Murderer’s Parents Denounce Davis for Barring Son’s Parole

Speaking out tearfully, the parents of convicted murderer Robert Rosenkrantz on Tuesday denounced Gov. Gray Davis’ decision to block their son’s parole and urged his immediate release.

“You need to distinguish, governor, between people who are dangerous and people like my son . . . who have paid their debt to society,” said Herbert Rosenkrantz, appearing with his wife, Barbara, at a news conference in front of Van Nuys Superior Court.

“Fifteen years ago Robert did the most horrible thing you can imagine. But 15 years have gone by and Robert’s a different person today,” Herbert Rosenkrantz said. He accused the governor of following a “political agenda” in denying his son’s release.

The comments, the first made publicly by Rosenkrantz’s parents, came shortly before a judge rebuffed another attempt to free their son.

His parole has consistently been opposed by Davis, most recently in October, and by both outgoing Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Gil Garcetti and his elected successor, Steve Cooley.

Advocates have made Rosenkrantz’s case a test of Davis’ hard-line stance against granting parole to murderers. Since taking office, Davis has allowed the parole of only one convicted killer among the 33 cases he has reviewed.

Davis’ spokeswoman, Hilary McLean, said the governor acted “lawfully and properly” in blocking Rosenkrantz’s release. In a written decision, Davis said he believes that Rosenkrantz “has not served sufficient time in prison for this very serious crime.”

Deputy Dist. Atty. Larry Diamond, who prosecuted Rosenkrantz, said his family’s latest legal action is “without merit,” and added, “Any reasonable person familiar with the facts of the case would agree with the governor’s conclusion.”

The case has been in and out of California courts, and representatives of Rosenkrantz have pursued it for two years.

Robert Rosenkrantz was 18 when he killed Steven Redman, a 17-year-old Calabasas schoolmate, in 1985, after Redman exposed Rosenkrantz’s homosexuality to his parents.

A week later, armed with an Uzi semiautomatic rifle he had bought, Rosenkrantz waited six hours outside Redman’s home, confronted him and demanded a retraction. When Redman refused, Rosenkrantz shot him 10 times.

Rosenkrantz fled Calabasas and was a fugitive for nearly a month before he turned himself in. In 1986 a Van Nuys jury convicted him of second-degree murder, and he was sentenced to 17 years to life in prison.

During Rosenkrantz’s murder trial, witnesses testified that he said he planned to kill Redman, and had practiced shooting with a rented gun before buying the Uzi. Rosenkrantz testified that he was despondent after his homosexuality was revealed and shot Redman in anger.

In his 15 years in prison, Rosenkrantz has been a model prisoner and has earned a bachelor’s degree. He has expressed remorse for the killing, and prison psychiatrists have described his potential for future violence as “well below average.”

Robert Rosenkrantz is ready to reenter society as a productive, law-abiding citizen, his father said, adding that his son even has job offers waiting for him--including one from an Encino insurance company.

He said his son has been remorseful and is fully rehabilitated.

Addressing her son through the media, Barbara Rosenkrantz said: “Please don’t give up. Hold on to the goodness of life as you have for the last 15 years.”

On Tuesday, Robert Rosenkrantz filed an amended lawsuit in Van Nuys Superior Court alleging that Davis’ Oct. 28 denial of parole was unconstitutional. His attorney, Rowan Klein, said the governor has “set up criteria” for parole that are in violation of the law.

But later in the day, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Kathryne Ann Stoltz declined to consider the request, part of an overall challenge first filed in 1998 to the parole board’s denial of the release.

Citing an order by a court of appeal, Stoltz suggested in a written statement that Rosenkrantz take his case to an appellate judge.

In 1996, a three-man panel of the Board of Prison Terms found Rosenkrantz suitable for parole, but it was reversed by the full board after an internal review. Rosenkrantz filed a lawsuit challenging the board’s actions in 1998, and Stoltz in 1999 ordered the board to find him suitable for release. Faced with the threat of being cited for contempt, the board granted parole.

Davis then blocked the parole, as he has for all murderers in California except one.

An appellate court affirmed Stoltz’s decision earlier this year, and Stoltz later ordered Rosenkrantz’s immediate release, but appeals judges blocked the release after the state attorney general’s office, representing Davis, intervened.