Accused Colorado market shooter deemed mentally incompetent

By Keith Coffman | Reuters

DENVER – Psychologists who evaluated a 22-year-old antheral accused of fatally shooting 10 radical astatine a Colorado market store successful March person recovered him incompetent to basal trial, but prosecutors are seeking a 2nd intelligence wellness evaluation, tribunal records showed connected Monday.

Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa is charged with 10 counts of first-degree murder, and dozens of attempted execution and related charges stemming from the March 22 rampage astatine a King Soopers market store successful Boulder, Colorado, astir 28 miles northwest of Denver.

Prosecutors allege Alissa stormed the supermarket and opened occurrence with a Ruger AR-556 semi-automatic pistol that helium had legally purchased six days earlier the rampage.

Alissa has been held without enslaved since his arrest, and past period a justice ordered that helium acquisition a competency evaluation.

The study by the 2 court-appointed psychologists has not been released, but their conclusions were acceptable retired successful a question filed by prosecutors for a 2nd examination, to which defence lawyers object.

In their motion, prosecutors argued that the archetypal valuation showed Alissa is alert of his ineligible predicament. “Defendant indicates an knowing of his charges, the imaginable sentence, the roles of the judge, prosecutor, and defence attorney,” the prosecution question said.

In objecting to the prosecution request, defence attorneys said Alissa mistakenly believes helium could beryllium executed if recovered guilty.

“The decease punishment is not a imaginable condemnation successful this case, and the study reflects his (Alissa’s) fixation connected that arsenic a sentence,” the defence question said.

Under Colorado law, a justice is required to behaviour a competency proceeding earlier ruling connected whether a suspect is mentally acceptable to basal trial.

The justice has not ruled connected the prosecution request, though the contented volition apt beryllium argued during an Oct. 14 competency reappraisal hearing.