Stalker Jurors Cautioned on ‘Bogus’ Statements

The lead prosecutor in the Night Stalker murder trial urged jurors Wednesday not to be misled by the “bogus” statements of the defendant’s chief lawyer, which he said may be deliberate attempts to confuse them.

“There is ample evidence” that Richard Ramirez committed the string of killings, mutilations, burglaries and assorted sex crimes in 1985 throughout Los Angeles County, Deputy Dist. Atty. Phil Halpin told the Los Angeles Superior Court jury during the first day of closing arguments.

Halpin also criticized Daniel V. Hernandez, Ramirez’s chief lawyer, for making “a lot of errors” and assertions during his opening statement that, the prosecutor said, were never substantiated. Halpin noted that Hernandez had made numerous promises to present certain evidence that the defense never followed through on.

Hernandez had said in his opening statement, for instance, that evidence would show that one woman victim, who survived a gunshot wound in her Rosemead garage, had only one or two seconds during which she might have caught a glimpse of her assailant.

Evidence Never Materialized

Halpin noted Wednesday that such evidence, which might have cast doubt on her identification of Ramirez, never materialized.

Similarly, Hernandez had mentioned in his opening statement that “a Christian medallion” was found at the scene of another alleged Night Stalker attack, in which a young woman was fatally shot in Monterey Park. The apparent implication was that the medallion might have belonged to the woman’s assailant and thus could not have been from Ramirez, a self-proclaimed devil worshiper.

But Halpin said on Wednesday that that theory, too, proved to be “a dead-end,” since Hernandez never again mentioned the medallion.

Throughout the defense case, Ramirez’s lawyers have tried to persuade jurors that the wrong man is being prosecuted.

For example, they have focused on numerous unidentified hairs found at many of the crime scenes, hairs that apparently belonged to neither Ramirez nor his alleged victims. But Halpin and police investigators have repeatedly said that hairs are ubiquitous--at crime scenes or, for that matter, anywhere else.

“Please resist being diverted or confused,” Halpin told the panel of seven women and five men. “Reasonable doubt is not suggesting something to the jury and then not bringing it up again.”

‘Not Relevant’

Hernandez went into the lockup to consult with Ramirez after Wednesday’s court session and was not immediately available for comment.

But Ray G. Clark, Hernandez’s co-counsel, said Halpin’s comments were “not relevant” to the jury’s fact-finding duties. Clark said a lawyer is entitled to change his mind as to whether or not to put forward certain evidence.

“It’s an ongoing evaluation process,” he said.

Halpin will resume his argument this morning, to be followed by either Clark or Hernandez next week. The case will then go to the jury.

Throughout Halpin’s statement, Ramirez sat mostly stoney-faced behind black sunglasses. Occasionally he rocked in his chair, either staring at the ceiling or glancing back at the near-capacity audience.

As court opened on Wednesday, Judge Michael A. Tynan disclosed that a handgun allegedly used by Ramirez to kill one of the victims is missing. Tynan said he learned of the disappearance of the .22-caliber semiautomatic when court clerk Josephine Williams conducted a routine inventory of trial exhibits, which number in the hundreds.

The gun, as well as many other exhibits, had been taken from court to the Los Angeles County sheriff’s crime lab and then sent to Northern California to allow defense experts to examine them. Documents show that the gun was returned to the court.

In any case, all parties agreed that the missing gun would have no impact on the case, since jurors typically are not given access to real weapons during deliberations.

Halpin said outside court that he and co-prosecutor Alan Yochelson already have established for the jury that Ramirez had used the gun to kill William Doi in his Monterey Park home in May, 1985.

In all, Ramirez is charged with 13 murders and 30 other felonies during the course of a series of mostly night-time residential burglaries throughout Los Angeles County, primarily in the spring and summer of 1985. If convicted, the 29-year-old drifter from El Paso could receive the death penalty.