his five-year-old daughter because it did not want to appear "soft'', the condemned man's lawyer said yesterday.

And Mark Pettingill said the Attorney General fought for a murder conviction rather than one for the lesser crime of manslaughter because of "the terrible nature of the crime''.

DeRoza, 21, was sentenced to death on Tuesday for the murder of his five-year-old daughter Lynae last year. A jury of seven men and five women found him guilty by an 11-1 majority.

Mr. Pettingill told The Royal Gazette that, although he would not be launching an appeal, the sentence will automatically be reviewed by the Advisory Committee on the Prerogative of Mercy.

"I don't think there's a lot with regard to the evidence that's appealable,'' he said. "It's difficult to say if there was any error in direction because the matters were quite simple and summed up by the Chief Justice. We didn't dispute any of that.

"You can't appeal against the fact that the jury didn't exercise its common sense. It looked like a common sense jury and I hoped they would approach it objectively.

"But I thought the evidence that DeRoza is sick was overwhelming. I am of the firm view that the psychiatrist's evidence was what it was all about. The jury had the chance to reject that and that's what they decided to do. They have spoken.

"I was hopeful that, if you have a Government psychiatrist who is an expert who comes along and gives evidence that would be accepted. You wonder if the jury based their decision on the terrible nature of the crime. We can understand that but, if that's the case, that's not justice.'' "If the Crown had accepted the charge of manslaughter we would have taken it and he would have got life imprisonment. I find it difficult to argue against that.

"But I think they thought `we can't be seen to be soft on this because it's a horrible crime'.'' During the two-day trial, the court heard how DeRoza contrived to take his daughter from her maternal grandparents' home in Warwick and then drowned her in Hamilton Harbour.

The jury heard how, after the little girl had managed to clamber out of the water on one occasion, DeRoza threw her in a second time and stood on her neck "until the bubbles stopped coming''.

But the jury also heard how DeRoza had been a frequent visitor to St.

Brendan's Hospital since January 1995 and had been diagnosed as a schizophrenic. He also continued to show signs of mental unbalance after his arrest.

"I think there's every reason that the sentence will be commuted and he will be given life imprisonment,'' Mr. Pettingill said. "The prognosis is not good but I am confident that he will continue to be treated and that his medication will be long-term.

"In the past, death sentences have been commuted to life imprisonment as a matter of course, particularly where individuals have been suffering from some kind of psychosis.

"But we had a vote here on hanging and the overwhelming majority voted for it. It's on the books and we've also got a new Governor.''