Crime | quadriplegic Quadriplegic Rapist Denied Parole Calif. board rejects first inmate considered under medical parole law By Rob Quinn Posted May 25, 2011 4:41 AM CDT Copied Inmate Steven Martinez has been denied parole. (AP Photo/California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, handout) A convicted rapist paralyzed from the neck down after he was stabbed by another inmate a decade ago has been denied parole in California. Steven Martinez was the first inmate to be considered for medical parole under a new state law aimed at saving the expense of providing medical care to incapacitated inmates, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Martinez is serving a 157 years for numerous felonies in connection with the beating and rape of a woman in 1998. The parole board noted that Martinez had threatened nurses and other female staffers multiple times. "This panel finds that he is a violent person who can use other people to carry out threats and would be a public safety threat to those attending to him outside prison walls," said the board commissioner. Martinez's medical care costs California taxpayers an estimated $625,000 a year, and he is required to be kept under guard despite his condition. Read These Next Hall of Famer Dave Parker dies That 'buy now, pay later' loan may soon hit your credit score. Mark Zuckerberg's 'list' has Silicon Valley buzzing. IAEA chief downplays damage to Iran nuclear sites. Report an error