Return to Transcripts main page
CNN Live At Daybreak
Coffey Talk: Bryant, Jackson Cases
Aired December 19, 2003 - 06:34 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.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Legal analyst Kendall Coffey joins us now to talk about the pending court proceedings for both Kobe Bryant and Michael Jackson, and he joins us live from Miami.
Hi there -- Kendall.
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Carol.
LIN: Let's pick up on this point about Michael Jackson. I mean, how much of a flight risk do you think he is, now that the judge has allowed him to go to Great Britain over the weekend?
COFFEY: Not much. He is one recognizable guy, and there is no indication that he's going to take off. In fact, based on everything we're seeing right now, he's got a shot at winning this trial.
LIN: And what do you base that on?
COFFEY: Well, everything we're seeing comes from a single alleged child victim during a timeframe in February and March in which that same alleged child victim was apparently telling a child welfare agency that Michael Jackson was a good guy and had never done anything inappropriate -- an endorsement that was echoed by his immediate family members, including his mother, at the time. And there may even be audio or video tape or even an affidavit saying the same thing.
That's not an easy case when the alleged victim at the time these acts were supposedly taking place is saying some positive things about Michael Jackson.
LIN: But Michael Jackson's attorney, Mark Geragos, says that that's just a statement; it's not an investigation. He makes a legal distinction between the two.
COFFEY: Well, you can make a lot of important legal distinctions, but when you're trying to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, if the alleged accuser has been saying at other times that this alleged perpetrator didn't do it, that's a tough case for a prosecutor.
We still don't know all of the cards that the prosecutor is holding, Carol, because frankly the charges brought yesterday didn't include any specifics. But based on what we're seeing so far, it's not an overwhelming prosecution case.
LIN: Forgive me. I meant to say that the prosecutor said that that was not an investigation; it was merely a statement -- not Mark Geragos.
Meantime, let's move on to Kobe Bryant. What sort of a case do you think the defense attorneys have to get ahold of this woman's medical records and open them up in court to see if she's basically sane?
COFFEY: Well, it's uphill. But it's so critical for the defense to come up with some explanation in a he said/she said case as to why she might have been fabricating what she said. And the medical issues, including the potential prior hospitalizations, the issue of instability, would make this a very different case if the defense can win that uphill battle.
LIN: Really? Now, Pamela Mackey, one of Kobe Bryant's attorneys, says that because the alleged victim actually discussed her medical records and her anti-psychotic medication with detectives that essentially the woman herself placed her medical history in the public record, and that entitled the defense attorneys to have access. Is that true?
COFFEY: Well, she may have discussed it with the police detective. I don't think that's going to be seen by this judge as waving all of her rights to confidentiality, given something as sensitive as medical conditions.
What's going to be key is whether whatever her medical issues were, her emotional instabilities, whether Kobe Bryant's defense team can show that those kinds of problems and issues made it more likely that she would actually fabricate. Because let's face it. Plenty of people have depression, go through very difficult times. That doesn't make it more likely that you're going to invent a story. That's the key thing in terms of making these kinds of issues and this kind of evidence relevant in the trial of Kobe Bryant.
LIN: Right. All right, thank you very much, Kendall Coffey, live in Miami this morning.
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 December 19, 2003 - 06:34 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL LIN, CNN ANCHOR: Legal analyst Kendall Coffey joins us now to talk about the pending court proceedings for both Kobe Bryant and Michael Jackson, and he joins us live from Miami.
Hi there -- Kendall.
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, good morning, Carol.
LIN: Let's pick up on this point about Michael Jackson. I mean, how much of a flight risk do you think he is, now that the judge has allowed him to go to Great Britain over the weekend?
COFFEY: Not much. He is one recognizable guy, and there is no indication that he's going to take off. In fact, based on everything we're seeing right now, he's got a shot at winning this trial.
LIN: And what do you base that on?
COFFEY: Well, everything we're seeing comes from a single alleged child victim during a timeframe in February and March in which that same alleged child victim was apparently telling a child welfare agency that Michael Jackson was a good guy and had never done anything inappropriate -- an endorsement that was echoed by his immediate family members, including his mother, at the time. And there may even be audio or video tape or even an affidavit saying the same thing.
That's not an easy case when the alleged victim at the time these acts were supposedly taking place is saying some positive things about Michael Jackson.
LIN: But Michael Jackson's attorney, Mark Geragos, says that that's just a statement; it's not an investigation. He makes a legal distinction between the two.
COFFEY: Well, you can make a lot of important legal distinctions, but when you're trying to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, if the alleged accuser has been saying at other times that this alleged perpetrator didn't do it, that's a tough case for a prosecutor.
We still don't know all of the cards that the prosecutor is holding, Carol, because frankly the charges brought yesterday didn't include any specifics. But based on what we're seeing so far, it's not an overwhelming prosecution case.
LIN: Forgive me. I meant to say that the prosecutor said that that was not an investigation; it was merely a statement -- not Mark Geragos.
Meantime, let's move on to Kobe Bryant. What sort of a case do you think the defense attorneys have to get ahold of this woman's medical records and open them up in court to see if she's basically sane?
COFFEY: Well, it's uphill. But it's so critical for the defense to come up with some explanation in a he said/she said case as to why she might have been fabricating what she said. And the medical issues, including the potential prior hospitalizations, the issue of instability, would make this a very different case if the defense can win that uphill battle.
LIN: Really? Now, Pamela Mackey, one of Kobe Bryant's attorneys, says that because the alleged victim actually discussed her medical records and her anti-psychotic medication with detectives that essentially the woman herself placed her medical history in the public record, and that entitled the defense attorneys to have access. Is that true?
COFFEY: Well, she may have discussed it with the police detective. I don't think that's going to be seen by this judge as waving all of her rights to confidentiality, given something as sensitive as medical conditions.
What's going to be key is whether whatever her medical issues were, her emotional instabilities, whether Kobe Bryant's defense team can show that those kinds of problems and issues made it more likely that she would actually fabricate. Because let's face it. Plenty of people have depression, go through very difficult times. That doesn't make it more likely that you're going to invent a story. That's the key thing in terms of making these kinds of issues and this kind of evidence relevant in the trial of Kobe Bryant.
LIN: Right. All right, thank you very much, Kendall Coffey, live in Miami this morning.
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.
