Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
'Coffey Talk'
Aired August 14, 2003 - 06:24 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: Of course, the Kobe Bryant case has pushed the Scott Peterson case off the radar. But it will be back in the spotlight today. At issue, cameras in the courtroom. It's an issue both defense and prosecution agree on. Both do not want the trial to be broadcast. But, you guessed it, the media, including CNN, wants cameras allowed into the September 9th preliminary hearing. We'll have to see what the judge decides today.
So, time for a little Coffey talk now.
Live to the phone lines and legal analyst Kendall Coffey.
Good morning, Kendall.
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So what do you think the judge will do?
COFFEY: Well, cameras in the courtroom is going to be a very, very tough sell, especially after an appeals court ruling several weeks ago talking about the media frenzy that's making it very, very difficult to get an untainted jury anywhere.
So I think cameras in the courtroom, in terms of live televised coverage, is going to be a very, very tough sell today, especially with everybody, including Laci Peterson's family, objecting to it.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes.
Let's talk about the defense team. We know that a couple weeks ago they were looking at Laci Peterson and her unborn child's remains. What did they determine about that?
COFFEY: Well, we don't know yet what the analysis has been. But they don't need, with their experts, to support any kind of satanic cult theory. What they need to do is create a reasonable doubt. That could take a number of different directions, including suggesting ritualistic killing. But it could also simply be something as basic as time of death, because as we recall, Laci Peterson disappeared on December 24th. If the analysis of the forensic experts by the defense shows a very different time, that could be a huge step forward for the Scott Peterson defense.
COSTELLO: So they can actually determine the time of death? Because not much, sadly, remains of Laci Peterson.
COFFEY: Well, experts are an amazing thing, Carol, and if they can get someone who says within a reasonable degree of professional certainty the time of death was, for example, three weeks later, that's huge for the Scott Peterson defense, because obviously the prosecution theory is locked into one specific day as the day of the death.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes, that'll be a big fight in court. I can see that.
How about the prosecution's request for a poll to test the viability of a change of venue?
COFFEY: Well, it reminds us just how significant pretrial publicity concerns have become in that case. And they're anticipating a very strong defense showing that people in the local community have all but decided the case, maybe 75 percent or more. What the prosecution is going to emphasize is that look, people throughout the country and certainly people throughout the state also have views on this case. So the real question is not have people locally developed views and heard information about the case, is it, are they going to get a much more fair trial somewhere else if, in fact, the rest of the state also has very strong views on the Scott Peterson issues.
COSTELLO: Yes, I think they'd have to move it to another country if they want to -- I mean I just don't see where in the country it could be tried more fairly.
COFFEY: Well, Carol, we talked about before how, in the case of the American Taliban, the John Walker Lindh case, the federal judge denied a venue motion also dealing with polling evidence, saying you'd have to go to the planet Pluto to find people who hadn't heard about the case.
COSTELLO: Yes, I should have said another planet instead of another country.
Kendall Coffey, thanks for joining us live on the phone from Miami and on DAYBREAK this morning.
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 August 14, 2003 - 06:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Of course, the Kobe Bryant case has pushed the Scott Peterson case off the radar. But it will be back in the spotlight today. At issue, cameras in the courtroom. It's an issue both defense and prosecution agree on. Both do not want the trial to be broadcast. But, you guessed it, the media, including CNN, wants cameras allowed into the September 9th preliminary hearing. We'll have to see what the judge decides today.
So, time for a little Coffey talk now.
Live to the phone lines and legal analyst Kendall Coffey.
Good morning, Kendall.
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So what do you think the judge will do?
COFFEY: Well, cameras in the courtroom is going to be a very, very tough sell, especially after an appeals court ruling several weeks ago talking about the media frenzy that's making it very, very difficult to get an untainted jury anywhere.
So I think cameras in the courtroom, in terms of live televised coverage, is going to be a very, very tough sell today, especially with everybody, including Laci Peterson's family, objecting to it.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes.
Let's talk about the defense team. We know that a couple weeks ago they were looking at Laci Peterson and her unborn child's remains. What did they determine about that?
COFFEY: Well, we don't know yet what the analysis has been. But they don't need, with their experts, to support any kind of satanic cult theory. What they need to do is create a reasonable doubt. That could take a number of different directions, including suggesting ritualistic killing. But it could also simply be something as basic as time of death, because as we recall, Laci Peterson disappeared on December 24th. If the analysis of the forensic experts by the defense shows a very different time, that could be a huge step forward for the Scott Peterson defense.
COSTELLO: So they can actually determine the time of death? Because not much, sadly, remains of Laci Peterson.
COFFEY: Well, experts are an amazing thing, Carol, and if they can get someone who says within a reasonable degree of professional certainty the time of death was, for example, three weeks later, that's huge for the Scott Peterson defense, because obviously the prosecution theory is locked into one specific day as the day of the death.
COSTELLO: Oh, yes, that'll be a big fight in court. I can see that.
How about the prosecution's request for a poll to test the viability of a change of venue?
COFFEY: Well, it reminds us just how significant pretrial publicity concerns have become in that case. And they're anticipating a very strong defense showing that people in the local community have all but decided the case, maybe 75 percent or more. What the prosecution is going to emphasize is that look, people throughout the country and certainly people throughout the state also have views on this case. So the real question is not have people locally developed views and heard information about the case, is it, are they going to get a much more fair trial somewhere else if, in fact, the rest of the state also has very strong views on the Scott Peterson issues.
COSTELLO: Yes, I think they'd have to move it to another country if they want to -- I mean I just don't see where in the country it could be tried more fairly.
COFFEY: Well, Carol, we talked about before how, in the case of the American Taliban, the John Walker Lindh case, the federal judge denied a venue motion also dealing with polling evidence, saying you'd have to go to the planet Pluto to find people who hadn't heard about the case.
COSTELLO: Yes, I should have said another planet instead of another country.
Kendall Coffey, thanks for joining us live on the phone from Miami and on DAYBREAK this morning.
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
