BOULDER, Colorado — Testimony shared Wednesday during a restoration hearing for the man accused of killing 10 people at a King Soopers in Boulder two years ago addressed the suspect's possible mental state on the day of the tragedy.
A forensic psychologist who performed competency evaluations for Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa at the state's mental health hospital in Pueblo said he told her in August he experienced hallucinations on the day of the attack.
The psychologist, Dr. Loandra Torres, said in her testimony Wednesday in Boulder District Court that Alissa told her he bought guns to commit a mass shooting and planned to attempt suicide by cop.
> The video above aired Aug. 23: King Soopers shooting suspect restored to competency, DA's office says
Alissa's attorneys first raised the issue of competency in September 2021. He has been deemed incompetent since then, until an evaluation last month concluded he had been restored to competency. This week's restoration hearing is the first significant court appearance for Alissa since the tragedy.
Now a judge in Boulder County must decide whether the case can head to trial. Wednesday marked the first of two days of testimony during the restoration hearing.
Alissa, 24, faces 115 separate counts – including 10 counts of first-degree murder and 47 counts of attempted first-degree murder – in the March 22, 2021, shootings that took the lives of a Boulder police officer and nine others.
Torres has performed numerous competency evaluations on Alissa since his stay at the state mental health hospital in Pueblo. Three evaluations were completed at the Boulder County jail until the court ordered the suspect to be transferred to the Pueblo facility in December 2021 to be restored to competency.
Torres' biggest concerns during previous evaluations were his ability to communicate and make rational decisions about how he might resolve a case. Alissa has been given medication for schizophrenia under a treatment plan during his time in the state hospital.
After Alissa was deemed incompetent again in January, he refused to take any more medication, Torres testified. He also declined to attend group sessions that centered around competency issues.
The prosecution suggested in questioning that Alissa instead regularly attended social group sessions like karaoke and cornhole.
In March, the treatment team at the state mental health hospital filed an order to forcibly medicate Alissa for schizophrenia. Torres testified that once forced medication began, Alissa became more engaging with staff at the hospital.
In August, Torres concluded that Alissa had been restored to competency, almost two years after his attorneys raised the issue. During that evaluation, Torres said, Alissa talked about the defense of not guilty by reason of insanity. She told the court it was his "preferred" legal strategy.
The hearing on Wednesday was an opportunity to examine if there are any deficiencies in the recent evaluation. The judge will take all of the testimony shared by multiple witnesses and issue a decision early next week.
A preliminary hearing has been set for November if the judge finds the defendant competent as well.
Nearly half of the seats in the courtroom on Wednesday were filled with families of the victims. During most of the hearing, Alissa bounced slightly in his chair and occasionally drank water.
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