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American Morning
Laci Peterson Case
Aired April 21, 2003 - 07:03 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.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: From California, as we had mentioned, Scott Peterson could be arraigned as early as today. The prosecutor is expected to charge him with capital murder in the deaths of his wife, Laci, and their unborn child. He was arrested on Friday evening. Convictions could mean a death sentence in California.
Scott's parents are proclaiming their son's innocence. They're criticizing the police in Modesto as well.
Mike Brooks live in Modesto, up early this morning for the latest on what's happening today on this Monday.
Mike -- good morning there.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
As Scott Peterson sits in his jail cell in the maximum security tier of the Stanislaus County Jail, Scott Peterson's family yesterday came out in support of their son. They had this to say: "Our time of mourning and grief is compounded by the accusations made against Scott. We believe in his innocence, and he has our total and unwavering support."
Now, as the Peterson family makes their statement, later on today Laci Peterson's family will hold a news conference here in Modesto. It is due to take place at 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, and that will be carried live by CNN -- Bill.
HEMMER: Mike, if the reports that we're getting are true that the evidence is so strong against Scott Peterson, why did it take until late Friday evening to make this arrest down in San Diego?
BROOKS: Well, I spoke with Chief Roy Wasden of the Modesto Police Department, and I asked him, I said, 'If you had not found the body of Laci and the unborn son's, Connor, would you still have enough?' And he said they had a lock-solid case against Scott Peterson, and they didn't need that evidence.
But as long as it took, they wanted to make sure that they crossed all of the t's, dotted all of the i's. They had him under surveillance for some time. As you noticed, he looks like he had changed the color of his hair, he had grown a beard, colored that in a little bit lighter, and lost some weight. They were concerned that he would have been a flight risk.
But they were using different technologies to follow him all around San Diego, and his parents said he had been staying with them. And they say that he's totally innocent, and that the charges against him are totally untrue, and the Modesto police are not doing their job, they say.
But that remains to be seen. We'll find out more today as he appears here in superior court -- Bill.
HEMMER: Mike, thanks -- Mike Brooks in Modesto.
Now -- Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: So, just how strong is the case against Scott Peterson?
Our legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, is here to give us some more perspective on that very thing.
We just heard Mike Brooks talking about this change of appearance that we have seen in Scott Peterson. What does that mean for a flight risk to you?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the obvious claim would be that he is changing his appearance, he apparently had a great deal of cash, $10,000, with him, possibly his brother's I.D, all of which the prosecution could use to argue that he was preparing to leave the country so he couldn't be charged in the case, evidence of a guilty conscience.
COLLINS: Evidence of a guilty conscience, or anything else, and possibly saying to himself, I can't get a fair trial no matter what I do?
TOOBIN: That's the reverse argument. The argument that I just can't get a fair trial, there has been too much of a media railroad, even though I'm innocent I'm going to flee, it's always tough to defend flight. And so I think that would be -- it's going to be a problem for him to explain that stuff away.
COLLINS: All right, now we have the arraignment today. What are we expecting to hear there? And there is something very interesting about bail as well. No bail.
TOOBIN: Right. Well, he is charged with murder with special circumstances, which means there is the potential for a death penalty charge. Under California law, he is ineligible for bail, so he will not be released under any circumstances. Usually, the main question dealt with at an arraignment is bail, you know, whether someone gets out on bail. Here, there is no issue. He won't get out.
COLLINS: So, last week, we heard the district attorney say that this case was just a flat-out slam dunk. What do you think on that?
TOOBIN: I am not prepared to agree to that.
COLLINS: Is any case a slam dunk?
TOOBIN: Well, I also think this case is not a slam dunk. Here, you have no eyewitness, no murder weapon, no cause of death proven yet.
You know, I don't know whether he did it or not. I think, you know, prosecutors telling reporters that they have a slam dunk, the police chief saying they have overwhelming evidence, you know, that's not how we try cases in this country. And I think it's important to keep an open mind, as judges always tell jurors, and I think as news consumers, we should have the same attitude.
COLLINS: All right, indeed. All right, Jeffrey Toobin, our CNN legal analyst, thank you so much for that.
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 April 21, 2003 - 07:03 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
BILL HEMMER, CNN ANCHOR: From California, as we had mentioned, Scott Peterson could be arraigned as early as today. The prosecutor is expected to charge him with capital murder in the deaths of his wife, Laci, and their unborn child. He was arrested on Friday evening. Convictions could mean a death sentence in California.
Scott's parents are proclaiming their son's innocence. They're criticizing the police in Modesto as well.
Mike Brooks live in Modesto, up early this morning for the latest on what's happening today on this Monday.
Mike -- good morning there.
MIKE BROOKS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Bill.
As Scott Peterson sits in his jail cell in the maximum security tier of the Stanislaus County Jail, Scott Peterson's family yesterday came out in support of their son. They had this to say: "Our time of mourning and grief is compounded by the accusations made against Scott. We believe in his innocence, and he has our total and unwavering support."
Now, as the Peterson family makes their statement, later on today Laci Peterson's family will hold a news conference here in Modesto. It is due to take place at 4:00 p.m. Pacific Time, 7:00 p.m. Eastern, and that will be carried live by CNN -- Bill.
HEMMER: Mike, if the reports that we're getting are true that the evidence is so strong against Scott Peterson, why did it take until late Friday evening to make this arrest down in San Diego?
BROOKS: Well, I spoke with Chief Roy Wasden of the Modesto Police Department, and I asked him, I said, 'If you had not found the body of Laci and the unborn son's, Connor, would you still have enough?' And he said they had a lock-solid case against Scott Peterson, and they didn't need that evidence.
But as long as it took, they wanted to make sure that they crossed all of the t's, dotted all of the i's. They had him under surveillance for some time. As you noticed, he looks like he had changed the color of his hair, he had grown a beard, colored that in a little bit lighter, and lost some weight. They were concerned that he would have been a flight risk.
But they were using different technologies to follow him all around San Diego, and his parents said he had been staying with them. And they say that he's totally innocent, and that the charges against him are totally untrue, and the Modesto police are not doing their job, they say.
But that remains to be seen. We'll find out more today as he appears here in superior court -- Bill.
HEMMER: Mike, thanks -- Mike Brooks in Modesto.
Now -- Heidi.
HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: So, just how strong is the case against Scott Peterson?
Our legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin, is here to give us some more perspective on that very thing.
We just heard Mike Brooks talking about this change of appearance that we have seen in Scott Peterson. What does that mean for a flight risk to you?
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, the obvious claim would be that he is changing his appearance, he apparently had a great deal of cash, $10,000, with him, possibly his brother's I.D, all of which the prosecution could use to argue that he was preparing to leave the country so he couldn't be charged in the case, evidence of a guilty conscience.
COLLINS: Evidence of a guilty conscience, or anything else, and possibly saying to himself, I can't get a fair trial no matter what I do?
TOOBIN: That's the reverse argument. The argument that I just can't get a fair trial, there has been too much of a media railroad, even though I'm innocent I'm going to flee, it's always tough to defend flight. And so I think that would be -- it's going to be a problem for him to explain that stuff away.
COLLINS: All right, now we have the arraignment today. What are we expecting to hear there? And there is something very interesting about bail as well. No bail.
TOOBIN: Right. Well, he is charged with murder with special circumstances, which means there is the potential for a death penalty charge. Under California law, he is ineligible for bail, so he will not be released under any circumstances. Usually, the main question dealt with at an arraignment is bail, you know, whether someone gets out on bail. Here, there is no issue. He won't get out.
COLLINS: So, last week, we heard the district attorney say that this case was just a flat-out slam dunk. What do you think on that?
TOOBIN: I am not prepared to agree to that.
COLLINS: Is any case a slam dunk?
TOOBIN: Well, I also think this case is not a slam dunk. Here, you have no eyewitness, no murder weapon, no cause of death proven yet.
You know, I don't know whether he did it or not. I think, you know, prosecutors telling reporters that they have a slam dunk, the police chief saying they have overwhelming evidence, you know, that's not how we try cases in this country. And I think it's important to keep an open mind, as judges always tell jurors, and I think as news consumers, we should have the same attitude.
COLLINS: All right, indeed. All right, Jeffrey Toobin, our CNN legal analyst, thank you so much for that.
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.
