JUDGE REJECTS LELLAN CLAIM DRIVER IN FATAL CRASH SAYS PLEA COERCED.

Byline: Holly Edwards Staff Writer

SAN FERNANDO - A judge has rejected a Canyon Country man's request to overturn his conviction and eight-year prison sentence in a high-speed traffic crash that killed four, saying the defendant knew what he was doing when he pleaded guilty in the case.

In his request, Marcus Christian Lellan, now 20, said he was coerced by his attorney into pleading guilty to four counts of vehicular manslaughter and did not understand he could be sent to prison.

He also claimed he was being chased by gang members when he lost control of his car and slammed into an oncoming vehicle, killing three of his friends and the other driver.

But North Valley Superior Court Judge Charles Peven rejected the request by Lellan, who served as his own attorney in the action.

And James Blatt, the attorney who defended Lellan in the original case, said that by seeking to have his conviction overturned, Lellan has shown that he is not remorseful for his actions and is insensitive to the suffering of the victims' families.

Blatt also said he spent hours going over details of the agreement with Lellan and his family.

``For him to say now that he was coerced, he was being chased, it wasn't really his fault, I think shows a fundamental flaw in character,'' Blatt said Tuesday.

``And the most unfortunate thing is this will cause a lot of pain for the victims' families, who are going to suffer every single day for the rest of their lives in ways we can't imagine.''

The District Attorney's Office said Lellan could have faced more serious charges of second-degree murder had he not pleaded guilty to vehicular manslaughter.

``We felt the evidence showed beyond a reasonable doubt that Mr. Lellan was responsible for the acts we alleged in our complaints,'' said Sandi Gibbons, a spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office. ``And, there was a possibility of further charges if the case had gone to trial.''

Lellan was sentenced last June to eight years in state prison for causing the Feb. 17, 2000, crash on Soledad Canyon Road that killed three of his passengers - Dominick Ianozzi, 16, and brothers Timothy Renolds, 17, and Daniel Renolds, 15, - and the other driver, Rodney ``Rocky'' Adams, 45, of Santa Clarita.

Blatt said he advised his client that he could be convicted of second-degree murder because he had marijuana in his system, had two previous speeding tickets and ignored his passengers' pleas to slow down.

``It could have been a life imprisonment situation, and I discussed that with him and his parents in great detail,'' Blatt said.

However, in his request to have his conviction overturned, Lellan said Blatt did not tell him he would be sent to prison at all, or that he could be deported to his native Denmark by pleading guilty to the charges.

Lellan also said he was being chased by ``Hispanic gang members'' and was bumped by another car before losing control of his vehicle - claims that Blatt disputed.

``There isn't a single witness or piece of physical evidence anywhere that validates what Lellan has to say,'' said Blatt. ``The reality is, he chose to drive in this reckless fashion and four people are dead.''