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American Morning
Representative Janklow Resigning Effective January 20
Aired December 09, 2003 - 07:13 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Now to a case involving politics and the law. Congressman Bill Janklow of South Dakota will resign from the House of Representatives effective January 20th, the same day he'll be sentenced for manslaughter in several traffic offenses. A jury in South Dakota yesterday convicted him for running a stop sign and killing a motorcyclist. He could end up with at least 10 years behind bars.
Jeff Toobin is here this morning to talk about this case.
Good morning to you.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.
HEMMER: Five hours of deliberations. Much suspense in that verdict?
TOOBIN: Well, you know there's a lot of suspense just because of his stature and his fame, but he seems to have a singular problem for a criminal defense.
HEMMER: Which was?
TOOBIN: He was guilty. I mean, there was really not much of a defense in this case.
HEMMER: The deputy prosecutor says it's an easy one. We know he went through a stop sign at least at 64 miles an hour, and maybe at 71. You agree?
TOOBIN: Right. And his defense was that as a diabetic he hadn't eaten for 14 hours, and he had a bad reaction with his heart medicine; thus, was disoriented. And as the jurors said afterwards, even if they believed that story, that wasn't a defense, because you're responsible as a diabetic and as a knowledgeable person to monitor your condition and take steps to avoid being a danger to other people.
So, his defense wasn't a defense, and it also was an after-the- fact rationalization. At the time of the accident, he didn't tell police anything about this situation, about not having eaten. So, on both levels, it just didn't work.
HEMMER: There was some other testimony in there of 13 driving citations since 1990. This is South Dakota, pretty wide open highways out there. He also admitted on the stand that he had probably run a stop sign in the past, he probably had sped before. It does not help him. TOOBIN: Also, an extremely devastating witness for the prosecution in the case. A woman from that area testified that she had seen Janklow blow that exact stop sign on an another occasion. So, you take his history, his admitted history as a lead foot, the fact that he blew this very stop sign, I mean, it's just very tough.
HEMMER: At the age of 64, what would be an anticipated sentence for him now?
TOOBIN: Probation, I think.
HEMMER: No jail time?
TOOBIN: I don't think jail time for a first offense of this nature, for someone who will be able to argue to the jury, he suffered enough by giving up his political career. I think a prison sentence would be unlikely.
HEMMER: And the devastation is quite clear, too.
TOOBIN: And, you know the key fact here is there was a victim. I mean, someone lost their life, and the jury obviously had that very much in mind.
HEMMER: Thanks, Jeff.
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 - 07:13 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: Now to a case involving politics and the law. Congressman Bill Janklow of South Dakota will resign from the House of Representatives effective January 20th, the same day he'll be sentenced for manslaughter in several traffic offenses. A jury in South Dakota yesterday convicted him for running a stop sign and killing a motorcyclist. He could end up with at least 10 years behind bars.
Jeff Toobin is here this morning to talk about this case.
Good morning to you.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.
HEMMER: Five hours of deliberations. Much suspense in that verdict?
TOOBIN: Well, you know there's a lot of suspense just because of his stature and his fame, but he seems to have a singular problem for a criminal defense.
HEMMER: Which was?
TOOBIN: He was guilty. I mean, there was really not much of a defense in this case.
HEMMER: The deputy prosecutor says it's an easy one. We know he went through a stop sign at least at 64 miles an hour, and maybe at 71. You agree?
TOOBIN: Right. And his defense was that as a diabetic he hadn't eaten for 14 hours, and he had a bad reaction with his heart medicine; thus, was disoriented. And as the jurors said afterwards, even if they believed that story, that wasn't a defense, because you're responsible as a diabetic and as a knowledgeable person to monitor your condition and take steps to avoid being a danger to other people.
So, his defense wasn't a defense, and it also was an after-the- fact rationalization. At the time of the accident, he didn't tell police anything about this situation, about not having eaten. So, on both levels, it just didn't work.
HEMMER: There was some other testimony in there of 13 driving citations since 1990. This is South Dakota, pretty wide open highways out there. He also admitted on the stand that he had probably run a stop sign in the past, he probably had sped before. It does not help him. TOOBIN: Also, an extremely devastating witness for the prosecution in the case. A woman from that area testified that she had seen Janklow blow that exact stop sign on an another occasion. So, you take his history, his admitted history as a lead foot, the fact that he blew this very stop sign, I mean, it's just very tough.
HEMMER: At the age of 64, what would be an anticipated sentence for him now?
TOOBIN: Probation, I think.
HEMMER: No jail time?
TOOBIN: I don't think jail time for a first offense of this nature, for someone who will be able to argue to the jury, he suffered enough by giving up his political career. I think a prison sentence would be unlikely.
HEMMER: And the devastation is quite clear, too.
TOOBIN: And, you know the key fact here is there was a victim. I mean, someone lost their life, and the jury obviously had that very much in mind.
HEMMER: Thanks, Jeff.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
