Bruce Lisker case is focus of '48 Hours' episode
The saga of Bruce Lisker, the man whose 1985 murder conviction was overturned last year, will be the focus of a "48 Hours" episode on Saturday.
A federal judge overturned the conviction after finding that he had been convicted on "false evidence" and that his original attorney did not adequately represent him.
The judge's findings mirrored those of a 2005 Times investigation that raised questions about key elements of the prosecution's case against Lisker and exposed the Los Angeles Police Department's murder investigation as sloppy and incomplete.
In March 1983, Lisker said he found his mother beaten and stabbed in the family's Sherman Oaks home and called paramedics.
Detectives were immediately suspicious of Lisker, a frizzy-haired 17-year-old with a history of drug abuse and fighting with his mother. His relationship with his parents had deteriorated to the point that they were paying for him to live in a nearby studio apartment.
Lisker was released from prison in August 2009 after 26 years behind bars. Last week, a federal judge rejected an attempt by state lawyers to send Lisker back to prison.
The "48 Hours" episode airs Saturday at 10 p.m. PT/ET on CBS.
-- Kimi Yoshino
Photo: Bruce Lisker waves after his release from prison last year. Credit: Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times
EDITOR'S PICKS:
I'll tune it, thanks LAT
Posted by: All Hallows Eve | October 15, 2010 at 10:22 AM
Clearly, HE DID NOT DO IT. It was the retards at the LAPD in a hurry to close a case that let a bad guy get away with murder.
Posted by: latimesreader | October 15, 2010 at 11:50 AM
Whether he did it or not, 26 years is more than most murderers seerve.
Posted by: verdadyjusticia | October 15, 2010 at 02:01 PM
just speechless about this case, very annoyed that the LAPD would do this to an innocent teenager, who is now a man. 26 years is too much taken away from Bruce that it's not funny. But, so glad he is "FREE". Alot of healing for Lisker but like they say "time heals". Just speechless for him.
I love watching 48 hour mystery, they keep you at the edge of your seat.
Posted by: Gina Dicker | October 16, 2010 at 08:09 PM
insprired by the the story i just wacthed , god bless, i would love to meet you
Posted by: debbie | October 16, 2010 at 08:10 PM
Even if he didd it, he served his sentence. Time to forget aboutthe past and let him go, he deservess it!
Posted by: Harrry | October 16, 2010 at 08:18 PM
What is wrong with the LAPD? They seem to feel like they can say who's guilty and that's it. Time and time and time again, we've seen this agency act with impugnity when it comes to investigating cases no matter if there is evidence to the contrary. Lisker clearly is innocent...and railroaded. This is exactly like a case in Canada where Steven Truscott has gone 50 years without total exoneration. Law enforcement is not allowed to create a case then decide who is innocent and who is guilty. And the DA's office is not without it's share of crookedness. All one has to do is look at the case of Steve Cooley who still refuses to prosecute pedophile priests who have been molesting and raping kids for over 40 years, yet he seems to not to be able to secure one indictment. The illegalities of this force go back to Prohibition times. All one has to do is look at the case of Christine Collins as depicted in the Clint Eastwood, Angelina Jolie film "The Changeling". It certainly believes it has one set of laws for others and one star chamber for itself.
Posted by: Samskara | October 16, 2010 at 08:36 PM
Who was the moron-of-a-lawyer who defended Lisker in the first place??? The 48 Hours story failed to reveal that aspect of it. Every piece of incriminating evidence could easily have been refuted at the original trial.
Posted by: Marius Evangelista | October 16, 2010 at 11:16 PM
After seeing the Bruce Lisker story on
48 hours. I am interested in writting him.
Where would I be able to contact him by
mail?
E.R
Posted by: Estie Ross | October 17, 2010 at 03:50 PM
OMG,,, I hope the LAPD will be under an internal investigation.. Justice,,,what justice??? LAPD was playing GOD with this man's life!
I saw the 48 hour show and my heart went out to this man.. He had to sit in a prison cell day after day knowing his mother was brutally murdered by the hands of someone else..
Everyday I watch the news and there is always something on that shows how another person or organization gets busted for being corrupt and abusing their power. whether its judges,lawyers, DA's or investigators.. Just makes me sick..
Posted by: brenda | October 18, 2010 at 02:24 PM
I think it's very easy for us as community members to point the finger at the LAPD, our usual easy target and lay the blame on them for this man's imprisonment. Clearly he was arrested because there was proof of him being a motivated offender. Just because he got released because of "false evidence" does not for a second mean he is innocent, it just means he found more qualified lawyers to find a loophole to get him his release.
Posted by: Latimesreader125 | October 24, 2010 at 01:27 PM