Convicted Serial Killer Appeals Death Penalty

Appellate attorneys for convicted killer Richard Ramirez told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that Ramirez’s death penalty for the 1980s Night Stalker murders should be overturned because his trial lawyers didn’t properly defend him in court.

“This case was the blind leading the blind,” Attorney Geraldine S. Russell said.

Ramirez, 46, was given the death penalty in 1989 for 13 Los Angeles slayings committed between 1984 and 1985. He broke into his victim’s homes and brutally attacked and killed them. Satanic symbols were found at some of the crime scenes.

Ramirez’s appellate attorneys believe, however, that his original trial lawyers were inexperienced in handling capital cases and were absent during the trial for long periods of time, which they say is cause for reversing Ramirez’s death sentence.

In the past, judges have intercepted cases in which court appointed attorneys failed to properly represent their clients. But in Ramirez’s case, Deputy Attorney General Margaret E. Maxwell argued that Ramirez had hired his own lawyers.

Maxwell said that judges should intervene in trial cases only in extreme circumstances: when a lawyer has a physical incapacity, is unlicensed, or is not willing to represent the defendant. Blatant incompetence was also added to the list.

“Our position is that Ramirez received constitutionally adequate assistance of counsel,” Maxwell said.

Prosecutors maintain that Ramirez received a fair trial and noted that there was “overwhelming evidence” of guilt.

The California Supreme Court will hear the appeals case on Tuesday.

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