Meds, videos, subpoenas at issue in Loughner case

PHOENIX – Lawyers for the Tucson shooting rampage suspect are fighting to have his clinical assessments videotaped and want a judge to schedule a hearing about his forced medication, while prosecutors are complaining that defense lawyers have improperly issued subpoenas in the case.

In two federal court filings Thursday, attorneys for Jared Lee Loughner argue that all formal assessments by the 22-year-old's primary evaluator should be videotaped to preserve evidence of the effects of the psychotropic drugs he's being forced to take.

They also asked U.S. District Judge Larry Burns to schedule a prompt hearing to review Loughner's forced medication.

Loughner was forcibly medicated between June 21 and July 1 because authorities said he may be a danger to himself, and his mental and physical condition has been rapidly deteriorating. An appeals court temporarily halted the medication but prison officials restarted the drugs July 19.

Loughner has pleaded not guilty to 49 charges in the Jan. 8 shooting that killed six people and wounded 13, including Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. He's been at a federal prison facility in Springfield, Mo., since May 27 after Burns concluded he was mentally unfit to help in his legal defense.

In a separate filing Thursday, prosecutors said Loughner's lawyers have broken court rules by issuing at least two subpoenas without getting court approval and giving copies to the government.

The prosecutors said Loughner's lawyers issued a subpoena on a Tucson apartment complex in a bid to get a lease agreement for someone who lived there.

A message left for lead Loughner attorney Judy Clarke wasn't immediately returned.

Prosecutors asked Burns to make Loughner's lawyers provide an inventory of all subpoenas they issued and give copies to prosecutors.