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American Morning
What Happens Next in Sniper Case?
Aired October 28, 2002 - 07:16 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: What can we expect as the sniper case is moved through the justice system?
For more on that, we turn to CNN legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin.
Good morning.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.
ZAHN: First of all, "The New York Times" is reporting this morning that the federal prosecutors, who now have custody of the two men, will decide who gets this case first.
TOOBIN: I think that may be a slight overstatement. It is true that when you have turf battles, the general rule is you don't mess with Uncle Sam. I mean, the federal government usually has the last word.
But here, this is usually a negotiated process. There has almost never, in my memory, been an actual legal fight over who gets a defendant.
And what's going to happen here, I think, or what should happen is that everybody sits down in a room, all seven jurisdictions -- obviously, they're all going to file charges -- and just say, let's do this in an organized way, you go first, you go second. But it certainly hasn't happened yet.
ZAHN: Well, let's talk about what did happen. You have the Maryland prosecutor then, filing the charges on Friday; people accusing him of using this as a platform to ultimately run for state attorney general. And he says, "that's nonsense. This isn't about politics. If I hadn't filed charges today, what would my constituents think of me?"
So, let's look at what his defense was over the weekend, where he even denied that anybody had asked him not to file charges on Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGLAS GANSER, MONTGOMERY COUNTY (MD) STATE'S ATTORNEY: There -- no. There was no agreement. I'm unaware of any agreement. I'd love to know what they're talking about and with whom such an agreement would have been made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Is Mr. Ganser telling the truth, as far as you know?
TOOBIN: Well, as far as I know, he's right, that there has been no agreement. But I think that's not an innocent explanation. I think they're wrong not to have an agreement. They should all get together and make one.
I mean, I can't claim to know what his ultimate political ambitions are, but it is certainly not true that he needed to file charges on Friday and his constituents would be outraged if he didn't file until Tuesday. I mean, everybody knows these people are going to get charged. There's no statute of limitations running out.
So, the idea that all of these prosecutors have to file today, yesterday, tomorrow, is ridiculous. They're all going to file. The order in which they file probably doesn't make any difference.
So, that's why they need to get together and just agree how they're going to proceed.
ZAHN: So, are you saying Mr. Ganser, then, was politically motivated in making -- filing those charges on Friday rather than waiting?
TOOBIN: I can't -- you know, I can't go into his...
ZAHN: Oh, come on, Jeffrey!
TOOBIN: Oh, come on. No, but I think, you know, they're all -- you know, whether he's doing it for, you know, ultimate political gain or to just get a lot of publicity, that I can't say. But clearly, it is not true that you have to file Friday or Maryland is going to think that this case has been forgotten about. That's just silly.
ZAHN: Let's take a look at what residents of those communities are so concerned about. We're going to put on the screen how the death penalty is used in these various jurisdictions. Virginia: Yes. Alabama: Yes. Washington, D.C.: No. Maryland: moratorium.
There is also some confusion about how old John Lee Malvo is. Is the guy 17 or is he 18?
TOOBIN: It's potentially very significant, because Maryland, in addition to having a moratorium -- which probably won't apply in this case, because it's probably going to lapse by spring -- and Maryland does not execute people under 18. So, he would be completely exempt from the death penalty if he, in fact, is 17.
Today, there are reports that he may, in fact, be 18, in which case he would be eligible in Maryland, as well as the other states.
ZAHN: How long is all of this going to take?
TOOBIN: A long, long time. And remember, you know what? Who have we not heard from yet? Defense attorneys. Some day, these people are going to get lawyers, who are going to say, wait a second, let's slow down. The first thing they're all going to ask for, they're going to ask for change of venue to get these trials out of Montgomery County or whatever county where the murders took place.
ZAHN: That's a reasonable request, is it not?
TOOBIN: You would think that would be a pretty good...
ZAHN: I think given the saturation of the media coverage that you'd have to live on another planet not to have known anything about the...
(CROSSTALK)
TOOBIN: A winter of emotion. And they're going to ask for adjournments. They're going to say, this thing is moving too fast, that there is too much of a frenzy about this, let's slow this process down. And I think judges may be receptive to that.
So, death penalty cases go on often for a decade, if not longer. So, I mean, the trials will very likely -- the first trials will likely take place probably sometime next year, but in terms of death penalty execution, you're talking many, many years until this is resolved.
ZAHN: Always appreciate your insights, Jeffrey Toobin, thanks for dropping by.
TOOBIN: Thank you.
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 October 28, 2002 - 07:16 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR: What can we expect as the sniper case is moved through the justice system?
For more on that, we turn to CNN legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin.
Good morning.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Good morning.
ZAHN: First of all, "The New York Times" is reporting this morning that the federal prosecutors, who now have custody of the two men, will decide who gets this case first.
TOOBIN: I think that may be a slight overstatement. It is true that when you have turf battles, the general rule is you don't mess with Uncle Sam. I mean, the federal government usually has the last word.
But here, this is usually a negotiated process. There has almost never, in my memory, been an actual legal fight over who gets a defendant.
And what's going to happen here, I think, or what should happen is that everybody sits down in a room, all seven jurisdictions -- obviously, they're all going to file charges -- and just say, let's do this in an organized way, you go first, you go second. But it certainly hasn't happened yet.
ZAHN: Well, let's talk about what did happen. You have the Maryland prosecutor then, filing the charges on Friday; people accusing him of using this as a platform to ultimately run for state attorney general. And he says, "that's nonsense. This isn't about politics. If I hadn't filed charges today, what would my constituents think of me?"
So, let's look at what his defense was over the weekend, where he even denied that anybody had asked him not to file charges on Friday.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DOUGLAS GANSER, MONTGOMERY COUNTY (MD) STATE'S ATTORNEY: There -- no. There was no agreement. I'm unaware of any agreement. I'd love to know what they're talking about and with whom such an agreement would have been made.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
ZAHN: Is Mr. Ganser telling the truth, as far as you know?
TOOBIN: Well, as far as I know, he's right, that there has been no agreement. But I think that's not an innocent explanation. I think they're wrong not to have an agreement. They should all get together and make one.
I mean, I can't claim to know what his ultimate political ambitions are, but it is certainly not true that he needed to file charges on Friday and his constituents would be outraged if he didn't file until Tuesday. I mean, everybody knows these people are going to get charged. There's no statute of limitations running out.
So, the idea that all of these prosecutors have to file today, yesterday, tomorrow, is ridiculous. They're all going to file. The order in which they file probably doesn't make any difference.
So, that's why they need to get together and just agree how they're going to proceed.
ZAHN: So, are you saying Mr. Ganser, then, was politically motivated in making -- filing those charges on Friday rather than waiting?
TOOBIN: I can't -- you know, I can't go into his...
ZAHN: Oh, come on, Jeffrey!
TOOBIN: Oh, come on. No, but I think, you know, they're all -- you know, whether he's doing it for, you know, ultimate political gain or to just get a lot of publicity, that I can't say. But clearly, it is not true that you have to file Friday or Maryland is going to think that this case has been forgotten about. That's just silly.
ZAHN: Let's take a look at what residents of those communities are so concerned about. We're going to put on the screen how the death penalty is used in these various jurisdictions. Virginia: Yes. Alabama: Yes. Washington, D.C.: No. Maryland: moratorium.
There is also some confusion about how old John Lee Malvo is. Is the guy 17 or is he 18?
TOOBIN: It's potentially very significant, because Maryland, in addition to having a moratorium -- which probably won't apply in this case, because it's probably going to lapse by spring -- and Maryland does not execute people under 18. So, he would be completely exempt from the death penalty if he, in fact, is 17.
Today, there are reports that he may, in fact, be 18, in which case he would be eligible in Maryland, as well as the other states.
ZAHN: How long is all of this going to take?
TOOBIN: A long, long time. And remember, you know what? Who have we not heard from yet? Defense attorneys. Some day, these people are going to get lawyers, who are going to say, wait a second, let's slow down. The first thing they're all going to ask for, they're going to ask for change of venue to get these trials out of Montgomery County or whatever county where the murders took place.
ZAHN: That's a reasonable request, is it not?
TOOBIN: You would think that would be a pretty good...
ZAHN: I think given the saturation of the media coverage that you'd have to live on another planet not to have known anything about the...
(CROSSTALK)
TOOBIN: A winter of emotion. And they're going to ask for adjournments. They're going to say, this thing is moving too fast, that there is too much of a frenzy about this, let's slow this process down. And I think judges may be receptive to that.
So, death penalty cases go on often for a decade, if not longer. So, I mean, the trials will very likely -- the first trials will likely take place probably sometime next year, but in terms of death penalty execution, you're talking many, many years until this is resolved.
ZAHN: Always appreciate your insights, Jeffrey Toobin, thanks for dropping by.
TOOBIN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com.
