Dorcus D. Allen will die in prison unless he can convince some court somewhere that he didn’t get a fair shake during his recent Pierce County murder trial.
The man convicted of being cop killer Maurice Clemmons’ getaway driver faces at least 108 years in prison under state sentencing guidelines, and prosecutors intend to ask for much more should Allen’s case make it to sentencing Friday as scheduled.
Before that, the 40-year-old Arkansas native will make his first bid for a new trial.
Defense attorneys Mary K. High and Peter Mazzone filed paperwork May 31 arguing that prosecutorial and juror misconduct cost their client a fair trial the first time around.
They want “arrest of judgment” and a new trial for Allen.
Deputy prosecutors Phil Sorensen and Stephen Penner counter in paperwork of their own that the trial was fair and legal and that defense attorneys are grasping at straws to save a guilty man.
There’s a hearing on the matter Friday.
It’s unlikely Superior Court Judge Frederick Fleming will overturn the jury’s verdict. Trial judges almost never do, and Fleming already rejected at least one argument on which the defense team bases its claims.
That means Allen likely will be sentenced after being found guilty as an accomplice to four counts of first-degree murder in the Nov. 29, 2009, deaths of Lakewood police Sgt. Mark Renninger and officers Tina Griswold, Ronald Owens and Gregory Richards.
Clemmons gunned down the four at a Parkland coffee shop where they’d gathered for breakfast while Allen waited with the getaway vehicle at a nearby car wash knowing what his friend was doing, jurors found.
Clemmons later was shot dead by a Seattle police officer.
High said Tuesday that she and Mazzone would ask for a sentence at the low end of the standard range for their client. That would be 88 years for the murders plus four five-year firearm enhancements, all to run consecutively to each other.
“There are mitigating factors,” said High, who still was preparing her sentencing memorandum Tuesday.
Sorensen and Penner will ask for more than four times as much, according to their sentencing memorandum. They want Allen sentenced to 420 years in prison: 100 years on each count of murder plus the four five-year enhancements, all to run consecutively.
The deputy prosecutors also want him to pay fines, fees and costs totaling $15,800 and to never contact the victims’ families.
Adam Lynn: 253-597-8644
adam.lynn@thenewstribune.com
blog.thenewstribune.com/crime
JOIN THE DISCUSSION | Register here
We welcome comments. Please keep them civil, short and to the point. ALL CAPS, spam, obscene, profane, abusive and off topic comments will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be blocked. Thanks for taking part — and abiding by these simple rules. A thorough explanation of rules of conduct can be found in our Terms of Service. If you have any questions, including why your comment may not be showing immediately after you submit it, be sure to visit the commenting FAQ.