Ezra Bozeman, a 68-year-old inmate serving a life sentence in Pennsylvania for a 1975 robbery and murder, was granted medical release by a judge. Bozeman, who is currently on a ventilator in an intensive care unit due to sepsis and complications from quadriplegia, won the release order after a court hearing on Monday.
The decision to grant Bozeman medical release was supported by Governor Josh Shapiro and the superintendent of the state prison at Laurel Highlands where he has been incarcerated. However, Allegheny County District Attorney Stephen Zappala had opposed Bozeman’s petition for release.
Bozeman’s lawyers stated that they hope his condition stabilizes so that he can be transferred to a long-term care facility. The compassionate release law in Pennsylvania allows a judge to grant the transfer of a seriously ill inmate who is expected to die within one year to a private medical facility.
Bozeman, who emerged paralyzed from the chest down after a surgery earlier this year, has maintained his innocence in the 1975 murder case. He was convicted of second-degree murder for killing Morris Weitz during a robbery at a dry cleaner in Pittsburgh.
Despite the opposition from the district attorney’s office, Judge Susan Evashavik DiLucente granted Bozeman’s petition for medical release. Bozeman’s lawyers from the Abolitionist Law Center and Amistad Law Project praised the decision, stating that Bozeman has been a shining example of dignity even in the face of poor medical care as a quadriplegic.
As of now, it is unclear whether the district attorney’s office will appeal the court order for Bozeman’s release. The news of his medical release comes as he remains in critical condition on life support in the hospital.
