GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Although he was only 15 when he killed a man outside a Grand Rapids grocery store, disruptive behavior in prison and other factors preclude Willie Terrell Clemons from having his life sentence reconsidered, a judge ruled.
“The defendant has, rather persistently, proven himself a potential high risk and threat to society,’’ Kent County Circuit Court Judge Curt Benson said in denying a new sentence hearing.
An attorney representing Clemons requested Friday’s hearing to correct what she said was an invalid sentence.
Defense attorney Alona Sharon said a new sentencing hearing was warranted because Clemons had ineffective legal representation and then-Judge Dennis Leiber resentenced Clemons “with incomplete or bad information.’’
Kent County Assistant Prosecutor James Benison disagreed. He said a psychological evaluation was presented to the court last December. The attorney representing Clemons, he said, “did a great job.’’
“The bottom line is she just lost,’’ Benison said. “That is not ineffective assistance of counsel. Every judge is going to come to their own conclusion in these sorts of hearings.’’
Clemons shot 20-year-old Jason Stanfield in the parking lot of Fulton Heights Foods on Oct. 16, 1995. Police say it happened during an apparent robbery. Clemons had recently committed two similar robberies in the same area.
A jury found him guilty of felony murder; he was sentenced in September of 1996 to mandatory life in prison.
That sentence was upended when the U.S. Supreme Court in 2012 struck down mandatory life sentences for juveniles. It said life sentences are still an option, but only under the rarest of circumstances.
Clemons appeared before Leiber for resentencing in December. The judge said a life sentence was appropriate given the violent nature of the crime, Clemons’ history of violent behavior and hundreds of misconduct violations while in prison.
Benson agreed.
“The evidence pretty overwhelmingly shows he poses a danger to society,’’ Benson said.
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