Case set to be heard by a jury in December
Psychological records of the teenager who killed a Santa Monica High School sophomore are at the heart of a court case set to go before a Santa Monica jury in December.
A lawyer for the parents of Deanna Maran, who was stabbed at a party on Nov. 17, 2001, has asked for the records in a quest to show that Katrina Sarkissian was prone to violence.
Sarkissian, 17, stabbed Maran at an unsupervised party in Westwood attended by teenagers and hosted by a 15-year-old boy whose parents were out of town.
Santa Monica residents Harriet and Ilija Maran sued Angelique Sarkissian Bernstein and Sarkis Sarkissian in May 2002, claiming that they should have known their daughter, Katrina Sarkissian, was emotionally unstable and violent.
The suit also targets Sarkissian’s 15-year-old half-sister, whose name is being withheld because she’s a minor. She allegedly kicked Maran while Sarkissian stabbed her in front of dozens of onlookers.
According to the Marans’ complaint, Deanna Maran got into an altercation with the 15-year-old girl at the party, which was attended by about 40 to 60 people, the majority of which were minors.
Deanna Maran had told the 15-year-old girl to stop breaking planters and other property at the home, according to the complaint. The two girls briefly fought before partygoers broke it up.
The 15-year-old then allegedly called her half-sister, Sarkissian, who came to the party and “viciously attacked Deanna, with fists and a weapon, ultimately causing her death,” the complaint states.
Sarkissian and the 15-year-old then left the party and reportedly conspired to get rid of the murder weapon, the complaint states. Police have neither found the weapon, nor determined what exactly it was. Deanna Maran’s autopsy states that she suffered a fatal stab wound to the chest.
A jury trial has been scheduled for Dec. 15 at the Santa Monica Courthouse. Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Linda K. Lefkowitz is presiding over the case.
Bernstein and Sarkis Sarkissian have filed for a summary judgment, seeking to have the case thrown out of court. Their attorneys have declined to comment on the case.
Santa Monica attorney Tony Glassman, who represents the Marans, said he plans to file opposition to the motion next week. An Oct. 30 hearing has been set, at which Judge Lefkowitz is expected to rule on whether the case should go to trial.
Glassman has asked the court to allow Katrina Sarkissian’s psychotherapy records and testimony from her psychologist and psychiatrist as evidence to establish her alleged previous violent behavior patterns.
However, Bernstein and Sarkis Sarkissian are arguing that those records and doctor testimony shouldn’t be admissible because of patient-doctor confidentially rules. Glassman argues that because Katrina Sarkissian is dead, the confidentially agreement is void.
Sarkissian died while in police custody on Nov. 18 — the day after the murder. The Los Angeles Coroner’s Office ruled that she overdosed on anti-depressants.
Bernstein and Sarkis Sarkissian filed a wrongful death claim against the Los Angeles Police Department, alleging that detectives could have prevented their child’s death while she was in custody on suspicion of murder. They claim that detectives questioning Sarkissian should have immediately summoned paramedics when she collapsed unconscious while she was being interrogated.
After months of investigation by the LAPD, the district attorney’s office charged the 15-year-old with one count of battery, a misdemeanor, for her alleged role in the murder. The DA’s office also charged her with a felony — making a terrorist threat that’s not related to the case. The girl is said to have threatened someone over the Internet months after the party.
The 15-year-old received 100 hours of community service and was ordered to pay $100 in restitution for the battery charge, sources said. The felony charge was dropped because witnesses and the person threatened decided not to come forward.
The Marans claim that the parents of Sarkissian could have prevented their daughter’s death because they knew she had “violent, vicious and destructive tendencies” prior to Maran’s murder, according to the suit. The Marans argue that Sarkissian’s parents and her half-sister had an obligation to control her from harming others.
“If Katrina didn’t show up, it would be what people would call a normal unsupervised party, but a catalyst for violence came and went,” said Harriet Maran. “I want to send a message that how you raise your kids eventually catches up with society...
“I want to send a message that how you raise your kids eventually catches up with society...” — — HARRIET MARAN Deanna’s mother
“I hope they see that she didn’t drop from the sky homicidal.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on October 10, 2003. Read the original PDF.