Local News in Brief : Jury Selected in Trial of Ramirez
Six months and two days after jury selection began, seven women and five men have been selected to decide the fate of Night Stalker defendant Richard Ramirez, the drifter accused of murdering 13 Los Angeles County residents in a spree of nighttime residential attacks several years ago, and a 12-member alternate jury is also in place.
His trial is set to open Monday morning before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael A. Tynan.
The completion of jury selection took place Monday morning without fanfare after weeks of controversy over the racial makeup of the panels. The defense had accused the prosecutors of systematically excluding Latinos and black women from the jury while the prosecution had accused the defense of excluding Anglos and Asians.
The jury has six blacks and six Latinos. Among the seven women and five men on the alternate jury, three are Anglos, seven are blacks and two are Latinos. Daniel Hernandez, who is representing Ramirez, said he and his client are “very satisfied” with the panels.
Tynan has said the trial may take as long as two years. If convicted, Ramirez, 28, could get the death penalty.
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