Accused in Arizona congresswoman shooting ‘competent to stand trial’

The source said the plan was for Loughner, 23, to enter a guilty plea for the murders and attempted murders in Arizona that would result in a sentence of life imprisonment.

A status conference in the case had already been scheduled for tomorrow in Tucson.

The plan depends on the judge in the case allowing Loughner to enter the plea.

Loughner pleaded not guilty to 49 charges stemming from the shootings on January 8 last year outside a Tucson supermarket where Ms Giffords was holding a surgery with her constituents.

Authorities said he shot Ms Giffords and opened fire on the crowd until he was subdued by bystanders.

Ms Giffords was shot in the head and subsequently left Congress to devote her time to recovering from her injury.

An Arizona college that Loughner attended released numerous emails about him that painted a picture of a struggling student with emotional problems who disturbed others with his strange behaviour.

US District Judge Larry Burns had ruled that Loughner was not psychologically fit to stand trial, but could eventually be made ready after treatment. Experts have concluded that Loughner suffers from schizophrenia.

Prison authorities in Missouri, where Loughner has been held, have forcibly medicated him with psychotropic drugs to make him fit to stand trial.

Even though psychologists have said Loughner’s condition is improving, his lawyers have vigorously fought the government’s efforts to medicate him.

At one point, a federal appeals court halted the forced medication, but resumed it once mental health experts at the prison concluded that Loughner’s condition was deteriorating. He has behaved strangely in court.