Press Kept From Hearing Murder-Trial Arguments

A Van Nuys Superior Court judge excluded the press Tuesday from hearing arguments on a motion to suppress evidence in the murder trial of Torran Lee Meier, a Canoga Park youth accused of strangling his mother and trying to kill his half brother.

Judge George Xanthos ordered two reporters from his courtroom at the request of Meier’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender James H. Barnes, who said he did not want information from the hearing made available to the jury.

Xanthos ordered the transcript of the hearing sealed and told defense and prosecution teams, plus three spectators who were allowed to remain in the courtroom, not to reveal what happened at the hearing.

Before the hearing was closed to the press, participants in the case said the disputed evidence includes a tape-recorded statement that Meier made to police and police photographs of the crime scene.

Police said Meier, 17, and two friends strangled Shirley A. Rizk, 34, in her Canoga Park home on Oct. 13. They later tried to feed Meier’s 8-year-old half brother a poisoned sandwich, police said.

Meier and his two alleged accomplices, who are being tried separately, are charged with murder, attempted murder and two counts of conspiracy.