Ramirez Defense Can Question Victim : Interview Granted So Man Recovering in Texas May Skip Court

A Santa Ana judge Friday agreed to let lawyers for Night Stalker suspect Richard Ramirez interview a victim of an Orange County attack to spare the man from testifying in court later this month.

William R. Carns, who was shot three times in the head by an intruder at his Mission Viejo home Aug. 25, 1985, is still recovering at a Texas rehabilitation facility. His fiancee was raped in the attack that night and is expected to testify at Ramirez’s preliminary hearing, scheduled to begin July 14.

Central Municipal Judge B. Tam Nomoto, at the request of Orange County prosecutors, would not let Ramirez’s lawyers interview Carns privately. The judge agreed that the district attorney’s office not only could be present for the interview but could videotape it.

“We have told the defense that Mr. Carns has absolutely no recollection of the events of that night, but I think they just want to see for themselves,” Chief Deputy Dist. Atty. James. G. Enright said. “We were agreeable because if they don’t talk to him in Texas, they could always subpoena him.”

Ramirez, 26, who is charged with 14 murders in Los Angeles County, appeared in Nomoto’s courtroom Friday for a minor hearing at which Nomoto agreed to an arrangement between prosecutors and defense lawyers over what evidence the defense could review.

The attack on Carns and his fiancee is expected to be a significant part of the Los Angeles County case.

The car police believe that the Night Stalker was driving the night of the Carns attack was spotted by a boy and later found abandoned in Los Angeles County. Orange County Sheriff’s Department investigators found a fingerprint in the car, which led to Ramirez’s becoming the sole suspect in the Night Stalker case. Ramirez was arrested in Los Angeles less than a week after the Carns attack.

Carns suffered memory loss and partial paralysis. Enright said the rape victim will identify Ramirez as her attacker. But Enright added that her identification will be “subject to cross-examination,” indicating that it is not as good an identification as prosecutors would like.

Enright said the interview in Texas with Carns would be subject to approval by his doctors. The prosecutor added that he wanted the interview videotaped because with Carns’ memory problems, “he might not remember later what it was he told them.”

Security continued to be heavy for Ramirez’s 10-minute court appearance Friday. Six deputy marshals stood watching a crowd of 40 people, who had to walk through metal detectors and then were given assigned seating inside.