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<DIV>What this decision says is that in slightly modified form the unwritten law
(It's OK to kill your spouse's lover) is in full operation in Latah
County. Wonderful! Would this apply also if the adulterer killed was
a prominent local parson?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>I thought the original sentence was perhaps a little weak, but at least it
sent a message that alleged adultery is not a justification of murder (usage:
ordinary language, not one of the many different shades of legalese to
describe a chickenshit slaying). But 5 months soft jail time?</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>According the <EM>DN</EM> here is part of the murderer's statement of
remorse:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff>"There is not a day that goes by that I don't think
about what happened."</FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>This doesn't sound like remorse to me, but rather indulgent
self-pity.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The victim, Tyler Pace Lee, will never know the joy or sorrow of anything
anymore. His friends and family, instead enjoying his presence, are left
with numbing sorrow, emptiness, and bewilderment at the judge and whole criminal
justice system.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=storybody><FONT color=#0000ff>'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. "Five months
incarceration is not enough punishment for the person who took my son's life,"
he said.'</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>And it's 15 years of probation, not parole.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>At least Prosecutor Bill Thompson opposed this absurd reduction:
</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<P class=storybody><FONT color=#0000ff>'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. "I have to wonder if we
are creating a situation that is destined to fail," he said.'</FONT></P></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Maybe in addition to murderer James Leonard, the judge and recommending
Cottonwood officials ought be in prison too. In my opinion they represent
a far greater threat to society than Leonard because they are likely to be
continuous repeat offenders in this regard.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Wayne A. Fox<BR>1009 Karen Lane<BR>PO Box 9421<BR>Moscow, ID
83843</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV><A href="mailto:waf@moscow.com">waf@moscow.com</A><BR>208 882-7975</DIV>
<DIV>___________________________</DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>
<H1>Leonard charged with second-degree murder</H1>
<P id=storydate>Posted on: Thursday, May 08, 2008</P>
<P> </P>
<DIV id=in-story>
<P class=storybody>James Curtis Leonard has officially been charged with
second-degree murder for the June shooting death of Tyler Pace Lee.</P>
<P class=storybody> </P>
<P class=storybody>Leonard, 24, was to face trial for voluntary manslaughter,
but that charge was dismissed just before the trial was slated to begin last
week. Prosecutors filed the second-degree murder charge Wednesday in Latah
County District Court.</P>
<P class=storybody> </P>
<P class=storybody>Police allege Leonard shot Lee, 25, of Moscow multiple times
with a handgun and killed him after a June 19 argument at Leonard's Sprenger
Road home near Genesee.</P>
<P class=storybody> </P>
<P class=storybody>Leonard pleaded not guilty to the voluntary manslaughter
charge in August.</P>
<P class=storybody> </P>
<P class=storybody>Lee's ex-girlfriend, Amanda Draper, testified during an
August preliminary hearing that Lee threatened to kill her, Leonard and
Leonard's wife after learning Leonard had an affair with Draper. Draper also
testified that Lee said he would rape Leonard's wife in front of Leonard before
killing them.</P>
<P class=storybody> </P>
<P class=storybody>The motion for dismissal of the voluntary manslaughter
charges stated that new information had come to light in the case.</P>
<P class=storybody> </P>
<P class=storybody>An affidavit of Detective Margaret Lehmbecker filed Friday
states that she spoke April 22 to Lee's sister, who said Draper had told several
different stories about what happened the morning of June 19. One story
indicated Lee had caught Draper and Leonard having sex.</P>
<P class=storybody> </P>
<P class=storybody>Lehmbecker interviewed Draper again April 23. According to
the affidavit, Draper said she did not have sex with Leonard that morning, but
said they were "messing around" and Lee may have seen them.</P>
<P class=storybody> </P>
<P class=storybody>Lehmbecker's affidavit also states that Sunny Namauu, who
lived at the Sprenger Road home with Leonard, told an Idaho State Police officer
in July that Leonard "tried to dispose of Lee's body." Namauu said Leonard asked
him for a shovel, which Namauu gave him. Namauu said he did not help Leonard
with the body.</P>
<P class=storybody>Leonard's preliminary hearing has been scheduled for 10 a.m.
June 26.</P>
<P
class=storybody>___________________________________________</P></FONT></DIV></DIV></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>
<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="mhtml:mid://00000183/!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> </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> </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> </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> </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> </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> </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> </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> </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> </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> </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> </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> </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> </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> </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></P></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE
style="BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial">----- Original Message ----- </DIV>
<DIV
style="FONT: 10pt arial; BACKGROUND: #e4e4e4; font-color: black"><B>From:</B>
<A title=donaledwards@hotmail.com
href="mailto:donaledwards@hotmail.com">donald edwards</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>To:</B> <A title=vision2020@moscow.com
href="mailto:vision2020@moscow.com">vision2020@moscow.com</A> </DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Sent:</B> Friday, November 06, 2009 7:19
AM</DIV>
<DIV style="FONT: 10pt arial"><B>Subject:</B> Re: [Vision2020] WTF?</DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV>
<DIV>I sympathize with the "crime of passion" argument from personal
experience with a similar situation involving a cheating fiancee' in our
own living room while I was home. I guess I chose to swallow my
ego, go out and learn Craps that night at the Flamingo Hilton down
the street, then move out the next day. What was I going to do that
would change her mind? Kill us all? It took maybe a few
weeks of introspection to weigh my own part in what
maybe inspired her to that action of longing something
different. <BR><BR>"If you don't like the punishment for the various
degrees of crime, then go to your legislator and have the law changed." Chuck
Kovis<BR> <BR>Chuck is right. The laws suck. I think it's
because most of our lawmakers don't care about serving the common man but
are whores for big business. This is obvious in a system where we allow
private owned prisons to lobby congress for mandatory minimum sentences and
three-strikes laws that would put away a petty thief for 25yrs. with no
parole because he stole a loaf of bread after being out of jail for 5
years and holding a job the entire time. No compassion allowed for
him.<BR> <BR>Or the man who loses his house and family and
serves a min. 10yrs. no-parole for planting a seed in his backyard that keeps
him calm and non-violent while combatting the law of supply and demand
that allows the Mexican Mafia to profit thus saving lives of law
enforcement. Nope, we'd rather he be out spending his money, drinking
and driving and waving his guns around or doped up on Merck
Meds and Alcohol.<BR> <BR>Here's an idea for a legislative change: why
not encourage responsible gun control that would require anyone wanting
the great responsibility of owning an arsenal have to take the same
safety and law course policemen do? These teach case studies of
when lethal force is appropriate and the consequences even officers have had
to suffer for making that split second decision to pull the
trigger. This might have been invaluable to the shooter
who would have been better equipped to decide if his life was truly
in danger or if it could have been handled with a call to 911 first, then a
baseball bat, phone cord, neck tie or even his own two feet in the
meantime.<BR> <BR>Apparently though, 5-15yrs. somehow translates to 5mo.
Great message for the next generation of lawmakers and the
rational/logical thinking young adults running around screwing
eachother.<BR> <BR>Don "backasswards" common sense<BR><BR><BR> <BR>
<DIV><FONT size=2>
<H1></FONT><FONT size=2> </H1></DIV></FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>