Ex-Attorney Gets 3-Year Prison Term : Law: Former prosecutor from Woodland Hills was convicted for using false testimony in ’89 murder trial.

A former Woodland Hills attorney, who used false testimony from jailhouse witnesses to win a partial acquittal for a client in a 1989 murder trial, was sentenced to three years in state prison Friday.

Leonard R. Milstein sat silently as San Fernando Superior Court Judge William A. MacLaughlin denied probation and then read the sentence. Milstein’s family and friends, who spilled out of the small courtroom, let out moans of frustration over the judge’s decision.

“There isn’t anyone who should be more aware of the values of our legal system . . . and the oath an attorney takes to uphold that system than an attorney,” MacLaughlin said.

He added that Milstein at no point acknowledged his “fault or guilt . . . and there was no remorse by the defendant on what has occurred.”

Milstein was released on $100,000 bail pending an appeal of the decision.

The 51-year-old former prosecutor turned private attorney was convicted in June of bribery, perjury and obstruction of justice as a result of his defense tactics during the 1989 trial.

During the murder trial, Milstein deflected suspicion away from his client, Brad Millward, and toward a key prosecution witness with the testimony of a County Jail inmate who Milstein had promised to represent if the inmate lied in court. The inmate, Alberto Gutierrez, later confessed to authorities when Milstein stopped showing up for his court cases.

“What you have is a guy who wanted to win at all costs and that’s what he did,” Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Foltz said. “The message needs to go out to attorneys that if you’re going to ignore your ethical obligation and commit a crime, you’re going to suffer the consequences.”

Millward initially faced the death penalty for the drug-related, execution-style slayings of Bruce Gruber, 28, of Yucca Valley and Albert Dulyea, 37, of Norwalk. Both were killed July 5, 1987, in the Antelope Valley.

Milstein’s defense of Millward, however, was so successful that a jury acquitted Millward of murdering Dulyea and deadlocked on charges involving Gruber’s death. Millward pleaded guilty to a reduced charge and was sentenced to eight years. He was paroled last year.

Prior to his own sentencing on Friday, Milstein made a 30-minute impassioned plea before MacLaughlin, presenting himself as a person who has always put others first and was raised not to lie, and as an ethical lawyer who was duped by his client.

“This is the most difficult time of my entire life,” Milstein said in a soft-spoken voice. “This conviction has been a bitter pill.”

Milstein asked for probation and extensive community service in lieu of a prison sentence. He added that he will probably no longer be able to practice law, which would be the worst punishment. Milstein moved his law practice from Woodland Hills to San Luis Obispo.

“I would never in my wildest dreams go to somebody and ask them to perjure themselves,” he told MacLaughlin. “I would not do anything to forfeit my reputation and my client’s interest and the court has seen that.”

Milstein portrayed Millward as a client who made numerous deals behind his back and described Gutierrez as an opportunistic career criminal who only testified against Milstein because “he saw that as a get-out-of-jail coupon.”

In addition to Milstein’s statement and more than 40 letters of support received by the court, a handful of colleagues--public defenders, Municipal Court judges and private attorneys--spoke on Milstein’s behalf. So did longtime friends and his mother, Sylvia Milstein, who ended her comments by angrily denouncing prosecutors. His sister, Elaine Milstein, sobbed during most of the daylong sentencing process.

“There is a small, small percentage of lawyers that might be capable of suborning perjury, and Lennie would not be on that list in no shape or form,” Deputy Public Defender Howard C. Waco said.

“You could always count on Leonard to do the right thing,” college friend Dominic Fortunado said.

But MacLaughlin was not swayed and said Milstein clearly was an active participant in the perjury.

Milstein’s sentence was a bittersweet victory for Donna Dulyea, sister of the slain Albert Dulyea, and her family.

“Truth didn’t find its way into the courtroom where Mr. Milstein was practicing in 1989,” Dulyea said. “Mr. Milstein managed to get in the middle of a process, where justice could have been served, by presenting day after day of false testimony. . . . I think he needs to be in jail right now.”