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CNN Live Today

Interview With Jeff Benedict

Aired August 05, 2003 - 11:40   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Kobe Bryant is the latest celebrity athlete to face a sex charge. Let's bring in investigative journalist, lawyer and author Jeff Benedict. He has a book out called "Public Heroes, Private Felons: Athletes and Crimes Against Women." He also wrote an op-ed piece for today's "New York Times." You might want to check it out online.
Jeff Benedict joins us from the phone in Connecticut. Jeff, good morning. Thanks for being with us.

JEFF BENEDICT, AUTHOR: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: You have some interesting numbers in this piece when you talk about how likely an athlete is to be charged with a crime once the allegation is made that there has been a sexual assault. And I think we've made a graphic of that that we can look at.

Basically what you're saying is that once a complaint is made, it is more likely that charges will be filed, but it's also more likely that that athlete will be acquitted.

BENEDICT: Yes, and it seems like a paradox. But what happens in these cases is that prosecutors and law enforcement investigate these cases very rigorously. There is more thorough examination done partly because the cases are in the spotlight. It's not only the athlete and accuser that we scrutinized, but the law enforcement is scrutinized.

So there's a very high arrest rate in the cases. But what happens is that the case gets into the justice system, there are then a whole bunch of obstacles that go up and make it very difficult for prosecutors to win convictions. And at trial there is a tremendous rate of acquittal or of charges being dropped. And I think there's where you see the safety net that athletes enjoy, that most rape -- people accused of rape do not have.

KAGAN: Well you look at the incredible resources that professional athletes have, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) long list, not only the best legal help, but public relation people, security people, private investigators, basically anything you would need to win a case they have.

BENEDICT: That's right. And they have all those resources at their disposal and one other thing which no accused rapist has, which is a tremendous public image.

And that image becomes a big, big factor because the prosecution has this big burden of getting up beyond a reasonable doubt. And jurors, who come from the public, really have difficulty reconciling the public image of these guys from a private deed that's as heinous as rape. And that plays against the prosecutor and victim in so many of these rape trials.

KAGAN: Well and you wrap up your piece by talking about the law is supposed to be equal for both of us, and it might, but the protection is not.

BENEDICT: Clearly the protection isn't. Daryn, if you look at the victim for example, we have rape shield laws in place that are designed to protect privacy. There are all kinds of protections for her. All of which are obliterated when the victim accuses someone as high-profile as Kobe Bryant.

And this isn't the first case where this has been done. This may be the biggest example of those safeguards being basically destroyed, but it happens in these cases because there's such an incentive to cover these cases.

KAGAN: Well, there is, but I think what's different with this one, not just in the level of publicity with it, but because the Internet is so widespread right now. In the past you might be able to intimidate legitimate media organizations to go along with those rules, but anybody can put up their own Web site.

BENEDICT: That's right. And if you go back to the Mike Tyson rape trial where there was a lot of things that went on pretrial, adverse publicity for the victim and allegations that she was doing this for money and for fame, all of which proved false when it finally got to trial.

She did not have to go through what the victim in this case is going through, which is Internet dissemination of photography, her name and address being disseminated over the Internet. That is a new phenomenon. And because this case is as high-profile as it is, I mean I think it's our first example of how bad this can be.

KAGAN: And looking forward, how bad do you think it's going to get?

BENEDICT: Well I think both sides have shown that there's a very high likelihood this case will not be settled in some kind of plea agreement. I think that they're digging in and there's a good chance there's going to be a trial. And the closer it gets, the heat will get turned up more and more, more so on the victim than on Bryant at this point.

KAGAN: And when that happens, we're at least going to -- they'll have to make a decision about Kobe, but they're going to have to make -- the victim will be on the stand. We're going to hear some very salacious details about what took place in that hotel room.

BENEDICT: Yes. The benefit of a trial is that it's no longer about heat it's about life. And now it's people looking at real evidence and what happened in a hotel during a specific time period between two individuals. What they did in their private lives five years before that or three months before that becomes irrelevant. It'll matter what they did in the room that night. And that's what the jurors will be exposed to and ultimately the public will hear that evidence as well.

And people's perception can change in an instant when they actually get exposed to the real evidence and people are sworn to tell the truth under oath.

KAGAN: We will be watching it. Jeff Benedict, thanks for your thoughts today. If people want to hear more or just read more go to NYTimes.com and click on the "Op-Ed" section. You'll see Jeff's piece today. Appreciate you calling in.

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 August 5, 2003 - 11:40   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Kobe Bryant is the latest celebrity athlete to face a sex charge. Let's bring in investigative journalist, lawyer and author Jeff Benedict. He has a book out called "Public Heroes, Private Felons: Athletes and Crimes Against Women." He also wrote an op-ed piece for today's "New York Times." You might want to check it out online.
Jeff Benedict joins us from the phone in Connecticut. Jeff, good morning. Thanks for being with us.

JEFF BENEDICT, AUTHOR: Good morning, Daryn.

KAGAN: You have some interesting numbers in this piece when you talk about how likely an athlete is to be charged with a crime once the allegation is made that there has been a sexual assault. And I think we've made a graphic of that that we can look at.

Basically what you're saying is that once a complaint is made, it is more likely that charges will be filed, but it's also more likely that that athlete will be acquitted.

BENEDICT: Yes, and it seems like a paradox. But what happens in these cases is that prosecutors and law enforcement investigate these cases very rigorously. There is more thorough examination done partly because the cases are in the spotlight. It's not only the athlete and accuser that we scrutinized, but the law enforcement is scrutinized.

So there's a very high arrest rate in the cases. But what happens is that the case gets into the justice system, there are then a whole bunch of obstacles that go up and make it very difficult for prosecutors to win convictions. And at trial there is a tremendous rate of acquittal or of charges being dropped. And I think there's where you see the safety net that athletes enjoy, that most rape -- people accused of rape do not have.

KAGAN: Well you look at the incredible resources that professional athletes have, and (UNINTELLIGIBLE) long list, not only the best legal help, but public relation people, security people, private investigators, basically anything you would need to win a case they have.

BENEDICT: That's right. And they have all those resources at their disposal and one other thing which no accused rapist has, which is a tremendous public image.

And that image becomes a big, big factor because the prosecution has this big burden of getting up beyond a reasonable doubt. And jurors, who come from the public, really have difficulty reconciling the public image of these guys from a private deed that's as heinous as rape. And that plays against the prosecutor and victim in so many of these rape trials.

KAGAN: Well and you wrap up your piece by talking about the law is supposed to be equal for both of us, and it might, but the protection is not.

BENEDICT: Clearly the protection isn't. Daryn, if you look at the victim for example, we have rape shield laws in place that are designed to protect privacy. There are all kinds of protections for her. All of which are obliterated when the victim accuses someone as high-profile as Kobe Bryant.

And this isn't the first case where this has been done. This may be the biggest example of those safeguards being basically destroyed, but it happens in these cases because there's such an incentive to cover these cases.

KAGAN: Well, there is, but I think what's different with this one, not just in the level of publicity with it, but because the Internet is so widespread right now. In the past you might be able to intimidate legitimate media organizations to go along with those rules, but anybody can put up their own Web site.

BENEDICT: That's right. And if you go back to the Mike Tyson rape trial where there was a lot of things that went on pretrial, adverse publicity for the victim and allegations that she was doing this for money and for fame, all of which proved false when it finally got to trial.

She did not have to go through what the victim in this case is going through, which is Internet dissemination of photography, her name and address being disseminated over the Internet. That is a new phenomenon. And because this case is as high-profile as it is, I mean I think it's our first example of how bad this can be.

KAGAN: And looking forward, how bad do you think it's going to get?

BENEDICT: Well I think both sides have shown that there's a very high likelihood this case will not be settled in some kind of plea agreement. I think that they're digging in and there's a good chance there's going to be a trial. And the closer it gets, the heat will get turned up more and more, more so on the victim than on Bryant at this point.

KAGAN: And when that happens, we're at least going to -- they'll have to make a decision about Kobe, but they're going to have to make -- the victim will be on the stand. We're going to hear some very salacious details about what took place in that hotel room.

BENEDICT: Yes. The benefit of a trial is that it's no longer about heat it's about life. And now it's people looking at real evidence and what happened in a hotel during a specific time period between two individuals. What they did in their private lives five years before that or three months before that becomes irrelevant. It'll matter what they did in the room that night. And that's what the jurors will be exposed to and ultimately the public will hear that evidence as well.

And people's perception can change in an instant when they actually get exposed to the real evidence and people are sworn to tell the truth under oath.

KAGAN: We will be watching it. Jeff Benedict, thanks for your thoughts today. If people want to hear more or just read more go to NYTimes.com and click on the "Op-Ed" section. You'll see Jeff's piece today. Appreciate you calling in.

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