Jury Holds Fate of Father Who Asked $90,000 for Daughter

A prosecutor Thursday asked jurors to convict a Van Nuys father of slavery, saying the man’s proposal to collect $90,000 in exchange for the adoption of his 2-year-old daughter was a “cold, calculated, devious plan.”

During closing arguments in Van Nuys Superior Court, Deputy Dist. Atty. Katherine Mader said Alan Daniel, 30, preyed upon the emotions of Susan and Ronald Miulli, who had experienced difficulty bearing children and had suffered the death of an adopted child.

The Encino couple testified that Daniel let his daughter, Fallon, live with them for seven months, beginning in April, 1985, and agreed to pursue adoption proceedings to give them legal custody of the girl, whom they renamed Megan.

On Megan’s second birthday last November, the couple testified, Ronald Miulli took the child to visit Daniel. When Miulli returned to pick up the girl later that day, Daniel refused to return Megan unless the couple paid him $90,000, Miulli testified.

‘Cold, Calculated Plan’

The jury, which has heard two days of testimony, will begin deliberations today.

Mader told the jury that Daniel’s proposal was “a cold, calculated plan that was hatched by the defendant to hold Megan for ransom” until the Miullis “came up with the money.”

Defense attorney Peter Brown countered, however, that Daniel was not selling his child but merely seeking compensation for expediting the private adoption and avoiding the “red tape” of county government.

“My client wanted money. Alan wanted money to consent to an adoption,” Brown said. “Mr. Daniel at no time had the specific intent to sell his daughter.”

Testimony revealed that Daniel is estranged from the girl’s mother, Athena Agustus, who has had a history of drug problems and who abandoned the child shortly after birth.

In a related development outside the jury’s presence, Judge Thomas Schneider revoked Daniel’s bail Thursday and ordered him jailed for the rest of the trial. The action came amid allegations from the prosecutor that Daniel beat Agustus in an effort to prevent her from testifying against him in the trial.

Daniel has not been charged with any criminal offense in the beating allegations, but police said they are investigating.

Referred by Son’s Doctor

During testimony Thursday, Daniel said he decided to put his daughter up for adoption last year because he felt he could not provide the best care for her. Daniel was referred to the Miullis, he said, by his 5-year-old son’s pediatrician, who knew the couple and said they would make excellent parents.

After Daniel requested the $90,000, the Miullis contacted police, who recorded a subsequent telephone conversation between Ronald Miulli and Daniel, according to testimony.

On the tape, which was played for the jury, Daniel admiringly referred to the couple’s car, home and printing business. When Miulli complained that he could not raise the $90,000 immediately, Daniel responded, “I don’t want a sob story.”

Daniel then told Miulli that he would accept a down payment of $15,000 and the balance in installments, according to the tape.

Daniel testified that it upset him to give away the girl without financial compensation. He thought the money would make him feel better and would allow him to provide a better home environment for his son, he testified.

Daniel, who had three meetings with Ronald Miulli to negotiate the price, said he “didn’t believe in my mind” that what he was doing was wrong.

According to testimony from Daniel’s sister, Linda Tremonti, Daniel asked her to investigate the legality of receiving “compensation for adoption.” Tremonti, who is a legal secretary, said she photocopied a penal code section that says it is lawful to receive payment for medical and legal expenses associated with adoption.

Under cross-examination by Mader, however, Daniel admitted that he had incurred only minor expenses filing adoption papers, which he did without the services of an attorney.

Since the trial, the Miullis have obtained a license to be foster parents and have temporary custody of the child pending a hearing on permanent placement.