What Happened (continued)
The emergency room physician who treated Jimmy Farris, Dr. Barry Pollack, MD, later wrote Judge Mira, arguing for leniency in sentencing, stating,
"Life and death in a case of trauma is often a case of moments and millimeters. Jimmy Farris did not die of grossly brutal wounds
"Only a single puncture wound penetrated his chest and into his heart .Had that stab wound been one inch further to the left, he perhaps would still be alive today -- and just as important, four other young men would not be on the verge of losing their life's potential...Fate has indeed dealt Jimmy Farris and his four young attackers a cruel blow...it would be a grave injustice if all these young men -- certainly those that did not wield the knife -- were given life sentences."
At 3 am the next morning Brandon Hein and Micah Holland were routed out of bed at Hein's home and arrested for murder. Chris Velardo turned himself in the next day. Two weeks later Tony Miliotti turned himself in. Jason Holland, who actually stabbed the boys, hid out for three weeks before eventually turning himself in to authorities.
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's office was reeling from a series of high profile debacles including charging the King of Pop, Michael Jackson, with child abuse, yet being unable to provide enough proof to bring Jackson to trial; the failure of the first, costly Menendez brothers trial and the necessity of a costly retrial; and being humiliated around the world by the O. J. Simpson trial. Although hundreds of black and Hispanic kids are killed in Los Angeles and there are no convictions, the DA's office saw the death of a Los Angeles Police Detective's son in Agoura, presumably at the hands of middle class kids, as having all the makings of a high-profile trial that would polish the badly tarnished image of the DA in the light of voters eyes. They knew instinctively they were dealing with middle class families who couldn't afford OJ.'s "dream team" of lawyers. Immediately they went for a "slam dunk" and began trying the case before the public in the press.Jimmy Farris was always referred to as "the son of a Los Angeles police officer." Before they even knew what happened, robbery was introduced in the press as a motive. Originally McLoren testified the boys had come to rob him of his electronic equipment.
Only when police assured him he would not get into trouble for dealing drugs because they wanted to "get" these guys, did McLoren change his story, and claim the young men came to rob, not buy, drugs. The robbery angle conveniently opened a magic door for the prosecution, enabling them to insure a continuing high profile for this case and to go for "murder with special circumstances." Originally, according to the LOS ANGELES TIMES (6-8-95), the prosecutors were literally trying to go for "the kill": "Prosecutors say they could seek the death penalty because the slaying was committed during a robbery in which a deadly weapon was used." The "deadly weapon" being the 2" pocketknife.
Knowing that gangs strike fear into the heart of every middle class, suburban resident, the prosecution cleverly introduced the gang angle describing these kids as "gang wantabes" and pointing out Brandon's "gang attire" of a baggy shirt, low slung pants, and boxer shorts. They conveniently ignored that Brandon was routed out of bed at 3 am and hustled off to jail and wasn't dressing for the Oscars, and they ignored that he was wearing what most of the stylish young people in Agoura were wearing. Had people really been concerned about gang invasion of Agoura, they might have checked out the activity in the bordering town of Calabasas surrounding the Death Row records leased estate of the late rapper Tupac Shakur. But Tupac was a hot property with money and it was easier to focus attention on "gang wantabes."Brandon Hein was the first of the five to have his photo splashed across the paper, and the first to be charged with murder, attempted murder and robbery. Brandon's attorney, Jill Lansing, argued Hein should not face trial because there was no proof there was a robbery, nor that he had stabbed anyone. Municipal Court Judge James A. Albracht bought Deputy District Attorney Jeffrey Semow's argument that Hein had aided and abetted the other four suspects in trying to rob the fort and stabbing McLoren and Farris, opening the door to the Felony Murder Rule.
Originally intended to apply to bank robbers, the Felony Murder Rule assumes that if you are committing a felony with a weapon, that you intend to use it, otherwise you wouldn't have it. This neatly deals with the claim, "But I didn't mean to shoot anybody." Further, anyone who participates in the robbery, whether they do the actual killing or not, is assumed to be guilty of murder. All the prosecutor had to allege was that the boys went to the Fort to steal, not buy, drugs, and suddenly the 2" pocket knife became a "deadly weapon" and all of the boys were guilty.
Although Brandon was ready for trial 60 days after arraignment, the judge lumped all of the boys together and Brandon was forced to wait 10 months in prison until the other attorneys were all ready and the case could go to trial. Instead of one attorney coordinating defense, there were five attorneys, working for four different clients, trying to coordinate a common strategy. Every mistake the other attorneys made reflected poorly on Brandon.The trial lasted ten weeks and filled over 40 volumes of court transcripts. During the trial only Jason Holland testified. Although Brandon wanted to testify, his lawyer advised against it. As an 18-year-old on trial for his life, Brandon was not comfortable going against his attorney's advice and kept quiet.
The state's only evidence was the testimony of the admitted drug dealer, Mike McLoren, who had just smoked some potent marijuana at the time of the incident, and had given various renditions to police of what happened, including some while under the influence of illegal drugs. There was no physical evidence. McLoren had claimed that Micah Holland had tried to open the drawer in which he kept his drugs, yet no fingerprints were taken. There was no evidence that anything had been taken. No weapon was found, although, incredibly, the judge allowed the prosecution to introduce a large wooden "model" of the 2" pocketknife, misleading the jury. The only evidence against the the young men that they intended to steal was the testimony of the drug dealer, McLoren. During the trial, Jason Holland, the young man who pulled the knife and stabbed Jimmy Farris and Mike McLoren, admitted his guilt and stated that he bore full responsibility and that the others, including Hein, had nothing to do with Jimmy's death. Never-the-less the jury, a little over a year after the fight at the Fort, convicted Jason and Micah Holland, Tony Miliotti, and Brandon Hein of first-degree murder with special circumstance. The jury in choosing to convict all of "reckless disregard for life", including those like Brandon who just happened to be in the Fort when another pulled a knife, opened the door to a sentence of life without possibility of parole.
In pre-sentencing hearings the attorneys made valiant attempts to argue why the young men, because of their youth and lack of previous serious run-ins with the law, should receive some leniency in sentencing and not be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. Brandon had no previous criminal record, no history of violence, and never had been in juvenile hall. Judge Lawrence J. Mira was pressured by the Los Angeles Police Department to impose the maximum sentence. Ads appeared in the LAPD union newspaper urging officers to pressure the judge. Although the incident took place outside the jurisdiction of LAPD (although Agoura is in Los Angeles County it is in the jurisdiction of the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department not the City of Los Angeles Police Department), Chief Willie Williams, wrote a letter to the judge urging that the young men all be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.Read the Police Chief's Letter to the Judge
Judge Lawrence J. Mira was not lenient, and sentenced Jason Holland, the young man who did the stabbing, Brandon Hein, and Tony Miliotti to life without the possibility of parole. Micah Holland, because of his age, received 25 years to life. Chris Velardo, with whom the judge's son used to play, pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter and received a lighter sentence, which has since been reduced. Although the judge had specifically excluded testimony which attempted unsuccessfully to portray the young men as members of a gang, frustrating the DA's gang-angle, the judge himself in sentencing the young men asserted that they had formed their own gang. Since no evidence was introduced to prove this, this must have been a conclusion the judge reached on his own before the trial began. He claimed Brandon showed no remorse, conveniently ignoring the letter Brandon had written to the judge expressing his remorse. Judge Mira asserted that his sentence was not so unduly harsh as to "shock the conscience" of the community.
According to Judge Mira, "[Brandon Hein] chose to hang with a group of teenagers who essentially became predators . . . to demonstrate how callous and vicious and sociopathic he can be in combination with other people. I believe this makes him a danger to the community. I find that the imposition of life without possibility of parole as to [Brandon Hein] is not disproportionate to his culpability. It does not shock the conscience, and it does not offend common notions of dignity."The Judge and "common notions of dignity"
What does "life without the possibility of parole" mean for Brandon? It means life without the possibility of parole. It means Brandon will die in prison. It means that although Charles Manson, convicted of the grisly killing of actress Sharon Tate and six others, is eligible for a parole hearing every five years, Brandon Hein, who was at the wrong place at the wrong time, will never be eligible for a parole hearing! It means there is no way out other than to have the appeals court order some retrial or amendment of the sentence, or to have the Governor intervene.------------------------------------------------------------------------
