Opinion ID: 1907203
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: John Lee Allen (life sentence)

Text: Defendant, along with his twin brother and another man, conspired to rob cab drivers. Armed with pistols, they held up a cab driver and forced him to drive to the back of a bar, where they robbed him of $100 and shot him in the head. That same day, the three confederates robbed another cab driver of six dollars, and shot him to death, this time because they feared the driver was going for something. Neither victim was armed. Allen's brother confessed to a wired informant that the first cab driver pleaded for his life, he was saying `don't hurt me man, I got a wife and kids.' The codefendant recalled that the cab driver was so scared he almost shit himself. At the time of these offenses, defendant was facing prosecutions for murder, attempted murder, robbery, and aggravated assault on a police officer. He also had two prior convictions for receiving stolen property. He had no known mental or physical problems. Defendant was tried for non-capital murder and convicted. The AOC coded the c(4)(f) (escape detection), c(4)(g) (felony murder), and c(5)(h) (catch-all) factors as being present.