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CNN Live At Daybreak

Coffey Talk: Peterson Case

Aired June 26, 2003 - 06:38   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: A hearing is coming up today in the Laci Peterson murder case in Modesto, California. Scott Peterson's attorney will ask the judge to loosen the gag order. The media also wants it dropped. And news organizations are asking for access to audio wiretaps in the case.
Time for some "Coffey Talk" right now. The subject: the Peterson case, of course.

Legal analyst Kendall Coffey is live on the phone from Miami.

Good morning -- Kendall.

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

COSTELLO: Oh, they're talking about wiretaps again.

COFFEY: Wiretaps. Well, the key issue is going to be something called "minimization," and what that means is that as authorities are listening in on a conversation, they're supposed to determine right way whether it's completely irrelevant or even privileged. And Peterson's lawyers are saying that several of the conversations were improperly intercepted, because they included portions of conversations between Scott Peterson and his lawyer.

COSTELLO: If it's discovered that some of these intercepted conversations were improper, could anything happen to the parties involved in getting those wiretaps?

COFFEY: Well, the defense is saying that there is grave prosecutorial misconduct in that all of the wiretapped conversations should be thrown out. The normal procedure, though, is that just the infected conversations, those that were improperly intercepted, would be tossed and the rest could come in.

COSTELLO: Understand. Let's talk about that gag order. Really, is that going to be lifted?

COFFEY: I don't think so. Peterson's lawyers say they need it lifted so they can respond publicly to misleading information, that the prosecutor and the attorney for Amber Frey have violated it. But this judge is very concerned about the tidal waves of pretrial publicity. Clarification seems more likely than cancellation, and perhaps from the court a few words of warning about the perils of loose lips.

COSTELLO: You know, I wanted to ask you about this, too, Kendall, because, you know, people come out right on national television, like John Walsh, and say Scott Peterson is guilty.

COFFEY: Well, that's...

COSTELLO: How is this guy going to get a fair trial in the first place? And how can John Walsh do that and not get sued?

COFFEY: First of all, there's a whole First Amendment issue that allows people around the country who are not connected to the case to express their opinion. Secondly, of course, if anyone says something that is defamatory within those laws, they could be sued, but that's not likely. Peterson's lawyers have enough to deal with in terms of getting their client acquitted if they can, rather than be, you know, initiating lawsuits against everyone who comments about the case.

COSTELLO: I thought that was something Mark Geragos would do, actually.

COFFEY: You never know. They've been very aggressive, very creative and so far pretty effective.

COSTELLO: Understand. Kendall Coffey live from Miami, thanks for waking up early with DAYBREAK.

COFFEY: Thank you.

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 June 26, 2003 - 06:38   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: A hearing is coming up today in the Laci Peterson murder case in Modesto, California. Scott Peterson's attorney will ask the judge to loosen the gag order. The media also wants it dropped. And news organizations are asking for access to audio wiretaps in the case.
Time for some "Coffey Talk" right now. The subject: the Peterson case, of course.

Legal analyst Kendall Coffey is live on the phone from Miami.

Good morning -- Kendall.

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

COSTELLO: Oh, they're talking about wiretaps again.

COFFEY: Wiretaps. Well, the key issue is going to be something called "minimization," and what that means is that as authorities are listening in on a conversation, they're supposed to determine right way whether it's completely irrelevant or even privileged. And Peterson's lawyers are saying that several of the conversations were improperly intercepted, because they included portions of conversations between Scott Peterson and his lawyer.

COSTELLO: If it's discovered that some of these intercepted conversations were improper, could anything happen to the parties involved in getting those wiretaps?

COFFEY: Well, the defense is saying that there is grave prosecutorial misconduct in that all of the wiretapped conversations should be thrown out. The normal procedure, though, is that just the infected conversations, those that were improperly intercepted, would be tossed and the rest could come in.

COSTELLO: Understand. Let's talk about that gag order. Really, is that going to be lifted?

COFFEY: I don't think so. Peterson's lawyers say they need it lifted so they can respond publicly to misleading information, that the prosecutor and the attorney for Amber Frey have violated it. But this judge is very concerned about the tidal waves of pretrial publicity. Clarification seems more likely than cancellation, and perhaps from the court a few words of warning about the perils of loose lips.

COSTELLO: You know, I wanted to ask you about this, too, Kendall, because, you know, people come out right on national television, like John Walsh, and say Scott Peterson is guilty.

COFFEY: Well, that's...

COSTELLO: How is this guy going to get a fair trial in the first place? And how can John Walsh do that and not get sued?

COFFEY: First of all, there's a whole First Amendment issue that allows people around the country who are not connected to the case to express their opinion. Secondly, of course, if anyone says something that is defamatory within those laws, they could be sued, but that's not likely. Peterson's lawyers have enough to deal with in terms of getting their client acquitted if they can, rather than be, you know, initiating lawsuits against everyone who comments about the case.

COSTELLO: I thought that was something Mark Geragos would do, actually.

COFFEY: You never know. They've been very aggressive, very creative and so far pretty effective.

COSTELLO: Understand. Kendall Coffey live from Miami, thanks for waking up early with DAYBREAK.

COFFEY: Thank you.

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