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Between an insanity plea, requests to move the trial, etc., experts think it could be years before Jared Loughner gets sentenced in the January 8 Arizona shooting that made headlines across the country.

The man accused of carrying out the mass shooting in Tucson faces a court hearing Monday — an early step in a case against Jared Loughner that could take years to wend its way through the criminal justice system.

Both federal and state authorities intend to prosecute Loughner in the Jan. 8 shootings. There will also likely be proceedings over whether to move the case to a different venue, a possible insanity defense, and prosecutors’ push for the death penalty.

The most immediate step is an arraignment scheduled Monday afternoon in Phoenix where Loughner, 22, is expected to enter a plea on federal charges against him.

The Tucson man is charged with the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and the attempted murder of two of her aides. He is accused of opening fire on a Giffords political event in a rampage that wounded 13 people and killed six others, including a federal judge and a 9-year-old girl who was born on Sept. 11, 2001.

Loughner later will face state charges dealing with the other victims.

And despite having destroyed so many lives, that monster may not even face the death penalty.

Pima County Attorney Barbara LaWall has the discretion to decide whether to seek the death penalty against Loughner in the state case, while the federal decision on whether to seek the death penalty rests with Arizona U.S. Attorney Dennis Burke and Attorney General Eric Holder, Charlton said. Prosecutors haven’t signaled whether they would pursue the death penalty, but experts say all signs point toward that.

Defense lawyers could ask that the case be moved out of Arizona by arguing that extensive negative publicity would make it impossible for Loughner to get a fair trial.

There was so much speculation that San Diego would ultimately be the home for the trial that federal authorities were prompted to issue a statement last week denying the reports and saying it’s way too early in the case to discuss. The presiding over the case works out of San Diego, and Loughner’s court-appointed lawyer, Judy Clarke, is based there as well.

Clarke has not responded to requests seeking comment. She is one of the top lawyers in the country for defendants facing prominent death penalty cases, having represented clients such “Unabomber” Ted Kaczynski and Olympic bomber Eric Rudolph. She has a reputation for working out plea deals that spare defendants the death penalty, as was the case for Rudolph and Kaczynski.

SMH at this chick making a career out of representing psychos.

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