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Media Deluge Colorado Town as Bryant Hearing Nears

Aired August 06, 2003 - 15:30   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.


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's only estimated to last ten minutes at the most, but today's court hearing for Kobe Bryant in Eagle, Colorado is already getting gallons of ink and has raided at least 30 news satellite trucks.
And we're using one of them right now as we check in with Rusty Dornin in the midst of the media spectacle.

Hi, Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the tempo is building here a bit. We're about two and half hours away from the hearing and, as you said, it's much ado about -- well, about a 10- minute court hearing where Kobe Bryant is not likely to utter a word. The local paper called it a non-event, but, of course, for the national media, for the NBA superstar his first appearance in court is grounds to build all three rings and get that circus going, which is precisely what has happened. As you said, there are more than 30 satellite trucks here, more than 100 reporters and producers all waiting to see Kobe Bryant in court this afternoon.

Now, just about an hour ago, his defense attorney, Hal Hadden, did arrive. He did arrive with security from the Eagle County Sheriff's Department. He was here in the courthouse for a short time and then he did leave.

During the hearing, Kobe Bryant will not be making any kind of plea. He will not -- as to his innocence or say not guilty or anything. But they perhaps will talk about the preliminary hearing. Now he is legally entitled to a preliminary hearing within 30 days. He could -- he could offer that or they can wave the preliminary hearing, going straight to district court, where he would be arraigned, or they could waive the 30 days, allowing the defense attorneys more time. Now in cases like that -- like this, that is usually the matter of course because defense attorneys want a little more time to gather evidence, and also perhaps it's more time for an accuser to get cold feet and not want to testify during a trial.

Now, Kobe Bryant has not arrived as we know, yet, here in Eagle, Colorado. We are expecting him. We have been told that he will come in through the front door . He will go through the screening just like everyone else. And we are not sure when he's going to arrive, but it could be any time within the next two hours -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Rusty Dornin, we'll be checking in, thank you. MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Amid the media frenzy, there are some legitimate and -- there you are -- serious legal issues at stake.

Joining us again at this hour for more on the case -- I know exactly where he is. He's right beside me. Lester Munson, who is the legal analyst for "Sports Illustrated," and we're sad to tell you that's a growth industry these days, being a legal analyst for a sports publication.

Good to have you with us, Lester.

LESTER MUNDSON, LEGAL ANALYST, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": Happy to do it, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Let's just brass tax on what we're going to see today and perhaps more importantly, what we're not going to see today.

MUNSON: We're not going to see any kind of evidence today. There's going to be no witnesses today. There's going to be no documents. There's going to be no medical facts.

But we're going to get our first look at the prosecutor in action. We're going to get our first look at Kobe Bryant's defense team in action and this preliminary hearing issue will give us maybe a look at how aggressive the prosecutor is in pushing this case to trial and whether Bryant's team is going to try to delay the trial, as defense lawyers typically do, or are they going to want a quick trial. All of that will be kind of interesting.

O'BRIEN: So to use a sports term here, it's kind of a preseason match to give you a sense of the tone.

MUNSON: A preseason match, yes -- an exhibition match, as we use -- and there's plenty of exhibitioning going on in this one.

O'BRIEN: Lot of posturing in a courtroom anytime, so are you going to be watching for those kinds of things as well -- now, let's move downstream a little bit . Is it in Kobe Bryant's interest to delay, as much as possible, which is usually what a defense attorney will tell you -- delay, delay, delay. Or is it better for him to get this over with as quickly as possible?

MUNSON: That's a decision Kobe Bryant has to make and I'm not even sure he's made that defense decision yet.

You're right. The typical defense lawyer wants to delay. The typical prosecutor wants to push the case to trial immediately so that nothing can go wrong over the passage of time.

My guess is that if Bryant sticks with these lawyers, these Colorado lawyers, and doesn't bring in some big star to defend him, my guess is they're going to postpone and probably try to delay things.

O'BRIEN: And by putting a star in the mixture, what does that do? MUNSON: As I look at the case, Miles, I'm kind of wondering why Kobe Bryant is sticking with these lawyers from Denver. Denver is not a local lawyer in Eagle, Colorado. They're lawyers from the big city. They have biases against them. You're going to be fighting biases anyway, why aren't you putting together a dream team.

Johnnie Cochran, I think, is taking phone calls these days, and he -- somebody of that caliber might be the way for Kobe Bryant to try to defend this case.

O'BRIEN: So then we're in a complete, Def Con 5, media circus at that point.

MUNSON: Well, there would be nothing quite like it. I don't think it will approach the O.J. case. I'm not even sure it's going to approach the Mike Tyson case. I reported on that in Indianapolis about 12 years ago. There we had 40 and 50 satellite trucks, we had Japanese television crews, South American -- the British tabloids loved that story. This is pretty much an American story, and I think this is about as much as we're going to see, 30 crews today.

O'BRIEN: When you boil it all down and you take away all that you're seeing right there, all those pictures, it's a he said/she said case. What is your take on credibility issues there? We don't know much about her, obviously. But for Kobe Bryant, is he going to be a good witness for himself?

MUNSON: Kobe Bryant -- the way he has behaved since the press conference indicates to me he's going to have problems as a witness. He went to the Espy Awards. He's going to be on television tonight, on the Teen Choice, a terrible name in this situation for Kobe Bryant. He bought the diamond ring. He's not doing the nice quiet things that you should be doing to prepare to testify in this case.

O'BRIEN: Lester Munson, sports analyst for "Sports Illustrated" magazine, appreciate you joining us and shedding some light on this. We appreciate it.

MUNSON: Thank you, Miles.

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 August 6, 2003 - 15:30   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: It's only estimated to last ten minutes at the most, but today's court hearing for Kobe Bryant in Eagle, Colorado is already getting gallons of ink and has raided at least 30 news satellite trucks.
And we're using one of them right now as we check in with Rusty Dornin in the midst of the media spectacle.

Hi, Rusty.

RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Kyra, the tempo is building here a bit. We're about two and half hours away from the hearing and, as you said, it's much ado about -- well, about a 10- minute court hearing where Kobe Bryant is not likely to utter a word. The local paper called it a non-event, but, of course, for the national media, for the NBA superstar his first appearance in court is grounds to build all three rings and get that circus going, which is precisely what has happened. As you said, there are more than 30 satellite trucks here, more than 100 reporters and producers all waiting to see Kobe Bryant in court this afternoon.

Now, just about an hour ago, his defense attorney, Hal Hadden, did arrive. He did arrive with security from the Eagle County Sheriff's Department. He was here in the courthouse for a short time and then he did leave.

During the hearing, Kobe Bryant will not be making any kind of plea. He will not -- as to his innocence or say not guilty or anything. But they perhaps will talk about the preliminary hearing. Now he is legally entitled to a preliminary hearing within 30 days. He could -- he could offer that or they can wave the preliminary hearing, going straight to district court, where he would be arraigned, or they could waive the 30 days, allowing the defense attorneys more time. Now in cases like that -- like this, that is usually the matter of course because defense attorneys want a little more time to gather evidence, and also perhaps it's more time for an accuser to get cold feet and not want to testify during a trial.

Now, Kobe Bryant has not arrived as we know, yet, here in Eagle, Colorado. We are expecting him. We have been told that he will come in through the front door . He will go through the screening just like everyone else. And we are not sure when he's going to arrive, but it could be any time within the next two hours -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: All right. Rusty Dornin, we'll be checking in, thank you. MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Amid the media frenzy, there are some legitimate and -- there you are -- serious legal issues at stake.

Joining us again at this hour for more on the case -- I know exactly where he is. He's right beside me. Lester Munson, who is the legal analyst for "Sports Illustrated," and we're sad to tell you that's a growth industry these days, being a legal analyst for a sports publication.

Good to have you with us, Lester.

LESTER MUNDSON, LEGAL ANALYST, "SPORTS ILLUSTRATED": Happy to do it, Miles.

O'BRIEN: Let's just brass tax on what we're going to see today and perhaps more importantly, what we're not going to see today.

MUNSON: We're not going to see any kind of evidence today. There's going to be no witnesses today. There's going to be no documents. There's going to be no medical facts.

But we're going to get our first look at the prosecutor in action. We're going to get our first look at Kobe Bryant's defense team in action and this preliminary hearing issue will give us maybe a look at how aggressive the prosecutor is in pushing this case to trial and whether Bryant's team is going to try to delay the trial, as defense lawyers typically do, or are they going to want a quick trial. All of that will be kind of interesting.

O'BRIEN: So to use a sports term here, it's kind of a preseason match to give you a sense of the tone.

MUNSON: A preseason match, yes -- an exhibition match, as we use -- and there's plenty of exhibitioning going on in this one.

O'BRIEN: Lot of posturing in a courtroom anytime, so are you going to be watching for those kinds of things as well -- now, let's move downstream a little bit . Is it in Kobe Bryant's interest to delay, as much as possible, which is usually what a defense attorney will tell you -- delay, delay, delay. Or is it better for him to get this over with as quickly as possible?

MUNSON: That's a decision Kobe Bryant has to make and I'm not even sure he's made that defense decision yet.

You're right. The typical defense lawyer wants to delay. The typical prosecutor wants to push the case to trial immediately so that nothing can go wrong over the passage of time.

My guess is that if Bryant sticks with these lawyers, these Colorado lawyers, and doesn't bring in some big star to defend him, my guess is they're going to postpone and probably try to delay things.

O'BRIEN: And by putting a star in the mixture, what does that do? MUNSON: As I look at the case, Miles, I'm kind of wondering why Kobe Bryant is sticking with these lawyers from Denver. Denver is not a local lawyer in Eagle, Colorado. They're lawyers from the big city. They have biases against them. You're going to be fighting biases anyway, why aren't you putting together a dream team.

Johnnie Cochran, I think, is taking phone calls these days, and he -- somebody of that caliber might be the way for Kobe Bryant to try to defend this case.

O'BRIEN: So then we're in a complete, Def Con 5, media circus at that point.

MUNSON: Well, there would be nothing quite like it. I don't think it will approach the O.J. case. I'm not even sure it's going to approach the Mike Tyson case. I reported on that in Indianapolis about 12 years ago. There we had 40 and 50 satellite trucks, we had Japanese television crews, South American -- the British tabloids loved that story. This is pretty much an American story, and I think this is about as much as we're going to see, 30 crews today.

O'BRIEN: When you boil it all down and you take away all that you're seeing right there, all those pictures, it's a he said/she said case. What is your take on credibility issues there? We don't know much about her, obviously. But for Kobe Bryant, is he going to be a good witness for himself?

MUNSON: Kobe Bryant -- the way he has behaved since the press conference indicates to me he's going to have problems as a witness. He went to the Espy Awards. He's going to be on television tonight, on the Teen Choice, a terrible name in this situation for Kobe Bryant. He bought the diamond ring. He's not doing the nice quiet things that you should be doing to prepare to testify in this case.

O'BRIEN: Lester Munson, sports analyst for "Sports Illustrated" magazine, appreciate you joining us and shedding some light on this. We appreciate it.

MUNSON: Thank you, Miles.

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