Act on the Clemency Recommendation for Garry T. Allen

Dear Governor Fallin,

Garry Allen was scheduled to be executed by the State of Oklahoma on Thursday, April 12, 2012 prior to receiving a stay in Federal court on April 11. This is a case where mercy is warranted. Consider:

* For a number of reasons, Oklahoma’s Pardon and Parole Board voted 4 to 1 to recommend clemency.

* Allen has no recollection of the crime, either as a result of extreme intoxication and/or being shot in the head when apprehended. However, he long ago accepted responsibility for shooting Lawanna Gail Titsworth in a domestic dispute.

* During the shooting, Allen engaged in the bizarre behavior of asking her if she was all right, and later, at the hospital, he asked where she was. This evidence plainly reflects that Allen was mentally impaired at the time of the crime.

* Mental impairment continued at the time of his blind plea resulting in the death sentence, and to an apparently increasing degree, during his lengthy incarceration and up to the present time.

* Allen's blood-alcohol level was. 27 two hours after the offense, and it is believed that his intoxication was the result of his self-medication for his underlying mental illness. Allen’s family reported instances of delusional thinking even as a child. He suffered head injuries including being beaten up by four “white guys,” The frontal lobe of Allen’s brain, the part involved in planning and moderating behavior, is damaged, perhaps because of earlier head injuries or perhaps because of the gunshot in the head, or both.

* Just as evident is Allen's deep seated and long-standing remorse for the actions he was told and accepts that he committed. He has demonstrated through his actions deep concern for the victims' family by insisting on pleading guilty in hopes of sparing both families, his and Lawanna Gail Titsworth’s, painful legal proceedings.

* The many reasons for granting clemency attracted four votes of the Oklahoma pardon and parole board, including that of a former prosecutor who consistently votes to deny clemency in almost all cases.

Garry T. Allen is not a threat to his fellow prisoners or prison workers, and should serve the remainder of his life in an appropriate state facility. The State of Oklahoma should not execute this mentally ill and remorseful man.

Governor Fallin, we urge you to show mercy by granting clemency to Garry T. Allen and commuting his death sentence.