Kraft Attorney

The defense rested in the Randy Steven Kraft serial-murder trial Tuesday. To the disappointment of spectators crowded into a Santa Ana courtroom, Kraft's lawyers closed their case without putting their client on the stand. They kept him off after failing to persuade the judge to restrict cross-examination. Among those upset to hear that Kraft wouldn't be testifying were some relatives of his alleged victims. "You bet I'm angry," said a shaken Rodger DeVaul, whose 20-year-old son, Rodger Jr.

Randy Steven Kraft's lawyers revealed Wednesday that he wants to testify about five of the 16 murders with which he is charged, but whether Kraft will testify at all is unknown because the judge refused to restrict prosecutors in advance from questioning him about the other 11 cases. "It's a difficult dilemma," said a disappointed C. Thomas McDonald, one of Kraft's attorneys. "No decision has been made." Kraft's attorneys asked Superior Court Judge Donald A.

A prosecutor in the serial murder trial of Randy Steven Kraft on Tuesday accused the defense of "extortion" in threatening to withhold Kraft's testimony if the judge does not agree to limit the questions the defendant can be asked during cross-examination. If Kraft decides to testify, then "the time has arrived when this defendant must pay his money and take his chances," argued Deputy Dist. Atty. Thomas M. Goethals in court papers filed Tuesday.

Randy Steven Kraft, charged with murdering 16 men, is on trial in Orange County Superior Court in what some legal experts say will be the biggest and costliest case in California history. LAST WEEK The most significant announcement of the week came Friday, when defense lawyers announced to the court that they plan to have Kraft testify, but only under certain conditions.

Defense lawyers on Friday revealed for the first time that they expect Randy Steven Kraft to testify at his murder trial--but only if the judge limits cross-examination by the prosecutor. Kraft's lawyers also want the judge to caution jurors not to draw conclusions about the entire case if the defendant limits his testimony to only some of 16 murders he is charged with committing. Superior Court Judge Donald A.

Randy Steven Kraft, who has remained calm throughout his 9-month trial on charges of killing 16 young men, displayed a rare burst of frustration Tuesday during arguments over what evidence the jurors should hear about the first victim's death. Deputy Dist. Atty. Bryan F. Brown argued repeatedly that much of the defense's information pointing to other potential suspects in the 1972 death of Camp Pendleton Marine Edward Daniel Moore was irrelevant. In once instance, Kraft attorney C.

On a day when defense attorneys for mass murder defendant Randy Steven Kraft offered evidence involving four different murders, debate centered on a place known as "Airplane Hill." When Kraft was arrested, a list was found that prosecutors say amounts to a coded directory to his alleged victims. One entry, next to a murder victim who never has been identified, refers to the Airplane Hill site. The victim was a tattooed young man.

Lawyers for Randy Steven Kraft unveiled a new segment of their defense Monday, asking the judge to let them present evidence to the jury on the difficulties of assessing guilt or innocence when so many charges are involved. Kraft, 43, is on trial in Santa Ana, charged with 16 Orange County murders. His lawyers argued vigorously before the trial began that he could not receive a fair trial unless the charges were severed into at least "several" trials.

The judge in the Randy Steven Kraft trial refused to permit the jury to hear testimony Wednesday by a psychic who defense attorneys contended would point to a different suspect in one of the 16 murders of which Kraft is accused. Kraft attorney C. Thomas McDonald wanted to use the psychic, whose full legal name is Joan, to show a connection between the 1979 death of Donnie Crisel, a 20-year-old Marine, and convicted sex molester John McMillan, who committed suicide a week after Kraft's arrest.

Randy Steven Kraft was playing bridge with friends the night that two men he is accused of killing were last seen alive near Cypress College, a defense witness testified Tuesday. But Orange County prosecutors, who have charged Kraft with 16 murders, view that bridge game in 1983 as highly beneficial to their own case.