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American Morning

Kobe Bryant's First Court Appearance

Aired August 07, 2003 - 10:18   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.


FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Also with us from Eagle this morning is CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin to help us evaluate what we saw during the proceedings yesterday that were televised, and what to make of what is to come next.
Jeffrey, well, let's talk about what we saw. Let's talk about the image of Kobe Bryant. We saw him emerging from his vehicle, entering the courthouse with a small entourage, and being very much the gentleman, helping his female representation out of the car. And we saw him wearing a light colored suit as opposed to the typical dark blue suit. What did his image mean to you as he proceeded to the courthouse?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I think you can overstate the importance of some of these symbolic gestures. He looked like he took the proceedings seriously. I think that was the message that they wanted to send, that he wasn't showing disrespect to the court or to the gravity of the charges against him.

The most important symbolic gesture is perhaps something or someone who wasn't there. His wife wasn't there. I think, you know, a small pretrial hearing, it certainly was not important that she attend. However, if she continues not to attend court I think people will notice that and, perhaps, most importantly, prospective jurors will notice the absence of support.

WHITFIELD: If image is important in this, the fact that his wife, Vanessa, wasn't present, does that already kind of send a resonating message that they may, you know, his defense team may need to try to recover a bit later?

TOOBIN: I really don't want to overstate the importance of that. You know, Kobe Bryant probably six, eight, 10 months from now, will either be convicted or acquitted. It won't be because his wife didn't attend one hearing in August. I mean, there's a long time still to go. But if she doesn't go to court at all through all those months that would be significant I think. So that's one factor to consider, in addition to the much more important factor of what the evidence is against him.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk about what takes place on August 9. What is it that the judge will be weighing in which to determine whether to proceed with this case?

TOOBIN: Well, on October 9, there's going to be what's called a preliminary hearing, and the government has to present evidence to prove that there is probable cause that Kobe Bryant is guilty of this sexual offense. Now, that's a very low standard. The government in Colorado almost never loses these prelims. And these prelims are not trials in the sense that all -- lots of evidence is admissible in a preliminary hearing that's not admissible at a trial. For example, hearsay evidence.

So one police officer could testify about all sorts of conversations that he had with other people, evidence that he collected. That's the kind of thing, summary witnesses that these hearings tend to involve. It could be very short, it could be just a day or two, so it's a very abbreviated proceeding.

WHITFIELD: Sorry, so it's very important for the prosecutors to have their acts together and make sure they have as much of their incriminating evidence as possible for that particular hearing?

TOOBIN: Absolutely. And it really is a very easy hearing for the prosecution, because they don't have to worry about the credibility of their civilian witnesses. They can just put on a police officer to testify about what he learned in the course of his investigation. That police officer could then be, essentially, the government's only witness. That often is how it works in preliminary hearings. We'll certainly have a clear sense of the extent of the government's evidence. We won't see all of it, but we'll know a lot more on October 9 than we do today.

WHITFIELD: All right, legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, thanks very much. Good to see you.

TOOBIN: OK, Fredricka.

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 7, 2003 - 10:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Also with us from Eagle this morning is CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin to help us evaluate what we saw during the proceedings yesterday that were televised, and what to make of what is to come next.
Jeffrey, well, let's talk about what we saw. Let's talk about the image of Kobe Bryant. We saw him emerging from his vehicle, entering the courthouse with a small entourage, and being very much the gentleman, helping his female representation out of the car. And we saw him wearing a light colored suit as opposed to the typical dark blue suit. What did his image mean to you as he proceeded to the courthouse?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I think you can overstate the importance of some of these symbolic gestures. He looked like he took the proceedings seriously. I think that was the message that they wanted to send, that he wasn't showing disrespect to the court or to the gravity of the charges against him.

The most important symbolic gesture is perhaps something or someone who wasn't there. His wife wasn't there. I think, you know, a small pretrial hearing, it certainly was not important that she attend. However, if she continues not to attend court I think people will notice that and, perhaps, most importantly, prospective jurors will notice the absence of support.

WHITFIELD: If image is important in this, the fact that his wife, Vanessa, wasn't present, does that already kind of send a resonating message that they may, you know, his defense team may need to try to recover a bit later?

TOOBIN: I really don't want to overstate the importance of that. You know, Kobe Bryant probably six, eight, 10 months from now, will either be convicted or acquitted. It won't be because his wife didn't attend one hearing in August. I mean, there's a long time still to go. But if she doesn't go to court at all through all those months that would be significant I think. So that's one factor to consider, in addition to the much more important factor of what the evidence is against him.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's talk about what takes place on August 9. What is it that the judge will be weighing in which to determine whether to proceed with this case?

TOOBIN: Well, on October 9, there's going to be what's called a preliminary hearing, and the government has to present evidence to prove that there is probable cause that Kobe Bryant is guilty of this sexual offense. Now, that's a very low standard. The government in Colorado almost never loses these prelims. And these prelims are not trials in the sense that all -- lots of evidence is admissible in a preliminary hearing that's not admissible at a trial. For example, hearsay evidence.

So one police officer could testify about all sorts of conversations that he had with other people, evidence that he collected. That's the kind of thing, summary witnesses that these hearings tend to involve. It could be very short, it could be just a day or two, so it's a very abbreviated proceeding.

WHITFIELD: Sorry, so it's very important for the prosecutors to have their acts together and make sure they have as much of their incriminating evidence as possible for that particular hearing?

TOOBIN: Absolutely. And it really is a very easy hearing for the prosecution, because they don't have to worry about the credibility of their civilian witnesses. They can just put on a police officer to testify about what he learned in the course of his investigation. That police officer could then be, essentially, the government's only witness. That often is how it works in preliminary hearings. We'll certainly have a clear sense of the extent of the government's evidence. We won't see all of it, but we'll know a lot more on October 9 than we do today.

WHITFIELD: All right, legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, thanks very much. Good to see you.

TOOBIN: OK, Fredricka.

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