Postponement to Line Up Witnesses : Kraft’s Defense Delayed for 3 Weeks

The courtroom defense of mass-murder suspect Randy Steven Kraft will not get under way until the end of the month, a judge ruled Tuesday.

Kraft’s attorneys, who had been scheduled to begin putting on their defense Monday, told Superior Court Judge Donald A. McCartin before Christmas that they were having difficulties lining up witnesses. McCartin said at the December hearing that he would grant them a delay if they needed it.

Tuesday, they called the judge and asked for a 3-week postponement, which he granted.

Prosecutors began presenting evidence against Kraft, who is charged with 16 Orange County murders, on Sept. 26 and completed their case in 2 months. McCartin delayed the trial in December to give Kraft’s attorneys time to file new motions for dismissal.

Kraft’s attorneys have been tight-lipped about details of their presentation, but at one point during pretrial hearings Kraft attorney James G. Merwin said the defense presentation “will be substantial.”

Kraft 43, was arrested May 14, 1983, when two California Highway Patrol officers who had stopped him for a traffic violation found a dead Marine in his car. He has been in the Orange County Jail since then, as his trial date was repeatedly delayed.

Defense attorneys have said they need more preparation time because prosecutors have accused Kraft of a total of 45 murders--six in Oregon, two in Michigan and the rest in Southern California. The defense said Kraft has to be prepared to defend himself against each one.

Legal experts in the county say that the total cost of bringing Kraft to trial will probably exceed the cost of any criminal case in California history.

If Kraft is convicted in the guilt phase of his trial, the trial will then move to a penalty phase, at which prosecutors would be expected to introduce most of the other 29 murders in seeking a death verdict.,

Kraft’s attorneys could not be reached Tuesday. Deputy Dist. Atty. Bryan F. Brown, who is prosecuting Kraft, said his office is eager to keep the trial moving, but he did not oppose the delay.