Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 25, 1995 TAG: 9504250119
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: YORKTOWN LENGTH: Medium
But many people, including York County Sheriff Press Williams, say Jeffery Todd Lehman has led a good life since settling in the area after his release in 1992.
``They should leave him alone,'' Williams said. ``If the papers come back, I'll have to serve them. But I don't like it at all.''
``I say this - this is just one old lady's opinion - leave that poor boy alone,'' said Lorraine Latour, one of Lehman's neighbors. ``I think the world of Jeff. He has cut my grass. He'll do anything in the house I need.''
In 1985, at the age of 18, Lehman beat a man to death with a pipe in West Palm Beach. He was arrested, convicted and sent to prison, but was released three years ago through a program to relieve overcrowding.
Florida's prisons were ``dreadfully overcrowded'' when Lehman was released, said Laura Levings, a spokeswoman for the Florida Department of Corrections. ``We were approaching gridlock.''
But the early releases generated ``public outrage and a public outcry,'' and the state's attorney general later ruled that second-degree murderers shouldn't have been eligible for freedom, Levings said.
The issue was debated all the way to the Florida Supreme Court, which upheld the attorney general, she said. In 1993, Florida launched Operation Retake to regain custody of about 125 former inmates.
Most still lived in Florida and were returned to prison, Levings said. Lehman, now 28, is one of the few remaining.
Lehman, meantime, got married and is helping raise his wife Mary's 10-year-old daughter. Mary Lehman is pregnant with twins.
``If they didn't want me out, why'd they let me out?'' Lehman asked. ``If they get me back and let me out again, when are they coming for me the next time?''
York County court records show Lehman hasn't had so much as a traffic ticket since he moved here in 1993. He learned about Operation Retake when deputies came to his home Sept. 7, 1994, and arrested him for being a fugitive from justice. He believes he was tracked down through a credit application.
Lehman spent two weeks at the county jail before bond was set. His wife's family put up a piece of property to get him out.
Earlier this month, Circuit Judge Russell Carneal dismissed the fugitive indictment, ruling that Lehman ``has not been charged with any substantive crime.''
But Deputy Commonwealth's Attorney Phyllis Evans said she would keep trying to help Florida get Lehman back and was researching how to accomplish that. She said Lehman may be a law-abiding citizen now, but the big picture is that he's responsible for a crime he still needs to answer for.
Being sent back to prison would ``probably destroy all faith I have in the justice system,'' Lehman said.
``I can't keep a job if they're going to be arresting me all the time,'' he said. ``I want to raise my family. I want a better relationship with my kids than I had with my parents.
``I made a mistake, I paid for it,'' he said. ``Florida made a mistake, I still have to pay for it. I don't understand that.''
by CNB