Judge: Colorado shooting suspect incompetent to stand trial

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — A choose dominated Friday {that a} man charged with killing 10 individuals at a Colorado grocery store final 12 months remains to be mentally incompetent to face trial, additional delaying court docket proceedings within the case.

The prosecution of Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, 22, has been on maintain since December, when Choose Ingrid Bakke first dominated that he was mentally incompetent — unable to grasp authorized proceedings and work together with his attorneys to defend himself.

The ruling got here practically a month after Boulder, the house of the College of Colorado, marked the primary anniversary of the assault that killed employees, prospects and a police officer who rushed inside the shop.

Alissa is being handled on the state psychological hospital and was not in court docket for Friday’s listening to.

Few particulars have been launched about Alissa’s situation. Stories on his evaluations aren’t obtainable to the general public, however a court docket submitting discussing one of many evaluations final 12 months mentioned he had been provisionally identified with an unspecified psychological well being situation that limits his means to “meaningfully converse with others.”

Throughout the listening to, Bakke famous that specialists on the Colorado Psychological Well being Institute at Pueblo have mentioned there’s a substantial likelihood that Alissa could be restored to competency throughout the “cheap future” and stay competent by taking medicines, a prognosis she first talked about in a March 11 scheduling order.

The choose set a July 21 listening to to once more consider Alissa’s competency to face trial.

Competency is a unique authorized concern than a plea of not responsible by cause of madness, which entails whether or not somebody’s psychological well being prevented them from understanding proper from flawed on the time against the law was dedicated.

After the listening to, District Lawyer Michael Dougherty mentioned the common time to revive somebody to competency is six months. He declined to invest on when Alissa, who as been on the state hospital for 4 months, could also be thought-about competent.

Robert Olds, the uncle of one of many 10 individuals killed, front-end supervisor Rikki Olds, mentioned Alissa has extra rights than the victims. He stays pretty hopeful Alissa will go on trial however doesn’t need to anticipate what is going to occur subsequent as a result of the authorized course of has been shifting slowly.

“Finally it’ll occur, I hope,” he mentioned of a trial. “There’s at all times that exterior probability it received’t occur.”

Investigators haven’t launched any details about why they consider Alissa launched the assault or why he might have focused the grocery store. He lived within the close by suburb of Arvada, the place authorities say he handed a background examine to legally purchase the Ruger AR-556 pistol he allegedly used six days earlier than the taking pictures.

The March 22, 2021, assault at a King Soopers grocery shocked a state that has seen its share of mass shootings, together with the 1999 Columbine Excessive College bloodbath and the 2012 Aurora movie show taking pictures.

Boulder police Officer Eric Talley, a 51-year-old father of seven, was shot and killed whereas speeding into the shop with an preliminary workforce of cops. Along with Rikki Olds, Denny Stong, Neven Stanisic, Tralona Bartkowiak, Teri Leiker, Suzanne Fountain, Kevin Mahoney, Lynn Murray and Jody Waters had been killed inside and outdoors the grocery store.

The transformed King Soopers reopened in February, with about half of those that labored there on the time of the taking pictures selecting to return.

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