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CNN Live At Daybreak
Kobe Bryant to Appear in Court Today
Aired August 06, 2003 - 07:06 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.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Colorado and the all-out media frenzy surrounding Kobe Bryant's initial court appearance on a sexual assault charge.
CNN's Gary Tuchman joining us now live from Eagle, Colorado, with that.
Hi -- Gary.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, good morning to you.
If you choose to do so, you can watch Kobe Bryant on national television twice today -- two different locations, two very different occasions. On one occasion, he'll be portrayed as a teenage hero; the other occasion, an accused felon.
Now, this past weekend, Kobe Bryant and his wife attended the Teen Choice Awards in Los Angeles. He actually was given an award for favorite male athlete voted on by teens all across the country. The voting continued, by the way, until last week, weeks after Kobe Bryant was arrested.
While he was on stage accepting the award, he quoted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., saying "An injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere," trying to talk about his own plate. Well, that appearance will be on television tonight, because it was taped over the weekend, but that will come after his televised appearance in this courthouse behind me in Eagle, Colorado, his initial appearance in court.
The judge, Frederick Gannett, who will be presiding over the case, tells us it will be a very brief hearing, mostly procedural. He will give Kobe Bryant's lawyers the option to have a preliminary hearing within 30 days, in which the prosecution will have to lay out some of its case.
Now, no records in this case have been released. They're all under seal. That's the way the prosecution and the defense want it. But news media attorneys, including CNN's attorneys, have asked for some of those records to be released. The judge tells us he will make a decision the week of August 18, after this hearing, after a week of vacation for himself, on whether to release some of the records in this case.
The hearing will begin at 6:00 Eastern Time tonight, 4:00 Mountain Time. As we said, it will be very brief. It's expected that Kobe Bryant will fly in this afternoon and fly back to California tonight.
Heidi -- back to you.
COLLINS: All right, Gary Tuchman, thanks so much -- live from Eagle, Colorado, this morning.
Well, Bryant's court hearing may be short, but significant.
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is also in Eagle, Colorado, this morning. He joins us with more on what today's hearing is all about.
Always nice to see you -- Jeffrey. Thanks for being here.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi, Heidi.
COLLINS: We've heard a little bit about what's going to happen in this case. Break it down for us. What are we going to see?
TOOBIN: Well, the most important thing we're going to see is the scheduling of the preliminary hearing, and what this will be is a real clue to how the defense is going to try this case. Are they going to ask for everything to move very quickly, thinking that the prosecution's case is weak, they have the prosecution on the run, they can get it over with, and they hope victoriously quickly? Or, are they going to do what defense lawyers usually do, which is try to delay things as long as possible, continue their own investigation, hope that something goes wrong with the prosecution's case, perhaps a witness, perhaps the victim decides not to cooperate anymore?
So, the question before -- that we'll see today: What is the pace this case is going to go at? That's what we'll have a good clue at today in court.
COLLINS: Well, you mentioned that defense attorneys often do this: They ask for that preliminary hearing. But I'm wondering is that any reflection -- if they want to investigate further, you say, and look into what is going on here, is that any reflection of how strong they think their case is?
TOOBIN: Not necessarily. You know, when you have a group of defense attorneys who have a lot of resources, like these defense attorneys do, you know, one thing that they like to do is go out and interview as many people as possible, you know, look into the backgrounds of people, of course including the accuser. And, you know, that takes time, it takes money, and oftentimes what defense attorneys do is they try to delay things so their investigation can proceed.
COLLINS: Now, Colorado, of course, has that rape shield law, like many other states. Tell us a little bit about that and how you think the judge will use that in this case, if at all.
TOOBIN: Well, it's significant in that anything relating to the accuser's sexual history, if she has any, should be completely off limits. And I think that's pretty clear. But there are considerable loopholes, or there are areas that are outside of the shield law regarding the defendant's background that may come in to evidence.
You know, there have been many reports, including some that we have confirmed, that the accuser here has a suicide attempt. Police were called to her home when she took an overdose of pills. That is not covered by the shield law. It may not be relevant. The prosecution undoubtedly will argue it doesn't bear on her credibility.
But anything regarding her credibility can be brought before the jury when this case goes to a jury, and those are the kinds of things the defense is going to be looking for. And a suicide attempt is an interesting gray area about whether it would be admissible or not. I'm sure it will be a big fight when this case comes to trial.
COLLINS: All right, Jeffrey, and quickly, just wondering, if there is going to be a preliminary hearing, why wait so long to decide whether or not to unseal those documents?
TOOBIN: Well, I think Judge Gannett might be waiting for events to overtake him, because in a preliminary hearing, virtually all of the documents that are at issue in that case will be disclosed publicly. So, he may be hoping that the preliminary hearing takes place relatively soon and he doesn't even have to decide the media's request.
So, I think it's clear that those documents are going to come out. It's not a question of whether they come out; it's just a question of when.
COLLINS: All right, Jeffrey Toobin, thanks so much -- live from Eagle, Colorado, this morning. I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from you throughout the day. Thanks so much.
TOOBIN: OK.
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 6, 2003 - 07:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Colorado and the all-out media frenzy surrounding Kobe Bryant's initial court appearance on a sexual assault charge.
CNN's Gary Tuchman joining us now live from Eagle, Colorado, with that.
Hi -- Gary.
GARY TUCHMAN, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Heidi, good morning to you.
If you choose to do so, you can watch Kobe Bryant on national television twice today -- two different locations, two very different occasions. On one occasion, he'll be portrayed as a teenage hero; the other occasion, an accused felon.
Now, this past weekend, Kobe Bryant and his wife attended the Teen Choice Awards in Los Angeles. He actually was given an award for favorite male athlete voted on by teens all across the country. The voting continued, by the way, until last week, weeks after Kobe Bryant was arrested.
While he was on stage accepting the award, he quoted Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., saying "An injustice anywhere is an injustice everywhere," trying to talk about his own plate. Well, that appearance will be on television tonight, because it was taped over the weekend, but that will come after his televised appearance in this courthouse behind me in Eagle, Colorado, his initial appearance in court.
The judge, Frederick Gannett, who will be presiding over the case, tells us it will be a very brief hearing, mostly procedural. He will give Kobe Bryant's lawyers the option to have a preliminary hearing within 30 days, in which the prosecution will have to lay out some of its case.
Now, no records in this case have been released. They're all under seal. That's the way the prosecution and the defense want it. But news media attorneys, including CNN's attorneys, have asked for some of those records to be released. The judge tells us he will make a decision the week of August 18, after this hearing, after a week of vacation for himself, on whether to release some of the records in this case.
The hearing will begin at 6:00 Eastern Time tonight, 4:00 Mountain Time. As we said, it will be very brief. It's expected that Kobe Bryant will fly in this afternoon and fly back to California tonight.
Heidi -- back to you.
COLLINS: All right, Gary Tuchman, thanks so much -- live from Eagle, Colorado, this morning.
Well, Bryant's court hearing may be short, but significant.
CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is also in Eagle, Colorado, this morning. He joins us with more on what today's hearing is all about.
Always nice to see you -- Jeffrey. Thanks for being here.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi, Heidi.
COLLINS: We've heard a little bit about what's going to happen in this case. Break it down for us. What are we going to see?
TOOBIN: Well, the most important thing we're going to see is the scheduling of the preliminary hearing, and what this will be is a real clue to how the defense is going to try this case. Are they going to ask for everything to move very quickly, thinking that the prosecution's case is weak, they have the prosecution on the run, they can get it over with, and they hope victoriously quickly? Or, are they going to do what defense lawyers usually do, which is try to delay things as long as possible, continue their own investigation, hope that something goes wrong with the prosecution's case, perhaps a witness, perhaps the victim decides not to cooperate anymore?
So, the question before -- that we'll see today: What is the pace this case is going to go at? That's what we'll have a good clue at today in court.
COLLINS: Well, you mentioned that defense attorneys often do this: They ask for that preliminary hearing. But I'm wondering is that any reflection -- if they want to investigate further, you say, and look into what is going on here, is that any reflection of how strong they think their case is?
TOOBIN: Not necessarily. You know, when you have a group of defense attorneys who have a lot of resources, like these defense attorneys do, you know, one thing that they like to do is go out and interview as many people as possible, you know, look into the backgrounds of people, of course including the accuser. And, you know, that takes time, it takes money, and oftentimes what defense attorneys do is they try to delay things so their investigation can proceed.
COLLINS: Now, Colorado, of course, has that rape shield law, like many other states. Tell us a little bit about that and how you think the judge will use that in this case, if at all.
TOOBIN: Well, it's significant in that anything relating to the accuser's sexual history, if she has any, should be completely off limits. And I think that's pretty clear. But there are considerable loopholes, or there are areas that are outside of the shield law regarding the defendant's background that may come in to evidence.
You know, there have been many reports, including some that we have confirmed, that the accuser here has a suicide attempt. Police were called to her home when she took an overdose of pills. That is not covered by the shield law. It may not be relevant. The prosecution undoubtedly will argue it doesn't bear on her credibility.
But anything regarding her credibility can be brought before the jury when this case goes to a jury, and those are the kinds of things the defense is going to be looking for. And a suicide attempt is an interesting gray area about whether it would be admissible or not. I'm sure it will be a big fight when this case comes to trial.
COLLINS: All right, Jeffrey, and quickly, just wondering, if there is going to be a preliminary hearing, why wait so long to decide whether or not to unseal those documents?
TOOBIN: Well, I think Judge Gannett might be waiting for events to overtake him, because in a preliminary hearing, virtually all of the documents that are at issue in that case will be disclosed publicly. So, he may be hoping that the preliminary hearing takes place relatively soon and he doesn't even have to decide the media's request.
So, I think it's clear that those documents are going to come out. It's not a question of whether they come out; it's just a question of when.
COLLINS: All right, Jeffrey Toobin, thanks so much -- live from Eagle, Colorado, this morning. I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from you throughout the day. Thanks so much.
TOOBIN: OK.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
