Wisdom tooth development is at issue in age hearing for accused triple killer

Mahdi Ali

Was a suspect 15 or 16 at time of crime? The difference means trial as juvenile or adult. Both sides hope his wisdom teeth will resolve the question.

The boy accused of killing three people in a Somali convenience store sat quietly in court Tuesday as an expert and lawyers discussed what can be inferred from his wisdom teeth.

Mahdi Ali's molar development was an issue in the pretrial hearing because defense attorney Frederick Goetz claims his client was only 15 when he allegedly gunned down three men Jan. 6 during a holdup at Seward Market and Halal Meats, a crime that rocked the Twin Cities Somali community.

At 16, teenagers automatically can be tried as adults for first-degree murder and, if convicted, sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of release. Goetz is asking for the case to be moved to juvenile court.

Hennepin County District Judge Peter Cahill ordered dental exams of Ali in April. But forensic dentist Anthony Cardoza testified Tuesday that development of third molars, also known as wisdom teeth, can vary widely by gender and race.

He testified that based on his analysis, Ali was between 13.95 and 19.65 in late April. The analysis yielded a likely mean age of 16.8 years.

Goetz asked if Cardoza could say with "a reasonable degree of scientific certainty" that Ali was 16 or older on Jan. 6. Cardoza said, "No, I cannot."

Assistant County Attorneys Robert Streitz and Chuck Weber are expected to argue that the molar testimony is consistent with their claim Ali was at least 16 when he allegedly killed store employee Abdifatah Warfa, 28; his cousin, Mohamed Warfa, 30, who had stopped to visit; and Anwar Mohammed, 31, a customer, at the E. Franklin Avenue store.

Weber has said Ali used Jan. 1, 1993, as his birth date on his Minnesota driver's license and other documents, which would have made him 17 when the crimes occurred.

Cross-examining Cardoza, Weber asked, "Is it fair to say there is a better than 50 percent chance that an individual with Mahdi Ali's third molar profile was over 16 on Jan 6, 2010?" Cardoza said yes.

Cahill already has ruled that the state made a preliminary showing that Ali was 16 at the time of the killings.

But in February, Ali made the startling claim that his name is really Khalid Farah Arrasi, and Goetz has since said his client was born in Kenya on Aug. 25, 1994, in a refugee camp. He said that when the boy was 8 or 9, he was brought to the United States by the family of the real Mahdi Ali, a friend of Arrasi's who died.

The family had won an emigration lottery in the camp and needed a young boy to pose as their son, Goetz said.

In other pretrial testimony, Jamila Mohamed Sheik-Osman said through an interpreter that she met Ali's pregnant mother in a camp but then moved away in early 1995, before the woman gave birth. Under cross-examination from Streitz, Sheik-Osman acknowledged she was only 12 at the time.

Ali and his friend Ahmed Ali, now 18, were indicted on six murder counts. In April, Ahmed Ali pleaded guilty in a deal that could allow his release near his 30th birthday. He didn't have a gun and was in the back of the store attempting to rob customers when Mahdi Ali shot the others, according to documents and his own statements.

If Cahill determines Ali was 15, the case would go to juvenile court. Prosecutors could still try to move it back to adult court through a certification process -- something that seems likely given the nature of the crimes.

Ali's mother is expected to testify Wednesday that she gave birth to him on Aug. 25, 1994, Goetz said.

Rochelle Olson • 612-673-1747

Source: StarTribune