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Nancy Grace

Anna Nicole to Testify in Son`s Inquest

Aired January 16, 2007 - 20:00   ET

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

JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, GUEST HOST: Tonight: Breaking news on millionaire covergirl Anna Nicole Smith and the sudden death of her 20- year-old son. Officials in the Bahamas announce a formal inquiry into Daniel Smith`s death. An private autopsy points to a lethal combo of methadone and antidepressants. With an explanation still pending, will the inquiry shed new light on the tragic death of Daniel Smith?
And tonight: Shock, real shock, in Tennessee, a 21-month-old baby boy so ill, he`s rushed to the emergency room, then tests positive for crystal meth! Just how does an infant ingest meth, also known as ice, or crank? That`s exactly what police are trying to find out as they question the suspect, and that suspect is the baby`s very own mom.

But first, breaking news on Anna Nicole Smith.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There`s so much drama around Anna and them, if it wasn`t for bad luck, they wouldn`t have any at all.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`ve never seen Daniel take anything. As a matter of fact, if anything, he had a deep hatred for any kind of drugs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think Anna was a very good mother to Daniel. I think Anna worked very, very hard to keep her son in private school. She really worked hard to keep her son well educated and fed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Daniel was perfectly healthy. He was vibrant. He was a normal, 19-year-old boy. He loved his Xbox. I know he was a big surfing fan.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think her world has just gone crazy now that Howard`s in charge.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t think Howard K. Stern is a good influence on Anna Nicole Smith.

VIRGIE ARTHUR, ANNA NICOLE SMITH`S MOTHER: Vickie Lynn, you know I love you. I always have. And be very careful about who you hang around with because you may be next.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, in tonight for Nancy Grace. Another bombshell development in the tormented and tumultuous life of former "Playboy" Playmate Anna Nicole Smith. She is already in the middle of a fierce battle over the half-a-billion-dollar estate of her late husband. She is in another war over the paternity of her baby girl, and she is in a legal fight over a seaside mansion in the Bahamas.

Now she is also going to have to face a formal inquiry in the Bahamas into the mysterious death of her 20-year-old son, Daniel, who was found in her hospital room with seven drugs in his system. To some, it might seem like the walls are closing in around Anna Nicole.

Let`s go straight out to David Caplan, deputy New York bureau chief for "Star" magazine, who has been tracking the Anna Nicole saga from the very start. David, what is the latest on this formal inquiry?

DAVID CAPLAN, "STAR" MAGAZINE: Well, today, Roger Gomez, the chief magistrate in the Bahamas, announced that he had read all the documents over the weekend from the police and decided that it was time to have a formal inquiry. And he said that there`s going to be about 20 witnesses at this inquiry, which will take place at the coroner`s court. And who is going to be one of the witnesses? Anna Nicole Smith. And of course, Howard K. Stern will likely be there, as well.

Plus, I`m also hearing that really anyone who had contact with Daniel, from even the flight attendants on the plane he took from California to the Bahamas, will be interviewed. So this is going to be a very thorough investigation because Gomez has decided enough is enough and he wants answers.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So does this point to something sinister or suspicious having happened? Why did they decide they needed this inquiry?

CAPLAN: Well, really, they weren`t getting any of the answers. As we know, Anna Nicole Smith hired her own pathologist, Cyril Wecht, earlier last year, and he discovered that there was methadone, there was Zoloft and there was Lexapro and benadryl in Daniel`s bloodstream, which obviously was suspicious, given that Daniel did not have a history with any health problems. Plus, there were no rumors, really, of even any drug abuse, which you hear so often with celebrities. So that was very suspect.

As well, Howard K. Stern and Anna Nicole Smith have been dodgy with authorities, which, of course, does not bode well if they`re trying to keep their nose clean. So he just really had enough, and he decided now is the time, and he wants everyone interviewed and he wants to do it on his terms.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Graeme Massie, reporter for Slash News, this is happening March 27. I understand the media will be allowed in, so we can expect media from around the world to converge. Is this going to be a media circus?

GRAEME MASSIE, SPLASH NEWS: Absolutely. I think everything that involves Anna Nicole Smith over the last few years turns into a media circus, inevitably. There`s massive in Anna. There`s massive interest in the tragedy that surrounded the death of her son, Daniel, and the birth of her daughter, Dannie Lynn (ph). And I think, inevitably, the world`s media is going to descend on Nassau.

My understanding is that it`s going to be a public inquest. Members of the public, as well as the press, will be able to sit in on the inquest, will be able to listen to the witnesses, will be able to see Anna Nicole Smith and Howard K. Stern give their evidence to the coroner and draw their own conclusions.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So...

MASSIE: I think it`s going to be a very difficult period for Anna Nicole, but one that`s absolutely necessary in order to get to the bottom of how her beloved son, Daniel, died.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Absolutely, to get to the truth. And Graeme, you and I covered the Michael Jackson trial together. We know how important the whole issue of cameras in the courtroom can be. Will there be cameras in the courtroom here?

MASSIE: I don`t know. I`m sure applications will come from the media, both the media in Europe and in the U.S. I don`t know, is the simple answer. Certainly, when these kind of inquests are carried out in England, where the format is the same, cameras aren`t allowed in. But I`m not entirely sure whether or not the cameras will be in. What is for certain is that there`ll be plenty of cameras outside, waiting for Anna Nicole and Howard to give their verdicts on whatever takes place.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, you can bet it is going to be a media city down there in the Bahamas.

We are delighted to have with us this evening Ken Seeley, who is a recovering addict and founder of Intervention911.com. You may recognize him as the interventionist on that hit AB (ph) show "Intervention." Thank you for joining us. As an expert in addiction, try to explain how this young man, who did not have any history of drug abuse, ends up with seven drugs in his system. And I`ll read them -- methadone, Lexapro with -- an antidepressant -- Zoloft -- another antidepressant -- benadryl, pseudoephedrine, Ambien -- a sleeping pill -- and trace amounts of another unidentified substance.

How and why would you end up with that combination in your body?

KEN SEELEY, RECOVERING ADDICT, INTERVENTIONIST: Well, that`s the thing is, Jane, somebody knew that he was on these drugs. It just doesn`t happen overnight. Somebody knew and the red flags were there, and nobody took action. Nobody did anything to stop this before it was too late. And it`s sad because these are role models that are playing out there in front of our children and the world, and they`re out there saying that this is OK. This behavior is OK. And it`s not OK.

Somebody should have jumped in there. And yes, Anna Nicole wasn`t the right person to jump in there, but there`s a lot of people that were there that could have done something before this.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you`re assuming, though, that he had a drug problem, and that is not necessarily something that`s been determined. That`s why this is such a mystery. He, in fact, did not have a reputation as being a druggie.

Let`s hear what Anna Nicole`s mom, his grandma, has to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ARTHUR: Daniel didn`t take drugs. If he wanted to take drugs, he could have taken all his mother had the whole time she was in -- since she`s been a model. She`s taken all kinds of drugs.

NANCY GRACE, HOST: Do you know why investigators are questioning his personal doctors? Are they asking did they give him methadone?

ARTHUR: Well, I hope they are checking. They need to check to see if he was on anything. But as far as I know, he was never on anything. And if he wanted to be, in his teenage years, he could have -- he had a whole assortment of drugs he could have got from his mother.

GRACE: Ms. Arthur, did Anna Nicole Smith ever call you to tell you Daniel had passed away?

ARTHUR: Yes, she did. She called me. You couldn`t understand anything she said because -- you could tell she was clearly under some kind of drug because she was very upset. She was mumbling like a drunk does, you know, when they mumble. All I got out of it was that Daniel`s dead. And then it sounded -- you know, it was like she was in the middle of a sentence and the phone hung up.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, there you`re hearing from Anna Nicole`s mom, who seems to believe that Anna Nicole had been under the influence at some point. We have no independent confirmation of that, of course.

David Caplan, deputy New York bureau chief, "Star" magazine, you have to remember this declaration that a former friend of Anna Nicole did for Larry Birkhead, in which she said that she had seen Anna Nicole taking methadone. Tell us the details about that because, obviously, the common denominator here is methadone.

CAPLAN: Exactly. I mean, first of all, some friend, to file such an affidavit. But what happened is she filed late last year in Los Angeles court saying that she had seen Anna Nicole Smith taking methadone and taking Xanax, the antidepressant. And again, a huge surprise. Why would she be taking methadone, which is typically used for heroin users?

So this is very suspect. And you`re absolutely correct, this is a very interesting common thread here, Daniel with methadone, Anna Nicole Smith, his mom, with methadone. Something is up here, and that`s why the chief magistrate is looking into it.

And this was really a huge bombshell when her friend filed this last year because it really offered validity to the case. And a lot more people were very suspect of Anna Nicole Smith and all of her claims of sort of clean living. And a lot of people just rolled their eyes and were, like, OK, something`s very wrong here.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: So Norm Early, who is a former DA from Denver and the National District Attorney Association spokesperson, you`ve had a lot of experience as a prosecutor. Should Anna Nicole and/or Howard K. Stern be nervous? And we`re not implying that they are guilty of anything whatsoever, and of course, we would always love to hear what they have to say about all of this. But I mean, this is an inquiry. Could it result in formal charges? And if -- and it`s a big if, just hypothetical -- if it did result in formal charges against either Anna Nicole or Howard K. Stern, the two people who were in the hospital room, how would that be handled? Because this is happening in the Bahamas, and they`re American citizens.

NORM EARLY, NATIONAL DA ASSN. SPOKESMAN: Well, you know, I`m not totally familiar with Bahamian law, but I have under my authority of a district attorney`s office handled some coroner`s inquests. And usually, you have an inquiry like this when the issues are more medical than regular factual, saying that as opposed to a medical-type fact. And when they`re medical in fact and they lead to a potential suspect, then inquiries can be made.

Now, under these circumstances, you would think that Anna Nicole Smith and Howard K. Stern would be the two people in the world who would want to know, above everyone else, what happened to this young man. They`re saying he never used drugs. They`re saying he was a model citizen. They`re saying he`s the kind of individual who would not have that mix of drugs in his system. Yet they`re there.

They should be the ones, along with the authorities, who are saying, What happened here? Why are these drugs here? And when parents don`t step up and protect their kids from these kinds of circumstances, and when they know that these circumstances exist after the death of a child and the parents don`t come forward, I`m telling you, law enforcement really hones in on the parents as potentially involved in the situation, or at the very least, turning their head on the situation.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: In Anna Nicole`s defense, she hired a private pathologist, who did a separate autopsy, and that`s how we know there were seven drugs found in her son`s system. The actual official autopsy done by the Bahamian officials has not been released at this point.

I`d like to go to Dr. Marty Makary, a physician at the very prestigious Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. I would think a key issue here is when did this young man take this methadone, considering that he had flown in from the United States to the Bahamas shortly before he died. You don`t think he would have time, necessarily, to go out on the street and try to pick something like that up, since it`s a highly controlled substance. So what can we learn from -- can we learn from the autopsy when he took the methadone?

DR. MARTY MAKARY, PHYSICIAN, JOHNS HOPKINS SCHOOL OF MEDICINE: Probably not, Jane. That`s a good question, though. Methadone is one of those medications that`s closely monitored. It`s often dispensed on a daily basis so that people can`t build up a reserve. And this was a complex drug regimen. I mean, this is the sort of regimen -- Zoloft, Lexapro, methadone -- these are the sort of thing that are followed closely by a physician who`s monitoring the patient on an every-other-week basis, or something like that.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mike Brooks, former D.C. police officer, you served on the FBI terrorism task force -- how do you even get ahold of methadone? Because from my understanding, it`s not prescribed in a way where you can take it when you go out of the country or take it with you. So is it being used now as a recreational drug -- in other words, abused as a recreational drug?

MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE, SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: It has been abused and it continues to be abused. It`s been abused for years. But it is a synthetic form of heroin, usually used by heroin addicts when they`re trying to kick the heroin addiction themselves.

But keep in mind, Jane, that a death certificate was issued, but no cause of death has yet been determined. So we still don`t know if it was a homicide. We don`t know if it was a suicide. We don`t know if it was an accidental overdose.

But there are three people -- there were three people in that hospital room when he was discovered dead. There was Daniel, there was Anna Nicole Smith and Howard K. Stern. One of those two that are alive, I think, knows a little bit more than what they`re giving to police right now.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You know, it`s so funny, they left the United States to go to the Bahamas for some serenity for childbirth, but the madness followed them there. You know, you might say they pulled a geographic, which is what they say. But unfortunately, wherever you go, you take yourself with you. So the drama followed them.

To tonight`s "Case Alert." A 41-year-old pizza shop manager accused of kidnapping two Missouri boys, Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck, will be arraigned on Thursday. Michael Devlin held on $1 million bail on a kidnapping charge. Thirteen-year-old Ben Ownby disappeared near a school bus stop last Monday, while 15-year-old Shawn Hornbeck vanished four years ago, riding his bike. Investigators also reveal Hornbeck`s captor threatened to kill the boy`s family if he tried to escape. Miraculously, both boys were found alive.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And we have had specialists that are -- there`s already been an interview, and we have other interviews scheduled, but it`s going to be done by people that are professional and highly trained in that area. The FBI has brought out some specialists to help in that, and so we`re just going to take our time, not get into a rush, and make sure that it`s done right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They said that there was blood and that there was vomit in the room, which is absolutely false. The way that the Magistrate Virgil (ph) used words like "suspicious" and "not natural," when she`s a -- you know, she`s legally trained, she`s not a doctor.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, in tonight for Nancy Grace. Former "Playboy" Playmate and reality star Anna Nicole Smith battling ferociously on several fronts. Now the ante is being upped in the wake of her 20-year-old son`s drug-related death. The Bahamas has decided to hold a formal inquiry in late March. This is like a mini-trial, and Anna Nicole will certainly be a star witness. At issue, why did Daniel die? Everybody`s got a theory.

The phone lines are lighting up. Rosie from Missouri, your question?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I was wondering why a more thorough investigation wasn`t done at time of death.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I think that you`re raising an interesting point. And Mike Brooks, maybe you can explain the differences between the system down there and here because there are so many differences. And here, we generally do the investigation and then decide whether or not we`re going to make an arrest. But there, it seems like they do this whole process before deciding whether anything suspicious has even happened.

BROOKS: Well, I think Jane, that`s one of the reasons, Jane, they`re -- that`s the reason they`re going to go ahead and do this coroner`s court because they haven`t been able to decide what the cause of death is.

Now, investigators, I think, have done a pretty good job. Early on, I was saying, well, I didn`t know how good a job they were doing. But it sounds like they`re doing a fairly thorough investigation in this particular case. Four investigators from the Bahamas have come to the United States. In fact, they in LA for a number of days, talking to some of her doctors, his doctors. And I think these are some of the witnesses that you may see of these 20 witnesses that will appear in the coroner`s court.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, I`d like to go to defense attorney Robert Smith on this one. This is a tough question. She is also involved in a huge paternity battle. A Los Angeles photographer, Larry Birkhead, says he`s the father, not Howard K. Stern, which is the person that Anna Nicole says is the father of her new baby girl. Larry just won a huge ruling requiring Anna Nicole Smith to go back to Los Angeles for paternity testing with her child by January 23. Now, when she goes back, can they also just throw in a drug test, or can`t they do that legally without her permission?

ROBERT SMITH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I doubt that they could throw in the drug test, but one thing that they will do when she goes back is make sure that it`s actually her and the baby who are submitting to the DNA test. And I suspect that Anna Nicole Smith and her attorney, Mr. Stern, have already had DNA tests. So she probably has some idea already what the results of that DNA test are going to be.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And what a bombshell it will be if it turns out at the start of the March 27 inquiry, David Caplan, that Larry Birkhead is right and he is the father. That could really hurt her credibility in court. And we don`t know that to be the case. Howard K. Stern could turn out to be the daddy.

CAPLAN: Yes, absolutely. This will prove to be very bad for Anna Nicole Smith. First of all, she`ll have to rip up that Bahamian birth certificate that lists Howard K. Stern as the father. That`ll be the first thing on her "to do" list. And then this -- everyone`s is really going to look at Anna Nicole Smith and think she`s a liar, she`s very shady.

It`s not going to do good things for her image, that is for sure, because, really, we`ve all been following this case for months, and it`s just being so suspect -- you know, there`s shrouds of secrecy over this whole thing. And Anna Nicole Smith is going to look like she was a willing participant in any shady activity that happened. Whether or not she was, it`s just going to look like that she had something to do with it, and it doesn`t bode well for her.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had a lot of input, a wise kid, just very, very sincere. And he just absolutely loved his mom. He lit up when he saw his mom, and his mom lit up when Daniel walked into the room. They had a magical relationship.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, in tonight for Nancy Grace. What is next for embattled Anna Nicole Smith? Will she survive her multiple legal wars? She has a week to get her baby to LA and submit to a paternity test or she could be held in contempt. And meantime, this formal inquiry into her son`s drug-related death will soon begin back in the Bahamas.

My question for Dr. Mark Hillman, psychotherapist and author of a great-titled book, "My Therapist Is Making Me Nuts," how much drama can one person withstand? And why is it that this one person creates so much drama?

MARK HILLMAN, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Well, because she has a very narcissistic personality. It`s all about me -- Look at me, Look at me. And then with, you know, potentially -- I don`t know the clinical side, but it would be a borderline personality. Everything is about her. And now it`s the perfect victim, and how dramatic and how look at me. I have commitment vows on a catamaran in the middle of the Bahamas. And then she`s saying, No, no, no.

There are so many contradictions. And you said it to David Caplan before, when you first opened the show. Something is very sinister about this whole thing, and then the assistant district attorney who was talking before -- where are the parents in all of this? They -- Daniel was marked as this beautiful, wonderful child, caring, effusive, gregarious, and he comes up dead? Something just does not register.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And there`s another controversy, believe it or not. Graeme Massie, tell us about this. You`re from Splash News. You must know the details on this whole controversy over the photos. Larry Birkhead, the man who says he`s the daddy of the baby girl, says that she is using this child as a cash cow, and literally -- he uses this word, so don`t blame me -- pimping the child out so that she can make money off the photos of the baby.

MASSIE: Well, that`s right. I mean, I don`t think anyone knows the value of Anna Nicole Smith like Anna Nicole Smith. And she`s made hundreds of thousands of dollars already from pictures of her commitment ceremony with Howard K. Stern, the pictures that were taken in the hospital the day before Daniel Smith`s death, with Anna, Daniel and Dannie Lynn all together. She knows the value of the dollar. She knows the value of the brand that is Anna Nicole Smith.

(CROSSTALK)

MASSIE: ... surprise to anyone.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: You`re absolutely right, no surprise. And I`m sure there will be more photos in the future.

When we come back, a really shocking story out of Tennessee, a 21- month-old baby found with crystal meth in his system, his own mom arrested.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) cornfields of the Midwest to the penthouses in New York City, this drug is a poisonous thing. It not only affects the user but affects the entire New York community.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This is my (INAUDIBLE) cooked breakfast together. He always called me his honey. But then he started using the kitchen to make meth. One night, the police came in with white suits and gas masks. I was taken to the hospital and decontaminated. I haven`t seen my dad since.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, sitting in for Nancy Grace tonight. A shocking example of the growing methamphetamine epidemic in America. How did the drug known as meth end up in the system of a little Tennessee boy, who hasn`t even turned 2 yet?

Tonight, that is the question troubling doctors and law enforcement. After the child was raced to the emergency room, doctors discovered meth in the baby`s system. Then they tested the mother. Authorities say she, too, tested positive for the drug and has been charged with child abuse and neglect, although she says she has no idea how the baby got the drug.

Tonight, our experts weigh in on this disturbing case, as well as the growing crisis of meth-addicted babies across our nation. Let`s go straight out to UCTV station manager Nicole Parting for the very latest on this case -- Nicole?

NICOLE PARTING, UCTV STATION MANAGER: Hi, Jane. Good evening. Thanks so much.

A very bizarre story here in Tennessee, again, as a 38-year-old mother is charged with allegedly allowing methamphetamine to be ingested by her young baby boy. An unbelievable story.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It really is shocking. And I`d like to go straight out to Dr. Marty Makary of John Hopkins School of Medicine. I mean, this mother is saying that she has no idea how the child got a hold of the meth. The babysitter, according to police, was the one who said, Hey, the child`s behaving in a sick fashion. Calls the mother. They race to the E.R. Did the speed of the babysitter`s decision and her actions possibly save this child`s life?

MARTY MAKARY, PHYSICIAN: Certainly possible. Methamphetamine is one of those drugs where, if you test positive, you`ve ingested it or used it within the past one to three days. So time is of the essence.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, as we discuss this subject, we want to show you the impact, the horrible negative impact of methamphetamine. We have some before-and-after pictures that can show you how people literally change from sort of handsome, well-groomed people into something very much different in just a few short months.

Let`s go to a man who knows all about addiction, Ken Seeley. He is a recovering addict himself and an interventionist from the hit show on A&E called, very aptly titled. "Intervention." Why does methamphetamine have such a horrible impact on people? And what about the scabs on their faces?

KEN SEELEY, HOST, "INTERVENTION": It`s just horrific, the signs that people get from the disease of crystal meth addiction. What`s going on here is that they peel at their faces, as you saw in that picture. They get really into crystal meth psychosis.

It`s just really, really, really sad what happens to these people when they`re addicted to crystal meth. And the sad part about with this poor kid, you know, the mother even said she didn`t give it to him. But it could be residue laying around. Come on. Residue laying around. So that means she might as well have a loaded pistol laying around for that poor toddler to be playing around with. That`s the sad part about this.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s a very, very sad situation all the way around. We have to say this mother deserves the presumption of innocence. She has not been convicted of anything. She goes on trial February 20th on charges of child abuse and neglect.

We have been attempting to contact her attorneys to get her side of the story. We`ve been unable to do it.

But, Robert Smith, defense attorney, her father has come to her defense. This is the suspect, Helen Bonner. Her dad, the grandfather of the child, has come to her defense, saying that somebody spiked the drink and that this was an attempt to basically destroy her life, either kill her, or in some way get the baby away from her.

The police have declined to really pursue that, reportedly, and they`re going ahead with their case against Helen Bonner. Are they obligated to pursue the grandfather`s theory?

ROBERT SMITH, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, they`re not. If the district attorney wants a conviction, they should listen to all the witnesses before they`re confronted with testimony at the trial. And there will be an exchange of witness lists before a trial.

It`s a plausible defense, and it perhaps could be true. Let`s distinguish between her fitness as a custodial parent, which is probably not very high, in view of the fact that she admits to being an addict, and being convicted of a crime, in which the prosecution has to prove all the elements of the crime charged beyond a reasonable doubt. And that could be a stretch here.

And it might require statements by the police as to admissions that she made as to where this crystal meth came from. I don`t know whether there`s a custody dispute in play or if there are other people. And perhaps her father is advancing a plausible defense, which is what makes trials interesting.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And let`s go quickly to Nicole Parting, station manager, UCTV. You`ve been covering this case. I mean, again, the babysitter may very well be the hero who saved this child`s life, but do the authorities have to give her a test, too, and see if she tested positive for meth? Are there any possible custody issues here?

PARTING: You know, actually, the authorities have investigated, and everything checked out clear with the babysitter. Due to the time line, immediately when the child was dropped off, the babysitter within moments made a phone call to the mother and relayed the message that the child was acting very, very hyper, overly excited, and appeared to be going into some sort of convulsion.

And the child was then rushed to the hospital. At that point, tests were administered, and the child tested positive for meth. Then the mother agreed to take the test and tested positive. At that point, authorities, they did a wonderful job, the Warren County Police Department (ph) did check out the babysitter. Everything there checked out perfectly. And they proceed to charge the mother.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s hear what police have to say.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) people that are either making meth or taking meth, the children shouldn`t be in the home. It just breaks your heart to see it. It`s terrible.

He said his wife was (INAUDIBLE) and said, I`m at the hospital (INAUDIBLE) hospital. I said, "What`s wrong with you?" He went into convulsions or something.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where do you think it came from?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have no idea now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ken Seeley, recovering addict and the interventionist on the hit show "Intervention," this woman has a troubled history. An d I`d like you to comment on it.

I mean, she has a history of drug abuse. In 1995, she was convicted of a felony drug offense. She did two months in jail and 46 months probation. She has reportedly done some drug treatment, according to her family. But there was a second drug charge in 2005 that apparently is still not resolved. My underlying question is, how hard is it to kick meth?

SEELEY: It`s really difficult, especially if you don`t want to kick meth. I mean, it seems like she went through treatment, as stated before, but now she`s not wanting to get sober, clean and sober. So what we need to do is raise that bottom.

And I understand dad sticking up for her and trying to protect her. But he should have been doing something prior to this. You know, if there was residue, in her own words saying there was residue laying around, then that shows that dad had to have seen that.

Come in. Get a professional to come in and do a professional intervention, and make her hit that bottom and want to stop using drugs. That`s the goal.

The people out there that are addicted to this meth are in denial. They don`t realize they have a disease. It`s up to the outside people, the families, the loved ones, the employers, other people watching their behavior to step in and say -- they`re not going to come to us and say they need help. They`re in denial. That`s part of the disease.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Of course.

SEELEY: What they need to do is step in, step in and take action.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m a sober person, as well, who will have 12 years of sobriety in April, God willing...

SEELEY: Congratulations.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you. But the one thing that we all know about addiction is that the addiction controls the person. They don`t control the addiction. Given that methamphetamine is such a horribly addictive substance, and it`s addicting parents who are in charge of these children, do we need to take extraordinary measures when we find a parent who is addicted and treat them differently than we would just an ordinary individual who`s addicted?

SEELEY: I think everybody has to keep their green light on and be aware of what is going on with everybody that has addiction, you know, or even in drugs. They have to take action, and make sure that they`re aware so the addict doesn`t get stuck in their disease and killing their loved one or a baby, in this situation. It`s horrific, horrific that this is happening.

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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

VICKI SICKELS, FORMER METH ADDICT: We live in a world that wants us to be productive and effective. And this is a drug that gives you 24 hours in every day, because you stay awake. And you can get every minute out of every hour.

It`s a drug that gives you energy. It`s a drug that, in the beginning, when it first tricks you into, seduces you into using it, you can think more clearly. You have social and sexual confidence. It really gives you a boost.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell in tonight for Nancy Grace. You can call it ice or crank or meth or crystal. Any way you slice it, it`s a horrible trend in America. The methamphetamine epidemic is now trickling down to kids, unintentional victims, who are addicted in utero or to accidentally grab some, as this toddler apparently did. And he thankfully survived.

The question, what can we do about this crisis? And, Mark Hillman, psychotherapist and author, why are we having this crisis? Apparently this epidemic is sweeping the Midwest, as well. One state reported that, back in the `90s, they had six meth labs, and now they`ve discovered 1,200 in their last survey in 2003. What`s going on?

MARK HILLMAN, CLINICAL PSYCHOTHERAPIST: It`s called greed, Jane. It`s all about money. I mean, understand this. I mean, you know, we`re sitting here talking about, you know, what we can do and this and that. And I`ve got to raise a very uncomfortable question.

We`re talking about drugs. I`m New York City born and raised. I`ve got four years military, I got 12 years college education. And my question is, whatever happened to common sense?

This woman has prior convictions. She has meth in her system. The baby has meth in his system. The father comes up with this vital lie to deny an uncomfortable truth, what fascinates, disturbs us. I want to know what`s going to be done for the child, neglect and abuse, with this child in the home. That child needs to get out of there, not go with the father.

We talk about saving the world and having these bleeding hearts with the psychotherapy and counseling. I think a lot more has to be done.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, wait a second. You are a psychotherapist. So, by definition, you are a bleeding heart. I mean, we all know that just locking somebody away who has an addiction problem may keep them off the streets, but it certainly doesn`t solve their addiction. I mean, basically, 12-step programs have been the only known, proven cure for any kind of long-term solution to addiction. So I really don`t understand where you`re coming from as a psychotherapist.

HILLMAN: Well, you know, understand that, you know, when you change the way somebody thinks, you change their behavior. And so an understanding in terms of helping these people, yes, but the intervention is epidemic. It is out of control. And what we do is we try to save all of these people, in terms of incarcerating some of them and getting them clean and sober, and starting all over.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I think that you raise some valid points. You know, we have locked up so many people. I think we have in our country more people in prison than almost any other country in the world. And yet we still have this horrible drug problem that seems to jump from drug to drug to drug. Now they say meth babies are the new crack babies.

So, you know, you have to wonder, what are we doing wrong? There are some controversial solutions that we could talk about. There are people who even suggest a libertarian approach of decriminalization, which I`m not saying I suggest.

But this is a big problem, and we have to look at all the possibilities. Let`s go to the phone lines. Jan in Texas, your question?

CALLER: Yes, I know nothing about how this drug is ingested. Is it possible that the child breathed it in over such a long period of time that it slowly ingested enough of it to have breathed in enough of it that it became dangerous?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mike Brooks, you`ve investigated cases like that. Is that a realistic possibility?

MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE: That`s a possibility, Jane. But I think the residue or maybe just the kid putting -- I mean, look, let`s talk about what`s in this nasty stuff.

Think about this, Jane. For every one pound of methamphetamine that`s made, it yields two pounds of toxic waste. We`re talking about red devil lye, acid from lithium batteries, phosphorous from the backs of match strikers, acetone that`s used to get the phosphorous out of those match strikers, after it`s soaked in it, hydrogen peroxide, ephedrine. Who knows what`s lying around this woman`s house?

If and when -- and I hope she never gets this child back, to be honest, until she gets the help she needs -- but if she does get this child back, somebody needs to make sure that this house has been decontaminated, because sometimes, Jane, they have to tear down a whole house and declare it a waste area.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: A disaster area.

BROOKS: Yes, because of all of the runoff into the sewers, into the grass around the house.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: And you know, the underlying question that the viewer asked about, could it be possible over a long term, you know, in the end, usually it`s the most obvious explanation that`s the correct one, not always.

But, I mean, 20-month-old children stick everything in their mouths as they go around the house. That`s the phase and the stage that they`re in. And this child probably allegedly saw some lying around and stuck it in his mouth. And thank God that he is going to be OK, and he is doing well, and he is going to survive this terrible ordeal.

I want to ask Norm Early, National District Attorney Association spokesperson, about the methamphetamine crisis, because, as I understand it, it`s almost become a home-grown crisis. In other words, with cocaine, you have cocoa that comes from South America. Other heroin comes from a plant.

But methamphetamine comes from over-the-counter medication that can be cooked up in somebody`s house. And now we`re seeing these meth labs popping up all over the nation, particularly in rural areas that are sort of out of the way.

NORM EARLY, FORMER DISTRICT ATTORNEY: Yes. The ingredients are readily available. And you`ve heard about the proliferation of meth labs throughout this country and in places where you wouldn`t think they would be, like in the Midwest.

And, Jane, while I`m sympathetic to addicts, I am far more sympathetic to the children who, through no fault of their own, find themselves being raised by people like Mrs. Bonner. No one has to prove that Ms. Bonner put the methamphetamine in this child or that she intended to do so, just that she was negligent. And that`s enough.

And in my estimation, you let the chips fall where they may. And in this instance, it seems to me that the criminal justice system cannot turn its back on this kind of conduct.

If people are going to have a drug this dangerous in their home, they have to know that their children might be subjected to it and might get ill.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Norm, Norm, I want to tell our viewers that what you`re looking at is something called meth mouth. I can`t even say it, meth mouth.

EARLY: That`s hideous.

VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s so grotesque.

EARLY: Can you imagine a kid with something like that, as a result of his or her parent not having the decency to relinquish them?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right. Why would anybody want to subject themselves? But, you know, addiction is (INAUDIBLE) and powerful, and it has total control over you when it gets a hold of you. Ken Seeley...

EARLY: But you know what? They make a choice the first time they use it. And subsequent to that, you know, it gets worse and worse and worse.

But at some point, somebody has to step in. And in this instance, the criminal justice system has to...

(CROSSTALK)

VELEZ-MITCHELL: But, Norm, can we put everybody in prison? I mean, can we put everybody in prison?

EARLY: You can`t put everybody in prison. But the fact of the matter is, this woman has been convicted previously for meth addiction. She went to treatment for meth. And then her child has meth in her. She has meth in her. The house has meth in it. And everybody`s trying to say, hey, maybe it`s an accident.

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VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell in for Nancy Grace. We are talking about the nation`s methamphetamine epidemic. And as we do, we`re showing you before-and-after pictures.

You know, people think drugs can be glamorous sometimes. This shows you how unglamorous they are. And in some senses, Mark Hillman, psychotherapist, methamphetamine is worse than crack, because a crack high lasts three hours, but a meth high can last for 12 hours and takes longer to break down in your system.

And my question to you, Mark, is, why are so many people in this very wealthy country, where we have so many things to offer us, needing to get hooked on methamphetamine? Why do we need to jump from drug to drug to drug in this country?

HILLMAN: Because it makes us feel empowered. I mean, come on, it`s a high. It`s a thrill. It`s a rush. But, you know, I`m going to go back to something you said before about -- and I don`t know if most of the audience heard it, but you said this year you`re going to be 12 years sober. And we`re talking about bleeding hearts.

But you know what? You took responsibility, Jane, and I can respect and admire that about you, which is a real positive thing. When do we take responsibility?

VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, thank you. And it is a daily reprieve. That any recovering person will tell you.

Tonight, we remember Army Private First Class Will Newgard, just 20 from Arlington Heights, Illinois, killed in Iraq on his second tour of duty. Newgard had dreamt of enlisting since he was just 4 years old. Newgard loved war history books and wanted to work for a security firm after the military. Newgard`s mom, an elementary school secretary, often sent her son care packages and letters from the young students. He leaves behind a grieving family., including an older sister, Holly. Will Newgard, an American hero.

We want to thank all our guests tonight for their insights. Thanks to you at home for tracking these cases with us. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell sitting in for Nancy Grace. See you right here tomorrow night, 8:00 Eastern. Have a safe evening.

END