Boulder Reporting Lab has been providing daily updates from the courtroom since jury selection began on Aug. 26, 2024, in People of the State of Colorado v. Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa in Boulder County District Court. You can find updates from the first week of the trial here. Week 2 is here. Week 3 is here. Week 4 is here. A decision from the jury is expected during the week of Sept. 23.
Sitting side by side behind their son for the first time, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa’s parents showed their support on the final day in Boulder County District Court before deliberation in the King Soopers murder case for his killing of 10 people. Filling the rest of the front row were his brothers — all bearded and stoic.
Over the course of nearly two hours on Friday, Sept. 20, the prosecution took the jury through a summary of the ground they covered over the last few weeks to account for the 55 charges being brought against the defendant: murder in the first degree with extreme indifference and after deliberation, use of a large-capacity magazine, assault with extreme indifference, and first-degree murder of a peace officer, among others.
The key message as Assistant District Attorney Ken Kupfner walked through the timeline of events, from January through March 21, 2021 and beyond, was that the evidence points to sanity. Pointedly, every expert came to that conclusion, and now the jury should too, he argued.
The legal hurdle for the prosecution is to prove that although Alissa is mentally ill, which they don’t oppose, his disease did not impair his moral judgment, in that he knew right from wrong when he got out of his car and devastated the Boulder community. In addition, they have to prove that he carried out his attack with intent. That latter hurdle was cleared from the beginning, with mounds of evidence showing that Alissa had been planning for months and woke up that day with the intent to kill.
This leaves only the question of whether he could decipher right from wrong — an incredibly tricky task, since it involves trying to identify what is going on inside someone’s head who can’t or won’t speak about it. Here are the points the prosecution laid out to support their case that he knew his actions were wrong:
- Hid plans from family: Alissa hid his gun collection and plans to commit a mass murder from his family, even driving his brother to work that day.
- Drove past local store: Alissa drove past the King Soopers near his house, continuing for 30 minutes to get to the one in Boulder. They argue this was to spare his family the impact, because to this day they shop at their local King Soopers.
- Hid when police arrived: When police arrived on the scene, Alissa, for the first time during the siege, ran and hid. They say this suggests he knew they were there for him because of his actions.
- Focused despite hallucinations: If he was indeed having active hallucinations — those “yelling” or “killing voices” he has vaguely described that made him insane at the time of the shootings — how could he have been able to focus on the task of looking through a scope and aiming so precisely at his victims?
One doctor pointed out that a coping mechanism she teaches people with schizophrenia is to focus on something to drive away hallucinations. To this point, the defense claims Alissa switched gears after he was shot, deciding to surrender because his brain focused so much on the pain that the voices must have faded. The jury will likely discuss this phenomenon and whether the focus required to aim his gun was sufficient or if it took a gunshot to his leg to break the influence. Notably, witnesses described him as focused and on a mission, while doctors observed him suddenly looking around the room, his eyes darting, to determine whether he was having active hallucinations.
Defense makes its last plea
The defense took the stage with their final plea to the jury, urging them not to let emotion cloud their judgment. Defense attorney Kathryn Herold accused the prosecution of using graphic video and witness accounts to invoke the jury’s emotions and appeal to their empathy for the families and victims. Why, she asked, traumatize the jury when the defense is not denying what he did?
She defended Alissa’s family, who had tense exchanges with District Attorney Michael Dougherty over information they testified to in court but had not revealed to investigators. Herold asked why they should be expected to recall everything they said when they were in shock over what had happened to their family.
Her commanding voice reached a fever pitch as she yelled toward the jury box. After questioning why the prosecution seemed to downplay Alissa’s mental illness, she loudly demonstrated how distressing it was to hear the yelling voices Alissa claimed to hear. No one knows how long these voices would stay with him because, in interviews, he said they would disappear within minutes but also claimed they were constant. Doctors believe Alissa has lost touch with his emotions, having shown none for so long due to his illness, and that his brain now lacks the ability to process information logically. Therefore, any conversation between him and the doctors seems strained and unrevealing.
After the defense spoke, the prosecution was given time for rebuttal, during which Dougherty responded to the arguments and had the last word. In contrast to Herold’s booming, confident style, Dougherty’s calm, restrained demeanor was notable.
What might a non-guilty verdict mean
Both parties touched on something the jury had been waiting to hear: what will happen to Alissa if the verdict is “not guilty?”
While both sides framed it differently, the judge clarified: If the jury decides “not guilty by reason of insanity,” Alissa will be handed over to the Department of Human Services, where the executive director will designate a facility for his commitment. He will not be released unless the court decides he is no longer a danger to himself or others. A release hearing will only be held if favorable evidence supports it. In that case, Alissa will have the burden of proving, beyond a preponderance of the evidence, that he is no longer a risk.
So, theoretically, Alissa could be released at some point in the future if the hospital successfully treats him.
Despite the case hinging on the medical symptoms of a disease in the brain — whose full extent is unknowable — the jury faces the difficult task of deciphering the evidence. Given the number of charges and the complexities of the insanity defense, deliberations may last into the week of Sept. 23.
