Garrard Beeney talked to ABC’s Nightline about the Firm’s pro bono work representing Nikki Addimando in her sentencing reduction and efforts to win clemency.
Nikki was convicted of murder in 2019 after killing her abuser and then-boyfriend in self-defense and sentenced to 19 years to life in prison. Garrard’s team obtained a resentencing for her under New York’s Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act (DVSJA), which allows courts to shorten sentences when domestic violence was a contributing factor to a crime. Nikki was re-sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison. Nikki’s team has now sent a clemency petition to New York Governor Kathy Hochul, signed by more than 18,000 supporters.
“You don’t want to be a part of a system…that creates injustice,” Garrard told Nightline. “[A] law degree gives you a remarkable ability to change things, one client at a time.”
S&C began representing Nicole in June 2019 and has devoted more than 4,000 hours to her representation. The S&C team representing Nicole was led by Garrard Beeney and also included Amanda Davidoff, Kamil Shields, James Browne, Timothy Weinstein, Alexander Self and Samantha Briggs.