The Region - News from Dec. 3, 1986

The trial of Night Stalker suspect Richard Ramirez, tentatively scheduled to have begun this week, was postponed indefinitely by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael A. Tynan. Declaring that he would not force Ramirez’s attorneys to begin trial “in an unprepared state,” Tynan set several dates for pretrial motions, including a March 9 hearing to set a new trial date. Defense attorneys said they will ask the court to dismiss certain charges due to insufficient evidence and may ask for separate trials on several charges. They also said they are considering alternative pleas, which could include not guilty by reason of insanity. Meanwhile, their motion to move the trial outside Los Angeles County is continuing in a second court. Ramirez, 26, a drifter from El Paso, Tex., is accused of 14 murders and 31 other felonies in a series of nighttime attacks that terrorized the Southland in 1985.