Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 1, 1991                   TAG: 9103010736
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-3   EDITION: EVENING 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: SANTA MONICA, CALIF.                                LENGTH: Short

BRANDO'S SON DRAWS 10-YEAR PRISON TERM

"It's a tragic situation for both families, for Christian Brando," Superior Court Judge Robert W. C. Brando Thomas said in imposing the sentence.

In tearful, rambling testimony before sentencing, Marlon Brando portrayed his son as a "basket case," a drug and alcohol abuser whose parents failed him.

Christian Brando, 32, drew a six-year sentence on the manslaughter charge and four more years for aggravating circumstances - using a gun to commit the slaying.

He pleaded guilty last month to voluntary manslaughter in the shooting last May of Dag Drollet, whom he maintained was killed accidentally in a struggle. He said he was angry with Drollet for beating his pregnant half-sister, Cheyenne.

Prosecutors, alleging the killing was premeditated, sought the maximum 16-year prison sentence.

A probation officer recommended the minimum sentence of three years, citing chemical-induced brain damage and lack of self-esteem.

"I'm sorry," Christian Brando said to Drollet's family before the sentencing. "It's not my family, it's me. I'm at fault in this. If I could trade places with Dag, I would."

- Associated Press