Return to Transcripts main page

American Morning

Jackson Hearing

Aired February 13, 2004 - 09:15   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: Michael Jackson's lawyers will be in court today for a pretrial hearing in the child molestation case against the pop star. The defendant, however, will not be with them. So what's expected to happen at today's proceedings?
Joining us this morning from the courthouse in Santa Maria, California is CNN's senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin.

Oh, look how dark it is there. Jeff, thanks for being with us.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Bright and early.

O'BRIEN: This is a preliminary hearing. What exactly is supposed to come out of this today?

TOOBIN: Well, the most important thing that will come out of it is, you know, I'm standing about 30 feet away from where Michael Jackson danced on top of the SUV, and that will not happen today; Michael won't be here.

But what will happen is, there will be a scheduled set for the rest of the case, at least the next stages. Most importantly a preliminary hearing will be set. That is where the government has to lay out its case for the first time. Also, there will be discussion about whether the search warrant materials, what the police were looking for and what they found when they searched the Neverland Ranch, whether that will be released. That's another topic on the agenda today.

O'BRIEN: And of those documents really key. The defense is hoping the judge will not allow them to be released, because that would really start the ball rolling on lots of pretrial publicity, right?

TOOBIN: Absolutely. And remember, when the prosecution puts together a search warrant affidavit, they only put in the most incriminating evidence they can find. So this is really -- will be a road map to the prosecution's case, plus a summary of all the worst stuff that they found and the defense has made the argument, which was successful the first time we were here for the arraignment, that the prejudicial publicity from the release of that is too great, so keep it secret for the time being.

O'BRIEN: Michael Jackson has a new member of his legal team. It's Ben Brafman. You know him. He's got a reputation, certainly as being very aggressive, and very good as well.

Tell me a little more about him.

TOOBIN: You know, when I was a prosecutor in federal court in Brooklyn, Soledad, I used to see Ben Brafman in court all the time. And I have to say, he is the single best lawyer I have ever seen. He is a stunningly good lawyer.

O'BRIEN: Wow, that's saying a lot, Jeff.

TOOBIN: Well, it is. You know, it's funny, people used to ask me about it, and before he was famous, I would say this guy name Ben Brafman is the best lawyer I have ever seen, and no one would know what I was talking about.

But now of course, he's most famous nationally because he represented with Johnnie Cochran, Sean Combs, P. Diddy, in that case a couple of years ago in New York. But he's extremely aggressive. He's funny in the courtroom often. And you know, Michael Jackson reached across the country, and I think he chose very well.

O'BRIEN: Does that mean less of a role for Geragos then?

TOOBIN: Well, that's the subject of a lot speculation here. Of course Mark Geragos has a very full plate. Everyone knows he represents Scott Peterson in his trial, which is beginning very shortly. He has other cases in Los Angeles, where he is. I do think that it's likely that Brafman will become lead counsel. Whether Geragos stays on the case at all, I don't know. But Ben Brafman, I think, is going to be the guy, if and when this case goes to trial.

O'BRIEN: Jeff Toobin covering the pretrial hearing in the Michael Jackson case today. Jeff, thanks.

TOOBIN: See you, Soledad.

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 February 13, 2004 - 09:15   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Michael Jackson's lawyers will be in court today for a pretrial hearing in the child molestation case against the pop star. The defendant, however, will not be with them. So what's expected to happen at today's proceedings?
Joining us this morning from the courthouse in Santa Maria, California is CNN's senior legal analyst Jeff Toobin.

Oh, look how dark it is there. Jeff, thanks for being with us.

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SR. LEGAL ANALYST: Bright and early.

O'BRIEN: This is a preliminary hearing. What exactly is supposed to come out of this today?

TOOBIN: Well, the most important thing that will come out of it is, you know, I'm standing about 30 feet away from where Michael Jackson danced on top of the SUV, and that will not happen today; Michael won't be here.

But what will happen is, there will be a scheduled set for the rest of the case, at least the next stages. Most importantly a preliminary hearing will be set. That is where the government has to lay out its case for the first time. Also, there will be discussion about whether the search warrant materials, what the police were looking for and what they found when they searched the Neverland Ranch, whether that will be released. That's another topic on the agenda today.

O'BRIEN: And of those documents really key. The defense is hoping the judge will not allow them to be released, because that would really start the ball rolling on lots of pretrial publicity, right?

TOOBIN: Absolutely. And remember, when the prosecution puts together a search warrant affidavit, they only put in the most incriminating evidence they can find. So this is really -- will be a road map to the prosecution's case, plus a summary of all the worst stuff that they found and the defense has made the argument, which was successful the first time we were here for the arraignment, that the prejudicial publicity from the release of that is too great, so keep it secret for the time being.

O'BRIEN: Michael Jackson has a new member of his legal team. It's Ben Brafman. You know him. He's got a reputation, certainly as being very aggressive, and very good as well.

Tell me a little more about him.

TOOBIN: You know, when I was a prosecutor in federal court in Brooklyn, Soledad, I used to see Ben Brafman in court all the time. And I have to say, he is the single best lawyer I have ever seen. He is a stunningly good lawyer.

O'BRIEN: Wow, that's saying a lot, Jeff.

TOOBIN: Well, it is. You know, it's funny, people used to ask me about it, and before he was famous, I would say this guy name Ben Brafman is the best lawyer I have ever seen, and no one would know what I was talking about.

But now of course, he's most famous nationally because he represented with Johnnie Cochran, Sean Combs, P. Diddy, in that case a couple of years ago in New York. But he's extremely aggressive. He's funny in the courtroom often. And you know, Michael Jackson reached across the country, and I think he chose very well.

O'BRIEN: Does that mean less of a role for Geragos then?

TOOBIN: Well, that's the subject of a lot speculation here. Of course Mark Geragos has a very full plate. Everyone knows he represents Scott Peterson in his trial, which is beginning very shortly. He has other cases in Los Angeles, where he is. I do think that it's likely that Brafman will become lead counsel. Whether Geragos stays on the case at all, I don't know. But Ben Brafman, I think, is going to be the guy, if and when this case goes to trial.

O'BRIEN: Jeff Toobin covering the pretrial hearing in the Michael Jackson case today. Jeff, thanks.

TOOBIN: See you, Soledad.

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