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American Morning
The Law in 2003
Aired December 26, 2003 - 07:35 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: Well, Scott Peterson is scheduled to go on trial next month in the killing of his wife Laci and their unborn child. Through all the twists and turns of the much publicized case, Peterson has insisted that he is innocent.
Joining us this morning to talk about that case and many other developments in the world of law, our senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin.
Nice to see you.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.
O'BRIEN: Happy holidays.
TOOBIN: Happy holidays to you.
O'BRIEN: Thanks for coming in.
We have so many cases to talk about.
TOOBIN: That's how we like it.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right in.
Exactly. Good job security, isn't it?
TOOBIN: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: The trial date is set for January 26th, but as I just said, he's scheduled, but probably won't get...
TOOBIN: Very, very unlikely. First of all, this is California, land of the legal delay. So this is not, this case has actually gone fairly expeditiously. Remember, Laci disappeared on Christmas Eve. She was found in April. Scott was charged shortly thereafter. There was a preliminary hearing in the fall and a trial date was set for January.
But there are so many legal motions still to be heard, including, most importantly, the change of venue.
O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk about that one. How likely do you think it is? And what do you make of the defense's argument that he cannot get a fair trial in Modesto?
TOOBIN: You know, this is the best change of venue motion I have ever heard. Given the intensity of the publicity and given the fact that Modesto was the center of all this activity, where you had literally hundreds of people combing through the countryside looking for Laci, you have so many people emotionally invested in this case, I think it's a -- it's very likely that this trial will be moved.
O'BRIEN: At the same time, this is a case that's got to have been on the front page of "People" magazine, what, five times, six times?
TOOBIN: Yes, no, that's true. But...
O'BRIEN: Where are you going to move it to?
TOOBIN: But the intensity of the interest will be different elsewhere in California. Mark Geragos, the lawyer in this, and every other case in America, she -- he's from southern California. You can be sure he's going to want to move it to there, Orange County, somewhere towards the south, L.A., San Diego. I think that's a much better, a much better chance of getting a relatively uninvolved jury.
O'BRIEN: Rush Limbaugh, he got a stay. The medical records will now stay sealed for 15 days. What do you think the odds are that those medical records, in the end, will remain sealed?
TOOBIN: I think those odds are poor. I think it's very likely they will be released. He has a very, he has a lousy argument on the medical records.
O'BRIEN: Why is it lousy? I mean don't you have the right to privacy for your medical records?
TOOBIN: But the offense that he's being investigated for is doctor shopping, which is a felony in Florida. The only way you can prove that, as a -- for prosecutors, is to look at the medical records. That is the evidence of the crime. It's not like the Kobe Bryant case, where the accuser's medical records are sort of a side issue and you don't really necessarily need to examine them for the core issue in the trial.
Here, the core issue is did he doctor shop to get more pills? I think he's got no shot of keeping those medical records secret.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Kobe Bryant before we run out of time.
An interview last night, I'm sure you saw the little clip, where he talked about how hard it's been to focus on his game as opposed to this trial, pending trial, as it all sort of spirals into the big trial.
Do you think that when he does press availabilities to this one interviewer, that's a good thing for him, a bad thing? I mean it's really the first time we've kind of got to hear his side.
TOOBIN: You know, I have been consistently strong on this subject. I really have. I mean I thought that this was...
O'BRIEN: So give me your answer and we won't hold you to any kind of...
TOOBIN: No, but I mean I thought from the very beginning that this was all going to hurt him a lot, that he would become unpopular, that fans would turn on him around the country. They haven't, and I don't know what that says about America, but, you know, I don't think he hurts himself that much. You know, the fans, people in his world and people generally have really withheld judgment on his case. He is not as unpopular as I thought he would be. So I don't think he hurts himself much and he probably helps himself somewhat.
O'BRIEN: And it seemed like the interview was well received so that'll be interesting to see.
TOOBIN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Jeff Toobin...
TOOBIN: Let's try to be less wrong on that case this year.
O'BRIEN: That's all right. You know what? It's OK. Everyone gets to be wrong every once in a while, Jeff.
TOOBIN: Well, I...
O'BRIEN: You, too, are human.
TOOBIN: ... and I take advantage of that. That's right.
O'BRIEN: It's nice for us to see that you, too, are also a mortal.
TOOBIN: All right.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
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 26, 2003 - 07:35 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Well, Scott Peterson is scheduled to go on trial next month in the killing of his wife Laci and their unborn child. Through all the twists and turns of the much publicized case, Peterson has insisted that he is innocent.
Joining us this morning to talk about that case and many other developments in the world of law, our senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin.
Nice to see you.
JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hi.
O'BRIEN: Happy holidays.
TOOBIN: Happy holidays to you.
O'BRIEN: Thanks for coming in.
We have so many cases to talk about.
TOOBIN: That's how we like it.
O'BRIEN: Let's get right in.
Exactly. Good job security, isn't it?
TOOBIN: Exactly.
O'BRIEN: The trial date is set for January 26th, but as I just said, he's scheduled, but probably won't get...
TOOBIN: Very, very unlikely. First of all, this is California, land of the legal delay. So this is not, this case has actually gone fairly expeditiously. Remember, Laci disappeared on Christmas Eve. She was found in April. Scott was charged shortly thereafter. There was a preliminary hearing in the fall and a trial date was set for January.
But there are so many legal motions still to be heard, including, most importantly, the change of venue.
O'BRIEN: Well, let's talk about that one. How likely do you think it is? And what do you make of the defense's argument that he cannot get a fair trial in Modesto?
TOOBIN: You know, this is the best change of venue motion I have ever heard. Given the intensity of the publicity and given the fact that Modesto was the center of all this activity, where you had literally hundreds of people combing through the countryside looking for Laci, you have so many people emotionally invested in this case, I think it's a -- it's very likely that this trial will be moved.
O'BRIEN: At the same time, this is a case that's got to have been on the front page of "People" magazine, what, five times, six times?
TOOBIN: Yes, no, that's true. But...
O'BRIEN: Where are you going to move it to?
TOOBIN: But the intensity of the interest will be different elsewhere in California. Mark Geragos, the lawyer in this, and every other case in America, she -- he's from southern California. You can be sure he's going to want to move it to there, Orange County, somewhere towards the south, L.A., San Diego. I think that's a much better, a much better chance of getting a relatively uninvolved jury.
O'BRIEN: Rush Limbaugh, he got a stay. The medical records will now stay sealed for 15 days. What do you think the odds are that those medical records, in the end, will remain sealed?
TOOBIN: I think those odds are poor. I think it's very likely they will be released. He has a very, he has a lousy argument on the medical records.
O'BRIEN: Why is it lousy? I mean don't you have the right to privacy for your medical records?
TOOBIN: But the offense that he's being investigated for is doctor shopping, which is a felony in Florida. The only way you can prove that, as a -- for prosecutors, is to look at the medical records. That is the evidence of the crime. It's not like the Kobe Bryant case, where the accuser's medical records are sort of a side issue and you don't really necessarily need to examine them for the core issue in the trial.
Here, the core issue is did he doctor shop to get more pills? I think he's got no shot of keeping those medical records secret.
O'BRIEN: Let's talk about Kobe Bryant before we run out of time.
An interview last night, I'm sure you saw the little clip, where he talked about how hard it's been to focus on his game as opposed to this trial, pending trial, as it all sort of spirals into the big trial.
Do you think that when he does press availabilities to this one interviewer, that's a good thing for him, a bad thing? I mean it's really the first time we've kind of got to hear his side.
TOOBIN: You know, I have been consistently strong on this subject. I really have. I mean I thought that this was...
O'BRIEN: So give me your answer and we won't hold you to any kind of...
TOOBIN: No, but I mean I thought from the very beginning that this was all going to hurt him a lot, that he would become unpopular, that fans would turn on him around the country. They haven't, and I don't know what that says about America, but, you know, I don't think he hurts himself that much. You know, the fans, people in his world and people generally have really withheld judgment on his case. He is not as unpopular as I thought he would be. So I don't think he hurts himself much and he probably helps himself somewhat.
O'BRIEN: And it seemed like the interview was well received so that'll be interesting to see.
TOOBIN: Yes.
O'BRIEN: Jeff Toobin...
TOOBIN: Let's try to be less wrong on that case this year.
O'BRIEN: That's all right. You know what? It's OK. Everyone gets to be wrong every once in a while, Jeff.
TOOBIN: Well, I...
O'BRIEN: You, too, are human.
TOOBIN: ... and I take advantage of that. That's right.
O'BRIEN: It's nice for us to see that you, too, are also a mortal.
TOOBIN: All right.
O'BRIEN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
