles.cnn.com/2011-05-25/justice/arizona.loughner.competency_…

Yesterday, the crowded courtroom was filled with reporters, victims, family members of the victims and attorneys. Loughner's parents, sitting in the third row, cried during the hearing. Loughner's courtroom behavior during this hearing was further evidence of his incompetency. He was rocking back and forth and had to be restrained by federal marshals after he made an outburst. The Arizona Daily Star quoted Loughner as shouting, "Thank you for the freak show. She died in front of me." http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/article_1d5ce648-86f8-11e0-82ec-0…

I predicted that Loughner would likely be found not competent. In a Psychology Today blog, entitled, "The Tuscon Shootings: Is Jared Lee Loughner Competent to Stand Trial," I wrote, "The prosecutor, Assistant United States Attorney Wallace H. Kleindienst, asked for the evaluation and told the court that Loughner heard voices and had "severe mental issues." He also told the judge that there was evidence that Loughner was suspicious of the court system and thought the FBI and CIA were investigating him.
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/the-measure-madness/201104/the-tusc…

What will happen next? Loughner will be treated for the next few months at a secure federal psychiatric facility. The goal is to restore him to competency. He will almost certainly be prescribed antipsychotic medication. The question is - will Loughner agree to take it? It has been reported in the press that he does not acknowledge that he has a mental illness. It may be necessary for the psychiatric staff to request medicating him over his objection.

Most psychotic defendants eventually are found competent to stand trial. Loughner is expected back in court on September 21st. I expect his attorneys are already exploring a psychiatric defense.