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CNN Saturday Morning News

Interview With Rob Becker

Aired July 19, 2003 - 07:00   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.


THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: We turn our attention now to the big domestic story this Saturday. NBA star Kobe Bryant now facing a single count of felony sexual assault. The Eagle County, Colorado district attorney made the announcement after two weeks of studying the case.
The D.A. said that after reviewing physical evidence and witness testimony, he made the decision to charge Bryant formally. Shortly after that announcement the Los Angeles Laker's guard faced the media himself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOBE BRYANT, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: I'm a human being. I'm a man just like everybody else. I mourn, I cry, just like everybody else. And I sit here before you guys, embarrassed and ashamed for committing adultery.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Now the decision on charging Bryant came two weeks after he turned himself in. CNN's Brian Cabell is up early for us, this morning, in Eagle, Colorado, with the story from there.

Brian, as I understand it the alleged victim of this is still in seclusion with her family?

BRIAN CABELL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, she is still in seclusion. We don't expect to hear from her at all in the weeks or months ahead, until, actually the trial.

Kobe Bryant's next visit here to Colorado comes in about three weeks, August 6; he'll be here for a hearing. He'll be informed of his rights. He'll be informed officially of the charges against him.

As you say, the D.A. was here yesterday. After two long weeks of deliberation and two long weeks of reviewing the evidence he came out and said there was one count of sexual assault against Kobe Bryant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK HURLBERT, EAGLE COUNTY D.A.: It is alleged that he caused sexual penetration, or intrusion, and he caused submission of the victim through actual physical force. And that is contained in the complaint.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: In other words, he has been accused, essentially, of rape. The range of penalties that he faces, if he's convicted, anywhere from probation all the way up to life in prison.

Kobe Bryant appeared about four hour later, with his wife, with his attorneys in Los Angeles. He proclaimed his innocence. He says what happened here three weeks ago was entirely consensual.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: I'm innocent. You know? I didn't force her to do anything against her will. I'm innocent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: A number of questions remain here. First of all, are there other witnesses who can corroborate what she has said, namely that it was rape. Secondly, what about the physical evidence; can that corroborate in any sense that there was force used; perhaps a tearing or a bruising of the body or tearing of some material perhaps, some clothing.

And third, what about a change of venue? This is a small town, 4,000 people here in Colorado. Most of the people now know who she is, many of them actually know her. Can an outside celebrity, like Kobe Bryant, get a fair trail here? That's a matter for his attorney's to decide in the weeks ahead.

Once again, he'll come back here August 6 for a hearing. And we've been told normally in cases like this a trial would occur in about six months down the road. And that would, of course, occur during the next NBA season -- Thomas.

ROBERTS: Brian Cabell, live for us this morning in Eagle. Brian, thanks very much.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now that the charge has been filed and the statements made, what's next? With that part of the story, sports commentator and litigator Rob Becker joins us this morning.

Rob, thanks for being here. We sure do appreciate it this morning.

ROB BECKER, SPORTS COMMENTATOR, LITIGATOR: Glad to be on.

COLLINS: You know, I want to ask you, we just heard from Brian Cabell a little bit about this charge, one count of sexual assault. What does that say to you?

BECKER: Well, it says, basically that there was sexual penetration, which Kobe has already admitted to, and the complaint says penetration or intrusion. But that whole complaint just quotes the statute, it's not really trying to tell us what happened.

So, really Kobe has already told us what physically happened, but we have to find out whether there was consent or not. And that's really going to be the whole case. In fact, his lawyer yesterday said not only that he was innocent but, she said, this was consensual sex and that Kobe had no reason to believe otherwise.

In other words, it doesn't what was in the privacy of this woman's mind. What matters is what she said and did and whether someone in Kobe's position would have understood that there was consent or not. And that's what this case is about.

COLLINS: And so doesn't that make it that much harder to prove? It's a he said, she said, is it not?

BECKER: Well, it's a he said, she said, plus physical evidence. As Mr. Cabell just said, there could be bruising there could be tearing of clothes, bruises on the body and that could be the thing that sways it one way or the other.

But no matter what, it's always going to be a hard case to prove because the one thing that Kobe starts with, of course, that is on his side, is that this must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The D.A. agonized over that, took two weeks -- which is fine -- and then decided, he made it very clear, that he thinks he can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

And to me, the thing is, when you see a guy take two weeks and then say yes I can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, to me that means that if you're in Kobe's position you should be a bit worried. Because this guy, Mr. Hurlbert, has already shown that he's not the type of guy who jumps to get publicity, you know? And who wants to really go after athletes. He's only going to do it if he really thinks it's the right thing to do.

So, I think you have to give a little bit more credibility to Mr. Hurlbert than some of the other D.A.s we've seen, with other famous athletes, who are looking for publicity.

COLLINS: And speaking of credibility, what does it say to you that now that Kobe has come out and actually said, that yes, I did commit adultery. I did have sex with this young woman. Does that change things at all in your mind?

BECKER: It's not so much that it changes. What it is, it's a defensive move to maintain credibility; because if he said, look, I had nothing to do with this. And then, I'm sure they have some kind of evidence that is going to easily prove that there was sex that took place.

So if he says, I got nothing to do with this. And then they prove that they did have sex. Then when he came to the point where he said, this was consensual, no one would believe him. But now he's admitted the adultery, so he can still maintain his credibility when he says, there was consent here. So, I think it was an intelligent move on his part. And it is also a way of telling the D.A., look, we're focusing the issue, we know what we're fighting about. We're going to fight about consent and get ready.

COLLINS: Rob, just one quick second left. I want to ask you how long you think all of this will take?

BECKER: Well, because of the venue change, as Mr. Cabell said, I think there will be a venue motion, it will be granted. It will be moved to a small town in Colorado, far from Eagle. That pushes it more than six months, it could be nine month, a year. It would not shock me if this trial starts after the next NBA season.

COLLINS: Sports commentator and litigator, Rob Becker, thanks so much for your comments this morning.

BECKER: 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 July 19, 2003 - 07:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: We turn our attention now to the big domestic story this Saturday. NBA star Kobe Bryant now facing a single count of felony sexual assault. The Eagle County, Colorado district attorney made the announcement after two weeks of studying the case.
The D.A. said that after reviewing physical evidence and witness testimony, he made the decision to charge Bryant formally. Shortly after that announcement the Los Angeles Laker's guard faced the media himself.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

KOBE BRYANT, LOS ANGELES LAKERS: I'm a human being. I'm a man just like everybody else. I mourn, I cry, just like everybody else. And I sit here before you guys, embarrassed and ashamed for committing adultery.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

ROBERTS: Now the decision on charging Bryant came two weeks after he turned himself in. CNN's Brian Cabell is up early for us, this morning, in Eagle, Colorado, with the story from there.

Brian, as I understand it the alleged victim of this is still in seclusion with her family?

BRIAN CABELL, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yes, she is still in seclusion. We don't expect to hear from her at all in the weeks or months ahead, until, actually the trial.

Kobe Bryant's next visit here to Colorado comes in about three weeks, August 6; he'll be here for a hearing. He'll be informed of his rights. He'll be informed officially of the charges against him.

As you say, the D.A. was here yesterday. After two long weeks of deliberation and two long weeks of reviewing the evidence he came out and said there was one count of sexual assault against Kobe Bryant.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MARK HURLBERT, EAGLE COUNTY D.A.: It is alleged that he caused sexual penetration, or intrusion, and he caused submission of the victim through actual physical force. And that is contained in the complaint.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: In other words, he has been accused, essentially, of rape. The range of penalties that he faces, if he's convicted, anywhere from probation all the way up to life in prison.

Kobe Bryant appeared about four hour later, with his wife, with his attorneys in Los Angeles. He proclaimed his innocence. He says what happened here three weeks ago was entirely consensual.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRYANT: I'm innocent. You know? I didn't force her to do anything against her will. I'm innocent.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

CABELL: A number of questions remain here. First of all, are there other witnesses who can corroborate what she has said, namely that it was rape. Secondly, what about the physical evidence; can that corroborate in any sense that there was force used; perhaps a tearing or a bruising of the body or tearing of some material perhaps, some clothing.

And third, what about a change of venue? This is a small town, 4,000 people here in Colorado. Most of the people now know who she is, many of them actually know her. Can an outside celebrity, like Kobe Bryant, get a fair trail here? That's a matter for his attorney's to decide in the weeks ahead.

Once again, he'll come back here August 6 for a hearing. And we've been told normally in cases like this a trial would occur in about six months down the road. And that would, of course, occur during the next NBA season -- Thomas.

ROBERTS: Brian Cabell, live for us this morning in Eagle. Brian, thanks very much.

HEIDI COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Now that the charge has been filed and the statements made, what's next? With that part of the story, sports commentator and litigator Rob Becker joins us this morning.

Rob, thanks for being here. We sure do appreciate it this morning.

ROB BECKER, SPORTS COMMENTATOR, LITIGATOR: Glad to be on.

COLLINS: You know, I want to ask you, we just heard from Brian Cabell a little bit about this charge, one count of sexual assault. What does that say to you?

BECKER: Well, it says, basically that there was sexual penetration, which Kobe has already admitted to, and the complaint says penetration or intrusion. But that whole complaint just quotes the statute, it's not really trying to tell us what happened.

So, really Kobe has already told us what physically happened, but we have to find out whether there was consent or not. And that's really going to be the whole case. In fact, his lawyer yesterday said not only that he was innocent but, she said, this was consensual sex and that Kobe had no reason to believe otherwise.

In other words, it doesn't what was in the privacy of this woman's mind. What matters is what she said and did and whether someone in Kobe's position would have understood that there was consent or not. And that's what this case is about.

COLLINS: And so doesn't that make it that much harder to prove? It's a he said, she said, is it not?

BECKER: Well, it's a he said, she said, plus physical evidence. As Mr. Cabell just said, there could be bruising there could be tearing of clothes, bruises on the body and that could be the thing that sways it one way or the other.

But no matter what, it's always going to be a hard case to prove because the one thing that Kobe starts with, of course, that is on his side, is that this must be proven beyond a reasonable doubt. The D.A. agonized over that, took two weeks -- which is fine -- and then decided, he made it very clear, that he thinks he can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt.

And to me, the thing is, when you see a guy take two weeks and then say yes I can prove it beyond a reasonable doubt, to me that means that if you're in Kobe's position you should be a bit worried. Because this guy, Mr. Hurlbert, has already shown that he's not the type of guy who jumps to get publicity, you know? And who wants to really go after athletes. He's only going to do it if he really thinks it's the right thing to do.

So, I think you have to give a little bit more credibility to Mr. Hurlbert than some of the other D.A.s we've seen, with other famous athletes, who are looking for publicity.

COLLINS: And speaking of credibility, what does it say to you that now that Kobe has come out and actually said, that yes, I did commit adultery. I did have sex with this young woman. Does that change things at all in your mind?

BECKER: It's not so much that it changes. What it is, it's a defensive move to maintain credibility; because if he said, look, I had nothing to do with this. And then, I'm sure they have some kind of evidence that is going to easily prove that there was sex that took place.

So if he says, I got nothing to do with this. And then they prove that they did have sex. Then when he came to the point where he said, this was consensual, no one would believe him. But now he's admitted the adultery, so he can still maintain his credibility when he says, there was consent here. So, I think it was an intelligent move on his part. And it is also a way of telling the D.A., look, we're focusing the issue, we know what we're fighting about. We're going to fight about consent and get ready.

COLLINS: Rob, just one quick second left. I want to ask you how long you think all of this will take?

BECKER: Well, because of the venue change, as Mr. Cabell said, I think there will be a venue motion, it will be granted. It will be moved to a small town in Colorado, far from Eagle. That pushes it more than six months, it could be nine month, a year. It would not shock me if this trial starts after the next NBA season.

COLLINS: Sports commentator and litigator, Rob Becker, thanks so much for your comments this morning.

BECKER: 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