Accused Boulder King Soopers shooter will have hearing on fitness for trial in late May
Apr. 27—The man accused in the 2021 King Soopers mass shooting in Boulder will have a two-and-a-half-day hearing on his mental fitness to stand trial from May 23 to May 25, according to a new order by the judge overseeing the case. The case originally had its next status hearing set for Friday.
Prosecutors in Boulder County, led by District Attorney Michael Dougherty, requested the hearing in late March because they doubt the alleged shooter's refusal participate in mental health treatment, intended to restore his competence to face trial, is a manifestation of his mental illness. They also wrote that the doctors responsible for evaluating his competence said in mid-March a neuropsychological exam is not necessary after agreeing earlier this year to allow one by an expert the prosecutors would choose.
Prosecutors asked Judge Ingrid Bakke for a neuropsychological evaluation early in February for the same reason, saying they need to determine whether the accused shooter has actively chosen not to participate in treatment, which prosecutors believe he has. He has been diagnosed with schizophrenia, antisocial personality disorder and depressive disorder, court filings have revealed.
Ahmad Alissa, now 24, is accused of killing 10 people on March 22, 2021 in the King Soopers on Table Mesa Drive on Boulder's south side. He faces 115 charges and sentence enhancers, including 10 charges of first-degree murder, 47 counts of attempted murder, one count of first-degree assault, 10 counts related to possessing banned high-capacity magazines and 47 sentence enhancers.
Bakke declared Alissa mentally unfit for trial based on the opinions of several experts. To be considered competent for trial, an accused person must have a rational understanding of the case against them and the ability to participate in their own defense.
Alissa has undergone mental health treatment from experts at the Mental Health Institute in Pueblo intended to restore his competence since the evaluations. Experts have indicated they believe Alissa can eventually be restored to competence.
Bakke ruled she did not have authority to order a neuropsychological exam, saying that lies with the state hospital.
The prosecutors wrote in their request for a hearing that negative symptoms of schizophrenia are also associated with depression and other antisocial disorders.
They pointed to factors such as his refusals of meals and medication, to meet with a behavioral health nurse one-on-one and to answer questions about the accusations against him — apparently saying his defense attorney told him not to — as evidence that he has consciously chosen not to participate in treatment.
The prosecutors wrote standard, national practice calls for a forensic neuropsychological assessment in Alissa's circumstances. They called neuropsychological assessments the "gold standard" for separating cerebral dysfunction from a person's conscious decision making.
"A typical neuropsychological evaluation is a comprehensive assessment of intellectual functions, attention and concentration, speech, language, learning and memory, processing speed, perception, and executive function," they wrote. "Deficits in these abilities have well-established connections with underlying function and can have clear implications for questions of legal capacity and responsibility."
Alissa's defense attorneys objected to prosecutors' request for a hearing, calling it an "attempt to relitigate its dissatisfaction with CMHIP's restoration efforts." They wrote prosecutors haven't made any claims Alissa is actually competent, and believe prosecutors have not shown what evidence they have that he is competent they could present at a hearing.
They also pushed back on prosecutors' characterization that a neuropsychological evaluation is necessary, saying professionals at the Pueblo state hospital do not believe the testing would be useful for assessing the accused shooter's competence.
In an early April order, Bakke said prosecutors have shown a "good-faith basis" for a hearing on Alissa's competence restoration. She set the hearing to begin May 23 at 1:30 p.m. in an order April 21.
