DRAPER — Gloria Powell believes her son, Frank, has paid his debt to society, that 15 years in prison has changed him.
"He was 19. It was a child's mind that committed that crime," the Santaquin woman said.
In 1987, a drunken argument between then 19-year-old Frank Powell and Glen Candland, 20, ended when Powell used his pickup truck to run over and kill Candland outside a party in Pleasant Grove. The two men were arguing about whose truck was faster.
Powell, now 34, is serving a life sentence for the killing. Dressed in an orange jumpsuit with shackles about his legs and arms, he appeared for a parole hearing at the prison Tuesday while his mother and other family looked on. He last appeared before the board about 11 years ago.
But neither the wishes of Powell's mother, nor 37 support letters from family and friends, nor the pursuit of a high school diploma and job training will likely convince the Board of Pardons and Parole to set Frank Powell free.
A string of other crimes, including theft and forcible sodomy, and a prison record checkered with disciplinary problems and drug use, show a pattern of "negative behavior," hearing officer Keith Jones said. Powell's recent efforts to complete education and substance abuse problems seemed like "a last-ditch effort," he said.
"I guess I just have a hard time seeing any type of parole soon. It's not just with the criminal homicide, but everything else," Jones told Powell, who cried off and on during the hearing. "To me, there's just not quite enough time."
A decision from the board is expected within about four weeks.
To Candland's family, who also attended the hearing, no amount of time in prison will ever be enough.
"We as a family feel that it is not a good idea to release him from prison," said Candland's sister, Laura, who read from a written statement. "We think about (Glen) every day and we miss him very badly."
Asked if he cared to respond, Powell told the board, "I don't know that there is much to respond to when you take another person's life. If you give me a second chance at life, I'd consider that a privilege. I probably don't have a right to it."
He told Jones that on the night of the homicide, he was so drunk that he has no recollection of what happened.
Powell originally pleaded guilty to manslaughter, a second-degree felony, and was sentenced to up to 15 years in prison. He later asked to reverse his plea and asked for a jury trial. A jury found him guilty of criminal homicide and Powell was sentenced to life in prison.
In 1997, Powell appealed his conviction to the Utah Supreme Court, arguing that the state could not legally impose a harsher sentence when a conviction is set aside. The high court disagreed, saying the law did not apply in cases where a plea bargain is repudiated.
Powell could still be released before completing a life sentence. He will, however, do much more time than other inmates convicted of the same offense. On average, those convicted of criminal homicide spend 14.5 years in prison before getting parole, said Utah Department of Corrections spokesman Jack Ford.
E-mail: jdobner@desnews.com