Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Kobe Bryant Case

Aired July 08, 2003 - 07:07   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Colorado and the controversial Kobe Bryant case. A woman is accusing the NBA superstar of sexual misconduct last week at a resort. Prosecutors are still deciding whether to file criminal charges.
Brian Cabell joins us now live from Edwards, Colorado.

Good morning to you -- Brian.

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

The next step here in Colorado is for prosecutors to review the evidence in this case, to review witness testimony, and to determine whether they have enough to file charges. They said yesterday they likely would make that decision by the end of this week. If, in fact, the charges are filed, then Bryant would return here to Colorado on August 6.

What we know about the case is this: Bryant, a perennial all- star, was in town early last week for knee surgery. He checked into a lodge. On Monday night, according to a woman who has not been identified yet, she was sexually assaulted by him. She reported that to the sheriff's deputies on Tuesday. And then subsequently an arrest warrant was issued, and then on Friday Bryant flew back here from Los Angeles. He surrendered himself. He posted $25,000 bond.

As to details of those charges, those have been sealed so far by the judge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK HURLBERT, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, EAGLE COUNTY, COLORADO: We're protecting from the facts getting out, so that it can't cause bias to the case, cause a person not to have a fair jury trial, cause witnesses to come forward with facts that they read in the newspaper that really didn't happen to them. But we're just, I guess, not only protecting the integrity of the investigation, but also the integrity of any future proceeding, should there be any.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABELL: So far, Bryant's Lakers' teammates and management have been 100 percent supportive of him. And we've talked to a member of the Lakers traveling party, not a teammate, but someone who travels with them. He says this doesn't sound like Bryant at all. He says, normally Bryant travels with a couple of bodyguards who screen his calls, screen his visitors. He says Bryant doesn't deal with groupies. He doesn't think he drinks at all. He normally routinely checks into his hotel room at night. He watches TV. He plays video games. He calls his wife. He says charges like these would be totally uncharacteristic.

Of course, the prosecutor now will review the charges, the evidence being made by the woman in this case, who is an adult woman incidentally. And he should make a decision, we believe, by the end of this week -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, CNN's Brian Cabell, thanks very much for that.

Let's turn now to CNN's legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin.

Good morning. Nice to have you.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.

O'BRIEN: A complicated case in some ways because of the relationship clearly between the sheriff's department and the district attorney. It seems as if the sheriff's department went forward without support or maybe even the knowledge of the D.A.'s office.

TOOBIN: This is not an auspicious beginning to this investigation. In every jurisdiction in the country the police have the right to arrest someone immediately and take them in. The decision about whether the case proceeds, whether there is an actual prosecution, always belongs to the prosecutor, the district attorney.

When you have a high-profile case, when you have someone who you know is not going to disappear on you, what almost always happens is the police and the district attorney confer and decide whether to file charges together. Here, that didn't happen. Here, you had the cops going off on their own, the sheriff's department as it's known in Colorado, and the district attorney not even aware of it, now having to decide whether he wants to press charges with the arrest already having been made.

O'BRIEN: Before we talk about the fallout from that and the pressure that that might bring on the case, I want to listen to what the Eagle County district attorney, Mark Hurlbert, had to say yesterday. Let's see if we have that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HURLBERT: Whatever was said about the sheriff's department and about the way the warrant was done, what's done is done. Nothing illegal was done. Nothing improper was done. And I want to look forward in this. I want to look forward and not backwards. And I support the sheriff, the sheriff's department, their investigators in this investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: "What's done is done." Clearly...

TOOBIN: Yes, he's not too happy, OK. O'BRIEN: ... not thrilled, but trying to present a united front. But what kind of a pressure does this then bring on the case? I mean, does the D.A.'s office now sort of have to go forward with the case, even if maybe they wouldn't have originally?

TOOBIN: Well, see, that's the risk here. Now, with the arrest having already been made, if the D.A. doesn't go forward, he looks like he's giving in to the celebrity of Kobe Bryant. He's sort of giving him special treatment. If he does go forward, if this case winds up in front of a jury, the police -- the defense can say, look, there was a rush to judgment here, they arrested him right away, they didn't even do any investigation. It just is an unnecessary problem. It may not matter ultimately if the evidence is strong, the case will proceed and he'll be convicted. But, you know, these cases, the public perception matters a lot, and this is not a smooth beginning.

O'BRIEN: And, Jeffrey Toobin, we'll see if it's a smooth middle and smooth ending as well. 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 July 8, 2003 - 07:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Now to Colorado and the controversial Kobe Bryant case. A woman is accusing the NBA superstar of sexual misconduct last week at a resort. Prosecutors are still deciding whether to file criminal charges.
Brian Cabell joins us now live from Edwards, Colorado.

Good morning to you -- Brian.

BRIAN CABELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Soledad.

The next step here in Colorado is for prosecutors to review the evidence in this case, to review witness testimony, and to determine whether they have enough to file charges. They said yesterday they likely would make that decision by the end of this week. If, in fact, the charges are filed, then Bryant would return here to Colorado on August 6.

What we know about the case is this: Bryant, a perennial all- star, was in town early last week for knee surgery. He checked into a lodge. On Monday night, according to a woman who has not been identified yet, she was sexually assaulted by him. She reported that to the sheriff's deputies on Tuesday. And then subsequently an arrest warrant was issued, and then on Friday Bryant flew back here from Los Angeles. He surrendered himself. He posted $25,000 bond.

As to details of those charges, those have been sealed so far by the judge.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK HURLBERT, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, EAGLE COUNTY, COLORADO: We're protecting from the facts getting out, so that it can't cause bias to the case, cause a person not to have a fair jury trial, cause witnesses to come forward with facts that they read in the newspaper that really didn't happen to them. But we're just, I guess, not only protecting the integrity of the investigation, but also the integrity of any future proceeding, should there be any.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CABELL: So far, Bryant's Lakers' teammates and management have been 100 percent supportive of him. And we've talked to a member of the Lakers traveling party, not a teammate, but someone who travels with them. He says this doesn't sound like Bryant at all. He says, normally Bryant travels with a couple of bodyguards who screen his calls, screen his visitors. He says Bryant doesn't deal with groupies. He doesn't think he drinks at all. He normally routinely checks into his hotel room at night. He watches TV. He plays video games. He calls his wife. He says charges like these would be totally uncharacteristic.

Of course, the prosecutor now will review the charges, the evidence being made by the woman in this case, who is an adult woman incidentally. And he should make a decision, we believe, by the end of this week -- Soledad.

O'BRIEN: Well, CNN's Brian Cabell, thanks very much for that.

Let's turn now to CNN's legal analyst, Jeffrey Toobin.

Good morning. Nice to have you.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.

O'BRIEN: A complicated case in some ways because of the relationship clearly between the sheriff's department and the district attorney. It seems as if the sheriff's department went forward without support or maybe even the knowledge of the D.A.'s office.

TOOBIN: This is not an auspicious beginning to this investigation. In every jurisdiction in the country the police have the right to arrest someone immediately and take them in. The decision about whether the case proceeds, whether there is an actual prosecution, always belongs to the prosecutor, the district attorney.

When you have a high-profile case, when you have someone who you know is not going to disappear on you, what almost always happens is the police and the district attorney confer and decide whether to file charges together. Here, that didn't happen. Here, you had the cops going off on their own, the sheriff's department as it's known in Colorado, and the district attorney not even aware of it, now having to decide whether he wants to press charges with the arrest already having been made.

O'BRIEN: Before we talk about the fallout from that and the pressure that that might bring on the case, I want to listen to what the Eagle County district attorney, Mark Hurlbert, had to say yesterday. Let's see if we have that.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HURLBERT: Whatever was said about the sheriff's department and about the way the warrant was done, what's done is done. Nothing illegal was done. Nothing improper was done. And I want to look forward in this. I want to look forward and not backwards. And I support the sheriff, the sheriff's department, their investigators in this investigation.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: "What's done is done." Clearly...

TOOBIN: Yes, he's not too happy, OK. O'BRIEN: ... not thrilled, but trying to present a united front. But what kind of a pressure does this then bring on the case? I mean, does the D.A.'s office now sort of have to go forward with the case, even if maybe they wouldn't have originally?

TOOBIN: Well, see, that's the risk here. Now, with the arrest having already been made, if the D.A. doesn't go forward, he looks like he's giving in to the celebrity of Kobe Bryant. He's sort of giving him special treatment. If he does go forward, if this case winds up in front of a jury, the police -- the defense can say, look, there was a rush to judgment here, they arrested him right away, they didn't even do any investigation. It just is an unnecessary problem. It may not matter ultimately if the evidence is strong, the case will proceed and he'll be convicted. But, you know, these cases, the public perception matters a lot, and this is not a smooth beginning.

O'BRIEN: And, Jeffrey Toobin, we'll see if it's a smooth middle and smooth ending as well. 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.