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FORMER CONGRESSWOMAN Gabrielle Giffords, partially blind, her right arm paralysed and limp, came face to face Thursday with the man who tried to kill her last year, standing beside her husband as he spoke of her struggles to recover from being shot in the head.
“Her life has been forever changed. Plans she had for our family and her career have been immeasurably altered,” said astronaut Mark Kelly, both he and his wife staring at the shooter inside a packed courtroom. “Every day is a continuous struggle to do those things she once was so good at.”
Jared Lee Loughner, 24, was then ordered to serve seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years in federal prison for the January 2011 shooting rampage that killed six people and wounded 13 others, including Giffords, outside a grocery store in Tucson, Arizona.
The youngest person to die in the attack was just nine years old.
No possibility of parole
Loughner pleaded guilty under an agreement that guarantees he will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. He avoids a federal death sentence, although state prosecutors could still decide to try him.
One by one, survivors of the attack at a Giffords political event approached the courtroom podium to address Loughner, each turning toward him where he sat stoic and emotionless at a table with his attorneys.
“You took away my life, my love and my reason for living,” said Mavanell Stoddard, who was shot three times and cradled her dying husband in her arms as he lay bleeding on the sidewalk after shielding her from the spray of bullets.
Susan Hileman, who was shot, spoke to him, at times visibly shaking.
“We’ve been told about your demons, about the illness that skewed your thinking,” she said. “Your parents, your schools, your community, they all failed you.
“It’s all true,” Hileman said. “It’s not enough.”
“You pointed a weapon and shot me three times,” she said, staring directly at Loughner. He looked back at her. “And now I walked out of this courtroom and into the rest of my life and I won’t think of you again.”
Loughner’s parents sat nearby, his mother sobbing.
Plea deal
Some victims, including Giffords, welcomed the plea deal as a way to move on. It spared them and their families from having to go through a potentially lengthy and traumatic trial and locks up the defendant for life.
Giffords didn’t speak, but stood by Kelly and kissed her husband when he was done. He grabbed her hand and they walked away, her limping.
Earlier, Loughner told Burns that he would not speak at the hearing.
Both sides reached the deal after a judge declared that Loughner was able to understand the charges against him. After the shooting, he was diagnosed with schizophrenia and underwent forcible psychotropic drug treatments.
Christina Pietz, the court-appointed psychologist who treated Loughner, had warned that although Loughner was competent to plead guilty, he remained severely mentally ill and his condition could deteriorate under the stress of a trial.
When Loughner first arrived at a Missouri prison facility for treatment, he was convinced Giffords was dead, even though he was shown a video of the shooting. He eventually realised she was alive after he was forcibly medicated.
It’s unknown whether Pima County prosecutors, who have discretion on whether to seek the death penalty against Loughner, will file state charges against him. Stephanie Coronado, a spokeswoman for Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall, said Wednesday that no decision had been made.
It’s also unclear where Loughner will be sent to serve his federal sentence. He could return to a prison medical facility like the one in Springfield, Missouri, where he’s been treated for more than a year. Or he could end up in a prison such as the federal lockup in Florence, Colorado, that houses some of the country’s most notorious criminals, including Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols and “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski.
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I am a counsellor and can confirm that there are counsellors nationwide, newly qualified, only looking out for clients, even if the Government subsidised such services, a sliding cheaper scale could meet the state funding meaning vulnerable persons would have someone to speak to at least. Better to sit on a counsellors chair than on a waiting list.
@Vincent Doyle: the government – and frankly most counsellors – don’t care about the poor.
Counsellors charge about 70/hour and most will hear a please for help coupled with a, ‘I don’t have 70/hour’ and say, ‘tough luck’.
Counselling, psychology and psychiatry in Ireland are money rackets largely. Not because people wouldn’t benefit from genuine help, but because the people in the system in Ireland are in it for themselves and their bank accounts.
So of course, vicious cycle, the rich get help and the poor end up suffering needlessly.
@Vincent Doyle: I am not a five-star chef, and I can confirm there are expensive restaurants nationwide, but nobody on minimum wage is able to eat in any of them, for the same reason that they are unable to access councillers nationwide to address their mental health care, because it is beyond their financial means to do so, regardless of the availability.
The solution is really quite simple, deal with the issues that are causing adults and children to fall through the cracks of our mental health care system, delays span months between someone reaching out for help to mental health care services and that help being given.
Nobody presenting to any A&E department bleeding out is being told to wait a month or more, a mental health crisis for a child or adult is the mental equivalent.
@Vincent Doyle: I have a qualification in counselling. But I haven’t used it yet. I want to get experience before I start off. I know there is a huge need for counsellors.
@Pat Corr: see question further down
@Chris O’Brien: Sorry Chris but your talking nonsense there. There are plenty of low cost and free counselling services provided through charities and other NGOs. Most Counsellors are also reasonable and will often charge on a sliding scale based on a person’s financial position. Not all in the private sector make this accommodation but many do
@Vincent Doyle: depends where these guys got their qualifications .
@Chris O’Brien: you don’t expect experts to offer their services for free or at cut costs ? You any idea as to how much to cost to run a practice with insurance and indemnities , annual fees to their professional body , and expenses for constant regular training and seminars . €70 is nothing . The “poor” just need to prioritise ; laying off the drugs would be a start for many of them and stop making excuses .
@Dvsespaña: why the f u c k do you assume that 5 star places ever intended to cater for the minimum wage sect ? Why are you whinging ? It’s not for you nor is it suppose to be for you . (Not you personally )
In every dept most people want the german system(works for all) , we keep getting the american one (works only for wealthy).
@bruce banner: we ain’t commies or socialists .
Time to bring our troops home from Lebanon. It’s quite clear peace has collapsed with Israel and Lebanon launching attacks against each other. I’d rather our troops brought home safely now instead of them sitting in bunkers with the conflict escalating.
Not properly regulated
And that’s the way the unions & the professional bodies want it
They also run a Monday to Friday health service but people are selfish & continue to get sick/have accidents/give birth at weekends
I am sick to my back teeth hearing of problems & failures in our health service. I’m also sick of muppet politico’s saying it needs more money.
It needs REFORM – real meaningful reform from a minister with the courage to face down all the vested interests
And it appears we haven’t had one of them for the last 40 years
Not properly regulated. Or funded.
Our economy loses 1.8B annually because ADHD isn’t diagnosed or treated.
For context, long term social welfare costs the state 550M. Which is less than a third lost just to ADHD.
And these issues exist because for generations Irish voters choose ‘out of sight out of mind’ for mental health issues. And politicians cynically took advantage of that.
And now we’re all reaping the rewards of our societal shame re mental health issues and our collective hatred of the poor.
Well guess what, pretending problems don’t exist isn’t public healthcare policy. It costs us all. And not a little. It costs us annually more than unemployment. It costs more than out healthcare ‘overspend’.
Until we behave like compassionate humans and fund services for EVERYONE we’ll all just suffer.
The true measure of any society can be found in how it treats its most vulnerable members
@RIP: bollox ! Pay your way or die . It’s up to clans and families to look after their own. Don’t expect strangers to do it . Thatcher was right about “society”. You want communism or socialism ? You won’t find it in Ireland (or anywhere else for that matter )
@Gerry Kelly, great comment, the whole public sector needs both massive reform and investment in proper IT systems. I wouldn’t mind if there were a few billion put aside for it but only if the management and staff are accountable afterwards. Any excess staff in one area could be offered retraining in other areas and if they don’t want that then there is compulsory redundancies. We now have a situation that management get paid the big bucks but can’t make a decision without getting outside consultants in and once they’re in the costs spiral. Time for a root and branch review of it all while we have the money.
There’s two types of Irish people:
- People who have never used mental health services in Ireland/the rich who simply buy what they need despite the high prices – this group has no issues with public mental heath services in Ireland
- People who have tried to use public mental health services in Ireland and aren’t rich – this group feels like they’re in a third world country and are usually treated like garbage.
FFFG has long been reelected by the first group. The second group typically won’t vote FFFG once they realise just how poor the HSE really is. And why.
@Chris O’Brien: mental health issues don’t care about a person’s pedigree or wealth. It effects everyone . The waiting lists effect everyone too . Can’t always buy one’s way out of them . Talking sh it e as usual. Shut the f u ck and do something about your evidentially whiney sh I Tty situation . No one cares about your ranting. You and your kind do nothing but sit on your arse and expect others to spoon feed you. Do us all a big favour and get off social media and do something constructive . Maybe get a job and take those chips off your shoulders towards people who are better than you or more successful. Alternatively , find a river or moving train and don’t look back. Either way, do one. Ranting here is doing you no favours .
So what is stopping you getting the experience?
@Antoni marr: meeting the criteria for registration ? Recognition of qualifications etc , High expense to run a practice ? Might be a bit of a closed shop eg only register practitioners from a certain organisation ? Funding and a lack of resources would be a big issue . Can’t do it for free and the State will have to intervene as those that really need urgent care don’t have the funds to pay for it
One final note, if this could be connected to refugees in ANY WAY the comments would be rammed. But since this only affects the poor and mentally ill all of those, ‘save Ireland from the refugees’ types are completely disinterested.
Go figure.
Save Ireland, unless it’s the poor or sick or elderly then who cares, right lads?
@Chris O’Brien: eh, THE ONLY PEOPLE who rant and rave on this platform about Refugees and the ills of them , which leads to closing down of the comment sections ; and the ONLY PEOPLE who have gone out protesting against refugees etc and acted violently ARE THE POOR ! So , your thesis is , as usual, nonsense . Sincerely get help where you can. Ranting and raving here isn’t the right way to go about it .
Ag we’re all mad
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