Bruce Lisker

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. 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 murder conviction was obtained through the use of false evidence and ineffective assistance of counsel. Lisker was freed on August 13, 2009. Initially asserting their intention to retry Lisker, on September 21, 2009, the Los Angeles County District Attorney instead dropped all charges, saying they were unable to proceed due to lack of evidence. On August 13, 2011, the two-year anniversary of his release, Lisker married Kara Noble, a woman he had met during his time in prison. On October 15, 2015, the Los Angeles Times reported that a settlement had been reached in a lawsuit Lisker filed against the City of Los Angeles in which Lisker accused police detectives of fabricating evidence to put him behind bars for 26 years. On January 19, 2016, the Los Angeles City Council agreed to the terms of the settlement, awarding Lisker $7.6 million in compensation for his wrongful conviction and imprisonment. 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 have gone to trial, declaring that the potential results of such a trial could be "financially devastating" to the city. Lisker's case has been featured in numerous Los Angeles Times articles, the first of which earned its authors, investigative reporters Matt Lait and Scott Glover, the prestigious Heywood Broun award on behalf of the Times. The case was also featured in an hour-long episode of the CBS News television program 48 Hours Mysteries, entitled "The Whole Truth," hosted by correspondent Erin Moriarty, as well as the documentary film Survivors Guide to Prison.