LAUREN KEY - 4 yo (2000) - Los Angeles CA

A former airline baggage handler threw his 4-year-old daughter off a
cliff because he didn't want to pay child support, a prosecutor told
jurors Tuesday during an impassioned closing argument in the man's
murder trial.
Deputy District Attorney Craig Hum urged jurors to find Cameron Brown,
47, guilty of first-degree murder in the November 2000 death of Lauren
Sarene Key.

Hum reviewed the evidence for more than two hours,
contending it was no accident that Lauren fell 120 feet (36 meters)
from Inspiration Point in Rancho Palos Verdes.

"It brings us to
one horrifying, inescapable conclusion," Hum said. "This man threw his
4-year-old daughter off a cliff to her death."

Brown is charged
with one count of murder and the special circumstance allegations of
murder while lying in wait and for financial gain. He has pleaded not
guilty and could face life in prison without parole if convicted.

Defense
attorney Pat Harris said the child slipped and fell, and that Brown was
a loving father who wanted to spend more time with his daughter. He
said Brown kept a picture of his daughter by his bedside and continued
to pay child support after Lauren's death.

The motive for
killing Lauren was threefold, Hum argued. Brown didn't want to pay
about $1,000 a month in child support; sought revenge against the
girl's mother, Sarah Key-Marer, whom he despised and never married; and
protested his wife's intention to seek custody of Lauren, Hum said.

Hum
repeatedly called Brown a liar, saying the defendant had given varying
accounts to investigators about what had happened in the moments before
Lauren died. Lauren's physical injuries weren't consistent with the
defense contention the girl had accidentally fallen, the prosecutor
said.

In addition, no children's footprints were found near the edge of the cliff, only adult-sized imprints, Hum said.

"She didn't fall off. She was thrown," Hum said.

Brown
was tried three years ago, but a mistrial was declared after a jury
deadlocked on the severity of the crime. Some jurors favored a
first-degree murder conviction, while others voted for second-degree
murder or manslaughter.

Jurors will begin deliberations on Thursday.

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Geragos turns Cameron Brown case over to new lawyer
By Denise Nix Staff Writer
Posted: 07/16/2010 05:34:28 PM PDT
Updated: 07/16/2010 05:50:53 PM PDT
snipped
The famed law firm that represented Cameron Brown in two trials for the Rancho Palos Verdes cliff death of his 4-year-old daughter will not be there for the third.

In Los Angeles Superior Court on Friday, Mark Geragos and his firm turned over the nearly 10-year-old case to Glendale attorney Herbert Barish, according to Deputy District Attorney Craig Hum.

Barish is on a list of private attorneys available for appointment by the court in situations where the Public Defender's or Alternate Public Defender's offices cannot take a case.

Hum said he expected it would be about a year before the case goes to trial again.

Through an employee, Barish said he would not comment because he does not discuss pending cases with the news media.

Barish, a UCLA School of Law graduate, was admitted to the bar in 1966, according to State Bar records.

By way of comparison to Brown's previous lawyers, it appears Barish has practiced mostly out of the spotlight, with a few exceptions.

two mistrials - and now a third trial -

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no trial date set that i can find

December 2010 article
Hearing Set for Cameron Brown's Third Trial in Daughter's Death
Cameron Brown's daughter plummeted from a cliff in Rancho Palos Verdes a decade ago. Two juries deadlocked in previous trials.

The man accused of murdering his 4-year-old daughter 10 years ago after she fell from a 120-foot cliff in Rancho Palos Verdes will attend a pretrial hearing on Monday.

Two juries have deadlocked in Cameron Brown's criminal case.
Brown said his daughter, Lauren Key, slipped from the cliff. He is accused of throwing her off. 

"They were hiking up on some cliff overlooking the ocean in (Rancho Palos Verdes)," Hum said.

Key died Nov. 8, 2000 after the two hiked to Inspiration Point, one of the highest points on the Palos Verdes cliffs.

Authorities said Brown was the biological father of the girl and had been ordered to pay child support although he had no relationship with Key before she was three years old.

The hearing will take place in Dept. 107 in the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center, 210 W. Temple St. in downtown Los Angeles.


Deputy District Attorney Craig Hum said the case could take six months to a year to go to trial.

"Essentially nothing is going to happen (on Monday) except we're going to set new date," he said.

It's difficult to predict what, if anything, will happen Monday, said Sandi Gibbons, L.A. District Attorney's public information officer.

http://ranchopalosverdes.patch.com/articles/hearing-scheduled-for-man-charged-with-killing-4-year-old-daughter

Next court date, April 20th. No info on when the trial will start.

BROWN, CAMERON
Next Court Code: S107
Next Court Date: 04/20/2012
Next Court Time: 0830 Next Court Case: BA25520601

Court Name: L A SUPERIOR COURT DEPT 107
Court Address: 210 W. TEMPLE STREET Court City: LOS ANGELESUPT