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American Morning
The Peterson Case
Aired May 02, 2003 - 09:21 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.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Scott Peterson due in court in about two hours. He's expected to ask the judge to allow him to change his legal defense in favor of Mark Geragos.
Rusty Dornin live in Modesto now. Bring us up to date, Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, the last time we heard from Mark Geragos was the night before last, when he told Larry King he was leaning toward a decision to help out Scott Peterson, said he would make the announcement on Thursday, which he didn't. But those of us here, including the public defender's office in Stanislaus County, fully expect him to be the attorney of record for Scott Peterson.
Mark Geragos has a powerful roster of clients, from politics, entertainment, business, including Susan McDougal, Roger Clinton. He represented Gary Condit here in Modesto, and of course, Winona Ryder.
Now it looks like the Peterson's contacted Geragos sometime over the last few weeks. Of course he has been on "LARRY KING" and other talk shows talking about this case ever since it began. He said he talked to them a few times. He came to Modesto this week, talked to Scott Peterson and said he was terribly impressed with Scott Peterson.
Scott Peterson, of course, is charged with two counts of capital murder for Laci Peterson, his wife, and his unborn son, Connor. Police believe he killed her in their home here on Colina (ph) Avenue and dumped her up in the San Francisco Bay.
Now first, there has been a lot of speculation on what kind of evidence the police have, because they have not released anything. None of the evidence in the search warrants have been released. But his previous attorney, Kurt Mcallister, has said that he does not believe that they have a solid case against him. He believes Scott Peterson did not do it.
I did see Mark Geragos in court during the Winona Ryder case, which of course he did lose, but he was very flamboyant, very persuasive, very powerful figure in court. And if, indeed, he does become the attorney of record, certainly, he'll be a powerful advocate for Scott Peterson and a fierce opponent for the prosecution.
COSTELLO: Certainly so. Rusty Dornin, live from Modesto.
For more perspective on the Peterson case, we want to bring in our legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
Good morning, Jeffrey.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: What is Larry King going to do? Who is going to talk about the case if Mark Geragos is in court all of the time?
COSTELLO: Mark Geragos is known to appear on television, though, even during court proceeding.
TOOBIN: I guess he'll probably still be a guest.
COSTELLO: You know, Mark Geragos.
TOOBIN: I sure do.
COSTELLO: Is he crazy for taking on this case.
TOOBIN: I don't think he's crazy. He loves the limelight. It's an interesting case. This is a case without a murder weapons, without an eyewitness, with no cause death proof. There is something to work with for the defense here. We'll see what...
COSTELLO: Like what? I want to read you a quote. This is what Mark Geragos said, I believe on "LARRY KING." He said, "I mean, part of why people go into criminal defense is to defend the underdog, and to try to make it a truly adversarial system, and that is definitely intriguing in this case.
TOOBIN: Well, it's true. I mean, I think defense attorneys do like defending the underdog, and Scott Peterson is definitely the underdog here. And you know, we'll see whether he can come up. He's got a big problem in developing some alternative scenario of who killed her, or how she died, but...
COSTELLO: Because you often say trial's about a story -- so what story will Scott Peterson have to prove his innocence to a jury?
TOOBIN: I don't know. The first thing he's going to do when he goes into court is get this thing delayed. He's got to let passions cool, a year at least until this trial goes forward.
COSTELLO: Jeffrey Toobin, many thanks.
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 May 2, 2003 - 09:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Scott Peterson due in court in about two hours. He's expected to ask the judge to allow him to change his legal defense in favor of Mark Geragos.
Rusty Dornin live in Modesto now. Bring us up to date, Rusty.
RUSTY DORNIN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Carol, the last time we heard from Mark Geragos was the night before last, when he told Larry King he was leaning toward a decision to help out Scott Peterson, said he would make the announcement on Thursday, which he didn't. But those of us here, including the public defender's office in Stanislaus County, fully expect him to be the attorney of record for Scott Peterson.
Mark Geragos has a powerful roster of clients, from politics, entertainment, business, including Susan McDougal, Roger Clinton. He represented Gary Condit here in Modesto, and of course, Winona Ryder.
Now it looks like the Peterson's contacted Geragos sometime over the last few weeks. Of course he has been on "LARRY KING" and other talk shows talking about this case ever since it began. He said he talked to them a few times. He came to Modesto this week, talked to Scott Peterson and said he was terribly impressed with Scott Peterson.
Scott Peterson, of course, is charged with two counts of capital murder for Laci Peterson, his wife, and his unborn son, Connor. Police believe he killed her in their home here on Colina (ph) Avenue and dumped her up in the San Francisco Bay.
Now first, there has been a lot of speculation on what kind of evidence the police have, because they have not released anything. None of the evidence in the search warrants have been released. But his previous attorney, Kurt Mcallister, has said that he does not believe that they have a solid case against him. He believes Scott Peterson did not do it.
I did see Mark Geragos in court during the Winona Ryder case, which of course he did lose, but he was very flamboyant, very persuasive, very powerful figure in court. And if, indeed, he does become the attorney of record, certainly, he'll be a powerful advocate for Scott Peterson and a fierce opponent for the prosecution.
COSTELLO: Certainly so. Rusty Dornin, live from Modesto.
For more perspective on the Peterson case, we want to bring in our legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin.
Good morning, Jeffrey.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: What is Larry King going to do? Who is going to talk about the case if Mark Geragos is in court all of the time?
COSTELLO: Mark Geragos is known to appear on television, though, even during court proceeding.
TOOBIN: I guess he'll probably still be a guest.
COSTELLO: You know, Mark Geragos.
TOOBIN: I sure do.
COSTELLO: Is he crazy for taking on this case.
TOOBIN: I don't think he's crazy. He loves the limelight. It's an interesting case. This is a case without a murder weapons, without an eyewitness, with no cause death proof. There is something to work with for the defense here. We'll see what...
COSTELLO: Like what? I want to read you a quote. This is what Mark Geragos said, I believe on "LARRY KING." He said, "I mean, part of why people go into criminal defense is to defend the underdog, and to try to make it a truly adversarial system, and that is definitely intriguing in this case.
TOOBIN: Well, it's true. I mean, I think defense attorneys do like defending the underdog, and Scott Peterson is definitely the underdog here. And you know, we'll see whether he can come up. He's got a big problem in developing some alternative scenario of who killed her, or how she died, but...
COSTELLO: Because you often say trial's about a story -- so what story will Scott Peterson have to prove his innocence to a jury?
TOOBIN: I don't know. The first thing he's going to do when he goes into court is get this thing delayed. He's got to let passions cool, a year at least until this trial goes forward.
COSTELLO: Jeffrey Toobin, many thanks.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
