Updated at 3:30 p.m., March 27, 2015
A parole board Friday rescinded a grant for release of a man imprisoned for fatally shooting a 17-year-old girl on prom night in Anaheim in 1991.
Based on testimony from two state correctional officers at today’s hearing, a parole board found enough evidence to rescind a grant of parole for Paul Crowder. In 120 days, the parole board will meet again to determine whether the inmate is fit for release.
Crowder’s racked up three serious rules violations last year, according to Deputy District Attorney Paul Chrisopoulos, who opposed the release of the inmate.
Crowder’s record was clean for at least five years until the 2014 violations, Chrisopoulos said.
Last year, Crowder was cited for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance in prison as well as possession of cell phone components and drug paraphernalia, Chrisopoulos said.
Two years ago, a parole board found Crowder not suitable for release from prison. Another parole hearing was not expected to be held for five years, but Crowder’s attorneys persuaded appellate justices that the earlier hearing was flawed, according to Chrisopoulos.
Crowder, 42, who is being held at Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy, was sentenced in 1991 to 15 years to life in prison for the second-degree murder of Berlyn Cosman on June 1, 1991.
In the past, the victim’s father, Mark Cosman, has advocated for the release of his daughter’s killer. He even wrote a letter to then-Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger to support Crowder’s release.
Cosman has kept a low profile since then, however.
Two years ago, the victim’s sister and mother flew to one of Crowder’s parole hearings to oppose his release. They have no plans to attend this hearing, Chrisopoulos said.
At the Sept. 19, 2012, parole board hearing, Susan Cosman was so agitated that she had to be rushed to an area hospital, where she was treated for three days, Chrisopoulos said.
Crowder was found suitable for parole by a parole board in October 2011, but Gov. Jerry Brown reversed its decision a month later.
In an interview before the hearing two years ago, Morgan Cosman Kelly told City News Service the difference of opinion on Crowder with her father does not affect their relationship.
“There’s 100 percent respect both on my mom and my side for my father’s spiritual journey,” she said at the time. “I respect his decisions … but my father doesn’t speak for the entire family. That was his choice, his decision.”
Crowder’s attorneys have argued in the past that he has been active in self-help programs in prison and has carried on a correspondence with the victim’s father. Crowder has also participated in a “scared straight” program for troubled youths brought to the prison by their parents, his attorneys have said.
Many of those youths and their parents have written supportive letters for Crowder.
In Brown’s reversal of the parole board’s finding in 2011 he alleged Crowder has a history of transporting drugs and gang communications in prison.
Crowder was not in high school at the time of the shooting, but was invited to the prom party by a friend, who was dating Cosman. During the party at an Anaheim hotel Crowder brandished a gun.
At some point, Crowder was told he could not sleep in Cosman’s room, sparking an argument. Crowder threatened the victim and her friends.
Just before dawn, Crowder returned to Cosman’s room and fired a gunshot with the bullet striking Cosman in the head, killing her.
—City News Service