Jury Convicts Teenagers in ’95 Slaying of 16-Year-Old

A jury convicted four Conejo Valley teenagers of first-degree murder Tuesday, a year and six days after the stabbing death of a 16-year-old boy in an Agoura Hills backyard.

Jimmy Farris’ teenage killers face minimum sentences of life in prison without parole because they were convicted of murder during the commission of a felony--the attempted robbery of a few bags of marijuana from another teenager’s fort.

The jury’s verdicts came after more than four days of deliberation. Sentencing is set for July 15.

“I hate it that they have to spend their life in jail, but they chose to do it, they chose to use the knife,” Jimmy’s mother, Judie Farris, said after the verdicts were read. Judie and Jim Farris, an LAPD officer, sat through most of the two-month trial.

As the guilty verdicts were read in alphabetical order, the four teens took turns standing, their demeanors reserved and unemotional. Brandon Hein, 19, of Oak Park, was first, then Jason Holland, 19, of Thousand Oaks, who had admitted on the stand to stabbing Farris in the heart during a brawl but claimed he was just protecting his younger brother, Micah, 16.

From the front row of the audience, Sharry Holland, her head shaking, watched as first Jason and then her younger son, Micah, were convicted of Farris’ murder. Finally, Tony Miliotti, 18, of Westlake Village, stood and listened as a court clerk read through the list of counts.

Miliotti, Micah Holland and Hein were all acquitted of attempted murder charges against Mike McLoren, 17, Farris’ close friend who was stabbed three times during the fight in his backyard fort but survived. Jason Holland was convicted on a lesser charge, assaulting McLoren with a deadly weapon.

All four were tried as adults because of the nature of the crime, even though only two of them were 18 at the time. A fifth teen, Chris Velardo, 18, of Oak Park, who was driving the getaway car from the murder scene, was also charged in the crime but pleaded guilty to voluntary manslaughter in September and is awaiting sentencing.

Defense attorneys said they will file a motion for a new trial, charging prosecutorial misconduct, in particular during an emotional closing argument where they claim the prosecution accused them of lying.

“I’ve never experienced such a miscarriage of justice in 20 years as an attorney,” said Micah Holland’s attorney, James Sussman.

Outside the Malibu courthouse, the Farrises said they had been afraid that their son’s killing would be written off as a case of boys-will-be-boys and were pleased with the verdict.

“You just can’t minimize killing a person,” Judie Farris said, her eyes filled with tears. “They made the choice, they chose to pull out a knife. Why didn’t they just stab Jimmy in the leg?”

The deadly fight occurred in the early evening hours of May 22, 1995, while Farris and McLoren were working out near McLoren’s makeshift fort in his grandparent’s backyard. The fort was a favorite after-school hangout for many of McLoren’s friends, and it was well known among local teens that McLoren usually kept a stash of pot inside, according to court testimony.

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On that night, the Holland brothers, Hein and Miliotti climbed over McLoren’s fence and demanded pot. McLoren’s refusal ignited a short fight that left Farris dead and McLoren wounded.

The atmosphere in the courtroom before the verdict was tense, with every seat filled by friends or family members on both sides. The victim’s parents, dressed in somber gray and black, held hands in the front row behind prosecutors Jeff Semow and Mike Latin.

“I looked back at Judie and she was literally holding her breath,” Semow said. “I’m very pleased with the verdict and thrilled for the Farris family.”

McLoren, a key witness for the prosecution, had come under harsh attack by the team of defense attorneys during the trial--first for his admission that he lied to police after the attack, telling them the four teens had tried to steal his stereo and VCR instead of the pot.

He later admitted to selling pot to many of his friends and acquaintances at local high schools and even confessed to having testified under oath once during court proceedings just hours after having been high.

But defense attempts to undermine McLoren’s testimony were unsuccessful. Semow said the five-woman, seven-man jury asked to meet with McLoren after the verdict.

“The jury didn’t just believe him, they thought he was a courageous and painfully honest young man,” Semow said.

McLoren declined to be interviewed.

“I don’t have anything to say,” he said, his eyes swollen with tears as he bent to hug Judie Farris and kiss her on the cheek.

McLoren and Jimmy Farris had been friends since childhood, with the well-liked and athletic Jimmy playing protector to McLoren, the frequent victim of school bullies. The night of the murder, McLoren had finally decided to fight back and Jimmy was defending him, Judie Farris said.

“Mike got sick of people bullying him,” she said. “And Jimmy was helping him. Our son thought he could handle the fight.”

Although she long ago forgave McLoren, Judie Farris said the boy has not forgiven himself, yet.

“Mike is suffering from the guilt,” she added. “He is still so emotionally upset.”

Even though the courtroom remained calm and quiet, there were tears on both sides. Gene Hein, Brandon’s father, waited until he was outside, then bent over a rail, his hand to his eyes. Sharry Holland left the courtroom wiping tears from her eyes, then sat outside, her eyes downcast.

And despite their reserve in court, the young defendants were devastated by the verdicts, their attorneys said.

“My kid is 16 years old; he doesn’t even know what’s going on,” said Sussman. He said his client, Micah Holland, is heartbroken by the verdict. “He can’t compute it.”

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Defense attorney Ira Salzman called his client, Jason Holland, “very remorseful.”

“Jason is particularly disappointed, more for his brother than for himself,” Salzman said. “He was hopeful that his testimony would exonerate his friends and his brother.”

But the Farrises called the verdict a just one.

“We don’t celebrate the misfortune of others,” Jim Farris said, his arm around his wife. “But justice is justice.”

“We’ll miss him forever,” he said of his youngest son. “Or until we see him again.”