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CNN Live Today

Kobe Bryant Case

Aired November 13, 2003 - 11:45   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.


DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's bring in our legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin for the insight on what he heard today.
Jeffrey, what did you hear?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.

Well, I think two to three weeks for the trial date. That's an interesting, that both sides seem to agree. We'll know a lot more on December 19th. That's really when the defense is going to have to lay a lot of its cards on the table.

Most importantly, I think, we'll know on December 19th, whether the defense will move for a change of venue. That's obviously a big possibility in a case like this one.

So not a lot happened today. But we're starting to get a sense of how quickly this case will move along. Motions will be discussed, identified on December 19th. There will be argued, at least many of them, it appears, will be argued on January 23rd. That leaves open the question of whether this trial will take place during the current NBA basketball season. Given the pace at which he's going, the judge could do -- it seems like could go either way on that. But we'll certainly know more about that on December 19th.

KAGAN: And everything I've read seems to indicate that the defense would rather push this back, make it go slowly, and go past the basketball season. I can understand the reasons for the basketball season wanting, to get that out of the way. But legally, why is it better for the defense not to just get this over with?

TOOBIN: The conventional wisdom among trial lawyers is, delay is always better for the defense, that, you know, evidence never improves with age. People's memories don't improve. Evidence gets lost. The intensity, the emotion of the moment tends to fade a little bit. So it is typical of defense lawyers to want things to move more slowly. You get a chance to have more legal arguments, potentially chip away at some of the evidence, have it ruled inadmissible. That is classic defense strategy.

Whether it works is another question. Again, what does appear to be the pattern in all of these proceedings, in the Kobe Bryant case, it's a very sort of aggressive defense, and the prosecution is rather deferential, is rather restrained, and that's not necessarily so good for the defense, or that's not necessarily so good for the prosecution. We'll see when the real combat starts. We see a more combative side to the prosecution. KAGAN: All right, and you will be watching right along with us. Jeffrey Toobin, thank you for that.

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 November 13, 2003 - 11:45   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's bring in our legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin for the insight on what he heard today.
Jeffrey, what did you hear?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.

Well, I think two to three weeks for the trial date. That's an interesting, that both sides seem to agree. We'll know a lot more on December 19th. That's really when the defense is going to have to lay a lot of its cards on the table.

Most importantly, I think, we'll know on December 19th, whether the defense will move for a change of venue. That's obviously a big possibility in a case like this one.

So not a lot happened today. But we're starting to get a sense of how quickly this case will move along. Motions will be discussed, identified on December 19th. There will be argued, at least many of them, it appears, will be argued on January 23rd. That leaves open the question of whether this trial will take place during the current NBA basketball season. Given the pace at which he's going, the judge could do -- it seems like could go either way on that. But we'll certainly know more about that on December 19th.

KAGAN: And everything I've read seems to indicate that the defense would rather push this back, make it go slowly, and go past the basketball season. I can understand the reasons for the basketball season wanting, to get that out of the way. But legally, why is it better for the defense not to just get this over with?

TOOBIN: The conventional wisdom among trial lawyers is, delay is always better for the defense, that, you know, evidence never improves with age. People's memories don't improve. Evidence gets lost. The intensity, the emotion of the moment tends to fade a little bit. So it is typical of defense lawyers to want things to move more slowly. You get a chance to have more legal arguments, potentially chip away at some of the evidence, have it ruled inadmissible. That is classic defense strategy.

Whether it works is another question. Again, what does appear to be the pattern in all of these proceedings, in the Kobe Bryant case, it's a very sort of aggressive defense, and the prosecution is rather deferential, is rather restrained, and that's not necessarily so good for the defense, or that's not necessarily so good for the prosecution. We'll see when the real combat starts. We see a more combative side to the prosecution. KAGAN: All right, and you will be watching right along with us. Jeffrey Toobin, thank you for that.

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