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American Morning

Kobe Bryant Will Return to Colorado on October 9th

Aired August 07, 2003 - 08:19   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Kobe Bryant will return to Colorado on October 9 for a preliminary hearing in his sexual assault case. His appearance yesterday in an Eagle County courtroom was a pretty routine one. He didn't say much. He just spoke two words. He said, "No, sir," when the judge asked if he wanted, if he objected to waiving his right to a hearing within 30 days.
Well, former Eagle County prosecutor David Lugert knows the players in the Bryant case on both sides of the aisle there.

He joins us from Eagle, Colorado this morning to talk about what might be going on behind-the-scenes.

Good morning, David.

Glad to have you come on and take time to talk with us this morning about this case.

DAVID LUGERT, FORMER EAGLE COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Thank you, Leon.

Good morning.

HARRIS: What we saw yesterday, just pretty much a routine and by the books appearance in court?

LUGERT: Yes, it was quite routine and by the books, and I think that's how Judge Frederick Gannett wanted it to be. When he asked Mr. Bryant to attend this hearing, he wasn't so much pointing that at Mr. Bryant, but he was sending a message to the community that the case will be treated like any other, not just Mr. Bryant himself.

HARRIS: But let's, but something is happening that is a bit out of the ordinary. He is assigning a special prosecutor in this case to deal with the issue of leaks that are coming out there and the prosecutor that he's picked here is someone that's from another county.

What do you make of that?

LUGERT: Well, it is interesting, Leon. First of all, let me say that he's actually appointed a special investigator, not a special prosecutor.

HARRIS: I'm sorry, there you go.

LUGERT: The investigator will be the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office. And that's not a name known to most people, unless you know the home city, which is Aspen, Colorado, another celebrity studded environment.

HARRIS: So what happens with that? And what do you think that really means? What do you think he's trying to get at here?

LUGERT: I think Judge Gannett would like to know have there been leaks in violation of his pretrial publicity order, the gag order, and, if so, who caused those leaks. The allegation from the defense at this point is that it came from law enforcement here in Eagle County. Thus, you have to go out of county to find a law enforcement group who can do that investigation completely and without being compromised in their investigation and report back to Judge Gannett.

HARRIS: Now, is it true that in every single case like this, that this judge, Judge Gannett, would have required anyone to come all the way from California and to come back to Colorado -- Eagle, Colorado to make a seven minute appearance in court?

LUGERT: Yes, it is true without exception. Let me indicate that on minor cases such as traffic cases or even some misdemeanor cases, an attorney can have an initial appearance waived by entering his appearance for the client. But in all felony cases in our jurisdiction, there is a standard practice that all felon defendants must appear.

The only exception would be if there is a delay in their appearance caused by a health problem or a travel problem.

Judge Gannett was simply saying to the community that this case would be treated like any others and Mr. Bryant and the case are no exception.

HARRIS: All right, well, one thing we didn't see much of yesterday was much in the way of fireworks or any action by the lawyers in this case. We will see that down the road, no doubt. But I want to ask you about the prosecutor, Mark Hurlbert, because, as I understand it, you and Mr. Hurlbert are relative friendly toward each other.

Have you talked with him at all? I'd like to know what he -- where his head is at right now, because he has been, if not criticized, he's at least taken some heat for his lack of experience. Is he having any problems dealing with that right now? Are you concerned about his level of experience?

LUGERT: I'm not concerned at all. I'm not just a friend of Mark Hurlbert's, but we actually worked together in this district attorney's office before I left to form my own practice. Mark is a very competent and experienced prosecutor.

I think people are mistaking the fact that he's newly appointed by our governor, Bill Owens, as the district attorney, the administrative head of the office. He's actually been the assistant district attorney and a top trial lawyer for our office for eight or nine years. He's very experienced. I think he has the pulse of the community. So he'll now how to both select jurors and communicate directly with them once the trial begins. HARRIS: All right, dwell, we'll see how things play out. No doubt the pulse of that community might pick up quite a bit as this trial goes on.

David Lugert, thanks much, and we will hope to talk to you down the road.

LUGERT: Thank you, Leon.

HARRIS: All right.

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 - 08:19   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Kobe Bryant will return to Colorado on October 9 for a preliminary hearing in his sexual assault case. His appearance yesterday in an Eagle County courtroom was a pretty routine one. He didn't say much. He just spoke two words. He said, "No, sir," when the judge asked if he wanted, if he objected to waiving his right to a hearing within 30 days.
Well, former Eagle County prosecutor David Lugert knows the players in the Bryant case on both sides of the aisle there.

He joins us from Eagle, Colorado this morning to talk about what might be going on behind-the-scenes.

Good morning, David.

Glad to have you come on and take time to talk with us this morning about this case.

DAVID LUGERT, FORMER EAGLE COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Thank you, Leon.

Good morning.

HARRIS: What we saw yesterday, just pretty much a routine and by the books appearance in court?

LUGERT: Yes, it was quite routine and by the books, and I think that's how Judge Frederick Gannett wanted it to be. When he asked Mr. Bryant to attend this hearing, he wasn't so much pointing that at Mr. Bryant, but he was sending a message to the community that the case will be treated like any other, not just Mr. Bryant himself.

HARRIS: But let's, but something is happening that is a bit out of the ordinary. He is assigning a special prosecutor in this case to deal with the issue of leaks that are coming out there and the prosecutor that he's picked here is someone that's from another county.

What do you make of that?

LUGERT: Well, it is interesting, Leon. First of all, let me say that he's actually appointed a special investigator, not a special prosecutor.

HARRIS: I'm sorry, there you go.

LUGERT: The investigator will be the Pitkin County Sheriff's Office. And that's not a name known to most people, unless you know the home city, which is Aspen, Colorado, another celebrity studded environment.

HARRIS: So what happens with that? And what do you think that really means? What do you think he's trying to get at here?

LUGERT: I think Judge Gannett would like to know have there been leaks in violation of his pretrial publicity order, the gag order, and, if so, who caused those leaks. The allegation from the defense at this point is that it came from law enforcement here in Eagle County. Thus, you have to go out of county to find a law enforcement group who can do that investigation completely and without being compromised in their investigation and report back to Judge Gannett.

HARRIS: Now, is it true that in every single case like this, that this judge, Judge Gannett, would have required anyone to come all the way from California and to come back to Colorado -- Eagle, Colorado to make a seven minute appearance in court?

LUGERT: Yes, it is true without exception. Let me indicate that on minor cases such as traffic cases or even some misdemeanor cases, an attorney can have an initial appearance waived by entering his appearance for the client. But in all felony cases in our jurisdiction, there is a standard practice that all felon defendants must appear.

The only exception would be if there is a delay in their appearance caused by a health problem or a travel problem.

Judge Gannett was simply saying to the community that this case would be treated like any others and Mr. Bryant and the case are no exception.

HARRIS: All right, well, one thing we didn't see much of yesterday was much in the way of fireworks or any action by the lawyers in this case. We will see that down the road, no doubt. But I want to ask you about the prosecutor, Mark Hurlbert, because, as I understand it, you and Mr. Hurlbert are relative friendly toward each other.

Have you talked with him at all? I'd like to know what he -- where his head is at right now, because he has been, if not criticized, he's at least taken some heat for his lack of experience. Is he having any problems dealing with that right now? Are you concerned about his level of experience?

LUGERT: I'm not concerned at all. I'm not just a friend of Mark Hurlbert's, but we actually worked together in this district attorney's office before I left to form my own practice. Mark is a very competent and experienced prosecutor.

I think people are mistaking the fact that he's newly appointed by our governor, Bill Owens, as the district attorney, the administrative head of the office. He's actually been the assistant district attorney and a top trial lawyer for our office for eight or nine years. He's very experienced. I think he has the pulse of the community. So he'll now how to both select jurors and communicate directly with them once the trial begins. HARRIS: All right, dwell, we'll see how things play out. No doubt the pulse of that community might pick up quite a bit as this trial goes on.

David Lugert, thanks much, and we will hope to talk to you down the road.

LUGERT: Thank you, Leon.

HARRIS: All right.

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