James E. Cooke is representing himself in a retrial for the 2005 rape and killing of Lindsey Bonistall.
The News Journal of Wilmington reports that prosecutors and Cooke's standby attorneys worked out a deal for him to plead no contest to the charges in return for the state dropping the death penalty.
But the 41-year-old Cooke said at a hearing Friday that he had not authorized his standby attorneys to make the offer.
The state Supreme Court threw out Cooke death sentence for Bonistall's murder, because his lawyers had argued against his wishes that he was guilty but mentally ill.
--
Information from: The News Journal of Wilmington, Del., http://www.delawareonline.com
