AGOURA STABBING LURES NOTED LAWYERS : TEENS' ATTORNEYS USED TO CLIENTS LIKE LYLE MENENDEZ, STACEY KOON.

Byline: Michael Coit Daily News Staff Writer

The defense attorneys in the trial of four youths charged with killing a police officer's son in Old Agoura are used to high-profile cases.

The defendants - Brandon Hein, Jason Holland, Micah Holland and Tony Miliotti - are charged with murder, attempted murder, burglary and two counts of attempted robbery in an attack on James P. Farris III and Michael McLoren behind McLoren's home May 22.

Farris, the son of a Los Angeles police officer, was stabbed in the heart and died. McLoren survived three stab wounds.

Past and present clients of the defense attorneys include one of the Menendez brothers, an officer convicted in the beating of motorist Rodney King and a man charged with killing a toddler when her family turned the wrong way in a gang-infested Mount Washington neighborhood.

Curtis Leftwich, a Van Nuys attorney who defended a member of the Bryant Family gang against murder charges and is on the Agoura defense team, said he enjoys handling cases with a touch of notoriety.

``There's a certain sexiness to this case,'' Leftwich said.

Deputy District Attorney Jeff Semow said he's never faced any of his opposing attorneys but has experience with cases involving multiple defendants. One featured six defense attorneys and court workers translating three different languages.

``I don't want to characterize anyone or anything involved in the case, especially while the case is going on,'' Semow said of the trial, which began last week in Malibu Superior Court. ``My focus is on the evidence and not on the personalities.''

Prosecutors contend that the defendants attempted to steal marijuana from a backyard fort and that Farris was stabbed to death while attempting to protect McLoren.

Hein of Oak Park and Jason Holland of Thousand Oaks are both 19. Micah Holland, 16, of Thousand Oaks and Tony Miliotti, 18, of Westlake Village were juveniles at the time of the incident and are facing trial as adults.

Ira Salzman, who represents Jason Holland, said the case has attracted much attention because of elements that stand out in a suburban community, including alleged drug use and gang links.

``There's the whole Agoura Hills thing, the fact that this type of thing doesn't happen in a community like that,'' said Salzman. ``Plus, you've got the sad irony of a cop losing his kid this way.''

Salzman represented former Los Angeles police Sgt. Stacey Koon on charges that he violated King's civil rights in the infamous videotaped beating on a Lake View Terrace street after a high-speed chase in 1991.

``This is up there, though I think Stacey Koon got a little more press than this case,'' Salzman noted.

Jill Lansing, the attorney for Hein, represented Lyle Menendez in his first trial with brother Erik Menendez in the slaying of their parents. Lansing declined to comment on the Agoura Hills stabbing, saying she doesn't like publicity.

James Sussman, the attorney for Micah Holland, represented one of the defendants in a series of killings involving people associated with the Carole Little clothing firm.

In addition to Holland, Sussman represents a defendant in fall's shooting death of 3-year-old Stephanie Kuhen in the Mount Washington area of Los Angeles.

While the Agoura Hills stabbing didn't generate the same sort of national outrage as the toddler's death, Sussman said he understands why it draws more attention than a stabbing death in Los Angeles.

``The area lends itself to the publicity,'' he said. ``Families go out there thinking they're not going to see this.''