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CNN Live At Daybreak

Legal Briefs: Coffey Talk

Aired January 02, 2003 - 06:40   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well you can expect some major headlines this year to come from insides -- inside America's courtrooms, rather.
To talk about that this morning, let's turn to our legal analyst Kendall Coffey. And he joins us on the telephone from a very sunny and beautiful Miami.

KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning.

WHITFIELD: Happy New Year.

COFFEY: Happy New Year.

WHITFIELD: All right, well let's begin with Zacarias Moussaoui, that trial which is expected this year.

COFFEY: It's expected in June, and it's going to draw some international criticism, because in this case Moussaoui faces the death penalty for the 9/11 atrocities even though he was actually sitting in a jail cell when the 19 hijackers launched their attacks. But from a perspective of U.S. law, the prosecutors says that when you become sufficiently involved in a criminal conspiracy, you are responsible for its consequences even if you didn't personally carry out the acts.

WHITFIELD: OK. Let's move on to actor Robert Blake and his trial. A lot has been talked about well before the scheduling of this trial, and now it looks like this year perhaps folks will learn a little bit more about what did and didn't happen.

COFFEY: Well, Fredricka, probably the biggest celebrity trial expected for the coming year. He was, of course, the actor who played Baretta, the TV cop. And he faces not only a criminal trial for allegedly murdering his wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley, but also a civil lawsuit from Bakley's children. Prosecutors believe they have plenty of evidence, although it's mostly circumstantial. The defense will focus on Bakley's past and try to suggest that there were other people who had a motive to murder her.

WHITFIELD: All right, corporate trials or the corporate fraud cases, many of them going to court this year. Enron, Tyco, Adelphia, what can we expect?

COFFEY: Well, I think one of the first trials of a major CEO to go to the courtroom this year is going to be the trial of Dennis Kozlowski, the former chief executive of Tyco, charged with looting more than $600 million from his own company. And some dos and don'ts in that case, don't spend $15,000 in corporate money on an umbrella stand or a million in corporate funds on your wife's birthday party and do stay on good terms with an ex-spouse. It was actually Kozlowski's ex-wife, Angie, that bailed him out.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kendall Coffey, thanks for joining us on the phone from a very sunny Miami. I understand you're going to be getting probably somewhere in the 80s today says our Chad.

COFFEY: We're looking forward to another beautiful day. Come on down here.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I'm on my way. All right, thanks a lot.

COFFEY: Bye, Fredricka.

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 January 2, 2003 - 06:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Well you can expect some major headlines this year to come from insides -- inside America's courtrooms, rather.
To talk about that this morning, let's turn to our legal analyst Kendall Coffey. And he joins us on the telephone from a very sunny and beautiful Miami.

KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning.

WHITFIELD: Happy New Year.

COFFEY: Happy New Year.

WHITFIELD: All right, well let's begin with Zacarias Moussaoui, that trial which is expected this year.

COFFEY: It's expected in June, and it's going to draw some international criticism, because in this case Moussaoui faces the death penalty for the 9/11 atrocities even though he was actually sitting in a jail cell when the 19 hijackers launched their attacks. But from a perspective of U.S. law, the prosecutors says that when you become sufficiently involved in a criminal conspiracy, you are responsible for its consequences even if you didn't personally carry out the acts.

WHITFIELD: OK. Let's move on to actor Robert Blake and his trial. A lot has been talked about well before the scheduling of this trial, and now it looks like this year perhaps folks will learn a little bit more about what did and didn't happen.

COFFEY: Well, Fredricka, probably the biggest celebrity trial expected for the coming year. He was, of course, the actor who played Baretta, the TV cop. And he faces not only a criminal trial for allegedly murdering his wife, Bonnie Lee Bakley, but also a civil lawsuit from Bakley's children. Prosecutors believe they have plenty of evidence, although it's mostly circumstantial. The defense will focus on Bakley's past and try to suggest that there were other people who had a motive to murder her.

WHITFIELD: All right, corporate trials or the corporate fraud cases, many of them going to court this year. Enron, Tyco, Adelphia, what can we expect?

COFFEY: Well, I think one of the first trials of a major CEO to go to the courtroom this year is going to be the trial of Dennis Kozlowski, the former chief executive of Tyco, charged with looting more than $600 million from his own company. And some dos and don'ts in that case, don't spend $15,000 in corporate money on an umbrella stand or a million in corporate funds on your wife's birthday party and do stay on good terms with an ex-spouse. It was actually Kozlowski's ex-wife, Angie, that bailed him out.

WHITFIELD: All right, Kendall Coffey, thanks for joining us on the phone from a very sunny Miami. I understand you're going to be getting probably somewhere in the 80s today says our Chad.

COFFEY: We're looking forward to another beautiful day. Come on down here.

WHITFIELD: Yes, I'm on my way. All right, thanks a lot.

COFFEY: Bye, Fredricka.

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