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American Morning

Peterson's Defense

Aired May 27, 2003 - 09:04   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.


LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Nearly a month after Laci Peterson disappeared, her husband, Scott, talked by telephone with his mistress, Amber Frey. This, according to newly released court do you means. Frey's testimony is expected to be a key part of the case against Scott Peterson.
So how will the defense respond to her? Criminal defense lawyer Jayne Weintraub has insights. She's live in Miami this morning, and she's going to give us her insights.

Jayne, good to see you.

What do you think is going to be the most important thing that Frey can actually contribute in this case?

JAYNE WEINTRAUB, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTY.: Well, from the defense point of view, I think the most honest thing she can contribute is the fact that she really knows nothing. Everything is speculation. Everything is coming from anger out of Amber Frey. She's nothing more than a woman scorned in your typical sense of that. She'd only known Scott, let's not forget, one month before this had happened, and afterwards, it took her a while to come forward. She comes forward, and what does she do? She says she wants her privacy, and the next thing you know, she sells photographs to "The National Enquirer." This is a woman that is an opportunist, and I'm sure all of that will be brought out by Mark Geragos.

HARRIS: So what would be his first strike, I guess, against her then? What kind of a tactic do you expect to come from him?

WEINTRAUB: Well, it depends on what her demeanor is on the witness stand. If she comes across very hostile and very arrogant, then he's going to come at her and throw the book at her in a very tough tone and be very aggressive. If she comes across as a very credible witness, then he'll just very softly tiptoe around the case, and he will go forward with the fact he never confessed to her, that he never told her that he did it, that in fact there were other women, that she must have had her doubts about his marriage, because why would somebody who just met somebody would ask, you're not married are you? That's an absurd thing to say to somebody who's fixed up on a date.

HARRIS: But you know what, you just said something that strikes me as something that might actually hurt the defense in the case. If you throw out idea, well, so what, there were other women involved, she's just one of many, doesn't that make Scott Peterson look even worse as a character to the jury? WEINTRAUB: Well, Leon, as a matter of fact, yes, it does. But I think that in opening statements, I think it's going to come out in pretrial rulings. The judge is going to allow this evidence in, although I don't think it should come in. But since it's going to come in anyway, and it's going to show that he fooled around and that he was a philanderer, I think that the defense has to confront it immediately, and say in jury selection, and say, look, you are going to hear that my guy wasn't exactly a very nice guy and he wasn't true to his vows.

HARRIS: It was more than that.

WEINTRAUB: That doesn't make you a murder.

HARRIS: It was a little bit more than that, though, Jayne, because according to these court records that have come out or these transcripts of the telephone calls, he called her a month after Laci's disappearance. He was maintaining the relationship well after Laci was gone.

WEINTRAUB: And that means what? That doesn't mean he killed her. That doesn't mean he had anything to do with her death. As a matter of fact, to the contrary.

And on these tapes by the way, that are not filed in court yet and are not public record, they are leaked by the police, so let's be very honest about what's going on here. The police leak what they think is the best piece of evidence they got, and they put their own spin on it, and I find that as a lawyer abhorrent.

What they need do -- and this prosecutor really needs to reign in the police and stop all these leaks from happening, and keep the focus on proceedings in court. It's obvious to me that they don't have any substantial evidence, or they would have leaked that or they would shut up. That's the bottom line. I don't think they have the evidence. I don't think they have the cause of death. And Amber Frey isn't going to give them the motive and the conviction that they need.

HARRIS: Well, Amber Frey is, no doubt, going to be prepared by her attorney. She's hired Gloria Allred, and I think anybody watches us knows who that is.

How do you think Gloria is going to be preparing Miss Frey for this?

WEINTRAUB: Well, I think the makeover says the first thing that Gloria did for her. I think that the second thing will be that she will try and just feign the media away from Amber Frey right now.

Honestly, Gloria Allred isn't going to do very much for Amber Frey in court. The prosecutors are going to keep Gloria Allred as far away from the court proceedings and what's going to happen as possible. She's a lawyer. She represents a witness. Remember, Amber is not charged with anything. And so Gloria won't be right front and center. I think it makes Amber look like she needed a lawyer. What for? What did she do wrong? Maybe there was perjury. Maybe there was tampering of a witness. I think it looks bad for Amber Frey to have hired a lawyer at this point, to tell you the truth.

HARRIS: Interesting. Coming from you, that's very interesting, Jayne. Thank you. Appreciate that. We'll talk to you later on. Jayne Weintraub, 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 May 27, 2003 - 09:04   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
LEON HARRIS, CNN ANCHOR: Nearly a month after Laci Peterson disappeared, her husband, Scott, talked by telephone with his mistress, Amber Frey. This, according to newly released court do you means. Frey's testimony is expected to be a key part of the case against Scott Peterson.
So how will the defense respond to her? Criminal defense lawyer Jayne Weintraub has insights. She's live in Miami this morning, and she's going to give us her insights.

Jayne, good to see you.

What do you think is going to be the most important thing that Frey can actually contribute in this case?

JAYNE WEINTRAUB, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTY.: Well, from the defense point of view, I think the most honest thing she can contribute is the fact that she really knows nothing. Everything is speculation. Everything is coming from anger out of Amber Frey. She's nothing more than a woman scorned in your typical sense of that. She'd only known Scott, let's not forget, one month before this had happened, and afterwards, it took her a while to come forward. She comes forward, and what does she do? She says she wants her privacy, and the next thing you know, she sells photographs to "The National Enquirer." This is a woman that is an opportunist, and I'm sure all of that will be brought out by Mark Geragos.

HARRIS: So what would be his first strike, I guess, against her then? What kind of a tactic do you expect to come from him?

WEINTRAUB: Well, it depends on what her demeanor is on the witness stand. If she comes across very hostile and very arrogant, then he's going to come at her and throw the book at her in a very tough tone and be very aggressive. If she comes across as a very credible witness, then he'll just very softly tiptoe around the case, and he will go forward with the fact he never confessed to her, that he never told her that he did it, that in fact there were other women, that she must have had her doubts about his marriage, because why would somebody who just met somebody would ask, you're not married are you? That's an absurd thing to say to somebody who's fixed up on a date.

HARRIS: But you know what, you just said something that strikes me as something that might actually hurt the defense in the case. If you throw out idea, well, so what, there were other women involved, she's just one of many, doesn't that make Scott Peterson look even worse as a character to the jury? WEINTRAUB: Well, Leon, as a matter of fact, yes, it does. But I think that in opening statements, I think it's going to come out in pretrial rulings. The judge is going to allow this evidence in, although I don't think it should come in. But since it's going to come in anyway, and it's going to show that he fooled around and that he was a philanderer, I think that the defense has to confront it immediately, and say in jury selection, and say, look, you are going to hear that my guy wasn't exactly a very nice guy and he wasn't true to his vows.

HARRIS: It was more than that.

WEINTRAUB: That doesn't make you a murder.

HARRIS: It was a little bit more than that, though, Jayne, because according to these court records that have come out or these transcripts of the telephone calls, he called her a month after Laci's disappearance. He was maintaining the relationship well after Laci was gone.

WEINTRAUB: And that means what? That doesn't mean he killed her. That doesn't mean he had anything to do with her death. As a matter of fact, to the contrary.

And on these tapes by the way, that are not filed in court yet and are not public record, they are leaked by the police, so let's be very honest about what's going on here. The police leak what they think is the best piece of evidence they got, and they put their own spin on it, and I find that as a lawyer abhorrent.

What they need do -- and this prosecutor really needs to reign in the police and stop all these leaks from happening, and keep the focus on proceedings in court. It's obvious to me that they don't have any substantial evidence, or they would have leaked that or they would shut up. That's the bottom line. I don't think they have the evidence. I don't think they have the cause of death. And Amber Frey isn't going to give them the motive and the conviction that they need.

HARRIS: Well, Amber Frey is, no doubt, going to be prepared by her attorney. She's hired Gloria Allred, and I think anybody watches us knows who that is.

How do you think Gloria is going to be preparing Miss Frey for this?

WEINTRAUB: Well, I think the makeover says the first thing that Gloria did for her. I think that the second thing will be that she will try and just feign the media away from Amber Frey right now.

Honestly, Gloria Allred isn't going to do very much for Amber Frey in court. The prosecutors are going to keep Gloria Allred as far away from the court proceedings and what's going to happen as possible. She's a lawyer. She represents a witness. Remember, Amber is not charged with anything. And so Gloria won't be right front and center. I think it makes Amber look like she needed a lawyer. What for? What did she do wrong? Maybe there was perjury. Maybe there was tampering of a witness. I think it looks bad for Amber Frey to have hired a lawyer at this point, to tell you the truth.

HARRIS: Interesting. Coming from you, that's very interesting, Jayne. Thank you. Appreciate that. We'll talk to you later on. Jayne Weintraub, 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