Cameron Brown Thrid Trial: Pretrial #4

Lauren Sarene Key, 4. Date unknown.  

Brown is accused of throwing his four-year-old daughter off of

Inspiration Point, 120 ft. drop, in Rancho Palos Verdes, CA, 

on November 8th, 2000.

 October 12th, 2012
It's 8:15 AM, and I'm on the 9th floor of the downtown criminal court building, aka the Clara Shortridge-Foltz Crimial Justice Center (CJC).  This end of the hallway is relatively empty.  Not long after I sit down, DDA Craig Hum arrives, says hello and takes a seat on the bench directly across from me.  As Hum opens up his newspaper, I ask him what his current assignment is.  Hum is now in the Organized Crime Division.  The Brown case is the only case he still has from his days in Torrance and in Major Crimes.

Patty Brown arrives in the hallway.  She's wearing a simple white (knit?) top and black pants.  She's wearing the gold lame ballet slippers again.  A few moments later her brother Ted Kaldis arrives.  He's wearing a casual short sleeved print shirt with ships on it and jeans.

When the courtroom opens, Patty and Ted sit in the first row nearest the aisle.  I take a seat in the first row closer to the jury box.  I'm father from the defendant than I would like, but hopefully I'll still be able to hear him if he speaks.

Mrs. Benson is at her desk and DDA Hum continues to read his paper in the well.  We are waiting on Aron Laub again.

A woman carrying a thin leather folder enters the courtroom who was in the hallway earlier.  She greets Patty and Ted and sits on the left side of the courtroom where defense staff usually sit.  I make a guess that she's either an investigator or paralegal for the defense.

8:36 AM Mr. Laub arrives.

Laub goes up to Mrs. Benson's counter and hands her a paper.  I believe Mrs. Benson asks Laub if this is for additional money and he replies, "Yes."  It's about funds for a paralegal for Laub that has already been appointed.  Laub tells Mrs. Benson, "Shes' in the courtroom today." I guess correctly.

Laub then shows a few pages to DDA Hum.  Ted says something I don't catch.  When he sees me writing in my notepad, I think he thought I was writing down what he just said, because the next thing he does say, "Don't tell me you're gong to write that," I believe is addressed at me.

I have in my notes that Laub says to Hum, something to the effect that he's going to ask the judge for a motion to compel.  Apparently, Brown is having trouble with the jail.  (This is not news.  Brown has claimed for years that he's having trouble with the jail.)  The only part of Hum's response I hear is "1054."  Laub replies, "I'm anticipating that argument."

Brown's wife leans forward on the bench seat and rests her elbows on the "bar" that separates the well from the gallery.  Patty asks Laub about glasses for her husband or trying to get glasses to her husband.  Laub says something to the effect that they won't accept (the one's she's brought?) because they have metal temples.  They have to be plastic all the way back.

Laub's paralegal moves from the gallery to sit with Laub at the defense table.  Court reporter Mavis comes out with her equipment.  She gives me a smile as she walks behind the defense table and then greets DDA Hum as she passes him on her way to her desk.

Patty is now leaning back on the bench seat and Ted is leaning forward with his elbows on the "bar."  I note that Mavis's fingernails are painted a dark, muted shade of red.

8:46 AM Judge Pastor comes out from the back private area. He looks over a paper and appears to make some notes at the sidebar area of his bench.  Judge Pastor then takes the bench but the defendant is not brought out yet.  Ted has his eyes closed and it appears that he might be falling asleep.

8:53 AM  Brown is brought out.  Before sitting down, he gives the same, tiny quick nod to his wife that I observed at the last hearing.  We go on the record in the Brown matter.

Pastor appears to be reading the document that Laub submitted.  Judge Pastor or Mrs. Benson confirm that it is the exact same document that the defense filed on May 15th (of this year?).  I believe Pastor asks why Laub is refiling.  It's the result, of a number of other matters Laub replies.  He states he will be filing a motion to compel discovery (for the LA Co. Sheriff's Dept. aka LASD) on matters in this letter.

Laub is going to make a motion to dismiss the case due to (a) process of ongoing (treatment?) at the men's central jail.  Laub believes his ability to prepare for trial is being impinged on (by the way?) Mr. Brown is being treated at the jail.

Laub continues to outline the problem.  (Many?) could interpret his (Brown's) complaints as paranoid, but it is possible to be paranoid and still have people after you.

Laub is asking the court to listen to arguments at a later date, that the defense and Mr. Brown's well being is being harmed.

Judge Pastor interrupts and asks about the "pro per" status.  Laub states that's not on the table after a talk with Mr. Brown, (he) is not going to go...

Judge Pastor asks Brown directly, "Is that correct Mr. Brown?" And Brown responds, "At this time, yes."

Laub continues, "I believe it's necessary to bring a motion to dismiss.... and ask the court to (present? (our?) motion to compel."

I believe Judge Pastor asks Hum or Hum speaks up and states, "A motion to dismiss? .... I do not have a motion to dismiss or compel."

Judge Pastor tells counsel that next Monday, he's going to be jammed through November.  He also remind them he's going to be changing assignments. He'll do as much as he can.   Laub states whatever date is convenient with the court.  DDA Hum offers that they previously had a discovery date of December 7th, before the defendant brought up the "pro per" status.

Judge Pastor states he wants to address this as quickly as possible.  "I think it deserves attention and I'm concerned about it," Judge Pastor adds.  Laub mentions that he has a case in Dept 106 that will take about a month.  By Dec 7th, he would have already filed a motion to compel (with the Sheriff).

Laub explains more about what he anticipates, as far as the motion to compel. ... He plans to serve subpoenas (in relation?) to this issue and other material to bring up to the court.

Judge Pastor then goes over when he would want these motions filed, the time needed for the prosecution and the sheriff's office to respond and if Laub wanted time to file rebuttal motions.

Hum is asking for at least two weeks to prepare his response.

With all the dates that are going back and forth, Judge Pastor goes past December 7th.  Tuesday Dec. 4th, Hums response will be due.  Judge Pastor tells Laub in his moving papers to the LASD, be sure to include the schedule (for motions to be due).  Laub will then have (I think) Dec 10th by 4pm to file his reply with the court.  The court hearing on the motions will be December 14th, which will give Judge Pastor time to review all the moving papers.  So the next hearing in the Brown case will be December 14th.

Judge Pastor cautions that everything (relates to) the budget issues, and those issues have a "domino effect."  He again reminds them that by the end of December, he will be out of Dept 107.

He asks again if there is any need to come back before December 14th?  No one speaks up.

Laub then brings up another issue to the court.  He states that Judge Pastor had signed an order for Mr. Brown to have (documents in his cell?).  Laub speaks about the "green bag" and the amount of legal papers that can fit in it.  This is a small soft canvas type bag that is the limit of legal documents that Brown is allowed to have in is cell.  

Laub tells the court, "The jail's position is that I can swap transcripts. .... One out of two trips to the jail end up with him being able to see Brown. ... It takes 1.5 hours to get Mr. Brown to the attorney meeting room. ... Mr. Brown is housed only a few feet away from the attorney room.  .... None the less, it supposedly takes 1.5 hours (to retrieve him?) as it did yesterday. ... Mr. Brown's (access?) (requires?) a Sgt. to accompany him. ... Sometimes, as yesterday, (they?) use a senior deputy.  ... We're fine with that.  (That's a?) ...step below a Sgt. (and we?) don't have to wait to summon a Sgt. .... Just to get Mr. Brown's legal papers swapped out would take a year. .... The jail is resistant to the courts order and his request. ...."

Laub continues, "Their (Sheriff's legal dept?) prior statement about paperwork (was that it was?) a fire hazard. ... Now the reason is the jail doesn't have control. ..."

Laub then explain the 'pro per" status and why those defendants are allowed all their paperwork in their cells, and that all pro per's are in single cells.


Laube states, "I will not be surprised if in the future, if there is an inmate at the jail that will provide information about Brown (that will be) used by the prosecution. ... Now the court knows, I'm as paranoid as my client."

Laub then goes over the various things that he believes support his accusations that Brown is being targeted by staff at the jail.  He mentions things he's tried to send Brown.  He used to be able to send him the Jumbo puzzle problems from the newspaper.  But now, Brown is not allowed to have newspaper clippings.  Another inmate provided Brown with a newspaper clipping, telling him, "You're being singled out.  Here's what they're letting me have."

Mr. Brown keeps getting a bill from National Geographic.  It's possible that the magazines were delivered to the jail, but he's never received them.  Laub tells the court that he's printed out orders from books from Amazon.com.  On October 10th, he ordered three books, and he lists the titles:
Standing Bear is a person; Colorado Trail; Practice Makes Perfect..(?)...  They were all returned undeliverable.  Another book (sent by?), In Search of Captain Zero, that book was delivered. (I believe he states this was sent by his brother, from a book store in Colorado.)  Laub then reordered two of the three books he previously ordered, taking out the true story book.  These two books were sent back again.

Laub states, "The legal department says they don't know what's going on. .... What I get is, (this is) not a concentrated effort. I suspect there is an employee in the mail room ... with the desire to make his life miserable."

Laub believes there same employee was on duty for the two instances where the books were sent back, and a different employee was on duty when the one book was delivered.

Laub continues, "Mr. Brown has attempted to me letters. ... Mr. Brown's legal mail is not reaching me. ... Other mail he's sent is not getting (out?). ...  Another inmate had received books. .... So what I intend to do is prepare a legal subpoena ... policies, regulations, legal documents and legal basis for what they have. ... I will also expand (the subpoena?) ... matters related to informal request for discovery."

"Unless the court will order Mr. Brown to have access to court transcripts in excess of what will fit in the green bag ..." Laub asks.

Judge Pastor states, "I am, in no uncertain terms... No non-pro per inmate receives any more space or anymore storage than policy. ... I'm in no position (to) order sheriff's from their long standing policy. ... I believe you have a paralegal and an investigator. Is one of them available to do that? (swap out transcripts?)."

Judge Pastor asks and his court deputy agrees to arrange for the defense paralegal to sit down with defendant Brown, and then states, "I don't know if Mr. Brown has been singled out.  I hear this exact same frustration (from other counsel?).  They are overwhelmed with people. ... It's a problem.  I don't know that I can do anything because of budgets, etc. ... I'm not going to deviate from that policy in regards to storage right now."

Laub replies, "I understand without some evidence. ... It's a violation of equal protection under the law because of the complexity of this case."

Judge Pastor again asks if there is anything else to discuss before the 14th of December.  Laub says no.  He will address the issue about the mail in the subpoena.  Judge Pastor asks again, any reason to regroup before that date in December?  Hum doesn't have anything. Hum states, "I eagerly anticipate any information Mr. Laub has."

And that's it. The hearing is over.

 The question I would ask is, why is it necessary for a Sgt. to accompany Brown when he is moved to the attorney room?  Does this mean the Sheriff's Dept. films Brown whenever he is moved?  (I've heard of this procedure happening with other inmates at the jail.) The only thing I can think of is, (and this is just a guess) there have been a large number of complaints leveled against the Sheriff's Dept. as to how Brown is being treated, and the Sgt. accompanying Brown (and possible filming) is to ensure that nothing happens to him whenever he is moved within the jail.  It's reasonable to opine that the possible high number of complaints triggered these precautionary procedures by the Sheriff's Dept.

CAMERON BROWN QUICK LINKS PAGE

Cameron Brown Pretrial Hearing, May 13th 2008

This is an unedited, unfinished DRAFT entry.

A while back, a few of my trial watcher friends have been wondering what ever happened to the Cameron Brown case. For those of you who have never heard of this case, back on November 8th of 2000, Cameron Brown allegedly threw his four-year-old daughter, Lauren Serene Key-Marer off a steep cliff, Inspiration Point in Palos Verdes, California, to avoid paying child support to her mother, Sarah Key-Marer. His first trial hung, not because some jurors thought he was innocent; they hung on the degree of guilt.

I was searching around for some information on the case and came across a news report that Brown would be in two different courtrooms on May 13th in downtown Los Angeles and I thought that was interesting. Supposedly, Brown "turned in" a home made knife of some sort that he claims was planted in his cell and he was being charged on that. In addition, Brown somehow got his trial moved from Torrance to downtown Los Angeles in Judge Michael Pastor's court 107, right across the hall from Judge Fidler's courtroom. It's been some time since we've had a good trial to follow so I thought that I would drop in on the two hearings for Cameron Brown to see if I might want to follow this trial. It might start around the same time that Pellicano & Christensen, round two start and it will be a decision which trial I decide to watch. At Pellicano, which is in Federal Court, I know Ciaran and Steven will be covering it and I'll have great company and get some inside scoops. I have no idea who much interest Brown will get in downtown. The LA County Public Liaison's office tells me they have had zero interest in Brown.

On Tuesday, Mr. Sprocket drops me off at the North Hollywood station but I miss the 7:20 train by about 10 seconds. I'm on the escalator from the ticket platform to the trains and the bell goes off that the doors to the train are closing. That means I won't be in the Courthouse until 8 am, and I know Pastor's courtroom starts right on time. I had already contacted my friend, Dr. Carroll Adams, who got interested in a trial in Pastor's court when Spector was just about ending and things got weird in that courtroom. He's been following several trials in Pastor's courtroom ever since so I knew he would have the scoop on which hearing would be first.

When the 7:30 am train comes at 7:25 am, they don't let everyone on right away. Metro does a security sweep of the train and it all the times I took the subway to watch Spector, this is the first time I've actually seen them perform a security check of the cars.

I don't have a book today and I'm tempted to ask someone for a section of paper. A man is on his laptop, several people are reading the paper and I see a woman putting on her makeup. The car is pretty full with at least 15 people standing. An older gentleman with a lined face offers a woman his seat and then the young man next to me gets up and offers his seat to the older gent who just got up for a woman.

In the Hollywood Hills/Cahuenga Pass, where the train reaches speeds up to 70 mph, there is some unique advertising in the tunnels now, that I first saw on my way home on Friday for the Miura hearing. As the train speeds by for quite a distance you see an ad. On Friday, it was promotion for the movie Speed Racer. I've also noticed that the train platform notification boards that were the same type you see on freeways with the moving text, have been replaced with LCD screens and more information. And, the time is visible at the very top of the screens.

I clear security on the main floor and on the 9th. As I round the corner from the elevator bays I see Carroll with his great smile and it's a good feeling to see a familiar face. We catch up on the latest news. There are two nondescript people waiting for Pastor's courtroom to open also, but I can't imagine from the way they are dressed that they are here for Brown's hearing. They leave the hallway but show back up later. When we finally get inside 107, the benches have double cushions! For the seat and the back. Carroll says, "Now you can see why I started hanging out in Pastor's courtroom," and we both have a chuckle because the benches in Fidler's court with no cushions are quite hard.

Carroll knows everyone in Pastor's courtroom and he points out Judge Pastor's clerk, Sammie Benson and his new bailiff, Kirk Richardson as well as the names of Pastor's court reporters: Mavis Theodoro and Pat McNeal, who unusually, still uses the "old style" of stenography machine. Carroll tells me the story of what happened to the prior bailiff and it's quite sad. He's got quite a recovery ahead for his injuries. We see Judge Pastor, a distinguished looking man with grayish hair, come out and talk to two attorneys but he's not in his robes. I jot down the phone number to Pastor's courtroom just in case I want to check on hearing dates and times. I ask Carroll how old is Judge Pastor because to me, he looks quite young. "He's 65 and has been on the bench for 26 years," Carroll replies.

Pastor now comes back out into the courtroom with his robes on, but he doesn't take the bench directly. Carroll introduces me to a defense attorney from another trial he watched, Tom Burns, where the verdict was overturned and the case must be retried. If I'm remembering correctly, supposedly the defendant (or maybe it was a critical witnesses) was not told that he could have his own interpreter. I have in my notes the defendant was Pedro Avena, but I might be wrong about that.

Finally, Cameron Brown is brought into the courtroom wearing an orange suit. He doesn't look anything like the photos I've seen on some support blogs. He's rail thin and his beard is quite long, at least eight to ten inches long. His hair is not grown out, it's trimmed short along the back of his neck, and I see that the beard appears to be evenly trimmed around his cheekbones. Cameron turns and nods to the two people in the courtroom who were in the hall earlier. I'm shocked. At first I thought the woman might be a relative, like his mother but it dawns on me this must be "Patty," his wife. The man who was with her I didn't pay much attention to, but later I come to realize that this must be Patty's brother, Theodore (aka "Ted") who is very vocal on Usenet and several blogs in support of his brother-in-law. Maybe it's just me, maybe I've totally abandoned my 70's hippie teens, but if my husband was on trial for murder, I wouldn't be showing up to court so casually dressed wearing flip flops (and we are NOT talking high end, gemstone adorned footwear like what you would find on Rachelle Short's feet but standard black flip flops) or forgotten to put a brush through my hair.

Court is called into session. Craig Hum for the people; Pat Harris on behalf of the defense. Harris brings up an issue that was raised last time about delays in meeting with his client at the jail. The Court has a trial (or is it two) that will be heard before this one and it's not clear how long that trial will take at this time. A new pretrial date is set for June 13th, and the count is reset to 0-45 from that date. Defendant waives rights, and accepts the new date. The Court states that it will have a much better idea on that date as to the schedule and a firm trial date.

Harris brings up the issue that the defendant is trying to get his hair cut and a medical appointment before trial. And that's it. It's mentioned that the next hearing is in Department 133 on the 13th floor. And that's it. I say my goodbye's to Carroll, and head off to the 13th floor.

Patty and Ted and I are all in the same elevator. Patty has what appears to be a letter in her hand and she starts to read the letter to him, "...all he's concerned about..." and then Ted goes, "Sussh!" at Patty and that's all of their conversation I overhear. On the 13th floor we see a sign that states Department 133 is on the fifteenth floor, and we all head back to the elevators to go up two floors. Department 133 is Judge Sterling's courtroom and there are several people in the gallery and another case is being adjudicated. Patty and Ted sit in different rows, far from each other. Since there is another case being heard, I sit in the nearest row available, but it means I can't hear what's going on as well. People are coming and going and the courtroom is quite noisy.