MOUNT VERNON – St. Clair County Circuit Judge Robert Haida improperly sentenced Leondre McClendon to 80 years in prison for rape and other crimes he committed at age 16, Fifth District appellate judges ruled on July 20.
They relied on a fresh opinion of the Illinois Supreme Court, finding a sentence longer than 40 years for a juvenile offender violates the U.S. Constitution.
The Supreme Court found a shorter sentence provides a meaningful opportunity to obtain release based on maturity and rehabilitation.
According to background in the ruling, McClendon walked Belleville’s streets after dark on May 5, 2016, with a cousin the same age and a brother two years younger.
McClendon wore an electronic monitor because he had four felony charges of aggravated battery pending against him.
Judges had adjudicated him for aggravated robbery, aggravated battery, burglary, possession of a stolen vehicle, property damage, and resisting an officer.
An evaluation a year earlier set his intellectual quotient at 73, and described him as borderline mentally retarded.
As the youths walked, a vehicle passed and entered a condominium garage.
The driver stepped out and they rushed her.
McClendon stood behind her and held an object to her head.
“Shut up or I’ll shoot,” he said.
She gave them keys, telephone, and cash.
While cousin and brother figured out how to start the vehicle, McClendon put his hands down the victim’s pants.
When the vehicle started, McClendon told them to leave and they drove off.
McClendon pulled down her pants and his, and kept saying he’d shoot.
He tried to penetrate her but failed, so he ordered oral sex.
He grabbed his pants and left the garage.
She counted to 30 and ran to a neighbor.
Police issued a bulletin and around 1 a.m., an officer spotted the vehicle.
Detective Patrick Koebbe changed his route to intercept it, and saw it coming toward him with no headlights.
He started pursuit, and the vehicle sped up and ran red lights.
The chase exceeded 100 miles an hour but the vehicle entered a cul de sac.
As it slowed, the brothers jumped out and ran.
The vehicle hit a dumpster and crashed into a concrete ravine.
Keobbe outran McClendon and apprehended him.
Grand jurors issued three counts of aggravated sexual assault and counts of robbery, hijacking, and possession of a stolen vehicle.
Psychologist Daniel Cuneo evaluated McClendon and found he qualified for a plea of guilty but mentally ill.
He measured McClendon’s intelligence at 68.
Cuneo evaluated him again and found him fit to stand trial.
McClendon pleaded guilty but mentally ill, and Haida sentenced him to 70 years.
McClendon’s public defender Grant Menges moved to withdraw the plea, and Haida granted the motion.
Cuneo evaluated McClendon a third time, and found him fit to stand trial.
At trial in 2018, McClendon and his brother testified that he had no gun and he held his phone at the victim’s head.
McClendon admitted committing the crimes other than sexual assault.
Jurors found him guilty on all counts, although they removed the element of aggravation from one of the sexual assault counts.
A sentencing investigation found he dropped out in tenth grade, drank alcohol occasionally, and smoked marijuana every other day.
At a sentencing hearing, probation officer Tara Arthur-Bergman said she referred McClendon to a juvenile justice program at Chestnut Health Systems.
She said Chestnut tried to contact his mother but couldn’t, and he wasn’t assessed.
She said he hit an individual with a lunch tray in St. Clair County juvenile detention.
She said he incurred numerous violations on electronic monitoring.
By stipulation, the parties admitted 14 reports on his conduct in detention.
County corrections officer Rodney Wilson said McClendon kicked and stomped an inmate, fracturing his vertebrae.
Prosecutors recommended 75 years, and Menges claimed the minimum sentence was 16 years.
Haida decided the sentences should run consecutively, to protect the public.
He imposed 30 years each for two aggravated sexual assaults, and five years each for the other four counts.
McClendon appealed, not only for a shorter sentence but also for a finding that Haida improperly instructed the jury.
In 2019, the Illinois Supreme Court set the sentencing limit at 40 years.
Appellate prosecutor Sharon Shanahan of Mount Vernon conceded that Haida’s sentence meant life without parole.
That left the appellate judges with no issue except jury instruction, and they found Haida committed no error there.
Justice Judy Cates delivered the decision.
Justices Mark Boie and Randy Moore concurred.
Appellate defender Christopher Gehrke of Chicago represented McClendon.