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<H1>James Leonard granted probation</H1>
<H3>Man faces 15 years probation after five months in prison for 2007 shooting
death</H3>
<P id=byline>By Mark Williams Daily News staff writer</P>
<P id=storydate>Posted on: Thursday, November 05, 2009</P>
<DIV id=mugshot><IMG alt=Leonard
src="http://www.dnews.com/images/4355567.jpg"><BR>Leonard</DIV>
<DIV id=in-story> </DIV><NOSCRIPT></NOSCRIPT></DIV>
<P class=storybody>James Curtis Leonard was granted probation Wednesday for the
2007 shooting death of Tyler Pace Lee.</P>
<P class=storybody>Leonard pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter last
February for shooting Lee, 25, of Moscow multiple times with a handgun and
killing him after an argument at Leonard's Sprenger Road home near Genesee.</P>
<P class=storybody>Second District Judge Jeff Brudie originally sentenced
Leonard last May to a term of no less than five years in prison and no more than
15.</P>
<P class=storybody>Leonard will now face a probation period of 15 years from the
date of his original sentencing in May. He soon will be processed and released,
then required to report to an assigned probation officer. </P>
<P class=storybody>Both Brudie and defense attorney Sunil Ramalingam indicated
Leonard ultimately would seek to move out of the Moscow/Latah County area while
completing the probation.</P>
<P class=storybody>Brudie retained jurisdiction in order to determine whether
Leonard should be eligible for probation upon completion of several state
programs at the North Idaho Correctional Institution in Cottonwood, where
Leonard was held for the past five months.</P>
<P class=storybody>Leonard received a recommendation of probation from the Idaho
Department of Corrections based on his work at the Cottonwood facility. Brudie
said he was not obligated to follow the recommendation but said Leonard had met
the requirements placed before him to earn probation.</P>
<P class=storybody>Leonard was originally charged with voluntary manslaughter in
2007 and entered a plea of not guilty. In May 2008, the state sought a
second-degree murder charge as further details of the case emerged. Leonard
pleaded not guilty to the second-degree charge in August 2008.</P>
<P class=storybody>Prior to Brudie's decision, Prosecutor Bill Thompson argued
against granting probation. He cited concerns over lack of suitable supervision
in Leonard's probation plan and also over what he said seemed to be a lack of
remorse over the incident.</P>
<P class=storybody>"I have to wonder if we are creating a situation that is
destined to fail," he said.</P>
<P class=storybody>Lee's father, Loftin Lee, listened to the proceedings via
conference call and also addressed the court. Ultimately his pleas for Leonard
to remain incarcerated were not heeded. </P>
<P class=storybody>"Five months incarceration is not enough punishment for the
person who took my son's life," he said.</P>
<P class=storybody>A soft-spoken, visibly nervous Leonard also made a short
statement prior to Brudie's decision and asked Lee's family for forgiveness.</P>
<P class=storybody>"There is not a day that goes by that I don't think about
what happened," he said.</P>
<P class=storybody><STRONG>Mark Williams</STRONG> can be reached at (208)
882-5561, ext. 301, or by e-mail at <A href="mailto:mwilliams@dnews.com"
rel=external>mwilliams@dnews.com</A>.</FONT><FONT size=2></P>
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