Jared Loughner Declared Incompetent for Trial

David: And then lastly, Jared Loughner has been declared incompetent for trial. Did you hear about this, Louis? Louis: I actually, on my way to the airport in Tucson, I was listening to this on the radio. David: That's right. In Tucson, it is non-stop coverage of Gabrielle Giffords. Even when it cools down in the national media, it was constant there. Any local channel you turned on. Louis: Yep. David: Federal judge ruled that Jared Loughner, who is accused of shooting Gabrielle Giffords and 18 others, is not mentally competent for trial. Now, the thing is, we knew within seconds of hearing about this incident that there was something wrong with this guy mentally. So it's always interesting when this comes up, because some would argue to kill anybody in this way, by definition, you must be, quote, "insane", whatever that means. So it always opens up a can of worms where we can say well, there's certain types of crimes that... for example, child *** and ***. Some would argue the mere commission of that crime, the mere being able to get to a place in your mind where you can do that, implies a certain level of mental illness that by definition would mean you're not competent to stand trial. Of course, if that was the case, we wouldn't be trying any of these people, so it's a little bit of a conundrum. Louis: Right, right. Yeah, there's all sorts of factors. There's that, and of course, premeditation, which can conflict with that mental health part. David: Sure. Louis: And... lots of things. It's complicated. David: From what I read, Jared Loughner was removed from the courtroom after a couple of outbursts. In one of them, I guess he went into this rant that included saying, "She died in front of me," and then there's another one where he either said, "Thank you for the free kill," or thank you for something else, which was kind of unintelligible, according to witnesses. And I... from what I've read, Loughner now has a beard, he has shaggy brown hair. The picture we saw, he had a shaved head and no facial hair at all. And most people indicating he looked pretty calm in the courtroom until this outburst, so whenever I hear about *** suspects being incompetent for trial because of... because they... now, there's also a difference between an insanity plea and just being incompetent to stand trial. Louis: Right, because it could eventually get to the point where he becomes competent to stand trial, in which case, they will go through with the trial. David: Right. And... Louis: But if they found him insane, it would probably never happen. David: It's a different situation, but I'm still, you know, there's somewhat of a just inherent conflict, because I believe that there are certain crimes that no... colloquially, no, quote, "sane" person could commit. It's hard to imagine them. Louis: Yeah. David: Let's take a break. If you're on Twitter, please go to www.DonateYourAccount.com/DavidPakmanShow, donate your Twitter followers to us. It would be very much appreciated. www.DonateYourAccount.com/DavidPakmanShow. We'll be back. One Kansas Republican says being *** is like getting a flat tire. Yeah, I don't understand it either. We'll be back after this. Announcer: The David Pakman Show at www.DavidPakman.com. Transcript provided by Alex Wickersham and www.Subscriptorium.com. For transcripts, translations, captions, and subtitles, or for more information, visit www.Subscriptorium.com, or contact Alex at subscriptorium@gmail.com.