Slain Youth’s Mother Wins D.A. Review of Charges

The mother of a 17-year-old Calabasas youth slain last summer was told Tuesday by a high-ranking official of the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office that he will consider reinstating a charge that could mean the death penalty or life imprisonment for the accused killer of her son.

Barbara Redman, whose son, Steven, was shot to death June 28, got the news during an hourlong meeting at the Van Nuys Courthouse with Assistant Dist. Atty. Curt Livesay, third in command.

Redman requested the meeting to protest a decision by prosecutors to drop allegations that Robert M. Rosenkrantz, 18, also of Calabasas, ambushed her son before shooting him nine times with an Uzi semi-automatic rifle in front of the Redman’s condominium on Las Virgenes Road.

Accompanied by her mother, Evelyn Alexander, and boyfriend, Jim Storm, Redman gave Livesay a petition bearing more than 700 signatures protesting the decision.

Death Penalty Involved

Under California law, “lying in wait” to commit a murder is one of several “special circumstances” allegations that allow prosecutors to seek the death penalty or life imprisonment without possibility of parole.

Livesay, who oversees special-circumstances cases, said in an interview after the meeting that he would review the case by reading police reports and preliminary-hearing transcripts, talking to the deputy district attorney in charge, and conducting further legal research. Livesay said the review will take at least several days.

“It’s all based on the evidence and whether, in our assessment, there’s a reasonable possibility of conviction,” Livesay said.

Redman said she was “exhausted” but pleased by Livesay’s decision. “Curt Livesay was a lovely man to meet, and he is going to look into it,” she said.

Court Finding Required

According to witnesses, Rosenkrantz sat in his car for several hours outside the Redman home before blocking Redman’s car, confronting him and opening fire, police said. Police believe that Rosenkrantz committed the crime because Redman and Rosenkrantz’s younger brother, Joey, had discovered him in a homosexual embrace the week before.

Mike Carroll, the head deputy of the Van Nuys branch of the district attorney’s office, said he decided to drop the allegation because Rosenkrantz’s car was not hidden from view, and because Redman got out of his car and exchanged words with Rosenkrantz before he was killed.

He said that court cases generally have required a finding that the assailant was concealed and killed his victim without warning to qualify as “lying in wait.”

Reinstatement Rare

Even if the district attorney’s office takes the rare measure of reinstating the allegation, a Superior Court judge could rule there is insufficient evidence to sustain the allegation, Carroll said.

Rosenkrantz has pleaded not guilty to one count of murder, which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years, plus two years because a gun was used in the attack. Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert L. Cohen has said Rosenkrantz could be released in as few as 13 years. He is being held without bail in the Hall of Justice.