KINGSTON – Justice Horace March sentenced ex-soldier Leslie Moodie to death for the Double Diamond night club murders of October 2008.
Four people were killed in the attack.
On Wednesday, Moodie’s lawyers Pierre Rogers and Michel Deans asked the court not to hand down the death penalty.
They said although the murders were horrible and may constitute the most extreme and exceptional circumstances they did not warrant the death penalty.
The lawyers also said there were other factors that the judge had to consider.
According to the lawyers these include the fact that Moodie was drinking; that there could have been provocation; and that their client had lost his faculties.
They also asked the judge to bear in mind that before the shooting, the soldier had played the role of a peace maker when he quelled a dispute between two patrons.
The lawyers also said Moodie resorted to the training he got from the army when he was discharging his weapon.
In addition, they said the probation officer’s report noted that Moodie was remorseful about the murders.
But prosecutor Lisa Palmer pushed for the death penalty to be imposed.
She referred to the high crime rate in Jamaica and the fact that the Privy Council had left the determination to the local court as to when the death penalty should be imposed. (Jamaica Gleaner)
