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American Morning

Interview With Sheriff James Phillips

Aired July 18, 2003 - 07:33   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: All right, turning now to Maryland, where police have questioned a Baylor University basketball player about the disappearance of a one time teammate. Carlton Dotson contacted Maryland authorities yesterday on his own. His attorney says he made an unsolicited and voluntary statement. Police in Texas say Dotson is a person of interest in the disappearance of Patrick Dennehy, who is, of course, the former Baylor player who's been missing for more than a month.
Sheriff James Phillips joins us from Dorchester County, Maryland this morning.

Good morning to you, Sheriff.

Thanks for joining us.

SHERIFF JAMES PHILLIPS, JR., DORCHESTER COUNTY, MARYLAND: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: You weren't particularly looking for Carlton Dotson to come in and make a statement, so are you surprised that he showed up and expressed an interest to talk to authorities?

PHILLIPS: Well, it certainly caught us by surprise when he contacted us and wanted us to send someone up to talk to him, yes.

O'BRIEN: Can you give me a sense or specifics about what he told detectives?

PHILLIPS: No. We've been asked by the Waco Police Department not to elaborate on the statement or anything contained in the statement. They've been made aware of the contents of the statement and it's now part of their investigation.

O'BRIEN: OK, how about this, did Carlton Dotson confess to shooting Patrick Dennehy?

PHILLIPS: Again, I can't elaborate on the statement at all.

O'BRIEN: If he had confessed, would you have immediately taken him into custody?

PHILLIPS: We are assisting the Waco Police Department and everything that we do, any action that we take is a direct result of a conversation that we would have with them, and we take whatever direction that they seem appropriate.

O'BRIEN: Well, he wasn't taken into custody after his discussions with authorities, right? He walked out on his own.

PHILLIPS: No, ma'am, he walked out of here. He left with his high school basketball coach.

O'BRIEN: Can you characterize the talks? If you can't give specifics, can you say the talks were helpful, the talks were confrontational? How did they -- how did he seem to investigators?

PHILLIPS: Basically, Mr. Dotson contacted us and stated that he wanted to talk and for about an hour and a half, that's what he did, he talked and we listened.

O'BRIEN: He requested to have an FBI agent present, but not his attorney. Did that surprise you?

PHILLIPS: No, not really.

O'BRIEN: His demeanor in the conversation, did he seem nervous? Did investigators tell you that he seemed anxious? Did he seem like a guy who had something to get off his chest or did he seem like someone who was just trying to talk about any kind of facts that he could help with?

PHILLIPS: I'm not going to get into the -- his statement, his demeanor. Again, we've been asked not to elaborate on that other than the fact that he seemed perfectly normal while he was here.

O'BRIEN: A big in all of this, sir, of course, is if Patrick Dennehy is dead, then where is the body? Do you feel like you have any new information in this part of the investigation?

PHILLIPS: Again, I can't elaborate on the statement. That's a question that would be better posed to the investigators in Waco, Texas.

O'BRIEN: I understand and I'm trying to just see if we can get any more information out of you on this.

What happens next? Carlton Dotson, as you said, has walked out. He's now, I would assume, back at home. What happens in the investigation now?

PHILLIPS: Well, again, we're -- we would be waiting for any direction that the Waco police would like us to take here. It's my understanding that Mr. Dotson's attorney is en route to this lo -- this area, was supposed to arrive at BWI Airport some time last night. Other than that, I can't tell you anything else that's going on.

O'BRIEN: All right, well, Sheriff James Phillips, we certainly appreciate your time this morning for what you were able to tell us.

Thanks a lot.

PHILLIPS: OK.

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 18, 2003 - 07:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: All right, turning now to Maryland, where police have questioned a Baylor University basketball player about the disappearance of a one time teammate. Carlton Dotson contacted Maryland authorities yesterday on his own. His attorney says he made an unsolicited and voluntary statement. Police in Texas say Dotson is a person of interest in the disappearance of Patrick Dennehy, who is, of course, the former Baylor player who's been missing for more than a month.
Sheriff James Phillips joins us from Dorchester County, Maryland this morning.

Good morning to you, Sheriff.

Thanks for joining us.

SHERIFF JAMES PHILLIPS, JR., DORCHESTER COUNTY, MARYLAND: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: You weren't particularly looking for Carlton Dotson to come in and make a statement, so are you surprised that he showed up and expressed an interest to talk to authorities?

PHILLIPS: Well, it certainly caught us by surprise when he contacted us and wanted us to send someone up to talk to him, yes.

O'BRIEN: Can you give me a sense or specifics about what he told detectives?

PHILLIPS: No. We've been asked by the Waco Police Department not to elaborate on the statement or anything contained in the statement. They've been made aware of the contents of the statement and it's now part of their investigation.

O'BRIEN: OK, how about this, did Carlton Dotson confess to shooting Patrick Dennehy?

PHILLIPS: Again, I can't elaborate on the statement at all.

O'BRIEN: If he had confessed, would you have immediately taken him into custody?

PHILLIPS: We are assisting the Waco Police Department and everything that we do, any action that we take is a direct result of a conversation that we would have with them, and we take whatever direction that they seem appropriate.

O'BRIEN: Well, he wasn't taken into custody after his discussions with authorities, right? He walked out on his own.

PHILLIPS: No, ma'am, he walked out of here. He left with his high school basketball coach.

O'BRIEN: Can you characterize the talks? If you can't give specifics, can you say the talks were helpful, the talks were confrontational? How did they -- how did he seem to investigators?

PHILLIPS: Basically, Mr. Dotson contacted us and stated that he wanted to talk and for about an hour and a half, that's what he did, he talked and we listened.

O'BRIEN: He requested to have an FBI agent present, but not his attorney. Did that surprise you?

PHILLIPS: No, not really.

O'BRIEN: His demeanor in the conversation, did he seem nervous? Did investigators tell you that he seemed anxious? Did he seem like a guy who had something to get off his chest or did he seem like someone who was just trying to talk about any kind of facts that he could help with?

PHILLIPS: I'm not going to get into the -- his statement, his demeanor. Again, we've been asked not to elaborate on that other than the fact that he seemed perfectly normal while he was here.

O'BRIEN: A big in all of this, sir, of course, is if Patrick Dennehy is dead, then where is the body? Do you feel like you have any new information in this part of the investigation?

PHILLIPS: Again, I can't elaborate on the statement. That's a question that would be better posed to the investigators in Waco, Texas.

O'BRIEN: I understand and I'm trying to just see if we can get any more information out of you on this.

What happens next? Carlton Dotson, as you said, has walked out. He's now, I would assume, back at home. What happens in the investigation now?

PHILLIPS: Well, again, we're -- we would be waiting for any direction that the Waco police would like us to take here. It's my understanding that Mr. Dotson's attorney is en route to this lo -- this area, was supposed to arrive at BWI Airport some time last night. Other than that, I can't tell you anything else that's going on.

O'BRIEN: All right, well, Sheriff James Phillips, we certainly appreciate your time this morning for what you were able to tell us.

Thanks a lot.

PHILLIPS: OK.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com