UPDATE: NOVEMBER 8, 2012
5:26 p.m. MST
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) — Gabrielle Giffords limped to the front of the courtroom and stared silently Thursday as she came face-to-face for the first time with the man who tried to kill her.
The former congresswoman hadn't been near Jared Lee Loughner since the deadly rampage outside a meet-and-greet at a supermarket that killed six people and left her partially blind, with a paralyzed right arm and brain injury.
Giffords' astronaut husband told Loughner what Giffords couldn't, before he was sentenced to seven life terms for the January 2011 slayings and attempted assassination of a member of Congress.
"Mr. Loughner, you may have put a bullet through her head, but you haven't put a dent in her spirit and her commitment to make the world a better place," Mark Kelly said.
Giffords, wearing a black brace around her torso, looked closely at the 24-year-old Loughner for several minutes without uttering a word.
Loughner returned their gaze, but showed no emotion. His mother sobbed nearby.
Loughner was then ordered to serve the seven consecutive life sentences, plus 140 years in federal prison for the shootings that killed six people and wounded 13, including Giffords, as she met with constituents in a Tucson shopping plaza.
His guilty plea enables him to avoid a federal death sentence. No state charges will be filed.
Read more: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/man-be-sentenced-mass-shooting-arizona
UPDATE: NOVEMBER 8, 2012
12:13 P.M.
Tucson gunman Jared Loughner was sentenced Thursday to seven life terms plus 140 years in prison.
UPDATE: NOVEMBER 8, 2012
11:50 A.M.
PHOENIX (AP) - At the sentencing of the man who shot an Arizona congresswoman in a rampage that killed six, a prosecutor said the attacker saw her as the face of the government he hated.
Prosecutor Wallace Kleindienst says Jared Loughner was convinced he had killed Gabrielle Giffords after shooting her in the head. He only later acknowledged after months of treatment that she was alive "and he had failed."
Loughner has been diagnosed as schizophrenic.
In his comments, Giffords' husband Mark Kelly took a swipe at politicians for their vitriolic comments after the shooting.
UPDATE: NOVEMBER 8, 2012
11:34 A.M.
PHOENIX (AP) - The man who pleaded guilty to a deadly Arizona shooting rampage is watching and listening as victims speak, showing little emotion or reaction.
Jared Loughner is being sentenced to life in prison for killing six people and wounding many more, including then-Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords.
Mark Kelly, Giffords' husband, spoke on her behalf, with her standing at his side.
Giffords and Kelly turned to face Loughner so they are eye to eye with him, though they are separated by about 20 feet.
Loughner's mother is in the courtroom sobbing.
UPDATE: NOVEMBER 8, 2012
10:50 A.M.
JACQUES BILLEAUD
Associated Press
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - A woman who was shot three times by a gunman at an Arizona political event for then-U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords has scolded the suspect, staring him down in court while visibily shaking.
Susan Hileman was shot three times when Jared Lee Loughner killed six people and wounded 13 others, including Giffords, in a January 2011 shooting rampage outside a grocery store in Tucson, Ariz.
Hileman was among his victims testifying Thursday at a sentencing hearing where he is expected to get life in prison.
Hileman kept glancing back at Loughner as she spoke to the court, and he looked at her. Loughner's parents had their heads down as Hileman said Loughner's parents, college and community had failed Loughner.
Loughner's mother Amy could be seen whiping her eyes.
TUCSON, Ariz. (AP) - The man who pleaded guilty to a deadly Arizona shooting rampage that also wounded former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords and 12 others has declined to speak at his sentencing.
Jared Lee Loughner has told a judge in Tucson, Ariz., that he will not be speaking at a hearing Thursday where the 24-year-old is expected to be sentenced to life in prison.
Loughner wore dress pants and a dark brown shirt with a tie, and drank from a foam cup, as he awaited statements from victims of the January 2011 attack.
Giffords and her astronaut husband, Mark Kelly, were in attendance as were Loughner's parents.
Loughner had pleaded guilty to 19 federal charges under a plea agreement.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
