Wednesday, October 18, 2017

Cameron Brown's Appeal for Murder Conviction

Lauren Sarene Key, 4

UPDATE 7:30 PM - See below
October 18, 2017
Today, the California Courts of Appeal affirmed the conviction of Cameron Brown on first degree murder charges in the death of his 4-year-old child, Lauren Sarene Key.

Prosecutors argued and the jury agreed that Brown premeditatedly threw his daughter off of a 120ft cliff, Inspiration Point in November 2000 because he did not want to pay child support.

The court docket on the case states the justices "affirmed with modifications." Here is Brown's CA Courts of Appeal docket listing:

Interestingly, if you read the docket, on July 27, 2017, Brown waived the oral argument hearing and the state agreed four days later.

As soon as I am able to get a copy of the published decision, I will post it.

UPDATE:
Below is a screenshot of page two of the Appellate Court ruling. The full 94 page document can be found HERE.

7 comments:

ritanita said...

I hope and pray this is the LAST we ever hear about Mr. Brown. Let Bauren rest in peace.

Summer's Mom said...

Followed this case from beginning- please Lord, let this be the end for her poor Mother to have to deal with from this horrible man.

Sprocket said...

Brown's sentence was life without parole. It's not likely he would ever get out of prison.

David In TN said...

I apologize if this has already come up, but did the investigating officers ask Cameron Brown to take a Polygraph test early on?

I know it couldn't be used in trial, but sometimes close family members (Scott Peterson for example) in this situation are asked if they want to take a polygraph test.

Sprocket said...

Hi David,

IIRC, LA Co Sheriff Detective Jeff Leslie and his partner interviewed Brown from around midnight that day until about 3 am. Somewhere in the range of three hours. I think that's right. Brown's father was in the lobby of the Sheriff's station, demanding to see his son and loudly talking about getting a lawyer.

Detectives had this single shot at speaking to Brown. He never spoke to detectives again.

There is no transcript of the interview. Back in 2000, the station they went to did not have an interview room with video camera (something Detective Leslie said he really wanted to show Brown's flat affect) ... so they interviewed him and took notes. Defense questioned why they didn't go to Leslie's car and get his tape recorder. Leslie mentioned something to the effect that they diidn't want to spook him. If they delayed, they were afraid that he would say not, he wouldn't agree to the interview. Something along those lines.

They may have asked him in that interview if he would take a polygraph, but if so, that would never have been admitted at trial.

David In TN said...

Thanks for the reply, much appreciated.

The reason I asked is I just finished re-reading Joe McGinniss' book "Fatal Vision," on the Jeffrey MacDonald case. This has been called the longest running criminal case known. McDonald is the Green Beret Doctor convicted for the 1970 murders of his pregnant wife and two daughters, ages five and two and a half.

MacDonald and his supporters are still actively seeking to overturn the conviction. Like you I go back to Manson in following trials, but I've also kept up with the Jeffrey MacDonald case since I heard about it on the radio driving to a college class.

I have no doubt of MacDonald's guilt.

When the army investigators first interviewed MacDonald some six weeks after the murders (they didn't believe him from the start), he was asked to take a polygraph. MacDonald agreed at first, but called back later and declined.

Joe McGinniss discovered McDonald HAD taken a polygraph in the office of his attorney. He failed it. Of course, this wasn't in the trial.

MacDonald thought McGinniss would write a book describing him as innocent. Instead, McGinniss saw the evidence and realized he was guilty, and wrote his bestseller accordingly.

In his book on the O.J. Simpson trial, Vincent Bugliosi told of MacDonald's then girlfriend coming to his Beverly Hills office in 1975. She wanted Bugliosi to represent Dr. MacDonald, who was working as an emergency room doctor at a Long Beach hospital. A federal grand jury had just indicted him for the murders.

Vince said he might consider it but would require MacDonald to take a polygraph. A few days later she called back saying MacDonald didn't think he had to take a polygraph.

Vince called up the federal prosecutor and asked "What is the evidence?" Among other things "...fibers from MacDonald's blue pajamas had been found embedded beneath the fingernails of his two-and-a-half-year old daughter."

Vince Bugliosi wanted nothing to do with defending Jeffrey MacDonald.

Naturally, Cameron Brown didn't volunteer to take a polygraph.

Sprocket said...

Fatal Vision is amazing. And YES! I read Bugliosi's book on the OJ Simpson trial and immediately remembered exactly what he said about MacDonald feeling he didn't need to take a polygraph for Buglosi to represent him.

We don't know if they asked. There was a report of the interview written. If they asked it might be in the report, but (I don't think) the full document was admitted at trial - and if by chance it was, that part would have been redacted. I'm leaning that, they didn't ask him.

They knew Brown's behavior was off from reports they got from first responders and other Sheriff's at the scene.