What does it mean to be declared incompetent to stand trial?
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- A mental competency evaluation has postponed the trial for the man charged with killing ten people at a Boulder King Soopers in March.
Tuesday, defense lawyers asked to delay the trial to allow the suspect, Ahmad Al Aliwi Alissa, time to undergo a mental competency evaluation. The judge granted the request.
KRDO spoke with lawyer Jeremy Loew to explain what incompetency means in legal terms.
"At the time of their hearings that they are not able to fully comprehend what is going on, or they're not able to necessarily assist in their own defense," he says. "Now if somebody is not guilty by reason of insanity--what that means is that at the time of the incident they were so insane, essentially, that they didn't or couldn't fathom what they were doing."
This isn't the first instance in a high-profile case in the state where the defendant underwent a competency evaluation.
Loew says you could argue it's a common defense method used in murder trials, such as the Planned Parenthood shooter Robert Dear and most recently Leticia Stauch.
"The Planned Parenthood shooter, every 90 days he's getting brought back to court to determine whether he is competent," Loew says.
However, being found incompetent doesn't mean the suspect is free to go through. People found incompetent to stand trial spend their time in the Colorado Mental Health Institute in Pueblo.
Additionally, there's a difference between being found not guilty by reason of insanity and being declared incompetent to stand trial.
Loew also said delaying this trial wouldn't be to prevent the suspect from facing the death penalty. In 2020, Colorado became the twenty-second state to abolish the death penalty.
"The death penalty case here, it's doesn't have that same effect, because we don't have the death penalty," explains Loew. "So somebody's competency being raised, means that they can stay in custody indefinitely. It's not like they're just going to be released."
However, Loew says that more often than not, defendants ruled incompetent will eventually be ruled competent to stand trial at a later date.
"The planned parenthood shooter is not restored back to competency yet, but there are a lot of times when people do get on the right medication, and they are restored back to competency."
Courts also have the ability to forcibly medicate someone deemed incompetent to try to make them competent.
Loew says those recommendations come from psychiatrists at the Colorado Mental Health Institute.
In August, court documents revealed a psychiatrist recommended the Danish man charged with starting the Spring Fire, which burned more than 100,000 acres near La Veta Pass, be forcibly medicated.
Forcibly medicating a suspect deemed incompetent could pave the way for the suspect to stand trial. Those recommendations would still need to be approved by a judge.
