Victim's Father Testifies at Murder Trial

Michel Shane briefly testified on Friday at the trial of  accused murderer. He took the stand after defense attorney Bradley Brunon and prosecutor Marna Miller argued in front of Judge Katherine Mader whether he should be allowed to testify.

Mader rejected Brunon's argument that the testimony had "marginal relevance" and would be an attempt to create an emotional situation. However, she did not allow Shane to answer several questions from Miller about what kind of person Emily was and regarding the minutes leading up to his discovering she had been killed when the 13-year-old was struck by defendant Sina Khankhanian's vehicle on Pacific Coast Highway in April 2010.

Miller said Shane's testimony was needed to confirm that he regularly picked up his daughter at the  in  and that she walked along PCH to get there. Also, he could talk about how the area was well-traveled by pedestrians and bicyclists. Shane spoke about those subjects and how he drove past Khankhanian's crashed vehicle on his way to Pavilions.

"I did for a moment kind of look over and go, 'God that's where Emily was supposed to be,' and in my mind I went, 'Nah, couldn't be,'" Shane said.

He said when Emily was not waiting in front of the grocery store, he went into Pavilions to find her and sent her a text message. Miller asked what happened next, and Brunon objected that the question was outside the scope of what was allowed in Shane's testimony. Mader sustained the objection.

Miller next asked whether Shane walked across the highway to the scene of the crash, to which Brunon again objected. Mader again sustained the objection. Miller then asked if Emily grew up in Malibu, which Shane confirmed. She followed this by asking if he told her to walk safely when she was on PCH. This was followed by another objection sustained by Mader.

Miller then asked, "Was Emily a good kid?" This was again followed by an objection sustained by Mader.

Brunon did not ask Shane any questions.

Shane did not cry on the stand, as Brunon had predicted prior to the testimony. He made this claim to Mader while also noting that a television camera from local twin channels 2 and 9 was in the courtroom. He alleged the camera's presence on the day of Shane's testimony was not a coincidence. Mader said the allegation was out of line because she said it was not known Shane would testify when the request to use a camera was made.

The courtroom was filled to capacity on Friday, the final day of the first week of the trial, due to the presence of several of Emily's friends and classmates from . Go  to read about the first day of the trial. Look for information on Malibu Patch this weekend about what happened on the other days.

The trial will continue on Monday at 10:30 a.m. at the Airport Courthouse in Department D on the eighth floor. It is open to the public.