CALIFORNIA BRIEFING / IONE
A week after a federal magistrate judge concluded he was convicted based on “false evidence” and deserved a new trial, convicted killer Bruce Lisker was denied parole Thursday for the ninth time.
State parole commissioners who conducted Lisker’s hearing at Mule Creek State Prison did not consider a lengthy report by U.S. Magistrate Judge Ralph Zarefsky, who had recommended that Lisker be granted a new trial or be set free because of the tainted evidence used against him and because he suffered from ineffective counsel.
Commissioners are required by law to assume that an inmate’s conviction is valid when deciding whether to grant parole.
Lisker was sentenced to 16 years to life for the 1983 slaying of his mother, Dorka.
Lisker’s next parole hearing was scheduled to occur in three years.
Meanwhile, Zarefsky’s recommendation, contained in a 69-page report, has been presented to U.S. District Judge Virginia Phillips, who can adopt his findings, alter them or reject them.
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-- Scott Glover
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