Man’s Death Penalty Request Unlikely to Be Granted

Death Penalty

Man’s Death Penalty Request Unlikely to Be Granted

Posted Apr 23, 2008, 06:28 am CST
By Molly McDonough

Seeking to forgo a trial for the killings of his mother and grandparents, an Indiana defendant wrote to the judge handling his case and asked to "enter a plea for the death penalty."

But the Indianapolis Star reports that such requests are relatively common and rarely lead to such an outcome.

"If you do this kind of work for any length of time, you're not surprised when it happens," Monica Foster, the lead counsel for defendant Kenneth Lee Allen.

Foster tells the paper that many death penalty defendants are looking for a way out as they struggle with mental health problems or depression.

Needless to say, Allen's attorneys didn't sign off on the request: "I, Kenneth Allen, wish to represent myself and to enter a plea for the death penalty."

Still, Marion Superior Court Judge Tanya Walton Pratt is set to discuss the letter at a May 8 hearing.

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