The second trial for 28-year-old Sina Khankhanian heads into its third day Friday. The 28-year-old Winnetka man is charged with second-degree murder for striking and killing Malibu eighth-grader Emily Shane in his car in April 2010 as she walked along Pacific Coast Highway near Heathercliff Road. Khankhanian’s first trial ended in a hung jury. The second trial began Wednesday.
Multiple witnesses testified in the first trial to Khankhanian’s reckless driving in a 17-mile stretch that began at the top of Topanga Canyon Blvd. and ended when he struck Shane. Khankhanian had left a suicide note at his house before getting in his car, and prosecutors have maintained that he intended to kill himself by crashing the car but struck Emily instead.
Defense attorney Bradley Brunon has argued that because Khankhanian suffers from both autism and tourette syndrome, he was unaware of the danger his reckless driving placed others in.
The distinction between second-degree murder and a lesser charge, such as vehicular manslaughter, is whether Khankhanian acted “with malice aforethought”—i.e., knew the danger his actions placed others in but decided to do them anyway.
If convicted of the murder charge, Khankhanian faces a sentence of 15 years in a state prison.