LOCAL : OC Man’s Death Term Upheld

SAN FRANCISCO — The state Supreme Court today upheld the death sentence of an Orange County man for the 1983 rape and murder of a woman outside a bar in Garden Grove.

The 6-1 ruling affirmed the convictions and sentence of Richard Raymond Ramirez in the fatal stabbing of Kimberly Gonzalez, 22, of Norwalk.

Ramirez is not the same Richard Ramirez sentenced to death in the Los Angeles “Night Stalker” case.

In today’s ruling, Justice Allen Broussard said Superior Court Judge Donald McCartin was not required to tell the jury it could convict Ramirez of a lesser crime because the defendant was drunk. There was no evidence that Ramirez’s drinking that evening affected his mental state or actions, Broussard said.