MORALES:
All right.
Kristen Welker
in
Los Angeles
this morning. Thanks so much,
Kristen
.
Robin Sax
is a former prosecutor and
Courtney Hazlett
is a pop culture correspondent at todayshow.com. Good morning, ladies.
Ms. COURTNEY HAZLETT (Pop Culture Correspondent, todayshow.com):
Good morning.
Ms. ROBIN SAX:
Good morning.
MORALES:
OK, we're going to start with the outfit because a lot of people are talking about that this morning, as I showed the cover of the
Daily News
, you know, what it said. Was that improper for such a serious charge,
Courtney
? I mean, what do you guys think?
Ms. HAZLETT:
I think everybody was shocked when they saw her get out of the car. And most of what you saw were legs first and then...
MORALES:
Yeah.
Ms. HAZLETT:
...you know, this white dress. I'm sure white is supposed to be angelic and connote innocence, but
Lindsay
, this is very serious, and people are watching.
MORALES:
Mm-hmm.
Ms. HAZLETT:
And every little thing is going to be dissected, so why wouldn't you just dress conservatively?
Ms. SAX:
Right. And the color is great, white and purity and innocence all go together...
MORALES:
Right.
Ms. SAX:
...
hand in hand
, but the issue is is that everybody watching are potential jurors...
MORALES:
Yeah.
Ms. SAX:
...and jurors are very judgmental people and so you want to go most conservative. It's like going to a party, you don't want to be the most under-dressed, you always go to something that's not going to make a huge statement, something that's going to be professional.
MORALES:
A suit perhaps would have gone a lot further, right?
Ms. SAX:
That would have done the job.
MORALES:
But does it really matter? Because
at the end of the day
, as you heard, Judge
Schwartz
was very tough on her, he said -- don't get me wrong -- he's like, 'You're like everyone else in this courtroom here today, you are not above the law here,' and he -- and he warned her not to push her luck.
Ms. SAX:
And that's exactly true. I know Judge
Keith Schwartz
, I've been in front of his court, and that lecture you saw is a
Keith Schwartz
standard lecture.
MORALES:
Right.
Ms. SAX:
He loves to tell people what to do. Also, the
DAs
in that building,
John Lynch
and
Danette Meyers
, who run that building...
MORALES:
Mm-hmm.
Ms. SAX:
...over there are fair straight shooters and anybody who thinks that she's being treated differently, she's simply not. She's acting like any other criminal and she's being treated like any other criminal.
MORALES:
Yeah. And the charge she's facing, felony
grand theft
for allegedly stealing that $2500 necklace, very serious charge. I mean, what's the likelihood, though,
Robin
, that she ends up going to jail for this?
Ms. SAX:
You know, most people on a first-time felony offense will not find themselves in state prison, they will not see any sort of three-year type of sentence, so people who are thinking that she's going to do three years...
MORALES:
Right.
Ms. SAX:
...are mistaken. She's likely to do some sort of time because you can't just keep going to rehab, and the prosecutors are going to be in a position that they're going to need to have to up the ante based on her prior behavior.
MORALES:
Right.
Ms. SAX:
But we're talking six months, maybe, you know, a year, that kind of thing.
MORALES:
Well, we know how well she did last time she served some time, she was -- had a nervous breakdown, was crying; what's the chance that she decides to plea-bargain, say, 'Hey, OK, I'm guilty of this and let's figure this out'?
Ms. SAX:
Well, the pickle that they're in right now is that for
Lindsay Lohan
, one day in
county jail
is like a year to anybody else.
MORALES:
Right.
Ms. SAX:
So they need to try to find some sort of sentence that's going to be able to reduce the chances of a long sentence but yet be something that she can actually find palatable, so that's going to be the challenge for them right now.
MORALES:
And the prosecutor's tough here, too, the prosecutor likely not going to go for a
plea bargain
, is that what you guys are hearing?
Ms. SAX:
Well, I think that they're -- actually are going to consider a
plea bargain
, I mean they are going to think about judicial economy, jury trials are always a gamble...
MORALES:
Mm.
Ms. SAX:
...you never know what a jury is going to do.
MORALES:
True.
Ms. SAX:
So everybody wants to resolve it, it's just are they going to be able to find the resolution?
MORALES:
Courtney
, what about these reports this morning that, according to the police report, she was seen four days beforehand in that same jewelry store...
Ms. HAZLETT:
Mm-hmm.
MORALES:
...trying on a pair of diamond earrings. Apparently she left one of the diamond earrings in...
Ms. HAZLETT:
Right.
MORALES:
...started to walk out of the store, the clerk called her back and said, 'Oh, you still have one of our earrings,' and she left apparently her more expensive jewelry on the counter. Could that be used in her defense? Because it could be argued that forgetfulness...
Ms. HAZLETT:
The 'I'm forgetful defense.'
MORALES:
Yes. Right.
Ms. HAZLETT:
I don't think it can be used in her defense in this instance. Because remember, her line this whole time has been, 'I thought that was loaned to me, this necklace in question,' not, 'Oh, I was trying on so many things, I'm so deeply sorry. Here it is.'
MORALES:
Right.
Ms. HAZLETT:
'My apologies.' She said, 'I thought it was loaned to me.'
You and I
have both loaned jewelry, we know that there's no mistaking it when something's loaned to you, you sign papers about the insurance. Usually the vendor actually makes arrangements to pick it up from you, they make it as easy as possible and as clear as day...
MORALES:
Mm-hmm.
Ms. HAZLETT:
...that this is something that doesn't belong to you and they're going to get it back. And so for her to say, 'I thought it was loaned to me,' that just sounds so entitled at this point and like a big excuse.
MORALES:
Right.
Ms. SAX:
Well, and those prior...
MORALES:
And what about those battery charges, too? She's potentially facing battery charges for the time that she was serving at the
Betty Ford Clinic
where she allegedly assaulted a worker there.
Ms. SAX:
Right.
MORALES:
Could that come -- become combined in the situation as well?
Ms. SAX:
Well, it's not going to become combined,
Riverside County
is a very different county, different
DA
, different courthouse, it won't even -- you know, one doesn't really have anything to do with the other. But what does have something to do is the fact that this is a felony charge that has to do with moral turpitude and everything is about
Lindsay
's words, so if we don't believe what
Lindsay
's saying in the
grand theft
...
MORALES:
Right.
Ms. SAX:
...how can we believe what she said about the battery?
MORALES:
All right. Well, great talking to you both, ladies. We're going to...
Ms. HAZLETT:
What she has to do really is just behave
for a little while
.
Ms. SAX:
Yeah.
MORALES:
Yeah.
Ms. HAZLETT:
And everybody's watching.
MORALES:
The judge said, 'You're on notice.'
Ms. HAZLETT:
Just like everyone watched the dress, everyone's watching what jewelry you touch and who you touch.'
MORALES:
Absolutely.
Ms. HAZLETT:
So...
MORALES:
Robin Sax
,
Courtney Hazlett
, always great to have you both on.
Ms. SAX:
Thank you.
MORALES:
Thank you.
