Senior Justice Anita Allen said Thursday she will announce next Friday whether to sentence convicted murderer Cordell Farrington to death for the murder of Jamal Robbins, who was reportedly his lover.
Farrington has already said that he wants the death penalty.
After hearing lengthy submissions from the prosecution and Farrington�s defense attorney, Justice Allen told Farrington that he will be sentenced on October 6 at 2pm.
During her submissions, Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions Cheryl Grant-Bethel attempted to convince Justice Allen that not only were Farrington�s actions heinous, but they were also brutal.
Restating the means by which Robbins was killed, Mrs. Grant-Bethel said the brutal actions of beating Robbins in his head with an iron plank and then about the body showed the actions of the accused was indeed brutal.
Mrs. Grant-Bethel also told the court that the way in which Farrington wrapped the body of the deceased in sheets, cleaned up the crime scene with bleach and then dumped the body in a rural area in Grand Bahama proved to be heinous and brutal.
She told the court that Farrington committed murder in cold blood and has expressed no remorse. Mrs. Grant-Bethel said Farrington told the psychiatrists that after he had committed the murder he was “satisfied.”
“The way in which the accused discarded the body and then later returned to pick the meat off the bones in order to diminish the scent shows it was a brutal and heinous act. When he collected the bones and then stored them in a dwelling home in a box showed it was a brutal and heinous act,” Mrs. Grant-Bethel said.
She said Farrington�s actions have shown that The Bahamas has caught up to the times like other jurisdictions, including England, where the bones of victims are kept by the accused and idolized like a trophy.
Restating evidence given by psychiatrists, Dr. Michael Neville and Dr. Timothy Barrett, Mrs. Grant-Bethel said the testimonies showed that the accused knew right from wrong and also that his intelligence level was above average.
Pushing for Farrington to be given the death sentence, Mrs. Grant-Bethel said his actions are the reasons why the prosecution is seeking the maximum sentence of death.
Ever since the Privy Council ruled in March that the mandatory death sentence in The Bahamas was unconstitutional, Supreme Court justices now have to use their discretion in determining what sentence a murder convict will get.
“The maximum sentence of death should be given for this crime of murder because it was premeditated,” Mrs. Grant-Bethel said. “The young victim had a young daughter and a fianc�. The accused had an opportunity to tell the family that their son was dead. Instead, he helped lead in his search knowing that he was dead.
“He has denied the family an opportunity to bury their son. Jamal�s family suffered and may never be able to come to grips with this horrific act that happened to their son.”
Mrs. Grant-Bethel said Farrington shows signs of being a great danger to society and the crime he committed warrants the death sentence.
Meanwhile, defense attorney Romona Farquharson attempted to convince Justice Allen why her client was not deserving of the death sentence.
She said her client should not be sentenced to death, but instead given a prison sentence and treatment for his mental disorders.
Ms. Farquharson told the court that her client confessed voluntarily to the crime and has assisted the police in investigations ever since.
“The death penalty should only be done in exceptional cases where no reasonable case of reform can be done,” Ms. Farquharson said, quoting cases from law books.
She said the object of punishment could be achieved by other means than death and asked that her client have the opportunity to be rehabilitated in prison.
Ms. Farquharson begged the justice to show Farrington mercy bearing in mind that he has suffered throughout his life.
But Mrs. Grant-Bethel asked Justice Allen not to show Farrington any mercy, saying that he did not grant mercy to Robbins or his family.
At the end of the sentencing hearing, Farrington stood and said he understood that he will be sentenced next week.
By: Bianca Symonette, The Bahama Journal
