Agoura Hills : Defendants in Teen’s Slaying Separated

Three weeks shy of a murder trial, a judge Friday ordered prosecutors to turn over key evidence to defense attorneys representing the five youths accused in the stabbing death of an Agoura Hills teen-ager.

Immediately after the ruling, lawyers for two of the defendants petitioned Malibu Municipal Court Judge Lawrence J. Mira to separate their clients from the other three suspects.

Mira granted the requests, allowing Chris Velardo, 17, of Oak Park and Tony Miliotti, 18, of Westlake Village to be housed at Sylmar Juvenile Hall. Their co-defendants--brothers Jason Holland, 18, and Micah Holland, 15, of Thousand Oaks and Brandon Hein, 18, of Oak Park--will be held in other Los Angeles County jails.

“That should give them as much peace of mind as one can expect,” Mira said.

A trial is set for Oct. 6. Prosecutors contend that the five youths planned to rob an Agoura Hills clubhouse belonging to Michael McLoren, 16, and ended up fatally stabbing McLoren’s friend, James Farris III, 16, during the robbery. Farris is the son of a Los Angeles police detective. McLoren was stabbed several times but survived the attack.

Earlier during Friday’s hearing, prosecutor Jeffrey Semow reluctantly agreed to turn over certain documents to the five defense attorneys. Mira ordered Semow to do so weeks ago, but the Los Angeles County deputy district attorney resisted, saying he would be ethically compromised if he did so.

Friday’s hearing was Semow’s last chance to reveal the evidence; Mira had said he would dismiss the charges against all five defendants if the prosecutor did not comply.

The evidence was not discussed in open court, and attorneys asked that it not be made available to the press and public. Immediately after Semow agreed to hand it over to defense attorneys, Curtis Leftwich, the attorney representing Miliotti, asked for protection for his client. Velardo’s attorney, Charles English, joined him in the request.