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The Sniper Trial

Aired November 07, 2003 - 13:44   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.


JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The jurors went over to the jail where the car was in a Sally port. The press was able to send one representative. It was Josh White, metro report reporter for "The Washington Post." He joins us now.
Josh, what was the juror's reaction to that car? What were they looking at?

JOSH WHITE, "THE WASHINGTON POST": They were looked really closely at the bench seat in the back of the car that has been discussed often in this trial, particularly how it operated, how the hole went into the trunk, and they were also spending time in the trunk, looking at the notch in the back.

MESERVE: And they actually got a demonstration of how this might work, right, at least how the hinge would work?

WHITE: They got a demonstration. Officers lifted the bench seat so they could see through, and they opened the trunk as well.

MESERVE: Now, you know the story as well as anyone. You've never seen this car before either. How did it strike you? What most impressed you?

WHITE: Well, it was exactly like we've seen in the pictures, except it was right there, right in front of us. The hole itself I think impressed me. With the trunk closed, it was a tiny little slit. I think anyone would have had a hard time noticing that on their own before they were caught. I think also just seeing the seat in operation, seeing the car as it worked, was chilling.

MESERVE: There was some testimony yesterday when they brought in that replica of the trunk, the defense counsel seemed to be saying it wouldn't be as easy to get into the trunk as the prosecution made it seem. What were your impressions? Were there jagged edges there? Did it look like it would be a difficult thing to do?

WHITE: Well, the car, as we saw it, was basically empty. And what prosecutors had been saying was that their replica was almost identical to the car. But the defense team said there were things strewn throughout the car, there were some things in the way. The way we saw it, there was nothing in there. I think it probably would have been fairly easy to get from the back seat into the trunk, as the video demonstrated. But again, it was not exactly as they were found when they were arrested.

MESERVE: Now John Muhammad was also there when the jurors looked at this. Did he betray any emotion at all?

WHITE: No, he stood there, I think as he has during much of the trial. He was keenly interested in it. He was watching jurors as they walked around the car, but nothing emotionally.

MESERVE: Josh White, of "The Washington Post," thank you so much, our pool reporter today as the jury looked at that car.

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 November 7, 2003 - 13:44   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JEANNE MESERVE, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The jurors went over to the jail where the car was in a Sally port. The press was able to send one representative. It was Josh White, metro report reporter for "The Washington Post." He joins us now.
Josh, what was the juror's reaction to that car? What were they looking at?

JOSH WHITE, "THE WASHINGTON POST": They were looked really closely at the bench seat in the back of the car that has been discussed often in this trial, particularly how it operated, how the hole went into the trunk, and they were also spending time in the trunk, looking at the notch in the back.

MESERVE: And they actually got a demonstration of how this might work, right, at least how the hinge would work?

WHITE: They got a demonstration. Officers lifted the bench seat so they could see through, and they opened the trunk as well.

MESERVE: Now, you know the story as well as anyone. You've never seen this car before either. How did it strike you? What most impressed you?

WHITE: Well, it was exactly like we've seen in the pictures, except it was right there, right in front of us. The hole itself I think impressed me. With the trunk closed, it was a tiny little slit. I think anyone would have had a hard time noticing that on their own before they were caught. I think also just seeing the seat in operation, seeing the car as it worked, was chilling.

MESERVE: There was some testimony yesterday when they brought in that replica of the trunk, the defense counsel seemed to be saying it wouldn't be as easy to get into the trunk as the prosecution made it seem. What were your impressions? Were there jagged edges there? Did it look like it would be a difficult thing to do?

WHITE: Well, the car, as we saw it, was basically empty. And what prosecutors had been saying was that their replica was almost identical to the car. But the defense team said there were things strewn throughout the car, there were some things in the way. The way we saw it, there was nothing in there. I think it probably would have been fairly easy to get from the back seat into the trunk, as the video demonstrated. But again, it was not exactly as they were found when they were arrested.

MESERVE: Now John Muhammad was also there when the jurors looked at this. Did he betray any emotion at all?

WHITE: No, he stood there, I think as he has during much of the trial. He was keenly interested in it. He was watching jurors as they walked around the car, but nothing emotionally.

MESERVE: Josh White, of "The Washington Post," thank you so much, our pool reporter today as the jury looked at that car.

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