The Kingsessing mass shooting trial is set

The big picture: The trial was put on hold after the suspect was determined incompetent to stand trial in 2023, and then underwent mental health treatment.

• Last year, the suspect's attorneys said in court that the case could proceed.

State of play: Defense attorneys plan to argue at the upcoming three-week trial that suspect Kimbrady Carriker suffered from a mental illness that kept him from understanding his actions were wrong, per court filings obtained by Axios.

• Charged with murder and attempted murder, aggravated assault and weapons offenses, Carriker is accused of killing the first victim, Joseph Wamah Jr., in a house in Kingsessing on July 2, 2023.
• The death went unnoticed for more than 40 hours following a dispatch error that sent officers to the wrong address, police said.
• Prosecutors allege Carriker later returned to the same neighborhood, wearing a ski mask and bulletproof vest, and shot "aimlessly" at vehicles and people on the streets.

The latest: A judge will soon decide what testimony and jury instructions are allowed at trial.

Zoom in: Carriker's lawyers are seeking to call a psychiatrist to testify about the implications of their insanity defense.

• In court filings, the defense argues that the request will help jurors understand that Carriker would not be freed if found not guilty by reason of insanity.
• He would instead be sent to Norristown State Hospital, where he's likely to remain for the rest of his life — unless a judge finds Carriker is no longer a safety risk, his lawyers state in court records.

Case in point: They cited a 2005 study that found few jurors correctly understood the implications of a not guilty by reason of insanity verdict, and another that showed mock jurors educated about what happens were more likely to return such verdicts.

What they're saying: The defense says the trial will "provoke a sense of community responsibility."

• "No one will want to be the juror responsible for releasing the 'Kingsessing Mass Shooter' back onto the streets," the attorneys write. "Without comprehensive education, jurors will assume that is what a not guilty by reason of insanity verdict would mean."

What we're watching: Carriker's attorneys are also asking the judge to order two of Carriker's former roommates, who they say haven't cooperated with subpoenas, to appear in court ahead of the trial.

• The roommates told police Carriker had been acting erratically before the shooting.
• The hearing would determine whether they should be held in custody or have bail set to ensure they show up to testify at the trial.