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CNN Live Today

Robert Blake Faces Arraignment Today

Aired April 22, 2002 - 10:33   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us now from New York for a closer look at the Blake case, our brand spanking new CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin. Welcome. Good morning.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Thank you. It's great to be with you, Daryn.

KAGAN: Great to have you onboard. All right. So much for the welcoming. Let's put you to work.

TOOBIN: Let's get to work.

KAGAN: All right, you know, kind of roll up the sleeves. Let's get to work. Talking about the defense here, clearly it is trashing the victim, and that is Bonny Lee Bakley. Not the woman with the best reputation, but it doesn't mean she deserved to die.

TOOBIN: Absolutely. And I think in fairness to the defense here, it's not just blame the victim. It's not just that she's just -- they're saying she's a terrible person who deserved to die. What Harland Braun has said is this is a woman with a lot of enemies. A lot of people wanted her ill, if not dead. And what he has got to do when this case comes to trial is not just be speak in generalities, and bring out individuals who might have had a grievance with here and an opportunity to commit this really awful crime.

KAGAN: And as I understand it, the California Supreme Court has already ruled on this kind of situation. And in that state, you're allowed to present evidence that suggests, well, somebody else did it, to point the finger somewhere else.

TOOBIN: You're allowed to do that, but there has to be some connection. You can't just say, well, theoretically, somebody possibly maybe could have done it. You have to show a specific person. You have to show that that person actually had the opportunity. You can't just pick a name out of the sky. And the real challenge is going to be for Harland Braun is to make these sort of general accusations into a specific claim that might actually have some weight in the courtroom. A lot of it depends on the trial judge.

KAGAN: All right. Jeffrey, here's another problem for Harland Braun. About a year ago, after this murder happened, he took a trunkload of stuff and turned it over to LAPD and said, look at all this stuff. Here, go and investigate. You'll see how many other people could have killed Bonny Lee Bakley. And so, the police have gone through 150 witnesses, 20 states, 900 items of evidence. He will not be able to make a charge that prosecutors and police were not thorough in this case.

TOOBIN: Right. If you remember, as we're going to be doing, I'm afraid, a lot of comparison to the Simpson case, one of the big defense claims there was that there was a rush to judgment. Here, obviously, it's been almost a year, you can't say there was a rush to judgment.

But, again, the defense is going to say, and I think perhaps with some justification, that Blake was always the main suspect here. So they focused in on him. But it is true that the cops and the DAs looked at a lot of evidence before they brought this case.

KAGAN: And there's not just one, but there's two arrests in this case. Earle Caldwell, the bodyguard, how might he play into this?

TOOBIN: Potentially very important because he is obviously going to be in a position to make a great deal for himself.

KAGAN: It would behoove him to cooperate.

TOOBIN: It would behoove him. He is facing very serious charges, but I bet you the DA would give him a very sweet deal, maybe even no jail time, to turn against Blake. I think it's significant, perhaps that he hasn't turned yet, that he has not said that Blake did it. And, in fact, when I spoke to Harland Braun this weekend, you know, he was making the point, look, Earle Caldwell is in a position to really turn against Blake and he hasn't done it yet. You should draw favorable conclusions from that.

KAGAN: Any other nuggets out of that conversation with Harland Braun?

TOOBIN: Well, he said something really sort of odd. You know, one of the possibilities here is that the prosecution will seek the death penalty. And Braun said to me that when he raised that possibility with his client, his client said, look, I'm about 70 years old. I've been -- I've lived a life that's about 140 years. What are they going to do to me? I mean, everybody has got to die sometime. So I think the threat of the death penalty in this case is not very realistic when you consider that the appeal's process alone in California often takes as long as 10 years.

KAGAN: And as we wrap up here, the issue of cameras in the courtroom -- there are supposed to be cameras for the arraignment this afternoon, but apparently the defense not too happy about that.

TOOBIN: That's true. It's interesting. I think the strategic calculus may change on that. Many times, it's the defense that thinks the cameras can help, especially in a high-profile case like that. I think there is going to be a lot of strategizing about who is helped and hurt by cameras. And ultimately, the superior court judge, who hasn't even been assigned yet, that's the person who is going to have the final say on cameras in the courtroom. KAGAN: All right. We will be watching...

TOOBIN: But we are rooting for cameras in the courtroom.

KAGAN: Oh, of course we are. Make your job all the more interesting. And did you buy a new pair of running shoes for your new job here at CNN?

TOOBIN: Well, I'm all set, well-clothed.

KAGAN: You said you wanted to work. We will put you to work. Once again, welcome. It's good to have you onboard.

TOOBIN: Thanks.

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