Don't murder three men in a market and then smile at the security camera!

2017-M-353  State of Minnesota, Respondent, vs. Mahdi Hassan Ali, Appellant.

BACKGROUND:  Ali was charged with the shooting deaths of three men during a robbery of the Seward Market in Minneapolis on January 6, 2010. The State alleged the following events occurred.

When Ali entered the Seward Market, Osman Elmi, an employee of the store, and Mohamed Warfa, a relative of Elmi’s, were sitting behind the store’s counter.  When Anwar Mohammed, a store customer, walked through the front door, Alii shot him two times, including once in the head.  Ali shot Warfa at least twice.  Ali chased Elmi through the store.  A rack of snacks tipped over and spilled as the two men raced around a corner, before Ali shot Elmi three times in the back.  The store’s surveillance camera captured footage of the shootings.

Following a jury trial, he was convicted of three counts of murder.  The district court’s imposed three consecutive sentences of life imprisonment with the possibility of release after 30 years on each sentence.

In 2014, the Supreme Court denied Ali’s direct appeal.

HELD:  The Supreme Court denied Ali’s first post-conviction appeal on all three grounds.

The rule announced in Miller v. Alabama, and later clarified in Montgomery v. Louisiana, does not extend to a juvenile offender who received three consecutive sentences of life imprisonment with the possibility of release for the murder of three individuals.

Appellant forfeited his equal protection claim by failing to raise it in the district court.

The imposition of three consecutive sentences of life imprisonment with the possibility of release does not unfairly exaggerate the criminality of appellant’s conduct. Affirmed.

DISSENT:  Justice Chutich opined “the United States Supreme Court has not expressly extended this substantive rule to juveniles who receive consecutive sentences that are the functional equivalent of life imprisonment without the possibility of release.”  But it should.

Hudson (Gildea, Anderson, Stras, Lillehaug, and McKeig)

               DISSENT:  Chutich.

Date: May 17, 2017

[CRIME] [MURDER] [PREMEDITATED] [FIRST-DEGREE] [ROBBERY] [JUVENILE]

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Demographic Information**

MNDOC Offender ID:

236437

Name:

Mahdi Hassan Ali

Birth Date:

01/01/1993

Current Status:

Incarcerated as of 11/02/2011. Currently at MCF Oak Park Heights.

Sentence Date:

10/31/2011

Anticipated Release Date:

Life - Contact co-records.doc@state.mn.us for release information.

Expiration Date:

Life

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