The black eye and bruises have healed, his hair is growing in, but Tucson-area shooting suspect Jared Loughner faced a federal judge wearing the same enigmatic smile that has haunted television screens and magazine covers around the world.

Loughner stood quietly as U.S. District Judge Larry Burns entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf Monday in federal court in Phoenix.

The court did not address any questions of Loughner's mental competency. Attorneys and the judge discussed moving future hearings to Tucson. Loughner's attorney said she would not object, but no final decision was made.

Loughner is charged with attempted assassination of a member of Congress in connection with the wounding of U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, and two counts of attempted murder of a federal employee in the wounding of Giffords aides Ron Barber and Pam Simon.

Although Loughner was charged Monday with only the attempted slayings of federal employees, a federal prosecutor said more charges will be filed within a month.

State charges also remain to be filed in relation to the Jan. 8 attack outside a supermarket north of Tucson. In all, six people were killed and 13 were wounded.

A new image

Loughner looked leaner than at his last appearance. He wore glasses and an orange jumpsuit, his hands cuffed to a belly chain, his legs shackled.

As he sat at the defendant's table for nearly 15 minutes before his hearing, he alternately smirked and grimaced, at times breaking into a broad but silent smile as if laughing at a personal joke.

Judy Clarke, his high-profile defense attorney, put a comforting hand on his shoulder when she asked him questions, being careful to push microphones to the other side of the table.

Photography inside the courthouse was prohibited. Outside the Sandra Day O'Connor U.S. Courthouse, a barricade was set up to keep the news media away from the front doors as more than a dozen video and still photographers waited for lawyers to come and go. The American flag flew at half-staff in memory of John Roll, chief judge for the U.S. District for Arizona, who was among those killed in the rampage.

Inside, the court was packed with journalists, but no victims or family members appeared to be present.

After the judge entered the courtroom, Clarke waived her client's right to have the charges read and asked the court to enter a plea for him, a common practice in criminal cases.

When Burns asked if she wanted to discuss her client's mental competence to stand trial, Clarke responded, "We are not raising that issue at this time."

Trial process

The prosecutor, Assistant U.S. Attorney Wallace Kleindienst, informed the court that another federal indictment will be forthcoming within 30 days, presumably including murder charges in the killing of Roll and Gabe Zimmerman, a Giffords staffer. Accordingly, Burns held off on setting a trial date.

Kleindienst said that he had given Clarke 45 tapes from Loughner's computer and discs recording 250 witness interviews as part of the discovery process of divulging evidence to be used against the defendant.

Burns acknowledged a motion filed Sunday by Kleindienst asking that further proceedings take place in Tucson to make it easier for victims and witnesses to attend without making the two-hour drive to Phoenix.

"I don't think we're going to have any real opposition to that, but I am concerned as to where (Loughner) would go," Clarke said. The defendant has been held in a federal detention facility outside Phoenix.

Kleindienst told her that there are at least two federal facilities near the Tucson courthouse.

Burns set the next court date for March 9, without specifying whether it will be in Phoenix or Tucson.

The hearing lasted less than 10 minutes. Clarke gave Loughner a few maternal pats on the back, and he was led away.

Republic reporter Anne Ryman contributed to this article.