By DEBRA HAIGHT
St. JOSEPH – Court news in recent weeks includes the release of a juvenile lifer on parole, arguments in another juvenile lifer case and arguments in the case of American Electric Power against an area township.
In addition, Berrien County Trial Courts have again started the public re-opening process. Court officials announced late last week that they are again going to phase two of the Michigan Supreme Court’s mandated four-phase re-opening plan.
The courts had gotten to phase three in the fall for a short time before rising COVID cases forced them back to phase one. Jury trials were allowed starting last August but were shut down in October.
The phase two re-opening allows parties involved in court cases to attend hearings although others will still have to conduct their business including walk-in filings with the courts remotely through phone or email. Individuals entering either courthouse will have to complete a health screening and wear face coverings.
The courts are continuing to use technology to give the public access to proceedings. Jury trials when they start up again will be livestreamed on the courts’ YouTube page and a new system is being started in St. Joseph to text people when their cases are being called for in-person hearings.
Cass courts remain in phase one where access to the Law & Courts Building is limited and hearings are conducted remotely. In Cass County, officials had prepared to start jury trials last fall but were unable to get to that point. Neither county has announced a date when jury trials will resume this year.
Phase three in the re-opening plan allows for vulnerable court employees to return to work as well as for greater public access to courthouses as long as social distancing and cleaning protocols are observed. Phase four allows operations to return to normal.
Action has come recently in two area high profile juvenile lifer cases. Those convicted of first-degree murder as juveniles have had the chance to have their cases reviewed for possible resentencing to a term of years rather than life without parole after a 2012 U.S. Supreme Court ruling.
In Cass County, Robert Eugene Leamon III was paroled from prison after Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz was unsuccessful in delaying Leamon’s parole at a hearing in early January. Leamon had been in prison since 1997 for the 1993 murder of his pregnant girlfriend. Both were students at Brandywine High School at the time.
Leamon was granted parole by the state parole board in October without input from Fitz who was unaware of the parole hearing at the time. A request he made earlier last year to meet with parole board members ended up being canceled due to COVID pandemic restrictions. Leamon is now living with his mother and stepfather in Granger.
In the other case, arguments were heard in January before Berrien County Trial Judge Charles LaSata in the Efran Paredes juvenile lifer case. A decision on whether he should stay in prison for the rest of his life or be granted the opportunity to get out at some point should be made by the end of March.
Paredes was convicted of killing St. Joseph area store manager Rick Tetzlaff in 1989 when he was 15 years old. Paredes was tried as an adult and sentenced to life in prison without parole.
The Paredes case was one of the first cases now retired Berrien County Prosecutor Michael Sepic handled when he first came to the county and is the last one he’s handled with his retirement. Sepic is arguing that Paredes has not acknowledged any guilt or remorse and should remain in prison for the rest of his life without the possibility of parole.
In current cases, hearing and jury trial dates have been set in a number of cases pending where courts are in their “Return to Full Capacity” re-opening plans.
In a civil case pitting an area township against American Electric Power, oral arguments were held in January and decision by Berrien County Trial Judge Dennis Wiley is pending.
AEP is appealing a decision by township’s zoning board of appeals last July that they needed to get a special use permit to build a new substation on 18 acres of land they purchased in the township off of Main Street. AEP believes that the substation is an “essential service” under the township’s zoning ordinance and doesn’t require a special use permit.
AEP announced a year ago that they planned to build the Blossom Trail Substation in Eau Claire as part of a $62 million upgrade to electric transmission systems and improve reliability in the county. The upgrade project also included replacing the Berrien Springs substation and upgrading transmission lines.
The township’s position is that while the substation might be considered an essential service, the township does have the right to regulate where a substation will go. Township officials said that they should be given deference for their interpretation of the township’s zoning ordinance.
Judge Wiley’s options include remanding the matter back to the zoning board of appeals for clarification of the record, upholding or reversing the ZBA decision. He could also order further proceedings in trial court. Depending on what he rules, the township could appeal his decision to the Michigan Court of Appeals.
In criminal cases, the Berrien County case involving Michael Heskett on child sexually abusive material, prostitution and providing drugs to a minor charges is set for a status conference Feb. 12 and a trial March 1-5 if trials are allowed at that point. He is a former partner in a Niles area marijuana business.
In Cass County, two cases of note are set for hearings and trials this spring.
Former Southwestern Michigan College instructor George Field is currently scheduled to go to trial in mid-April on criminal sexual conduct, perjury and insurance fraud dating back to incidents between 2015 and 2017.
Also, Jay Vincent Penar faces felony charges including open murder and armed robbery and will next be in court March 15 for a hearing. A co-defendant, Justin Carlton was sentenced in December to 43 years to 70 years in prison for second degree murder in connection with the January, 2020 shooting in Dowagiac.
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