The trial for Ahmed Al Aliwi Alissa, the man charged with the mass shooting at a Boulder King Soopers in 2021, commenced on September 5. The 25-year-old is accused of fatally shooting nine people, including shoppers and workers, as well as Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley. The proceedings began with opening arguments that outlined the basis of the prosecution's case and the defense's argument centering on Alissa's mental state. According to KDVR, Alissa is facing allegations of a methodically carried out attack, taking the lives of individuals such as Denny Stong, Neven Stanisic, Tralona Bartkowiak, Teri Leiker, Suzanne Fountain, Kevin Mahoney, Lynn Murray, and Jody Waters.

Prosecutors have aimed to firmly establish that Alissa knew what he was doing on the day of the shooting, arguing against the defense's assertion that Alissa was legally insane. "You’re here because the person who killed these 10 people in cold blood is sitting at that table right there," Michael Dougherty, leading the prosecution, said, as detailed by CPR News. Despite this, the defense is looking to paint fully a picture of Alissa's diagnosed schizophrenia, claiming it was powerful enough to impede his ability to distinguish between right and wrong. This mental illness characterization includes symptoms like delusions and hallucinations, which the defense is likely to elaborate on to substantiate their claim of his insanity.

Alissa's public defenders are pushing the angle that his mental illness was severe and chronic, impacting his capacity for rational action. Witness testimonies from relatives have illustrated him as emotionally withdrawn and principally non-communicative unless prompted. "The law says you can have intent and be insane. But what the law doesn’t allow is you to ignore plain, clear evidence someone’s mental illness that is severe and chronic and say that person is sane, that person is capable of telling right from wrong," defense attorney Dunn said, as reported by KGET.

The contentious issue at the heart of the trial is to definitively determine whether Alissa was sane during the time of the shootings. If the defense succeeds in proving Alissa's insanity, he could potentially avoid prison time, instead of being committed indefinitely to a state mental hospital. A mental health evaluator had previously testified in a 2022 competency hearing that Alissa confessed his intent to perpetrate a mass shooting, hinting at a desire for police to end his life. Additionally, defense filings suggested a backdrop of paranoia, where Alissa believed he was under surveillance by the FBI and conversed with invisible entities, as noted by KGET. The trial thus promises to meticulously examine the intersection of criminality and mental health, as jurors are faced with the complex task of unwinding the threads of intent and sanity.