Well, technically, they TRIED to interview Fleet before he talked to the police, but it didn't happen. On the 27th Fleet talked to the police and then he talked to the Ramsey lawyers and PI, who of course grilled him on everything he told the police. One of the more valuable portions of Kolar's book imo was his analysis of the Ramseys' lawyering up timeline (see: Red Flags and Behavioral Clues). Because they and Bynum always claimed that it wasn't until Eller was threatening to "ransom the body" (which couldn't have been until the 28th at least) that they formally lawyered up with Haddon, and that Bynum just HAPPENED to show up at the Fernies' house with food on the evening of the 27th when detectives were trying to set up formal interviews with the Ramseys. And Bynum just happened to find something hinky in the detectives' request or whatever and stepped in to say that no way would the Ramseys be interviewed. Isn't it convenient how nothing the Ramseys do is ever their fault? They didn't refuse, their friend and Dr. Beuf (calling himself Patsy's doctor and claiming she was too drugged up to participate, which was probably accurate) did!
JR told Smit in 98 that it was that evening, the 27th, that Bynum took him aside and asked if it was okay for him to do some legally necessary things, ie call Haddon. So: it was all Bynum's idea, it never even occurred to him he'd need a lawyer.
And then in The Other Side of Suffering he says that he received a call from an employee on the 27th (aka the day the autopsy was being done and possible sexual abuse to JB was discovered) saying that a source within the police department had warned them the BPD was out to get JR and he needed to get a good defense attorney stat. So, it wasn't all Bynum's idea after all?
And yet there's Fleet White getting called BY MIKE BYNUM (lol, I thought he was supposed to be off skiing somewhere? Swear I read that.) just hours after the body was found on the 26th asking for him to talk. And then the next morning (the 27th) after talking to the cops he is asked by Bynum to meet with lawyers from Haddon and the PI later that afternoon. So all that crap the Ramseys fed the press about "needing" to lawyer up after the BPD was supposedly refusing to release the body because THAT'S when they realized the BPD was out to get them is a total crock.
Also, PositiveLight, thank you so much for your recaps of the CBS special and your continuing effort to improve the transcript. I've found what you've done already to be incredibly useful and can't wait to add the rest of your work to my files. I really appreciate what you're doing!