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CNN Live Today

March Will Take Place to Protest Donovan's Jackson's Treatment

Aired July 12, 2002 - 12:01   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.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: In just about an hour, a march will take place to protest Donovan's Jackson's treatment at the hands of Inglewood police and L.A. County sheriff's deputies. You have probably seen this tape by now, Jackson being slammed against the hood of a car after a traffic stop near LAX last weekend. It's a tape that Mitchell Crooks may be wishing he never made. In a made-for-Hollywood plot twist, Crooks finds himself in jail after being dragged away by officers while screaming at the top of his lungs.

CNN's Charles Feldman joins us now from our L.A. bureau with more.

Hi, Charles.

CHARLES FELDMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Kyra.

Bizarre, the only word to describe this whole story at this point. Mitchell Crooks, the guy that took that videotape you were just showing everybody, he was arrested outside CNN's own building here in Los Angeles. He was arrested by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

There you see a surveillance tape taken by CNN surveillance cameras of that arrest. He was arrested on outstanding warrants from Placer County. That's in northern California, on charges of a hit and run, a petty theft. He was actually sentenced to serve some time in jail, but became a fugitive, and has been on the run for at least a year or more from those charges, until they caught up with him yesterday.

And when they did, as you can hear, in this tape, also recorded by a CNN cameraman, you can hear Mitchell Crooks screaming at the top of his lungs to get out.

Now, the L.A. County District Attorney's Office says that the arrest of Mitchell Crooks had absolutely nothing do with the fact that he had thumbed his nose at them before going to a grand jury. He didn't want to go, although subsequently he did. When he was arrested he was taken first to jail, then he was taken to an area hospital to be treated for injuries he says he got because of the arrest. He is now, we are told, back in jail. Needless to say, his attorney is outraged.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) DEAN MASSERMAN, CROOKS' ATTORNEY: I don't understand why the district attorney's office would then turn on their best witness, and the person who videotaped this crime committed by Officer Morse instead of focussing their attention on Officer Morse. It is horrible Mr. Crooks is in custody and Mr. Morse is not.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

FELDMAN: Now, next up for Mitchell Crooks, at some point in the next few days, and we're told probably early next week, he will be brought back to Placer County in Northern California, to be arraigned on the outstanding arrest warrants. Now he has expressed a lot of concern that he not mistreated by police.

I just got off the phone with Steven D'Arcy (ph). He wanted to be sure that I pronounced his name right, so it's Steven D'Arcy, who is the undersheriff for Placer County, and he gave me assurances when Mitchell Crooks is received up there he will receive excellent treatment at the hands of law enforcement there, and he says he will be treated like other prisoners in Placer County, which he says will be humanely -- Kyra.

PHILLIPS: Charles, two quick questions. First of all, how did police know that Mitchell was out in front of CNN when they arrested him?

FELDMAN: According to the Placer County Sheriff's Department, what happened was the L.A. district attorney's office ran a routine check under state computer systems under Mitchell Crooks name and found out from computer files that he had these outstanding arrest warrants, and they then verified it with Placer County and throughout the day, it is unclear if they were following him, or if they were getting tips from people, but they managed to catch up with him outside of our building. Initially they said to give him a subpoena to testify before the grand jury on that tape he took, but when they found out about the outstanding arrest warrants, they said they had no choice but to arrest him.

PHILLIPS: That's what I was wondering, if they were following him or not.

Jeremy Morse, the officer under investigation, the one seen in the videotape slamming down 16-year-old Jackson on the car, what's the status with him?

FELDMAN: Well, he is on paid leave right now, awaiting multiple investigations. There is one by L.A. County District Attorney's Office. There's one by the FBI and the Justice Department on civil rights charges, and it's expected that we may hear something from the DA's office as early as early part of next week.

PHILLIPS: All right, Charles Feldman, thanks so much.

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