Fatal Stabbing of Athlete Is Called Self-Defense : Hearing: Lawyers contend their client, 14, was outmatched by 2 adults and 2 juveniles. Prosecutors say the attack was ‘one-sided.’

Attorneys for a 14-year-old accused of stabbing a high school football star to death said at a juvenile court hearing Tuesday that the youth was acting in self-defense during a street fight.

Julian Bailey, co-counsel for Gregory Allen Callison, contended that his client was outnumbered during a street confrontation in which Moudka Chounlamany, a star running back for Rancho Alamitos High School, was killed on a Garden Grove street March 8. The fight arose after a misunderstanding over a dune buggy, police have said.

“When a 14-year-old is attacked by an 18-year-old football player, he certainly can be expected to defend himself,” Bailey said.

Bailey and attorney Joshua Stein formally denied the murder accusation against Callison at a detention hearing in Orange County Juvenile Court on Tuesday.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Molko would not discuss the case in detail, but disputed the self-defense claim in an interview outside the courtroom.

“We think we have the facts to support a murder,” Molko said. “We believe the facts will show that the attack was one-sided.”

The confrontation began earlier in the evening when the victim’s younger brother and some friends who live in an apartment complex in the 12700 block of Louise Street congregated around the dune buggy, which Stein said belongs to Callison’s uncle.

According to police, Callison believed that the group was going to steal the vehicle and ran out into the street to confront them. The group left, but returned a short time later in a vehicle driven by Chounlamany, who was dropping off the teen-agers, who live on the street, police said. They were again confronted by Callison, police said.

“We have two adults and two juveniles coming back to the scene of a fight, and it was four on one,” Stein said. “You’ve got four guys coming out a car all bigger than you in an area known for gang activity.”

Chounlamany was stabbed as he got out of the vehicle, police said. “We think (Callison) was the aggressor in both incidents,” Molko said.

Callison was arrested several hours after the 9 p.m. attack. He initially fled but returned several hours later and turned himself over to police.

Members of Callison’s family filled two rows inside the courtroom during the brief hearing. Orange County Juvenile Court Commissioner Robert H. Keefe denied a request by the defense that the teen-ager be released to the custody of his father.

“The court’s greatest concern is that the minor apparently has a history of compulsive violent behavior,” said Keefe, who ordered that Callison remain in Juvenile Hall until his trial. The judge did not refer to any specific episodes of violence.

Callison will undergo a psychiatric evaluation before a pretrial hearing scheduled May 6. His trial has been set for May 16.

Because of his age, Callison will be tried as a juvenile. If convicted, he could be sentenced to the California Youth Authority, where state law would require that he be released by the age of 25, prosecutors said.

Under state law, defendants must be 16 or older before prosecutors can seek to try them as adults.

About 600 people attended funeral services Saturday for Chounlamany, a 5-foot-6-inch, 150-pound running back who led Rancho Alamitos to a sectional football championship last December.