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CNN Live Today

Legal Loophole?; Island of the Sharks

Aired June 30, 2005 - 10:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: The Federal Reserve is expected to raise short-term interest rates later today. The fed's policy board is wrapping up a two-day meeting in Washington. Analysts are looking for Federal Funds Rate to be bumped a quarter point, to 3 1/4 percent. If so, it would be the ninth straight rate hike.
And now there's a whole new way to get your news on the way with free video at CNN.com. Log on to our Web site and click on "watch" to check out the most popular stories. It's free video under your command now at CNN.com.

To Florida now for a disturbing story. No trial date has yet been set for John Couey. He's the man accused of kidnapping and raping 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford last February, and then burying her alive. But already there's a big question mark hanging over this case.

CNN's Suzanne Candiotti has the story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN CORRESPONDENT: An alleged confession from a man who in chilling detail describes how he buried alive Jessica Lunsford might never be heard by a jury. The potential problem? These words from John Couey.

JOHN COUEY: I want a lawyer.

CANDIOTTI: Not just once, but again Couey says.

COUEY: I just want to talk to a lawyer.

CANDIOTTI: But at least seven times during questioning, Couey's voice recorded by investigators, the tapes released by the court Wednesday, Couey asked for an attorney.

COUEY: I want a lawyer here present. I want to talk to a lawyer, because I'm being -- people trying to accuse me of something I didn't do. I didn't do it. I ain't...

CANDIOTTI: The day before police say John Couey admitted he kidnapped, raped and murdered 9-year-old Jessica Lunsford, he was interviewed by Citrus County, Florida detectives. According to that interview, taped for evidence, he denied knowing anything about Jessica. In Couey's words, "I swear to God I had -- I mean, I don't know where she is, period. But When investigators suggested a lie- detector test, Couey asked for an attorney. In his words, "I want to talk to a lawyer first."

Couey's public defender isn't talking publicly, but the suspect's request, say other criminal defense lawyers, should have stopped questioning immediately.

BRUCE FLEISHER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTY: The judge has to look at the totality of the circumstances to make sure that everything is freely and voluntarily given, and in this case that's suspect.

CANDIOTTI: Even after he asked for a lawyer, the questioning went on and on. The next day, law-enforcement sources say, Couey was read his rights and willingly took a polygraph in which he confessed, then made a statement to investigators. A former federal prosecutor says that could save police from a possible major blunder.

KENDALL COFFEY, FMR. U.S. ATTY.: It's ultimately a question of whether it's voluntary, but if a defendant is Mirandized three times before the interview begins, three times a chance to remain silent and chooses to speak, three strikes, he's out and that confession comes in.

CANDIOTTI: The sheriff would not directly answer questions about why the questioning continued after Couey asked for a lawyer.

A spokesman for the sheriff calls the case against Couey, quote, "rock solid." Other sources suggest there's enough blood and DNA evidence to convict with or without Couey's alleged confession.

Susan Candiotti, CNN, Miami.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: As for Jessica's father, he says he is not terribly disturbed by this potential legal loophole. He spoke last night to CNN's Nancy Grace.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK LUNSFORD, JESSICA'S FATHER: I knew about that for quite sometime, and I spoke to the sheriff about it. And he told me not to worry about it, that even without the confession, that they have enough on Couey to still keep him right there in prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: Despite the alleged confession, John Couey has pleaded not guilty. The very earliest he could go to trial would be next March. That is considered unlikely. Couey's next court date is on July 21st.

At the other end of the country, a jury in Fresno, California says Marcus Wesson should die for killing his family. Wesson was convicted earlier this month of killing nine of his children, some of whom were fathered through incest. The jury's decision on punishment is only a recommendation. Actual sentencing is set for July 27th. Let's check some other headlines coast to coast this morning. At least one child was killed and two others were seriously hurt in the crash of a church day caravan in Florida's Ocala National Forest. All 12 children were wearing seat belts, but the seats gave way as the van rolled over. The cause of that crash is under investigation.

To New York, the Howard Beach section of Queens is again the focus of a violent racial encounter. One man is under arrest and two others are being sought in the baseball bat beating of three African- American men. The attack left one victim hospitalized with a fractured skull. The white suspect in the case is to be arraigned today for a hate crime.

And police and Major League Baseball. Watch this. This is Kenny Rogers. Not too happy about having his picture taken. So police and Major League Baseball investigating this incident involving Texas Ranger pitcher Kenny Rogers. Rogers knocked over one TV camera, kicked a second at Ranger Stadium on Wednesday. Following yesterday's incident, one cameraman was treated at a hospital for arm, shoulder and leg pain.

Still to come on CNN LIVE TODAY, the parents of the latest shark attack victim talk about his recovery. Plus, they await their prey with bated breath. We're going to the other side of the country to talk with one about survival among America's great white sharks.

And some people who live in big cities are packing up. They are moving on out. A look at where they are headed and why, coming up.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(STOCK MARKET REPORT)

KAGAN: It seems some Americans who are tired of the hustle and bustle of big city life, as well as the high cost of living, are heading to smaller towns in the Southwest and Florida. Looking at census data from the U.S. Census, Gilbert, Arizona -- that's just outside of Phoenix -- is the nation's fastest growing small town. The Phoenix suburb has grown by 42 percent in a little over four years. Miramar, Florida, north Las Vegas, Nevada, Port St. Lucie, Florida, and Roseville, California, also made the top five. San Francisco and Boston are the two large cities that have lost the most residents.

Nearly 34 million people are expected to travel on the road's this holiday weekend, and a lot of you will be stuck in traffic in America's top vacation bottlenecks. A consumer group has listed the worst routes in a new study called. It's "Are We There Yet?" Are we there yet? Are we there yet? CNN's Julie Vallese takes a look.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

JULIE VALLESE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Vacation destinations, pretty as a picture, but getting there can be ugly. AAA is predicting that more people will travel this holiday weekend than any other weekend ever, despite high gas prices. And they say almost 34 million of them will do it by car. JUSTIN MCNAULL, AAA SPOKESMAN: When it comes to those discretionary, those, leisure trips, the ones we take for fun, they're taking a lot longer than they necessarily have to. Unfortunately, that road trip is spending a little too much time on the road.

VALLESE: While the amount of cars on the road is adding to travel time, a new report by the American Highway Users Alliance says there's something else slowing vacationers down: bottlenecks.

GREG COHEN, AMER. HIGHWAY USERS ALLIANCE: Part of slowing down is about relaxing. And slowing down because you're stuck in traffic where -- is very frustrating.

VALLESE: The entire Oregon coast is number one on the list of the worst vacation bottlenecks in the country. The Tidewater region of Virginia, the Maryland/Delaware shore, Branson, Missouri, and North Carolina's Outer Banks round out the top five.

COHEN: These destinations are places that you have to take rural routes to get to. And the rural roads, particularly the two-lane roads, are the most unsafe of them all.

VALLESE: Popular vacation destinations around urban areas such as Orlando, Florida, were not included because the alliance says it is too difficult to isolate tourist traffic from commuter traffic.

(on camera): So short of staying home, what can take the frustration out of vacation travel? Don't travel during peak times. Try and leave early in the morning. And if you can, travel during the week. There's less traffic, hotels are cheaper, and vacation spots less crowded.

Julie Vallese, CNN, Kent Island, Maryland.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAGAN: For a closer look at traffic jams, or better yet, how to get around them, log on to our Web site. We have an interactive map, driving directions and travel warnings. Just point your clicker to CNN.com/travel.

It's part of the U.S. you have never visited, probably never heard of. A group of islands where great white sharks tend to just kind of hang out. We're going to take you there. They call it the Devil's Teeth. We're going right after this.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

CHRISTINA PARK, CNN.COM CORRESPONDENT: What in the world did we do without the Internet? CNN.com/online looks at life before and after the worldwide Web. More than 200 million users are online in the U.S. alone. Top five uses in America are e-mail, search engines, driving directions, researching a product or service before buying and checking weather.

The United States may have the most online users, but in terms of country population, Sweden has the highest percentage of technophiles. More than 73 percent, compared to America's nearly 68 percent.

How else did it change our lives, both online and off? Well, it's helped us find love and friendship. Log out those frustrations, do business, order books, pay bills, keep in closer touch with our friends and type stuff like LOL for laughing out loud. And never has the colon been so popular since the emoticon was born.

Well, let's get personal for a minute. How did the Internet change you? We'd love to hear your story. Just log on to CNN.com/online and shoot us a line. We'll take pictures, video, audio and text. And hey, who knows? You could wind up end up starring in our special report.

I'm Christina Park, reporting from the dot-com desk. See you online.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: We are talking sharks this morning. First, two vicious shark attacks along the Florida Panhandle have put that particular ocean predator on the minds of many beachgoers. The first attack was fatal, the second one nearly so. 16-year-old Craig Hutto was fishing out of a sandbar at Cape San Blas when he was bitten. He lost his right leg. It could have been a lot worse, though.

His parents talked to CNN's "AMERICAN MORNING" about the ordeal.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ROGER HUTTO, CRAIG'S FATHER: That particular morning, you're right, there happened to be three nurses there, there was a doctor there, there was an EMT person there, all happened to be within 50 to 100 feet from where we were. And you're correct, if it had not been for those nurses, we would not be sitting here today. They knew exactly what to do. It was a very traumatic experience, but they knew exactly what to do.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAGAN: So some people have an understandable fear of sharks. Some folks have an abiding fascination for the creatures, especially the great white. One of the few places in the world where great whites can be observed feeding is Farallon Islands. It's not that far from the continental U.S. It's a set of forbidding rocks off the coast of San Francisco.

Susan Casey is an editor with Time, Inc., which, like CNN, is owned by Time Warner. She was allowed to spend some time on the Farallons to learn about the sharks and the people who watch them, a tale she tells in the new book, "The Devil's Teeth." Susan Casey, joining me from Vancouver. Susan, good morning.

SUSAN CASEY, AUTHOR, "THE DEVIL'S TEETH": Good morning.

KAGAN: Now what is a nice lady like you doing hanging out with a bunch of sharks in the Pacific Ocean?

CASEY: Well, you know, like everyone else, I have a deep fascination for the creatures. And in the fall, there are a number of great white sharks at the Farallons and some really innovative research being done about them. And I was just compelled to go out and find out more.

KAGAN: Now, you didn't go. I mean, you were in it. These are the -- you took these pictures?

CASEY: Some of them, yes.

KAGAN: OK, so what's it like to be in a small boat and see a feeding frenzy of great white sharks going on all around you?

CASEY: Well, they don't really -- that's kind of a great question, because they don't -- great white sharks don't act like that. They are very composed at a feeding. They don't go into anything I would describe as a frenzy. The animal is so big and so incredibly powerful. They sort of will take turn eating the seal. But what is it like? It puts you into the moment, I will say that much.

KAGAN: We are looking from at pictures from looking over the side of a boat. How would you describe how big those sharks look up close?

CASEY: The bigger sharks at the Farallons are the females, and they can be 18, 19, 20 feet, and I was told that at 20-foot shark is eight feet wide, a white shark, which is -- I was thinking about this, as wide as a Mack truck. It's a very whale like shape, and it's very hard to wrap your head around that. It's also six feet deep. It's just a massive animal.

KAGAN: You were not there by yourself. I read your excerpt in "Sports Illustrated," by the way, of your book, and the people who are out there are almost as interesting as the sharks.

CASEY: Oh, absolutely. I was -- it's -- they're a breed apart. They're biologist from the Point Reyes Bird Observatory in San Francisco, and the islands are run by that organization and partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. And they're just ultra-competent, ultra-devoted people, and I think I was absolutely as drawn to them as I was to the sharks.

KAGAN: Now interesting enough, the book is called "The Devil's Teeth." It refers to the island, not the teeth inside the mouth of a shark.

CASEY: That's exactly right. The 19th century sailors were I think justifiably terrified of the Farallons Islands, and they do just sort of rise out of the Pacific looking like fangs. It's probably the spookiest place on Earth when you catch it in the right mood.

KAGAN: With all the fog that can draw around there. CASEY: Right, and the sharks. And there's all kinds of wildlife there that's just extraordinary. And a really long and weird human history at the islands.

KAGAN: Like what?

CASEY: Oh, well, I was just shocked to find out that at one point there had been sort of a settlement there, and families and a school and then I found out over that time misery was kind of the price of admission there. There had been deaths, and even murders, and even this sort of weird little war. It was like I found a lost world within the 415 area code.

KAGAN: I bet you did, if they do get that there. The reason the sharks show up, good eating?

CASEY: Yes, there's a northern elephant seal colony on the shores of southeast Farallons Island. They particularly like the young ones who are just kind of learning how to come on and off the island.

KAGAN: Kind of a hard lesson to learn.

CASEY: Yes, it's a hard lesson.

KAGAN: So I think part of what you're trying to do with your book is kind of develop some love for the sharks, which in a week like we just had where two kids lose their life, not to great white sharks, but to shark attacks off the coast of Florida, it's kind of hard to feel the love for the shark.

CASEY: Right, and in the past, you know, there has been times when, say, especially in Hawaii, a tiger shark will kill someone, and then everybody will go out in a boat and try to kill as many tiger sharks as they possibly can, as if in a sort of a retribution.

But, yes, the tragic events of recent events are -- unfortunate -- fortunately extremely still extremely rare. People are far more likely to be killed by things like cattle or touching their tongues to batteries. But nothing about our relationship with sharks is very logical. But yes, I do think they are magnificent and completely misunderstood creatures, obviously.

KAGAN: Well, hopefully people can understand a little bit more by reading your book. It's called "The Devil's Teeth." Susan Casey, thank you for having the guts to go out and hang with the sharks and bring us back the story.

CASEY: Thank you.

KAGAN: Thank you so much.

The recent shark sightings are not stopping some California sufferers from hanging 10. Still to come, dozens come together to break a surfing tradition. This one's in Southern California. We're going to have that story, plus a quick check of your morning forecast when we return.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAGAN: Question for you: How many surfers fit on a single wave? Turns out if you are in Carlsbad, California, the answer, 40. And they claim they beat the world record set by 38 Australians who did that back in 2002. The folks at "The Guinness Book of World Records," will be checking that out.

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