Log in
My Account
Subscribe 99¢ for 3 months
Newsletter

Today's Digital Newspaper

The Gazette

Weather Block Here

Login
My Account
Subscribe
Newsletter

Archive Information

Carrier Portal

Search

Buy Our Photos

Judge in Boulder shooting case grants extension for competence evaluation

By Julia Cardi September 28, 2021 | updated 4 years ago

The Boulder judge overseeing the case of the March supermarket massacre has granted an additional two weeks for state doctors to conduct an evaluation of the accused shooter’s competence to stand trial, according to an order filed Monday.

At a Sept. 7 hearing, Judge Ingrid Bakke originally ordered a competence evaluation by the Colorado Department of Human Services of Ahmad Alissa, 22, to be completed within 21 days. In a new order, she reset the due date for Oct. 11.

A hearing to review the results, originally set for Thursday, has been rescheduled for Oct. 14.

The accused gunman faces 115 charges and sentence enhancers — including first-degree murder, attempted murder and weapons counts — in connection with the fatal shootings of 10 people in Boulder’s southside King Soopers on March 22.

His defense attorneys signaled from his first court appearance that they believe he suffers from mental illness, and on Sept. 1 filed a motion raising the issue of his competence to stand trial.

Judge orders competence evaluation for accused Boulder supermarket shooter

In the motion filed Sept. 21 to extend the evaluation deadline, Alissa’s defense attorneys said 21 days “is not nearly enough time to complete a competency evaluation in a case of this magnitude” and requested the court “not base any decisions regarding Mr. Alissa’s competency on such a truncated evaluation.”

“There is no need to rush this process in his case and risk an unreliable result,” says the filing.

The accused shooter is represented by public defenders Daniel King, Kathryn Herold and Samuel Dunn.

Criminal defendants who have raised the issue of their competence have the right to the completion of an evaluation within 21 days under a state law passed in 2019.

The law was passed in response to a consent decree arising from a federal lawsuit that found defendants held on comparatively minor charges languishing in jail while they awaited competence evaluations and treatment intended to restore their ability to stand trial.

Alissa’s defense attorneys wrote in their filing that the circumstances that the 2019 law was intended to address don’t apply in his case, given that he faces 10 life sentences and is unlikely to ever be granted bond.

A defendant’s competence means they have a rational understanding of the proceedings against them and have the ability to participate in their own defense.

The issue differs from sanity, which indicates whether a person had the ability to tell right from wrong at the time they allegedly committed a crime.

Depending on the results of Alissa’s competence evaluation, either side has the right to a second evaluation.

His defense attorneys said in the Sept. 7 hearing they have had their own expert conduct an evaluation of Alissa, but that would not preclude them from being able to request an an additional one after the results of the court-ordered competence evaluation.

Prosecutors objected to the evaluation deadline’s extension, stating in their response signed by chief trial deputy district attorney Adam Kendall that the doctors assigned to evaluate Alissa never indicated to prosecutors they would be “unable to submit a reliable evaluation within the prescribed time frame.”

Public will not see video of Boulder supermarket massacre, judge rules

Bakke kept a probable cause and proof-evident presumption-great hearing on the calendar for Oct. 19. The latter type of hearing is required to hold someone accused of first-degree murder without bond.

750631fc-2089-11ec-b199-2be14c3af36a

View Original Article | Split View
Tags
Julia Cardi

Reporter

PREV

PREVIOUS

Colorado bans high-capacity magazines, but that doesn't make them impossible to get

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save In a news conference Thursday, Boulder County District Attorney Michael Dougherty said he believes high-capacity gun magazines used in March’s supermarket attack were sold legally. But in 2013, following the Aurora theater massacre, Colorado’s legislature banned magazines holding more than 15 rounds. And charges […]

NEXT

NEXT UP

Accused Boulder King Soopers gunman found incompetent to stand trial in first evaluation

Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save Prosecutors in Boulder have requested a second competence evaluation for the man accused of killing 10 people in the March supermarket massacre, after a court-ordered report found him incompetent to stand trial. An Oct. 5 filing says the competence evaluation of Ahmad Alissa, 22, ordered […]