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American Morning

John Muhammad Case

Aired November 03, 2003 - 07:17   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: This morning the trial of accused D.C.-area sniper John Muhammad enters its third week. Prosecutors have been trying to link Muhammad to more than a dozen other shootings, and this week they'll present testimony related to the final murder in the last year's sniper spree.
Michael Ruane is a co-author of the book "Sniper," and he joins to us this morning from the Virginia Beach courthouse to talk a little bit about what we can expect this morning.

Michael, good morning. Nice to see you again. Thanks.

MICHAEL RUANE, CO-AUTHOR, "SNIPER": Good morning.

O'BRIEN: OK, what do you think is ahead? Obviously, we've got one final shooting to discuss. What do you expect to see on the stand?

RUANE: Well, we think that we're going to hear, you know, detailed testimony about the shooting of Conrad Johnson, who was the 10th and final victim in this sniper spree. He was shot at 5:55 in the morning on the morning of October 22, as he stood in the doorway of his bus, illuminated in the pre-dawn darkness by the internal lights of the bus.

You know, once again, we'll hear most likely from an eyewitness who was present, a young trainee who was on the bus with him. We'll hear her anguished 911 call. Frantically, she called the police and begged for them to hurry up, saying, I'm scared. He's been shot about two minutes. Please hurry.

And we'll probably hear from his family. Conrad Johnson was 35 years old, had a wife and two children. He was a beloved figure at the bus depot, where he worked.

And after that, we will kind of turn a page in the trial, I think, and we'll go into a long period of hearing complex and fascinating scientific forensic evidence...

O'BRIEN: So, Michael, do you think that...

RUANE: ... that will, I think...

O'BRIEN: And forgive me for interrupting you. So, what you're saying is basically they're going to continue the emotional testimony, really what has been -- I think it's fair to say -- just gut-wrenching testimony and then make the turn, because really the case to some degree is going to have to cover a lot of forensic evidence. And that's where we're going to see the turn sometime today probably.

RUANE: Exactly, yes. I think they have a lot of loose ends to tie up forensically with fingerprints and DNA and ballistics examinations that will tie all of these cases together, they hope.

O'BRIEN: Obviously a horrible, horrible difficult time for the families who lost people, or even people who were shot and survived. How's the jury been reacting? Because I have to imagine after all of this testimony, it must be very difficult for the jurors as well. Are you seeing any emotion on their behalf?

RUANE: Yes, you know, the testimony last week was about the Linda Franklin shooting. It was really gruesome and graphic. And jurors were weeping in the jury box. They played another horrific 911 call.

Linda Franklin was shot in the head in front of her husband, and they played the -- in court the 911 call that he made, and it's just the sort of the depth -- the deepest depths of human emotion that you will ever hear, an anguished man over the body of his dead wife. It's got to be rough on the jurors, and one hopes that they're sort of keeping an even keel through this.

O'BRIEN: Yes, no question about that. Michael Ruane joining us this morning from Virginia Beach, the courthouse there, where, of course, you've been attending this trial. Thanks, Michael.

RUANE: You're welcome.

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 November 3, 2003 - 07:17   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: This morning the trial of accused D.C.-area sniper John Muhammad enters its third week. Prosecutors have been trying to link Muhammad to more than a dozen other shootings, and this week they'll present testimony related to the final murder in the last year's sniper spree.
Michael Ruane is a co-author of the book "Sniper," and he joins to us this morning from the Virginia Beach courthouse to talk a little bit about what we can expect this morning.

Michael, good morning. Nice to see you again. Thanks.

MICHAEL RUANE, CO-AUTHOR, "SNIPER": Good morning.

O'BRIEN: OK, what do you think is ahead? Obviously, we've got one final shooting to discuss. What do you expect to see on the stand?

RUANE: Well, we think that we're going to hear, you know, detailed testimony about the shooting of Conrad Johnson, who was the 10th and final victim in this sniper spree. He was shot at 5:55 in the morning on the morning of October 22, as he stood in the doorway of his bus, illuminated in the pre-dawn darkness by the internal lights of the bus.

You know, once again, we'll hear most likely from an eyewitness who was present, a young trainee who was on the bus with him. We'll hear her anguished 911 call. Frantically, she called the police and begged for them to hurry up, saying, I'm scared. He's been shot about two minutes. Please hurry.

And we'll probably hear from his family. Conrad Johnson was 35 years old, had a wife and two children. He was a beloved figure at the bus depot, where he worked.

And after that, we will kind of turn a page in the trial, I think, and we'll go into a long period of hearing complex and fascinating scientific forensic evidence...

O'BRIEN: So, Michael, do you think that...

RUANE: ... that will, I think...

O'BRIEN: And forgive me for interrupting you. So, what you're saying is basically they're going to continue the emotional testimony, really what has been -- I think it's fair to say -- just gut-wrenching testimony and then make the turn, because really the case to some degree is going to have to cover a lot of forensic evidence. And that's where we're going to see the turn sometime today probably.

RUANE: Exactly, yes. I think they have a lot of loose ends to tie up forensically with fingerprints and DNA and ballistics examinations that will tie all of these cases together, they hope.

O'BRIEN: Obviously a horrible, horrible difficult time for the families who lost people, or even people who were shot and survived. How's the jury been reacting? Because I have to imagine after all of this testimony, it must be very difficult for the jurors as well. Are you seeing any emotion on their behalf?

RUANE: Yes, you know, the testimony last week was about the Linda Franklin shooting. It was really gruesome and graphic. And jurors were weeping in the jury box. They played another horrific 911 call.

Linda Franklin was shot in the head in front of her husband, and they played the -- in court the 911 call that he made, and it's just the sort of the depth -- the deepest depths of human emotion that you will ever hear, an anguished man over the body of his dead wife. It's got to be rough on the jurors, and one hopes that they're sort of keeping an even keel through this.

O'BRIEN: Yes, no question about that. Michael Ruane joining us this morning from Virginia Beach, the courthouse there, where, of course, you've been attending this trial. Thanks, Michael.

RUANE: You're welcome.

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