Mansoor Ali, the man accused of a fatal road rage shooting in Cheyenne in September, “fainted” after his $500,000 bond was upheld during and arraignment hearing Monday, forcing officers to clear the courtroom.
Ali, 21, is accused of second-degree murder and four counts of aggravated assault in connection to a road rage incident in September. He allegedly identified himself to police officers as the shooter who killed a 19-year-old in the parking lot of a King Soopers grocery store.
The accused appeared for an arraignment hearing Monday during which he pleaded not guilty to the allegations against him, before what officials described as a medical emergency forced the court into recess.
The Incident
Cowboy State Daily entered the courtroom to find a man in a jail jumpsuit lying on the floor with his hands on his head. That person appeared to be crying or yelling.
Several police officers were gathered around the person. One officer immediately directed Cowboy State Daily to exit the room but later apologized for doing so, adding he did not recognize the reporter as a representative of the news media.
Laramie County District Attorney Sylvia Hackl told Cowboy State Daily the scene was the tail end of a medical emergency that happened shortly after Ali entered a plea of not guilty to each of the counts against him.
“Today was the day that Mr. Ali was called upon to plead either guilty or not guilty to the five charges that have been filed against him, and that went according to schedule,” Hackl said. “Then the next matter addressed was his bond, which is currently set at $500,000 cash.
"His attorney asked that it be reduced, and Mr. Edelman, my deputy, on behalf of the state asked that it be continued.”
As Judge Robin Cooley announced she would maintain the bond, Ali appeared to faint and collapse to the floor behind the podium, Hackl said.
“Obviously, there was a lot of chaotic movement for several moments,” she said. “Enforcement called for medical help. Judge Cooley eventually cleared the courtroom, took a recess.”
Nurses from the Laramie County Detention Facility then arrived with a wheelchair and “administered care” to Ali, she said.
“Then Judge Cooley returned to the bench, called court back into order,” Hackl said. “There were only a couple of matters left to address, which she did. She recessed court, and Mr. Ali was returned to the jail in the company of detention officers and the nurses.”
Hackl said that characterizing Ali’s vocalizations as “screaming” would be inaccurate, but agreed he was “trying to communicate things.” She declined to repeat his comments and called them “inappropriate.”
“I'm not comfortable repeating what I think I heard,” she said of Ali’s words. “He was in pain and upset, so his lawyer was right there with him and law enforcement, and then they eventually got the nurses over there.”
Deputy Assessment
Laramie County Sheriff’s Office Chief Deputy Perry Rockvam told Cowboy State Daily there was “definitely emotion” in Ali’s words in the courtroom. He said such outbursts are not uncommon among those moving through the criminal justice system.
“Obviously he's facing some pretty serious charges, correct?” he asked. “It's emotional for people all the time when they're going before the judge, and we never know we're going to respond in those situations. So for them it can have a big impact on life.”
These pressures can sometimes cause unpredictable responses, such as in Ali’s case, he added.
“And sometimes that stress really will bring a reaction by people,” he said. “When they're sitting here in jail and they're feeling safe and we're taking care of them and those types of things, and then all of a sudden they're out in public, sometimes that will have definitely have an impact on them. Sometimes it can bring more reality of what they are facing, which you know when they're sitting here in jail, they don't necessarily see that publicly.”
Rockvam also said he has seen stress take inmates from unconscious to yelling in a matter of moments before.
“All the time, we have that happen all the time in jail,” he said. “One minute people will be basically like in his situation, obviously, he passed out, and then once they come to, they're fine, and they can go from A to Z, and that's one of the things that we deal with all the time in the jail.”
Ali’s attorney Crystal Stewart did not respond to multiple requests for comment from Cowboy State Daily on Monday.
Jackson Walker can be reached at walker@cowboystatedaily.com.
