Murder Suspect’s Lawyers Seek Documents From Probe

Attorneys for Randy Steven Kraft, accused of 16 Orange County murders, sought an order from an appellate court Wednesday that would force about 70 investigating agencies to turn over documents to them.

The attorneys said that all of the agencies have been involved in the Kraft investigation, and have gathered information that is relevant to the case.

For more than a year, Kraft’s lawyers and the Orange County district attorney’s office have been wrangling over how much material Kraft is entitled to review. The 4th District Court of Appeal is likely to decide within a few days whether to hear the issue.

“It’s a serious argument,” said William J. Kopeny, one of three attorneys representing Kraft. “We cannot adequately prepare Mr. Kraft’s defense until we find out just what information is out there.”

Kraft was arrested more than three years ago when California Highway Patrol officers found a dead U.S. Marine in his car during a routine traffic stop. Since then, Kraft has been charged with 16 murders of young men in the county, most of them either emasculated or sexually assaulted.

He is also accused of another 21 murders--including six in Oregon and two in Michigan--which prosecutors have put into court records for use during a sentencing phase if the trial gets that far.

Under state law, the prosecution must make available to a defendant, upon his request, most information used in building a case against him.

Prosecutors said that they have given Kraft’s attorneys everything they have that is relevant to the case. But Kraft’s attorneys contend that they also need dozens of documents from investigating agencies that prosecutors have not gathered.

Attorneys for Kraft said that they are in a “Catch-22” situation, noting that the agencies will give the requested materials to prosecutors only if the defense lawyers subpoena the documents.

However, Kraft’s lawyers claim that once they subpoena the documents, prosecutors move to quash the subpoena, claiming the requests are too broad and are an attempt by Kraft’s attorneys to “go on a fishing expedition into police files.”

“The irony is that we have turned over to them more information than in any case in this county’s history,” said Deputy Dist. Atty. James Cloninger. “If we’ve erred, we’ve erred on the side of giving them too much, just out of caution.”

Wednesday’s move by Kraft’s lawyers is the first time the Kraft case has reached the appellate level. The appellate justices sitting in Santa Ana did, however, hear another case in which Freedom Newspapers--which owns the Santa Ana Register--filed suit against Orange County Superior Court to force the county auditor to make public some of Kraft’s defense costs.