Radke Evidence Debate Begins

Arguments began Thursday on a motion to have key evidence in the murder case of Mark Alan Radke ruled inadmissible because it was obtained after Radke had been illegally arrested.

Radke, 23, of Mira Mesa, is charged with the Jan. 21, 1988, murder of Jeffrey Vance Rudiger, 16, of Scripps Ranch, whose partly clothed body was discovered near a pizza shop where the two worked.

The motion to suppress evidence in the case, made by defense attorney Douglas C. Brown, has been to the U. S. Supreme Court, the California Supreme Court, and twice to the 9th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals, but attorneys on both sides said this is a crucial hearing in the case.

Thursday’s hearing before Superior Court Judge Charles R. Hayes was ordered by the appeals court, which instructed Hayes to determine whether the arrest was lawful and whether the evidence subsequently obtained is admissible in his trial.

The order came despite rulings by three higher courts that the evidence is not admissible.

The key issues being discussed at the hearing, which will resume Wednesday morning, are whether Radke was voluntarily transported to the police station, even though he was in handcuffs, and whether there was probable cause to impound his vehicle. Hayes said he would allow prosecutors to introduce new evidence.