Local News in Brief : ‘Stalker’ Suspect Trial Set
Richard Ramirez, the suspected “Night Stalker” accused of killing 14 people, has been scheduled for trial in Los Angeles Superior Court on Feb. 1.
Judge Michael Tynan set the new trial date Wednesday. Ramirez had been scheduled for trial Sept. 30, but his lawyers earlier told the judge they were unprepared.
Ramirez, 27, a drifter from El Paso, faces the death penalty for the series of grisly attacks between June, 1984, and his arrest on Aug. 31, 1985. Once the Los Angeles County trial is over, Ramirez faces another trial in Orange County for allegedly attacking a Mission Viejo couple in their home on Aug. 25, 1985, seriously injuring the man and raping his companion.
Ramirez has been in jail without bail since his arrest.
The judge, while expressing dismay at the more than two years it has taken to bring the case to trial, said it would be an “abuse of discretion” to force unprepared defense lawyers to begin a trial.
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