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It looks like the murder re-trial for Cameron Brown could begin later this month - just about two years after a Torrance jury deadlocked between first-degree murder, second-degree murder and manslaughter charges.

A pretrial was held yesterday in Brown's case in its new home before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Michael Pastor. However, Brown wasn't there. Sheriff's deputies told Pastor that Brown refused to leave the jail to come to court, according to Deputy District Attorney Craig Hum. There was no explanation given for Brown's boycott of the proceeding, during which another pretrial was scheduled for July 15.

Brown is charged with special circumstances murder for the November 2000 death of his 4-year-old daughter, Lauren Sarene-Key, who died after plunging off a Rancho Palos Verdes cliff near Inspiration Point. Prosecutors contend he killed her to shirk his child support responsibility, while Brown maintains the little girl slipped.

Prosecutors dropped a weapon posession charge today for a man jailed while waiting trial in connection to his 4-year-old daughter's Rancho Palos Verdes cliff death.

Cameron Brown, 46, was charged with one felony count of custodial posession of a weapon after a jailer found a razor blade in a book Brown borrowed from the jail library, according to Deputy District Attorney Dennis Lockfield.

Lockfield said the case was dismissed because he did not believe it could be proved that Brown knew about the razor.

Brown is being held without bail as he awaits a retrial for the Nov. 8, 2000, death of his daughter, Lauren Sarene-Key. Authorities believe Brown threw the girl over Inspiration Point to avoid paying child support payments. Brown maintains the girl slipped while throwing rocks over the cliff.

A Torrance jury deadlocked nearly two years ago on murder charges. Brown, whose case was transferred to a downtown Los Angeles courtroom, is scheduled for a pretrial June 30.

The next time Cameron Brown is tried for the murder of his 4-year-old daughter, a jury in downtown Los Angeles will decide his fate. Brown is accused of throwing the girl from a Rancho Palos Verdes cliff to avoid child support payments. Because Torrance Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold is about to get busy with a death penalty trial, Brown's retrial needed a new courtroom. It's expected to be long (his first trial two years ago, which ended with a hung jury, took two months).

Tactically, the move likely won't have too much effect on the outcome of the case. However, if anybody does benefit from it, it would be the defense. The theory is that, when you take a high-profile, emotionally stirring case out of the community in which the alleged crime occurred, you're going to find jurors who are detached to the victim. While sympathy is not supposed to come into the the deliberation room, and while the criminal court building downtown still pulls South Bay jurors, there is sometimes no overcoming the critical eyes of a skeptical panel.

Cameron Brown, the 47-year-old man awaiting retrial on charges he threw his 4-year-old daughter off a cliff to avoid child support payments, was in court today for a pretrial hearing. During the hearing, Torrance Superior Court Judge Mark Arnold set a May 13 trial date, and Brown's attorney said he expected to be ready for trial within 30 days of that day.

The catch, though, is that Arnold will likely be involved in a death penalty trial, so the case may have to get sent to another court, according to Deputy District Attorney Craig Hum. Because the case expected to take longer than two weeks, it must go to a long-cause courtroom at the Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles.