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CNN Sunday Morning

Legal Briefs of the Rich and Famous

Aired February 09, 2003 - 08:12   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.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And now for "Legal Briefs" of the rich and famous. The rich and famous are keeping a lot of lawyers in nice suits these days, and that's the focus of our "Legal Briefs." Hotel guru Leona Helmsley, multimillion dollar verdict, Martha Stewart, her legal troubles, and actor Michael Douglas and his wife are suing a magazine over some wedding photos.
We have two guests to bat these issues around, Philadelphia trial attorney Michael Smerconish and Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, president of the ACLU of Miami. Good to have you both with us.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, TRIAL ATTORNEY: Good morning.

LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF, PRESIDENT, ACLU MIAMI: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Ladies first. Lida, Leona Helmsley. Poor Leona Helmsley. I wonder who her PR people are. They don't do a very good job for her, but maybe she's a tough client.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Well, they don't have you helping her around on her PR. This is -- Leona just got socked with an $11 million verdict because she just doesn't get it. She was sued for discrimination by a gay employee, who said that once she found out he was gay, she made his life impossible. She harassed him, she harangued him, she embarrassed him in front of people, and then she fired him simply because she was gay. The jury awarded him $11 million, and Leona complained after the verdict, oh, my goodness, oh my God, how dare you, judge, disclose what my legal worth is. Leona is worth more than most small countries, between $3 and $4 billion, that's billion with a B.

O'BRIEN: Well, Michael, should we feel sorry for Ms. Helmsley in any way? I mean, the stuff I read I don't even want to repeat what she said to this poor guy, supposedly.

SMERCONISH: I feel sorry for her.

O'BRIEN: Totally abusive. You feel sorry for her?

SMERCONISH: Yes, I think the pendulum has swung too far against Leona. Look, this guy is a guy who, according to evidence introduced at trial, he lied on his resume. There were drug issues on the job.

O'BRIEN: Wait a minute. Just because he lied on his resume -- come on, Michael.

SMERCONISH: I'm not finished with the list yet.

O'BRIEN: Keep going, then.

SMERCONISH: There were issues of drugs on the job that were introduced at trial. There were reports that he allowed his buddies to have access to rooms for free. He'd been fired from a number -- there were other positions, and in the end, he gets what, $3 million for every month that he worked for the queen of mean? I think it's excessive.

I love the line at the end, though, where she says, "what do I have left to lose, my virginity?" I mean, I love this woman. Where else but New York are you going to find somebody like her, and the reward was too large.

O'BRIEN: Well, there is certainly some entertainment factor there, and we all do appreciate that.

All right, let's talk about -- speaking of entertainment, Martha Stewart. This case has dragged on longer than I would have predicted, right, Lida? I mean, wouldn't you have expected a shoe to drop by now?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Well, you would have, except it keeps coming back to all the new things keep coming out. Now the latest is that she's been sued by investors in her own company along with some senior execs who have also been sued by these investors in her own company because they unloaded their stock in Martha Stewart's company before the scandal broke about the ImClone issues, and they unloaded their stock precisely because they knew that the ImClone issue would cause the price to plummet.

So the question is...

O'BRIEN: There's a bit of irony there that she's facing charges of insider information, and yet -- and her own executives, apparently, or at least according to the suit, did the same thing.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Oh, exactly. That's the irony. And the question then becomes, is she going to get a fair trial? And the answer is, well, there's two courts here. There's a court of law and the court of public opinion. And in the court of public opinion, people can base their opinion on just about anything. Gossip, innuendo, but in a court of law, she'll get a fair trial.

O'BRIEN: Michael, what do you think about poor Martha at this point? Do you feel sorry for her?

SMERCONISH: No. I don't feel sorry for her. It depends on the composition of the jury. Celebrity status can help, a la O.J., or it can hurt, like in the case of Leona Helmsley. I mean, if Martha Student gets a bunch of folks who have green pants with whales on them from Greenwich, then I think she's going to be in pretty good shape.

O'BRIEN: That was about six trends ago, Michael.

SMERCONISH: Well, I don't know, I never had a pair in my closet.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: He's still doing the leather just like those guys...

SMERCONISH: But if she gets a jury that looks nothing like Martha Stewart, not savvy investors, not people who play it close to the line, she's in trouble.

O'BRIEN: All right, let's move on. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Lida, now this is an interesting case in my mind. They're saying, well, these pictures which appeared in this one magazine, violated our privacy. But the real deal is, they had sold the rights to those pictures to another magazine. So how can they say it's a privacy issue?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Well, you know, this is a funny thing. The magazine got scooped, it got scooped by its competitor.

O'BRIEN: There you go.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: End of case, right?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Well, not quite. Not quite. The pictures were taken by a guy who was trespassing, who was not invited to the wedding, who was breaking the law. So yes, they do have a right to privacy, but the question is how much damage did they suffer, because, let's face it, a picture of Catherine Zeta-Jones on a bad day is better than a picture than just about any of us on a good day, including Michael.

O'BRIEN: Michael, is this felonious trespassing, felonious gate crashing? What is this?

SMERCONISH: The British courts have never recognized a right of privacy. This will be the first case where there's an award of monetary damages for a right of privacy if they get it. And here's what's interesting...

O'BRIEN: But Michael, isn't the case undermined by the fact that they were selling the pictures anyway?

SMERCONISH: Oh, I think that it is. And a judge this week, Miles, said, you know, you know that line in the wedding where it says, does anybody here object to this couple joining in holy matrimony? That implies that it has to be somewhat of a public event. People need to get access to be able to object. If you carry that to its logical -- maybe we'll get to go to the wedding next time.

O'BRIEN: They are public events, henceforth. There you go. All right, we'll leave it at that. A little interesting legal twist. I think we've made some legal precedent right here.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: Michael Smerconish, Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, thanks as always for your legal insights. We appreciate it.

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 9, 2003 - 08:12   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: And now for "Legal Briefs" of the rich and famous. The rich and famous are keeping a lot of lawyers in nice suits these days, and that's the focus of our "Legal Briefs." Hotel guru Leona Helmsley, multimillion dollar verdict, Martha Stewart, her legal troubles, and actor Michael Douglas and his wife are suing a magazine over some wedding photos.
We have two guests to bat these issues around, Philadelphia trial attorney Michael Smerconish and Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, president of the ACLU of Miami. Good to have you both with us.

MICHAEL SMERCONISH, TRIAL ATTORNEY: Good morning.

LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF, PRESIDENT, ACLU MIAMI: Good morning.

O'BRIEN: Ladies first. Lida, Leona Helmsley. Poor Leona Helmsley. I wonder who her PR people are. They don't do a very good job for her, but maybe she's a tough client.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Well, they don't have you helping her around on her PR. This is -- Leona just got socked with an $11 million verdict because she just doesn't get it. She was sued for discrimination by a gay employee, who said that once she found out he was gay, she made his life impossible. She harassed him, she harangued him, she embarrassed him in front of people, and then she fired him simply because she was gay. The jury awarded him $11 million, and Leona complained after the verdict, oh, my goodness, oh my God, how dare you, judge, disclose what my legal worth is. Leona is worth more than most small countries, between $3 and $4 billion, that's billion with a B.

O'BRIEN: Well, Michael, should we feel sorry for Ms. Helmsley in any way? I mean, the stuff I read I don't even want to repeat what she said to this poor guy, supposedly.

SMERCONISH: I feel sorry for her.

O'BRIEN: Totally abusive. You feel sorry for her?

SMERCONISH: Yes, I think the pendulum has swung too far against Leona. Look, this guy is a guy who, according to evidence introduced at trial, he lied on his resume. There were drug issues on the job.

O'BRIEN: Wait a minute. Just because he lied on his resume -- come on, Michael.

SMERCONISH: I'm not finished with the list yet.

O'BRIEN: Keep going, then.

SMERCONISH: There were issues of drugs on the job that were introduced at trial. There were reports that he allowed his buddies to have access to rooms for free. He'd been fired from a number -- there were other positions, and in the end, he gets what, $3 million for every month that he worked for the queen of mean? I think it's excessive.

I love the line at the end, though, where she says, "what do I have left to lose, my virginity?" I mean, I love this woman. Where else but New York are you going to find somebody like her, and the reward was too large.

O'BRIEN: Well, there is certainly some entertainment factor there, and we all do appreciate that.

All right, let's talk about -- speaking of entertainment, Martha Stewart. This case has dragged on longer than I would have predicted, right, Lida? I mean, wouldn't you have expected a shoe to drop by now?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Well, you would have, except it keeps coming back to all the new things keep coming out. Now the latest is that she's been sued by investors in her own company along with some senior execs who have also been sued by these investors in her own company because they unloaded their stock in Martha Stewart's company before the scandal broke about the ImClone issues, and they unloaded their stock precisely because they knew that the ImClone issue would cause the price to plummet.

So the question is...

O'BRIEN: There's a bit of irony there that she's facing charges of insider information, and yet -- and her own executives, apparently, or at least according to the suit, did the same thing.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Oh, exactly. That's the irony. And the question then becomes, is she going to get a fair trial? And the answer is, well, there's two courts here. There's a court of law and the court of public opinion. And in the court of public opinion, people can base their opinion on just about anything. Gossip, innuendo, but in a court of law, she'll get a fair trial.

O'BRIEN: Michael, what do you think about poor Martha at this point? Do you feel sorry for her?

SMERCONISH: No. I don't feel sorry for her. It depends on the composition of the jury. Celebrity status can help, a la O.J., or it can hurt, like in the case of Leona Helmsley. I mean, if Martha Student gets a bunch of folks who have green pants with whales on them from Greenwich, then I think she's going to be in pretty good shape.

O'BRIEN: That was about six trends ago, Michael.

SMERCONISH: Well, I don't know, I never had a pair in my closet.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: He's still doing the leather just like those guys...

SMERCONISH: But if she gets a jury that looks nothing like Martha Stewart, not savvy investors, not people who play it close to the line, she's in trouble.

O'BRIEN: All right, let's move on. Michael Douglas and Catherine Zeta-Jones. Lida, now this is an interesting case in my mind. They're saying, well, these pictures which appeared in this one magazine, violated our privacy. But the real deal is, they had sold the rights to those pictures to another magazine. So how can they say it's a privacy issue?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Well, you know, this is a funny thing. The magazine got scooped, it got scooped by its competitor.

O'BRIEN: There you go.

(CROSSTALK)

O'BRIEN: End of case, right?

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Well, not quite. Not quite. The pictures were taken by a guy who was trespassing, who was not invited to the wedding, who was breaking the law. So yes, they do have a right to privacy, but the question is how much damage did they suffer, because, let's face it, a picture of Catherine Zeta-Jones on a bad day is better than a picture than just about any of us on a good day, including Michael.

O'BRIEN: Michael, is this felonious trespassing, felonious gate crashing? What is this?

SMERCONISH: The British courts have never recognized a right of privacy. This will be the first case where there's an award of monetary damages for a right of privacy if they get it. And here's what's interesting...

O'BRIEN: But Michael, isn't the case undermined by the fact that they were selling the pictures anyway?

SMERCONISH: Oh, I think that it is. And a judge this week, Miles, said, you know, you know that line in the wedding where it says, does anybody here object to this couple joining in holy matrimony? That implies that it has to be somewhat of a public event. People need to get access to be able to object. If you carry that to its logical -- maybe we'll get to go to the wedding next time.

O'BRIEN: They are public events, henceforth. There you go. All right, we'll leave it at that. A little interesting legal twist. I think we've made some legal precedent right here.

RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Absolutely.

O'BRIEN: Michael Smerconish, Lida Rodriguez-Taseff, thanks as always for your legal insights. We appreciate it.

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