Milbank has successfully obtained a reduced sentence for its pro bono client Bart Stewart, who was serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Following a hearing on October 7, 2021, Mr. Stewart was granted a new sentence of life with the possibility of parole.
In 1992, Mr. Stewart was tried for a murder he committed when he was 16 years old. After a jury convicted him but declined to impose the death penalty, Mr. Stewart was automatically given the only alternative sentence permissible at that time: life without the possibility of parole. He has served decades in Louisiana State Penitentiary, also known as Angola—a notoriously harsh maximum-security prison—without any hope of ever being released. In 2012, however, the Supreme Court held in Miller v. Alabama that life without parole for juvenile offenders is a violation of the Eighth Amendment unless a court holds a hearing and determines that the crime was the result of irreparable corruption rather than the transient immaturity of youth. And in 2016, in Montgomery v. Louisiana, the Supreme Court ruled that Miller is retroactive, and that defendants like Mr. Stewart are entitled to new sentencing hearings to consider mitigating factors.
In preparing for Mr. Stewart’s resentencing hearing, Milbank investigated Mr. Stewart’s childhood circumstances, analyzed his prison records, met with members of his and the victim’s families, and worked with expert witnesses to develop arguments that Mr. Stewart’s offense reflected a tragic confluence of mitigating factors rather than irreparable corruption—including that Mr. Stewart was only 16 years old at the time, was intellectually disabled, experienced a violent and unstable childhood, and used drugs in his youth. In addition, Mr. Stewart had no meaningful criminal history before the offense, has no record of violence during his time in prison, and has made great efforts toward self-improvement.
Milbank represented Mr. Stewart at his resentencing hearing before Judge Tarvald Smith in East Baton Rouge. Given Mr. Stewart’s youth at the time of the offense and the fact that the victim’s family did not oppose resentencing, Judge Smith reduced Mr. Stewart’s sentence to life with the possibility of parole, which is the lowest sentence permitted by law.
“Bart’s original sentence was unduly harsh given his age and the circumstances of the offense,” said partner Alexander Lees. “After working tirelessly on this case for years, we are pleased that the court ruled in line with Supreme Court precedent. Milbank will continue to represent Bart as he works toward parole.”
The Milbank team is led by partners Alexander Lees and David Gelfand and associates Matthew Grier and Joseph Kammerman, and also includes associates Christopher Almon, Joseph DaSilva, Vanessa Gonzalez-Ahmed, Ashley Satterlee, Jordan Anderson, Chassity Bobbitt, Lyndsey Pere and Isabel Pitaro.
October 21, 2021
