Youth Guilty of Murdering Schoolmate Who Had Exposed Him as a Homosexual

A young Calabasas man was found guilty of second-degree murder Monday in the shooting death of a 17-year-old schoolmate who exposed him as a homosexual on the night of his high school graduation.

A seven-man, five-woman Van Nuys Superior Court jury deliberated just over two days before finding Robert M. Rosenkrantz, 19, guilty of second-degree murder with a firearm in the June 28, 1985, death of Steven Redman, also of Calabasas.

Van Nuys Superior Court Judge James A. Albracht set sentencing for July 7. Because he used a firearm in the shooting, Rosenkrantz faces a maximum prison sentence of 17 years to life.

Victim Shot 10 Times

According to trial testimony, Rosenkrantz shot Redman 10 times with an Uzi semiautomatic rifle on a Calabasas street after Redman and Rosenkrantz’s younger brother, Joey, who were best friends, told him they had learned he was a homosexual.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Larry Diamond, who had sought a verdict of first-degree murder, declined to comment on the verdict, saying, “I don’t second-guess jurors.”

“I am disappointed,” said defense attorney Richard Plotin, who had sought a verdict of voluntary manslaughter. He argued that his client killed in the heat of passion.

After the verdict, Rosenkrantz turned and stared sadly at his parents, Herbert and Barbara Rosenkrantz, who sat in the front row holding hands. The parents did not show any emotion, and later refused to talk to reporters.

The victim’s father, Larry Redman, left the courtroom moments after the verdict.

Steven Redman’s mother, Barbara Redman, who is divorced from the father, said she was shocked, and added: “It should have been first degree. He killed my son in cold blood.”

Mrs. Redman said she pitied Rosenkrantz’s parents and brother, but believed that the convicted man does not feel any remorse.

Rosenkrantz, who testified in his own behalf, maintained his composure while on the stand. He testified that he waited for four hours outside Redman’s condominium the morning of the shooting with the intention of only blowing up Redman’s car.

‘They Wanted Remorse’

The defendant said that he shot Redman after trying unsuccessfully to get him to retract his story. Redman, he said, had called him “a (obscenity) faggot.”

Plotin said Rosenkrantz’s composure on the stand hurt him.

“They wanted remorse. They wanted him crying. They wanted him wound up and sobbing,” the defense lawyer said. “But you can’t take a kid who’s guarded all his life and have him cry like a wind-up toy.”

Jury foreman Peter Kavaloski, a Lockheed engineer from Los Angeles, said it appeared Friday that there would be a hung jury because five jurors wanted a verdict of voluntary manslaughter, while seven wanted second-degree murder. But Monday morning, he said, the five jurors were persuaded to change their vote to second-degree murder.

Only one juror at first advocated first-degree murder, and she was quickly dissuaded, he said.

Planned and Deliberated

Kavaloski said the majority of jurors were convinced that Rosenkrantz had planned and deliberated the killing, based on testimony that the defendant had told several people that he planned to kill Redman, and had rented a gun to practice shooting before purchasing the gun he used to kill Redman.

“The circumstances of his family and youth made it more difficult to reach a verdict,” Kavaloski said.

Juror David Schaeffer, a retired sales executive, said he and several other jurors believed that the killing was voluntary manslaughter, and considered the involuntary revelation of Rosenkrantz’s homosexuality important.

Schaeffer said he believed that Rosenkrantz was “emotionally raped. . . . It’s like somebody invading my house, robbing my house.”

But he added, “I said, ‘Look, I’m not going to be able to change nine people’s minds,’ ” and voted with the majority.