Teen Accused in Beach Slaying Goes on Trial : Crime: A witness says the defendant warned the 18-year-old victim to leave the Strands just before the shooting.

ORANGE — A 17-year-old youth accused of fatally shooting another teen-ager on a Dana Point beach last year told the victim moments before he pulled the trigger, “Get out of here, dude. I don’t want to have to shoot you,” a witness testified Tuesday.

But lawyers at the trial of Christian Aaron Steffens, which began Tuesday in Juvenile Court, disagreed on whether Steffens acted in self-defense or committed premediated murder when he shot 18-year-old Robert Elliott last Sept. 8.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Bernadette Cemore told Judge Francisco P. Briseno in her opening statement that even though Elliott had been chasing Steffens on the beach below the bluffs, known as the Strands, the defendant waited a full 20 seconds after the chase had stopped before aiming the gun and firing.

“There is evidence that this is a premeditated act,” she told the court.

However, Steffens’ attorney, Deputy Public Defender Marri Derby, told the court that the history of trouble between the two teen-agers indicates that her client was afraid of Elliott and obtained a gun only after Elliott’s friends came to Dana Hills High School to intimidate him.

The day of the shooting, witnesses said, Steffens first ordered Elliott off the beach at gunpoint, but then turned and started walking away. When he did that, Elliott began to chase him, they said.

“He (Steffens) is running out of steam; here’s a guy (Elliott) with fire in his eyes, chasing him . . . yelling at him,” Derby told the judge. “He never intended to kill anybody. . . . He was scared.”

One witness, Angela Pestritto, testified that moments before the shooting, when Steffens lowered the gun and started walking away, Elliott told him: “You’re not getting away from me this time. I’m going to get you.” It was then that he began chasing Steffens, she said.

The confrontation started because Elliott was angry with Steffens for breaking out his car window. Derby told the court that Steffens broke the window out of frustration, that he was so afraid of Elliott and his friends he did not know how else to respond.

Cemore, however, said in her opening statement that in a fight between Steffens and Elliot two days before the shooting, it was Steffens who threw the first punch. One of the witnesses testified that Steffens was actually winning the fight.

Cemore also told the court about a letter found on Steffens’ desk at his Dana Point home, which read: “Every time you come to the Strands, we will find you and shoot you. We will take your truck and (mess) it up real bad. I have a 12-gauge (shotgun) and I’m going to use it. . . . So if you eagerly want to die, just keep coming to the Strands.”

Derby said that letter, which was never sent, was written in desperation by a scared teen-ager who believed it wasn’t even safe for him to go to the beach with friends.

Cemore also put on two witnesses, Pestritto and Mike Levine, who said that Steffens had threatened to kill Elliott before the day of the shooting.

One question that will come up again before the trial ends is whether Judge Briseno will permit Derby to include in her defense the so-called “skinheads” issue. Derby claims it’s important to show that Elliott was a member of the skinheads--young white racists known to terrorize people at random--giving Steffens even more reason to fear him.

Cemore countered: “I don’t see what relevancy skinheads has to do with anything with this trial.”

Steffens, who remains in custody, said before the day of the shooting that he would shoot Elliott “if he had to,” according to witnesses.

It was Pestritto, a friend of Steffens, who testified that the defendant addressed the victim as “dude” and ordered him off the beach.

Derby asked her:

“Was Chris scared?”

“Yes,” she answered.

“You actually felt sorry for him?”

“Yes.”

The non-jury trial continues today with more prosecution witnesses.