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CNN Live Today

Michael Jackson's Troubles

Aired November 20, 2003 - 11:18   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 LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us for more on Michael Jackson's anticipated surrender and the charges he's going to be facing is former federal prosecutor Kendall Coffey. He's in our Miami bureau this morning.
Good morning, Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, FMR. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Good morning, Carol.

LIN: So how do you think this surrender is going to go down?

COFFEY: It will go smoothly from a legal standpoint. That is to say, he'll show up. The bail bond's already been worked out. Presumably the terms of pretrial release are all resolved, and he'll be processed, fingerprinted, mugshots, just in a certain sense like other criminals might be. Of course what'll incredible different will be everything that happens outside. There no doubt will be an absolute mob of onlookers, and there will be nothing in this case that is normal.

LIN: So how do the authorities prepare to take in a celebrity of his stature? Do they have to make special arrangements? Does he get special consideration?

COFFEY: Well, they'll be making special arrangements in terms of dealing with media and public. But beyond that, Carol, what they really try to do, difficult as it seems, is to go by the book. I suspect that they'll have the same procedure in terms of booking Michael Jackson in terms of handling the paperwork that they would apply to anyone else. It sounds almost surreal in a case like this, but they do the best they can to try to treat it like any other case.

LIN: Really? So once they take him in, I assume he gets photographed, fingerprinted, and then what happens?

COFFEY: Well, he'll have to post the bond. It's a $3 million bond. And we assume that by now the arrangements have been made, that he still has the financial wherewithal to handle it. That's critical obviously.

And the other thing, Carol, there could be issues of pretrial release with respect to his access to other children. One of the things a prosecutor might insist upon is, look, we're not going to deal with your own kids, that's between you and child protective services, but we want to make darn sure there are not any more sleepovers by underaged bedmates. LIN: In the meantime, if you were to represent Michael Jackson in this case, what would you advise him? What would you have your client do?

COFFEY: I would first and foremost give him the advice to do what he's doing, surrender voluntarily, quickly, respond in the sense to the immediate procedures. Second, I would say, gear up for an absolute nightmare in terms of an ordeal, avoid public appearances, try not to say anything to anybody, turn it over to the lawyers, because he is facing the fight of his life.

LIN: You bet. In the meantime, the child involved, we heard from another attorney, Harvey Levin, who is the executive producer out in Hollywood of an entertainment show called "Celebrity Justice." Harvey says that he knows who the boy is. He spoke with the boy's father. Apparently these allegations came out in a therapy session, the boy talking about drinking wine with Michael Jackson before he was molested. How do you think this information might play into this case?

COFFEY: Well, I think anything that develops, not because the child sort of voluntarily expresses it, but through a therapy session, is going to give the defense a little bit more to work with. They're going to be able to examine what happened in the therapy. And at the bottom of everything what the defense will be doing is trying to develop a theme that this is, bottom line, a scam. What this is really about is an alleged victim who really wants millions and millions of dollars. We know what happened back in 1993.

LIN: Right, 20 millions dollars or so to the family to keep quiet, and that alleged victim is probably now in his early 20s.

In the meantime, this 12-year-old, if in fact this does go to trial, or even actually, let's just start at the very beginning, during any of the preliminaries to this case, is this child going to have to come forward and talk in public?

COFFEY: No, this child is going to be well protected by the system. But at the trial itself, there's no avoiding the duty of the prosecution to present him in some fashion. And at some point, the defense will have an opportunity to cross-examine him in some way.

In the meantime, Carol, we know what happened with Kobe Bryant's accusing witness, an adult. With respect to children, they better not attempt to distribute the name or the identity of a child. That is still something the law can punish, even if the First Amendment protects the right of the press to identify the name and identity of an adult victim.

LIN: Yes, let's hope the media behaves in general. Thank you very much. Kendall Coffey.

COFFEY: Thanks, Carol.

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 20, 2003 - 11:18   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us for more on Michael Jackson's anticipated surrender and the charges he's going to be facing is former federal prosecutor Kendall Coffey. He's in our Miami bureau this morning.
Good morning, Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, FMR. FEDERAL PROSECUTOR: Good morning, Carol.

LIN: So how do you think this surrender is going to go down?

COFFEY: It will go smoothly from a legal standpoint. That is to say, he'll show up. The bail bond's already been worked out. Presumably the terms of pretrial release are all resolved, and he'll be processed, fingerprinted, mugshots, just in a certain sense like other criminals might be. Of course what'll incredible different will be everything that happens outside. There no doubt will be an absolute mob of onlookers, and there will be nothing in this case that is normal.

LIN: So how do the authorities prepare to take in a celebrity of his stature? Do they have to make special arrangements? Does he get special consideration?

COFFEY: Well, they'll be making special arrangements in terms of dealing with media and public. But beyond that, Carol, what they really try to do, difficult as it seems, is to go by the book. I suspect that they'll have the same procedure in terms of booking Michael Jackson in terms of handling the paperwork that they would apply to anyone else. It sounds almost surreal in a case like this, but they do the best they can to try to treat it like any other case.

LIN: Really? So once they take him in, I assume he gets photographed, fingerprinted, and then what happens?

COFFEY: Well, he'll have to post the bond. It's a $3 million bond. And we assume that by now the arrangements have been made, that he still has the financial wherewithal to handle it. That's critical obviously.

And the other thing, Carol, there could be issues of pretrial release with respect to his access to other children. One of the things a prosecutor might insist upon is, look, we're not going to deal with your own kids, that's between you and child protective services, but we want to make darn sure there are not any more sleepovers by underaged bedmates. LIN: In the meantime, if you were to represent Michael Jackson in this case, what would you advise him? What would you have your client do?

COFFEY: I would first and foremost give him the advice to do what he's doing, surrender voluntarily, quickly, respond in the sense to the immediate procedures. Second, I would say, gear up for an absolute nightmare in terms of an ordeal, avoid public appearances, try not to say anything to anybody, turn it over to the lawyers, because he is facing the fight of his life.

LIN: You bet. In the meantime, the child involved, we heard from another attorney, Harvey Levin, who is the executive producer out in Hollywood of an entertainment show called "Celebrity Justice." Harvey says that he knows who the boy is. He spoke with the boy's father. Apparently these allegations came out in a therapy session, the boy talking about drinking wine with Michael Jackson before he was molested. How do you think this information might play into this case?

COFFEY: Well, I think anything that develops, not because the child sort of voluntarily expresses it, but through a therapy session, is going to give the defense a little bit more to work with. They're going to be able to examine what happened in the therapy. And at the bottom of everything what the defense will be doing is trying to develop a theme that this is, bottom line, a scam. What this is really about is an alleged victim who really wants millions and millions of dollars. We know what happened back in 1993.

LIN: Right, 20 millions dollars or so to the family to keep quiet, and that alleged victim is probably now in his early 20s.

In the meantime, this 12-year-old, if in fact this does go to trial, or even actually, let's just start at the very beginning, during any of the preliminaries to this case, is this child going to have to come forward and talk in public?

COFFEY: No, this child is going to be well protected by the system. But at the trial itself, there's no avoiding the duty of the prosecution to present him in some fashion. And at some point, the defense will have an opportunity to cross-examine him in some way.

In the meantime, Carol, we know what happened with Kobe Bryant's accusing witness, an adult. With respect to children, they better not attempt to distribute the name or the identity of a child. That is still something the law can punish, even if the First Amendment protects the right of the press to identify the name and identity of an adult victim.

LIN: Yes, let's hope the media behaves in general. Thank you very much. Kendall Coffey.

COFFEY: Thanks, Carol.

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