State Seeks Removal of Judge in Killer’s Parole Case

The state attorney general’s office sought Monday to remove a Los Angeles Superior Court judge from hearing a case seeking parole for convicted murderer Robert Rosenkrantz, saying Judge Kathryne Stoltz is prejudiced and cannot be impartial.

“Judge Stoltz has heard extensive arguments on this case, and has issued strongly worded orders,” said Nathan Barankin, a spokesman for the attorney general’s office.

Stoltz has made two rulings on the case that were favorable to Rosenkrantz, 33, of Calabasas. In 1999, she ordered the parole board to find him suitable for release, and later ordered his immediate release.

Parole advocates have sought to make Rosenkrantz a test of the governor’s stance against paroling murderers. Since taking office, Gov. Gray Davis has allowed the parole of only one convicted killer in the more than 30 cases he has reviewed.

In 1985, Rosenkrantz shot 17-year-old Steven Redman of Calabasas. The week before the killing, Redman exposed Rosenkrantz as a homosexual to Rosenkrantz’s parents. Despondent and enraged, Rosenkrantz bought an Uzi and killed Redman after a confrontation. He was convicted of second-degree murder, and a judge sentenced him to 17 years to life in prison.

In the 15 years Rosenkrantz has been a prisoner, he has been a model inmate, earning a bachelor’s degree and tutoring other prisoners, his lawyers said.

But Davis twice denied parole, saying Rosenkrantz has not served sufficient time for the crime.

Last week, Rosenkrantz’s attorney, Rowan Klein, filed an amended lawsuit alleging that Davis acted unconstitutionally in denying his client parole.

Stoltz rejected the lawsuit, citing an appellate court ruling that barred her, on procedural grounds, from hearing any more motions on the case.

But on Friday, the same appellate court ruled that the Superior Court had jurisdiction.

Klein said he was unfazed by the latest legal wrangling and that “whether judge Stoltz hears it, the case will go forward.”