Brando’s Daughter Has Gone to Tahiti : Murder case: Prosecutors fear she is trying to avoid testifying in the case against her half-brother, who is charged with killing her boyfriend.

Marlon Brando’s daughter, Cheyenne, has left the country and prosecutors voiced concern Monday that she has done so to avoid testifying in the murder case of her half-brother, Christian.

Cheyenne Brando, whose half-brother is charged with killing her Tahitian boyfriend, flew to the Polynesian island the day after prosecutors first attempted to serve her with court papers naming her a material witness in the case.

Prosecutors said that three days before leaving, Cheyenne Brando, 20, made a crucial statement to police concerning the shooting of Dag Drollet, 26, which occurred at her father’s elegant Santa Monica Mountains estate on May 16.

“I believe the statement is incredibly damaging (to her brother),” said Deputy Dist. Atty. Steven M. Barshop, who refused to provide further details.

The prosecutor added that treaties between the United States and France, which controls Tahiti, make no provisions for the return of Cheyenne Brando, who is eight months pregnant with Drollet’s child.

“I can serve her through the French law but that doesn’t mean she has to comply. . . . There’s no (provision for an) extradition proceeding,” Barshop said.

Barshop said that repeated attempts to contact Cheyenne Brando have proven futile. “She neither returns the calls nor will answer the phone,” he said

T Brando broke no law by leaving the United States, Barshop added. But he said an investigation is under way concerning the circumstances under which she departed.

Prosecutors have charged Christian Brando, 32, with murdering Drollet, who police said was shot once in the face as he sat in front of a television set with a remote control in one hand and a cigarette lighter in the other.

The defendant has told police he shot Drollet accidently during a struggle after he angrily accused the victim of “slapping (Cheyenne) around.” Police have said there was no sign of a struggle.

The reclusive elder Brando has told police that he does not believe that Drollet had abused his daughter. Police have also said that Marlon Brando told them that his daughter had suffered “psychological problems” following a serious traffic accident and had made numerous unfounded allegations in the past against family members.

Christian Brando’s lawyer, Robert L. Shapiro, said Monday that neither he nor Cheyenne’s father could say what she plans to do. “I have absolutely no control over her,” Shapiro said. “I don’t think he (Marlon Brando) has any control over her.”

Shapiro added: “My understanding is she came to California for a short visit and had always planned to return to her home in Tahiti so her baby would be born Tahitian.”

Shapiro acknowledged that Cheyenne made two statements to police--one on the night of the shooting and the second on June 12.

“The first statement . . . totally supports Christian’s statement made to the authorities that night,” Shapiro said. “The second statement has areas that are supportive of Christian and areas that detract. However, there are obvious inconsistencies in the second statement that are readily apparent.”

In court Monday, Barshop said that under the recently enacted Proposition 115, he would seek to introduce her June 12 statement as evidence in a preliminary hearing for her half-brother, which is currently scheduled to begin July 23.

The initiative, approved by state voters in the June 5 election, allows prosecutors to introduce hearsay evidence at preliminary hearings, where a Municipal Court judge determines whether there is enough evidence to try a defendant.

Shapiro said that no decision has been made yet whether to challenge the hearsay testimony.