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American Morning

Talk with Executive Producer of 'Celebrity Justice'

Aired October 29, 2002 - 10:17   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: Going back to this Winona Ryder story, there have been a lot of questions about Ryder's celebrity and whether her status as a celebrity could help or hurt her in the trial.
And joining us to talk about that now in the case, Harvey Levin, executive producer of "Celebrity Justice."

Harvey, good morning. Glad to have you with us.

HARVEY LEVIN, EXEC. PRODUCER, "CELEBRITY JUSTICE": Hi, Daryn. Great to talk to you.

KAGAN: My question, first of all, is what is this thing doing at trial in the first place? How has it gone this far?

LEVIN: Well, you've got to realize the D.A. initially filed four very serious felony charges against her. And this case could have plea bargained, but here's the rub. If she plea bargains to a felony, it could affect her movie career. It has to do with insurance for a movie going out of the country, all sorts of things. She couldn't plead to a felony because of her career. The DA couldn't back off so far that she ends up with a misdemeanor, because then it looks like they've overfiled. So they were at loggerheads. That's why they're at trial.

KAGAN: So meanwhile, you have a trial that looks like it was handmade for your new show "Celebrity Justice," and that's a jury pool that came right out of the Hollywood studios.

LEVIN: Daryn, you follow...

KAGAN: Could you write this one, Harvey? I don't think you could.

LEVIN: You know, I couldn't have written O.J. Simpson, I couldn't have written the Menendez. This is a city that has trials that just take these weird twists and turns. And again, we see it in Winona Ryder. And yes, there are three members of the jury pool who are in the entertainment business, and one of them has a connection to some of her movies.

KAGAN: He was the head of Sony Pictures, when she was making "Little Women" and one other movie.

LEVIN: I should caution you that late yesterday afternoon, the judge said, we're not to talk names, so...

KAGAN: I don't want to get you in trouble.

LEVIN: I sit here in mortal fear right now.

KAGAN: It's enough trouble out there in Hollywood; I don't want to get you in trouble, too.

LEVIN: Thank you, Daryn.

KAGAN: But on a serious note, besides the felony, we're talking potential prison time here.

LEVIN: Absolutely. These are three serious felony counts. "Celebrity Justice" did an investigation about three months ago, and we looked at 5,000 cases. There is not a single person last year charged with shoplifting, who had the book thrown at them like Winona Ryder, three felonies, plus this prescription drug charge, which was dropped. So they have really gone after her. And yes, the stakes are, indeed, prison, if she got the max.

KAGAN: I want to talk to you about one other high-profile Hollywood case, which is Robert Blake. His defense attorney, Harland Braun, has had it. He's quitting. He was on earlier this hour. I want to splay a soundbite and talk to you about this. Let's listen to Harland Braun about why he is quitting the Blake case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLAND BRAUN, FMR. BLAKE'S ATTY.: The idea to me of a person charged with a homicide going on television and answering questions about it and having a portion of his answers being broadcast to the potential jury pool seems to me just impossible to deal with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: So, apparently, Blake has agreed to give an interview, I guess, to Diane Sawyer?

LEVIN: Well, that was the talk. I talked to Harlan Braun a couple of times yesterday, and it was really a surprise to him. He got a call last Thursday, and they said they were very excited over at "Primetime" that they were going to do this interview, and they needed his help to get inside the jail, and he had never heard anything like that.

And from what I understand, the jail has now denied "Primetime" request to go inside. So the interview isn't going to happen. But Harland Braun is not backing down from his position. He is off this case, has parted ways with Mr. Blake; he feels he needs control of a client in order to properly defend him. This is, among many criminal defense lawyers, a cardinal sin to allow a client to, essentially, say things that under the Fifth Amendment can come back to haunt him in trial. He didn't want it to happen on his watch. He's off the case. It's really stunning.

KAGAN: So he needs -- Blake needs a defense attorney, though, and isn't the preliminary hearing just a couple of weeks away? LEVIN: I asked that question, too. The police threw thousands of pages of documents at Braun and his investigators when Blake was arrested. And it would seem that they'd have to postpone this thing, because there's so much to learn. The preliminary hearing is, I'm told, at least six weeks away.

I'm told, at least by Harland Braun, he thinks that they have organized the material enough now that the new defense lawyer could step in and still meet the deadline. I'm not so sure about that, but, Daryn, what you have to remember is you're not dealing with a real young, healthy guy in this jail cell. And if they start postponing and postponing it, and postponing and postponing it, what kind of a victory is it for Robert Blake to have postponements and sit in jail, if you will, in his twilight years?

KAGAN: That's true, but Diane Sawyer gets her interview and no bail so far for Blake. So he will be sitting there.

LEVIN: Though did not get the interview. That's what's so ironic about it.

KAGAN: After all that, OK.

LEVIN: Yes, yes.

KAGAN: Thank you so much, Harvey Levin, "Celebrity Justice," it's on all over the country.

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 October 29, 2002 - 10:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Going back to this Winona Ryder story, there have been a lot of questions about Ryder's celebrity and whether her status as a celebrity could help or hurt her in the trial.
And joining us to talk about that now in the case, Harvey Levin, executive producer of "Celebrity Justice."

Harvey, good morning. Glad to have you with us.

HARVEY LEVIN, EXEC. PRODUCER, "CELEBRITY JUSTICE": Hi, Daryn. Great to talk to you.

KAGAN: My question, first of all, is what is this thing doing at trial in the first place? How has it gone this far?

LEVIN: Well, you've got to realize the D.A. initially filed four very serious felony charges against her. And this case could have plea bargained, but here's the rub. If she plea bargains to a felony, it could affect her movie career. It has to do with insurance for a movie going out of the country, all sorts of things. She couldn't plead to a felony because of her career. The DA couldn't back off so far that she ends up with a misdemeanor, because then it looks like they've overfiled. So they were at loggerheads. That's why they're at trial.

KAGAN: So meanwhile, you have a trial that looks like it was handmade for your new show "Celebrity Justice," and that's a jury pool that came right out of the Hollywood studios.

LEVIN: Daryn, you follow...

KAGAN: Could you write this one, Harvey? I don't think you could.

LEVIN: You know, I couldn't have written O.J. Simpson, I couldn't have written the Menendez. This is a city that has trials that just take these weird twists and turns. And again, we see it in Winona Ryder. And yes, there are three members of the jury pool who are in the entertainment business, and one of them has a connection to some of her movies.

KAGAN: He was the head of Sony Pictures, when she was making "Little Women" and one other movie.

LEVIN: I should caution you that late yesterday afternoon, the judge said, we're not to talk names, so...

KAGAN: I don't want to get you in trouble.

LEVIN: I sit here in mortal fear right now.

KAGAN: It's enough trouble out there in Hollywood; I don't want to get you in trouble, too.

LEVIN: Thank you, Daryn.

KAGAN: But on a serious note, besides the felony, we're talking potential prison time here.

LEVIN: Absolutely. These are three serious felony counts. "Celebrity Justice" did an investigation about three months ago, and we looked at 5,000 cases. There is not a single person last year charged with shoplifting, who had the book thrown at them like Winona Ryder, three felonies, plus this prescription drug charge, which was dropped. So they have really gone after her. And yes, the stakes are, indeed, prison, if she got the max.

KAGAN: I want to talk to you about one other high-profile Hollywood case, which is Robert Blake. His defense attorney, Harland Braun, has had it. He's quitting. He was on earlier this hour. I want to splay a soundbite and talk to you about this. Let's listen to Harland Braun about why he is quitting the Blake case.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HARLAND BRAUN, FMR. BLAKE'S ATTY.: The idea to me of a person charged with a homicide going on television and answering questions about it and having a portion of his answers being broadcast to the potential jury pool seems to me just impossible to deal with.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: So, apparently, Blake has agreed to give an interview, I guess, to Diane Sawyer?

LEVIN: Well, that was the talk. I talked to Harlan Braun a couple of times yesterday, and it was really a surprise to him. He got a call last Thursday, and they said they were very excited over at "Primetime" that they were going to do this interview, and they needed his help to get inside the jail, and he had never heard anything like that.

And from what I understand, the jail has now denied "Primetime" request to go inside. So the interview isn't going to happen. But Harland Braun is not backing down from his position. He is off this case, has parted ways with Mr. Blake; he feels he needs control of a client in order to properly defend him. This is, among many criminal defense lawyers, a cardinal sin to allow a client to, essentially, say things that under the Fifth Amendment can come back to haunt him in trial. He didn't want it to happen on his watch. He's off the case. It's really stunning.

KAGAN: So he needs -- Blake needs a defense attorney, though, and isn't the preliminary hearing just a couple of weeks away? LEVIN: I asked that question, too. The police threw thousands of pages of documents at Braun and his investigators when Blake was arrested. And it would seem that they'd have to postpone this thing, because there's so much to learn. The preliminary hearing is, I'm told, at least six weeks away.

I'm told, at least by Harland Braun, he thinks that they have organized the material enough now that the new defense lawyer could step in and still meet the deadline. I'm not so sure about that, but, Daryn, what you have to remember is you're not dealing with a real young, healthy guy in this jail cell. And if they start postponing and postponing it, and postponing and postponing it, what kind of a victory is it for Robert Blake to have postponements and sit in jail, if you will, in his twilight years?

KAGAN: That's true, but Diane Sawyer gets her interview and no bail so far for Blake. So he will be sitting there.

LEVIN: Though did not get the interview. That's what's so ironic about it.

KAGAN: After all that, OK.

LEVIN: Yes, yes.

KAGAN: Thank you so much, Harvey Levin, "Celebrity Justice," it's on all over the country.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com