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CNN Live Today

Interview With Pat Lalama of 'Celebrity Justice'

Aired January 16, 2003 - 10:53   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, for a fugitive heir now to a fallen stars, a lot of celebrities are in the headlines this morning after run-ins with the law.
Pat Lalama of "Celebrity Justice" is keeping up with all of the stars who are making legal news this morning, and she joins us from L.A. -- good morning, how you doing, Pat?

PAT LALAMA, "CELEBRITY JUSTICE": Good morning, Leon. It is so nice to be here with you.

HARRIS: Well, you know what, you have got to be doing better than Robert Blake is this morning. What the heck is up with this case?

LALAMA: You know what? It is sheer Hollywood melodrama. You can't imagine what happened yesterday at the start of the deposition in the civil matter, the wrongful death suit that is being filed against him.

And so, what happens is, he sits down, and for 17 long melodramatic minutes, he rails against the media, attorneys, everyone. He says, I'm going to die, I'm an old man, I want my chance to talk. All of this, of course, precipitated first when his original lawyer, Harland Braun, left the case because he wanted to talk to Diane Sawyer.

Then comes his new attorneys, and he -- they find out that he wants to talk to Barbara Walters. So one of his attorneys the other day filed a motion to say, I want out of this as well.

And you know what, Leon? I think what is driving this whole thing, possibly, according to some attorneys I speak to, is the entertainment lawyer, yet another lawyer, an entertainment lawyer, who allegedly his facilitating all these interviews and really making the criminal defense attorneys very angry.

HARRIS: That is what I was going to ask you about is, who in the world is setting up all these interviews? I don't think this guy has got a telephone or a fax machine inside of his cell, so he has got another lawyer that's basically working in total -- you know, totally disconnected from the other lawyers that are trying to defend him then?

LALAMA: Right. Barry Felson (ph) is his name. He is an entertainment attorney, and apparently, some of the lawyers have expressed a little bit of concern over the fact that he seems to be getting involved in this when they feel he should just stay the heck out.

We have got two major proceedings going on, a civil wrongful death and a murder trial that's going to happen, and so it is sort of mucking up the works. They want him to be quiet because anything he says in an interview can and will be twisted and held against him on the stand.

HARRIS: Exactly. How about Bobby Brown? As I understand it, he may be in trouble because he went to the American Music Awards?

LALAMA: He has got a new title today, Leon, it is called fugitive of justice. Now, this guy is the ultimate bad boy, as you know, and he didn't let us down this week. He is out on bond in Atlanta on a DUI charge as you probably know. He is supposed to appear every week to the courts to say, Hi, I'm here. I know I am not allowed to leave the state, and so here I am, I'm being a good boy.

Well, he didn't show up. Where does he go? To the American Music Awards, puts himself on television. It is almost like a thumbs up, or -- not a thumbs up, but sort of a who cares about the courts? The laws are not for me. I go where I want. And I think he better be careful because he is going to push the envelope.

HARRIS: The only way that could be worse is if he rode to the AMA's with Diana Ross or something like that.

LALAMA: Oh, my gosh. I can't even imagine. That's another script for another day. Right?

HARRIS: As a matter of fact, both -- there is going to be lots of action in these two different courtrooms tomorrow, correct?

LALAMA: I'm sorry, Leon.

HARRIS: I understand, I am getting some weird -- getting some feedback myself here.

LALAMA: OK.

HARRIS: All right. Pat Lalama, thank you very much. Appreciate it. We'll talk with you later on.

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 16, 2003 - 10:53   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Well, for a fugitive heir now to a fallen stars, a lot of celebrities are in the headlines this morning after run-ins with the law.
Pat Lalama of "Celebrity Justice" is keeping up with all of the stars who are making legal news this morning, and she joins us from L.A. -- good morning, how you doing, Pat?

PAT LALAMA, "CELEBRITY JUSTICE": Good morning, Leon. It is so nice to be here with you.

HARRIS: Well, you know what, you have got to be doing better than Robert Blake is this morning. What the heck is up with this case?

LALAMA: You know what? It is sheer Hollywood melodrama. You can't imagine what happened yesterday at the start of the deposition in the civil matter, the wrongful death suit that is being filed against him.

And so, what happens is, he sits down, and for 17 long melodramatic minutes, he rails against the media, attorneys, everyone. He says, I'm going to die, I'm an old man, I want my chance to talk. All of this, of course, precipitated first when his original lawyer, Harland Braun, left the case because he wanted to talk to Diane Sawyer.

Then comes his new attorneys, and he -- they find out that he wants to talk to Barbara Walters. So one of his attorneys the other day filed a motion to say, I want out of this as well.

And you know what, Leon? I think what is driving this whole thing, possibly, according to some attorneys I speak to, is the entertainment lawyer, yet another lawyer, an entertainment lawyer, who allegedly his facilitating all these interviews and really making the criminal defense attorneys very angry.

HARRIS: That is what I was going to ask you about is, who in the world is setting up all these interviews? I don't think this guy has got a telephone or a fax machine inside of his cell, so he has got another lawyer that's basically working in total -- you know, totally disconnected from the other lawyers that are trying to defend him then?

LALAMA: Right. Barry Felson (ph) is his name. He is an entertainment attorney, and apparently, some of the lawyers have expressed a little bit of concern over the fact that he seems to be getting involved in this when they feel he should just stay the heck out.

We have got two major proceedings going on, a civil wrongful death and a murder trial that's going to happen, and so it is sort of mucking up the works. They want him to be quiet because anything he says in an interview can and will be twisted and held against him on the stand.

HARRIS: Exactly. How about Bobby Brown? As I understand it, he may be in trouble because he went to the American Music Awards?

LALAMA: He has got a new title today, Leon, it is called fugitive of justice. Now, this guy is the ultimate bad boy, as you know, and he didn't let us down this week. He is out on bond in Atlanta on a DUI charge as you probably know. He is supposed to appear every week to the courts to say, Hi, I'm here. I know I am not allowed to leave the state, and so here I am, I'm being a good boy.

Well, he didn't show up. Where does he go? To the American Music Awards, puts himself on television. It is almost like a thumbs up, or -- not a thumbs up, but sort of a who cares about the courts? The laws are not for me. I go where I want. And I think he better be careful because he is going to push the envelope.

HARRIS: The only way that could be worse is if he rode to the AMA's with Diana Ross or something like that.

LALAMA: Oh, my gosh. I can't even imagine. That's another script for another day. Right?

HARRIS: As a matter of fact, both -- there is going to be lots of action in these two different courtrooms tomorrow, correct?

LALAMA: I'm sorry, Leon.

HARRIS: I understand, I am getting some weird -- getting some feedback myself here.

LALAMA: OK.

HARRIS: All right. Pat Lalama, thank you very much. Appreciate it. We'll talk with you later on.

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