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Accused robber opts not to enter guilty plea

In another twist in a case of many turns, the suspect appears to switch directions again after reportedly writing letters saying he wished to plead guilty.

By CHRIS TISCH
Published December 16, 2005

LARGO - Since his arrest in connection with seven brazen bank robberies two years ago, Steven Aitken has cooked up a number of defense strategies.

He's wanted to represent himself. He's considered using an insanity defense. He's cycled through five lawyers.

But prosecutors recently learned Aitken was writing letters from the jail, including one to them, expressing a desire to plead guilty. A hearing was set for Thursday morning.

Aitken, 39, was brought before Circuit Judge Richard Luce, who asked him if he indeed wanted to plead guilty. A number of detectives who had investigated the robbery series in 2003 were there to see the case finally end.

But after a long pause, Aitken said he did not want to plead guilty. He was led back to the jail. Another hearing was set for Tuesday. If Aitken again decides not to plead to the charges, he is scheduled for trial Jan. 9.

"He's a narcissist," said Pinellas sheriff's Cpl. Paul Martin, one of the detectives who investigated Aitken. "He wants the attention."

Aitken is charged with robbing seven Pinellas banks over an eight-month period in 2003. After his case was featured on America's Most Wanted, he was captured in a motel in Daytona Beach.

Aitken admitted to detectives that he committed the robberies. He also admitted to the holdups in a rare news conference he called at the Pinellas jail.

Aitken claims his crimes were sparked by a corrupt criminal justice system that sent him to prison for 10 years in 1990 for a child sex abuse charge, a crime he says he didn't commit.

After his release from prison, Aitken was accused of violating his probation by using cocaine. Fearing a trip back to prison, he started robbing banks, he said.

Aitken cut his wrists and neck with a razor in an attempted suicide at the jail Nov. 17. But a court-appointed doctor who has examined Aitken testified Thursday that he is competent to stand trial.

Two more doctors who examined Aitken for the state have said he was competent when the bank robberies occurred. Aitken's current attorney, James Martin, has filed a notice that he will use an insanity defense.

Aitken faces life in prison if he is convicted or pleads guilty.

[Last modified December 16, 2005, 00:54:19]