The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), on Thursday, December 3 gave notice to appeal the sentence of a reputed King’s Valley Gang Member, after he was sentenced to 10 years in the Hanover Circuit Court following a plea bargain.
The murder convict pleaded guilty to two separate murders in the parish and recounts in one incident how he put 5 bullets in the victim’s chest.
The DPP Paula Llewellyn, argues the sentence was unduly lenient and inadequate. In a historic move the DPP notes, her office will be appealing the sentence of self-confessed King’s Valley gang member, Lindell Powell otherwise called Lazarus. The sentence was handed down in the Hanover circuit court after Powell confessed to the 2017 murders of oral McIntosh and Ida Clarke.
The confession to the two counts was heard in the Westmoreland circuit court on November 17. He detailed how he and an accomplice- now deceased- robbed and later saw to the murder of oral McIntosh early January 7, 2017, before making off with the victim’s licensed firearm. A witness in that instance explained the two robbers pounced on them while packing items into the victim’s vehicle and ordered them to lie face down before shooting McIntosh in the head.
The autopsy later confirmed a lone bullet killed McIntosh. In the other murder in March, Powell explained how he ” put 5 bullets in the chest of Ida Clarke, before another accomplice set Clarke’s house on fire. Police found several bullets in the dwelling after Clarke’s father stumbled upon his son’s burning body.
In Powell’s defence he notes Clarke had said Powell’s cousin bleachers caan bury, this after the deceased allegedly killed one of his cronies, Jabez.” He also stated that the gun that the police found on him on the 14th day of July 2017 was one of the weapons used to kill Clarke.
And despite two previous gun-related convictions in 2019, the Judge, Thursday ruled Powell would serve 12 years on each count being eligible for parole after 10 years at hard labour. The sentences would also run concurrently, making it a total of twelve years with parole at 10.
His lawyer argued that the government and the society failed Powell but the judge countered saying at 18 years old he was a man capable of discerning right from wrong. The judge also notes that when Powell squeezed the trigger, he wasn’t squeezing toothpaste, and instead, he failed society and himself.
“We hope that the Court of Appeal with agree with us that the sentence was unduly lenient and inadequate…”
– DPP
The House of Representatives passed the bill in October which grants the right of appeal to prosecuting attorneys in criminal matters under certain circumstances. This Judicature (Appellate Jurisdiction) (Amendment) Act was passed In Parliament
