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American Morning

California Will Investigate Brutality Allegations in Jackson Case

Aired January 01, 2004 - 09:14   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 State of California is going to investigate charges by Michael Jackson that he was mistreated by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department. The sheriff yesterday released video and audiotape of Jackson's arrest and the sheriff denied that his staff acted improperly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JIM ANDERSON, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: He was in no way manhandled or abused. His treatment by this department can only be described as professional. I am shocked and troubled by his allegations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: More on where this case is headed now with CNN legal analyst Chris Darden, who is with us from Los Angeles -- hey, Chris, good morning.

Happy New Year, etc., etc.

How are you?

CHRIS DARDEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I'm fine.

How are you?

O'BRIEN: Good.

I'm doing great.

All right. Let's get right to it.

This is what the sheriff had to say about the allegations that Michael Jackson made against his office.

Let's first listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL JACKSON: Could you put some air on, please?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

JACKSON: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that OK for you, Mr. Jackson?

JACKSON: It's wonderful.

Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

JACKSON: Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: They released this portion of audiotape and afterwards he said it clearly shows -- we have Michael Jackson saying, "Thank you very much," they're calling him Mr. Jackson, everyone is being incredibly polite.

Do you think that the sheriff's department, with the release of this chunk of audiotape, sort of improves their legal leg to stand on? Do you think that this bolsters their side of the story to the point where it's no longer an issue?

DARDEN: Well, it absolutely does bolster their side of the story. You know, one would think that there might be more audiotape containing Michael Jackson's voice and more videotape of Michael Jackson at the jail facility that might also bolster the sheriff's department's position that nothing untoward or improper occurred.

But is it a dead issue? I don't think so. Because what this is fundamentally is attack, an attack on Michael Jackson's credibility. And if he lies about this, then I'm sure the prosecution's position will be that he would also lie about whether or not he molested the 12-year-old boy.

O'BRIEN: So then two questions out of that.

First, more tape, you said, might be out there. There are some people who say, OK, but you're playing snippets here and snippets there. There's -- it's very possible, certainly, for the sheriff's employees to be incredibly gracious and nice one moment and then turn around and not be nice the next moment, isn't it? So without the release of the whole tape, you really don't know the whole story.

DARDEN: Well, you certainly don't know the whole story. You know, yesterday on cnn.com there was videotaped footage of the jail area and of the cell that Michael Jackson visited when he had to go to the restroom. And it's very clear in that footage that there are video cameras located outside the door of that particular cell and directed at the door of that cell. So there should be more footage.

O'BRIEN: All right, this is the videotape that you're talking about. The district attorney's office now investigating. The sheriff's department has said if it is found that Michael Jackson is not telling the truth, they're going to take the investigation a step further. There are many people who've said wait a minute, doesn't all this go -- what about the child molestation charges? I mean haven't we lost our focus on that investigation and we're now sort of pulled into this other thing that in the big picture maybe isn't all that relevant? Or do you think that's not fair to say?

DARDEN: Well, clearly, you know, the most important issue here is whether or not this young boy was molested. And certainly all of us, as adults, have an obligation to protect that boy and to prosecute Michael Jackson if, in fact, he is guilty of this crime. But all we've been focusing on lately are barbs passed between the prosecution and Mark Geragos, of course, and on Michael Jackson's celebrity.

And, so, yes, we're already losing sight of the real issue here very early on in this process.

O'BRIEN: You think it hurts the case in the long run or do you think it has no difference to the actual molestation case that will go to trial one day?

DARDEN: Well, it may have -- it may make a difference in the minds of some jurors. You're going to find a lot of people in Santa Barbara County who are going to resent any false allegations made against their police officers. And this may or may not be a false allegation.

O'BRIEN: Chris Darden joining us this morning.

Hey, Chris, thanks a lot.

Appreciate your time.

DARDEN: 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




Jackson Case>


Aired January 1, 2004 - 09:14   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 State of California is going to investigate charges by Michael Jackson that he was mistreated by the Santa Barbara County Sheriff's Department. The sheriff yesterday released video and audiotape of Jackson's arrest and the sheriff denied that his staff acted improperly.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHERIFF JIM ANDERSON, SANTA BARBARA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: He was in no way manhandled or abused. His treatment by this department can only be described as professional. I am shocked and troubled by his allegations.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: More on where this case is headed now with CNN legal analyst Chris Darden, who is with us from Los Angeles -- hey, Chris, good morning.

Happy New Year, etc., etc.

How are you?

CHRIS DARDEN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I'm fine.

How are you?

O'BRIEN: Good.

I'm doing great.

All right. Let's get right to it.

This is what the sheriff had to say about the allegations that Michael Jackson made against his office.

Let's first listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL JACKSON: Could you put some air on, please?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

JACKSON: Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Is that OK for you, Mr. Jackson?

JACKSON: It's wonderful.

Thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK.

JACKSON: Thank you very much.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'BRIEN: They released this portion of audiotape and afterwards he said it clearly shows -- we have Michael Jackson saying, "Thank you very much," they're calling him Mr. Jackson, everyone is being incredibly polite.

Do you think that the sheriff's department, with the release of this chunk of audiotape, sort of improves their legal leg to stand on? Do you think that this bolsters their side of the story to the point where it's no longer an issue?

DARDEN: Well, it absolutely does bolster their side of the story. You know, one would think that there might be more audiotape containing Michael Jackson's voice and more videotape of Michael Jackson at the jail facility that might also bolster the sheriff's department's position that nothing untoward or improper occurred.

But is it a dead issue? I don't think so. Because what this is fundamentally is attack, an attack on Michael Jackson's credibility. And if he lies about this, then I'm sure the prosecution's position will be that he would also lie about whether or not he molested the 12-year-old boy.

O'BRIEN: So then two questions out of that.

First, more tape, you said, might be out there. There are some people who say, OK, but you're playing snippets here and snippets there. There's -- it's very possible, certainly, for the sheriff's employees to be incredibly gracious and nice one moment and then turn around and not be nice the next moment, isn't it? So without the release of the whole tape, you really don't know the whole story.

DARDEN: Well, you certainly don't know the whole story. You know, yesterday on cnn.com there was videotaped footage of the jail area and of the cell that Michael Jackson visited when he had to go to the restroom. And it's very clear in that footage that there are video cameras located outside the door of that particular cell and directed at the door of that cell. So there should be more footage.

O'BRIEN: All right, this is the videotape that you're talking about. The district attorney's office now investigating. The sheriff's department has said if it is found that Michael Jackson is not telling the truth, they're going to take the investigation a step further. There are many people who've said wait a minute, doesn't all this go -- what about the child molestation charges? I mean haven't we lost our focus on that investigation and we're now sort of pulled into this other thing that in the big picture maybe isn't all that relevant? Or do you think that's not fair to say?

DARDEN: Well, clearly, you know, the most important issue here is whether or not this young boy was molested. And certainly all of us, as adults, have an obligation to protect that boy and to prosecute Michael Jackson if, in fact, he is guilty of this crime. But all we've been focusing on lately are barbs passed between the prosecution and Mark Geragos, of course, and on Michael Jackson's celebrity.

And, so, yes, we're already losing sight of the real issue here very early on in this process.

O'BRIEN: You think it hurts the case in the long run or do you think it has no difference to the actual molestation case that will go to trial one day?

DARDEN: Well, it may have -- it may make a difference in the minds of some jurors. You're going to find a lot of people in Santa Barbara County who are going to resent any false allegations made against their police officers. And this may or may not be a false allegation.

O'BRIEN: Chris Darden joining us this morning.

Hey, Chris, thanks a lot.

Appreciate your time.

DARDEN: 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




Jackson Case>