Brother of accused LAPD detective criticizes judge for high bail

The brother of a Los Angeles Police Department detective accused of murder broke his family's silence Friday, criticizing the judge in the case for setting his sister's bail at $10 million and saying she is struggling with health issues in jail.

Stephanie Lazarus, a 26-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, has been in custody since June, when she was arrested for the 1986 bludgeoning and shooting death of a woman who had married her former boyfriend.

At a bail hearing in December, Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Robert J. Perry raised eyebrows throughout his courtroom with the unusually high bail, saying he believed it was a "near certainty" that Lazarus, 49, would flee if granted a lower amount.

The amount was double what prosecutors had requested and far greater than the $300,000 to $500,000 that Lazarus' attorney, Mark Overland, had sought.

On Friday, following another hearing in the case, Steven Lazarus spoke to the media, calling on Perry to reconsider.

"The concept of innocent until proven guilty doesn't seem to prevail anymore," he said. The bail "is way unreasonable."

Steven Lazarus reiterated earlier comments made by Overland that the bail was exorbitant when compared to wealthy celebrity defendants Phil Spector and Robert Blake, who both remained free on $1-million bail during their murder trials, despite arguably having the means to flee.

The brother's comments were the first by a member of Lazarus' family since her arrest sent shock waves throughout the LAPD and garnered international media attention.

The badly beaten body of Sherri Rae Rasmussen was discovered in her Van Nuys townhouse on Feb. 29, 1986. Evidence at the scene indicated Rasmussen's attacker had bound the 29-year-old nurse's wrists before shooting her three times in the torso at close range.

Months earlier, Rasmussen had married John Ruetten, who had dated Lazarus for years before meeting his wife. At the time of the killing, Ruetten and Rasmussen's father told investigators Lazarus could be a suspect. Their suspicions were largely ignored as detectives pursued a theory that Rasmussen had been killed by two men trying to burglarize her home.

LAPD cold case detectives reopened the case last year, and genetic tests on a preserved saliva sample collected from a bite mark on Rasmussen's forearm showed it had been inflicted by a woman. New interviews with Ruetten and others led detectives to focus on Lazarus, who was arrested after her DNA was matched to the saliva from the bite mark.

Overland succeeded in getting a higher court to knock down Perry's initial order that the $10-million bail be paid in cash, but his appeals to have the amount lowered have so far been unsuccessful.

In making his comments, Steven Lazarus said the crime was "horrific, it's beyond our comprehension," but proclaimed his sister's innocence. And, in a preview of what is likely to be the defense's main strategy during trial, he tried to cast doubt on the reliability of the DNA evidence against his sister, saying it had not been stored properly and that someone had tampered with it.

It was a line of argument that John Taylor, an attorney representing Rasmussen's family, quickly dismissed.

"The court, after the preliminary hearing, heard the evidence and determined that [Lazarus] had the motive, the opportunity," to commit the murder, Taylor said. "And the weight of the DNA evidence convinced him that she was a high flight risk and set an appropriate bail."

Steven Lazarus also said his sister has not been receiving adequate treatment in jail for cancer that requires testing and adjustments to medicine every few months. He declined to specify the type of cancer or whether her condition has deteriorated in custody.

--Joel Rubin and Andrew Blankstein at the Los Angeles County criminal courthouse

Photo: Lazarus in earlier court appearance. L.A. Times file

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Comments

[Marco]

Shocking.

Only shocking because a police officer was given high bail. Look at the court calendar, and the host of people accused of the same crime, who are denied bail unless they are a celebrity.

Guess what? Cops are people too, no better or worse than the rest of us.

[Larry]

You know, there is probable cause to arrest her for murder. The jury will decide whether the detectives are right or not in the end. Until that day though, I think I'd err on the side of caution when it comes to her freedom (DNA match..hello anybody listening?) because all I have to do is think of how terrifying that poor nurse felt when she was beaten, tied up and shot in the chest 3 times at pointblank range. And her alleged killer didn't ever feel remorse enough to give her parents the decency of a good night's sleep.

A cop in LA.

[Cottage Industry]

The victim is struggling with health issues too....SHE'S DEAD! Rot in jail.

[Bob]

Hmmm... well if she needs to go to the doctor, she should probably stay out of jail!

Not killing people would be a good start... but too late for that now.

[Larry UPDATED- CORRECTED SPELLING]

You know, there is probable cause to arrest her for murder. The jury will decide whether the detectives are right or not in the end. Until that day though, I think I'd err on the side of caution when it comes to her freedom (DNA match..hello anybody listening?) because all I have to do is think of how terrified that poor nurse felt when she was beaten, tied up and shot in the chest 3 times at pointblank range. And her alleged killer didn't ever feel remorse enough to give her parents the decency of a good night's sleep.

A cop in LA.

[hutch]

awww....boo hooo....poor little baby got a fever? Its all gravy when it's just a normal person being charged with that type of crime isnt it?? I hope she ROTS in there until she gets her day in court, just like anyone else charged with murder. Cry me a river

[Josh]

A million dollars bail for murder?

Heck, the City of Los Angeles demanded a one million dollars bail for the poor guy who put up the mega sign on his building. Remember?

Seems our L.A. bail setters are totally using the bail system at their own whim without ANY formula to be fair to each and every arrestee.

[Joel Johnson]

Guilty... she did it! The high bail is the correct thing to do.

[Mark]

Let her die in jail. She is a murderous maniac. She was unjustly free for 26 years. Time to pay the piper, lady.

[JohninSB]

If she's as dangerous as the evidence suggests, she needs to be locked up until her trial. She's had 23 years more freedom than the victim; that's way more than fair.

[BCMC]

When was there a bail for murder? It used to be no bail, period. It should still be that way. One accussed of the most heinous of crimes should just wait it out. On the other hand, she has the right to a speedy trial. If she opts out of that because it takes her lawyer too long to mount a good defense, then so be it.

$10M is not unreasonable considering the alternative. She was in a trusted position and she violated that trust. It should be higher.

Retired LA cop.

[Ricky]

She's a cop so she know's the ends and outs of the court and criminal justice system. I can understand why her bail is high. She is accused of a very brutal murder which can put her in prison for life. Whose to say she won't try to flee from this. I think she should remain in jail.

[Delia]

This detective is getting to see the other side of the law. If she's innocent of this crime, I hope she can find a way to fight her case but it looks like her cards are stacked against her with her own police family turning on her. They claim she was linked thru DNA. If thats true, then she'll spend the rest of her life in prison. Sometimes DNA can come back to haunt somebody. About her being sick in jail and not getting the right treatment. Welcome to the world of being in jail. Thats just how it is. You need to man up and survive the best you know how.

[Eve]

One million is the standard for murder of one person in California.
I believe it goes up 100% for each death.

10 million does seem excessive. I wonder why she is considered such a huge flight risk? And when does her trial begin?

DNA and bite marks don't lie

[Dirk]

Steven Lazarus, nobody cares. You're sister is a cold-blooded killer.

Now go back to being silent.

[Erik]

"And the weight of the DNA evidence convinced him that she was a high flight risk and set an appropriate bail."

While I'm not debating whether she did or didn't do the crime, or whether the bail is appropriate or not, I'm not sure I see the connection in the above quote from Rasmussen's (the victim's family's) attorney. Since when does strong DNA evidence increase the risk of flight tenfold?

[pat]

She smells like a runner to me, good the judge set the bail. The analogy with Robert Blake and Phil Specter's trials doesn't really hold, because they are well known and it would be difficult for them to run and hide. Not the case here.

[True Blue]

She doesn't deserve any special treatment. As a police officer, we are held to a higher standard and she has violated that.

[james andrews]

Jail seems like a good place for this woman to await her trial.

[anonymouswhoami]

"And the weight of the DNA evidence convinced him that she was a high flight risk and set an appropriate bail."

While I'm not debating whether she did or didn't do the crime, or whether the bail is appropriate or not, I'm not sure I see the connection in the above quote from Rasmussen's (the victim's family's) attorney. Since when does strong DNA evidence increase the risk of flight tenfold?

Posted by: Erik | March 12, 2010 at 02:37 PM

Since positive DNA evidence almost always results in a guilty conviction. If a defendant was facing those odds, wouldn't you expect her to skip bail? And speaking of bail, when did the courts start offering bail in first degree murder cases? Is the LA County Jail system that overcrowded that they let accused murderers walk the streets?

[Mike]

(deep breath) Ahh yes, the people of Los Angeles...the city of the angels and brotherly love..the nicest people you'll ever meet...that's why I love it here (deep breath) ahhh

[David]

Former Detective Lazarus always felt like she was the smartest person in the room for getting away with a brutal murder for so many years. Certainly, she formulated a get away plan at some time in the past, and to lower her bail would be to aid and abet her great escape.

[Chuck]

24-years later after ignoring suggestions from the husband and father that Stephanie Lazarus should be a suspect is hardly what I call police going after their own. With DNA evidence that she did it you know she has to be a huge flight risk. You have to wonder if her brother knew she did it all along.