THE RANDY KRAFT TRIAL : WEEK 17*

Randy Steven Kraft, charged with murdering 16 men, is on trial in Orange County Superior Court in what some legal experts say will be the biggest and costliest case in California history.

LAST WEEK The most significant announcement of the week came Friday, when defense lawyers announced to the court that they plan to have Kraft testify, but only under certain conditions. They want the judge to limit cross-examination by the prosecutor, so he cannot ask Kraft about all 16 of the murders for which he is on trial. They also want the jurors to be instructed that they should not infer anything negative because Kraft is only testifying to some of the counts against him, and not all. The judge has scheduled a March 30 hearing on the issue.

THE DEFENSE ‘We anticipate, if the court will limit the cross-examination, calling Mr. Kraft to testify about certain counts but not others, and about certain subjects but not others. ‘

--Kraft attorney William J. Kopeny,

in a statement to the court.

THE PROSECUTION ‘If the defense doesn’t give you, or us, a script on what Mr. Kraft is going to say, how can you in the wildest stretch of the imagination figure out what is the proper scope of cross-examination?’

--Deputy Dist. Atty. Bryan F. Brown,

to the judge.

NUMBER OF WITNESSES Last Week: 14.

To Date: 257.

ITEMS LOGGED AS POSSIBLE EVIDENCE Last week: 22.

To Date: 1,176.

THIS WEEK The judge will send the jurors home for Easter vacation after a brief court session Monday.

* Jury selection and legal motions began July 25, 1988, and testimony began Sept. 5. The trial recessed for about 2 months at the end of the prosecution’s case.