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CNN Live At Daybreak
Coffey Talk: D.C. Area Sniper Case
Aired April 24, 2003 - 06:43 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In Virginia, a judge will hold a pretrial hearing on information leaks in the Washington area sniper case. Attorneys for suspect John Allen Muhammad complained the leaks are jeopardizing his chances for a fair trial. The defense has subpoenaed four "Washington Post" reporters, two FBI agents and three police officers. They'll all appear at this hearing. The "Washington Post" has broken several stories about the sniper case.
Want to jump right in to that and talk about the problems with leaks in that case. Joining us for that is CNN legal analyst Kendall Coffey. He joins us by phone from Miami.
Good morning -- Kendall.
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Is this unusual?
COFFEY: Well there's been so much high interest and intense interest in this case that it's been filled with leaks almost from day one. The prosecutor, the judge and the defense lawyers are all upset about it.
The problem is that no one ever fesses up to leaking to the press. So the real point of hearings like this is to get the judge to clamp down as much as possible to prevent further leaks and to highlight the concern about pretrial publicity to create perhaps future issues for an appeals court down the road.
COSTELLO: Got you. You know defense attorneys aren't going to ask the reporters for their sources, but they're going to call all these FBI agents and investigators to court. Is this really just a scare tactic to get people to stop leaking information?
COFFEY: I think it is a wood shedding of everyone they can so that hopefully that from the defense and from the prosecution standpoint this doesn't happen again. The pretrial publicity, if it creates a risk of future appellate issues, is something that no one wants, because what ever happens, they want a fair trial and they don't want this to come back again for a new trial someday.
COSTELLO: Understand. Kendall Coffey, live from Miami, many thanks for your insight this morning.
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 April 24, 2003 - 06:43 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: In Virginia, a judge will hold a pretrial hearing on information leaks in the Washington area sniper case. Attorneys for suspect John Allen Muhammad complained the leaks are jeopardizing his chances for a fair trial. The defense has subpoenaed four "Washington Post" reporters, two FBI agents and three police officers. They'll all appear at this hearing. The "Washington Post" has broken several stories about the sniper case.
Want to jump right in to that and talk about the problems with leaks in that case. Joining us for that is CNN legal analyst Kendall Coffey. He joins us by phone from Miami.
Good morning -- Kendall.
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning -- Carol.
COSTELLO: Is this unusual?
COFFEY: Well there's been so much high interest and intense interest in this case that it's been filled with leaks almost from day one. The prosecutor, the judge and the defense lawyers are all upset about it.
The problem is that no one ever fesses up to leaking to the press. So the real point of hearings like this is to get the judge to clamp down as much as possible to prevent further leaks and to highlight the concern about pretrial publicity to create perhaps future issues for an appeals court down the road.
COSTELLO: Got you. You know defense attorneys aren't going to ask the reporters for their sources, but they're going to call all these FBI agents and investigators to court. Is this really just a scare tactic to get people to stop leaking information?
COFFEY: I think it is a wood shedding of everyone they can so that hopefully that from the defense and from the prosecution standpoint this doesn't happen again. The pretrial publicity, if it creates a risk of future appellate issues, is something that no one wants, because what ever happens, they want a fair trial and they don't want this to come back again for a new trial someday.
COSTELLO: Understand. Kendall Coffey, live from Miami, many thanks for your insight this morning.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
