Bruce Lisker
| Bruce E. Lisker | |
|---|---|
 Bruce Lisker in 2012. | |
| Born |
Baby Boy Johnson (adopted) 1965 Valley Presbyterian Hospital, Van Nuys, California |
| Residence | San Fernando Valley, California |
| Occupation |
|
| Known for | Being wrongly convicted in the March 1983 murder of his adoptive mother, Dorka. He was exonerated and released from prison in August 2009. |
| Home town | Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles |
| Height | 5 ft 6 in (168 cm) |
| Weight | 160 |
| Criminal charge | CA Penal Code § 187; Murder, Second Degree |
| Criminal penalty | 16 years to life |
| Criminal status | Convicted (1985). Conviction overturned (2009) |
| Spouse(s) | Kara Noble (married 2011) |
| Parent(s) |
Dorka Grace Lisker (1916-1983) Robert Bruce Lisker (1926-1995) |
| Website | brucelisker.com/ |
Bruce Lisker, an American male, at age 17 was wrongly arrested, tried, and convicted for the March 10, 1983 murder of his mother, Dorka, 66, in the family's Sherman Oaks residence.[1]
Lisker served more than 26 years of a 16-years-to-life sentence in California prisons, including the California Youth Authority (now California Division of Juvenile Justice; 1986-7), San Quentin State Prison (1987-9), and Mule Creek State Prison (1989-2009). His conviction was overturned in a 2009 ruling by United States district court judge Virginia A. Phillips, in which she found that his 1985 conviction was obtained through use of false evidence and ineffective assistance of counsel.[2]
Lisker was freed on August 13, 2009.[3]
After initially declaring that Lisker would be retried for the murder of his mother, on September 21, 2009 the Los Angeles County District Attorney instead dropped all charges, admitting that they were unable to proceed with their prosecution of Lisker due to a lack of evidence.[4]
On August 13, 2011, Lisker married Kara Noble, a woman he had met during his time in prison, on the 2-year anniversary of his release.[5]
On October 15, 2015, the Los Angeles Times reported that Lisker had agreed to a tentative settlement in his lawsuit against the City of Los Angeles in which he "accused police detectives of fabricating evidence to put him behind bars for 26 years."[6] On January 19, 2016, the Los Angeles City Council agreed to the terms of that proposed settlement, awarding $7.6 million to Lisker. Confidential memos from the City Attorney to the Council, obtained by the Los Angeles Times, called Lisker's case "extremely dangerous" for the city should it be put to a jury, and said the results of doing so could be "financially devastating." City Councilman Paul Krekorian, who heads the budget committee that weighs settlement payments, called Lisker's case the “very unfortunate” result of police misconduct in the past, but that it did not reflect how the department operates today.[7]
Commenting on two wrongful conviction settlements the City Council was settling that day - Lisker's, and that of Kash Delano Register, a man who served 34 years in prison for a murder he did not commit - Krekorian stated, “It’s just regrettable that these two individuals spent the better part of their lives in prison as a result of the inadequacy of the investigations that happened back then.”[8]
Lisker's case has been featured in several Los Angeles Times articles, the first of which earned its authors, investigative reporters Matt Lait and Scott Glover, the Heywood Broun award on behalf of the Times.[9] The case was also featured in an episode of the CBS News television program 48 Hours Mysteries, entitled "The Whole Truth," hosted by correspondent Erin Moriarty.[10]
References
- ↑ Glover, Scott and Lait, Matt. "New Light on a Distant Verdict", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 22 May 2005. Retrieved on 11 January 2013.
- ↑ Lait, Matt and Glover, Scott. "Man wrongfully convicted in mother's 1983 slaying, jurist says", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 4 March 2009. Retrieved on 11 January 2013.
- ↑ Lait, Matt. "Bruce Lisker walks out of prison, but not yet entirely free", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 13 August 2009. Retrieved on 11 January 2013.
- ↑ Lait, Matt and Glover, Scott. "Prosecutors won't retry Bruce Lisker in mother's slaying", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 21 September 2009. Retrieved on 11 January 2013.
- ↑ Schneider, Iris. "Lisker Chronicles: Bruce and Kara get married", LAobserved.com, Los Angeles, 15 August 2011. Retrieved on 23 September 2015.
- ↑ Lait, Matt. "L.A. set to settle with man wrongly convicted of killing mother", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 15 October 2015. Retrieved on 9 November 2015.
- ↑ Reyes, Emily Alpert and Lait, Matt. "L.A. to pay $24 million to two men imprisoned for decades after wrongful murder convictions", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 19 January 2016. Retrieved on 23 January 2016.
- ↑ Reyes, Emily Alpert and Lait, Matt. "L.A. to pay $24 million to two men imprisoned for decades after wrongful murder convictions", Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, 19 January 2016. Retrieved on 23 January 2016.
- ↑ Romenesko, Jim. "LAT, Knight Ridder reporters win Heywood Broun Awards", Poynter.org, Los Angeles, 17 March 2006. Retrieved on 11 January 2013.
- ↑ Erin Moriarty, Reporter. "48 Hours Mysteries: The Whole Truth", CBS News, New York, 14 October 2010. Link retrieved on 11 January 2013.