CASSOPOLIS — “He can’t ask for forgiveness because there’s no way. He can only say he’s sorry and to do better and to prove to you that he can be somebody, that he can do something for us, our community.”
Kathy Opick, of Granger, spoke those words through tears Thursday at a resentencing hearing in the Cass County Circuit courtroom. She was speaking about her son, Robert Leamon III, who murdered 15-year-old Rebecca Lynn Stowe in 1993 when he was 16.
Leamon wanted her to Stowe an abortion. Stowe, who was allegedly carrying their child, refused. So, Leamon killed her, burying her on his extended family’s farm property and keeping it secret for 27 months.
Leamon was sentenced to life in prison without parole in 1997, and he has served about 22 years of his life in various Michigan prisons since. Now, due to two U.S. Supreme Court rulings, — “Miller v. Alabama” in 2012 and “Montgomery v. Louisiana” in 2016 — he and more than 350 other juveniles sentenced to life in prison in Michigan have a chance to be resentenced.
If Leamon is granted the ability to seek parole, he could approach a parole board. If it grants him parole, he could be out of the Muskegon Heights prison where he currently resides a few years after his resentencing.
Thursday was the second of two hearing days presided by Cass County Circuit Court Judge Mark Herman. No decision was made, and a separate sentencing date will be announced at a later date.
Opick was called by the defense. She spoke through tears about her shame and regret about her son and the pain it caused Stowe’s family and friends for more than two decades.
“I’m sorry that our families have to go through this,” she said to them. “He isn’t the same person. He is responsible for what he did. He is the only one that did this, and he knows that now. He is taking the responsibility and is trying to better himself.”
Defense attorney Sofia Nelson brought Opick in as a witness. Nelson is an assistant appellate defender for the State Appellate Defender Office and an attorney for numerous juvenile lifer cases.
When she asked Opick what she would like to come out of the shearing, the mother stated that her son had changed.
“This might be selfish, but I would love to see him have another chance,” she said.
Opick’s husband and Leamon’s step-father, John “Buzz” Opick attested to Leamon’s growth as an individual.
Richard Stapleton, who served in various leadership capacities in the Michigan Department of Corrections before retiring, was called to provide expert testimony of Leamon’s time in prison and his time in various prison programs.
He looked through various prison records of Leamon’s, many about his behavior there, and shared his knowledge of the programs Leamon took part in.
“I believe he has a very good prison record, very good and excellent prison record in terms of disciplinary matters and his program performance,” he said. “It’s been excellent.”
Stapleton said Leamon was more successful than many prison inmates. He moved to a less secure state of living ahead of the usual 10-year wait. He received seven tickets over his 22 years from prison staff, each now classified as a misdemeanor. He also received positive remarks from security staff.
Stapleton also noted that many of the educational programs Leamon took part in were difficult to get into and not usually given to people who were expected to never leave prison.
The last witness was Michael Caldwell, a University of Wisconsin – Madison professor specializing in juvenile delinquency. He reported on a six-hour psychological interview he had earlier this year with Leamon.
Caldwell concluded that Leamon was “at least very close” to being fully rehabilitated, a necessary criterion the court must consider in juvenile lifer resentencing.
The professor spent time contrasting Leamon’s personality as a teenager to the personality he believes Leamon has now.
Before, he was hypermasculine, he said. Now, he is able to communicate his emotions calmly and effectively.
Before, he was irrational. Now, Leamon tends to overthink before acting, Caldwell said.
Both Stapleton and Caldwell have testified in other cases stemming from “Montgomery v. Louisiana,” and they were paid to testify.
Prosecutor Victor Fitz spent his cross-examination time with each witness and expert attempting to prove that Leamon had not changed and was still as manipulative and self-centered as he was before, during and after killing Stowe.
He continued two arguments he began the day before.
First, he drew upon actions that Leamon did not publicly admit to until Wednesday’s hearing. Leamon’s girlfriend after the murder, Angela Crocker, was called as a witness and said that he had hit her, put her in a headlock and made her fear for her life on multiple occasions before he was sentenced.
Later that day, Leamon said he did commit those actions.
Fitz argued that this now-exposed secret was proof that Leamon had not changed his deceitful ways.
Second, Fitz argued that all the actions Leamon took while in prison were for his own self-gain, not to help others and make himself better.
He specifically pointed to a book Leamon co-wrote: “Memoirs Into Four Convicted Murderers: Insight Into Youth Development.” He said he only wrote this book, where he publicly admitted the Stowe’s murder was no accident for the first time, because he was aware of the “Miller v. Alabama” case.
Admitting guilt, Fitz said, would help him get parole.
“You’re telling us you’re not deceiving us with this thing?” Fitz said, pointing to Leamon’s book on Wednesday. “No? Just by coincidence, you never told Diane [Stowe’s mother]. You just decided now is a good time, after ‘Miller v. Alabama’ has come out.”
Tina Sherman, who is a relative of Stowe’s, said the past two days of hearings have been “heart-wrenching” because they have had to relive their initial suffering all over again.
“We want him to stay in prison for life,” she said of Leamon.
Sherman and 17 other family and friends of Stowe attended Wednesday’s trial wearing pins showing support for Stowe. Many returned the next day.
Many are also part of a Facebook group that memorializes Stowe. The page is asking its followers to send in letters recommending Leamon stay in prison for life to the court.
“Those letters may make an impact,” said Stowe’s relative Pam Thomas in regards to the deliberation that would occur before sentencing.
While Leamon’s family, who also attended, did not wish to speak, Nelson did.
“I feel confident in the evidence and the testimony that Rob [Leamon] has demonstrated his capacity for rehabilitation, and if a juvenile lifer can do that, then the Constitution requires that they be given the possibility of a term of years,” she said.