Features

Judge releases murderer

The Associated Press
Saturday September 16, 2000

LOS ANGELES – A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge has ordered a convicted killer released on parole because he has not received a fair hearing from Gov. Gray Davis’ parole board. 

Judge Kathryne Ann Stoltz on Thursday ordered Robert Rosenkrantz freed “forthwith” because he “has not received a fair parole hearing and is not likely to at any time in the foreseeable future.” 

The state Board of Prison Terms said it would seek an emergency stay of the order with the state Court of Appeal in Los Angeles. 

If the ruling stands, Rosenkrantz will be the second murderer released on parole, despite campaign promises from Davis that no killer would be released on his watch. 

The parole board had voted in June to release Rosenkrantz in 2001 but never finalized the decision. 

Stoltz’s order for release came after Rosenkrantz’s attorneys asked her to recalculate the 2001 release date. 

Rosenkrantz was convicted of the 1985 killing of 17-year-old Steven Redman, one week after Redman had clubbed him with a flashlight and broken his nose. Redman told Rosenkrantz’s father of his son’s homosexuality. Rosenkrantz, then 18, was thrown out of his house. 

Rosenkrantz was convicted of second-degree murder. In prison, he earned college degrees and has had a flawless record. He has three job offers and has reconciled with his parents. 

Jane Woods, convicted in the 1987 killing of her husband, will be the first murderer released on parole since Davis took office. She is expected to be released later this month. 

The same appellate court ruled in Rosenkrantz’s favor last year when the parole board was threatened with contempt of court. The state Supreme Court upheld that decision.