Bandaged LAX shooting suspect PaulCiancia appears in Los Angelescourtroom for first time

FILE - This undated file photo provided by the FBI shows Paul Ciancia, 23. The unemployed motorcycle mechanic

charged with killing a Transportation Security Administration officer and wounding three others during a rampage at

Los Angeles International Airport last month is scheduled to make his first court appearance on Wednesday Dec. 4,

2013. (AP Photo/FBI)

By Fred Shuster, City News Service

POSTED: 01/27/14, 5:34 PM PST | UPDATED: 2 DAYS AGO

Los Angeles >> A prosecutor said Monday that no decision will

immediately be made on whether the Justice Department will seek the

death penalty against the 23-year-old suspect accused of going on a

shooting spree at Los Angeles International Airport that resulted in the

death of a TSA agent.

Paul Anthony Ciancia, bandaged on the neck and chained at the wrists,

waist and ankles, appeared Monday afternoon for the first time at the

downtown Los Angeles federal courthouse where his trial will eventually

take place. He appeared twice previously in a courtroom at a San

Bernardino County jail medical facility, where he has been housed since

Nov. 18.

U.S. District Judge Philip S. Gutierrez ordered that Ciancia remain at the

medical facility until he is well enough to be moved to the Los Angeles

federal detention center.

Federal public defense attorney Hilary L. Potashner told the court that

her client weighed less than 100 pounds and was not yet “medically

stable’’ for the transfer.

A further status conference was set for March 3.

Gutierrez asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald when a death

penalty decision might be reached.

The prosecutor indicated it was up to Attorney General Eric Holder to

decide whether death is an appropriate penalty in the case, and no

timetable for that decision had been set.

Three charges in the 11-count indictment against Ciancia carry the

potential for a death sentence: murder of a federal officer,

Transportation Security Administration agent Gerardo Hernandez, use

of a firearm that led to the murder, and an act of violence in an

international airport, said Thom Mrozek, a spokesman for the U.S.

Attorney’s Office.

The judge said trial would be delayed until a decision had been made.

Ciancia, a Pennsville, N.J., native who had been living in Sun Valley for

about two years, is accused of storming into Terminal 3 on Nov. 1 with an

assault rifle, killing Hernandez and wounding three others — two other

TSA workers and one traveler. He reportedly carried a handwritten rant

about killing TSA workers and carried dozens of rounds of ammunition.

In court, the elfin Ciancia sat quietly next to Potashner, looking straight

ahead during the brief hearing.

Authorities allege Ciancia shot Hernandez at a lower-level LAX passenger

check-in station and then went to the second level, but returned when he

realized Hernandez was still alive and shot him again.

In addition to first-degree murder, the indictment charges Ciancia with

two counts of attempted murder for the shootings of TSA officers Tony

Grigsby and James Speer. Brian Ludmer, a Calabasas teacher, was also

wounded.

Ciancia also is charged with committing acts of violence at an

international airport, one count of using a firearm to commit murder,

and three counts of brandishing and discharging a firearm.

During the shooting, Ciancia allegedly was carrying a signed note saying

he wanted to kill TSA agents and “instill fear in their traitorous minds.’’

Witnesses to the shooting said the gunman asked them whether they

worked for the TSA, and if they said no, he moved on.

Ciancia was shot in the head and leg during a gun battle with Airport

police. He spent more than two weeks at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical

Center before he was moved to the San Bernardino jail medical facility.