Witness Says Information in Stalker Trial Was Withheld

A key Night Stalker trial prosecution witness has admitted withholding information while under oath and has been recalled to testify today, it was disclosed Monday in Los Angeles Superior Court, just as defense lawyers were about to open their case.

Prosecutor Phil Halpin said the unexpected reopening of the prosecution case will not “change anything,” except to give the defense “another day before the inevitable.”

But attorneys for suspect Richard Ramirez termed the recalling of the witness a significant turn of events that may lead to a later defense request to exclude his testimony altogether.

The witness was not identified. But prosecution statements pointed to the man who has testified that he acquired from Ramirez numerous pieces of jewelry and assorted consumer items that other witnesses have linked to seven of the 15 alleged Night Stalker attacks.

Halpin told Judge Michael A. Tynan that the witness has admitted that he deliberately withheld information in order to protect another person, an unnamed woman.

Outside court, Halpin steadfastly refused to identify either the witness or the woman, but he did say that the witness had appeared near the end of the prosecution case and that his testimony traveled “across the entire case.”

It thus became apparent that the witness in question is Felipe Solano, who had been granted immunity from prosecution in exchange for his testimony. He appeared on April 5 and April 10, the second time just three days before Halpin rested his case.

Among the items that Solano said he received from Ramirez were a television set, a video cassette recorder, a radio and one or two cameras, as well as numerous pieces of jewelry.

At one point during Solano’s testimony, Ramirez bellowed out, “Liar!” when Solano said that he had never acquired stolen goods from anyone other than Ramirez. Also during the testimony, Ramirez used a shiny object to reflect a ceiling light into Solano’s face, prompting Tynan to order the material confiscated.

Based on earlier testimony, the woman in question is Eva Castillo, who once worked as a housekeeper for Solano. She met Ramirez at Solano’s home in Echo Park.

Castillo befriended Ramirez and others who sold jewelry to Solano, according to a statement by defense attorney Daniel V. Hernandez during an April 10 bench conference between the judge and the lawyers. But Solano testified that Castillo “never knew I had jewelry to sell.”

Halpin said he realized late last month that a witness may have withheld information as he was reviewing the evidence in the case, some of which seemed to contradict that person’s testimony. Halpin said he then called the witness and “he admitted doing it to protect a lady.”

Halpin explained that it is his legal and ethical obligation to disclose any untrue statements or deliberate omissions made by a government witness.

Ramirez, 29, is charged with 13 murders and 30 other felonies in a spree of nighttime attacks throughout Los Angeles County, mostly in 1985. If convicted, he could receive the death penalty.