Prosecutors Fight Gag Order in Rader Case
Los Angeles prosecutors filed papers Thursday opposing a gag order in the third trial of Harvey Rader, a former Reseda car dealer accused of killing four members of a Northridge family whose bodies never have been found.
The challenge was a first for the district attorney’s office, said spokeswoman Sandi Gibbons, who complained that defense attorneys in the case “want the prosecution gagged.”
Attorneys for Harvey Rader, 49, alleged that the prosecutor, Deputy Dist. Atty. Lonnie A. Felker, prejudiced prospective jurors with comments he made on a TV show.
Felker disagreed, saying the facts he related had all been reported previously.
Rader, who is being held without bail, faces trial in Superior Court on charges of killing Sol Salomon, Salomon’s wife, Elaine, and their two children, Michalle, 15, and Mitchell, 9. The family vanished in October, 1982. Prosecutors allege that Rader killed them after Salomon demanded a refund of $20,000 he had invested in Rader’s business.
The first two cases against Rader ended in mistrials.
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