Insanity defense planned for Moore beheading trial
NORMAN — The courtappointed attorneys for murder defendant Alton Alexander Nolen plan to use an insanity defense at his upcoming jury trial over a beheading at a Moore food plant.
Potential jurors will gather Tuesday for the first time to fill out questionnaires. Jury selection is set to begin Sept. 11.
Nolen, a Muslim convert, has admitted in court that he beheaded one co-worker at Vaughan Foods in 2014 and tried to behead another. He repeatedly has asked to be executed, saying that is the only punishment acceptable under his religious beliefs.
His attorneys contend he is so severely mentally ill that he did not know his actions were wrong. They confirmed in a legal filing last week they will ask jurors at his murder trial to find Nolen legally insane.
“Should the jury not agree with this assessment and find the defendant guilty, counsel will present evidence and argument the defendant is mentally ill, intellectually disabled, and should not receive the death penalty,” they told the judge in the legal filing.
An insanity defense is rarely successful in Oklahoma courts. If found not guilty by reason of insanity, Nolen, 33, would be sent to the state’s mental facility in Vinita, possibly for the rest of his life.
Nolen pleaded guilty last year to first-degree murder and two assault offenses. Cleveland County District Judge Lori Walkley had planned to decide his punishment herself at a sentencing last April, after addressing new concerns raised by his attorneys about his mental state.
However, by law, Nolen had to acknowledge in court he stood by his guilty plea before the sentencing could go forward. At a hearing in April, he refused to even talk to or look at the judge. He kept his handcuffed hands pressed against his ears as she spoke.
Finally, the judge said she had no choice. She told Nolen she would not accept his guilty plea and that his case would be set for jury trial.
Prosecutors have indicated in court filings that Nolen still could at any point “state his desire to continue with his guilty plea.” However, they also have indicated they don’t expect that to happen, particularly because Nolen has fought with sheriff deputies the last two times he was brought to court.
The jury trial is expected to last as long as five weeks. The first stage of the trial — selecting a jury — likely will take a week or more. Hunt has admitted he has no expertise in psychology or psychiatry.
Hunt “simply cannot speak to” the state of Nolen’s mind “at the time of the crime,” prosecutors argued.
Defense attorneys contend the testimony is appropriate to counter prosecution claims that Nolen is an extremist or a member of ISIS.
Nolen had researched ISIS and beheadings on his computer and had an ISIS flag in his car, prosecutors have said.
“Dr. Hunt will explain ... Alton Nolen’s ... belief that beheading a person is an approved means of getting rid of a person who ‘oppressed’ him is not an Islamic belief,” defense attorneys wrote in a legal brief.
Defense attorneys argued jurors could find that Nolen’s beliefs are delusional because they “are so outside the norm of traditional Islamic beliefs.”