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Nancy Grace

FBI Raids Illusionist Copperfield`s Las Vegas Warehouse

Aired October 19, 2007 - 20:00   ET

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

MIKE BROOKS, GUEST HOST: Breaking news tonight. An FBI raid goes down at the Las Vegas warehouse of world-famous illusionist David Copperfield, the late night raid apparently connected to allegations of sexual misconduct by Copperfield in the Bahamas reported by a female victim. According to reports, the feds seized computer equipment, a memory chip from a digital camera system and nearly $2 million in cash. And the raid doesn`t stop there. We also learned that feds searched the luxury MGM Grand hotel, where Copperfield makes magic. Tonight: Las Vegas, the Bahamas and Seattle all linked to the David Copperfield raids.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... of sexual misconduct against world-renowned illusionist David Copperfield, the FBI conducting raids in Las Vegas at the magician`s warehouse and the MGM Grand hotel, where he performs. The alleged victim, a local Seattle woman, who says the incident occurred this summer in the Bahamas.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: FBI officials tell CNN federal agents from Seattle and Las Vegas raided a Las Vegas warehouse owned by Copperfield this week. CNN affiliate KLAS, citing a source close to the investigation, reports the agents took a computer hard drive and a memory chip from digital camera system, along with $2 million in cash that was inside a safe. Copperfield`s attorney says his side is in touch with investigators and adds, "We are confident the investigation will conclude favorably."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS: Good evening. I`m Mike Brooks, in for Nancy Grace. Tonight, illusionist David Copperfield accused of sexual misconduct. FBI raids go down in Las Vegas.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A serious allegation against the superstar illusionist. Two law enforcement sources tell CNN David Copperfield is accused of sexual assault. Seattle police tell us a woman filed a police report over the summer and that the alleged incident took place in the Bahamas. A top Bahamian police official told us there`s no official record there of any incident involving Copperfield. The performer`s attorney won`t say whether he was in the Bahamas over the summer, but he responded emphatically to the allegation.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We haven`t even been told officially through the law enforcement the name of anybody, but since it wouldn`t matter, really, what the name is because it`s categorically denied as a false allegation, an impossible kind of claim.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I contacted the spokeswoman with the MGM Grand hotel in Las Vegas. She said federal agents also searched the theater there where David Copperfield performs but would not say if anything was taken.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS: Thank you for joining us. I`m Mike Brooks. Allegations of sexual misconduct, sexual assault, against David Copperfield that supposedly happened somewhere in the Bahamas. We`re going to go right out to CNN Correspondent Ted Rowlands, who`s live on the phone with us from Las Vegas. Ted, what are the allegations against Copperfield?

TED ROWLANDS, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Mike, officially, we`re not hearing anything out of the FBI. They`re being very tight-lipped, as you can imagine, because they are in the investigative stage. What we`re hearing is, because of seriousness of this allegation -- a woman in Seattle comes into the police department and alleges this sexual misconduct against David Copperfield -- that they`re following up. Now, they did, obviously, raid, as you`ve mentioned, the MGM Grand hotel and Copperfield`s warehouse. And the feds are acknowledging that there was a search warrant conducted, that search warrants were served in Vegas as part of a Seattle-based investigation.

There`s no incident report in the Bahamas that we`ve been able to determine, calling law enforcement officials there. And we had a conversation today with Copperfield`s attorney, and he emphatically denies that there is any there there. He`s claiming that when this comes out, this woman will be -- or those allegations that this woman is alleging are lies and are baseless. He says that his client is going on with his schedule. In fact, while they were serving the warrant at the MGM Grand, he went on with his show scheduled that night. He says he`s very worried about his reputation but not worried about these charges, and they are confident that they will go away.

BROOKS: Ted, do we know anything about any of the evidence seized at the MGM Grand? We heard some of the things that they took at the warehouse, but do we know anything about the property seized there?

ROWLANDS: We don`t. And you know, it`s very interesting. We haven`t been able to get anything concrete from law enforcement officials as to what they took, and they`re not talking much in the Copperfield camp, as well, whether or not they took any sort of a DNA sample or anything of that nature or if it was just physical materials, as you reported through that Las Vegas affiliate. There have been reports that they took hard drives and memory sticks from cameras and cash.

Now, what the cash would have to do with an alleged sexual assault, who knows. But that`s all we`ve heard in terms of what they have taken, what were in these warrants. And as you can imagine, they are sealed, as far as we can tell. We haven`t been able to find any documentation on this, at all.

BROOKS: Joining us, Ted Rowlands by phone, Live from Las Vegas, CNN correspondent. Ted, do we know anything about the alleged victim? I think we might have lost Ted.

I want to go out now to Kristen Flowers in Las Vegas. She`s news anchor for KXNT AM 840. Kristen, thanks for joining us.

KRISTEN FLOWERS, KXNT AM 840: Thank you.

BROOKS: Do we know anything about the alleged victim at all in this alleged sexual assault?

FLOWERS: Well, all we know right now is that it`s an unidentified woman. We don`t have a name or an age at this point. All we know is that she is claiming she was sexually assaulted by Copperfield in the Bahamas. She said she waited until she got back to U.S. soil before she actually filed any charges against Copperfield. Now, we don`t have any more information on her other than that, at this point.

BROOKS: Now, do we know exactly where in the Bahamas all this took place, allegedly?

FLOWERS: Again, this is an ongoing investigation, so we don`t have that kind of information at this point. But it is rumored that David Copperfield does own a resort there. So that could be an area of speculation, as well.

BROOKS: Do we know if it`s in Nassau? Do we know if it`s on one of the other out islands at all?

FLOWERS: Obviously, the FBI is being very tight-lipped about this, and as of the exact location, we are not aware of it.

BROOKS: Now, are local law enforcement, Las Vegas police, were they also involved in the raids of the warehouse and the MGM Grand?

FLOWERS: All we know right now is that 12 federal agents were the ones conducting the raids.

BROOKS: Yes, I heard it was the FBI`s evidence response team. As you know, I used to be on an evidence response team, and we would go out and we would be the ones that would conduct the raid.

Let`s go to the phones. Ivy from Texas, thanks for joining us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi.

BROOKS: How you`re doing?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Well, I was just wondering how long ago this assault happened, and if so, why did she wait so long to report it?

BROOKS: Kelli Zink from Chicago, host of Celebtv.com, do we know any timeline at all on this?

KELLI ZINK, CELEBTV.COM: You know, the only time we know is that she reported this in late June, early July, and that`s a few weeks after she got back from the Bahamas. We don`t know exactly why she waited, but she did wait a few weeks.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I don`t even know who it is, so -- that`s making these allegations. And certainly, no one he`s ever had a relationship with could ever say that about him. I`ll do everything in my power to assist him in establishing (INAUDIBLE) truth is.

Mr. Copperfield is a gentleman, as I said, and he`s dealing with it the proper way. And he even performed his show the other evening while all that was occurring because he said he wasn`t going to disappoint his fans. But he`s very, very concerned in the sense that his reputation is being impugned.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS: I`m Mike Brooks, in for Nancy Grace. Thanks again for joining us. Well, David Copperfield in the news today. Authorities are saying that he may have allegedly sexually assaulted a woman in the Bahamas sometime this summer. And we`re hearing this also from two CNN sources.

Now, the NANCY GRACE show was able to get a statement from David Copperfield`s attorney earlier today, and I`d like to read that for you. "An allegation has been made about supposed sexual misconduct by David Copperfield. The allegation is 100 percent false and we deny it to the strongest possible terms. Unfortunately, false allegations are all too often made against famous individuals."

Let`s take a look at this a little bit further from some of the legal aspects. Let`s uncage the attorneys. Out of New York, we`ve got Susan Moss, family attorney and child advocate. From Austin, Texas, Courtney Anderson, defense attorney. And from New York, Remi Spencer, defense attorney.

Susan Moss, what do you think about all this?

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Well, they raided his warehouse, but maybe they should have been looking up his sleeve because although they may not find evidence of any type of assault, they found cash, and a lot of it. And when you see a lot of cash hidden in a safe, the first question that the feds are going to ask is tax evasion. With other celebrities, sometimes with souvenir stands or other issues, there is often a lot of cash. And that`s going to be a big area of questioning.

BROOKS: But Susan, what does cash have to do with a crime, alleged sexual assault?

MOSS: Well, they were in there and they had a general search warrant, presumably, to go in to find evidence to corroborate the sexual assault, if, in fact, one occurred. But when they see that type of cash, that amount of cash, $2 million sitting in a safe, questions are raised.

BROOKS: But maybe -- you know, he does a lot of overseas gigs. Maybe he just hasn`t made the deposit yet.

MOSS: Well, they`re going to certainly ask to show proof of where the taxes have been paid on that $2 million in cash. And if they can`t prove it, it`s going it be some big questions asked and a lot of trouble for Mr. Copperfield.

BROOKS: Courtney, is it against the law to have $2 million in a safe on your property?

COURTNEY ANDERSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Absolutely not. Absolutely not.

BROOKS: Oh, you know, I...

ANDERSON: Absolutely not. I don`t understand what we`re talking about here. Either we`re talking about this new issue, which is interesting, where there was confirmed FBI action in regards to Mr. Copperfield`s property -- that is interesting. The allegations on top of those allegations, that there`s something untoward because a wealthy person wants to keep a certain amount of cash on hand or in a different access place, I don`t think that that`s reasonable or fair. And we do have the right, whether we`re a multi-million air or we`re just barely making it, to squirrel a little bit of money away, whether it`s $100 that we keep in a drawer in our home, or if we`re very, very wealthy and we want to keep a little bit more substantial amount of money in a safe in our storage area. So I`m absolutely confused as to why this line is has been brought up.

BROOKS: But do you think he`s going to have to answer to the IRS for all this money?

ANDERSON: Well, he -- this is a gentleman that we all know. He had a reputation of being a celebrity, of being a well-known illusionist, of dating supermodels for quite a while. So I`m certain, I am absolutely certain that he has a team of managers and accountants and professionals who work with him...

BROOKS: Yes, but he`s an illusionist and he can`t make this go away. That`s for damn sure.

ANDERSON: And I don`t think there necessarily is anything he needs to make go away.

BROOKS: That`s true. Very true. Now, Remi, you know, there was -- this allegedly occurred some time this summer. She didn`t -- this victim, alleged victim didn`t report it to the Bahamian police, then comes back and decides to report it to Seattle police. You know, if there`s a crime scene, there`s no evidence. They don`t have a case.

REMI SPENCER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I couldn`t agree with you more. This is a great case from a defense attorney`s perspective. I do defense work, but I used to prosecute. As a former prosecutor, I would not have liked this case because whatever physical evidence law enforcement could have obtained from the actual assault, if it did in fact, occur, is gone. And now what we have is her word.

And we`re dealing with a well-respected public figure and entertainer. Is it so surprising that there is someone coming out, making allegations? Maybe she wants her 15 minutes of fame. Maybe she sees dollar signs at the end of the day. And maybe she`s not concerned about the physical evidence because it`s the civil case that she`s really interested in.

BROOKS: That could very well be true. I want to go back out to Kelli Zink, host of Celebtv.com. Kelli, do you think that, you know, celebrities like David Copperfield are victims for allegations such as this?

ZINK: You know, I think that David Copperfield definitely could be made a target, but I don`t agree with the fact that this woman could want her 15 minutes of fame. If that were the case, then sexual assault is something pretty loud to scream. And we don`t know anything about her. We don`t know her age. We don`t know her name. All we that know is that she`s living in Seattle. So I definitely don`t think this is a cry for attention from her. To get some money, possibly, but not fame.

BROOKS: Let`s go out to the phones. Craig from Illinois, thanks for joining us.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. How`re you doing?

BROOKS: Good, buddy. How about you?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. I`m doing pretty good. First I wanted to congratulate Nancy on her babies. And then my question was, Do they expect maybe any other women to come forward with charges against Mr. Copperfield?

BROOKS: Kristen Flowers, news anchor KXNT AM 840, do we hear anything else of anybody else involved?

FLOWERS: Well, this is what the interesting thing about this is, is David Copperfield hasn`t ever been accused of anything like this before. So this is brand-new for him. And whether other allegations come out or not, we`re just going to have to wait and see.

BROOKS: Now, he`s never had any other run-ins with the law up until now?

FLOWERS: Up until now, there`s none that I can recall.

BROOKS: How about you, Kelli Zink from Celebtv.com? Anything at all, any context, any other allegations, any run-ins at all with the cops?

ZINK: His record is completely unblemished. His lawyer was very adamant with me when I spoke to him earlier about that fact. Although, I don`t know if anyone remembers, a few years ago, David Copperfield was held at gunpoint, and he managed to get out of it doing sort of a magic trick. But nothing happened. You know, no arrest. He has never gotten in trouble before. Completely unblemished record. So for something of this magnitude to be accused, it`s really -- it`s quite interesting.

BROOKS: I think it`s very interesting. And you know, I hadn`t heard about his escape from someone with a gun. That`s very interesting.

Let`s go back out to the phones. Annette from Arizona, thanks for joining us.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Mike. How are you?

BROOKS: Good, thank you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was wondering, why are the U.S. authorities involved, if this supposedly took place in the Bahamas?

BROOKS: Well, I can tell you, if you look back on the Anna Nicole Smith case, if any crime occurs over in another country to an American, then the FBI does have jurisdiction.

But Courtney Anderson, help me understand. With international law, you know, the FBI does have jurisdiction on this, but usually, the FBI office of origin, if it started down there, would either be the legal attache there in the Bahamas or in Miami, correct?

ANDERSON: That would be my understanding. And also, certainly, if the crime took place in a foreign country, that local jurisdiction would also have law enforcement authority.

BROOKS: Well, you know, and also, Annette, if you recall back during Anna Nicole Smith -- we refer to that because there was so much back and forth between U.S. law enforcement and the Royal Bahamas Police that -- you recall law enforcement authorities from Florida went down to the Bahamas. So we may see now authorities from Seattle traveling down to the Bahamas in a very short time. But the Royal Bahama Police are saying there is no reported incident. So you know -- so I don`t know what to think of this.

Pat Brown, criminal profiler and author of "Killing for Sport" out of Washington, D.C. -- Pat, what would they be looking for, number one, in the warehouse, and number two, at the MGM Grand that would be proceeds or evidence from a sexual assault case?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: Well, Mike, that has got me scratching my head. I mean, it makes no sense at all. In other words, what we have here, what it sounds like, is kind of one of those date rape things where "He said, she said." And after that much time, she never went to the authorities. She never went to the hospital. There`s no physical evidence. You know, why would the authorities here suddenly accept her word without any backing, take the FBI -- FBI gets all involved and goes and raids his warehouse for what, you know, bloody clothes, used condoms? I mean, it makes no sense.

So I have to think one of two things. Either the woman had something maybe on tape herself or on a cell phone or something that she recorded, something that would really actually be real evidence, or there`s something else behind this, not just this rape issue. There`s something else going on, some other kind of crime that they`re looking at. And God knows what that would be.

BROOKS: Well, you know, it seemed like they were really looking for specific things. I don`t have a copy of the search warrant, but I`ve written enough search warrants of my own and I can tell you they went in there looking for a computer, and they were just looking for the chip from that digital video system or digital camera system. What do you make from that?

BROWN: Well, that makes you wonder. Obviously, makes you think, Was the man recording rapes? Was that what was going on? Is there some kind of call girl ring going on down there, he`s involved in something completely untoward and criminal that there`s some kind of, you know, videotaping and pornographic movies being made? I mean, you actually kind of look at that and think, Is that what they`re looking for? And of course, we`re not going to know until we actually find out what the search warrant was all about and what the allegations are. We`re just sitting here scratching our heads.

BROOKS: Well, you know, what puzzles me, though, is this $2 million. Why go into the safe and why take the $2 million?

BROWN: Well, you would wonder whether they`re thinking that`s proceeds from something, something to do with whatever crime they`re looking at. Is it money laundering? Is it, as I say, some kind of a...

BROOKS: But we`re talking about a sexual assault, though.

BROWN: That`s the whole -- that`s what`s so curious about the whole thing. It doesn`t make a lot of sense, so it`s really hard to believe that it is a simple sexual assault complaint they`re looking at. I mean, I know of no one who`s had the FBI go raid the warehouse over somebody saying, Gosh, three months ago on a date, I got raped. I mean, I can`t believe that`s the reason. So I think there`s something else going on, and I think we`re going to find out what it is at some point, but we`re going to be curious up until that point.

BROOKS: And you know, and this whole -- and actually, I don`t like the term "simple sexual assault." I`ve investigated -- I`ve investigated sodomy, rape, those kind of things, and there`s nothing simple about crimes like that, Pat. And I know you know that.

BROWN: That`s correct. But you do wonder, when somebody does not report something for three months, what the problem is. Now, it`s possible she just was embarrassed about the whole thing and didn`t know how to go after a big celebrity. But you do have to wonder why they would proceed this way with a sexual assault charge with little evidence.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Potentially serious legal troubles for famed magician David Copperfield. FBI agents, we`re learning, raided his massive Las Vegas warehouse, reportedly confiscating a computer hard drive, a digital camera memory card and nearly $2 million in cash. Now, all of this after a Seattle woman made accusations against Copperfield stemming from an alleged incident between the two of them this summer in the Bahamas.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS: I`m Mike Brooks, in for Nancy Grace. Allegations of sexual misconduct against David Copperfield, the famous illusionist. But he can`t make this go away, at least not for right now.

Let`s go back out to Kristen Flowers, news anchor for KXNT AM 840 there in Las Vegas. Kristen, where is David Copperfield right now?

FLOWERS: Well, as of right now, we believe that he`s still in Las Vegas. He finished up two shows on Wednesday, and he`s actually going to be leaving Las Vegas soon. He has a two-week, three-week stint of time in Indonesia that he`s going to be performing, and he`ll be back in Las Vegas in mid-November.

BROOKS: Back out to one of the attorneys. Remi, can you tell me, if the FBI -- since there is an ongoing criminal investigation right now, just, you know, allegations, could they make him surrender his passport and not go to Indonesia while this investigation is going on?

SPENCER: Not typically, no. Unless there are charges filed against him, the government really has no right to restrict his movement, his ability to travel, his ability to earn a living, to do his job, because, let`s be clear, the mere fact that there is an investigation does not mean that there`s any criminal wrongdoing. We don`t know enough about the case yet to know the strengths and the weaknesses of this alleged victim`s allegations. But until he`s been officially charged, even law enforcement may not believe that there is enough to accuse him of a crime.

BROOKS: But Courtney, doesn`t it look bad if he all of a sudden -- if he`s, you know, cooperating with the police, and then all of a sudden, he leaves and goes to Indonesia? He doesn`t have to come back.

ANDERSON: (INAUDIBLE) if he goes and does his job, when`s he already signed contracts to appear. So he would risk canceling those contracts, ruining the reputation with the local workers (ph), disappointing his fans, incurring the damages that he`d have to pay if he canceled contracts for concerts and appearances, for magic and illusion shows that he`s already signed on the dotted line.

No, I don`t think it`s unusual for him to go to work. I think he, like everybody else in this country, has the right to work. We have the right to go about our business. If the government feels that we`ve done something wrong and they charge us and we appear in court and we are told what the charges are against us and a legal process starts, I think it`s a different story. But I think right now, if this gentleman has a business that he runs and people dependent, I`m sure hundreds if not thousands of people dependent on him for a paycheck, then, no, I think he needs to go to work.

BROOKS: Bottom line is the bottom line.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: FBI agents have raided magician David Copperfield`s warehouse in Las Vegas. A Vegas TV station is reporting they seized almost $2 million in cash, a computer, hard drive, and a digital camera system. Seattle police say a woman filed a police report over the summer making an accusation against him.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS: I`m Mike Brooks in for Nancy Grace.

Allegations of an alleged sexual assault by David Copperfield made by a woman who lives in Seattle, but the sexual assault allegedly took place somewhere in the Bahamas, some time this summer, and we`re now just hearing about it. I`d like to go out to Dr. David Hillman, who`s a psychotherapist and author of "My Therapist is Making Me Nuts."

Thanks for joining us, Doctor.

MARK HILLMAN, PSYCHOTHERAPIST: Thanks, Mike, for having me.

BROOKS: You know, something that bothers me a little bit, and maybe you can help explain it. Why would this woman, if she was sexually assaulted in the Bahamas, then not report it there, but come back to the United States and report it in Seattle? Why would that happen?

HILLMAN: Well, as you identified earlier with the Anna Nicole Smith case, it`s a lot more dramatic. You get a lot more publicity here. But you being a former FBI agent know that you need facts, you need physical evidence. Before I can make a clinical diagnosis, I need to do some testing, I need facts.

This could also be a woman who was rejected by him in the Bahamas and feels a sense of loss. And now she wants to get her revenge. Psychologically, it`s very dangerous, because now we`re vilifying this man, going into his personal life, $2 million cash, talking about microchips. And so I think we need to be very, very careful before we start writing the script and presuming this man is guilty when he hasn`t done anything.

Pat Murphy brought that up. Unless this woman has something on a cell phone or a video camera, we need it be very, very careful. We have no evidence at all.

BROOKS: And his attorneys are denying it, vehemently say that everything is going to turn out all right and he`ll be totally vindicated. But Kelli Zink, host of CelebTV.com, apparently we don`t know anything at all about this victim. Now, has his attorney said that, you know, he had heard about this early on this summer, anything at all about letting him being notified about this?

KELLI ZINK, CELEBTV.COM: You know what the attorney is saying now? That David doesn`t even know the identity of the victim, period. And from a celebrity perspective, right now he`s doing everything correctly. He`s still performing because he doesn`t want to let down his fans. So he`s going to work. His mood right now is -- of course, he`s upset, but he`s confident that everything is going to work out, because, you know what, he says he did nothing wrong, and that will come out in the end.

BROOKS: Callers, please stand by. We`ll be taking your calls right after the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The (INAUDIBLE) office of the FBI is apparently leading this investigation. The FBI is being quite tightlipped about. The Seattle Police Department, though, said that they did take what they called a courtesy report from an alleged victim, a woman back in mid-summer, late June or July, the date they weren`t sure of without the actual document.

They told me the incident took place, alleged incident took place in the Bahamas, so it was out of Seattle police jurisdiction, but that the alleged victim lives in Seattle and that, because of what they called the seriousness of the alleged incident, they documented it and took, again, what they call a courtesy report. And presumably the seriousness of that arrest incident was what floated it up to the level of the FBI.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS: I`m Mike Brooks in for Nancy Grace.

While this alleged sexual assault may have taken place in the Bahamas, but I`m sure we`re going to see the Seattle police traveling down to compare notes, if they even have a report made, with the Royal Bahamas Police. There`s a lot of people that want to weigh on this tonight, so let`s go right out to the phones.

Rose Marie from Kentucky, thanks for staying with us.

CALLER: Hi. Do you think the FBI would be involved if it wasn`t for his celebrity?

BROOKS: I can tell you, having been assigned to the FBI joint terrorism task force and worked cases overseas, absolutely, because it doesn`t matter who you are, if this had been anyone else, and we`ve seen other cases, Rose Marie, of people disappearing off cruise ships and those kind of cases, in the Bahamas area, where the FBI does get involved.

Pat from British Columbia, thanks for joining us.

CALLER: Hi. Could she possibly have brought evidence back with her, and it`s taken this long to have it analyzed?

BROOKS: That`s a good question. I want to go out to Pat Brown, criminal profile, author of "Killing for Sport." Could she have brought it back and turned it over to police?

PAT BROWN, CRIMINAL PROFILER: I say, Mike, I think it has to be something major, because I simply cannot believe that the FBI would get involved in a case -- as you were saying, you know, they would do this for anyone, not just a celebrity.

But let`s assume a woman was just on her Bahamian vacation, and she went out with Joe Blow, and had a date with him, and during that date, he had occasion to rape her, and she did not go to the police and did not report it until she got back to Tennessee and said, you know, I was on a date and this guy raped me. Do you honestly think the FBI -- can you tell me, from your experience, the FBI would jump in to this extent without any evidence?

BROOKS: No, but one thing I find curious, Pat, is the crime was reported to Seattle police back in the summertime. Now, my question is, when did the Seattle police then ask the FBI for assistance and, now, months later, we see all these searches taking place out in Las Vegas?

Sue Moss, what do you think there was such a lag time there?

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Well, nothing in this case seems to make sense. If this was reported to the Seattle police in early July or late June, why hasn`t it taken so long for there to be some sort of connection with the Bahamian police?

Why haven`t they gone there and done searches? Why has it taken so many months for them now to do searches in Nevada, which doesn`t seem to have any connection to either the victim`s Washington or the Bahamas? There is something else going on. Maybe they were using this accusation to do some other search for some other means, maybe for some other purposes, thinking that he might be guilty of some other crimes.

BROOKS: Well, you know, and the Royal Bahamas Police today said that there is no report of this, as they`re calling it, "incident." But one thing that I find troubling is, they call it an incident and not an offense.

Let`s go back out to the phones. Sheba from Illinois, thanks for joining us.

CALLER: Hi, Mike.

BROOKS: Hi, Sheba.

CALLER: I just got a question. What if this woman is not telling the truth, what can Mr. Copperfield do after that? And I wanted to tell Sue Moss I just love her.

BROOKS: Well, we all love Sue Moss. Thank you very much, Sheba.

Courtney Anderson, what do you think? What do you think about Sheba`s question?

COURTNEY ANDERSON, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think it`s a fantastic question. And, certainly, if this woman is intentionally lying to law enforcement, then certainly he can take action in civil court, typically, against her, maybe for a defamation claim, and then he can work with law enforcement to see if they`re going to pursue charges against her for filing a false report.

But I do want to take a different tactic and just let`s for a minute presuppose that everybody is doing what they`re supposed to. Let`s presuppose and accept that, if someone is a victim of any type of crime, including a sexual incident, that they should come forward to law enforcement. And even if they`re not comfortable initially, they can still come forward, even if they`ve waited a little while. So that`s good.

BROOKS: Courtney, the evidence, though. Why didn`t she report it in the Bahamas?

ANDERSON: Well, we don`t know what the evidence -- I don`t know what the evidence is. What I`m saying is...

BROOKS: Wait a minute. If something happened in the Bahamas, does there not still have to be a crime scene?

ANDERSON: I don`t know if this happened, and maybe she kind of took it out the next day.

BROOKS: I mean, if she`s alleging it happened in the Bahamas, doesn`t there have to be a crime scene, if there`s alleged sexual assault?

ANDERSON: I do want people to know, if they have been a victim of sexual assault, that they need to feel comfortable coming forward. That`s the bottom line.

(CROSSTALK)

ANDERSON: And I think, yes, of course...

BROOKS: That`s not my question. There has to be a crime scene.

ANDERSON: ... if something occurred in the Bahamas, if something occurred in the Bahamas, then, yes, the physical place that law enforcement would have to go and try to see where the actual events transpired would be in the Bahamas. But I`m saying is...

BROOKS: Then why not report it to the Royal Bahamas Police?

ANDERSON: We don`t know. And I don`t want people watching a show, who have had an incident happen, and then maybe left that jurisdiction, I don`t want them to feel scared to come forward because they think people wouldn`t believe them. If something has truly happened, people need to feel comfortable, trust our law enforcement, and come forward, even if you`ve waited a little while, because crimes should not go unpunished.

BROOKS: No, and I agree with you. And no matter where you are, wherever you are in the world, if you`re a victim of a crime, from a robbery to a sexual assault, if you`re in the Bahamas, if you`re in Saudi Arabia, if you`re in Egypt, you can go to the U.S. embassy if you do not have faith in the local law enforcement. Go to the U.S. embassy and the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, they have a security officer at every embassy, and they can report it there, if they don`t feel comfortable reporting it to the local law enforcement.

Let`s go back out to the phones. Dorothy from Pennsylvania, thanks for calling.

CALLER: Hi.

BROOKS: Hi. How are you doing?

CALLER: Pretty good.

BROOKS: Good.

CALLER: You know, that`s a horrible accusation, and I think she should come forward and show us who she is. And, also, look at this man. He is so beautiful. Do you really think he needs to sexually assault someone?

BROOKS: Well, Dorothy, you know, law enforcement is very, very sensitive to the victims, as we just heard from Courtney, very, very sensitive to the victims. And, you know, I can tell you, having taken many reports for sexual assault when I was with the metropolitan police in D.C., we`re very, very sensitive to keeping their names out of the public, because they are sexual assault victims, and just for some of the reasons Courtney was talking about. But thank you for calling. That is a great question, Dorothy.

Let`s go out to Kimberly in North Carolina. Kimberly, thanks for joining us.

CALLER: Hey, I want to first say congratulations to Nancy.

BROOKS: I will pass that on to her. I`m sure she`s watching us, though.

CALLER: Thank you very much. Thank you. I also wanted to ask, if David Copperfield is found guilty, what would he be facing?

BROOKS: Remi Spencer, what would he be facing out in that jurisdiction?

REMI SPENCER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: If he is convicted, and that`s a big if, he would be facing a substantial amount of time incarceration in prison. He would be subject to a whole host of supervision following his release from any kind of prison.

But I think we`re getting a little bit ahead of ourselves. I think the point, Mike, that you were bringing up earlier is a good one, and we`re hearing it through most of these phone calls from your viewers. We have a real issue with this alleged victim`s credibility. Everybody is somewhat skeptical, even though we don`t know what the evidence is.

And while everyone should report an alleged act, sexual crime to local law enforcement, I think we need to ask, what would someone who has just been attacked do? What is reasonable? What makes sense to us? If you`ve been attacked, you want to go and get help, maybe not to punish the person who has attacked you, because here, it`s a public figure. You could understand why she wouldn`t want to do that. But wouldn`t you want to get help? And why would anybody wait days, not to mention weeks and months? I think that`s the real problem we`re all having, even your viewers, with this case.

BROOKS: Let`s take a listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A superstar illusionist under scrutiny from local and federal law enforcement. Seattle police tell CNN a woman filed a police report over the summer, making an accusation against David Copperfield. Police would not say what the accusation was, but they termed the incident "serious" and referred to the woman as an "alleged victim."

FBI officials tell CNN federal agents from Seattle and Las Vegas raided a Las Vegas warehouse owned by Copperfield this week. CNN affiliate KLAS, citing a source close to the investigation, reports the agents took a computer hard drive and a memory chip from a digital camera system, along with $2 million in cash that was inside a safe.

Copperfield`s attorney says his side is in touch with investigators and adds, "We are confident the investigation will conclude favorably."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS: And that $2 million that was inside that safe, where exactly did that come from? And what exactly was he going to do with it? And did they have a right to take that? That`s a question that we`ve been talking about and remains to be seen.

I want to go back out to Kristen Flowers. Kristen, let`s talk a little bit about the warehouse where they did this search. Was it like a storage facility, was it, you know, a big place, small place? Tell me a little bit about that.

KRISTEN FLOWERS, NEWS ANCHOR, KXNT: Well, actually, I spent time at the warehouse this morning, and what it is, it`s very interesting, it`s a warehouse where he stores magic tricks and also where he collects magic tricks from around the world. Half of it is a warehouse; half of it is a museum that is actually open that he gives tours. And actually upstairs is a living quarters for him, almost like a small little apartment for David Copperfield.

BROOKS: Now, is there a lot of security on this warehouse? And how did the police get in?

FLOWERS: Well, obviously, the raid took place on Wednesday, and that`s when all of the FBI officials were coming in. When I was out there this morning, there was no activity going on, but FBI does say that this is an active investigation and that they will be going in and out of the warehouse. But right now, gates are closed. It`s closed to the public.

BROOKS: Well, you said there`s a living quarters. Does he live there or if he wanted to could he stay there?

FLOWERS: If he wanted to. My sources for KXNT have told me that he could possibly live there, but he does have houses other places. It`s just a small living quarter.

BROOKS: I want to go back out to Kelli Zink, host of CelebTV.com. Kelli, what other places? What other houses does he have? Where are they?

ZINK: Well, he does own a stretch of land in the Exuma Chain out in the Bahamas worth $50 million. And he could definitely, yeah, he could definitely go there and call that home.

BROOKS: Now, if it`s in the Exumas, why haven`t they searched that then?

ZINK: You know, I don`t know why they haven`t searched there. We don`t even really know exactly where they`ve searched. We don`t even know for sure that he was in the Bahamas. His lawyers are being extremely tight-lipped about that information. That`s where they think everything has been taking place.

BROOKS: Now, you know, as law enforcement, you know, I always like to put together the all-important timeline. Now, when this alleged assault occurred -- and, again, in the Bahamas somewhere -- where was David Copperfield during that timeframe of late summer? Do we know?

ZINK: We don`t know. And that`s the biggest piece of the puzzle that`s missing right now is that David himself isn`t speaking. His publicist is currently out of the country. So his lawyer is saying that, you know, he`s not saying where David was, and that`s the question that everyone`s asking.

BROOKS: You know, that`s very, very interesting, and I find out, you know, about this. I mean, the Library of Congress calls this guy a living legend. We`ve got the Copperfield warehouse and apartment there in Las Vegas. You`ve got the house, over $50 million house in Exumas. Where does he normally live though, Kelli?

ZINK: He spends a lot of time traveling. Currently, he`s got a slew of shows going on at the MGM Grand, which I said earlier. He did go to work on Wednesday and did his show, as to not disappoint his fans, because David is extremely concerned, with his unblemished reputation and huge following. I mean, this is a man who was engaged to a supermodel. He is legendary. Young people, old people, everyone knows the name David Copperfield. He makes things disappear. He walks through walls. That`s what his reputation is right now, not for allegedly sexually assaulting women.

BROOKS: Kristen Flowers, news anchor from KXNT AM 840, Kristen, you know, has he had any shows or has he been in Seattle at any time in the last year that we know of?

FLOWERS: I don`t know of any time that he`s actually been in Seattle. All I know he does have recent stints at the MGM Grand, just finished on Wednesday, and will be back in November.

BROOKS: Kelli, do you know if he had been to Seattle anytime? Again, trying to put together this timeline with the victim. Maybe he had been up there, again, just trying to put together some kind of timeline.

ZINK: No, I don`t know if he`s been in Seattle. But I do know, as we said earlier, that he is planning to go to Indonesia, and then he`ll back in Vegas, like she said, on November 15th. But, you know, Seattle MGM Grand Web site, I`m sure that they would track that or if you went to his Web site and looked that up.

BROOKS: Great.

Sandra from New Jersey, thanks for joining us.

CALLER: Good evening.

BROOKS: Good evening.

CALLER: My question -- well, first of all, you pretty much touched on my question earlier. I would like to preface by saying I was actually a victim of a sexual assault out of the country. And if I could provide a little psychological insight, well, one reason that someone might not report it is out of embarrassment, shame, fear, not knowing the law enforcement ways, so that is the reason that somebody might not report something out of the country.

BROOKS: Well, thank you, Sandra, for that insight.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BROOKS: Tonight, a look back on the stories and the people making the rest of the headlines this week.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Finally, pay dirt. A lot of prayers answered tonight. The man suspected in the molestation of a 3-year-old little girl on a tape -- he taped himself -- has been arrested.

With me, Elaine Thomas, this is the ex-girlfriend of the suspected molester, Chester Stiles.

ELAINE THOMAS, EX-GIRLFRIEND OF STILES: When the enhanced photos came out on the news, when I realized that it definitely was him, I knew that there was really nothing else that I could do. How could I not tell them who that man was?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A couple guys walked up to the car. She mentioned that they`d frightened her. They went away, came back, and apparently shot her.

GRACE: Our prayers and thoughts going out tonight to Robin Fanaei. This is Kayla`s mother.

ROBIN FANAEI, MOTHER OF SLAIN DAUGHTER: Thank you, you know, for getting the word out there. We really, really want to catch this person. I want this person to be caught. Thank you.

GRACE: Look at this little face. She is so precious. Was she on the floor? Was she on the back of the commode? Was the commode shut? Where was she?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was on the floor right near the commode laying on the little blanket.

GRACE: Oh, good lord.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BROOKS: Tonight, let`s stop to remember Army Sergeant Nicholas Patterson, just 24 from Rochester, Indiana, killed in Iraq. On a second tour of duty, he also served during Hurricane Katrina, awarded the Bronze Star, National Defense Service Medal, and Army Service Ribbon. He leave behind parents James and Jane, his high school sweetheart and grieving widow, Jamie, and a 4-year-old son, Riley. Nicholas Patterson, an American hero.

Thank you to all our guests, and especially to you at home for being with us tonight. I`m Mike Brooks in for Nancy Grace. See you tomorrow night, 8:00 p.m. sharp Eastern. Until then, stay safe.

END