Cravath’s Incarcerated Survivors Initiative Secures Release of Domestic Abuse Survivor

On November 28, 2023, the Queens County Criminal Court entered an order on consent resentencing pro bono client A.M. and securing her release. A.M. had been incarcerated since June 2010. She was originally sentenced in June 2011, pursuant to a plea agreement, to a 20‑year determinate sentence plus five years’ post‑release supervision for first‑degree manslaughter after her romantic partner, who had subjected her to severe domestic abuse, killed her former partner, who had sex trafficked her and also subjected her to severe domestic abuse.

The DVSJA is a New York statute that allows courts to resentence domestic violence survivors who can show that they were a victim of domestic violence at the time of their crime, that domestic violence was a significant contributing factor to their crime and that the sentence imposed for that crime was unduly harsh. A.M. grew up in Puerto Rico. Beginning in childhood, she was abused by her family and then ultimately abused by her romantic partners. After moving to New York City, she was subjected to sex trafficking, and when she managed to escape the trafficking, the man who helped her continued to abuse her. During a confrontation between her partner and her former trafficker, her partner killed her former trafficker. A.M. pleaded guilty to first‑degree manslaughter, acknowledging she had coordinated the confrontation.

Cravath partnered with the Legal Aid Society to develop the facts and evidentiary support for her resentencing application. After more than two years of investigation, Cravath filed her resentencing application, seeking a new sentence of five years’ incarceration and five years’ post‑release supervision pursuant to the DVSJA sentencing framework. Cravath then engaged the Queens DA’s Office in an effort to reach an agreement on a new sentence or, alternatively, minimize the contested issues. When it became clear that the Queens DA’s Office would not consent to a resentence under the DVSJA framework, Cravath negotiated a new sentence of 15 years’ incarceration and five years’ post‑release supervision. A.M. was resentenced on November 28, 2023, and released on December 21, 2023.

Cravath represented A.M. as part of the Firm’s Incarcerated Survivors Initiative, a program devoted to assisting incarcerated survivors of domestic violence and sexual abuse in resentencing proceedings, parole hearings and civil rights. A.M. is now the fourth client of the Incarcerated Survivors Initiative helped to obtain release from prison.

The Cravath team included partners Antony L. Ryan and Helam Gebremariam and associates Melissa A. Syring and Catherine G. Sheets.