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Nancy Grace
DNA Report on Anna Nicole Daughter Due in Court Tomorrow
Aired April 09, 2007 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Tonight, newly emerging reports reveal a possible deal in the works regarding covergirl Anna Nicole Smith`s baby girl and sole heir to a possible $475 million estate. Tonight, we learn Howard K. Stern may be throwing in the towel in the battle for custody of 7-month-old Dannielynn. Tonight, the clock ticking down to 0900, when DNA results will be formally announced on the biological paternity of the million-dollar baby.
And tonight: It took a fleet of Texas state troopers, dozens of sirens, and finally, spikes to the wheels to stop a Texas mom leading Texas police on a high-speed chase of 110 MPH over two counties. Fatalities, one. Who? Her 9-month-old baby girl, Alexis (ph), lying in the front seat, no belt, no carseat, no protection of any kind. She hurled through the window to her death. But tonight, mama just says it was a traffic violation. I don`t think so, lady.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say Amy Roseter (ph) was driving this SUV so dangerously in Summerville (ph) County that other drivers called 911. The chase was on.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) the spike system take out a couple of tires on the SUV.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: But she kept going, ripping what was left of the tires to shreds, careening along U.S. 57.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) between over 100 miles an hour up to 110 miles per hour.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She started weaving back and forth, struck the center median.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The SUV flipped. A baby was thrown from it. And that`s when this trooper says everyone realized (INAUDIBLE) infant daughter had been inside entire time. Medics tried to save her, flying her to a Fort Worth hospital. But doctors there pronounced her dead. She was just 9 months old.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. First, another new twist in the custody battle over covergirl Anna Nicole Smith`s baby girl.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JUDGE LARRY SEIDLIN, BROWARD COUNTY, FLORIDA: In the center of this maze is Dannielynn. I have a grandmother, I have Mr. Stern, and I have another party that feels he may be the biological father.
LARRY BIRKHEAD, ANNA NICOLE`S FORMER BOYFRIEND: I don`t get up in the morning and say, Who am I going to fight today about this? I`m just doing what I have to do for my daughter.
HOWARD K. STERN, ANNA NICOLE`S ATTORNEY/COMPANION: It really bothered Anna when Virgie went to the media and said that either Anna or I had murdered Daniel. It just angered Anna. At that point, she said, This woman will never see my daughter.
VIRGIE ARTHUR, ANNA NICOLE`S MOTHER: I`m not giving up. I`m not going to quit.
ANNA NICOLE SMITH: First of all, she`s not my mother, she`s my birth mother.
For her to go out there and make these ridiculous statements about me killing my son or Howard killing my son -- who does she think she is?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) do you think?
ARTHUR: Can`t talk about it, sweetie. Sorry. (INAUDIBLE) pray for me and my grandbaby, please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight: Are we reaching the end of a long-running feud? That`s right, a feud. And is it true that Howard K. Stern is throwing in the towel over the battle of custody of this little girl, Dannielynn, set to inherit $475 million. Now, he`s fought tooth and claw up until now.
Why now, Jean Casarez? Is this a suggestion he knows what`s in the DNA results and the father is Birkhead?
JEAN CASAREZ, COURT TV: It could be. You know, what is the truth? Because he has fought it the entire way. But Nancy, remember, this may be a paternity action, but this is a civil fraud case in the Bahamas. And if Howard K. Stern would be found liable of fraud, that is something that could haunt him when it gets to the inquest a couple weeks from now.
GRACE: Let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, Daniel Horowitz, Kevin Mincey, and of course, Jean Casarez, also a practicing lawyer. To you, Daniel Horowitz. Speaking of fraud on the birth certificate, could that be? Could Howard K. Stern actually be prosecuted for fraud for suggesting he was the biological father?
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t think so, Nancy. Lots of times, you put the person as a father who is the one who`s the real father, the emotional father. And there`s no question that Anna wanted...
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, wait, wait!
HOROWITZ: ... Howard to be the father of her baby.
GRACE: I need to see Horowitz right now. I need to look at Horowitz. Did I just hear you say the emotional father should go on the birth certificate?
HOROWITZ: That`s right. That`s right. That happens all the time. In fact...
GRACE: Where did you learn that? Is that California law...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: ... that the emotional father should be on the birth certificate?
HOROWITZ: If you`re married to somebody and your wife has a baby, then that is your baby and your name goes on the birth certificate, even if you didn`t make that baby.
GRACE: That`s not what you just said! That`s not what you said!
HOROWITZ: I know it`s not. I`m doing a version of it, Nancy. The truth is, he`s the father emotionally...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: ... five minutes, and you`re already backtracking! OK. Fine. What about it, Kevin Mincey? Is that true? Does the emotional -- emotional -- father go on the birth certificate?
KEVIN MINCEY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I`m not sure if that`s necessarily true. But I don`t think that him withdrawing his fight over paternity is an indication of fraud. If he honestly felt that he was the father of Dannielynn, and there`s no indication that he didn`t know that, then there`s no fraud here. And any charge of fraud would be -- would be ridiculous.
GRACE: Right. I agree. And Jean Casarez, when you say an allegation of fraud, of possible fraud, you`re talking about the birth certificate. But realistically speaking...
CASAREZ: But this is a fraud case. This is a civil fraud case right now, and the judge has to look at the issue, Was a fraud perpetrated on Larry Birkhead by conspiring with Anna Nicole Smith to put the name on the birth certificate? Well, I don`t think we`ve gotten to part B of this case yet. We`re just in the paternity stages. So couldn`t Larry Birkhead`s attorneys ask the judge to dismiss any allegations of fraud and simply say that Larry Birkhead is the birth father of the child?
GRACE: OK. You know, here`s the other possibility. Let me shock all the lawyers tonight and suggest that Howard K. Stern truly believed he was the biological father. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BIRKHEAD: I don`t get up in the morning and say, Who can I fight today about this? I`m just doing what I have to do for my daughter. And that`s why I`m here, and you know, that`s why I`ll go wherever I have to go. If it`s -- if it`s here, it`s somewhere else, wherever, you know, you just go where -- if a judge is going to listen to me and -- you know, I`m going to go there.
SEIDLIN: Let`s say you`re the father. Do you think you could develop a relationship with Mr. Stern to work something where everybody gets to enjoy and improve the life of Dannielynn?
BIRKHEAD: I`m not selfish. You know, I have -- there`s a lot of hurt and heartache. I missed the delivery of my child.
SEIDLIN: Well -- I`m sorry.
BIRKHEAD: I missed the delivery of my child. I`ve had to pay $4.99 for magazines to see what my child looks like. I`ve had to call and send gifts, Fedex Christmas gifts for my child. And I`ve missed everything that you can`t get back. So maybe someday. Maybe -- I`m not going to say yes today, but the more he fights me and the more it takes, the less likely he (INAUDIBLE) get anything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Out to you Jane Velez-Mitchell, investigative reporter. What do we know about a deal between Howard Stern and Larry Birkhead in which Stern agrees not to fight for custody? Because even if Birkhead is the biological father, the court`s still got to award him custody of the baby. Is there some deal in the works where Stern gets to stay in on the $475 million estate?
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, of course, Howard K. Stern has actually hired another attorney to protect himself against what he considers unfair media accusations of being just money-grubbing and not interested in the best interests of this little girl.
Tomorrow, of course, is the big day. It`s DNA day in the Bahamas. We`re going to learn possibly the paternity of this child. Larry Birkhead -- if it turns out it is Larry Birkhead, Howard K. Stern has said, according to TMZ, that he will not challenge custody, which I take to mean he will allow Larry Birkhead to take custody of this child and take this child back to California, where Larry has already set up a nursery.
Now, the one thing Howard K. Stern said is he does not want Virgie Arthur, Anna Nicole Smith`s mother, to have custody. So this could set up kind of a conflict between Larry Birkhead and Virgie Arthur. Virgie Arthur has filed papers seeking to become the guardian ad litem for the child, and she`s also seeking custody. So if Larry Birkhead is the father and ends up with custody, he could end up at loggerheads with Virgie Arthur fighting over custody instead of Howard K. Stern.
GRACE: Joining us is Don Clark, the former head of the FBI unit there in Houston and also working with Virgie Arthur`s legal team. Don, how did we get here? Remember, it seemed to be that Birkhead and Virgie Arthur had an alliance together in Florida against Stern? And now somehow, Virgie`s the one being left out in the cold.
DON CLARK, WORKING FOR VIRGIE ARTHUR: Well, you know, you`re absolutely right. You know, whichever way the wind blows, it seems that someone goes in that direction. But let me tell you, Nancy, that I`ve talked to a lot of Bahamian legal experts over there, and just because that somebody is determined to be the biological father, that does not mean that they absolutely get custody of it. And that`s why they`re having this custody hearing.
And yes, Virgie certainly wants to have a relationship with this granddaughter at some point, but she certainly would also like to have custody of this granddaughter at some point and work with whomever. So she gets to fight in this custody battle.
GRACE: Hey, I`ve got news for you. It`s kind of now or never, Don Clark.
CLARK: No, it`s not going to be now...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: ... not going to get it.
CLARK: It`s going to be now or never, but it`s not going to be tomorrow or the next day. They still have a process to go through. And I will say this, that let`s face it, Anna lived in a world of drugs, and people surrounding her, many of them, to include Larry and Howard, were a part of that world. And had that baby been born in America, we may not be having this conversation because none of them may have been granted custody.
GRACE: Speaking of a world of drugs, we counted out 600 pills that apparently Anna Nicole Smith had ingested. Take a look at this. In just a few weeks, the day before her death -- that was the environment that the baby had, that Howard K. Stern had -- all of these representing pills that Anna Nicole Smith allegedly ingested.
Out to you, Andrea Macari, clinical psychologist. Take a look at the three. How will the court decide who will be the best parent?
ANDREA MACARI, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, I think what they`re going to look at first is who is the parent. I think Howard...
GRACE: No, no, no, no, no, no! Who is the biological father?
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: There`s a big difference in a biological father and mother and who takes you in and nurtures you and raises you.
MACARI: I stand Corrected. I have to say, though, I think Howard is psychologically preparing for the DNA results tomorrow and the eventual surrender of Dannielynn. And if Larry really is the father, who can blame him for being resentful toward Howard, maybe so resentful that he wants to keep Howard completely out of her life? So I think this public extension of the olive branch, if I may say, is only going to increase his chances of being perhaps still on some capacity in her life.
GRACE: Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STERN: Originally, I believe it was back in 1996, she was a client of mine. We became friends. We spent a lot of time together. Ultimately, we became more than friends. This was years ago. We didn`t say anything at the time.
She was my best friend, my lover, the mother of my daughter, everything to me. I mean, literally everything, my whole world.
Anna wanted our marriage to be a legal marriage. I had some concerns because I was concerned about how people would perceive it. I was concerned that people would think that I`m making a run for her money because her son had passed away and we didn`t want to give any perception that we were trying to hide any wrongdoing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Howard K. Stern speaking under oath at a hearing in Florida determining what would happen to the remains of Anna Nicole Smith. Well, the battle still goes on, now about custody, now about paternity.
To you, Jean Casarez. There have been a lot of reports that some kind of deal was in the works between Stern and Birkhead.
CASAREZ: Well, remember back when the funeral happened, there were all these reports about a deal. And when I spoke with Larry Birkhead on camera, he told me there`s never been a deal. There is not a deal. There will not be a deal. Now there`s another thing going around about a deal, and it has to involve, I think, the money that Howard K. Stern wants to have some control over in regard to whatever rights and visitation rights. Is it true or not? It may not be true.
GRACE: Well, the reality is this -- back to you, Daniel Horowitz and Kevin Mincey. Even if Stern is not the biological father, he`s still got a lot of ammo to fight a custody battle. He`s been the only parent this child has had for seven months. Of course, that`s his own doing. But the reality is, he is the only parent she`s had. He was there at her birth. He`s been taking care of her. Anna Nicole Smith did name him the father and apparently said she did not want Birkhead in their life. They had a whole plan mapped out for this child`s life. That is ammo for a custody battle, Daniel.
I can`t hear Daniel.
HOROWITZ: In the Bahamas, Howard Stern would have a great chance of winning, and I think that`s why Larry and Howard probably did make a deal because Howard wants to come back to the United States, and Larry in the United States is more powerful, according to the law. So I say there was a compromise made between the two of them. And Virgie Arthur doesn`t even play into this. She`s out of the game entirely.
GRACE: And to you, Kevin Mincey. I don`t know about that. But to you, Kevin Mincey. He`s got several things in his arsenal. I`m talking about Howard K. Stern. He could launch a custody battle against Birkhead, supposing Birkhead`s the biological father, drag this thing out. It would be better for him to get some type of visitation with the girl and remain executor over the $475 million estate. That`s the only way he`s going to get paid for his legal work.
MINCEY: I think so, too. But at the same time, I think he has to also possibly employ alternative strategies. And I think Daniel might be right, that when you have this much money involved, it might lead people to maybe strike a deal when they might have a strong case, but in the -- I guess the general idea of making sure they get something, they decide to take a deal. And this would be one way to guarantee that he`s able to stay in Dannielynn`s life, if he`s ruled out as the father.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Lily in Florida. Hi, Lily.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I love your show.
GRACE: Thank you, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. My question is, if Larry`s the father, has anybody wondered why Anna Nicole Smith wanted to hide the baby from the potential father?
GRACE: You know, that`s a very good question, Lily in Florida, and I think we`ve got some answers. What about it, Jean Casarez?
CASAREZ: Well, according to the Birkhead camp, the reason being was that Larry Birkhead didn`t want her to do drugs, tried to get the drugs away from her. She didn`t want to get away from the drugs, and so that was one motivation. And Larry Birkhead also allegedly said, I`m going to take the child after it`s born because you shouldn`t have custody as a prescription drug addict.
GRACE: And to support that, there are apparently e-mails where Anna Nicole Smith stated she wanted to take the baby away from Birkhead. But that`s not going to be strong enough to take away a father`s rights.
Out to you, Jeffrey Leving. He`s a fathers` rights custody expert and author. He also represented Elian Gonzalez`s father. You all remember the struggle of Elian Gonzalez from Cuba. Jeffrey, where do you land on this?
JEFFREY LEVING, FATHERS` RIGHTS ADVOCATE: Well, my opinion here is the rights of the biological father are superior to the rights of anyone involved in this case. And I recently handled a case like this in Chicago, where the court made that decision, and the court determined that the maternal grandmother had no standing to even seek custody. And my client, the biological dad, walked away with custody.
I think this could be the outcome here, but there are problems because I have studied the legal code in the Bahamas, and even though the maternal grandmother has no right to standing to seek sole custody, there is a two- step process where she could seek joint guardianship with the biological father. And if she`s successful in doing that, then she could try and bounce him out, if she could prove he`s unfit.
GRACE: DNA...
LEVING: So it`s very unfortunate.
GRACE: DNA supposedly announced tomorrow morning 0900 in a Bahamian courtroom. Is it true that major contender Howard K. Stern is throwing in the towel on the custody fight? What does he know? Has he peeked into the envelope?
When we come back: Do Anna Nicole`s diaries reveal anything? With us will be Doug Norwine, who actually has possession of the diaries with him tonight.
Very quickly, to tonight`s "Case Alert." Office madness, a shooting at a Detroit-area office building leaves one dead, two wounded. Suspect in custody, 38-year-old Anthony Lacalamata (ph), accused of opening fire on three co-workers at his accounting firm. He had worked there for some time.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN O`QUINN, ATTORNEY FOR VIRGIE ARTHUR: She`s very happy. And primarily she`s happy because she (INAUDIBLE) things are going to start happening that will result in this child, this 5, 6-month-old baby getting to safety. She wants guardianship, and she wants custody with whoever is the real father. She wants to have some visitation in that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: In the middle of all the confusion regarding DNA of the little girl, and paternity, diaries emerge written by Anna Nicole Smith, and they go back on the auction block. Joining us tonight with the diaries, Doug Norwine with Heritage Auction Galleries. He`s auctions Anna Nicole`s diaries. Can you hold them up, sir?
DOUG NORWINE, AUCTIONING OFF ANNA NICOLE`S DIARIES: Yes, sir. Yes, ma`am. This is her diary from 1992, indeed, a pivotal year. And this is her diary from 1994, another pivotal year, during the time she was married to J. Howard Marshall.
GRACE: Why do you say pivotal? What have you learned in the diaries we don`t already know?
NORWINE: Well, so far on the show as I`ve been listening, you`ve been talking about pills, booze and paternity. In these diaries, talk about hope, dreams and love. And it paints her in another light. It shows a child-like vulnerability. And there`s nothing sleazy, there`s nothing lurid in here.
GRACE: Sir, do you really believe those diaries came out of a trashbin? Don`t you feel a little guilty for auctioning them off?
NORWINE: I never said they came out of a trashbin.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Howard, when he`s around that baby, he treats her like gold. You know he`s going to take care of the baby like it`s his own.
BIRKHEAD: I`m just doing what I have to do for my daughter. If I have to sell this shirt and this tie, I`m going to sell it. So I`ll do whatever I have to do.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back. Tomorrow it all comes to a head in a Bahamian courtroom, DNA expected to be announced regarding the biological paternity of 7-month-old Dannielynn, the only heir to Anna Nicole Smith`s vast potential fortune. That heir, 7-month-old Dannielynn Smith.
Out to the lines. Martha in Tennessee. Hi, Martha.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. Appreciate all you do.
GRACE: Thank you, ma`am. What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I was wondering if they prove Larry Birkhead is the father, will there be a new birth certificate (INAUDIBLE) and will it be in the Bahamas or in the United States?
GRACE: Interesting. Daniel Horowitz, how will that work?
HOROWITZ: Well, Nancy, I don`t really know, but I assume it would be in the United States. And yes, they would have to correct it. You can`t have a public record be incorrect. So if he`s proven the father, he`ll be...
GRACE: Well, I don`t know why the birth certificate would go to the U.S. Daniel Horowitz, there you are making up defense law again. Jean, what can you tell me?
CASAREZ: I think it will be a Bahamian birth certificate initially. The judge will have to order that the name Stern be taken away as the name of the child, the last name. Also, the birth father`s name will have to be deleted and replaced by Larry Birkhead. And then it be the U.S. embassy that would have to have papers filed by the birth father saying that the child needs to be registered as a U.S. citizen.
GRACE: Did you hear that, Horowitz?
HOROWITZ: U.S. citizen, birth in the U.S. or by a U.S. citizen. I get it.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOWARD K. STERN, ANNA NICOLE SMITH CONFIDANTE: She was my best friend.
LARRY BIRKHEAD, CLAIMS TO BE FATHER OF DANNIELYNN: I missed the delivery of my child.
FREDERIC VON ANHALT, CLAIMS TO BE FATHER OF DANNIELYNN: I don`t believe that one of the two is the father.
STERN: My lover, the mother of my daughter.
ANHALT: There could be 20 guys who claim to be the father of the child.
BIRKHEAD: I`ve had to call and send gifts, FedEx Christmas gifts.
ANHALT: I never claimed to be the father of the child; I said I could be one of those.
LARRY SEIDLIN, BROWARD COUNTY JUDGE: Any children?
BIRKHEAD: One.
SEIDLIN: How old?
BIRKHEAD: Five months, six months.
SEIDLIN: Oh, OK.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: DNA expected to be announced tomorrow in a Bahamian courtroom. But will that end the battle? I don`t think so. Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON CLARK, FORMER HEAD OF FBI HOUSTON BUREAU: The firm and all of us included is trying to get Dannielynn in Virgie Arthur`s arms so she can take her home to Texas where she has her whole family there. Dannielynn has no family, no living family at all in the Bahamas.
And I say that, including Howard Stern, because there`s plenty of evidence out there that Howard Stern has not been with this baby very much. Since she has been born, she`s been taken care of by nannies. So the baby has nothing. That`s what we want to do, is to get the baby in Virgie`s hands. She`s proven that she`s qualified, she`s raised kids, she`s raised Danny up until 7 years old, so why not give her this baby?
JOHN O`QUINN, ATTORNEY FOR VIRGIE ARTHUR: She`s very happy. Primarily she`s happy because she`s becoming persuaded things are going to start happening that will result in this child, this 5-, 6-month-old baby, getting to safety. She wants guardianship, and she wants custody with whoever is the real father. She wants to have some participation in that.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Those were representatives for Virgie Arthur, Anna Nicole Smith`s mother. That was Don Clark with us tonight and also John O`Quinn, one of her lawyers.
I want to go out to Dr. William Morrone, medical examiner and toxicologist. It`s all boiling down to DNA for tomorrow. It`s a very simple test. Explain.
DR. WILLIAM MORRONE, MEDICAL EXAMINER: Here`s how the test is done. You have to have a sample, and when we take the sample, it`s collected and sent to the lab. That has to be certified. It`s part of a chain of custody.
GRACE: Dr. Morrone, that`s a Cabbage Patch doll. It doesn`t have DNA.
MORRONE: Well, yes, but it was good for illustration. That sampling and transport should take a day or two. When you go to the lab, it should take another four or five days. Then there is the determination of the actual statistics, and the legal presentation of how it will be defensible in court; that`s another day or two.
The people in the lab knew who the father was last week, maybe the weekend before. When you have an opportunity to present this in court, they have to be able to say it`s absolute.
GRACE: What kind of statistics are we talking about, when you say absolute, one in three trillion?
MORRONE: Less than that, but we don`t talk that way now. Ten years ago, we talked in terms of genetics and probability statistics. We talk in terms of a ratio from zero to one, zero meaning there`s not a match on that statistics, and one meaning it`s clinched, it`s absolute.
GRACE: Absolute, absolutely no doubt. That leaves Howard Stern with very little maneuvering room.
MORRONE: None.
GRACE: To you, Jean Casarez. If this comes back that Birkhead is the biological dad, and why else on the eve of the announcement of DNA do we hear rumors and scuttlebutt and reports that Howard K. Stern is trying to work a deal and he`s going to give up custody if DNA shows Birkhead`s the father?
JEAN CASAREZ, COURT TV: You know, it will be very interesting. I guess I`m a skeptic, because I heard about a deal before, and that deal didn`t pan out. And we`ve gone through the legal channels all the way to the Supreme Court of Nassau, the Bahamas. And if there`s a deal, then I guess it will come out publicly.
GRACE: I want to go to two guests with us tonight. Andy Kahan is with us, director of the crime victim`s office in Houston, a well-known crime victim`s advocate.
And also with us tonight, the man who has the diaries written by Anna Nicole Smith, Doug Norwine. Gentlemen, again, thank you for being with us.
Mr. Norwine, you gave the statement that you do not believe, never said these items were retrieved from the trash. Then who took the diaries away from Anna Nicole?
DOUG NORWINE, AUCTIONEER: What you have to understand is, at Heritage Auction Galleries, we value our integrity above all else. When someone consigns an article or an item with us, they sign off that they have clear title. This consigner wants to remain anonymous, and we will honor that. But we have in our signed agreement that they have clear title.
You brought up this Dumpster-diving scenario, and I never said that, and this is the first I`m hearing about this.
GRACE: To you, Andy Kahan, the diaries had to come from somewhere. They appeared after Anna Nicole Smith`s death. I don`t think she handed them over. Does anybody else have the right to do that?
ANDY KAHAN, DIRECTOR, VICTIMS CRIME OFFICE FOR HOUSTON MAYOR: You know, Nancy, Doug has said it. There was no sleaze in the diary, but the real sleaze is in the seller, who`s basically just picking this poor girl apart, just hawking her brains out for pure profit.
You know what I would do, Doug, if I were you, if you really want to take a stand? You should just give the diaries to where it belongs, and that is her daughter. There is no way that Anna Nicole Smith would have ever wanted her own private personal thoughts for sale. So whoever got them certainly didn`t get them by legal means. You should take the high road.
GRACE: Mr. Norwine...
NORWINE: We want to take the high road.
KAHAN: Then give it to her daughter. Say, "We`re not going to be a vulture. We`re not going to continue to be a hawk."
NORWINE: We`re not a vulture.
KAHAN: Yes, you are. You`re sitting there...
NORWINE: No, we`re not.
KAHAN: Yes, you are. You`re making money off of this poor girl. Trust me, she did not want her private thoughts up there for sale. Give the diaries to her daughter.
(CROSSTALK)
NORWINE: Could I read one excerpt?
KAHAN: Give the diaries to her daughter.
NORWINE: Could I read one excerpt out of the diaries?
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Gentlemen, let`s hear an excerpt.
NORWINE: Let`s hear an excerpt and let`s see how "we`re picking her bones apart." This is June 23rd, 1992, the magical time where she finally met Paul Marciano and would eventually become the Guess jeans girl.
"Oh, my gosh, Paul Marciano called today to see if I got his books. Also, I`m going to go to San Antonio to do a photo shoot. I`m so excited. Please, God, let him love me. He said he needs some clothes to try on for my shoot. I can`t believe this. This could be it," with five smiley faces. That`s not picking bones; that`s not lurid at all.
(CROSSTALK)
KAHAN: Doug, hey, Doug, did she give you permission to sell it, yes or no?
NORWINE: Did who give me permission to sell it?
KAHAN: Did Anna Nicole Smith give you permission to sell her diary, yes or no?
NORWINE: The consigner signed the agreement, and that is why we`re auctioning...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Hold on, hold on. That`s my question. I know you keep saying...
NORWINE: We keep our consigners confidential.
GRACE: Do you know where the consigner got the diaries?
NORWINE: Pardon me?
GRACE: Do you know where the so-called consigner got the diaries?
NORWINE: We know that the consigner has signed off that he has clear title of the diaries.
GRACE: So he said that on his own?
NORWINE: He signed that in the agreement he did with us.
GRACE: Is there any reason I should believe him? I mean, how much are you going to make off these things?
NORWINE: I don`t know. We`re going to let the market determine the value.
GRACE: Well, I understand some German guy bought them for over $200,000. So I assume a profit`s going to be turned. And I assume the consigner is the German purchaser?
NORWINE: Well, we had nothing to do with that eBay auction. And, in fact, I agreed to take these diaries with the proviso -- we`re estimating them at $50,000-plus each, and the opening bid is $25,000. We`re going to let the market determine the value of these diaries.
GRACE: Unless the consigner is 7-month-old Dannielynn Smith, I agree with Kahan. Something is very wrong with this picture.
Out to Shantel in Kentucky. Hi, Shantel.
CALLER: Hi. My question is, if Virgie Arthur would get custody in the Bahamas and bring baby Dannielynn back to Texas, is that grounds for somebody to petition new custody?
GRACE: OK. So if Virgie gets the baby and brings her back to Texas, is that what you said, Shantel?
CALLER: Yes.
GRACE: What about it, Kevin Mincey?
KEVIN MINCEY, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I don`t think so. If she`s granted custody of the baby, then she has the right to take Dannielynn wherever she wants to take her, wherever she wants to raise her. There`s no proviso that she has to raise the baby in the Bahamas.
GRACE: Final thought, Jean?
CASAREZ: Well, this could be a proviso that she would have to raise the baby in the Bahamas. I`m not sure of that. I know that the house was all set up for Virgie to live in with the child, if she would get that guardianship.
GRACE: Of course, all three are saying they`ve got the house set up to take the baby in. It will all go down in a Bahamian courtroom tomorrow, and we`ll bring you the latest.
When we come back, a high-speed, 110-mph chase ends in the death of a 9-month-old baby girl. But mommy says she`s only guilty of a traffic violation. I don`t think so, lady.
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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In Texas, a 9-month-old baby girl dies when her mom leads police on a high-speed chase, then crashes into a concrete median. And it`s not the first time that baby`s life was put in jeopardy. A 4-week-old baby boy severely injured. Mom picks him up by the feet and swings him like a bat, hitting his father, his skull fractures. An 18- month-old baby boy is shot multiple times with a 100,000-volt stun gun. A 21-month-old toddler becomes so sick, he`s rushed to the hospital, then tests positive for crystal meth. A 2-year-old girl, her 4-year-old brother suffer second-degree burns when the mom`s boyfriend puts them in the dryer. A 2-month-old baby girl sucks down vodka in her own bottle. Near death, with alcohol poisoning, four times the legal adult limit. And a baby girl, three weeks old, burned to death in a microwave.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Just when you think you`ve heard it all, another way that a baby loses its life. Tonight, death by Chrysler Aspen SUV. This mother took -- take a look at that baby, 9-month-old. Took a fleet of Texas troopers, dozens of sirens, and finally spikes to the wheels to stop this Texas mother. Speeds up to 110 miles an hour, all the while her little baby lying right there on the seat beside her, no car seat, no seat belt, nothing. And, of course, when she rammed into cement, the baby flew out the window to its death. Well, Mommy thinks all she did was violate the traffic laws.
Out to reporter with the "Fort Worth Star Telegram," Dan McGraw. Dan, what happened?
DAN MCGRAW, REPORTER, "FORT WORTH STAR TELEGRAM": Around 5:40 p.m. on Friday...
GRACE: OK, I`ve lost Dan. Can we try Dan again? Dan, will you go ahead and repeat that for me please?
MCGRAW: Yes. Around 5:40 p.m. Friday, Somerville County sheriff got a call about a reckless driver. They followed in a pursuit of the 2007 Chrysler Aspen and eventually got in a high-speed pursuit with her. She was going anywhere from 100 to 110 miles an hour. As she entered into Johnson County, they tried multiple times to spike her tires. They were eventually successful spiking all four tires. Law enforcement agencies asked all the units to back off, allowing her to lose speed. She did not. She continued to drive at a high rate of speed.
GRACE: Wait, you mean on the rims?
MCGRAW: Yes, she was driving on the rims of all four tires.
GRACE: God in heaven. With the baby lying there on the front seat?
MCGRAW: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: Incredible. When you say spike her tires, a lot of people may not be familiar with that. Explain.
MCGRAW: They have a set of spikes that they can roll out, kind of onto the roadway, and usually it`s to disable the car. Sometimes they`re avoided by going around them and stuff like that. But...
GRACE: Jane Velez-Mitchell, I think what Dan McGraw is talking about, the only way I can really describe it -- he was correct, of course -- when you leave a rental car facility, and they tell you don`t back up, there are those spikes that come up that will deflate all four of your tires. That is what finally stopped the woman and she kept going on the rims, Jane.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Absolutely. This is so horrifying. I`ve seen police do it here in California with high-speed chases. They set up what`s called a strip, and they put that down ahead of the vehicle that they`re pursuing. And the vehicle passes that strip, and that`s when the tires are punctured.
The aim is to slow them down, but it didn`t slow this woman down, speeds of up to 110 miles an hour until she finally, in her SUV, with the little girl in the passenger seat, without any seat belt, no restraint at all, she hit some signs, then she hits a concrete wall, then she spins out, then she flips over. The little child is thrown from the vehicle. They race the child with a helicopter to a hospital, but it was too late. This beautiful, angelic child dead. Funeral services set for Wednesday.
GRACE: Dan McGraw with us, with the "Fort Worth Star Telegram." Are we going to blame it on drugs or alcohol? She had to be high out of her mind to go at 110 miles an hour with a 9-month-old on the front seat.
MCGRAW: Well, right now, police are trying to investigate whether or not she had any drugs or alcohol in her system. I think they`re also going to run the gamut on what kind of motive she might have had, whether it be any criminal past, whether it be psychological, or any other motive she might have had.
GRACE: Elizabeth, do we have her record? I`ve taken a look at it, and it`s not worth a high-speed chase. There`s something about, let`s see, theft by check, an assault on a family member, a couple of years ago. She never did any hard jail time. I think they may have been reduced to misdemeanors.
Why, Andrea Macari, psychologist -- you know, Dan, Jane, sorry, you guys, you`re just reporters. We need a professional. We need a shrink on this. Andrea Macari, why run? Why not just pull over?
ANDREA MACARI, INSTRUCTOR OF PSYCHOLOGY: Well, Nancy, I only see two explanations for this one. Either she was high on drugs as you said, or maybe she was psychotic. We see a lot of agitation. And people who are psychotic, often they have paranoid delusions. When they see the police, that triggers them, they freak, and you have this high-speed chase.
But I have to tell you, even as a professional psychologist, Nancy, this one is beyond the pale. I see abnormality every day. I cannot put my head around this one.
GRACE: You know, let`s go to the lines. Liz in Georgia, hi, Liz.
CALLER: Yes, ma`am.
GRACE: How are you, dear? What`s your question?
CALLER: Wonderful. I would like to know if the officers that were in pursuit were aware of the fact that there was a baby in this car?
GRACE: I would be surprised if they could tell. What about it, Dan McGraw? Did the officers know?
MCGRAW: No, no, they were never aware of it until after the crash. And then they found the baby, and that`s when they realized.
GRACE: Where was the little baby?
MCGRAW: The baby was thrown from the vehicle. I can`t tell you exactly where it was.
GRACE: Somewhere off the side of the interstate.
MCGRAW: Yes, and they picked it up and cradled it and took it to care flight.
GRACE: Jane Velez, what`s the current charge that she`s under arrest with?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, they picked her up on one charge, but ultimately she could face vehicular manslaughter, resisting arrest...
GRACE: No, no, no. Are you sure that that is the -- uh-uh. Let`s unleash the lawyers. Dan Horowitz, Kevin Mincey, this is a murder one charge. When Clara Harris, also in Texas, ran over her husband, death by Mercedes, she got murder one. Why should this lady, Daniel Horowitz, get a reduced sentence of vehicular manslaughter? That`s what police arrested her on, according to Jane.
DANIEL HOROWITZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, I don`t want to say this on the air, but I will. You`re right. They could charge her with first-degree murder, because she was so reckless, she should have known the child could die. But I think there`s some compassion here and some reasonableness by the prosecutors and police.
GRACE: Reasonableness?
HOROWITZ: They know she would not want her child to die.
GRACE: Really?
HOROWITZ: Whatever was going on with her, she did not intend for that child to die.
GRACE: Hold on.
HOROWITZ: She`s suffering now, Nancy. You know she`s suffering.
GRACE: I think Daniel Horowitz -- yes, hold on. Do we have her menu of what she`s having tonight? She`s suffering, wait until you see this, Daniel, it`s better than what you and I and Kevin are having for dinner tonight. Let`s have Dan refresh us -- hold on, chicken breast patties, greens, black-eyed peas, gravy and bread and cake. They`re letting her have cake.
To you, Kevin Mincey, I think Daniel Horowitz is making the law up again, because the law presumes one intends the natural consequences of their acts. And going at 110 miles an hour on a high-speed chase with a baby beside of you, what did she think was going to happen?
MINCEY: I think, just to go back to your point about murder one, I mean, it would be very difficult to find malice in this instance. Her actions are clearly reckless, and then there`s the instance of whether or not the reasonable standard is met.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Kevin, every time she put her pedal to the metal, it was more intent.
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GRACE: A Texas mom leads police troopers on a high-speed chase. Her baby dead. To you, Dr. Morrone, why did she only get a laceration on the knee and the baby`s dead?
MORRONE: Those vehicles are designed to protect the drivers and those people that are restrained. That baby was not restrained. It was a projectile. The autopsy will say blunt force trauma, and that`s a tragedy.
GRACE: And it sounds to me like she had a seat belt on her but not the baby.
MORRONE: Yes.
GRACE: Tonight, let`s remember Army Staff Sergeant Eric Vick , 25, Spring Hope, North Carolina, killed Iraq. Third tour of duty, he put college on hold to enlist. He loved the Bible, wanted to join the Highway Patrol or the CIA. Receives the Purple Heart and the Army commendation medal. Leaving behind widow Stephanie and parents, Reginald and Faye, Eric Vick, American hero.
Thank you to our guests, but most of all to you for being with us. And tonight, special wishes to respected friend California judge Al Delucchi. You may have met him first during the Scott Peterson trial, but he was a renowned jurist for years before that. Please, Judge, get well. And to his wife, Gloria, stay strong, friend.
NANCY GRACE signing off for tonight. See you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
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