Convicted killer Clarck Paul sentenced to life in prison
A Pompano Beach man convicted of two murders in May has been sentenced to life in prison after a jury rejected the death penalty.
Clarck Paul, 36, was found guilty of the murders of Lamont Smalls, 22, of Lauderdale Lakes, and Carlos Senluis, 25, of Deerfield Beach. Both were killed within an hour of each other on Aug. 6, 2016 — Smalls because he was suspected of cooperating with investigators on another shooting, and Senluis in a road-rage incident on his way to kill Smalls.
Paul was Broward’s first defendant to face the death penalty under a new law that makes it easier to send convicted killers to death row. Before this year, juries had to be unanimous (12-0) in recommending a death sentence. In the spring, the Florida Legislature passed a new law requiring an 8-4 majority.
But even with that relaxed standard, the Broward jury that convicted Paul of the murders declined to impose a death sentence in September.
Broward Circuit Judge Martin Fein formally sentenced Paul to life in prison for each murder on Friday. He was also sentenced to 30 years for the related charge of aggressive fleeing and eluding capture.
A day before Paul was sentenced, a Broward jury recommended its first death sentence under the new, relaxed law. A jury said convicted killer Peter Avsenew deserves the death penalty by a 12-0 vote.
Avsenew was also the first person sentenced to death in Broward County under the old law requiring a unanimous vote (in 2017), but his sentence and conviction were overturned last year on appeal.
Rafael Olmeda can be reached at rolmeda@sunsentinel.com or 954-356-4457.
