VAN NUYS : Closing Arguments in Murder Trial to Begin

Attorneys are expected to begin closing arguments today in the capital murder case of Hooman Ashkan Panah, a 23-year-old Woodland Hills man charged with the 1993 sex murder of an 8-year-old girl.

Earlier this week, Superior Court Judge Sandy Kriegler dismissed two kidnaping charges against Panah, including a special circumstance that carried a possible death penalty.

The judge ruled that the prosecution had presented no evidence that Nicole Parker was unwillingly taken from an apartment complex courtyard where she was last seen playing with a softball the morning of Nov. 20, 1993.

However, Panah still faces the death penalty because of special circumstances added to three charges that he killed Nicole while committing other felonies--sodomy, oral copulation, and lewd acts with a child.

Testimony this week by Eva Heuser of the county coroner’s office indicated that Nicole died from a combination of injuries: Her neck was deeply bruised, indicating someone had squeezed it; she had been forcibly sodomized, and she had inhaled vomit, making it impossible for her to exhale.

A stream of defense witnesses, including a former girlfriend who identified Panah as the father of her 19-month-old daughter, testified that he was a peaceful man who had many female companions and never expressed any sexual interest in children.

The witnesses testified that Panah, who worked as a clerk in the children’s section of a department store, was a good dancer who had many girlfriends, most of them his own age or older.

Under cross-examination, some of the defense witnesses said they were unaware that Panah kept a video camera in his room and taped women having sex with him.

If Panah is found guilty of first-degree murder, the case will continue into a second phase to determine whether he was insane at the time of the crime.

A third phase could follow to determine whether he should receive the death penalty or spend the rest of his life in prison.