Facing what they see as long odds of success, Santa Barbara County prosecutors are headed back to court this week for what they hope will be the final push to keep a sexually violent predator from being released locally.

Their argument is that Tibor Karsai should be released to San Luis Obispo, where he lived before he was sentenced.

The hearing Wednesday before the state Third District Court of Appeal in Sacramento presumably will decide where Karsai will be released.

“I am not optimistic,” said Santa Barbara County District Attorney Joyce Dudley. “This is a Hail Mary if ever there was one.”

Dudley noted that appellate judges typically are not eager to reverse their own earlier rulings, but local prosecutors believe they must try.

The court will hear oral arguments Wednesday, and likely will render its decision in two to four weeks, according to Deputy District Attorney Michael Carrozzo, the lead prosecutor on the case.

Karsai, 59, was convicted in 1974 in Santa Barbara of forcible rape, and was paroled three years later to San Luis Obispo. He was convicted six years later of forcible rape in Placer County, and sentenced to 26 years in state prison. Read more at noozhawk.com »