Boulder Reporting Lab is providing daily updates from the courthouse. This is the first week of the trial. Week 2 updates are here. Week 3 is here. Week 4 is here.
What to know from Week 1 (Aug. 26 – 30, 2024):
- Jury selection continues; judge denies defense request to address racial bias in the Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa trial.
- Jurors are being prepared for graphic evidence related to the mass shooting.
- Focus of the trial is on Alissa’s mental health, not his guilt; opening statements expected next week, in week two of the trial.
- Proceedings for Friday, Aug. 30, were canceled. Jury selection will resume Tuesday, Sept. 3.
Time has passed, but the grief and anger remain. For the 10 families who lost loved ones in the King Soopers shooting on March 22, 2021 — one of Boulder’s most shocking and tragic days — justice has yet to come.
After three years of motions and delays due to mental health evaluations, the gunman, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, was finally “restored to competency” last October. In April, evaluators with the Colorado Department of Human Services confirmed that he remained stable and competent to stand trial. Jury selection began today, Monday, Aug. 26, in the trial, People of the State of Colorado v. Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, in Boulder County District Court. This first week is set for jury selection, with opening arguments slated for the week of Monday, Sept. 2, after the Labor Day holiday. The trial is scheduled to last about a month.
Whatever the outcome, I hope he will never be able to hurt anyone again!