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CNN Saturday Morning News
Interview with Nelda Blair, Lida Rodriguez-Taseff
Aired November 15, 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.
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: The murder trial of accused D.C. area sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad is now in the hands of a Virginia jury. The trial of his alleged accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, is just getting started. And in California, the case against accused wife killer Scott Peterson is slowly plodding forward.
So joining us today to talk about all of these issues, we have Lida Rodriguez-Taseff joining us.
Lida, good morning.
LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Good morning.
ROBERTS: She's a civil liberties attorney from Miami.
And from Houston, we have former Texas prosecutor Nelda Blair.
Nelda, good to see you.
Good morning.
NELDA BLAIR, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Thank you.
Good morning.
ROBERTS: All right, let's begin. We're going to talk about the Muhammad case. It's in the hands of the jury. They got this on Friday, but they kind of closed up a little early, in deliberations, that is. The judge let them go around 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon and let them go home for the weekend. They have to return to work talking about this on Monday morning.
Ladies, what do you make of this? Released at 1:00 and they have the weekend off.
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Yes, you know, A, they couldn't find a tape recorder so they let them go home early. Deliberations will resume. There are, the big issue here is the capital murder charge and the defense lost its big battle to get its instruction issued to the jury.
Basically what this will boil down to as a result is that because the defense was unable to get an instruction that specifically said that the jury had to find that Muhammad was the triggerman -- this is under Virginia's triggerman rule -- then they believe if the jury believes that he was involved but not the triggerman, they can still convict him of capital murder.
And that's what it boils down to. The defense lost its biggest battle with this triggerman rule and you can see this on appeal.
BLAIR: I'll agree that the defense lost a battle because absolutely they do not have to prove, the prosecution does not have to prove that he was the triggerman, as Lida said. All they have to prove is that he was a principal in it or immediately involved, in other words, that he was personally involved, that he was there at the time, that he was part of the killings. And I think that is a great thing for the prosecution, but it's also the law in Virginia. It's not just something that the judge decided off the top of her head.
But also remember that this man is charged with several counts, two of which could carry the death penalty. One is the capital murder and the other is the terrorism charge, the first time this is used in Virginia, to where if he's found to have committed a murder in an attempt to threaten the public, he could also get the death penalty.
ROBERTS: Now, you know, intersecting at the same time, we have the beginning of Lee Boyd Malvo. The jury has been seated in this. I thought that this kind of moved along pretty quickly to get the jury seated in this.
Lida, your opinion? Do you think -- with all the publicity taking place locally, I know, in that market there, Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, and also nationally, the jury got seated pretty quickly.
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Very quickly and, you know, the sad thing is it's a hurry up and wait case now because the evidence that is needed to begin that trial is in the hands of the jury right now in the Muhammad case. Then even though they got seated quickly, they may have to wait for a little while before they can start that trial because the evidence is needed in the other case.
ROBERTS: Nelda, real quickly, what do you think about the age ranges here for that jury? We have a 22-year-old ranging all the way up to a 70-year-old.
BLAIR: Well, I think that's probably why they were seated so quickly. Evidently, the jury panel was quite varied and the lawyers had quite a bit to choose from and also didn't feel like they needed to use their stripes as much as we normally would. So I think that probably that's an example of the two sides picking different age groups and maybe even different types of people for the jury. And that's, you know, that's what makes up a good jury.
I'm anxious to see this trial get started. It's a very interesting defense, this particular insanity defense that this young man was indoctrinated. I'd like to see what the defense is going to say about that.
ROBERTS: Ladies, we're going to move from the East Coast courtrooms to the West Coast now.
Talk about the Scott Peterson preliminary hearing, one of the longest prelim hearings on record now. But Amber Frey, she was supposed to, or at least we were all led down to believe that she was going to be taking the stand, but she's not so far, at least in this hearing.
Nelda, what do you make of this?
BLAIR: Well, it's because she really doesn't have anything to do with the preliminary hearing. Just like you said, this is not the trial. This is one of the longest preliminary hearings probably in history because of the type of case that it is, the publicity that it is. But unless Amber Frey is going to give Scott Peterson a 100 percent alibi on the day of Laci's death, she has no place in a preliminary hearing. And I personally think the judge will keep it out if the defense does try to bring her testimony in.
ROBERTS: Lida, real quickly, I want to ask you, Detective Phillip Owen took the stand giving some pretty critical testimony, talking about the fact that when Laci's body was found it -- the body itself had on tan maternity pants.
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Right.
ROBERTS: Scott reported Laci missing in black maternity pants. However, Laci's sister, who saw her on the 23rd, said the last time she saw Laci, she was wearing tan pants. How crucial is this testimony?
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Absolutely crucial and it's not as crucial at the preliminary hearing, but it will be crucial at trial. Why? Because lay people, who are the jurors in this case, are going to glom onto the things that they can understand. Anybody knows that you don't wear the same clothes twice. I mean most people just don't do that. So the fact that the son-in-law or the half sister saw her wearing the tan pants the day before and that she was allegedly found in tan pants when the body was found is going to be crucial at trial.
You know, it's like the Simpson case, it all boils down to the black glove. And it really does. Jurors look for basic things that they can understand and this is ultimately not a case about mitochondrial DNA, as interesting as that may be to the egg heads who are experts in this case. This is a case about tan pants, really.
BLAIR: And about Scott Peterson's lies, as well.
ROBERTS: Well, it's all unfolding...
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Good one, Nelda.
ROBERTS: It's all unfolding in that courtroom from the West Coast.
But ladies, we have to run.
We appreciate, though, your time this morning, Lida Rodriguez- Taseff, as well as Nelda Blair, always.
Thanks for your insight.
BLAIR: Thank you. RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: 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 November 15, 2003 - 08:12 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THOMAS ROBERTS, CNN ANCHOR: The murder trial of accused D.C. area sniper suspect John Allen Muhammad is now in the hands of a Virginia jury. The trial of his alleged accomplice, Lee Boyd Malvo, is just getting started. And in California, the case against accused wife killer Scott Peterson is slowly plodding forward.
So joining us today to talk about all of these issues, we have Lida Rodriguez-Taseff joining us.
Lida, good morning.
LIDA RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF, CIVIL RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Good morning.
ROBERTS: She's a civil liberties attorney from Miami.
And from Houston, we have former Texas prosecutor Nelda Blair.
Nelda, good to see you.
Good morning.
NELDA BLAIR, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Thank you.
Good morning.
ROBERTS: All right, let's begin. We're going to talk about the Muhammad case. It's in the hands of the jury. They got this on Friday, but they kind of closed up a little early, in deliberations, that is. The judge let them go around 1:00 p.m. in the afternoon and let them go home for the weekend. They have to return to work talking about this on Monday morning.
Ladies, what do you make of this? Released at 1:00 and they have the weekend off.
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Yes, you know, A, they couldn't find a tape recorder so they let them go home early. Deliberations will resume. There are, the big issue here is the capital murder charge and the defense lost its big battle to get its instruction issued to the jury.
Basically what this will boil down to as a result is that because the defense was unable to get an instruction that specifically said that the jury had to find that Muhammad was the triggerman -- this is under Virginia's triggerman rule -- then they believe if the jury believes that he was involved but not the triggerman, they can still convict him of capital murder.
And that's what it boils down to. The defense lost its biggest battle with this triggerman rule and you can see this on appeal.
BLAIR: I'll agree that the defense lost a battle because absolutely they do not have to prove, the prosecution does not have to prove that he was the triggerman, as Lida said. All they have to prove is that he was a principal in it or immediately involved, in other words, that he was personally involved, that he was there at the time, that he was part of the killings. And I think that is a great thing for the prosecution, but it's also the law in Virginia. It's not just something that the judge decided off the top of her head.
But also remember that this man is charged with several counts, two of which could carry the death penalty. One is the capital murder and the other is the terrorism charge, the first time this is used in Virginia, to where if he's found to have committed a murder in an attempt to threaten the public, he could also get the death penalty.
ROBERTS: Now, you know, intersecting at the same time, we have the beginning of Lee Boyd Malvo. The jury has been seated in this. I thought that this kind of moved along pretty quickly to get the jury seated in this.
Lida, your opinion? Do you think -- with all the publicity taking place locally, I know, in that market there, Virginia Beach, Hampton Roads, and also nationally, the jury got seated pretty quickly.
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Very quickly and, you know, the sad thing is it's a hurry up and wait case now because the evidence that is needed to begin that trial is in the hands of the jury right now in the Muhammad case. Then even though they got seated quickly, they may have to wait for a little while before they can start that trial because the evidence is needed in the other case.
ROBERTS: Nelda, real quickly, what do you think about the age ranges here for that jury? We have a 22-year-old ranging all the way up to a 70-year-old.
BLAIR: Well, I think that's probably why they were seated so quickly. Evidently, the jury panel was quite varied and the lawyers had quite a bit to choose from and also didn't feel like they needed to use their stripes as much as we normally would. So I think that probably that's an example of the two sides picking different age groups and maybe even different types of people for the jury. And that's, you know, that's what makes up a good jury.
I'm anxious to see this trial get started. It's a very interesting defense, this particular insanity defense that this young man was indoctrinated. I'd like to see what the defense is going to say about that.
ROBERTS: Ladies, we're going to move from the East Coast courtrooms to the West Coast now.
Talk about the Scott Peterson preliminary hearing, one of the longest prelim hearings on record now. But Amber Frey, she was supposed to, or at least we were all led down to believe that she was going to be taking the stand, but she's not so far, at least in this hearing.
Nelda, what do you make of this?
BLAIR: Well, it's because she really doesn't have anything to do with the preliminary hearing. Just like you said, this is not the trial. This is one of the longest preliminary hearings probably in history because of the type of case that it is, the publicity that it is. But unless Amber Frey is going to give Scott Peterson a 100 percent alibi on the day of Laci's death, she has no place in a preliminary hearing. And I personally think the judge will keep it out if the defense does try to bring her testimony in.
ROBERTS: Lida, real quickly, I want to ask you, Detective Phillip Owen took the stand giving some pretty critical testimony, talking about the fact that when Laci's body was found it -- the body itself had on tan maternity pants.
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Right.
ROBERTS: Scott reported Laci missing in black maternity pants. However, Laci's sister, who saw her on the 23rd, said the last time she saw Laci, she was wearing tan pants. How crucial is this testimony?
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Absolutely crucial and it's not as crucial at the preliminary hearing, but it will be crucial at trial. Why? Because lay people, who are the jurors in this case, are going to glom onto the things that they can understand. Anybody knows that you don't wear the same clothes twice. I mean most people just don't do that. So the fact that the son-in-law or the half sister saw her wearing the tan pants the day before and that she was allegedly found in tan pants when the body was found is going to be crucial at trial.
You know, it's like the Simpson case, it all boils down to the black glove. And it really does. Jurors look for basic things that they can understand and this is ultimately not a case about mitochondrial DNA, as interesting as that may be to the egg heads who are experts in this case. This is a case about tan pants, really.
BLAIR: And about Scott Peterson's lies, as well.
ROBERTS: Well, it's all unfolding...
RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: Good one, Nelda.
ROBERTS: It's all unfolding in that courtroom from the West Coast.
But ladies, we have to run.
We appreciate, though, your time this morning, Lida Rodriguez- Taseff, as well as Nelda Blair, always.
Thanks for your insight.
BLAIR: Thank you. RODRIGUEZ-TASEFF: 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
