Pro Bono Client Wins Appellate Victory in Fight for Sentence Reduction

Paul, Weiss secured a significant appellate victory on behalf of our client, who is serving a life sentence and is eligible for a sentence reduction under Washington, D.C.’s Incarceration Reduction Amendment Act (IRAA). The IRAA allows people who committed a crime before the age of 25 and who have served at least 15 years in prison to petition for a sentence reduction. After the trial court denied our client’s petition, the D.C. Court of Appeals vacated that decision, finding that the lower court failed to properly examine crucial evidence, and remanded the case for further proceedings.

Our client was convicted of serious crimes in the 1990s, but has had an exemplary prison record for the past two decades and has substantially invested in his own rehabilitation. His efforts include over 900 hours of educational and vocational programming, completion of various recidivism reduction and victim-impact programs, certifications in both business education and culinary arts, and service as a mentor for newly incarcerated people.

A team of Paul, Weiss lawyers presented his case for a sentence reduction to the D.C. Superior Court in August 2022. Our evidence included, among other things, unrebutted testimony from a former federal prison warden who testified that our client was one of only two incarcerated persons serving a life sentence whom she had ever seen approved for transfer to a medium security facility in her entire career—a testament to his self-improvement and low risk of recidivism. Unfortunately, without analyzing the expert testimony, the trial court denied our client’s petition for a sentence reduction because of his disciplinary record, which included just two infractions over the last two decades.

On appeal, we argued that the trial court abused its discretion and erred by failing to grapple with the compelling expert evidence. On August 29, a unanimous panel of the D.C. Court of Appeals agreed, vacating and remanding the case for further proceedings.

Litigation associate Braeshaun Dozier argued the appeal. In addition to Braeshaun, the Paul, Weiss team includes litigation partner Paul Brachman and counsel Justin Lerer. Paul, Weiss will continue to represent the client on remand.