Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Testimony From More Children, Junta Expected Today

Aired January 09, 2002 - 08:07   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.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: Up front this morning, more emotional testimony is expected in the trial of one father accused of killing another in front of their children at a hockey practice.

CNN's Michael Okwu is standing by at the courthouse in Cambridge, Massachusetts with the very latest -- good morning, Michael.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Paula. That's right. Emotional is definitely one of the key words. And every day covering this trial, the words, emotional or dramatic, come to mind, and today is no different as we wait for the defense to continue presenting its case.

Now, Tuesday ended with Thomas Junta's 12-year-old son on the witness stand recalling the events of July 5, 2000. A pick-up hockey game, in which he says he was elbowed in the throat, where rough play on the ice involving children quickly escalated into violence off the ice involving men. Now, Junta's son oftentimes looked at his father during the course of his testimony, perhaps for some sort of reassurance. And he essentially supported the defense claims that Thomas Junta acted in self defense against Michael Costin.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QUESTION: What did you see, if anything, Mr. Costin doing in that hallway?

QUINLAN JUNTA, THOMAS JUNTA'S SON: He was kicking at my dad and trying to get at his neck.

QUESTION: OK. Did you -- when you say get at his neck, what did you observe?

JUNTA: He tried to like -- he, like, pulled off his chain.

QUESTION: OK. And what did you see your dad do, if anything?

JUNTA: He like -- just like held him back.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OKWU: His father, he said, hit Costin three quick times. Though the young man admits that through tears, he screamed at his father to stop. Now, 21-year-old Ryan Carr also, this time a prosecution witness, also appeared to support the defense when he said he saw Costin preparing to deliver a so-called sucker punch. But damaging testimony earlier from Virginia Brings, who described a violent Junta.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VIRGINIA BRINGS, WITNESS: It's something that I'll never forget. He went on and on, and I kept hollering and saying, Stop. And I was thinking the whole time, he's either going to kill this man or he's going to have brain damage.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

OKWU: Now, this morning we expect more eyewitness testimony, perhaps from more children. And again, we expect that the 44-year-old truck driver, Thomas Junta, who just walked into the courthouse now, may testify today on his own behalf -- Paula.

ZAHN: What is it he is expected to say, Michael?

OKWU: Well, you can imagine he is going to repeat some of what his young son said on the witness stand yesterday, essentially that there were two altercations. That the first time, he was trying to back off Michael Costin, who he says was an aggressor. He says there was very rough play on the ice, that he confronted Costin about it, and that Costin started kicked at him with his ice skates, because he had his ice skates on at that time. And that he left the hockey rink, returning only when he discovered that his son was not with him. At that point, he says, Michael Costin delivered the so-called sucker punch, and that's when he had to beat him off, in his words, in self defense -- Paula.

ZAHN: Michael, can you give us a sense of how people in the courtroom have reacted to the testimony so far?

OKWU: Well, it's very interesting. The families are sitting not more than about 30 feet from each other. So it is a very tense courtroom. It is very packed. As you can imagine, this is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, story in Boston certainly this month. And yesterday, the courtroom, you could hear a pin drop when the 12- year-old son of Thomas Junta took the witness stand. He walked into the courtroom looking somewhat composed initially -- the very short, close-cropped haircut, looking like a smaller version of his father, a little pudgy boy with a Polo shirt and a tie frowning through his testimony and throughout as if he understood the magnitude of his testimony. You would have to have a very hard heart not to feel some emotional connection to the child, whichever way you are leaning. That is...

ZAHN: What...

OKWU: ... essentially what the feeling was in the courtroom.

ZAHN: And, Michael, what time do things get under way this morning? OKWU: We expect things to get under way at about 9:15 this morning. They will probably have some house cleaning matters, as we often do initially. And then, we expect the testimony to begin at 9:30.

And again, Paula, it could be another child. There are at least 11 children on the witness list. We have heard only from about three or four of them. And then, of course, the big testimony, Thomas Junta himself, perhaps today.

ZAHN: We'll be relying on you to be our eyes and ears, and around 9:30, we will be checking in with you to see if it warrants our coverage at that point. Michael Okwu, thanks so much.

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