KILLER'S LAWYERS TO SUE FOR PAROLE JUDGE WITHDRAWS UNUSUAL DEMAND FOR PRISON BOARD TO FREE ROSENKRANTZ.Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer Shifting legal strategy, attorneys for convicted Calabasas murderer Robert Rosenkrantz abandoned efforts Wednesday to pressure prison officials to free him and moved to challenge Gov. Gray Davis' denial of parole. At the request of Rosenkrantz's attorney, Van Nuys Superior Court Judge Kathryn Stoltz withdrew her highly unusual order of Jan. 20 instructing the Board of Prison Terms to find Rosenkrantz suitable for parole. The case has been controversial because of Stoltz's rulings, Davis' refusal to grant parole and Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. County District Attorney Gil Garcetti's decision not to oppose parole for Rosenkrantz. In court documents, attorney Rowan rowan ash tree which guards against fairies and witches. [Br. Folklore: Briggs, 344] See : Protection Klein said Rosenkrantz now wants to challenge the legality le·gal·i·ty n. pl. le·gal·i·ties 1. The state or quality of being legal; lawfulness. 2. Adherence to or observance of the law. 3. A requirement enjoined by law. Often used in the plural. of Davis' November 1999 decision denying him parole. ``I'm going to go after the governor now,'' Klein said outside court. He refused to comment further. Officials in Davis' office said the challenge has little merit because the governor considered the merits of the case, as required under the law. ``He does not have a set, blanket policy Blanket policy is a policy which behaves similarly to a varaity of things. Based on Webster's Dictionary it "covers a group or class of things or properties instead of one or more things mentioned individually, as where a mortgage secures various debts as a group, or subjects a on paroles at all,'' said Davis' deputy press secretary, Hilary McLean. ``The governor follows the law. He reviews each parole case that comes up before him on the exact same criteria that are reviewed by the parole board pa`role´ board` n. 1. A group of individuals with authority to determine whether a prisoner will be granted parole from a particular prison. .'' Rosenkrantz was convicted of second-degree murder after shooting a classmate 10 times with an Uzi in June 1985. He was upset that the classmate exposed him as a homosexual. He has served 15 years of a sentence of 17 years to life. At the most recent parole hearing in September, the Board of Prison Terms unanimously found Rosenkrantz unsuitable for parole, saying the crime was especially cruel, callous cal·lous adj. Of, relating to, or characteristic of a callus or callosity. callous of the nature of a callus; hard. and done in a dispassionate dis·pas·sion·ate adj. Devoid of or unaffected by passion, emotion, or bias. See Synonyms at fair1. dis·pas or calculated manner, as in an execution-style slaying. Stoltz then ordered the board to set a release date, but Davis blocked parole in November, saying Rosenkrantz has not yet served enough prison time. Rosenkrantz's case was one of 16 such parole requests that Davis either rejected or sent back for further review last year. County Deputy District Attorney Larry Diamond Larry Diamond is a professor, lecturer, adviser, and author on foreign policy, foreign aid, and democracy. In early 2004, he was a senior adviser on governance to the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. , who tried the case, said he was disappointed Stoltz made the ruling with a one-page statement and canceled the scheduled hearing Wednesday. ``I think it was a mistake not to hold a hearing because the procedural history of this case is so unusual that nobody knows where this leaves all the parties,'' Diamond said. Without the hearing, Stoltz left several issues unresolved, including whether she will consider the legal challenge against the governor and whether the parole hearing will go forward as planned Friday. |
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