Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live Today
America West Pilots Expected in Court Today
Aired September 30, 2002 - 11:16 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: Two fired America West pilots accused of being drunk in the cockpit, they are expected in court later today.
Our Mark Potter is live in Miami, where the hearing is set to take place -- Mark, good morning. What happens at this juncture?
MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in a couple of hours, Daryn, the two pilots, Thomas Cloyd and Christopher Hughes, will appear with their attorneys. This is a pre-trial hearing, a motions hearing, the trial itself is scheduled for October 21, although we are getting some indications now that it may slip a week or two. The news this morning, already, from the prosecutor is that it appears that negotiations for some sort of plea deal have broken down.
The prosecutors made an offer, but it didn't lead to any sort of agreement. So it appears that, indeed, the case will be going to trial.
Now toward that end, the defense has presented a couple of motions that are interesting. One -- in one, they are arguing that the charge of operating the aircraft while intoxicated should be thrown out on the grounds that at the moment, that they were stopped and subsequently arrested, the pilots were not actually controlling the aircraft. It was being pushed back by a tug, the steering wheel was locked down, so therefore, argues the defense, they were not in control, and should not be charged.
The prosecutor, in a word, describes that as ridiculous, saying that the pilots preflighted the aircraft. They were all set to go to Phoenix with 124 people in the aircraft behind them. They were the ones that arranged to have the tug push them back, they were definitely in control, plus, he says, the prosecutor that -- in Florida, if you are behind the wheel of a vehicle, and you are intoxicated, even if you have your keys in your pocket, you can still be charged. So, he does not think that that is going to go anywhere.
Another motion that has been filed by the defense argues that this case should be thrown out of state court and sent to federal court on the grounds that aviation matters are typically covered by the federal government. Now, the reason the defense wants to do that is that there is a more lenient standard for intoxication in federal cases than in state court. It is a difference of a breathalyzer reading of .10 in federal court versus .08 in state court, and in this case, that is a critical distinction, because the two pilots have readings between those two thresholds. So it would be better for them to go to federal court. Again, the prosecutor says that he will oppose that, and believes that he has state and federal law behind him.
In another motion, the defense will ask that certain statements be thrown out, and again, the prosecutor says that he will counter that. There is so much to deal with here that there is going to be a second hearing in a couple of weeks, and that is the reason that it appears that the trial itself may be backed up.
We will have some rulings from Judge David Young today, we think, as this case continues to head toward trial now in about a month -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And Mark, help me refresh my memory here for a second. I think I remember from the last time we saw one of these court hearings concerning these pilots, this judge is very no nonsense.
POTTER: Absolutely. The pilots, last time, asked if they could not have to come to the hearings, or if they could travel around, and the judge said no. You are going to be here, no matter what the hearing is, even if you live in Arizona, you are going to stay in Arizona, you are not going to travel to Texas and Missouri as they asked. He is definitely no nonsense, and it will be interesting to see how he deals with these motions. We will be watching -- actually, you will be watching for us, and we will check in with you. Mark Potter in Miami, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired September 30, 2002 - 11:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Two fired America West pilots accused of being drunk in the cockpit, they are expected in court later today.
Our Mark Potter is live in Miami, where the hearing is set to take place -- Mark, good morning. What happens at this juncture?
MARK POTTER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, in a couple of hours, Daryn, the two pilots, Thomas Cloyd and Christopher Hughes, will appear with their attorneys. This is a pre-trial hearing, a motions hearing, the trial itself is scheduled for October 21, although we are getting some indications now that it may slip a week or two. The news this morning, already, from the prosecutor is that it appears that negotiations for some sort of plea deal have broken down.
The prosecutors made an offer, but it didn't lead to any sort of agreement. So it appears that, indeed, the case will be going to trial.
Now toward that end, the defense has presented a couple of motions that are interesting. One -- in one, they are arguing that the charge of operating the aircraft while intoxicated should be thrown out on the grounds that at the moment, that they were stopped and subsequently arrested, the pilots were not actually controlling the aircraft. It was being pushed back by a tug, the steering wheel was locked down, so therefore, argues the defense, they were not in control, and should not be charged.
The prosecutor, in a word, describes that as ridiculous, saying that the pilots preflighted the aircraft. They were all set to go to Phoenix with 124 people in the aircraft behind them. They were the ones that arranged to have the tug push them back, they were definitely in control, plus, he says, the prosecutor that -- in Florida, if you are behind the wheel of a vehicle, and you are intoxicated, even if you have your keys in your pocket, you can still be charged. So, he does not think that that is going to go anywhere.
Another motion that has been filed by the defense argues that this case should be thrown out of state court and sent to federal court on the grounds that aviation matters are typically covered by the federal government. Now, the reason the defense wants to do that is that there is a more lenient standard for intoxication in federal cases than in state court. It is a difference of a breathalyzer reading of .10 in federal court versus .08 in state court, and in this case, that is a critical distinction, because the two pilots have readings between those two thresholds. So it would be better for them to go to federal court. Again, the prosecutor says that he will oppose that, and believes that he has state and federal law behind him.
In another motion, the defense will ask that certain statements be thrown out, and again, the prosecutor says that he will counter that. There is so much to deal with here that there is going to be a second hearing in a couple of weeks, and that is the reason that it appears that the trial itself may be backed up.
We will have some rulings from Judge David Young today, we think, as this case continues to head toward trial now in about a month -- Daryn.
KAGAN: And Mark, help me refresh my memory here for a second. I think I remember from the last time we saw one of these court hearings concerning these pilots, this judge is very no nonsense.
POTTER: Absolutely. The pilots, last time, asked if they could not have to come to the hearings, or if they could travel around, and the judge said no. You are going to be here, no matter what the hearing is, even if you live in Arizona, you are going to stay in Arizona, you are not going to travel to Texas and Missouri as they asked. He is definitely no nonsense, and it will be interesting to see how he deals with these motions. We will be watching -- actually, you will be watching for us, and we will check in with you. Mark Potter in Miami, thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
