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American Morning

Legal Spotlight

Aired December 22, 2003 - 09:07   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.


ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: In the legal spotlight this morning, Rush Limbaugh, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jackson.
Our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is here.

Jeffrey, good to see you.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.

COOPER: Michael Jackson, we heard the charges last week. What did we learn last week that we didn't know?

TOOBIN: We learned that the case is bad news for Michael Jackson, but it could have been a lot worse. It remains a one-witness case, essentially. There's only one accuser. Remember, when the charges were first filed, the district attorney said, you know, any other people, please come forward with your charges. Well, apparently, no one came forward with credible evidence. There is always the issue of a financial incentive for this family that brought these cases.

So, -- and of course, this is the kid who in February, in the middle of the time when these allegations, when these events were supposedly taking place, went to the Los Angeles authorities and said nothing untoward happened with Michael Jackson. So, I mean, this is going to be a difficult, not impossible, but a difficult case for the prosecution.

COOPER: We also learned that this kid, this child, will be testifying if this thing ever does make it to trial.

TOOBIN: You couldn't possibly have a case like this without the child testifying. So he will be testifying. It will be an incredibly dramatic moment, but, you know, he is -- the whole case will rise and fall on the credibility of a, I guess now, 13-year-old. That's tough for the prosecution.

COOPER: And just this weekend there was some sort of a party, some sort of public relations event, trying to get some celebrities there, to sort of express their support for Michael Jackson, no doubt we'll probably be seeing more about that. I take it you were not invited.

TOOBIN: I was not invited, tragically. But I think that is a misconception. The more this trial focuses on Michael Jackson, the worse it is for Michael Jackson.

COOPER: How's that?

TOOBIN: Well, I think he's just so odd and such a peculiar person that he doesn't benefit from the scrutiny. Unfortunately, I mean, the ugliness of life being what it is, the more they can point out the problems with the prosecution, the more they can point out the problems with the accuser, that's where the defense will do better.

COOPER: And that certainly seems like what they're going to be doing, targeting this family. And it is a divided family.

TOOBIN: No-holds-barred. I mean, this is going to be a total attack on this kid.

COOPER: Let's talk about the Rush Limbaugh case. Today, a judge is going to hear evidence from prosecutors and from Rush Limbaugh's attorneys as to why his medical records should not be released.

TOOBIN: You know, I think Rush has a very weak argument here, because the evidence of -- the medical records are the evidence of the alleged crime. The claim is that he sort of shopped around for various doctors to keep getting prescriptions to these different -- to these medications improperly.

COOPER: Which is, I think, a third degree felony in Florida, up to five years in jail.

TOOBIN: Right. It is usually not prosecuted. Usually the people who are prosecuted are the suppliers, not the customers. But it is a crime to be a customer who shops around and lies to doctors. But the evidence of the crime, if there is a crime, is in the medical records. So I don't see how he can keep those from being disclosed.

COOPER: Rush Limbaugh has said on the air, and his attorneys have basically said, look, this is a fishing expedition, they're just kind of casting a wide net. Prosecutors say, look, all we have to do is prove that the information in these files is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation.

TOOBIN: The standard for relevance is the acquisition of evidence is very, very low. Remember, we're not talking about the evidence to be presented to a jury. This is just evidence that the government can collect in the course of its investigation. There, the government essentially has carte blanche. So I think it's very, very unlikely we'll get this stuff suppressed.

COOPER: One of Rush Limbaugh's attorneys, Roy Black, said that -- you know, wondering why isn't there an outcry over the government trying to get the medical records of Rush Limbaugh when there has been something of an outcry about Kobe Bryant's attorneys, he actually referenced Kobe Bryant's attorneys, trying to get the medical records released of the alleged victim, the accuser of Kobe Bryant.

TOOBIN: It's a clever legal argument. I think it misconceives the nature of the two crimes. The Kobe Bryant case is a rape case. Has nothing to do, directly anyway, with the accuser's medical records. The Rush Limbaugh case is about abuse of the medical process. So you obviously need the medical records to investigate it.

COOPER: Do you think the medical records in the Kobe Bryant case will be allowed in?

TOOBIN: I think the judge is going to be very careful there, because it is such an -- it is a terrible invasion of privacy. He's going to, I think, examine them himself first, the judge will. He will look at them and determine whether there's anything that really needs to be disclosed in order to test her credibility. Because of course her credibility is the central issue in that case. I think she will -- the judge will, if there's anything going to something like schizophrenia, which is something that the defense has alleged, that I think has to be disclosed to the defense, because that really does potentially...

COOPER: They said she was taking some antipsychotic medication. They didn't give a sense of when that was, though.

TOOBIN: Suicide attempts, suicide attempts very close question. I don't know if suicide attempts really goes to credibility. That's going to be tough for the judge.

COOPER: All right, a lot to watch this week. Jeffrey Toobin, thanks very much.

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 22, 2003 - 09:07   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
ANDERSON COOPER, CNN ANCHOR: In the legal spotlight this morning, Rush Limbaugh, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jackson.
Our senior legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin is here.

Jeffrey, good to see you.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.

COOPER: Michael Jackson, we heard the charges last week. What did we learn last week that we didn't know?

TOOBIN: We learned that the case is bad news for Michael Jackson, but it could have been a lot worse. It remains a one-witness case, essentially. There's only one accuser. Remember, when the charges were first filed, the district attorney said, you know, any other people, please come forward with your charges. Well, apparently, no one came forward with credible evidence. There is always the issue of a financial incentive for this family that brought these cases.

So, -- and of course, this is the kid who in February, in the middle of the time when these allegations, when these events were supposedly taking place, went to the Los Angeles authorities and said nothing untoward happened with Michael Jackson. So, I mean, this is going to be a difficult, not impossible, but a difficult case for the prosecution.

COOPER: We also learned that this kid, this child, will be testifying if this thing ever does make it to trial.

TOOBIN: You couldn't possibly have a case like this without the child testifying. So he will be testifying. It will be an incredibly dramatic moment, but, you know, he is -- the whole case will rise and fall on the credibility of a, I guess now, 13-year-old. That's tough for the prosecution.

COOPER: And just this weekend there was some sort of a party, some sort of public relations event, trying to get some celebrities there, to sort of express their support for Michael Jackson, no doubt we'll probably be seeing more about that. I take it you were not invited.

TOOBIN: I was not invited, tragically. But I think that is a misconception. The more this trial focuses on Michael Jackson, the worse it is for Michael Jackson.

COOPER: How's that?

TOOBIN: Well, I think he's just so odd and such a peculiar person that he doesn't benefit from the scrutiny. Unfortunately, I mean, the ugliness of life being what it is, the more they can point out the problems with the prosecution, the more they can point out the problems with the accuser, that's where the defense will do better.

COOPER: And that certainly seems like what they're going to be doing, targeting this family. And it is a divided family.

TOOBIN: No-holds-barred. I mean, this is going to be a total attack on this kid.

COOPER: Let's talk about the Rush Limbaugh case. Today, a judge is going to hear evidence from prosecutors and from Rush Limbaugh's attorneys as to why his medical records should not be released.

TOOBIN: You know, I think Rush has a very weak argument here, because the evidence of -- the medical records are the evidence of the alleged crime. The claim is that he sort of shopped around for various doctors to keep getting prescriptions to these different -- to these medications improperly.

COOPER: Which is, I think, a third degree felony in Florida, up to five years in jail.

TOOBIN: Right. It is usually not prosecuted. Usually the people who are prosecuted are the suppliers, not the customers. But it is a crime to be a customer who shops around and lies to doctors. But the evidence of the crime, if there is a crime, is in the medical records. So I don't see how he can keep those from being disclosed.

COOPER: Rush Limbaugh has said on the air, and his attorneys have basically said, look, this is a fishing expedition, they're just kind of casting a wide net. Prosecutors say, look, all we have to do is prove that the information in these files is relevant to an ongoing criminal investigation.

TOOBIN: The standard for relevance is the acquisition of evidence is very, very low. Remember, we're not talking about the evidence to be presented to a jury. This is just evidence that the government can collect in the course of its investigation. There, the government essentially has carte blanche. So I think it's very, very unlikely we'll get this stuff suppressed.

COOPER: One of Rush Limbaugh's attorneys, Roy Black, said that -- you know, wondering why isn't there an outcry over the government trying to get the medical records of Rush Limbaugh when there has been something of an outcry about Kobe Bryant's attorneys, he actually referenced Kobe Bryant's attorneys, trying to get the medical records released of the alleged victim, the accuser of Kobe Bryant.

TOOBIN: It's a clever legal argument. I think it misconceives the nature of the two crimes. The Kobe Bryant case is a rape case. Has nothing to do, directly anyway, with the accuser's medical records. The Rush Limbaugh case is about abuse of the medical process. So you obviously need the medical records to investigate it.

COOPER: Do you think the medical records in the Kobe Bryant case will be allowed in?

TOOBIN: I think the judge is going to be very careful there, because it is such an -- it is a terrible invasion of privacy. He's going to, I think, examine them himself first, the judge will. He will look at them and determine whether there's anything that really needs to be disclosed in order to test her credibility. Because of course her credibility is the central issue in that case. I think she will -- the judge will, if there's anything going to something like schizophrenia, which is something that the defense has alleged, that I think has to be disclosed to the defense, because that really does potentially...

COOPER: They said she was taking some antipsychotic medication. They didn't give a sense of when that was, though.

TOOBIN: Suicide attempts, suicide attempts very close question. I don't know if suicide attempts really goes to credibility. That's going to be tough for the judge.

COOPER: All right, a lot to watch this week. Jeffrey Toobin, thanks very much.

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