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CNN Live Saturday
Interview With Defense Attorney John Rosenberg
Aired January 12, 2002 - 20:37 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Thomas Junta's sentencing hearing is set for January 25. Defense attorney John Rosenberg joins us from Boston with his thoughts on the case. Good evening.
JOHN ROSENBERG, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: How are you?
LIN: Thank you for joining us. I'm doing just fine.
ROSENBERG: It's a pleasure.
LIN: It must have been -- I don't know, it must have been -- it was stunning for me. I actually thought he was going to get off when -- when I saw the -- the verdict come in. What was your reaction?
ROSENBERG: My reaction was the involuntary manslaughter, seemed to me, to strike a very fair balance based on the evidence that was presented. I think a conviction for voluntary manslaughter would have stood as well. I personally -- and others here -- would have been quite surprised at an acquittal based on the evidence.
LIN: Really? One of the jurors said that the turning point really was -- it wasn't so much that -- that they could argue that initially that he was fighting in self defense, but that at a certain point when he was on top of the guy that he had a choice to be made. Do you think that was the turning point in the case for these jurors?
ROSENBERG: I think that -- I think that was an essential part of the evidence that was presented. Self defense -- and people don't often realize this -- is only the amount of force necessary to absolutely or reasonably protect yourself. It doesn't mean, "Hey, he hit me and I get a chance to pommel him back." And once Junta had the situation under control, and he basically admitted in his statement to the police that he did, that was when he had to stop. There's no self defense after that, and those three forceful blows to the head while holding Costin's head, that goes beyond self defense.
LIN: Yeah. So what is your prediction in the sentencing?
ROSENBERG: Well I think the judge has a lot of different factors to balance. First of all, while involuntary and voluntary manslaughter have the same potential sentence, probation to 20 years, the suggested or proposed guidelines are very different. For Junta's record, he falls somewhere in the three or three and a half to five or six year range. I think the judge will consider those guidelines. I think he'll also consider the fact that some message is not inappropriate. You punish a defendant, but you also -- through a sentence -- try to deter future conduct. And this has to go out to the public to say you can't do this. That there are tragic consequences to this type of rage up (ph) at a child's sporting event. A man is dead; another man faces 20 years in prison. So I think there will be some jail time here, would be my prediction.
LIN: Is there anything that Thomas Junta can do on his own behalf during the sentencing process here?
ROSENBERG: Well, his attorneys and his side, so to speak, will have ample opportunity to present a full picture of who they believe Thomas Junta is. There will be probably letters from community members, family and friends. There may be testimony on that issue in an attempt to sort of mitigate the harshness of any sentence the judge may impose.
LIN: How much latitude do you think the judge is going to give the defense attorney in allowing him to present that portrait of Junta? I remember a very high profile rape trial -- rape and murder trail -- in Los Angeles, where they allowed the surviving victim to show her wedding videos of her -- of her husband and her on their happiest days and the loss that she sustained when he was killed.
ROSENBERG: I think it's...
LIN: It was precedent setting in many ways.
ROSENBERG: I think the judge will allow a fairly wide range from both sides. Remember, it's not only Junta who has to ask for a lower sentence, the prosecution will be asking for what they believe is a just sentence. And victim impact is very important. And I think we'll hear from Costin's family about the impact that this has had and, quite obviously, will have on them in the future.
LIN: How much discretion does the judge have in the sentencing? It is his to determine?
ROSENBERG: It's virtually totally his to determine, as long as it's a lawful sentence imposed within the permissible legal range. It's very, very unusual -- almost unheard of -- for a judge to be overturned on an appeal because of a sentence that falls within the lawful range, which again is from no jail time and probation to 20 years. So there's a wide breadth of discretion here.
LIN: All right. We'll see what happens on January 25. Thank you very much for joining us tonight, John Rosenberg.
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