KINGSTON, Jamaica— Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) Paula Llewellyn has urged prosecutors across the Caribbean region to be relentless, while also being understanding as officers of the court.

Speaking during a Symposium on Prison Reform hosted by Improved Access (IMPACT) to Justice in the Caribbean, at the St Kitts Marriot Resort on Tuesday, Llewelyn said a prosecutor ought to be able to balance both.

“You cannot wield great power without understanding the humanity of the very person that you’re going to be seeking to get a conviction [for]. That has been my style and I’m a tough prosecutor,” Llewellyn said, during her presentation on the topic, ‘A Prosecutor’s Perspective of the Prison System.’

“I go for the jugular, but I’m the first person to advise defence counsel, after the conviction, if they have thought about getting character evidence of anything like that.”

Llewellyn, against the backdrop of the recent ruling to seek the death penalty against Rushane Barnett, the man accused of killing a mother and her four children in Cocoa Piece, Clarendon two weeks ago, told OBSERVER ONLINE that each case has to follow its specific facts.

READ: DPP to seek death penalty against accused in Clarendon family killing

“What I’m talking about is your general policy that you should have. It doesn’t mean that if at the end of the day he is convicted I may not argue to give him life and parole not before 40 years. It’s a process.”