Sentenced to death, then life without parole, man gets another shot at freedom

By Brendan Kirby

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    MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — Gary Davis Hart II has spent his entire adult life in prison, but he’s slowing inched away from the ultimate punishment.

A multi-day hearing kicked off Wednesday to determine if he ever will get a chance to plead his case to the Alabama Board of Pardons and Paroles. Mobile County District Attorney Ashley Rich said will do everything possible to ensure that the prison cell door slams shut.

“We are of, course, strenuously arguing that he should not have the ability to get out on parole,” she told reporters. “He should remain in the penitentiary until he dies.”

A Mobile County Circuit Court jury convicted Hart of capital murder in 1990, and a judge sentenced him to death.

But after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2005 that the death penalty was unconstitutional for crimes committed by juveniles, a judge changed Hart’s sentence to life in prison without possibility of parole. He was just 16 years old when he and a friend robbed the L&N Seafood Restaurant on Aug. 12, 1989. Hart fatally shot Todd Evans, the assistant manager.

In 2012, the Supreme Court issued another death penalty ruling, this time holding that defendants who were younger than 18 at the time of their crimes could not automatically be denied the possibility of parole. A later decision made it retroactive, giving Hart a chance to petition for a new sentence.

Hart’s attorneys argue that he should at least have a chance at parole.

“In addition to evidence related to Gary’s childhood and other relevant mitigating evidence, this court will hear how Gary has transformed from being a frightened child on death row to the thoughtful and mature 49-year-old adult he is today,” his attorneys wrote in a court filing on the eve of the hearing. “Although Gary has spent two-thirds of his life (and his entire adult life) incarcerated, Gary has found ways to change himself for the better.”

That includes, the attorneys wrote, getting a General Education Development diploma and counseling other prisoners. He also has become “sincerely religious” and has received positive reviews from prison staff, according to the defense filing.

Rich recounted the brutal nature of the crime. She said Hart took two months to plan the robbery of the restaurant, which was at the spot where the Brick & Spoon restaurant is now. She said he knew where the cash was and pointed a .38 caliber revolver at an employee and forced him to show him the office.

“They weren’t moving fast enough for Gary Hart, the defendant, and he took the gun from the back of another employee and pointed it at the head of Todd Evans and shot him and killed him right there in the office of L&N Seafood,” she said.

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