โWe met Jeff at the Summit County Sheriff's Department. He looked much better than usual. And although he was dressed in casual prison clothes, he looked very neat and clean. He was nervous, as he was so often nervous, but he was not entirely withdrawn. For about half an hour, we talked about things peripherally related to the hearing, and I assured him that he would only be in court for an hour or so, and that there was no need for him to be nervous. The proceedings, I told him, were cut-and-dried. There would be no surprises of any kind.
The next day, only a few minutes before the hearing, Shari and I met with Jeff again. At this meeting, Jeff was clearly apprehensive about the scheduled hearing. He feared the same kind of media assault he'd faced in Milwaukee, but in addition, he dreaded the prospect of confronting the parents of Steven Hicks, or of hearing, once again, the details of their son's murder. We said a brief prayer as we all held hands.
โIt'll be all right, Jeff," I assured him.
He did not look so sure.โ
โIt's just a formal thing," I added, "something that you have to do."
Jeff nodded softly, as resigned as ever.
I smiled. โYou look good, Jeff," I said.
Which was true. He was dressed in a clean suit and neat dress shirt, but had not yet put on his tie.
"You should do your tie now," I told him. "We'll probably be going into the courtroom soon."
Jeff looked at me helplessly.
"Go ahead," I said, "tie your tie."
Jeff didn't move. "I can't," he said.
He shrugged. "I don't remember how," he said.
And so I stepped up to him, wrapped the tie around his neck, knotted it, and drew it neatly up against his throat.
"Now it looks good," I said.
Jeff smiled slightly. "Thanks, Dad," he said.
Within moments, he was led into the courtroom. The hearing lasted little more than an hour. The Mozenters were there as Jeff's lawyers, and Larry Vuillemin appeared as local counsel on Jeff's behalf. Overall, the proceeding was handled with great dignity. There were no legal pyrotechnics, no press frenzy. At the end of it, Jeff was sentenced to life imprisonment without possibility of parole.โ
โOnce the hearing was over, Jeff was quickly taken back to the waiting room, where we were given five minutes to say good-bye. He was still wearing the tie I had knotted for him.โ
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