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Janklow Trial

Aired December 09, 2003 - 10:35   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: In South Dakota, Congressman Bill Janklow languished in political limbo for only two hours before announcing that he will resign his seat on the very day that he's sentenced in the traffic death of a motorcyclist. The jury found the popular Republican guilty of second degree manslaughter, reckless driving, running a stop sign and speeding in the crash on August 16th.
Here are the reactions now from the family of the victim, also from the Congressman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSS JANKLOW, CONGRESSMAN'S SON: I think it was important that he had the support he had. But this is a bad day for everyone, including the Scott family and our family. It's a tough deal, and hopefully we'll all get through it, both sides.

MARCELLA SCOTT, SCOTT'S MOTHER: I'm just satisfied with the verdict right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The 55-year-old motorcyclist Randy Scott died at the crash scene. Janklow could face 10 years in prison.

His defense attorney argued that the congressman suffered a diabetic episode at the time of the crash. Prosecutors call Janklow's habit of speeding, which he had boasted about, they called it a game of Russian roulette.

Joining us now to discuss all of this, Christopher Darden, a familiar face, the former prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson case, and now, I'm happy to say, a legal analyst right here with us on CNN.

Chris, good morning. Thanks for being with us.

CHRISTOPHER DARDEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

KAGAN: Let's go ahead and look at what the defense was trying to do, trying to get the jury in a different direction, to go for two minor traffic charges, drop the manslaughter charge, and also the reckless driving. Clearly, they did not go in this direction.

DARDEN: Well, clearly, they failed to get the Congressman off. What they attempted to do was to find the defense within the language of the law. The law says that if you exhibit conduct that expresses a conscious disregard for others, that if there is a fatal traffic accident, you commit vehicular manslaughter. Their defense was that the Congressman was not conscious at the time of the accident, and so that there was no conscious disregard for the safety of others.

And that's not a bad defense, except for a couple of things. No. 1, the Congressman has spoken to police officers at the scene. He told those officers that he attempted to avoid a white car, and that is why he ran through the stop sign, so that shows that the Congressman was, in fact, aware of the circumstances and he was not unconscious.

As far as a diabetic episode is concerned, the Congressman had told the emergency medical technicians, that in fact he had checked his blood earlier that day, and that, in fact, he had eaten that day. So that completely undermined his defense.

I would imagine that jurors seated there in the courtroom listened to his testimony and the defense case found it very, very hard to swallow.

KAGAN: Well, let's talk about what happens next for Bill Janklow, possible 10 years in prison, $10,000 fine. Do you think that will actually happen?

DARDEN: Well, you know, it's difficult to say. The fact that the congressman has a history of speeding, the fact that he appears to be a sort of serial traffic violator, which also means that he has on many, many occasions completely disregarded the safety of other drivers and pedestrians, might tend to convince the judge that perhaps he ought to do some jail time. Will it be 10 years? I doubt it. But I can certainly imagine a scenario where a judge might sentence him to jail or to prison for some period of time.

KAGAN: And do you factor in this is probably one of the most famous public servants in the history of the state with the time in Congress and serving as governor?

DARDEN: Well, I certainly do believe have you to factor that in. But the jurors certainly didn't factor it in. I think it speaks well for the jury system when you consider the fact these jurors convicted a former governor and a sitting Congressman, who essentially represented all of the jurors in the House of Representatives. I mean, his neighbors convicted him. And you know, I think the judge ought to take a key from those jurors in this regard: doesn't matter that he's a Congressman. What matters is that he has repeatedly risked the safety of others.

KAGAN: We will be tracking it. And I look forward to having you on many more times.

DARDEN: Thank you.

KAGAN: Appreciate it. Christopher Darden, joining us from Los Angeles, our new legal analyst.

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 December 9, 2003 - 10:35   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: In South Dakota, Congressman Bill Janklow languished in political limbo for only two hours before announcing that he will resign his seat on the very day that he's sentenced in the traffic death of a motorcyclist. The jury found the popular Republican guilty of second degree manslaughter, reckless driving, running a stop sign and speeding in the crash on August 16th.
Here are the reactions now from the family of the victim, also from the Congressman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RUSS JANKLOW, CONGRESSMAN'S SON: I think it was important that he had the support he had. But this is a bad day for everyone, including the Scott family and our family. It's a tough deal, and hopefully we'll all get through it, both sides.

MARCELLA SCOTT, SCOTT'S MOTHER: I'm just satisfied with the verdict right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: The 55-year-old motorcyclist Randy Scott died at the crash scene. Janklow could face 10 years in prison.

His defense attorney argued that the congressman suffered a diabetic episode at the time of the crash. Prosecutors call Janklow's habit of speeding, which he had boasted about, they called it a game of Russian roulette.

Joining us now to discuss all of this, Christopher Darden, a familiar face, the former prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson case, and now, I'm happy to say, a legal analyst right here with us on CNN.

Chris, good morning. Thanks for being with us.

CHRISTOPHER DARDEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.

KAGAN: Let's go ahead and look at what the defense was trying to do, trying to get the jury in a different direction, to go for two minor traffic charges, drop the manslaughter charge, and also the reckless driving. Clearly, they did not go in this direction.

DARDEN: Well, clearly, they failed to get the Congressman off. What they attempted to do was to find the defense within the language of the law. The law says that if you exhibit conduct that expresses a conscious disregard for others, that if there is a fatal traffic accident, you commit vehicular manslaughter. Their defense was that the Congressman was not conscious at the time of the accident, and so that there was no conscious disregard for the safety of others.

And that's not a bad defense, except for a couple of things. No. 1, the Congressman has spoken to police officers at the scene. He told those officers that he attempted to avoid a white car, and that is why he ran through the stop sign, so that shows that the Congressman was, in fact, aware of the circumstances and he was not unconscious.

As far as a diabetic episode is concerned, the Congressman had told the emergency medical technicians, that in fact he had checked his blood earlier that day, and that, in fact, he had eaten that day. So that completely undermined his defense.

I would imagine that jurors seated there in the courtroom listened to his testimony and the defense case found it very, very hard to swallow.

KAGAN: Well, let's talk about what happens next for Bill Janklow, possible 10 years in prison, $10,000 fine. Do you think that will actually happen?

DARDEN: Well, you know, it's difficult to say. The fact that the congressman has a history of speeding, the fact that he appears to be a sort of serial traffic violator, which also means that he has on many, many occasions completely disregarded the safety of other drivers and pedestrians, might tend to convince the judge that perhaps he ought to do some jail time. Will it be 10 years? I doubt it. But I can certainly imagine a scenario where a judge might sentence him to jail or to prison for some period of time.

KAGAN: And do you factor in this is probably one of the most famous public servants in the history of the state with the time in Congress and serving as governor?

DARDEN: Well, I certainly do believe have you to factor that in. But the jurors certainly didn't factor it in. I think it speaks well for the jury system when you consider the fact these jurors convicted a former governor and a sitting Congressman, who essentially represented all of the jurors in the House of Representatives. I mean, his neighbors convicted him. And you know, I think the judge ought to take a key from those jurors in this regard: doesn't matter that he's a Congressman. What matters is that he has repeatedly risked the safety of others.

KAGAN: We will be tracking it. And I look forward to having you on many more times.

DARDEN: Thank you.

KAGAN: Appreciate it. Christopher Darden, joining us from Los Angeles, our new legal analyst.

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