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American Morning
Formal Charges Against Michael Jackson
Aired December 19, 2003 - 07:06 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: The attorney for Michael Jackson, Mark Geragos, says that his client is unequivocally innocent. Police yesterday charged the superstar with nine counts related to child molestation.
District attorney Tom Sneddon says the alleged victim will testify at the trial. Geragos is accusing the victim's family of going after money. Geragos also accuses prosecutors of -- quote -- "playing the race card," saying a firm hired by the D.A. is putting out stories saying that Jackson joined Louis Farrakhan's nation of Islam, and that Johnny Cochran would join the defense team. The firm denies that.
Geragos also revealing last night an incident where someone allegedly placed a pipe bomb outside his home.
Michael Jackson is to be arraigned January 16.
And CNN's senior legal analyst, Jeff Toobin, is with us this morning.
Lots of developments.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Lots of things.
O'BRIEN: So, we'll get right into it. Geragos comes out yesterday on "LARRY KING LIVE" and calls the whole thing a joke. He points to many of the things we've just highlighted there -- that it's about money. He comes out very strong. Give me a sense of what you think of the case at this point from what we know what was in the -- what was released.
TOOBIN: Michael Jackson had a bad day yesterday, but it could have been a lot worse. This case looks not that strong at the moment. It could, of course, look a lot better if the testimony pans out.
Two things to think about. One is there is still only one accuser. Remember, district attorney Sneddon said other people come forward, let's hear about your stories. Either no one came forward or no one credible came forward, so it's just one accuser.
Second: the timeframe. The time that the alleged abuse is alleged to have taken place is precisely the time when we know that the accuser was interviewed by the Los Angeles child investigation authorities and said no abuse happened.
O'BRIEN: And then a few weeks after that, but it does overlap to some degree.
TOOBIN: It does overlap, and that's just a problem for the prosecution. It doesn't mean that they can't explain it away, but it's certainly something that will be helpful to the defense.
O'BRIEN: And, in fact, many dates are kind of critical here, because what seems to have started all of this is the date of the Martin Bashir documentary, which I believe was on February 6.
TOOBIN: Correct.
O'BRIEN: Why is that date so critical?
TOOBIN: Because the abuse alleged goes from -- according to the charges yesterday -- February 7 to March 20. Why does the Martin Bashir documentary somehow trigger the abuse starting? It's a peculiarity that the prosecution may or may not be able to explain.
O'BRIEN: Tom Sneddon said everything is going to become clear when the charges are officially filed. They were filed yesterday. Are things more clear?
TOOBIN: They're somewhat more clear. At least the scope of the charge is now evident, but, you know, whether he's guilty or innocent, that's very far from clear.
O'BRIEN: All right, nice to see you, as always. Jeff, you're going to stick around with us. We've got a zillion legal cases today.
TOOBIN: Lots of things to talk about, yes, indeed.
O'BRIEN: So, Michael Jackson being just one of them.
TOOBIN: That's right.
O'BRIEN: We're going to ask you to stick around. 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 December 19, 2003 - 07:06 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The attorney for Michael Jackson, Mark Geragos, says that his client is unequivocally innocent. Police yesterday charged the superstar with nine counts related to child molestation.
District attorney Tom Sneddon says the alleged victim will testify at the trial. Geragos is accusing the victim's family of going after money. Geragos also accuses prosecutors of -- quote -- "playing the race card," saying a firm hired by the D.A. is putting out stories saying that Jackson joined Louis Farrakhan's nation of Islam, and that Johnny Cochran would join the defense team. The firm denies that.
Geragos also revealing last night an incident where someone allegedly placed a pipe bomb outside his home.
Michael Jackson is to be arraigned January 16.
And CNN's senior legal analyst, Jeff Toobin, is with us this morning.
Lots of developments.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: Lots of things.
O'BRIEN: So, we'll get right into it. Geragos comes out yesterday on "LARRY KING LIVE" and calls the whole thing a joke. He points to many of the things we've just highlighted there -- that it's about money. He comes out very strong. Give me a sense of what you think of the case at this point from what we know what was in the -- what was released.
TOOBIN: Michael Jackson had a bad day yesterday, but it could have been a lot worse. This case looks not that strong at the moment. It could, of course, look a lot better if the testimony pans out.
Two things to think about. One is there is still only one accuser. Remember, district attorney Sneddon said other people come forward, let's hear about your stories. Either no one came forward or no one credible came forward, so it's just one accuser.
Second: the timeframe. The time that the alleged abuse is alleged to have taken place is precisely the time when we know that the accuser was interviewed by the Los Angeles child investigation authorities and said no abuse happened.
O'BRIEN: And then a few weeks after that, but it does overlap to some degree.
TOOBIN: It does overlap, and that's just a problem for the prosecution. It doesn't mean that they can't explain it away, but it's certainly something that will be helpful to the defense.
O'BRIEN: And, in fact, many dates are kind of critical here, because what seems to have started all of this is the date of the Martin Bashir documentary, which I believe was on February 6.
TOOBIN: Correct.
O'BRIEN: Why is that date so critical?
TOOBIN: Because the abuse alleged goes from -- according to the charges yesterday -- February 7 to March 20. Why does the Martin Bashir documentary somehow trigger the abuse starting? It's a peculiarity that the prosecution may or may not be able to explain.
O'BRIEN: Tom Sneddon said everything is going to become clear when the charges are officially filed. They were filed yesterday. Are things more clear?
TOOBIN: They're somewhat more clear. At least the scope of the charge is now evident, but, you know, whether he's guilty or innocent, that's very far from clear.
O'BRIEN: All right, nice to see you, as always. Jeff, you're going to stick around with us. We've got a zillion legal cases today.
TOOBIN: Lots of things to talk about, yes, indeed.
O'BRIEN: So, Michael Jackson being just one of them.
TOOBIN: That's right.
O'BRIEN: We're going to ask you to stick around. 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.
