'This wasn't justice,' attorney says after Sydney Powell is sentenced to life in prison

Sydney Powell left a Summit County courtroom in tears Thursday after being sentenced to life in prison for the slaying of her mother.

Powell, 23, will be eligible for parole after 15 years.

Powell was convicted in a jury trial in Summit County Common Pleas Court of murder and other charges related to the death of her mother Brenda Powell in March 2020.

Sydney’s attorneys argued that she was not guilty by reason of insanity and called three experts who said Sydney had a psychotic break. Prosecutors, though, called a fourth expert who said Sydney wasn’t insane when she hit her mother in the head with a cast-iron skillet and stabbed her more than 30 times with a steak knife in the neck.

Powell plans to appeal.

“This wasn’t justice,” Don Malarcik, Sydney’s attorney, said after her sentencing.

Malarcik asked Judge Kelly McLaughlin to impose the minimum sentence of 15 years to life. Prosecutors, though, urged McLaughlin to impose an additional three years in prison for a tampering charge.

McLaughlin followed the defense’s recommendation in imposing the minimum sentence.

Powell's family members didn't want her to be tried

Steven Powell, Sydney's father and Brenda Powell's husband, and Betsy Brown, Sydney's maternal grandmother, had urged prosecutors not to take Sydney's case to trial and to reach a resolution.

Prosecutors moved forward with the trial anyway, saying they would leave it to a jury to decide.

During Sydney's trial, which spanned three weeks, defense expert James Reardon said Sydney suffered a psychotic break when she killed her mother. He was one of three defense experts who evaluated Sydney and diagnosed her with schizophrenia. They found that, because of this mental disorder, she didn’t understand the wrongfulness of her actions when she killed her mother.

Sylvia O’Bradovich, however, a psychologist hired by prosecutors, disagreed with the three defense experts. She said Sydney didn’t meet the legal definition of insanity at the time of the crime.

O’Bradovich, who is with Summit Psychological Associates, said Sydney does have mental health issues, including borderline personality traits, malingering and an unspecified anxiety disorder.

Malarcik asked jurors to weigh the evaluations of three experts with a combined 50 years of experience versus a psychologist who was testifying for the first time in a trial weighing insanity as a reason for the crime. He said the prosecution wanted jurors to believe that Sydney fooled multiple medical experts and others.

Assistant Prosecutor Brian Stano, however, said Sydney killed her mother because she had just found out Sydney had been kicked out of Mount Union University and didn't want her secret to be revealed. He said Brenda was on the phone with Mount Union officials when Sydney attacked her.

"Sydney stopped attacking with the pan, presumably went to the kitchen with a knife," Stano said. "She had to switch weapons and keep attacking her."

"Just the knife just in the neck multiple times? That is purposeful. That is trying to end someone," Stano said.

Jurors convicted Powell of all the charges she faced: two counts of murder — one that means purposely causing a death and the other that involves causing a death as the result of a felonious assault — as well as felonious assault and tampering with evidence.

Attorney says Sydney's family supports her 'no matter what'

Several of Sydney’s family members and friends attended her sentencing.

Attorney Jeff Laybourne, who represents the Powell family, said none of them wished to speak. He said they expressed their views before and during the trial when they testified. He said many of them also sent letters to the court.

“The tone and tenor of letters is consistent with what the court saw and continues to see today,” Laybourne said. “They love and support Sydney — no matter what.”

This statement made Sydney, who was dressed in an orange jail jumpsuit, cry for the first of several times during her sentencing.

Laybourne asked McLaughlin to urge prison officials to make sure Powell gets the mental health treatment she needs while she’s incarcerated. He noted that the Ohio State Reformatory for Women in Marysville, Ohio’s main prison for women, has a new mental health treatment facility.

“A case like this exposes the tragedy of the legislature removing discretion from judges who have few, limited options,” Laybourne said. “This is the type of case that would be ideal for the judge who handled the case to use the discretion we voted to give you to impose a sentence more befitting the conduct and the wishes of the family.”

Prosecutor says many in community think jury got it right

Stano acknowledged how Sydney has the support of her family and close friends but also said his office has heard from many in the community who knew Brenda, who was a child life specialist at Akron Children's Hospital.

“There is a large part of the community that does feel justice was served in this case and the jury did get it right,” he said.

Stano conceded that the two murder charges would likely merge but not that the felonious assault charge would merge.

Stano urged McLaughlin to impose an additional three years for the tampering with evidence charge. He pointed to steps Powell took after her mother’s slaying, such as breaking a window to make it look like someone had broken into the house.

“We always do our best to take into account the victim’s wishes, but we represent the community as a whole,” Stano said. “We try to be consistent with our recommendations.”

Attorney urges judge to impose minimum sentence

Malarcik, though, said the felonious assault charge should merge with the murder charges because they are allied and not separate offenses. He also argued that McLaughlin should impose the minimum sentence, pointing to Sydney’s undiagnosed mental health issues and the unlikelihood of her committing future crimes, especially because her lack of a prior record.

Malarcik said Sydney was on bond for three-and-a-half years and never violated the conditions, including keeping up with her medication and attending all her counseling and medical appointments.

Malarcik said prosecutors again ignored the wishes of the Powell family in recommending a sentence above the minimum. He asked McLaughlin to give more weight to the Powell family than to the unnamed people who reached out to the prosecutor’s office.

“Listen to the people most affected by the crime — the individuals in this court,” he said, pointing to Steven Powell and others in the gallery.

Sydney, who was advised against it by Malarcik, chose not to speak.

McLaughlin said she read the many letters she received from the family and people in the community.

“I am terribly sorry for your loss,” she told the Powell family. “I cannot imagine what you’ve been through.”

McLaughlin merged the two murder and one felonious assault charges and sentenced Powell to life in prison with possible parole after 15 years. She sentenced her to three years on the tampering charge, but ran this concurrent, for a total of 15 years to life in prison.

Attorney is hopeful Sydney will prevail in her appeal

After the sentencing, Malarcik said he understood prosecutors were going to defer to the court on Powell’s sentence.

Malarcik said he was shocked that Stano asked for additional time on the tampering charge and suggested that the felonious assault charge might not merge, which is often done in murder cases.

Malarcik said Sydney was willing to plead to manslaughter but prosecutors refused this offer and insisted on trying her for murder even though three experts found she was insane when she killed her mother.

Malarcik said he hopes Sydney is successful in her appeal and that the case comes back to Summit County Common Pleas Court. If that happens, he said he he’d like to see a special prosecutor appointed who will “listen to the wishes of the victims.”

Prosecutors declined after the sentencing to respond to Malarcik’s comments.

Stephanie Warsmith can be reached at swarsmith@thebeaconjournal.com, 330-996-3705 and on Twitter: @swarsmithabj.

This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Sydney Powell is sentenced to life in prison for mother's slaying