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American Morning

Sniper Trial

Aired October 30, 2003 - 07:33   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now let's turn to the murder trial of accused D.C. sniper John Muhammad. Testimony resumes today in Virginia Beach. In court yesterday, dramatic testimony from the youngest victim of last year's sniper spree. Iran Brown was shot outside his Maryland middle school.
Michael Ruane is a "Washington Post" reporter. He's also the author of the book "Sniper." And he was in the courtroom. He joins us from Virginia Beach this morning.

Also with us in Washington is the book's co-author, Sari Horwitz.

It's nice to have you guys back.

Thank you so much for joining us.

SARI HORWITZ, AUTHOR, "SNIPER": Good morning.

MICHAEL RUANE, AUTHOR, "SNIPER": You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: Michael, let's begin with you since you were in the courtroom. Obviously very emotional for Iran Brown on the stand. How was he? Describe his demeanor for me.

RUANE: Well, he walked into the courtroom at 12:09. He is a young man now. He has a big shock of black hair, which he had pulled back in a pony tail. He had on a white shirt. He kind of walked in like a, like your typical teenager, sat down and was fairly brief. Prosecutor Jim Willett (ph) said, "What happened to you?" And Iran said, "I got shot." Willett asked him to elaborate and Iran said, "We pulled up, I got out of the car, I put my book bag down, I got shot."

He, Willett asked him if he knew he'd been shot right away. Iran said, "Yes." Willett then said, "Did they remove your spleen?," which they had done in an operation later. And Iran said, "Yes."

O'BRIEN: What was John Muhammad's demeanor in the courtroom while that was going on, Michael?

RUANE: Well, he -- it was very interesting. He watched Iran very carefully when he, when Iran walked in and sat down. I did not see Iran look at Muhammad at all. But Iran was, his, just seeing him was a sort of beautiful thing for people. I think the prosecutors wanted to show the jury, you know, here was a healthy survivor. This was the kind of person whose, who had survived this thing.

All week long we've seen nothing but these gruesome autopsy photos of people who have been killed by the sniper and here was this beautiful teenaged kid who had survived. And it was just a very powerful thing to see.

O'BRIEN: Sari, we know that earlier the Brown family, earlier in the week the Brown family had actually filed a motion to try to keep Iran off the stand and then they changed their minds.

What was behind that?

HORWITZ: Well, you know, all along Lisa Brown, Iran Brown's mother, has been trying to shield him from reporters and from all this attention and have him lead a normal life now that he's survived this. And I think she wanted to keep him from the trauma of -- you know, it's very scary to testify in a courtroom for a 13-year-old and now 14-year-old. And I think in the end she decided it was important for the prosecution's case.

You know, the prosecution all week has been bringing all the survivors to testify for the jury. And I think she realized this was important for the case to see this vibrant 14-year-old survivor.

O'BRIEN: Important for the case emotionally, certainly, but, Sari, I'm curious to know, evidentiarily, if that's a word, what kind of weight can it have? I mean he basically testified that he didn't see anything. He was shot, he dropped his book bag, he got back in the car with his aunt, who then took him to the hospital.

So what kind of value does that kind of testimony provide for the prosecution?

HORWITZ: I think it's a very important value, Soledad. What the prosecutors are trying to do is couple the emotion of seeing these witnesses and seeing these survivors along with the forensic evidence that they've been presenting and they're going to present more of. I mean all week the jury has been hearing about the sightings of the Chevy Caprice at these various sites. At the Iran Brown site, of course, a witness saw the Chevy Caprice that Muhammad was arrested in in the morning of that shooting and also the night before.

The prosecutors are also going to use ballistic evidence. There was a shell casing found at Tasker Middle School. And there was a part of a Bic pen with the saliva, which has been tested, and it's the DNA of John Muhammad. And the prosecutors are going to use that along with the testimony of people like Caroline Seawell and Iran Brown and say, present this to the jury and say is it a coincidence that there's all this evidence linking Muhammad to these crime scenes?

O'BRIEN: Basically a way to just paint a fuller picture.

HORWITZ: Exactly.

O'BRIEN: Well, Sari Horwitz and Michael Ruane, thanks for joining us.

Always nice to see you guys again together.

RUANE: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: The author of the book "Sniper."

Thanks.

HORWITZ: 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 October 30, 2003 - 07:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now let's turn to the murder trial of accused D.C. sniper John Muhammad. Testimony resumes today in Virginia Beach. In court yesterday, dramatic testimony from the youngest victim of last year's sniper spree. Iran Brown was shot outside his Maryland middle school.
Michael Ruane is a "Washington Post" reporter. He's also the author of the book "Sniper." And he was in the courtroom. He joins us from Virginia Beach this morning.

Also with us in Washington is the book's co-author, Sari Horwitz.

It's nice to have you guys back.

Thank you so much for joining us.

SARI HORWITZ, AUTHOR, "SNIPER": Good morning.

MICHAEL RUANE, AUTHOR, "SNIPER": You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: Michael, let's begin with you since you were in the courtroom. Obviously very emotional for Iran Brown on the stand. How was he? Describe his demeanor for me.

RUANE: Well, he walked into the courtroom at 12:09. He is a young man now. He has a big shock of black hair, which he had pulled back in a pony tail. He had on a white shirt. He kind of walked in like a, like your typical teenager, sat down and was fairly brief. Prosecutor Jim Willett (ph) said, "What happened to you?" And Iran said, "I got shot." Willett asked him to elaborate and Iran said, "We pulled up, I got out of the car, I put my book bag down, I got shot."

He, Willett asked him if he knew he'd been shot right away. Iran said, "Yes." Willett then said, "Did they remove your spleen?," which they had done in an operation later. And Iran said, "Yes."

O'BRIEN: What was John Muhammad's demeanor in the courtroom while that was going on, Michael?

RUANE: Well, he -- it was very interesting. He watched Iran very carefully when he, when Iran walked in and sat down. I did not see Iran look at Muhammad at all. But Iran was, his, just seeing him was a sort of beautiful thing for people. I think the prosecutors wanted to show the jury, you know, here was a healthy survivor. This was the kind of person whose, who had survived this thing.

All week long we've seen nothing but these gruesome autopsy photos of people who have been killed by the sniper and here was this beautiful teenaged kid who had survived. And it was just a very powerful thing to see.

O'BRIEN: Sari, we know that earlier the Brown family, earlier in the week the Brown family had actually filed a motion to try to keep Iran off the stand and then they changed their minds.

What was behind that?

HORWITZ: Well, you know, all along Lisa Brown, Iran Brown's mother, has been trying to shield him from reporters and from all this attention and have him lead a normal life now that he's survived this. And I think she wanted to keep him from the trauma of -- you know, it's very scary to testify in a courtroom for a 13-year-old and now 14-year-old. And I think in the end she decided it was important for the prosecution's case.

You know, the prosecution all week has been bringing all the survivors to testify for the jury. And I think she realized this was important for the case to see this vibrant 14-year-old survivor.

O'BRIEN: Important for the case emotionally, certainly, but, Sari, I'm curious to know, evidentiarily, if that's a word, what kind of weight can it have? I mean he basically testified that he didn't see anything. He was shot, he dropped his book bag, he got back in the car with his aunt, who then took him to the hospital.

So what kind of value does that kind of testimony provide for the prosecution?

HORWITZ: I think it's a very important value, Soledad. What the prosecutors are trying to do is couple the emotion of seeing these witnesses and seeing these survivors along with the forensic evidence that they've been presenting and they're going to present more of. I mean all week the jury has been hearing about the sightings of the Chevy Caprice at these various sites. At the Iran Brown site, of course, a witness saw the Chevy Caprice that Muhammad was arrested in in the morning of that shooting and also the night before.

The prosecutors are also going to use ballistic evidence. There was a shell casing found at Tasker Middle School. And there was a part of a Bic pen with the saliva, which has been tested, and it's the DNA of John Muhammad. And the prosecutors are going to use that along with the testimony of people like Caroline Seawell and Iran Brown and say, present this to the jury and say is it a coincidence that there's all this evidence linking Muhammad to these crime scenes?

O'BRIEN: Basically a way to just paint a fuller picture.

HORWITZ: Exactly.

O'BRIEN: Well, Sari Horwitz and Michael Ruane, thanks for joining us.

Always nice to see you guys again together.

RUANE: You're welcome.

O'BRIEN: The author of the book "Sniper."

Thanks.

HORWITZ: 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