State charges still possible

Even with his guilty plea in federal court Tuesday, one uncertainty hanging over his case is whether Jared Loughner will face state charges. The plea agreement to the federal charges makes no mention of that possibility.

Pima County’s top prosecutor said last year that she may file state charges in the case that could carry the death penalty. In an agreement with federal prosecutors, County Attorney Barbara LaWall agreed that the federal prosecution would take place before she could bring charges.

LaWall has been unavailable in recent days, and officials in her office have repeatedly declined to comment, saying the office did not have an active prosecution against Loughner.

A state prosecution after a successful federal one would not be unprecedented. Oklahoma City bombing conspirator Terry Nichols avoided the death penalty on federal charges after a 1997 trial and was given a life sentence. State prosecutors then tried him again, but a state jury also declined to sentence him to death.