The pain was palpable, measured in silent stares in the courtroom between an emotionless murderer and wounded former congresswoman who looked her attempted killer in the eyes for the first time since he shot her in the head.
Gabrielle Giffords limped to the podium Thursday, her astronaut husband by her side, inside a packed Tucson courtroom before a judge ordered Jared Lee Loughner to spend the rest of his life in prison.
It was the first time since the January 2011 shooting rampage that his victims would get a chance to speak their minds directly to him. Loughner sat silent, but appeared to absorb every word, his blank gaze fixed on each victim as they scolded him, told stories of their pain and loss and recounted those horrific moments when gunfire changed their lives forever.
"You killed six innocent people," said Giffords' husband, Mark Kelly. "Her life has been forever changed. Plans she had for our family and her career have been immeasurably altered. ... Every day is a continuous struggle to do those things she once was so good at."
Giffords, wearing a black brace around her torso, looked closely at the 24-year-old Loughner for several minutes without uttering a word.
Loughner looked on, appearing to listen, but showing no emotion. His mother sobbed nearby.
AP
Former Democratic Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, left, and her husband Mark Kelly leave after the sentencing of Jared Loughner, in back of U.S. District Court Thursday, Nov. 8, 2012, in Tucson, Ariz. U.S. District Judge Larry Burns sentenced Jared Lee Loughner, 24, to life in prison, for the January 2011 attack that left six people dead and Giffords and others wounded. Loughner pleaded guilty to federal charges under an agreement that guarantees he will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)
Close He was then ordered to serve seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years in federal prison for the shootings that killed six people and wounded 13 as Giffords met with constituents in a Tucson shopping plaza. Giffords was left partially blind with a paralyzed right arm and brain injury.
Loughner's guilty plea enables him to avoid a federal death sentence, and state prosecutors said they would not file separate charges, largely to spare the victims continued pain, and given that Loughner will never see freedom again.
The sentence marked the end of a nearly two-year-long saga in which Loughner, who has schizophrenia, was forcibly medicated at a Missouri prison medical facility so he could be competent to understand the charges against him. U.S. District Judge Larry Burns recommended Thursday that he remain there indefinitely, and continue to be medicated, but it's up to federal prison officials where he will ultimately be incarcerated.
Some victims, including Giffords, welcomed the plea deal as a way to move on. It spared victims and their families from having to go through a potentially lengthy and traumatic trial.
At the hearing, Loughner looked nothing like the smiling bald man with a bruise around his eye seen in the mug shot taken after the shooting. He had closely cropped brown hair and was wearing dress pants, shirt and tie.
One by one, his victims approached the podium, then turned toward Loughner who sat at a table with his defense attorneys.
Loughner declined to speak on his own behalf.
Mavy Stoddard, who was shot three times and cradled her dying husband, 76-year-old Dorwin Stoddard, in her arms as he lay bleeding after shielding her from gunfire, was among those who spoke.
"You took away my life, my love and my reason for living," Stoddard said.
"I am so lonesome, hate living without him," she added, her voice cracking. Staring down at Loughner, she said, "We will never let you win. You will not take our spirit."
Susan Hileman, who was shot three times while trying to save her 9-year-old neighbor, shook as she spoke.
沒有留言:
張貼留言