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CNN Live Sunday

Interview With Kendall Coffey

Aired November 30, 2003 - 10:34   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.


CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: The weather's cold, the malls are crowded, the politicians have fled Washington, but in courthouses across the country, it is business as usual. The first week of December brings action in some prominent cases. Testimony continues in the murder trial of accused D.C. area sniper Lee Boyd Malvo, and in California, Scott Peterson will be arraigned on murder charges.
And what surprises are ahead in the Michael Jackson case? Well, former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey is joining us from Miami this morning for our weekly legal roundup. Good to see you again, Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Hey, good morning, Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Good morning. Boy, so much to talk about in the Jackson case. It just gets more interesting every day. Now we have the audio tapes and the signed affidavits apparently from the accuser and the mother of the accuser. Are we seeing too much inconsistency in the prosecution's case?

COFFEY: Well, if those tapes and that affidavit exist from the alleged child victim and the mother, and if those declarations were made after the fact of the alleged molestation, Catherine, that's devastating for the prosecution's case. They may try to say that the mom and the child didn't learn the truth until some time later through psychotherapy of the child, but clearly that's very harmful to the case.

And what's going to be critical is what other evidence is the prosecution going to have, either from the search of Neverland or perhaps from this veritable all points bulletin that they put out to everyone everywhere, calling on all alleged child victims to come forward and provide more information about Michael Jackson.

CALLAWAY: We should say quickly that the tapes apparently and the affidavit apparently said that he had never acted inappropriately, just to back up a little bit. I mean, you did mention that they're looking for other possible victims here. How unusual is that?

COFFEY: Well, it's not unusual in the sense that law enforcement will always tell you, just about, that the case is ongoing, the investigation is ongoing and they're always looking for more evidence. But what was striking is opposed to 10 years ago, where they completed the investigation exhaustively before deciding, apparently here they launched the arrest and the search based on the allegations of perhaps one accuser. And now they appear to be looking very aggressively for more evidence to back up the original charge.

CALLAWAY: This is turning out to be quite a circus already, Kendall. You have now reports of the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department saying that microphones were found in a break area. How is this going to be tried fairly?

COFFEY: Well, it's going to be tried fairly ultimately. But with a huge amount of commotion and distraction in the meantime.

Consider the fact that Michael Jackson and his attorney were apparently under some kind of video surveillance while they were in the plane. Gave him a great opportunity to proclaim that Michael Jackson is not going to be treated like a victim. And by the way, these criminal charges are themselves a scam.

But this is going to be nonstop high publicity, high energy, and a trial that in the final analysis I think will be tried under the rules of evidence and will be tried fairly.

CALLAWAY: Lots of face time for Mark Geragos, who is of course Jackson's attorney and the attorney for Scott Peterson, set to be arraigned on murder charges on Wednesday. What are your thoughts on that? What's likely be covered in this arraignment?

COFFEY: Well, the arraignment is going to include the formal presentation of charges, of course, a not guilty plea. Scheduling issues, not only of the trial, Catherine, but perhaps some of the big issues before the trial. We know that there's going to be a big fight over venue. And there are also some major evidence issues out there that the trial court hasn't yet ruled upon. Everything from hypnotized witnesses and GPS tracking systems to the possible use of a bloodhound tracking dog named Merlin.

CALLAWAY: And moving on, finally, to the sniper trial, what's taking place this week. Testimony from relatives. Is that going to have any effect on the jury?

COFFEY: Not in the guilt or innocence. The insanity defense works in maybe one or two out of 1,000 cases. But Catherine, what they're focusing on already is the sentencing phase. And they're hoping that the evidence of the indoctrination, manipulation by the adult father figure, John Muhammad, may prompt the jury to spare the life of the teenage defendant Malvo.

CALLAWAY: How successful do you think they'll be?

COFFEY: I think there's no shot in the outcome on guilt or innocence. With respect to the actual sentence, I think there's a decent chance that the jury will ultimately spare the life of the teenage defendant.

CALLAWAY: All right, Kendall, a busy week coming up here in U.S. courts. Thanks for being with us.

COFFEY: Thanks for inviting me.

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 30, 2003 - 10:34   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: The weather's cold, the malls are crowded, the politicians have fled Washington, but in courthouses across the country, it is business as usual. The first week of December brings action in some prominent cases. Testimony continues in the murder trial of accused D.C. area sniper Lee Boyd Malvo, and in California, Scott Peterson will be arraigned on murder charges.
And what surprises are ahead in the Michael Jackson case? Well, former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey is joining us from Miami this morning for our weekly legal roundup. Good to see you again, Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, FORMER U.S. ATTORNEY: Hey, good morning, Catherine.

CALLAWAY: Good morning. Boy, so much to talk about in the Jackson case. It just gets more interesting every day. Now we have the audio tapes and the signed affidavits apparently from the accuser and the mother of the accuser. Are we seeing too much inconsistency in the prosecution's case?

COFFEY: Well, if those tapes and that affidavit exist from the alleged child victim and the mother, and if those declarations were made after the fact of the alleged molestation, Catherine, that's devastating for the prosecution's case. They may try to say that the mom and the child didn't learn the truth until some time later through psychotherapy of the child, but clearly that's very harmful to the case.

And what's going to be critical is what other evidence is the prosecution going to have, either from the search of Neverland or perhaps from this veritable all points bulletin that they put out to everyone everywhere, calling on all alleged child victims to come forward and provide more information about Michael Jackson.

CALLAWAY: We should say quickly that the tapes apparently and the affidavit apparently said that he had never acted inappropriately, just to back up a little bit. I mean, you did mention that they're looking for other possible victims here. How unusual is that?

COFFEY: Well, it's not unusual in the sense that law enforcement will always tell you, just about, that the case is ongoing, the investigation is ongoing and they're always looking for more evidence. But what was striking is opposed to 10 years ago, where they completed the investigation exhaustively before deciding, apparently here they launched the arrest and the search based on the allegations of perhaps one accuser. And now they appear to be looking very aggressively for more evidence to back up the original charge.

CALLAWAY: This is turning out to be quite a circus already, Kendall. You have now reports of the Santa Barbara Sheriff's Department saying that microphones were found in a break area. How is this going to be tried fairly?

COFFEY: Well, it's going to be tried fairly ultimately. But with a huge amount of commotion and distraction in the meantime.

Consider the fact that Michael Jackson and his attorney were apparently under some kind of video surveillance while they were in the plane. Gave him a great opportunity to proclaim that Michael Jackson is not going to be treated like a victim. And by the way, these criminal charges are themselves a scam.

But this is going to be nonstop high publicity, high energy, and a trial that in the final analysis I think will be tried under the rules of evidence and will be tried fairly.

CALLAWAY: Lots of face time for Mark Geragos, who is of course Jackson's attorney and the attorney for Scott Peterson, set to be arraigned on murder charges on Wednesday. What are your thoughts on that? What's likely be covered in this arraignment?

COFFEY: Well, the arraignment is going to include the formal presentation of charges, of course, a not guilty plea. Scheduling issues, not only of the trial, Catherine, but perhaps some of the big issues before the trial. We know that there's going to be a big fight over venue. And there are also some major evidence issues out there that the trial court hasn't yet ruled upon. Everything from hypnotized witnesses and GPS tracking systems to the possible use of a bloodhound tracking dog named Merlin.

CALLAWAY: And moving on, finally, to the sniper trial, what's taking place this week. Testimony from relatives. Is that going to have any effect on the jury?

COFFEY: Not in the guilt or innocence. The insanity defense works in maybe one or two out of 1,000 cases. But Catherine, what they're focusing on already is the sentencing phase. And they're hoping that the evidence of the indoctrination, manipulation by the adult father figure, John Muhammad, may prompt the jury to spare the life of the teenage defendant Malvo.

CALLAWAY: How successful do you think they'll be?

COFFEY: I think there's no shot in the outcome on guilt or innocence. With respect to the actual sentence, I think there's a decent chance that the jury will ultimately spare the life of the teenage defendant.

CALLAWAY: All right, Kendall, a busy week coming up here in U.S. courts. Thanks for being with us.

COFFEY: Thanks for inviting me.

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