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Middle ground penalty: 15 years

One side begs for mercy; the other side seeks 30 years for a manslaughter case.

By COLLEEN JENKINS
Published December 5, 2006

TAMPA - A paralegal convicted of manslaughter with a weapon asked for mercy. The family of the man he killed asked for 30 years in prison, the maximum penalty.

Circuit Judge Daniel Sleet said each side would leave court Tuesday unsatisfied. "Nobody wins in this case," Sleet said.

Then he sentenced James Behanna to 15 years in prison, followed by five years of probation. Right down the middle, mediating two sides of a courtroom sniffling into tissues and fighting for their version of justice.

Behanna confronted 21-year-old Robert Mears Jr. on Dec. 7 after he refused to leave Behanna's wife's law office property on N Florida Avenue.

Behanna, 37, worked there as a paralegal. He tussled with Mears and then followed him off the property, believing he had unlawfully trespassed and needed to wait for police. At his trial in October, Behanna said he stabbed Mears after the younger man choked him.

Jurors rejected a "stand your ground" jury instruction, whereby Behanna's use of force would have been justified because he felt threatened in a place he had a right to be.

Behanna's supporters, who sent about 50 letters to the judge, said the incident was out of character for the man they called a friend, husband, father and son. But Mears' family and friends, who flew from his home state of Pennsylvania for the sentencing, said Mears tried to defuse the situation by walking away.

By the time Sleet announced the sentence, the two sides' emotions seemed spent.

Colleen Jenkins can be reached at 813 226-3337 or cjenkins@sptimes.com.

[Last modified December 5, 2006, 00:20:56]