Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS. : COURTS : Ramirez to Stand Trial in Stalker Case
Concluding one chapter of a nightmare that plagued the Southland for 14 months, Night Stalker defendant Richard Ramirez was ordered to stand trial on 14 murder charges and 36 other felonies.
Ramirez flashed a grin and scratched his face as Los Angeles Municipal Judge James F. Nelson read off the charges, ending a preliminary hearing that lasted 29 days and included 143 witnesses.
The judge also ruled that Ramirez could face the death penalty if convicted.
Over the past nine weeks, the prosecution presented a steady stream of eyewitnesses, police investigators, physicians and scientific experts to link Ramirez to a seemingly random series of shootings, slashings, robberies and rapes, most of them in the San Gabriel Valley.
The Los Angeles County district attorney’s office has said it would like the trial, which could take up to six months, to begin this summer. But defense attorneys say it could be delayed until next year because they are seeking, among other things, to move the trial to the Oakland area.
Ramirez also faces charges in Orange County.
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