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Thread: Clarck Andy Paul Sentenced to LWOP in 2016 FL Slaying of Lamont Smalls

  1. #1
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    Clarck Andy Paul Sentenced to LWOP in 2016 FL Slaying of Lamont Smalls





    By August 7, 2016

    Man charged in two fatal shootings within span of minutes

    By Sun Sentinel

    A Pompano Beach man has been charged with shooting two men dead within about 35 minutes of each other Friday night.

    Clarck A. Paul, 28, was booked into the Broward Main Jail on Saturday. He faces two counts of murder, in addition to charges of burglary and resisting an officer.

    Shortly before 10:30 p.m. Friday, deputies responded to 1331 SW 11th Ave. in Deerfield Beach, where they found Carlos Javier Francisco Senluis, 25, with a gunshot wound. According to an incident report, Senluis, driving a 2010 red Nissan, was shot after an unprovoked exchange with Paul, who was angry that Senluis’ headlights had flashed into his eyes.

    Senluis was taken to Broward Health North, where he was pronounced dead. A passenger was uninjured.

    Paul then reportedly drove his 2016 silver Hyundai sedan to 4001 NW 30th Terrace in Lauderdale Lakes, where he allegedly shot Lamont Smalls, who was sitting outside a residence shortly after 11 p.m.. Smalls, 22, was a witness in a Pompano Beach attempted homicide investigation in which Paul is a person of interest.

    Smalls was taken to Broward Health Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

    https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2016/08...an-of-minutes/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
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    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Edited:

    Florida’s new death penalty law gets applied to old cases in Broward

    By Rafael Olmeda
    Sun Sentinel

    The ink has barely dried on Florida’s new death penalty law, and courts are wasting no time putting it to the test.

    Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein has already ruled that the new law applies to crimes committed before it was passed. He also ruled that it’s constitutional and that jurors have to be told that they need at least eight votes out of 12 to recommend a death sentence.

    Fein’s rulings do not apply outside his courtroom, but as he and other judges decide whether the law can be applied retroactively, the potential for a challenge increases. If another judge disagrees, an appellate court will have to resolve the conflict.

    And if two appellate courts disagree, the Florida Supreme Court will have to step in.

    “There will definitely be challenges,” said Lindsay Chase, president of the Broward Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. “Whether it can apply retroactively depends on if the courts think this change is substantive or procedural. We’re also bound by the decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court. There’s a lot to work through.”

    Fein’s rulings came in the case of Clarck Paul, who is accused of murdering two men in less than an hour, one in Deerfield Beach and the second in Lauderdale Lakes. The first shooting, according to prosecutors and detectives, was a road-rage incident fueled by Paul’s anger on his way to the second.

    Jury selection in that case is underway.


    Broward prosecutors are also looking to apply the new 8-4 standard in the trial of Jamell Demons, the rapper known professionally as YNW Melly, who is accused of murdering two fellow rappers in Miramar and trying to make it look like a random drive-by shooting.

    Florida’s old death penalty law was declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2016 over concerns that it granted too much power to judges and not enough to juries. In the wake of that decision, the Florida Legislature tried to pass new laws that were struck down by the Florida Supreme Court because they failed to require a unanimous 12-0 jury recommendation for death.

    https://news.yahoo.com/florida-death...120000241.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Pompano man convicted of two murders now faces death penalty

    By Rafael Olmeda
    South Florida Sun-Sentinel

    A Pompano Beach man convicted of two murders this week now faces the possibility of execution by lethal injection, the first case in Broward County under a new law that no longer requires a unanimous vote to send a killer to death row.

    Clarck Paul was found guilty Wednesday of first-degree murder in the 2016 shooting death of Lamont Smalls, 22, of Lauderdale Lakes. Just 34 minutes earlier, on his way to kill Smalls, Paul got into a road-rage incident that ended with him fatally shooting Carlos Senluis, 25, of Deerfield Beach, a victim deputies described as someone who was tragically in the wrong place at the wrong time.

    For the murder of Senluis, Paul was convicted of second-degree murder. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

    But Smalls is the victim who might send him to death row.

    Prosecutors and investigators say Paul believed Smalls was cooperating with police in the investigation into the attempted murder of Brandon Smith, also of Lauderdale Lakes. Smith had been shot in the head 13 days earlier in the same neighborhood as Smalls. He survived, but Paul was never charged in that case.

    Paul, 35, will be the first defendant in Broward facing the death penalty under its newest death penalty law. The jury that convicted him will still be required to find, unanimously and beyond a reasonable doubt, that there were aggravating factors in Smalls’ murder that warrant execution. Killing someone to keep that person from testifying meets that standard under the law.

    So do other violent felony convictions, including the murder of Senluis and the attempted murder of Senluis’ passenger, Gabriel Severino.

    But only eight jurors are required to find that the aggravating factors outweigh mitigators that might be presented by the defense. Until earlier this year, juries had to be unanimous in their recommendations, a requirement that led to the death penalty being rejected for convicted cop killers and, notably, for Nikolas Cruz, who shot and killed 17 students and faculty at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in 2018.

    The penalty phase of Paul’s trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 29.

    https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2023/06...eath-penalty/#
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Prosecutors will ask a jury to send a Broward man to death row. Florida law just made it easier

    By Rafael Olmeda
    South Florida Sun-Sentinel

    Clarck Paul was so intent on committing murder on Aug. 5, 2016, that he just couldn’t wait to get started.

    On his way to kill Lamont Smalls in Lauderdale Lakes, Paul got into a road-rage incident with a man named Carlos Senluis, 25, of Deerfield Beach. “Without provocation,” according to a witness, Paul shot and killed Senluis before continuing on his mission to murder Smalls.

    In late May, Paul, 36, was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of Senluis. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison. He was also convicted of first-degree murder in the death of Smalls. For that, he may be the first killer sent to death row from Broward County under a law passed earlier this year regarding jury votes on death sentences.

    The penalty phase in Paul’s trial is scheduled to begin Tuesday.

    The new law makes it easier for prosecutors to secure death sentences against convicted murderers. Until this year, a judge could not sentence an inmate to death unless a jury unanimously recommended it, after unanimously finding aggravating circumstances outweighed mitigators raised by the defense.

    Now the jury still needs to be unanimous in finding the aggravators were proved beyond a reasonable doubt, but they are no longer required to be unanimous in recommending death.

    The distinction turns out to be significant. In the highly publicized penalty phase of the Parkland mass shooting trial in 2022, jurors were unanimous in finding prosecutors had proved aggravating factors against gunman Nikolas Cruz, but three of the 12 jurors refused to condemn him to death. Cruz is now serving 34 consecutive life sentences.

    Today the same outcome would result in a death recommendation — only eight of 12 jurors need to agree.

    For Paul, the finding of at least one aggravating factor is a foregone conclusion — the murder of Senluis on the way to the murder of Smalls has already been proved beyond a reasonable doubt. Prosecutors will likely try to seek others when arguments are presented in front of the same jury that convicted Paul in May.

    According to police reports, Paul believed he was a suspect in the attempted murder of yet another victim, and Smalls, Paul thought, had either given information to the police or was planning to. In the end, Paul was never charged in the other man’s shooting.

    But he was charged with killing Smalls.

    “If you’re snitching I’m going to kill you,” Paul allegedly said before shooting Smalls and making his escape.

    About four hours later, police noticed Paul driving a silver Hyundai that matched the description provided by the survivor in the Senluis shooting. According to the report in Paul’s case file, police pursued the vehicle for several blocks before it crashed in a driveway on Northeast 14th Street in Pompano Beach.

    Paul fled from the vehicle. Police found him a few houses away, along with the gun that was used in both shootings.

    The penalty phase of Paul’s trial will be held before Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein.

    The Broward State Attorney’s Office and lawyers for Paul declined to comment on a pending death penalty case.

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/prosecuto...081500577.html
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    ‘Sentenced to a lifetime of grief’: Victim’s mother testifies in death penalty phase of Broward murder trial

    By Rafael Olmeda
    South Florida Sun-Sentinel

    Prosecutors asking a jury to recommend a death sentence for convicted killer Clarck Paul had little to add Tuesday when the sentencing phase of his trial began in Fort Lauderdale.

    Paul, 36, was found guilty in late May of first-degree murder in the shooting death of Lamont Smalls, a man Paul believed was ratting him out to police investigating a shooting that took place a few weeks earlier, in July 2016.

    The state called a single witness, the victim’s mother, to testify on Tuesday, relying on the testimony the jury has already heard to turn its guilty verdict into a ticket to Florida’s death row. Assistant State Attorney Tonya Johnson told the jury in May that Paul was trying to silence Smalls. “If you’re snitching, I’m going to kill you,” Paul said before shooting Smalls to death.

    Killing someone to prevent him from testifying against you in a criminal case is considered an “aggravating factor” that jurors can use to justify a death sentence recommendation under Florida law.

    Jurors are also allowed to consider other crimes committed by the defendant. Less than an hour before the death of Smalls, Paul was accused of murdering another man, Carlos Senluis, 25, of Deerfield Beach. That was a road rage incident that took place while Paul was on his way to kill Smalls, according to investigators. Paul was convicted of second-degree murder in that case and faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.

    Jurors on Tuesday heard little about the death of Senluis. Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein will likely hear from that victim’s family when Paul is ultimately sentenced.

    But on Tuesday, Smalls’ mother took the stand to declare her son a decent, flawed person who did not deserve to die.

    “His daughter lost a father,” said Lorraine Gray. “We are all sentenced to a lifetime of grief.”

    Gray lamented that she was not there to intervene when Paul confronted her son, and could do nothing to prevent his death. “These are the things as a mother that I think of that I will never know again.”

    Gray was the prosecution’s sole witness in the penalty phase. The aggravating factors required to justify a death sentence were already presented during the trial to determine Paul’s guilt.

    Defense lawyers called Miami neuropsychologist Pedro Saez, who said Paul suffers from “mild neurocognitive disorder,” a mental impairment the jury is allowed to consider to show mercy and recommend a life sentence instead of death. Additional mental health experts are scheduled to testify on Wednesday. Attorneys expect to conclude testimony on Thursday.

    A recommendation of death will have to come from at least eight jurors after a unanimous finding that aggravating factors have been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

    https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2023/09...-murder-trial/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

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    Broward jury rejects death sentence for convicted killer

    By Rafael Olmeda

    South Florida Sun-Sentinel

    Clarck Paul murdered Lamont Smalls in cold blood, jurors agreed Thursday. He did it less than an hour after murdering another man, Carlos Senluis, on Aug. 5, 2018.

    But he does not deserve to die, the jury decided.

    The decision to spare Paul’s life came even after the state made it easier to condemn a killer to death in Florida than anywhere else in the country — Florida requires a majority of just eight jurors (out of 12) to recommend a death sentence.

    Prosecutor Stephen Zaccor said Paul killed Smalls in Lauderdale Lakes because he wanted to prevent Smalls, 22, from testifying against him in an attempted murder investigation. Senluis, 25, was shot to death in a road-rage incident in Pompano Beach shortly before Paul drove to Lauderdale Lakes to kill Smalls.

    Both those factors could have been used to justify a death sentence. The jury, which in May had convicted Paul of Senluis’ murder, said prosecutors failed to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Paul was trying to silence Smalls.

    It’s not clear that would have made a difference. The jury did not disclose the breakdown of its vote, but deliberations lasted only 15 minutes, making it unlikely there was a contingent in favor of the death penalty strong enough to put up much of an argument.

    Defense lawyers Kaitlin Gonzalez, Lien Lafargue and Maury Halperin argued that Paul suffered from a variety of mental health conditions that precluded a death sentence as a just punishment.

    The verdict leaves Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein with no choice but to sentence Paul to life in prison for Smalls’ murder. The murder of Senluis carries a maximum sentence of life, and Paul was also convicted of several related charges.

    Fein set sentencing for Oct. 20.

    https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2023/09...victed-killer/
    "I realize this may sound harsh, but as a father and former lawman, I really don't care if it's by lethal injection, by the electric chair, firing squad, hanging, the guillotine or being fed to the lions."
    - Oklahoma Rep. Mike Christian

    "There are some people who just do not deserve to live,"
    - Rev. Richard Hawke

    “There are lots of extremely smug and self-satisfied people in what would be deemed lower down in society, who also deserve to be pulled up. In a proper free society, you should be allowed to make jokes about absolutely anything.”
    - Rowan Atkinson

  7. #7
    Moderator Bobsicles's Avatar
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    Paywalled but he was sentenced to LWOP today

    https://www.sun-sentinel.com/2023/10...ife-in-prison/
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