Judge Throws Out Some Confessions in Jose Razo Case

A judge Wednesday threw out some of Jose Luis Razo’s confessions to a series of armed robberies but said that she would allow the former Harvard College student’s most damaging statements to be used as evidence in his trial next week.

The ruling by Orange County Superior Court Judge Jean Rheinheimer ended a week of pretrial testimony in which Razo’s attorney, John D. Barnett, attempted to suppress his client’s 1987 confessions to 13 armed robberies in five cities.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Ravi Mehta said that he may have to drop two or three of the 10 armed robbery counts with which Razo, 22, is charged in Orange County because of Rheinheimer’s ruling.

“I have to look at the evidence . . . reevaluate it to see what’s left,” Mehta said. Razo still could face a maximum sentence of about 18 years on the reduced charges, Mehta said.

Barnett would not say whether he would now accept an earlier offer of a 7-year sentence in return for a guilty plea, or if he will proceed to trial. The offer expires once jurors have been summoned for jury selection, scheduled for next Monday.

“We’ll see,” Barnett said. “I need to look at what’s in and what’s out.”

Saying that it was “a close call,” Rheinheimer admitted confessions that Razo made to La Habra police on July 6 and 7, 1987, in which he explained in detail how he had robbed fast-food restaurants, markets and stores for 2 years while at home on school vacations.