The case of a lifetime
In the toughest, longest case of Steve Mercer’s 12-year law career, he stood before the United States Supreme Court, spoke with a photo in hand and a mission in mind: to represent his client, 19-year-old Melanie Ookhtens, who was murdered by her cousin.
The La Cañada resident serves as deputy attorney with the California attorney general’s office in Los Angeles and dedicated several years to Knowles v. Mirzayance, which involved the fatal stabbing and shooting of Ookhtens, a sophomore at USC, by her cousin, Alexandre Mirzayance. Ookhtens was murdered in her family’s home while her parents were away celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary.
“It would have been really easy to just forget about [the case], but nobody wanted to forget about Melanie,” Mercer said. “She was the reason we all did this. I had my picture of her when I was at the Supreme Court to let me know this was my client. This was who I was here for.”
Mirzayance’s defense team initially assembled a number of experts to defend him in court, including former California Supreme Court Justice Armand Arabian.
“The [Ookhtens] family’s fear all along was that money was going to buy this murderer’s freedom, but I think we did prevail,” he said. “They were all very good lawyers and very professional; it was just the idea that if you spend the right money, or all the right expert witnesses or doctors, then it might go away, but in the end the jury decided the case and the defendant had turned himself in to police within hours after the murder.”
The case bounced between the 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court twice after Mirzayance was convicted of first-degree murder. After the conviction, his attorney withdrew his insanity plea, saying several plans for testimony had fallen through, rendering his strategy impossible.
Mirzayance filed a legal challenge, arguing that abandoning the strategy constituted ineffective assistance of counsel. The Supreme Court eventually ruled against his argument.
The case changed Mercer’s career.
“It was the case of a lifetime,” he said. “It was really the pinnacle of my career in the Department of Justice. It was about six years of litigation through the federal courts.”
Melanie Ookhtens’ parents, Murad and Flora Ookhtens, worked closely for more than six years with Mercer.
“Steven deserves the highest praise that can be showered on a public servant,” Murad Ookhtens said. “He was very sympathetic to us and we developed a great friendship with him.”
The Ookhtenses said they had support from friends, family and colleagues at USC, where Murad Ookhtens is an associate professor at Keck School of Medicine.
“There was always high mutual respect between us,” he said. “He always kept me abreast on what was going on and always e-mailed me the briefs, basically everything that was submitted to the courts. We have a large group of friends and supporters at the criminal court to the last period of prosecution on up. They always have been around and attended the hearings. They all have extremely high regard for Steven and the office of the attorney general because they didn’t just let this case fall through the cracks.”
Mercer called his arguments before the Supreme Court “the most humbling experience of a lifetime. It was an honor to go to Washington, D.C., and represent not only the state of California, but the victim’s family.”
His work has earned him recognition with the Outstanding Achievement in Client Representation or Prosecution award from the state attorney general on June 25 in Los Angeles.
Mercer has worked at the California attorney general’s office since he graduated from law school 12 years ago. His interest in law began after his undergraduate studies at Occidental College and worked as a private investigator. He chose law school as a new path and left his native Southern California for Washington, D.C., where he studied law at American University. He also met his wife, Sue, and the couple moved to California.
He said he chose to focus on public service after law school.
“As a prosecutor for the state, I get to wear the white hat and help victims and victims’ families,” he said. “It’s a good fit for me.”