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CNN Live Saturday

Jury Deadlocked In Jeremy Morse Case

Aired January 31, 2004 - 14:42   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.


FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The video shocked the nation. Now for the second time a jury has deadlocked at the trial of former police officer Jeremy Morse. A decision on whether to try him for a third time on assault charges is likely to be made next week. Let's talk about the Englewood, California case along with some other high- profile cases. CNN legal analyst Christopher Darden is in Los Angeles, and Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law professor he is joining us from Broadview Heights, Ohio. Good to see you. Avery, let's talk about this case involving the former police officer and is this a case that has sort of gotten lost in the shuffle of high-profile cases?
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: I think that's exactly right Fredricka. What happened is it's a big deal this happened in July of 2002. It's the second trial of officer Morse. The first trial we had a hung jury. It was, I think, 7-5, this time yesterday it was 6-6. So the question is, is the prosecution going to go after this police officer again for a third time?

WHITFIELD: And the question is Donovan Jackson being the victim there, is this a situation where the nation is kind of become desensitized of seeing these videotaped assaults of police officers on citizens, motorists, et cetera? Is that why this case is not getting the kind of attention that others previously have?

FRIEDMAN: No. No the reason it's not getting visibility is you have Michael Jackson; you have Martha Stewart you have Scott Peterson. That is the only reason. When this first started up, it was the center of attention. This is a terrible case because America saw what happened to this young man. The reason we saw a hung jury here Fredricka was we had a young man, who is developmentally disabled, was unable to articulate what happened.

You had battling experts in this case. Some saying it was excessive force. Some say that it was proper. You know what happened? We had reasonable doubt that means officer Morse took the walk.

WHITFIELD: So, Chris let me bring you in on this out of Los Angeles now. What is the message that is being sent that this would be a hung jury case?

CHRISTOPHER DARDEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The message is essentially that it is highly unlikely or improbable that any jury will ever convict officer Morse for excessive force in this situation. The first jury hung 7-5 this one is hanging 6-6. The prosecution simply is not going to ever get a conviction in this case and it ought to be dismissed, unfortunately. WHITFIELD: All right, let's move on to the Martha Stewart case. The story of a key witness now, Doug Faneuil has apparently changed. Chris, is the prosecution's case falling apart?

DARDEN: Well, I don't know that it's falling apart, but Faneuil's testimony is the linchpin of the prosecution case. They have accused Martha Stewart of telling lies, they want to not only show the lie, but to show the lie you have to show what the truth is. That's why they need Faneuil, to the extent that Faneuil is changing his testimony or is being impeached to contradict it by prior statements, it clearly undermines the prosecution's case.

WHITFIELD: And Avery you don't find this to be a significant development, why?

FRIEDMAN: I think it is tempest (ph) in a teapot; the fact is that this young man, and I agree with Christopher, it is the linchpin to where the case is going. But the reality is that this was a case where this young fellow was convicted based on the fact that the company, and the broker gave him a week's vacation and an airplane ticket to get out of town to cover this thing up.

There's no way that the defense will get around it. They will pound on him for credibility, but I think he will be a strong witness. There will be other evidence. But Doug Faneuil is a powerful, powerful piece of this case. And much remains to be seen here.

WHITFIELD: But Avery you do agree this delay now, perhaps it gives the defense some time to strengthen its case?

FRIEDMAN: I don't agree with that at all. The fact is there was a snowstorm on Wednesday, the firestorm occurred the next day. There was a couple-day delay. We are going to see him taking the stand on Monday or Tuesday. So I don't think it's a big deal. I think it gives the defense a bit more time to prepare. But they know what this fellow is going to say and they are going to be ready to go after him. It's a good defense team here.

WHITFIELD: Now Chris there's also talk now that possibly the other co-defendant, Bacanavich (ph), the charges may be dropped against him. If indeed that's the case might his potential testimony help or hurt Martha Stewart?

DARDEN: Well you know, that's interesting, it would depend number one why the case against him might be dropped. And secondly it will depend on whether or not double jeopardy attaches so that he would be free to say whatever he might want to say on the witness stand either for or against Martha Stewart. If he were going to strike a deal with Federal prosecutors, then that would be extremely harmful to Martha Stewart.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's move on to the Kobe Bryant case. Avery, might this be indeed, a case where a change of venue is likely to happen?

FRIEDMAN: You know Fredricka, I bet you I have done -- I've talked about this six times on legal roundtable. Since the beginning of this case race has been an issue and everybody yells at me, they get mad at me, they say no Avery it's not. For the first time this week, the defense team said white women in the history of rape prosecutions against black men are -- make false accusations.

Well we heard it today. And in facts what's happened in another big development here, the county commissioners came up with $20,000 for the Mark Huber (ph) the prosecutor, and guess what? Who was knocking on the door but none other than Joe Ellen Demitrus, the famous O.J. jury consultant? I think all of these factors are going to fit in. And you know what this thing is heading -- it drips with jury taint. I think it's heading to Denver. There's no way we are going to see this stay in Eagle, Colorado.

WHITFIELD: Chris, do you think legitimately so race should have been brought up in this issue?

FRIEDMAN: Do I?

WHITFIELD: Chris.

DARDEN: Race is always an issue whenever you have a black man, I think charged with raping a white female. That's unfortunate, but a lot of people in this country have very, very strong feelings. You know whether they admit to them or not when these types of issues arise. I don't know this is a case that ought to be moved to Denver or that will be moved to Denver. I have not been able to quite frankly to really monitor the press in Eagle, Colorado versus the press in Denver, for instance. But I don't know.

WHITFIELD: OK.

DARDEN: I don't know that it will be moved.

WHITFIELD: All right, Christopher Darden, Avery Freidman thanks very much gentleman for joining us.

FRIEDMAN: Nice to see you again.

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 31, 2004 - 14:42   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDERICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The video shocked the nation. Now for the second time a jury has deadlocked at the trial of former police officer Jeremy Morse. A decision on whether to try him for a third time on assault charges is likely to be made next week. Let's talk about the Englewood, California case along with some other high- profile cases. CNN legal analyst Christopher Darden is in Los Angeles, and Avery Friedman is a civil rights attorney and law professor he is joining us from Broadview Heights, Ohio. Good to see you. Avery, let's talk about this case involving the former police officer and is this a case that has sort of gotten lost in the shuffle of high-profile cases?
AVERY FRIEDMAN, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: I think that's exactly right Fredricka. What happened is it's a big deal this happened in July of 2002. It's the second trial of officer Morse. The first trial we had a hung jury. It was, I think, 7-5, this time yesterday it was 6-6. So the question is, is the prosecution going to go after this police officer again for a third time?

WHITFIELD: And the question is Donovan Jackson being the victim there, is this a situation where the nation is kind of become desensitized of seeing these videotaped assaults of police officers on citizens, motorists, et cetera? Is that why this case is not getting the kind of attention that others previously have?

FRIEDMAN: No. No the reason it's not getting visibility is you have Michael Jackson; you have Martha Stewart you have Scott Peterson. That is the only reason. When this first started up, it was the center of attention. This is a terrible case because America saw what happened to this young man. The reason we saw a hung jury here Fredricka was we had a young man, who is developmentally disabled, was unable to articulate what happened.

You had battling experts in this case. Some saying it was excessive force. Some say that it was proper. You know what happened? We had reasonable doubt that means officer Morse took the walk.

WHITFIELD: So, Chris let me bring you in on this out of Los Angeles now. What is the message that is being sent that this would be a hung jury case?

CHRISTOPHER DARDEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: The message is essentially that it is highly unlikely or improbable that any jury will ever convict officer Morse for excessive force in this situation. The first jury hung 7-5 this one is hanging 6-6. The prosecution simply is not going to ever get a conviction in this case and it ought to be dismissed, unfortunately. WHITFIELD: All right, let's move on to the Martha Stewart case. The story of a key witness now, Doug Faneuil has apparently changed. Chris, is the prosecution's case falling apart?

DARDEN: Well, I don't know that it's falling apart, but Faneuil's testimony is the linchpin of the prosecution case. They have accused Martha Stewart of telling lies, they want to not only show the lie, but to show the lie you have to show what the truth is. That's why they need Faneuil, to the extent that Faneuil is changing his testimony or is being impeached to contradict it by prior statements, it clearly undermines the prosecution's case.

WHITFIELD: And Avery you don't find this to be a significant development, why?

FRIEDMAN: I think it is tempest (ph) in a teapot; the fact is that this young man, and I agree with Christopher, it is the linchpin to where the case is going. But the reality is that this was a case where this young fellow was convicted based on the fact that the company, and the broker gave him a week's vacation and an airplane ticket to get out of town to cover this thing up.

There's no way that the defense will get around it. They will pound on him for credibility, but I think he will be a strong witness. There will be other evidence. But Doug Faneuil is a powerful, powerful piece of this case. And much remains to be seen here.

WHITFIELD: But Avery you do agree this delay now, perhaps it gives the defense some time to strengthen its case?

FRIEDMAN: I don't agree with that at all. The fact is there was a snowstorm on Wednesday, the firestorm occurred the next day. There was a couple-day delay. We are going to see him taking the stand on Monday or Tuesday. So I don't think it's a big deal. I think it gives the defense a bit more time to prepare. But they know what this fellow is going to say and they are going to be ready to go after him. It's a good defense team here.

WHITFIELD: Now Chris there's also talk now that possibly the other co-defendant, Bacanavich (ph), the charges may be dropped against him. If indeed that's the case might his potential testimony help or hurt Martha Stewart?

DARDEN: Well you know, that's interesting, it would depend number one why the case against him might be dropped. And secondly it will depend on whether or not double jeopardy attaches so that he would be free to say whatever he might want to say on the witness stand either for or against Martha Stewart. If he were going to strike a deal with Federal prosecutors, then that would be extremely harmful to Martha Stewart.

WHITFIELD: All right, let's move on to the Kobe Bryant case. Avery, might this be indeed, a case where a change of venue is likely to happen?

FRIEDMAN: You know Fredricka, I bet you I have done -- I've talked about this six times on legal roundtable. Since the beginning of this case race has been an issue and everybody yells at me, they get mad at me, they say no Avery it's not. For the first time this week, the defense team said white women in the history of rape prosecutions against black men are -- make false accusations.

Well we heard it today. And in facts what's happened in another big development here, the county commissioners came up with $20,000 for the Mark Huber (ph) the prosecutor, and guess what? Who was knocking on the door but none other than Joe Ellen Demitrus, the famous O.J. jury consultant? I think all of these factors are going to fit in. And you know what this thing is heading -- it drips with jury taint. I think it's heading to Denver. There's no way we are going to see this stay in Eagle, Colorado.

WHITFIELD: Chris, do you think legitimately so race should have been brought up in this issue?

FRIEDMAN: Do I?

WHITFIELD: Chris.

DARDEN: Race is always an issue whenever you have a black man, I think charged with raping a white female. That's unfortunate, but a lot of people in this country have very, very strong feelings. You know whether they admit to them or not when these types of issues arise. I don't know this is a case that ought to be moved to Denver or that will be moved to Denver. I have not been able to quite frankly to really monitor the press in Eagle, Colorado versus the press in Denver, for instance. But I don't know.

WHITFIELD: OK.

DARDEN: I don't know that it will be moved.

WHITFIELD: All right, Christopher Darden, Avery Freidman thanks very much gentleman for joining us.

FRIEDMAN: Nice to see you again.

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