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CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK
'Morning Coffey'
Aired March 13, 2003 - 06:53 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Right now we want to talk more about the Elizabeth Smart case with our favorite legal analyst, Kendall Coffey. He joins us live on the phone from Miami.
Good morning, Kendall.
KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, Good morning, Carol.
COSTELLO: So, these two drifters, Brian David Mitchell and his supposed wife, we don't know, Wanda Eileen Barzee, supposedly kidnap Elizabeth Smart from her bedroom. They travel together for nine months and apparently they even went into different states.
COFFEY: Well, that tells you that the list of criminal charges is going to be a long one. From a bewildering investigation into a joyous homecoming, this is also going to become, I think, allegedly, at least, an open and shut criminal case where prosecutors will be looking for charges that will bring potential life in prison for this crime.
COSTELLO: You say open and shut, but could it be possible that Elizabeth Smart came to want to be with these two people? A lot of people are wondering why she didn't escape sooner.
COFFEY: Well, when you're in the ages between 14 and 18, the law basically establishes that it is against your consent when you're taken like this without your parents' approval. So you can't take a small child and argue that they really wanted to get away from home for a few months.
And beyond that, we know that there were clear reports from the very beginning that she was taken at gunpoint. So no case is open and shut. There's a presumption of innocence. But these are two folks who are in a heap of trouble. They should be. And the charges could come from federal authorities, as well as state, if, in fact, she went across state lines.
COSTELLO: Right. So quickly, just to reiterate, because I'm just thinking of maybe possible defense strategy. It wouldn't be anything like the Patty Hearst case.
COFFEY: Well, what they're going to try to say is that, of course, there was no physical threats, that she kind of went along with it. What else are they going to say, because anything else is short of a confession and a guarantee of spending somewhere of 20 years or more in a state or federal prison or both.
COSTELLO: Kendall Coffey, many thanks to you for joining us live on the phone from Miami this morning.
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