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Max Factor Heir Andrew Luster Arrives Back in U.S.

Aired June 19, 2003 - 15:44   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures through the good graces of our affiliate, KABC, hovering over Los Angeles International Airport, just in time for the touchdown of the MD-80, operated by Aero California, carrying cosmetic heir and convicted rapist Andrew Luster back to his proper location, which is to say a prison for quite a long time. He was convicted in absentia in January for multiple counts of rape, poisoning and drug possession.
He vanished during a recess in the trial, despite posting $1 million in bail. He was found, as you know well by now, by a rather dogged bounty hunter. There you see Luster in Mexico, as he was handled by authorities, ultimately sent this way. Now, on the ground on U.S. soil, which has got to mean a lot to his victims to have him back and facing the prison term, which he deserves.

Interestingly enough, the bounty hunter remains behind bars in Mexico, proving no good deed goes unpunished. There's some strange quirk in the Mexican law which discourages bounty hunting, and I'm certain, once again, that his victims might want to see him escape the clutches of the Mexican authorities.

CNN's Dan Lothian is in our L.A. bureau. He's been tracking this story for us. Before we get to the bounty hunter, let's talk about Luster being returned. Where does he head next, Dan?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I spoke with the district attorney in the county where this trial took place, Ventura County, and she told me that he will be headed to Woscoe State Prison (ph). Now that is near Bakersfield, California. It's in an isolated area out in the middle of the desert. She told me that once he touches down, he will be handed over to sheriff's officials with the county and then taken to that state prison. That is where she said he will be processed. So he could end up at another prison. But initially, that is where he will be taken. Of course, this is a fluid situation. So even that could change. But that is the latest information in terms of where he will be headed once he is removed from that aircraft.

O'BRIEN: All right. And are there any hearings that he faces, or does he just go straight to a cell?

LOTHIAN: From what we are being told now, he will go straight to a cell and start serving that 124 years behind bars, although his attorney yesterday was saying that he does plan to appeal this conviction. He says he has grounds for appeal. He even plans to try to get back the $1 million bail that was posted by him and his mother. He says he plans to try to get that back as well. So I presume that if, indeed, he is successful in getting some sort of an appeal or having a the court listen to this appeal, there should be further court dates in the future. But, of course, that is all, at this point, too early to determine.

O'BRIEN: that's an interesting point of minutia. Would he qualify to get his bail money back?

LOTHIAN: Well, it's uncertain whether or not he would actually qualify for it.

His attorney says he does. He said, He's actually back now. Of course, he wouldn't come back if he wasn't hunted down by a bounty hunter. But he said he's back now, and it's within the time period that would allow for them to reopen this case.

As you know, they did have the -- the lawyer had wanted to have an appeal. And the court threw out that appeal. But the lawyer says he filed papers that means that that appeal still could take place. So that's just from the attorney's point of view. Whether or not it will be successful in court, that's another matter.

O'BRIEN: Now, kind of the missing element to this who we haven't heard from, or at least I haven't, maybe you have, is apparently the bounty hunters themselves were tipped off by a couple that was traveling in that area. Met him or saw him -- Luster, that is, in some place, and then saw his picture on television later. Do you know much about that part of the story?

LOTHIAN: Well, yesterday officials at their press conference told us about it. That is the first time that we heard that, that there was this couple that was vacationing in the area and they tipped off not only the bounty hunter, but also the FBI. And at least, according to the FBI, they were in the process of heading to that area to try and search for this fugitive.

But obviously, the bounty hunter got there first and cornered him. There was apparently some sort of a scuffle, and when they went to get a hold of him, they took off in a car, and the local police were called, and they arrested all of them.

O'BRIEN: It proves the free enterprise system works better in some cases.

Let's talk about the bounty hunter himself on this strange little quirk that leads him in a jail cell in Mexico. What are the prospects for him?

LOTHIAN: Well, it's interesting. We spoke with a Mexican official yesterday, and she told us that the Mexican government has not looked kindly on bounty hunters coming into their country and tracking down fugitives. She says we have been against this for a very long time. And she told me that he will, indeed, be charged, but that would be up to a judge to determine what the legal status would be, what exactly those charges would be. She said that the judge had 72 hours from the time that he was arrested -- that was, of course, yesterday -- to determine what charges would be brought against him. But obviously, she was very specific about the displeasure of having bounty hunters cross the border, hunting down any type of fugitive on Mexican soil.

O'BRIEN: That's an interesting stance. By the name, the name is Duane "Dog" Chapman.

LOTHIAN: Right. He goes by the name...

O'BRIEN: Rather colorful character, eh?

LOTHIAN: He is colorful. In fact, there was an interview that was conducted with him a time ago. And in that interview, he said that he was one of the sort of last bounty hunters, the last real bounty hunters in the entire United States. So certainly not a proud man there.

But yes, he is a colorful character who claims to have been involved in many high-profile arrests of fugitives. He has a publicity videotape, showing him going after suspects, arresting them, chasing them. He really is someone-- he's based out of Hawaii, by the way, and he's someone who is very aggressive who, by the way, has a criminal record. He admitted that he had a criminal record, was arrested on a felony charge and convicted when he was quite young. But he said that that is what -- that was a lesson for him and put him on the straight and narrow.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Now, he claims 6,000 successful captures here in the piece I'm reading right now. But apparently there's only $10,000 in reward money in all of this. I guess if you do 6, 000 captures you make it up in volume. But it seems like, you know, it's not like he's hitting the jackpot here.

LOTHIAN: That's true. And, you know, by the way, that reward came quite as a surprise to all of us yesterday. We had been told all along from the beginning this case, once he took off five months ago, that there was no reward. The only money amount that we knew about was that $1 million bail that was posted by Luster and his mother.

Yesterday officials telling us at a press conference that there is this $10,000 reward, half of it put up by the county, the other half put up by the FBI. We presume that he would be able to try to get some of that money, the bounty hunter, but we don't know at this point. Certainly not a lot of money. But obviously, he's getting some publicity out of this as well.

O'BRIEN: All right. And as we look, by the way, we just want to remind you we're looking at live pictures there of the airplane. And there's a good chance Luster will be escorted down those steps on the side of the jetway there when it comes time to deplane, but we'll see about that and watch it.

And Dan, let's just talk for a moment about the victims of this series of rapes that we're talking about. And I guess we could just start off by reminding people, the nature of the crimes. It's not a pretty picture, is it? LOTHIAN: It is not a pretty picture. In fact, it was -- it was during the trial, there were some videotapes that were presented, and these were videotapes that showed Luster having sex with some of these women, three women involved in this particular case, at least two of them, I believe, actually seen on videotape.

And on that videotape, the women either appear asleep or unconscious. There were some argument as to whether or not they were really asleep, maybe they were faking if. The attorney at the time for Luster saying that these women were involved in a consensual relationship with him and were involved in some sort of pornographic tapes that were being made. But prosecutors pointed out that in the tape, you can hear some of the women snoring, so it proved, at least according to what they were trying to show the court that, indeed, these women were asleep and that they being raped.

And, of course, this being played out on this videotape, you hear him talking about how this is how he likes his women, basically not being able to do anything, being out of it. Prosecutors detailing in court that he took these women to his home, drugging them with the so- called rape drug called GHB, and then raping them inside his home.

O'BRIEN: Dan Lothian, why don't we stand by for just a little bit. We'll take a little break. And we're obviously watching that doorway very closely. And when we see Luster, if, in fact, he does come that route, we'll bring it to you as soon as it happens.

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 June 19, 2003 - 15:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Live pictures through the good graces of our affiliate, KABC, hovering over Los Angeles International Airport, just in time for the touchdown of the MD-80, operated by Aero California, carrying cosmetic heir and convicted rapist Andrew Luster back to his proper location, which is to say a prison for quite a long time. He was convicted in absentia in January for multiple counts of rape, poisoning and drug possession.
He vanished during a recess in the trial, despite posting $1 million in bail. He was found, as you know well by now, by a rather dogged bounty hunter. There you see Luster in Mexico, as he was handled by authorities, ultimately sent this way. Now, on the ground on U.S. soil, which has got to mean a lot to his victims to have him back and facing the prison term, which he deserves.

Interestingly enough, the bounty hunter remains behind bars in Mexico, proving no good deed goes unpunished. There's some strange quirk in the Mexican law which discourages bounty hunting, and I'm certain, once again, that his victims might want to see him escape the clutches of the Mexican authorities.

CNN's Dan Lothian is in our L.A. bureau. He's been tracking this story for us. Before we get to the bounty hunter, let's talk about Luster being returned. Where does he head next, Dan?

DAN LOTHIAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, I spoke with the district attorney in the county where this trial took place, Ventura County, and she told me that he will be headed to Woscoe State Prison (ph). Now that is near Bakersfield, California. It's in an isolated area out in the middle of the desert. She told me that once he touches down, he will be handed over to sheriff's officials with the county and then taken to that state prison. That is where she said he will be processed. So he could end up at another prison. But initially, that is where he will be taken. Of course, this is a fluid situation. So even that could change. But that is the latest information in terms of where he will be headed once he is removed from that aircraft.

O'BRIEN: All right. And are there any hearings that he faces, or does he just go straight to a cell?

LOTHIAN: From what we are being told now, he will go straight to a cell and start serving that 124 years behind bars, although his attorney yesterday was saying that he does plan to appeal this conviction. He says he has grounds for appeal. He even plans to try to get back the $1 million bail that was posted by him and his mother. He says he plans to try to get that back as well. So I presume that if, indeed, he is successful in getting some sort of an appeal or having a the court listen to this appeal, there should be further court dates in the future. But, of course, that is all, at this point, too early to determine.

O'BRIEN: that's an interesting point of minutia. Would he qualify to get his bail money back?

LOTHIAN: Well, it's uncertain whether or not he would actually qualify for it.

His attorney says he does. He said, He's actually back now. Of course, he wouldn't come back if he wasn't hunted down by a bounty hunter. But he said he's back now, and it's within the time period that would allow for them to reopen this case.

As you know, they did have the -- the lawyer had wanted to have an appeal. And the court threw out that appeal. But the lawyer says he filed papers that means that that appeal still could take place. So that's just from the attorney's point of view. Whether or not it will be successful in court, that's another matter.

O'BRIEN: Now, kind of the missing element to this who we haven't heard from, or at least I haven't, maybe you have, is apparently the bounty hunters themselves were tipped off by a couple that was traveling in that area. Met him or saw him -- Luster, that is, in some place, and then saw his picture on television later. Do you know much about that part of the story?

LOTHIAN: Well, yesterday officials at their press conference told us about it. That is the first time that we heard that, that there was this couple that was vacationing in the area and they tipped off not only the bounty hunter, but also the FBI. And at least, according to the FBI, they were in the process of heading to that area to try and search for this fugitive.

But obviously, the bounty hunter got there first and cornered him. There was apparently some sort of a scuffle, and when they went to get a hold of him, they took off in a car, and the local police were called, and they arrested all of them.

O'BRIEN: It proves the free enterprise system works better in some cases.

Let's talk about the bounty hunter himself on this strange little quirk that leads him in a jail cell in Mexico. What are the prospects for him?

LOTHIAN: Well, it's interesting. We spoke with a Mexican official yesterday, and she told us that the Mexican government has not looked kindly on bounty hunters coming into their country and tracking down fugitives. She says we have been against this for a very long time. And she told me that he will, indeed, be charged, but that would be up to a judge to determine what the legal status would be, what exactly those charges would be. She said that the judge had 72 hours from the time that he was arrested -- that was, of course, yesterday -- to determine what charges would be brought against him. But obviously, she was very specific about the displeasure of having bounty hunters cross the border, hunting down any type of fugitive on Mexican soil.

O'BRIEN: That's an interesting stance. By the name, the name is Duane "Dog" Chapman.

LOTHIAN: Right. He goes by the name...

O'BRIEN: Rather colorful character, eh?

LOTHIAN: He is colorful. In fact, there was an interview that was conducted with him a time ago. And in that interview, he said that he was one of the sort of last bounty hunters, the last real bounty hunters in the entire United States. So certainly not a proud man there.

But yes, he is a colorful character who claims to have been involved in many high-profile arrests of fugitives. He has a publicity videotape, showing him going after suspects, arresting them, chasing them. He really is someone-- he's based out of Hawaii, by the way, and he's someone who is very aggressive who, by the way, has a criminal record. He admitted that he had a criminal record, was arrested on a felony charge and convicted when he was quite young. But he said that that is what -- that was a lesson for him and put him on the straight and narrow.

O'BRIEN: Yes. Now, he claims 6,000 successful captures here in the piece I'm reading right now. But apparently there's only $10,000 in reward money in all of this. I guess if you do 6, 000 captures you make it up in volume. But it seems like, you know, it's not like he's hitting the jackpot here.

LOTHIAN: That's true. And, you know, by the way, that reward came quite as a surprise to all of us yesterday. We had been told all along from the beginning this case, once he took off five months ago, that there was no reward. The only money amount that we knew about was that $1 million bail that was posted by Luster and his mother.

Yesterday officials telling us at a press conference that there is this $10,000 reward, half of it put up by the county, the other half put up by the FBI. We presume that he would be able to try to get some of that money, the bounty hunter, but we don't know at this point. Certainly not a lot of money. But obviously, he's getting some publicity out of this as well.

O'BRIEN: All right. And as we look, by the way, we just want to remind you we're looking at live pictures there of the airplane. And there's a good chance Luster will be escorted down those steps on the side of the jetway there when it comes time to deplane, but we'll see about that and watch it.

And Dan, let's just talk for a moment about the victims of this series of rapes that we're talking about. And I guess we could just start off by reminding people, the nature of the crimes. It's not a pretty picture, is it? LOTHIAN: It is not a pretty picture. In fact, it was -- it was during the trial, there were some videotapes that were presented, and these were videotapes that showed Luster having sex with some of these women, three women involved in this particular case, at least two of them, I believe, actually seen on videotape.

And on that videotape, the women either appear asleep or unconscious. There were some argument as to whether or not they were really asleep, maybe they were faking if. The attorney at the time for Luster saying that these women were involved in a consensual relationship with him and were involved in some sort of pornographic tapes that were being made. But prosecutors pointed out that in the tape, you can hear some of the women snoring, so it proved, at least according to what they were trying to show the court that, indeed, these women were asleep and that they being raped.

And, of course, this being played out on this videotape, you hear him talking about how this is how he likes his women, basically not being able to do anything, being out of it. Prosecutors detailing in court that he took these women to his home, drugging them with the so- called rape drug called GHB, and then raping them inside his home.

O'BRIEN: Dan Lothian, why don't we stand by for just a little bit. We'll take a little break. And we're obviously watching that doorway very closely. And when we see Luster, if, in fact, he does come that route, we'll bring it to you as soon as it happens.

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