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CNN LIVE AT DAYBREAK

'Morning Coffey'

Aired May 19, 2003 - 06:20   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Authorities in northern California will be back today searching San Francisco Bay for any clues in the Laci Peterson murder case. What do they hope to find and how might it impact the case against Scott Peterson?
Let's ask our favorite legal analyst, Kendall Coffey.

He's on the phone live from Miami.

Good morning, Kendall.

KENDALL COFFEY, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Hey, Good morning, Carol.

COSTELLO: What are they looking for?

COFFEY: They're looking for weights, weights that they believe Scott Peterson used to anchor his wife's body to the bottom of the bay. But San Francisco Bay is considered a unique body of water, with complex movement patterns. So even if police are correct, it's not clear that they're ever going to find the evidence that they're looking for.

COSTELLO: Yes, I was just going to ask you what chance they had in finding anything, because it's quite muddy down there, too.

COFFEY: It is, and this is the third time they've been there. They were there in January, again in March, and so far they've come up empty-handed.

COSTELLO: It seems as if they're looking for something specific because they're going back down a week after the autopsy results are completed. Is there any significance to that?

COFFEY: Yes, they're obviously looking for remains, if there are any. But I think more than anything, their theory has to be that the body was weighted down in a significant way, because after all nothing appeared for the time from December eve until the discovery in April. That's important to them and it suggests that by keying this up as a key issue, if they don't find anything, it's going to become an issue that the defense can try to exploit.

COSTELLO: Oh, I was just going to ask you about that, because if I was the defense attorney, I would say that they're going back because they don't have enough evidence.

COFFEY: Well, that's exactly what they're saying. And the fact that the police are continuing that investigation doesn't mean by itself that it's a weak case. Police and defense will look for evidence all the way to the time of trial. But any time you identify something as a key part of your case and you don't produce evidence, you certainly give the defense something to talk about.

COSTELLO: Something else that's floating out there, Kendall, and this is reported in the "Modesto Bee," apparently defense attorney Mark Geragos is working on a working theory that Laci Peterson was abducted and killed by members of a satanic cult.

Have you heard that one?

COFFEY: I've heard that. I guess this is California. On the other hand, my supposition is by the time it gets to trial, they'll have a number of different working theories as to who might have supposedly done it. And bottom line, they're going to argue very heavily that there is a reasonable doubt, holes in the prosecution's case, and that Scott Peterson should be acquitted.

COSTELLO: Kendall Coffey, many thanks, joining us live for an early morning wake up call to DAYBREAK.

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