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'Celebrity Justice': Robert Blake, Michael Jackson Speak Out
Aired February 17, 2003 - 10:58 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: Robert Blake and Michael Jackson don't have much in common, but both men are going to be taking their cases to the American public this week.
Harvey Levin, executive producer of "Celebrity Justice" joins us now to talk about the pair.
Harvey, good to see you, and your bad luck streak, man, continues with us. Every time we try to squeeze some time in with you, we get squeezed because of all of the breaking news that we have coming in.
HARVEY LEVIN, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "CELEBRITY JUSTICE": Hey, I'm happy to be here, Leon.
HARRIS: All right, talk to us, first off, about this Robert Blake case. Now, as I understand it, he's going to be talking today to Barbara Walters?
LEVIN: It's just astonishing. I have to tell you, I've been a lawyer for a long time, I've taught law school, I have never seen anything like this in my life -- that a man is on trial for murder, he's in jail right now, and he's willing to sit down with a network news reporter and open up. I mean, Barbara Walters is not going to do a soft-ball interview with this guy. And I know his criminal lawyer has told him, look, I don't want you to do this, and several other lawyers have quit before him because he was insistent.
But I've got to tell you something, he has other lawyers. If any lawyer, if any of his lawyers has in any way sanctioned this or encouraged it, in my opinion, it would be the biggest case of malpractice I've ever seen in my life.
HARRIS: Yes, but what they're saying is that -- they're all saying, even his business lawyer is saying, now, we have not advised him to do this. He's doing it against our advice.
LEVIN: It's shocking.
HARRIS: Yes. We've got to move on and talk about Michael Jackson, because he's also coming out trying to basically show his side of the story as well. What do you make of that situation? It seems like every time he does come out and do something like this to defend himself, it get even worse.
LEVIN: Well, I think it gets worse because he takes his counsel, and I think Michael Jackson is in his own world.
I can tell you something, Leon, tonight on "Dateline," an LAPD investigator, now retired who was involved in the 1993 investigation involving that 13-year-old boy, he's going to speak out for the first time. And this gentleman, as I understand it, believes that something untoward happened between Michael Jackson and this boy. He is going to talk about, for example, that when the police searched the Neverland Ranch, there were certain videotapes that were missing from the shelf, he believes videotapes that were really important.
Also, Leon, real quickly, he also says that there was a camera right outside of Michael Jackson's bedroom, and this officer believes that camera was not there for security. It was a warning system for Michael.
HARRIS: Oh, yow! Oh, God, this thing just gets seamier and seamier. All right...
LEVIN: It's unbelievable.
HARRIS: ... way to go, Harvey. The best two minutes -- you give us the best two minutes every single time you show up. Appreciate that, pal.
LEVIN: See you, Leon.
HARRIS: All right, take care, man. See 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.
Out>
Aired February 17, 2003 - 10:58 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Robert Blake and Michael Jackson don't have much in common, but both men are going to be taking their cases to the American public this week.
Harvey Levin, executive producer of "Celebrity Justice" joins us now to talk about the pair.
Harvey, good to see you, and your bad luck streak, man, continues with us. Every time we try to squeeze some time in with you, we get squeezed because of all of the breaking news that we have coming in.
HARVEY LEVIN, EXECUTIVE PRODUCER, "CELEBRITY JUSTICE": Hey, I'm happy to be here, Leon.
HARRIS: All right, talk to us, first off, about this Robert Blake case. Now, as I understand it, he's going to be talking today to Barbara Walters?
LEVIN: It's just astonishing. I have to tell you, I've been a lawyer for a long time, I've taught law school, I have never seen anything like this in my life -- that a man is on trial for murder, he's in jail right now, and he's willing to sit down with a network news reporter and open up. I mean, Barbara Walters is not going to do a soft-ball interview with this guy. And I know his criminal lawyer has told him, look, I don't want you to do this, and several other lawyers have quit before him because he was insistent.
But I've got to tell you something, he has other lawyers. If any lawyer, if any of his lawyers has in any way sanctioned this or encouraged it, in my opinion, it would be the biggest case of malpractice I've ever seen in my life.
HARRIS: Yes, but what they're saying is that -- they're all saying, even his business lawyer is saying, now, we have not advised him to do this. He's doing it against our advice.
LEVIN: It's shocking.
HARRIS: Yes. We've got to move on and talk about Michael Jackson, because he's also coming out trying to basically show his side of the story as well. What do you make of that situation? It seems like every time he does come out and do something like this to defend himself, it get even worse.
LEVIN: Well, I think it gets worse because he takes his counsel, and I think Michael Jackson is in his own world.
I can tell you something, Leon, tonight on "Dateline," an LAPD investigator, now retired who was involved in the 1993 investigation involving that 13-year-old boy, he's going to speak out for the first time. And this gentleman, as I understand it, believes that something untoward happened between Michael Jackson and this boy. He is going to talk about, for example, that when the police searched the Neverland Ranch, there were certain videotapes that were missing from the shelf, he believes videotapes that were really important.
Also, Leon, real quickly, he also says that there was a camera right outside of Michael Jackson's bedroom, and this officer believes that camera was not there for security. It was a warning system for Michael.
HARRIS: Oh, yow! Oh, God, this thing just gets seamier and seamier. All right...
LEVIN: It's unbelievable.
HARRIS: ... way to go, Harvey. The best two minutes -- you give us the best two minutes every single time you show up. Appreciate that, pal.
LEVIN: See you, Leon.
HARRIS: All right, take care, man. See 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.
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