Return to Transcripts main page

CNN Live Today

'Celebrity Justice'

Aired January 13, 2004 - 11:03   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: Let's get more now on the Jayson Williams case. It joins the list of other celebrity trials now, ironically enough, in the jury selection phase.
Here with some insight into that jury selection, former federal prosecutor Kendall Coffey. He is in our Miami bureau this morning.

Kendall, good morning.

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

KAGAN: Let's start with the Jayson Williams case. They have tripled the usual pool in order to get jurors. If you're a prosecutor, if you're a defense attorney, are you looking to sit on that jury?

COFFEY: Well, I think his big, larger than life status is as a basketball star. So I think the defense is certainly going to be looking for males, they're going to be looking for basketball fans, and to the extent possibly people who have some awareness of his celebrity. Because in a big-name celebrity case, more often than not, if it's a well-regarded celebrity, Daryn, there's a plus factor in being somebody that was in everybody's television, in their living rooms, for years. So I think Jayson Williams has that kind of plus here, and he's going to be need every bit he can get, because...

KAGAN: But, Kendall, a prosecutor is going to let somebody like that sit on the jury? I don't think so. You would ding that person so quickly.

COFFEY: Well, you know something, you're going to have trouble eliminating people who aren't aware of who Jayson Williams is. That's why they've got a 300-member jury pool. And, Daryn, the fact that somebody is aware of who someone is, has even followed their career, doesn't mean when the judge asked them, can you deliver a fair and impartial verdict, doesn't mean they're going to say no. In fact, people are continually on juries, even though they know something about the case and they have some awareness of who the defendant has been.

KAGAN: All right, let's move on to another high-profile case, Martha Stewart, jury selection going on in Manhattan. This is not a cut-and-dry case. I think if you're a prosecutor, you want some pretty bright people, who are able to follow the idea of -- the charges that she's facing.

COFFEY: This is considered a close case, because the securities charge allegation is a novel one. What the prosecution is really relying on are the obstruction, false statement kind of allegations. And I think here what the prosecutors are going to be looking for are grouchy guys, especially ones who have lost money on the stock exchange, the...

KAGAN: No shortage of those in Manhattan, grouchy guys who have lost money on the stock market.

COFFEY: They're hoping to load up as many as they can, Daryn, no question.

KAGAN: No shortage. Now Robert Blake, this, I think, is the strangest one. Of course he's on trial for allegedly killing his wife a few years ago. This jury selection started a month early, and no one alerted the media, they kind of did it in secret.

COFFEY: It was fascinating. I guess in some ways, it's a statement about how many big-name trials we're having. This is really the year for the trials of the rich and famous. But in Blake's case, this is going to be a very specific evidence, fact-driven case. It's not going to be a case about a huge amount of emotion. I don't think the tidal waves of pretrial publicity has really washed away any kind of fairness in this instance, because other cases have gotten so much attention. I think Blake has -- and by the way, you may recall that during his preliminary hearing, one of the counts against Blake was thrown out, and the other defendant was basically held to have no responsibility, insufficient evidence by the state. So this is going to be another close call. Both sides are looking for jurors who are going to pay very, very close attention to the evidence, because this is going to be very fact-specific.

KAGAN: Spontaneous question here for you, Kendall, of all the celebrity trials coming up, and also throw Kobe Bryant and Michael Jackson in there, you can also watch one, which one would you pick?

COFFEY: The trial I would watch, based on everything we've seen, is the Kobe Bryant trial. It's extremely well handled by the attorneys on both side of the case. It's another one that's too close to call. I would be thrilled to sit in there for every minute of that trial.

KAGAN: All right. Well, we'll have to have you back to ask you as it goes along. Thank you for that, Kendall Coffey joining us from Miami.

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 January 13, 2004 - 11:03   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Let's get more now on the Jayson Williams case. It joins the list of other celebrity trials now, ironically enough, in the jury selection phase.
Here with some insight into that jury selection, former federal prosecutor Kendall Coffey. He is in our Miami bureau this morning.

Kendall, good morning.

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

KAGAN: Let's start with the Jayson Williams case. They have tripled the usual pool in order to get jurors. If you're a prosecutor, if you're a defense attorney, are you looking to sit on that jury?

COFFEY: Well, I think his big, larger than life status is as a basketball star. So I think the defense is certainly going to be looking for males, they're going to be looking for basketball fans, and to the extent possibly people who have some awareness of his celebrity. Because in a big-name celebrity case, more often than not, if it's a well-regarded celebrity, Daryn, there's a plus factor in being somebody that was in everybody's television, in their living rooms, for years. So I think Jayson Williams has that kind of plus here, and he's going to be need every bit he can get, because...

KAGAN: But, Kendall, a prosecutor is going to let somebody like that sit on the jury? I don't think so. You would ding that person so quickly.

COFFEY: Well, you know something, you're going to have trouble eliminating people who aren't aware of who Jayson Williams is. That's why they've got a 300-member jury pool. And, Daryn, the fact that somebody is aware of who someone is, has even followed their career, doesn't mean when the judge asked them, can you deliver a fair and impartial verdict, doesn't mean they're going to say no. In fact, people are continually on juries, even though they know something about the case and they have some awareness of who the defendant has been.

KAGAN: All right, let's move on to another high-profile case, Martha Stewart, jury selection going on in Manhattan. This is not a cut-and-dry case. I think if you're a prosecutor, you want some pretty bright people, who are able to follow the idea of -- the charges that she's facing.

COFFEY: This is considered a close case, because the securities charge allegation is a novel one. What the prosecution is really relying on are the obstruction, false statement kind of allegations. And I think here what the prosecutors are going to be looking for are grouchy guys, especially ones who have lost money on the stock exchange, the...

KAGAN: No shortage of those in Manhattan, grouchy guys who have lost money on the stock market.

COFFEY: They're hoping to load up as many as they can, Daryn, no question.

KAGAN: No shortage. Now Robert Blake, this, I think, is the strangest one. Of course he's on trial for allegedly killing his wife a few years ago. This jury selection started a month early, and no one alerted the media, they kind of did it in secret.

COFFEY: It was fascinating. I guess in some ways, it's a statement about how many big-name trials we're having. This is really the year for the trials of the rich and famous. But in Blake's case, this is going to be a very specific evidence, fact-driven case. It's not going to be a case about a huge amount of emotion. I don't think the tidal waves of pretrial publicity has really washed away any kind of fairness in this instance, because other cases have gotten so much attention. I think Blake has -- and by the way, you may recall that during his preliminary hearing, one of the counts against Blake was thrown out, and the other defendant was basically held to have no responsibility, insufficient evidence by the state. So this is going to be another close call. Both sides are looking for jurors who are going to pay very, very close attention to the evidence, because this is going to be very fact-specific.

KAGAN: Spontaneous question here for you, Kendall, of all the celebrity trials coming up, and also throw Kobe Bryant and Michael Jackson in there, you can also watch one, which one would you pick?

COFFEY: The trial I would watch, based on everything we've seen, is the Kobe Bryant trial. It's extremely well handled by the attorneys on both side of the case. It's another one that's too close to call. I would be thrilled to sit in there for every minute of that trial.

KAGAN: All right. Well, we'll have to have you back to ask you as it goes along. Thank you for that, Kendall Coffey joining us from Miami.

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