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American Morning

Robert Downey Jr. Expected to Plead No Contest to Drug Charges

Aired July 16, 2001 - 11:01   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.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: We are going to start in California this hour. Troubled "Ally McBeal" actor Robert Downey Jr. is due in court at this hour. He is expected to plead no contest to cocaine charges. Under a new California law, Downey may be sent to rehab rather than to prison. Our Paul Vercammen joining us now from the courthouse in Indio, California, and that's a desert town not too far away from Palm Springs -- Paul, good morning.

PAUL VERCAMMEN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Daryn.

Well, Robert Downey Jr. has already arrived at this courthouse. We saw him walk in earlier. And lawyers are meeting inside right now, discussing what we believe is the plea bargain that will be hammered out this morning, and that plea bargain will effectively continue rehabilitation in a Malibu treatment center for Downey and help him avoid prison time.

When we saw Downey, by the way, he had very short cropped hair. He looked better than he had in the past. He was wearing a dark suit and a blue shirt. Now, we talked to Downey's publicist and he says his client will not speak today following these matters. Now, they're meeting in closed doors right now, and as I said, it's believed that they could possibly be talking about Downey's change of attorneys or the parts of the plea bargain that will be hammered out.

When the prosecutor, Tamara Capone, was walking into the courthouse, I was able to sort of fire a question at her and I asked her, "This is, indeed, going to be the last time all of us meet like this," suggesting, of course, that the plea bargain is in the works. And she smiled and laughed and said, "I certainly hope so."

So it seems to be that in just a short order here, Robert Downey Jr. will enter that plea of no contest before the judge and this matter that started last Thanksgiving weekend in a Palm Springs hotel room will be resolved.

Reporting live from Indio, California, I'm Paul Vercammen. Now back to you in Atlanta.

KAGAN: Paul, before we let you go, it's kind of hard to keep up. You almost need a score card to keep up with all of Robert Downey, Jr.'s court appearances and different incidents that have happened. So once this is wrapped up, is that it for his legal docket or are there more cases still ahead? VERCAMMEN: No, that wraps it up for right now because in Culver City -- and that's what kind of comprised this case, if you will, Robert was arrested in April there, but that resolved itself when prosecutors basically declined to continue pressing charges. They deferred to the state department of corrections. Corrections, of course, had taken Downey immediately after that cocaine arrest in Culver City and put him in a detox center. So for the most part, everybody in all these different jurisdictions is on the same page. What they want for Downey is rehabilitation.

KAGAN: Paul Vercammen in Indio, thank you.

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