Judge Declines to Drop Charges in Teen’s Slaying

A Superior Court judge Monday declined to dismiss murder charges and to suppress key evidence in the trial of Mark Radke, the 22-year-old accused of killing teen-ager Jeffrey Rudiger.

Radke’s attorney, Douglas Brown, had moved to dismiss the murder charge, relying an an appellate court ruling that Radke’s arrest was unlawful and that evidence collected after that arrest should probably be suppressed.

But Superior Court Judge J. Perry Langford found that Radke consented to the search of his car and willingly went to the police station to be interviewed.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Dan Lamborn was euphoric over the ruling, which followed a two-hour hearing.

“It’s great. It’s wonderful. The case has been reborn,” Lamborn said. “We have 99% of what we wanted.”

Brown said he would appeal Langford’s ruling. He said the judge had conceded that the arrest was unlawful.

“I’ll be filing another writ to the 4th District Court of Appeal. We’ll begin the process all over again,” Brown said.

Radke is charged with killing 16-year-old Jeffrey Rudiger on Jan. 21, 1988.

Every seat in the courtroom was packed with students from Mira Mesa High School, where Rudiger attended, and relatives.

No trial date was set, pending the ruling of the appeal Brown plans to file.

Radke’s earlier appeal made it to the U.S. Supreme Court. The court, without comment, on Jan. 17 let stand a lower court’s ruling that the arrest was without probable cause.

Langford ruled that evidence of Radke’s injured hands, which were observed by police after he was arrested at gunpoint during a traffic stop, would be suppressed.