LOS ANGELES (AP) - A judge has tentatively ruled that a Japanese man does not have to be in a Los Angeles court for his attorney to argue for dismissal of charges that he had his wife murdered in the 1980s.

Sixty-year-old Kazuyoshi Miura is in custody in Saipan, a U.S. territory where he was arrested in February for allegedly having his wife shot during a visit to Los Angeles in 1981. She died in Japan a year later.

His attorney filed motions to quash the arrest warrant and dismiss the felony complaint for extradition, but prosecutors contended the motions could not be argued unless Miura was present.

Superior Court Judge Steven Van Sicklen on Friday said he was tentatively ruling that Miura did not have to brought to Los Angeles for the motions arguments.