Shooting Was Accidental, Brando’s Son Told Officer : Justice: Preliminary hearing opens in Hollywood slaying. Judge refuses tape-recorded evidence, saying suspect was not properly advised of his rights.

Marlon Brando listened solemnly in court Monday as witnesses recounted the night a gunshot rang out at the actor’s Hollywood Hills mansion and his son, Christian, was arrested for shooting the actor’s daughter’s boyfriend.

“I didn’t mean to shoot him,” Christian Brando was quoted as telling the first police officer who reached the gated estate on Mulholland Drive, where 26-year-old Dag Drollet lay dead.

“He (Christian Brando) said he didn’t care for the guy a whole lot, but he didn’t want the guy killed,” Los Angeles Police Officer Steve Cunningham recalled. “He didn’t want anybody to be shot.”

Cunningham’s testimony came as a preliminary hearing opened in the Christian Brando murder case.

After Cunningham testified, prosecutors moved to play in court a lengthy tape recording of the younger Brando’s statements to detectives. But a legal dispute arose when the defense objected that the defendant had not been properly advised of his rights before he spoke.

The second witness, Detective Steve Osti, said he advised Brando of his right to remain silent, but neglected to tell him that if he could not afford a lawyer one would be appointed for him.

Los Angeles Municipal Judge Larry Fidler ruled later in the day that the tape could not be used, saying young Brando had been improperly advised about his rights. Defense attorneys said he should have been told about his right to free legal help, even if he didn’t need it.

Fidler will decide at hearing’s end whether there is sufficient evidence to have the defendant stand trial for murder.

Marlon Brando sat in the front row of the courtroom, occasionally taking notes. The actor’s 32-year-old son appeared nervous when he was led into the courtroom, where some spectators had to stand after all seats were filled. Reporters, camera crews and movie fans crowded the hallways.

Cunningham told of driving to Brando’s home on May 16. At the gate, the officer said, he saw paramedics and firefighters and “I was told there was a guy in the house that had been shot in the head and he was dead and the suspect was still in the house.”

He added later: “I was told by a fireman the son did it.”

Cunningham said Marlon Brando opened the door and the officer asked where to find his son.

“He said, ‘I don’t have any idea where he is and I can’t believe he shot him.’ ”

Cunningham said he went into the living room and found Christian Brando and his sister, Cheyenne, seated on the floor.

“He was sitting on the floor with his arms around her shoulder. She appeared to be upset,” Cunningham said. “I could not hear her crying, but I remember she had tears on her face.”

Cheyenne Brando was then seven months pregnant with Drollet’s child. She recently gave birth to a boy in Tahiti, where the Brandos have a home. She is said to be suffering from exhaustion, and a doctor told authorities that she could not return to testify.

Cunningham said young Brando spoke before he was asked anything.

“I got approximately three to five feet from the defendant and he stated he didn’t mean to shoot him,” Cunningham said. “At that time, I arrested him.”

After being handcuffed, Brando continued explaining.

“All of a sudden he just started talking,” Cunningham said. “He stated that it was an accident, that they were struggling over the gun, wrestling around over the gun, that the deceased grabbed his hand and that made the gun go off.”

The defense contends that the .45-caliber handgun went off accidentally during a scuffle over the weapon between the six-foot Brando and the 6-foot-3 Drollet.

Prosecutors say they found no evidence of a struggle and that Drollet was shot while sitting on a sofa.