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Nancy Grace
"Free Paris" Rally Fizzles in New York City
Aired May 10, 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: It`s not your daddy`s Hilton, Paris. Star treatment takes on a whole new meaning as Paris Hilton heads to jail after sweetheart deals and kid glove treatment, Paris Hilton brings in the specialist, a DUI wizard, to work his magic and keep her out of ladies` lockup. But will it work? And we`ve got genocide in Darfur, war in Iraq, Congress getting all our money, and people actually rally today to save Paris. Will California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger even care?
And tonight to Chicago. A young mom goes missing in upscale Chicago suburbs, reportedly goes for a jog, never heard from again. No way would she leave her two children behind, says family and friends. And tonight, as local waterways are searched for the missing mom, her husband files an emergency motion for sole custody and refuses a polygraph.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the Chicago suburbs of Painfield (ph), Illinois, 37-year-old mom Lisa Stebic reportedly heads out for a routine jog and hasn`t been seen since. Friends and family believe something is very wrong, saying the devoted mother of two, popular in the community, would not leave her 10-year-old and 12-year-old behind. A multi-law enforcement team, including Painfield police, force (ph) reserve officers and the fire department, search nearby Lake Brunwed (ph) and the shoreline for clues.
Stebic`s estranged husband, the last person to reportedly see her before she vanishes, not only refusing a polygraph but files an emergency motion for custody of the two kids. And it`s all just 10 days after their mother goes missing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. First, Paris Hilton heading straight to the big house, the big dollhouse, and it`s not your daddy`s Hilton.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Paris Hilton`s legal woes are taking an emotional toll. On this video on TMZ.com, we see the party girl socialite in a way we`re not used to seeing her, sobbing quietly in a car driven by her mother, Kathy Hilton.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Suddenly, there is a stark reality that she`s going to jail.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That is looking extremely likely. She`s appealing the 45-day sentence she received for driving with a license that had been suspended in her DUI case. This video catches Paris after a meeting with an attorney.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m guessing that the lawyer broke the news to her that it is very unlikely that this judge`s decision, the sentence, will be overturned.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the June 5 deadline for Paris to report to jail bearing down, Paris has been acting less like a person taking responsibility for her legal troubles and more like a surreal game show contestant playing the blame game.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I believe, based on what I know, that there were people who made a mistake and said, Your license isn`t suspended. And I also believe that she didn`t read any of these suspension notices. It`s just not the way she rolls (ph). That said, she`s still responsible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight we learn that Paris Hilton has brought in a DUI guru, a DUI wizard, to work his magic and somehow keep her out of jail, all the while rallies across the country, but very low showing at those rallies.
To you, David Caplan. What happened to the rallies?
DAVID CAPLAN, "STAR" MAGAZINE: There were rallies today, but they were not well attended. There was a rally in New York City, and there was, like, a handful of people who came to show their support for Paris, though there`s not -- even though we`re hearing a lot of on-line petitions to free Paris...
GRACE: David, David, this is a legal show. We deal with exactness. There were exactly three people there, to my understanding, and one of them was one of my staff members.
CAPLAN: That`s right. So three people. So that is less than a handful. Three people in all of New York City came. So not many people, it seems, at least in New York...
GRACE: OK, wait a minute. And my staff member brought a dog. OK. So I don`t know -- there we go. There`s the Paris Hilton lookalike.
CAPLAN: So you had the Paris Hilton lookalike, the dog, so that was represented. So you see Paris doesn`t have much support here, despite all these on-line petitions to have her sentence not happen that she`s forwarding to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. People don`t seem to be -- you know, to have that much interest in supporting her.
GRACE: Speaking of the "Free Paris" rally that happened today, out to David Seaman, the lead organizer of the rally. David, what happened? What went wrong?
DAVID SEAMAN, LEAD ORGANIZER, "FREE PARIS HILTON NOW" RALLY: Hi, Nancy. The physical turnout tonight was not what we were expecting. There was a scheduling problem, and we had to switch at the last minute, and a lot of media...
GRACE: What was the scheduling problem?
SEAMAN: We planned it for Washington Square Park, which is a great place to do a protest like this. And we were told that NYU`s graduation was today, their graduation ceremony, and we didn`t really want to, like, you know, have 10 TV crews show up, and you know, just wreck that. So we moved it at the very last second. And basically, what happened is, not a lot of people got the memo and it was very disorganized. And I`m taking finals this week, and so it`s very, like, crazy trying to organize this grass roots. But the on-line presence is growing by the minute.
GRACE: How do I know it`s not just you logging on over and over and over under different names?
SEAMAN: On my Web site, like...
GRACE: Yes.
SEAMAN: I don`t know. Like, I don`t think I have enough time to do that. Like, I`ve only been on the Internet 25 minutes today, so...
GRACE: Well, you had time to go to -- you know, there`s Darfur, there`s genocide going on there, there`s a war in Iraq. People are dropping like flies, Americans. Congress is spending our money like water. Why Paris Hilton? Why free Paris?
SEAMAN: I think this is a cause that people can actually get behind and make a difference because there`s a time -- there`s a very certain deadline, unlike Iraq. There`s a definite deadline here. It`s June 5, I think. And we can really make a difference before that. And it`s helping one person out. We can definitely make a difference here.
Like, I want to read you, like, a little clip from Talkleft, if I can. It just says, "Jail should be a last resort for violent offenders -- dot, dot, dot -- community service would have been far better." And that`s their legal analysis of the Paris Hilton thing.
GRACE: Well, does Talkleft know that Paris Hilton turned down community service?
SEAMAN: Yes, and I read that, too. I think that now, after seeing her cry on TV, on national TV and stuff like that, she would definitely reconsider doing that. I mean...
GRACE: But the time to do that was before the sentencing.
SEAMAN: Well, nobody`s perfect. I`ve made a ton of mistakes, like organizing a terrible protest today, you know?
GRACE: Have you driven drunk?
SEAMAN: No, I have not driven drunk.
GRACE: Good boy.
Let`s go out to the lawyers. Joining us tonight, Susan Moss, Allison Gilman, Anne Bremner. To you, Anne Bremner, high-profile Seattle lawyer. Do you think Schwarzenegger is really going to listen to an on-line petition? Is there any legal precedent for that?
ANNE BREMNER, TRIAL ATTORNEY: No, I don`t think he`s going to. And I think her letter is very flattering, but flattery is not going to get her anywhere in this instance, Nancy. My concern with her is that she`s going to become, like, a Joan of Arc of celebrity DUI defendants and have some sympathy in general out there, maybe a silent majority of her fans, but not the three in New York.
GRACE: Back to you, Ryan Smith with "OK!" Ryan, not only did the rally happen today -- it did garner, actually, a lot of press, although there wasn`t a big show-up. There`s the on-line petition. But now Paris Hilton has brought in, apparently, a DUI wizard to try to keep her out of jail. Who is he? What`s his background? And will it work?
RYAN SMITH, "OK!" MAGAZINE: This is right. She`s actually recruited Richard Hutton, who has been listed as a past president of the California DUI Lawyers Association and also a founding member of the National College of DUI Defense. And this man, by all accounts, is somebody who is very efficient in getting his clients, I guess, proven not guilty in their cases. And because she does want to somehow escape jail, I think that she`s pretty much hedged all of her bets on this man making that dream come true.
GRACE: To Allison Gilman out of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. Isn`t it a day late and a dollar short? The judge has already handed down sentence. Why bring in a DUI expert now? If anything, she`d need an appellate expert.
ALLISON GILMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, I agree with you, Nancy. I don`t know what the DUI lawyer is going to be doing. But I`ll tell you, Nancy, you know, it`s not always what you know, it`s who you know. And maybe this lawyer`s got a little bit of an edge with the judge. I mean, the judge has complete discretion when it comes to sentencing. So maybe this guy is going to pull, you know, a rabbit out of his hat and say the right thing to this judge and has a good relationship with him. But to me, I agree with you, it`s too late. We`re not going to trial here. She`s not going to be found not guilty. This is sentencing. She`s got to turn herself in, and that`s what it comes down to.
GRACE: Well, the reality is, everybody -- and I want you to know this, too, the young man, David Seaman, who is apparently feeling very strongly that this is a harsh sentence for Paris Hilton. Take a look at Michelle Rodriguez. Remember the star of "Lost" got a DUI? She was sentenced to 60 days -- oh, bad photo -- sentenced to 60 days behind bars. She did less than one day.
And the reality is -- to you, Susan Moss, veteran trial lawyer -- for good time, you get better than day for day. There`s no way she`s going to be in jail over two weeks.
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: No, that fact is, in fact, probably correct. I mean, ding-dong, Paris`s appeals are dead, though. I think she is going to serve at least a few days in jail, and it`s well deserved. You know, she should have been crying when she committed the DUI. She only shed the tears when she had to face the music for what she did.
GRACE: So today the update, the on-line petition gaining momentum. Will that matter to California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger? Man, he`d be dead in the water come his next reelection, whatever that may be for. Here`s a shot of inside the ladies detention, where Paris is headed, a lot different from the life she`s been leading, but not so bad. What about it, Bethany Marshall?
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST: Well, Susan Moss just made a comment that she should have been crying when she got the DUI, not now. But I think that it`s even worse than that. I think she should be crying, thinking about the fact that she is the ambassador of youth. She is what we call the social surplus. She`s what all of our kids wish they could be. They want to emulate her, so...
GRACE: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. She doesn`t have a job. She didn`t go to college. Emulate her how?
MARSHALL: Emulate her by feeling special, feeling acknowledged, feeling looked at and viewed. And what I`m afraid is going to happen, some kid tonight is going to drink too many beers, climb into a Toyota Corolla, careen down the freeway, get in a car crash, and rationalize before he gets behind the wheel, Well, but Paris Hilton did it in a Bentley down Sunset Boulevard. So you have all these kids emulating her, the good and the bad. And when Kathy and Paris were crying their crocodile tears, they should not have been crying for themselves but should have been crying for society and thinking about the role they play and having a bit of a conscience there.
GRACE: To you, Sheryl McCollum, former director of MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, Georgia. Isn`t it true, according to Mothers Against Drunk Driving, that for every time a DUI person is actually apprehended DUI, they have driven up to 100 times drunk?
SHERYL MCCOLLUM, FORMER DIR., MADD GEORGIA: No question. Nobody gets a DUI, Nancy, their first time. Everybody knows that. Paris Hilton is no different. That`s not the first time she`s driven drunk. No question about it.
GRACE: Take a listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
A.J. HAMMER, "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" (voice-over): Paris Hilton`s legal woes are taking an emotional toll. On this video on TMZ.com, we see the party girl socialite in a way we`re not used to seeing her, sobbing quietly in a car driven by her mother, Kathy Hilton. She`s appealing the 45-day sentence she received for driving with a license that had been suspended in her DUI case. This video catches Paris after a meeting with an attorney.
With the June 5 deadline for Paris to report to jail bearing down, Paris has been acting less like a person taking responsibility for her legal troubles and more like a surreal game show contestant playing the blame game. Ever since being sentenced to jail, Paris and her people have been blaming everyone else for her mess. Her attorney even blamed a judicial vendetta apparently against wealthy socialites.
We see the ugly side of Paris in this video, one of several of her personal items taking from a storage space and now placed on line. We also see her hurl a slur found offensive by blacks and another slur found offensive by gays.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining us, Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst and author. DSO (ph) A.J. Hammer of "SHOWBIZ" reporting. They`ve got continued coverage on that. It`s not so much about Paris Hilton herself, in my mind, the celebutante. It`s about drunk driving.
MARSHALL: Yes.
GRACE: And it seems as if nobody will be happy for her going to jail unless she`s got a kid stuck on the front hood of the car.
MARSHALL: Well, you know, people don`t see the negative consequences to their actions until it`s really exemplified in a dramatic way for them. But I have to say, those slurs she just made -- couldn`t help but think about narcissism, you know, self-aggrandizement, a callous, arrogant, devaluing attitude towards others, disregard for the rules of society. And what happens is, she creates a societal wave, where other kids feel that they don`t have to have any regard for the rules of society until, as you said, there`s a kid on the hood of a car, and then everybody`s really sad about it.
GRACE: You`re seeing video from TMZ.com following Paris being in court.
Let`s go out to the lines. Cindy in Texas. Hi, Cindy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If the average person violated their probation like she did, would the sentence be the same as she got, or would it be different?
GRACE: It really depends on the jurisdiction, but pretty much, I would say, the same. If you`re in a more rural jurisdiction, the sentence would probably be a lot heavier, Cindy in Texas. In a metropolitan area, where the jails are much more crowded, it may be this or lighter. But the reality is, Cindy, this wasn`t just a violation of probation. This was her second probation violation. She had the DUI, then was driving again after that. Nothing happened to her. Then on the third time, finally, the judge took action. That is Judge Sauer (ph).
I want to go back out to David Caplan, celebrity journalist. David, with all of the petitions, all the on-line petitions, the alleged rallies, apparently, there is now rumors that her parents have contributed to Schwarzenegger`s campaign. Can`t verify that. Is there a chance that she is going to escape this sentence?
CAPLAN: There is a chance because she obviously does, you know, yield (SIC) a lot of power. But I think, as there`s been so much momentum (INAUDIBLE) all these on-line petitions and all these -- you know, these sort of demonstrations, that at the same time, just as much as people are getting wound up to have her not serve that sentence, a lot more people are saying, This is ridiculous. She just needs to serve her sentence, because, again, the maximum she could have gotten was 90 days.
GRACE: Well, you know what? If you think about it -- to you, Susan Moss. Remember when Martha Stewart, who I also think was a target for a couple -- she did the deed, no doubt about it. But I always thought she was a trophy defendant for a couple of federal prosecutors. Long story short, she called and said, I want to go right now. Every day I`m sitting out of jail, worrying about it and wringing my wrists and my hands, I could be getting a day behind me. And she reported.
MOSS: She did the crime, and she did the time. You know, this is a lot different because Paris is just trying to appeal and get out of it. And it ain`t over until the anorexic lady sings, and I haven`t yet heard a song. She`s going to keep this going. She`s going to try to stay her sentence. She`s going to continue with the appeals. And she`s going to continue to waste our taxpayer money.
GRACE: You know, if the appeal goes on, Judge Sauer may very well ship her on into jail and say, You can appeal from the jailhouse if you don`t like the sentence.
Out to the lines. Jeanne in Kansas. Hi, Jeanne.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. How come Paris Hilton did not get jail time the first time she got with a DUI?
GRACE: I`ve got to tell you, I wondered that myself, but it is very common on a first-time DUI, when you`re finally caught driving under the influence. Judges try, and prosecutors try to give you a break, make you go to Alcoholics Anonymous, maybe put you in rehab, make you do community service. Agree or disagree, Sheryl?
MCCOLLUM: I agree, Nancy. I`ll tell you, it`s one of my biggest problems right now, looking at what Paris Hilton is doing, is Friday, the sentence is unfair and cruel. Magically, by Wednesday, she`s ready to face the consequences of her actions, but she hasn`t stopped the appeal.
GRACE: You know what`s interesting to me, the thing that bothers me the most, Sheryl, is that everybody thinks unless somebody is dead or disabled as a result of drunk driving, that it`s OK. The reality is, you don`t just suddenly have a vehicular homicide. You drive drunk, drive drunk, drive drunk. Nobody does anything about it. Suddenly, somebody`s dead. If you don`t believe me, keep your eyes on the left side panel of your TV screen, drunk driving victims, many of them children.
MCCOLLUM: Absolutely.
GRACE: They could have been saved if somebody like Judge Sauer had taken action the first time these people were driving on the roads drunk. I say power to you, Sauer!
Very quickly, to tonight`s "Case Alert." An alert Circuit City store employee, a hero to me tonight, tipping off police in the arrest of six men accused of, listen to this, plotting an attack on Jersey`s Ft. Dix Army base. One of the suspects asked the unidentified informant to make DVD copies showing 10 men shooting weapons at a firing range, praising God. The group, Islamic militants, making plans to shoot soldiers randomly at Ft. Dix, then retreat, tonight being held on terror charges.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HAMMER: Paris Hilton`s legal woes are taking an emotional toll. On this video on TMZ.com, we see the party girl socialite in a way we`re not used to seeing her, sobbing quietly in a car driven by her mother, Kathy Hilton. She`s appealing the 45-day sentence she received for driving with a license that had been suspended in her DUI case.
This video catches Paris after a meeting with an attorney.
We see the ugly side of Paris in this video, one of several of her personal items taken from a storage space and now placed on line. We also see her hurl a slur found offensive by blacks and another slur found offensive by gays.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You know, taking a look at that video, you wonder how she will get along behind bars.
Out to the lines. Diane in Illinois. Hi, Diane.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. First, I want you to know that you are absolutely wonderful.
GRACE: Thank you. You can tell the defense bar that.
(LAUGHTER)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Certainly will. Why does Paris still have her driver`s license? If she were in Illinois, she wouldn`t be driving for at least seven or eight years.
GRACE: You know, there was video of her driving, like, day before yesterday, I believe, in a Bentley. Isn`t it correct -- to you, David Caplan -- the time her license was suspended has actually -- is over. She can drive now.
CAPLAN: Absolutely. Her license was suspended in November, and that ban expired on March 29, so she`s free to drive her Bentley.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PARIS HILTON, "THE SIMPLE LIFE": Maybe I was speeding a little bit, and I got pulled over. There was a lot of paparazzi around, so I think they were trying to make a statement. And they even said, you know, There`s people watching. We don`t want them to think we`re giving you special treatment. They were so nice. Everyone was really nice there.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s the lead story. It`s before the president. You`re before the president.
HILTON: Oh, my goodness! Everything I do is blown out of proportion.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Paris Hilton headed to jail, unless her DUI wizard can get her out of it, the new lawyer she just hired.
To you, Anne Bremner. How does it work that you get a 45-day sentence from a judge, he`s very firm about it, but you end up doing half a day, like Michelle Rodriguez? She got 60 days and didn`t do a solid day.
BREMNER: Well, Nancy, first I want to say, all the defense bar, we think you`re wonderful, too, like your caller said.
(LAUGHTER)
GRACE: It`s not working.
BREMNER: Yes. OK. But the fact is, you know, there can be credit for time served, issues with overcrowding. There can also be...
GRACE: Credit for time served?
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Michelle Rodriguez didn`t even do an hour.
BREMNER: Yes, but -- not in her case. But other factors they`re going to factor into this. But the fact is, a 45-day sentence is enough of a scare for a lot of people before they even go in. And you know, Paris Hilton`s only really been known for vapid banality, other than these offensive comments. So I don`t know who she stands for, what she stands for.
GRACE: Here is Paris driving on Tuesday. Our caller, Diane in Illinois, was correct. She`s already driving again under the law.
BREMNER: That`s right.
GRACE: To Vanna in Missouri. Hi, Vanna.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. How`re you ding?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I would really like to know -- I feel like a bad journalist because I`m in journalism, as well, but what is -- like, how does everybody else react when they get in trouble with the law, like, Robert Downey, Jr., or Nicole Richey? I just don`t understand. They didn`t make a stink about their jail time. They did it, and they were held accountable. Why is Paris so special? Why wasn`t anybody, like, rallying for anybody else that`s been in trouble?
GRACE: We`ll go to Vanna in Missouri when we get back. Stay with us.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
A.J. HAMMER, CNN HEADLINE NEWS ANCHOR: This online petition says it all. It asks the honorable governor to wipe out the 45-day sentence Paris got after she repeatedly drove on a suspended license pending a DUI case. The petition says the socialite -- are you ready for this -- quote, "provides hope for young people all over the U.S. and the world. She provides beauty and excitement to most of our otherwise mundane lives."
The petition goes on to say, quote, "Everyone makes mistakes. She didn`t hurt or kill anyone, and she has learned her lesson. She is sincere, apologetic, and full of regret for her actions."
PARIS HILTON, HEIRESS: I just don`t know how people who don`t even know me can just come up with such mean and sadistic things. Reading them just hurts my feelings, how people could say things like that about me when they don`t even know me. It hurts that the media has made me into sort of this like punching bag or cartoon character, and they think that I don`t have any feelings. And it hurts like, anyone else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: What really hurts is when you`re a victim of a drunk driver. When that mug shot finally happens here, some advice. Don`t do this. Take a look at Nick Nolte. Ouch. Don`t bring hair gel. Mike Tyson, bad look. No. Don`t grimace. Yasmine Bleeth, come your hair first, please. Nicole Ritchie, good mug shot. Not bad. Rip Torn, ouch. Wynonna Judd, still beautiful, no matter what. Wynona Judd, a star under any circumstances.
You know, to Ryan Smith with "OK" magazine, Ryan, a lot of people are having the reverse effect as to what Paris Hilton is trying to achieve through all the P.R. It seems to me that the tide is stemming against her. Will the judge stay above it all?
RYAN SMITH, "OK" MAGAZINE: I think that the judge has to. I think that a lot of what has happened, even with the sentencing, has been to make a point that, irrespective of status, you know, she will be serving time. So I don`t think the problem is whether or not the judge kind of sticks to his guns. It`s more so whether or not Paris can get, you know, some of her time reduced, be it with good behavior or with the help of this new DUI attorney that she has. But I definitely think that the judge is steadfast in his decision. He did make it for a reason, it would seem.
GRACE: OK. On standby, as Paris Hilton gets ready to pay up like everybody else, there is now talk that the judge may be asked for her to be allowed to pay to go to a different jail. Doubt it. Paris Hilton headed to jail for DUI.
Let`s switch gears. I want to tell you about a search for a missing mom out of upscale Chicago suburbs. Take a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JEAN CASAREZ, COURT TV: April 30th was the last time that she was seen, and she works at a school cafeteria. So she reported for work that day. They saw her. Her husband is the last one that says he saw her late in the afternoon on April 3rd. He said that she normally would leave in the evening to go do exercise. She`d come back 10:30 or 11:00. She was never seen again. Her children, her two children, have the same story that the father has, that the last time they saw the mother was late that afternoon. Her cell phone and credit cards, they haven`t been used since that April 30th date.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Tonight, the updates. Apparently, local waterways are being searched for the body of this young mom. According to her husband, she went jogging and has never been seen since. She leaves behind two young children. Family and friends say no way would she leave, leaving her children behind.
Also tonight, the husband files an emergency motion for sole custody. It sounds like he`s not expecting her to walk through the front door.
Out to you, Michele Fiore with WBBM NewsRadio 780, what`s happening?
MICHELE FIORE, REPORTER: Hi, Nancy. Well, here`s the deal tonight. Craig Stebic`s attorney, Dion Davi, did file that emergency petition in Will County court today, actually yesterday. He`s seeking temporary sole custody of their two children, 10 and 12 years old.
Craig`s attorney, Dion Davi, has claimed that, if Lisa is out there alive and well, that she may try to sneak back home and leave with the kids. And we did obtain a copy of that petition today, and I will read from it right now. Quote, "Craig Stebic is the fit and proper person to have the temporary sole, physical, and legal custody of the minor children of the parties."
The judge did decide that it was not an emergency, as Stebic`s attorney had claimed. He moved the issue to a hearing on -- I believe it`s May 22nd. I did speak with Lisa`s divorce attorney tonight, as well, Glenn Kahn. He tells me that he will be filing a response on Tuesday objecting to the petition. He called it unnecessary at this time, and he stressed that there are no allegations that the children are in danger.
Kahn says this is a woman whose story has gone nationwide, that people everywhere are looking for Lisa Stebic. So for her to be able to do such a thing as to walk down the street and pick up her kids is just plain, old ridiculous to even think about.
GRACE: You know, it doesn`t make sense. This mom has been missing now day 10, and instead of being out searching for her, the husband files an emergency motion for sole custody. It doesn`t even make sense.
Let`s unleash the lawyers, Susan Moss, Allison Gilman, Anne Bremner. To you, Susan Moss.
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: The reason why he probably is doing this is because he wants to get into court before mom`s family does. Once more evidence comes out, Dad may be the primary suspect. And if that happens, Mom`s family is going to have good cause to come in to say that they should be the temporary custodial parents of these children.
None of this case makes sense. These people are living in -- going through a very contested divorce. They`re living in the same house. Can you imagine the anger? Can you imagine the aggression? Could you imagine the tension? Something might have popped, and that might have led to the ultimate murder of this mother.
GRACE: To you, Anne Bremner, have you ever seen in a missing person case the remaining spouse file for sole custody? I`ve never seen anything like it.
ANNE BREMNER, TRIAL ATTORNEY: No. It`s totally surprising. But there`s two things. You never say never, but never say always. We can`t say it`s always the husband. And I`ll tell you, Nancy, something like this to me, as a defense lawyer, I would argue it shows that he simply is worried about the kids and he wasn`t involved.
GRACE: But worried about what, Allison Gilman? Worried about what? She`s missing.
ALLISON GILMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I agree with you, Nancy. I mean, coming from both the criminal defense side and the family side, you file the emergency motion and, being a prosecutor, I`d be like, "Well, obviously he doesn`t really care about her and he really is trying -- this is motive. This is the reason that he`s filing it, to gain an advantage, and that she`s coming home, and he thinks she`s coming home."
But if you sit and you do nothing, it may look like, as a prosecutor, "Oh, well, he knew she wasn`t coming back." So I think you should look at it from both angles.
GRACE: Out to "America`s Most Wanted," Ed Miller, what more can you tell us about the case, Ed?
ED MILLER, REPORTER, "AMERICA`S MOST WANTED": Nancy, my sources tell me, actually, tonight that this investigation has hit a dead end, that the investigation is being severely hampered by Craig Stebic, that he refuses to answer even the most basic of questions. He refuses to let the kids talk to the cops. He is hiding behind the attorney and basically everything has come to a dead end. He has refused to take a polygraph test.
GRACE: Now that`s a bombshell, not only refusing to allow the children to be questioned by police, they could have been some of the last eyewitnesses to see her and establish a timeline, Ed.
MILLER: Absolutely. Absolutely. Instead of taking the position, "Oh, my gosh, Officer, come on in the front door. What can I do to help? My wife is missing, the mother of my children. What can I do to help?" He`s hiding behind an attorney.
The timeline is very important. I`m so glad you mentioned it, because the children are the last to have seen her at about 3:00 that afternoon. That`s a confirmed sighting. The children are 10 and 12. They`re old enough to know the difference between seeing Mommy and not seeing Mommy at a right time. OK, now we have a time at 3:00.
But she was never reported missing until the following day by a neighbor when the husband said, "Hey, have you seen my wife?" That prompted the neighbor to call the police.
GRACE: Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. I missed that detail. Out to Chief Donald E. Bennet with the Plainfield Police Department, the husband did not report her missing?
DONALD E. BENNET, PLAINFIELD POLICE DEPARTMENT: That is correct, Nancy. The friend or the neighbor called our department on May 1st to report Lisa missing.
GRACE: Chief, tell me about the search. I see all these shots of you guys looking around waterways. What has led you to waterways?
BENNET: Nothing specific other than, over the last 10 days, we have done boat field searches. We`ve checked the pedestrian and bike trails in the immediate subdivision. Some of our subdivisions in our particular area have these retention ponds both for water runoff and for beautification. And so our next move is to check those areas to make sure that we have looked at everything possible.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The Plainfield woman who worked as a lunch lady in her children`s school was last seen at about 6:00 p.m. on April 30th by her husband, Craig. She was in the home they shared, though the two were in the process of a divorce.
Family and friends numbering close to 100 gathered at a prayer vigil. Husband Craig attended the vigil with the couple`s son and daughter. However, some of Lisa`s family members are expressing frustration with Craig because he is refusing to submit to a lie detector test on the advice of his attorney. Family members say Craig filed for exclusive custody of the couple`s two children.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: This missing mom out of upscale Chicago suburbs, family and friends say no way would she just disappear, leaving her two children behind. Although her husband is not named a suspect, my question is, why not take a polygraph and put the family`s minds at rest?
Speaking of the family, joining us tonight is a very special guest. It is Melanie Greenber. This is the missing mom, Lisa Stebic`s, cousin.
Melanie, thank you for being with us.
MELANIE GREENBER, LISA STEBIC`S COUSIN: Thank you, Nancy, for this opportunity to get Lisa`s picture out there to a national audience. We`re hoping someone will see her and have some new tip or lead to give to the Plainfield police. They need something new to go on, even if it seems like an inconsequential fact. Please call the Plainfield police and bring Lisa home safely to her children and family.
GRACE: With us tonight, Melanie Greenber. This is Lisa`s cousin. I wish you peace. I wish that you find her alive. I can`t even imagine going through what you`re feeling -- not knowing if she`s dead or alive or possibly alive somewhere needing medical attention or needing help.
Tell me the last time you saw her.
GREENBER: Well, as cousins in a large family, our last big family gathering was in December at a holiday gathering. Her sisters are extremely close to Lisa, and they last spoke with her on the Thursday before the Monday that she was missing.
They had a lengthy conversation. Lisa was in very good spirits. And, you know, it`s a total mystery to us, Nancy. We just can`t understand, because there`s no way that she would leave her children.
GRACE: Melanie, why won`t the husband allow the children to give statements to police? Is that accurate?
GREENBER: You know, I think they have talked to the police the first week, and I think what`s happening is that the police would like to do additional questioning. And Craig, you know, he`s listening to a lawyer who is saying, you know, "Don`t speak," which I suppose is understandable, but, you know, we`re trying to find Lisa. Lisa has been missing for 10 days. If there`s any additional information that he might have, we would urge him to talk to the Plainfield police and cooperate with them in any way that he can.
GRACE: Back to Chief Donald E. Bennet with the Plainfield Police Department, Chief, according to the husband, what time was she last seen, around 6:00 p.m.?
BENNET: That is correct, 6:00 p.m. on the 30th.
GRACE: Where did he say she was going?
BENNET: He didn`t. He indicated that she often goes to a fitness center nearby, but he did not know what her destination was.
GRACE: Well, Chief, at those fitness centers, don`t you sign in somehow when you go in?
BENNET: That is correct.
GRACE: Did she sign in?
BENNET: And we have checked. No, she did not.
GRACE: OK. To Jennifer in Ohio. Hi, Jennifer.
CALLER: Hi.
GRACE: What`s your question, dear?
CALLER: Yes, I`ve been wondering, where are the children to where this father needs to file for emergency custody? I mean, are they not with him?
GRACE: To you, Ed Miller, where are the children?
MILLER: With him. And as you talked about before, it doesn`t really make a whole lot of sense why he would file that piece of paper, unless it was another reason, unless he was directly trying to deflect attention. I think these are questions you have to ask.
GRACE: And to Kathy in South Carolina. Hi, Kathy.
CALLER: Hi, Nancy. How are you?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
CALLER: My question is, is it actually legal for a person to refuse to talk to the police officers or allow the children to talk or take a polygraph when there`s actually a missing person?
GRACE: Absolutely. Children do not have to speak if their parents don`t allow them, and no one who feels they may be a target has to submit to questioning under the Fifth Amendment.
Very quickly, tonight, "CNN Heroes."
QUEEN BROWN, LOST HER SON TO GUN VIOLENCE: My name is queen brown. I`m a mother of four. I lost my youngest son, Eviton, to gun violence. Eviton`s shooting was a random act. He was basically in the wrong place at the wrong time.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Three men are gunned down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... in a barrage of gunfire.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... an overflow of grieving relatives crowd the emergency room at Broward General tonight...
BROWN: I moved my kids here from the inner-city to provide a safer community for them. They all graduated from high school and all are college-educated. It was a devastating blow to me to lose my son. I felt so helpless, and I wanted to do something. I wanted to get people involved.
Good afternoon, south Florida, and thank you so much once again for tuning in to what`s going on. The violence intervention programs...
We can stop the violence in the community. There is something you can do about it.
You can teach your kid what to do, but, as you and I both know, your kid can be a victim to someone else.
My children and I, we all chip in and we pay for the radio air time.
We have a caller on line number one. You`re on the air.
CALLER: I have three sons and one of my everyday fears is that I will go through what you`ve gone through.
BROWN: It`s very therapeutic. I always feel like I have helped someone.
We`re going to give you that information regarding how you can get your sons involved in this program.
The community has been very supportive. They want this show to stay on the air.
I want the students. I want the parents. I want the community leaders. I think collectively we have to deal with the core of what`s causing the violence.
My son`s death was a call to service. You know, I saw so many areas where I was needed, and I felt that I had just what it took to get in there and do it. It`s because of Eviton that I`m doing this. His life is going to save other lives.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Nobody wants missing mom Lisa Stebic to become just another statistic, a missing mom that remains missing indefinitely. Back out to Ed Miller with "America`s Most Wanted." I want to go over very quickly again what happened the last time she was seen. Explain to me again.
MILLER: Well, it was the afternoon. She was seen by a co-worker at school at around 2:00. Then, the children confirm that they saw Mom at 3:00 in the afternoon. After that, that`s the last time anyone saw her, dead or alive. No one else saw her.
Her car is in the House, so her purse and cell phone is the only thing that`s missing. They have not been able to triangulate anything out of the cell phone. So that`s the last time anyone saw her, the children, 10 and 12 years old, at 3:00 p.m.
The next day, the husband asks the neighbor, "Have you seen my wife?" And that`s when the neighbor reports her missing. Again, not the husband, the neighbor.
GRACE: And from that point on, there has been a massive search. Now waterways have been searched. What else, Ed?
MILLER: Well, the father-in-law`s house, that would be Lisa`s father- in-law`s house in Michigan, in Iron County, Michigan, that`s a very remote area. I`m from Michigan. Let me tell you, there`s not much up there but pine trees and water.
GRACE: So the lake cabin has been searched, as well, for clues?
MILLER: Right, and they did a very cursory search. They did not come up with anything.
GRACE: With us, Ed Miller from "America`s Most Wanted." Michele Fiore with WBBM and Chief Donald Bennet. To you, Melanie Greenber, our prayers with you and your family.
Tonight, we remember Army First Lieutenant Colby Umbrell, 26, Pennsylvania, killed, Iraq. A Johns Hopkins grad, he was a standout defensive lineman helping the school win its first centennial conference title. Army Ranger, he collected school supplies from students in his hometown to personally give to Iraqi children. Dreamed of law school, the eldest of four, he leaves behind a grieving family, parents, Nancy and Mark. Colby Umbrell, American hero.
Thank you to our guests, but especially to you, for inviting us into your home. See you tomorrow night. And until then, good night, friend.
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