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CNN Live At Daybreak

'Coffey Talk'

Aired October 02, 2003 - 06:22   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: Kobe Bryant will be on the court, not in the courts, today. He reports for practice in Hawaii with the Lakers. In the meantime, in Eagle, Colorado, the judge is expected to release his decision tomorrow on whether the alleged victim will have to attend the preliminary hearing. He'll also announce if the woman's medical records will be introduced and if the media will be allowed into the preliminary hearing.
So it's time for some Coffey talk on the Kobe Bryant case.

Legal analyst Kendall Coffey live on the phone from Miami.

Good morning, Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, three decisions expected from the judge. Tell me what we should expect.

COFFEY: Well, let's talk, first of all, about this question of can they force the alleged victim to appear at the hearing. Almost assuredly not. This is not a determination of who's ultimately guilty, just is there enough case to bind him over for trial. So expect instead of the alleged victim appearing, testimony from police, photographs, perhaps a videotape from the alleged victim, maybe even some version of an interview that Bryant supposedly gave to authorities after the incident.

COSTELLO: Yes, and this was sort of a ploy by defense attorneys to get her in there, to put pressure on her.

COFFEY: I think most observers think it's trying to highlight the alleged victim, make her the issue, perhaps some of the issues about past questions of emotional stability, whatever they can do to make the victim the issue.

COSTELLO: OK, let's talk about mental stability and the physicality. I know that the defense wants all of her medical records to be introduced.

Will they get them?

COFFEY: They're not going to get them at this point, in no small part because private medical records are privileged. But don't expect them to stop on this theme of is there a question of emotional stability, mental condition. Because as we've talked about before, they have to prove that what he said is more reliable than what she said.

COSTELLO: So it looks like everything is going the prosecution's way. So why doesn't the defense just skip the prelim altogether and go right to trial?

COFFEY: Well, they're still going to get some evidence. They're still going to get a glimpse of some of the things that are going on. But no one should expect that at this preliminary hearing that Kobe Bryant is going to be cut loose from this case. It's just the beginning of the real battles here.

COSTELLO: But he'll be at the prelim tomorrow, right?

COFFEY: I think he's expected at the preliminary hearing, which I think is scheduled for October 9. We're, right now we're on the verge of some other issues being resolved.

COSTELLO: I understand.

Kendall Coffey, many thanks, live on the phone with us from Miami.

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 October 2, 2003 - 06:22   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Kobe Bryant will be on the court, not in the courts, today. He reports for practice in Hawaii with the Lakers. In the meantime, in Eagle, Colorado, the judge is expected to release his decision tomorrow on whether the alleged victim will have to attend the preliminary hearing. He'll also announce if the woman's medical records will be introduced and if the media will be allowed into the preliminary hearing.
So it's time for some Coffey talk on the Kobe Bryant case.

Legal analyst Kendall Coffey live on the phone from Miami.

Good morning, Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: So, three decisions expected from the judge. Tell me what we should expect.

COFFEY: Well, let's talk, first of all, about this question of can they force the alleged victim to appear at the hearing. Almost assuredly not. This is not a determination of who's ultimately guilty, just is there enough case to bind him over for trial. So expect instead of the alleged victim appearing, testimony from police, photographs, perhaps a videotape from the alleged victim, maybe even some version of an interview that Bryant supposedly gave to authorities after the incident.

COSTELLO: Yes, and this was sort of a ploy by defense attorneys to get her in there, to put pressure on her.

COFFEY: I think most observers think it's trying to highlight the alleged victim, make her the issue, perhaps some of the issues about past questions of emotional stability, whatever they can do to make the victim the issue.

COSTELLO: OK, let's talk about mental stability and the physicality. I know that the defense wants all of her medical records to be introduced.

Will they get them?

COFFEY: They're not going to get them at this point, in no small part because private medical records are privileged. But don't expect them to stop on this theme of is there a question of emotional stability, mental condition. Because as we've talked about before, they have to prove that what he said is more reliable than what she said.

COSTELLO: So it looks like everything is going the prosecution's way. So why doesn't the defense just skip the prelim altogether and go right to trial?

COFFEY: Well, they're still going to get some evidence. They're still going to get a glimpse of some of the things that are going on. But no one should expect that at this preliminary hearing that Kobe Bryant is going to be cut loose from this case. It's just the beginning of the real battles here.

COSTELLO: But he'll be at the prelim tomorrow, right?

COFFEY: I think he's expected at the preliminary hearing, which I think is scheduled for October 9. We're, right now we're on the verge of some other issues being resolved.

COSTELLO: I understand.

Kendall Coffey, many thanks, live on the phone with us from Miami.

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