Jurors in Colorado will resume deliberations in the King Soopers shooting trial next week
Jurors in Colorado have one question left to answer as they deliberate the fate of King Soopers gunman Ahmad Alissa. Was he insane at the time of the shooting on March 22, 2021?
Throughout Alissa's trial in Boulder, the prosecution didn't dispute that the defendant who killed 10 people at the South Table Mesa grocery store suffers from schizophrenia.
"You have to find that that mental disease or defect alone made him incapable of distinguishing right from wrong," a prosecuting attorney said.
In closing arguments on Friday they pointed to months of deliberate planning and preparation, as well as statements the defendant made about how he had wanted that day to end. They argued that he did know right from wrong.
"(He said) 'I did not want to go to jail.' There is nothing in this case that speaks louder to being able, to being capable, from distinguishing right from wrong than knowing he was going to go to jail if he didn't die in a shootout with cops. He didn't say it one time, he told the doctors over and over and over again," the prosecuting attorney said.
The defense then made a passionate plea about the impact mental illness had on the defendant. They said it had grown so severe, it ultimately led him randomly to the Boulder King Soopers three years ago.
"Voices (were) telling him to kill kill kill," an attorney for the defense said.
Speaking directly to the jury, Alissa's attorney urged them to leave emotions out of their decision.
"A verdict of not guilty by reason of insanity is not saying he's innocent. You're not saying he's 'getting away with it.' What you are saying is that his mental illness, his schizophrenia, prevented him from knowing right from wrong."
They jury spent approximately 2 hours deliberating on Friday afternoon. They are set to resume deliberations on Monday morning.
