Return to Transcripts main page
Live From...
Sniper Trials
Aired November 17, 2003 - 13:14 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: Now for some legal perspective on the case that Patty is covering, in addition to the verdict that came down just about an hour ago with regard to John Allen Muhammad, former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey joins us live from Miami.
Kendall, overall reaction thus far. I guess, with the amount evidence, you are not surprised by the decision today.
KENDALL COFFEY, FMR. U.S. ATTY.: Overwhelming evidence. Over 120 witnesses, 430-something pieces of evidence, beginning with the fact that Muhammad was found at the time of the arrest inside the car that was described as the killing machine, surrounded by the tools of the trade for serial murder, including the murder weapon. Such a strong case, I don't think anything is surprised by this verdict.
PHILLIPS: Do you think there will be any moral qualms with regard to this case and what could go forward here?
COFFEY: Well, I think it's almost as certain as the conviction itself that the death penalty is the great likelihood here. If ever there is a case that warrants the death penalty, when you talk about all the planning, all the cold-bloodedness, all of the cruelty, this is such a case, and to some extent, it is going to be something that I think will challenge other prosecutors in other states with the question with everything that people have gone through, the agony and finally securing a prosecution and a conviction, should any other states now proceed with the trial, because as you recall, Maryland had weighed in, seeking to be the first state to try this. Alabama also has suffered its losses, other states around the country. One of the things that we'll be watching after this case, after the sentencing, is what if anything do other state do, with respect to future prosecutions of John Allen Muhammad.
PHILLIPS: In addition, I mean, Muhammad would be the first person convicted under this Virginia's terrorism law, right?
COFFEY: It is a precedent-setting case. You're exactly right, this anti-terrorism law, a state law, has never been tested before. That will be one of the issues on appeal, but in the Virginia State system, death penalty cases move pretty quickly. I think one of the factors that prompted Attorney General John Ashcroft to select Virginia as that state's system moves with relative warp speed.
Three years from trial to execution or final resolution may not sound like lightning speed, but in the scheme of capital punishment systems, it is. Virginia is indeed one of the fastest states in the country, as well as one of the states that's firmest in its application of the death penalty.
PHILLIPS: Kendall, taking a look at this verdict, do you think it could have an effect on Lee Boyd Malvo, his accomplice, and what he's up against?
COFFEY: I think it might, because it's hard to imagine that no matter what they do to sequester the jury in the Malvo trial from news, that if this information becomes known to the jurors, it could play and it could play positively for Malvo, because what it suggests is that the individual who was the team captain, who according to Malvo, was indoctrinating this teenager into becoming an accomplice in a prolific murder spree, is going to be facing full punishment, full justice by law. That might give a jury not reason to find him not guilty, but a reason to spare him from the death sentence if a proceeds after conviction to a death penalty phase in the case of Malvo.
PHILLIPS: Kendall Coffey, thanks for your time.
COFFEY: Hey, thank you.
PHILLIPS: All right.
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 17, 2003 - 13:14 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Now for some legal perspective on the case that Patty is covering, in addition to the verdict that came down just about an hour ago with regard to John Allen Muhammad, former U.S. attorney Kendall Coffey joins us live from Miami.
Kendall, overall reaction thus far. I guess, with the amount evidence, you are not surprised by the decision today.
KENDALL COFFEY, FMR. U.S. ATTY.: Overwhelming evidence. Over 120 witnesses, 430-something pieces of evidence, beginning with the fact that Muhammad was found at the time of the arrest inside the car that was described as the killing machine, surrounded by the tools of the trade for serial murder, including the murder weapon. Such a strong case, I don't think anything is surprised by this verdict.
PHILLIPS: Do you think there will be any moral qualms with regard to this case and what could go forward here?
COFFEY: Well, I think it's almost as certain as the conviction itself that the death penalty is the great likelihood here. If ever there is a case that warrants the death penalty, when you talk about all the planning, all the cold-bloodedness, all of the cruelty, this is such a case, and to some extent, it is going to be something that I think will challenge other prosecutors in other states with the question with everything that people have gone through, the agony and finally securing a prosecution and a conviction, should any other states now proceed with the trial, because as you recall, Maryland had weighed in, seeking to be the first state to try this. Alabama also has suffered its losses, other states around the country. One of the things that we'll be watching after this case, after the sentencing, is what if anything do other state do, with respect to future prosecutions of John Allen Muhammad.
PHILLIPS: In addition, I mean, Muhammad would be the first person convicted under this Virginia's terrorism law, right?
COFFEY: It is a precedent-setting case. You're exactly right, this anti-terrorism law, a state law, has never been tested before. That will be one of the issues on appeal, but in the Virginia State system, death penalty cases move pretty quickly. I think one of the factors that prompted Attorney General John Ashcroft to select Virginia as that state's system moves with relative warp speed.
Three years from trial to execution or final resolution may not sound like lightning speed, but in the scheme of capital punishment systems, it is. Virginia is indeed one of the fastest states in the country, as well as one of the states that's firmest in its application of the death penalty.
PHILLIPS: Kendall, taking a look at this verdict, do you think it could have an effect on Lee Boyd Malvo, his accomplice, and what he's up against?
COFFEY: I think it might, because it's hard to imagine that no matter what they do to sequester the jury in the Malvo trial from news, that if this information becomes known to the jurors, it could play and it could play positively for Malvo, because what it suggests is that the individual who was the team captain, who according to Malvo, was indoctrinating this teenager into becoming an accomplice in a prolific murder spree, is going to be facing full punishment, full justice by law. That might give a jury not reason to find him not guilty, but a reason to spare him from the death sentence if a proceeds after conviction to a death penalty phase in the case of Malvo.
PHILLIPS: Kendall Coffey, thanks for your time.
COFFEY: Hey, thank you.
PHILLIPS: All right.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
