Defense Rests in Night Stalker Case

Lawyers for Night Stalker defendant Richard Ramirez rested their case on Monday, but not before presenting the Los Angeles Superior Court jury with a final picture of their client: that of a family man.

Attorneys Daniel V. Hernandez and Ray G. Clark introduced into evidence a blown-up color Polaroid snapshot of their client standing with his parents and niece. A defense witness--whose sister is married to one of Ramirez’s brothers--told jurors that the picture was taken at the home of Ramirez’s parents in El Paso by Rosa Flores, Ramirez’s sister.

The significance of the picture is the date on which the lawyers say it was taken--May 25, 1985--the day when Ramirez’s niece, Jennifer, was celebrating her first communion. The picture was taken by Jennifer’s mother, Rosa Flores, according to the witness, Mari Torres of El Paso.

Earlier in the trial, the suspect’s father, Julian Ramirez Tapia, testified that his son arrived in Texas a day or two before the communion and stayed for about eight days. That would have placed Richard Ramirez in El Paso during two of the 15 Night Stalker attacks.

But that alibi was subsequently challenged by prosecution witnesses, including a Los Angeles dentist who said he treated Ramirez on May 30, 1985, the date of one of the alleged attacks in question.

Final arguments in the serial-murder trial are scheduled to begin Wednesday morning.

Since May 9, Ramirez’s attorneys have called numerous witnesses in hopes of persuading the jury of seven women and five men that the wrong person is being prosecuted for the crimes.

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