The trial of Lillo Brancato Jr., who once earned raves opposite Robert DeNiro and Chazz Palminteri in A Bronx Tale, began yesterday in New York.  Brancato was with a friend who killed a police officer during a botched attempt to steal pills from a Bronx apartment after a night of drinking at a strip club in 2005.

By law, prosecutors were allowed to charge Brancato, 32, with second-degree murder in the death of Officer Daniel Enchautegui because they say the killing occurred while both he and the actual shooter were committing a felony — a break-in. If convicted of murder and burglary, he faces a possible life term.

Enchautegui, who lived next door to the apartment where prosecutors say Brancato and Armento were trying to steal drugs, grabbed his gun and came out to investigate. Armento shot the 28-year-old officer in the heart. Enchautegui fired back, wounding both men. [Yahoo]

Brancato should be convicted because it was his acting career that pretty much guaranteed something f’d up would happen.  If you ask me, the shooter and the victim were just innocent bystanders in all this.  That we continue to produce child actors is just insane.  It’s like giving a pit bull a knife.  The producers of the movie should be charged whenever a child actor commits a felony.  That way, the makers of Ace Ventura Jr. can’t keep destroying the moral fabric of society without consequences.  In related news, my moral fabric is crotchless.  Peekaboo!