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Judge hands down death penalty to killer soldier
Published: Friday | August 27, 2010 0 Comments and 0 Reactions
Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
Thirty-three-year-old Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) soldier Leslie Moodie has been handed the death penalty after his June 28 conviction for the murder of four men in the Diamond Lounge Gaming Club at Washington Boulevard in St Andrew.
Justice Horace Marsh, in passing sentence yesterday, said the murders were exceptional and extreme and there was nothing to show that Moodie was remorseful or there was any possibility of reform.
Moodie's lawyers told The Gleaner that their client was going to appeal the convictions and death sentence.
No hanging has taken place in Jamaica since 1988.
Marsh pointed out that even after Moodie was convicted by the jury, he was still maintaining he was innocent as outlined in the social enquiry and psychiatric reports.
Pleas for life imprisonment
Defence lawyers Pierre Rogers and Michael Deans had made impassioned pleas for the judge to impose a sentence of life imprisonment. They argued that on the night of the incident, Moodie was provoked and was not in charge of his faculties because he was drinking heavily.
In response, the judge said when Moodie gave his unsworn statement from the dock, the soldier said in his defence that he had only one bottle of Guinness on the night of the incident, and was not drunk. The judge commented that when one of the men was shot and fell on the floor, Moodie used his foot to turn him over and said, "You going to die tonight."
Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Lisa Palmer Hamilton and Crown Counsel Paula Archer Hall called for the death penalty. They argued that the crime was premeditated and heinous. They asked the judge to send a message that when a member of the security forces commits such a cold, calculated and callous act, his action should be met with the most serious punishment.
In self-defence
Moodie, who was a corporal attached to the Coast Guard of the JDF, had said in his defence that men with guns and knives attacked him and he defended himself.
The prosecution led evidence at the trial in the Home Circuit Court that it was Moodie who fired shots in the club, killing the four and injuring several others. The witnesses said that about 4 a.m. on October 20, 2008, Moodie was having drinks in the club and was harassing a female patron. Persons in the club cautioned him about his behaviour and he began firing shots.
Moodie was convicted of the murders of Ejon Peart, 20, a sound-system operator of Greendale Drive, Kingston 19; Davian Kerr, 19, and Lynchmore Forbes, 24, both of Pembroke Hall; and William Wilberforce, 28, of Duhaney Drive, Kingston 20.
barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com
Published: Friday | August 27, 2010 0 Comments and 0 Reactions
Barbara Gayle, Staff Reporter
Thirty-three-year-old Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) soldier Leslie Moodie has been handed the death penalty after his June 28 conviction for the murder of four men in the Diamond Lounge Gaming Club at Washington Boulevard in St Andrew.
Justice Horace Marsh, in passing sentence yesterday, said the murders were exceptional and extreme and there was nothing to show that Moodie was remorseful or there was any possibility of reform.
Moodie's lawyers told The Gleaner that their client was going to appeal the convictions and death sentence.
No hanging has taken place in Jamaica since 1988.
Marsh pointed out that even after Moodie was convicted by the jury, he was still maintaining he was innocent as outlined in the social enquiry and psychiatric reports.
Pleas for life imprisonment
Defence lawyers Pierre Rogers and Michael Deans had made impassioned pleas for the judge to impose a sentence of life imprisonment. They argued that on the night of the incident, Moodie was provoked and was not in charge of his faculties because he was drinking heavily.
In response, the judge said when Moodie gave his unsworn statement from the dock, the soldier said in his defence that he had only one bottle of Guinness on the night of the incident, and was not drunk. The judge commented that when one of the men was shot and fell on the floor, Moodie used his foot to turn him over and said, "You going to die tonight."
Senior Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Lisa Palmer Hamilton and Crown Counsel Paula Archer Hall called for the death penalty. They argued that the crime was premeditated and heinous. They asked the judge to send a message that when a member of the security forces commits such a cold, calculated and callous act, his action should be met with the most serious punishment.
In self-defence
Moodie, who was a corporal attached to the Coast Guard of the JDF, had said in his defence that men with guns and knives attacked him and he defended himself.
The prosecution led evidence at the trial in the Home Circuit Court that it was Moodie who fired shots in the club, killing the four and injuring several others. The witnesses said that about 4 a.m. on October 20, 2008, Moodie was having drinks in the club and was harassing a female patron. Persons in the club cautioned him about his behaviour and he began firing shots.
Moodie was convicted of the murders of Ejon Peart, 20, a sound-system operator of Greendale Drive, Kingston 19; Davian Kerr, 19, and Lynchmore Forbes, 24, both of Pembroke Hall; and William Wilberforce, 28, of Duhaney Drive, Kingston 20.
barbara.gayle@gleanerjm.com