Bruce Lisker (born 1965) is an American who was wrongfully convicted of the 1983 murder of his adoptive mother, Dorka Lisker.Glover, Scott and Lait, Matt. "New Light on a Distant Verdict", Los Angeles Times, 22 May 2005. Retrieved 11 January 2013. Arrested in 1983 at age 17 and convicted of second-degree murder in 1985, he served more than 26 years of a 16-years-to-life sentence before a United States district court overturned the conviction in 2009 and all charges were dismissed later that year.
Conviction and imprisonment Dorka Lisker, 66, was beaten and stabbed on March 10, 1983, at the family's Sherman Oaks home. Lisker, then 17, was arrested and, in 1985, convicted of second-degree murder.
He served more than 26 years of a 16-years-to-life sentence in California prisons, including the California Youth Authority (now the California Division of Juvenile Justice; 1986–87), San Quentin State Prison (1987–89), and Mule Creek State Prison (1989–2009).
In 2009, United States district court judge Virginia A. Phillips overturned the conviction, finding that it had been obtained through the use of false evidence and ineffective assistance of counsel.Lait, Matt and Glover, Scott. "Man wrongfully convicted in mother's 1983 slaying, jurist says", Los Angeles Times, 4 March 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2013. Lisker was freed on August 13, 2009.Lait, Matt. "Bruce Lisker walks out of prison, but not yet entirely free", Los Angeles Times, 13 August 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2013. On September 21, 2009, the Los Angeles County District Attorney dropped all charges, citing a lack of evidence.Lait, Matt and Glover, Scott. "Prosecutors won't retry Bruce Lisker in mother's slaying", Los Angeles Times, 21 September 2009. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
Compensation On October 15, 2015, a settlement was reached in a lawsuit Lisker filed against the City of Los Angeles in which he accused police detectives of fabricating the evidence that put him behind bars.Lait, Matt. "L.A. set to settle with man wrongly convicted of killing mother", Los Angeles Times, 15 October 2015. Retrieved 9 November 2015. Lisker was awarded $7.6 million in compensation. Confidential memos from the City Attorney to the L.A. City 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.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, 19 January 2016. Retrieved 23 January 2016.
Publicity 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.Romenesko, Jim. "LAT, Knight Ridder reporters win Heywood Broun Awards", Poynter.org, 17 March 2006. Retrieved 11 January 2013. The case was also featured in an hour-long episode of the CBS News television program 48 Hours Mysteries, entitled "The Whole Truth" (2010) and hosted by correspondent Erin Moriarty, as well as the documentary film Survivors Guide to Prison (2018).Erin Moriarty, Reporter. "48 Hours Mysteries: The Whole Truth", CBS News, New York, 14 October 2010. Retrieved 11 January 2013.
His time in the California Youth Authority is documented in an interview with Gladiator School, Stories from Inside YTS.
His case was dramatized in the CBS All Access series Interrogation.
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