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Nancy Grace
Delays in Previous Crime Sentencing Left UNC Murder Suspect Free
Aired March 14, 2008 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight. A beautiful 22-year-old student body president UNC Chapel Hill, last seen 1:30 AM doing homework, 5:00 AM, 22-year-old Eve Carson found shot to death in an intersection near campus. Anonymous tips lead police straight to suspects 21-year-old Demario James Atwater, 17-year-old Lawrence Lovette, both caught on grainy surveillance video using Carson`s ATM card, both on parole at the time of Carson`s cold-blooded shooting.
Bombshell. Disturbing details emerge indicating the murder of 22- year-old Eve Carson could have been stopped. We learn suspect Atwater in court on another course just 48 hours before her murder, but he walked free. And tonight, a careful look at the court docket shows one delay and one bungle after the next. Result, Atwater on the street, committing murder when he should have been behind bars.
And in the last hours, suspect Lovette in handcuffs for a courthouse showdown on murder. What murder? The shooting death of yet another college student, Duke University.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: One of the two suspects charged with killing University of North Carolina student body president Eve Carson has been ordered held on $3 million bond on another murder charge. Seventeen-year- old Lawrence Lovette was in court this morning, accused in the death of a Duke University graduate student in January. Now, Abhijit Mahato was found shot to death in his apartment near the Duke campus. The 29-year-old from India was a doctoral candidate in computational mechanics. Another man has also been charged in his death.
Now, Lovette will be in court this afternoon to face charges in Carson`s death. The UNC student was found shot to death last Wednesday on a street in Chapel Hill about a mile from the campus. Lovette surrendered to police. The other man charged in Carson`s death was arrested earlier this week and made his initial court appearance on Wednesday.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight: We told you about a North Carolina mom who gets a shock of a lifetime when she logs onto her self-installed secret nannycam and spots her brand-new twins been man handled by the nanny. Well, after seeing that disturbing video right here on our show, a South Carolina dad decides to set up his own nannycam. His worst fears come true, and it`s all caught on video, the nanny severely shaking the 5-month-old baby girl over and over, even slapping the baby. Tonight, that nanny under her own surveillance, court-ordered house arrest and an ankle monitor.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Another disgusting incident of alleged nanny abuse, and it`s all caught on tape. Dad Wesley Locklair (ph) decides to set up a nannycam after watching a nannycam abuse story right here on "NANCY GRACE."
GRACE: I just saw the baby`s head hit down on the sofa arm. Oh! Oh! Oh! Right there! And that happens more than once, where the baby`s face is just stuck into the sofa cushion. This is painful to watch, and this is just some of the video.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Parents` fears quickly turn to reality as they see nanny Cheryl White (ph) violently shaking their baby, White the couple`s nanny for almost three months before the nannycam installed. Tonight, she`s facing criminal charges of neglect and assault.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You know, if an adult had been manhandled that way, the defendant would be behind bars tonight. Did you hear that little baby crying?
Also tonight, breaking developments in the sudden death of Hollywood TV superstar John Ritter. Ritter`s family takes on the medical establishment to the tune of $67 million, claiming the beloved star`s life could have been saved. Tonight, a California jury hands down a stunning verdict.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a bitter defeat for John Ritter`s family. A California jury has cleared two doctors of any wrongdoing in the actor`s death. Not only did his family lose the $67 million malpractice lawsuit, jurors say it was Ritter who didn`t follow the doctor`s orders, certainly a sting to his grieving loved ones.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ritter died at Providence St. Joseph Medical Center in September 2003 of an aortic dissection, which is a tear in the aorta. His family claims that improper diagnosis and substandard treatment caused his death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Breaking news in the murder of 22-year-old UNC student body president Eve Carson. Two anonymous tips lead police to the bust of two murder suspects and a connection to yet another student, another student murder, Duke University. Tonight, stunning details that but for courthouse bungles and delays, one after the next -- wait until you hear this -- 22- year-old Eve Carson`s murder could have been stopped.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Seventeen-year-old Lawrence Lovette didn`t say a word as officers led him into the Orange County courthouse. This was his second trip of the day to face a judge for the second time. The charges against him, first degree murder. Lovette was arrested Thursday in connection with the death of UNC student body president Eve Carson. Throughout the course of that investigation, detectives linked him to another murder, the January shooting death of Duke University graduate student Abhijit Mahato. Durham assistant district attorney Tracy Klein (ph) told a judge investigators made the connection through cell phone records. When police arrested Lovette for the Eve Carson murder, she told the court, he had Abhijit Mahato`s iPod and cell phone in his possession. Detectives say Lovette used Mahato`s cell phone to call a number associated with Demario Atwater, the second suspect in the Eve Carson case.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Let`s go straight out to Shelvia Dancy, joining us from CNN affiliate News 14 Carolina. I understand there was a court appearance today. What happened?
SHELVIA DANCY, NEWS 14 CAROLINA: That`s right. Lovette would make two court appearances today. This morning, he was in Durham to answer to first-degree murder charges in the death of that Duke student, Mahato. In that hearing, the judge set his bond at $3 million. And that was really interesting because for the first time, we heard specific details of how investigators linked Lovette to the murder of that Duke student, Mahato. And they told us that cell phone records -- the night that Mahato died, they believe that somebody placed some cell phone records (SIC) using his very own cell phone.
Those records led them to Atwater, the first person charged in Eve Carson`s death, and that led them to Lovette. So some really surprising discoveries came out of that first hearing. And then later this afternoon, Lovette went on to Orange County, where he made his first court appearance for the death of Eve Carson. He didn`t get bond at all in that case.
GRACE: Now, hold on just a moment, Shelvia Dancy. You`re telling me that whoever killed Mahato used Mahato`s cell phone to make personal phone calls?
DANCY: Yes. Those details came...
GRACE: OK.
DANCY: Yes. You`re right.
GRACE: Here`s my question. What I don`t understand -- Mahato, the Duke University student, was killed January 18. Why are they just finding this out after Eve Carson`s murder? Let`s see -- January, February, March. We`ve had over 60 days to figure that out. Why?
DANCY: That`s a very good question. In fact, today was the first time investigators told us any information about that link. We tried to get the -- the assistant DA to give us some more information after the hearing. She wouldn`t go beyond what she told the judge...
GRACE: I`m sick!
DANCY: ... in court. But that`s a very good question.
GRACE: I`m sick!
DANCY: Why did it take so long?
GRACE: And that`s just the tip of the iceberg. To Ed Miller with "America`s Most Wanted." Ed, I`ve been taking a look overnight at the court documents, which I`m about to go through, the docket, the slowdown on arresting these guys on probation and parole revocations -- revocations! -- after already having one conviction, out with a gun, get arrested...
ED MILLER, "AMERICA`S MOST WANTED": Right.
GRACE: ... felony conviction with a firearm. Months pass. The courts do nothing. Then it gets assigned to the wrong court, one delay after the next after the next. Now I learn that this young grad student, Mahato, murdered January 18 -- the idiots make cell phone -- personal cell phone calls on his, the murder victim`s, cell phone. And we`re just finding that out? That could have been traced within about 48 hours. And Eve Carson would be alive today if they had arrested him.
MILLER: Absolutely. And I think we should simplify this for your audience because, obviously, you`re an attorney, a legal expert. What people don`t understand is if someone is arrested with a weapon, normally, their parole is taken away. They`re -- in other words, they`re put away. And...
GRACE: Hold on. Hold on. Ed, I`m going to put up the stunning timeline of one bungle and delay after the next. And you explain. Go ahead, Ed. Can you get that up for me, Liz?
MILLER: Again, basically, what happens is, for people to understand, if you are on parole -- in other words, you`re doing -- they`re doing this person a favor, they`re allowing him to go out into the community. But if you get in trouble again, you are to go immediately back to prison. But apparently that did not happen.
There were several instances when both of these people were arrested over and over again for car theft, for burglary, et cetera, et cetera. And somehow, there were all these mistakes were made that they did not get thrown back into prison. The bottom line is that Eve Carson may very well be alive today if the system had worked correctly.
GRACE: You know, I`m taking a look right now. It all starts back in June of 2005 with the breaking and entering. June 15, a month later, Atwater arrested on possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Excuse me -- a year and a month later, he`s arrested. He`s got a gun. He`s a convicted felon. That`s June 2006. June 2007, convicted. Did he get jail time? No. Was his parole revoked? No. In fact, it wasn`t until November, two years later, they draw up the papers to revoke his probation.
That`s the kind of delay I`m talking about, Ed Miller. Then when they finally get to court, Ed, they finally get to court to get this guy off the streets, and the paperwork has gone to the wrong courtroom.
MILLER: That`s right.
GRACE: So what do they do? Instead of the old-fashioned method of walking to the courtroom to get the correct paperwork, they sent it off again. And before they can do all this -- we`re talking two years -- Eve is dead in the street.
MILLER: Absolutely. And you know, court watchers were quick to point out today -- people around court -- in his second court appearance, Mr. Lovette was seen smiling broadly, almost as if he was auditioning for a toothpaste commercial. And maybe this is what he was laughing about, all these bungled mistakes on the part of the court system here. And you know, maybe he`s laughing at us, when in reality, he is facing two first degree murder charges. I`m not sure he`s really aware of how much trouble...
GRACE: It shouldn`t have been two.
MILLER: ... this kid is in.
GRACE: It shouldn`t have been two, Ed Miller. It should not have been two.
MILLER: Absolutely.
GRACE: Eve Carson did not have to die. He should have been behind bars -- frankly, both of them. But the delays in the system and the delay in making an arrest in the Duke grad student murder has cost Eve, along with these two, cost her her life.
MILLER: It gives you goosebumps. It`s terrible.
GRACE: Yes. To Ray in Hawaii. Hi, Ray.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, aloha, Nancy. Congratulations on your two (INAUDIBLE) that you had. We call children "kaykie (ph)" over here. This is the first time I`ve called. I picked up the phone and got through. I`m interested about just a couple things.
GRACE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: First, these two individuals, how are they related? What brought them together before all of these events occurred? Do they have any history together, either through school or through a gang or through family members? What brought them together to coercion (ph) to commit these crimes and...
GRACE: That`s Ray in Hawaii. Out to Shelvia Dancy with News 14 Carolina. Shelvia, what do we know about their relationship? How did they wind up together the night Eve Carson was murdered?
DANCY: I believe investigators think at this point, their paths crossed in high school. They wound up going to the same high school. Actually, neither of them actually got their high school diploma. But at this point, investigators are thinking that`s the way that they came into each other`s lives.
GRACE: To Hunter Glass, former North Carolina gang investigator with the Fayetteville, North Carolina, Police Department. Hunter, thank you for being with us again. Can you shed any light on how these two knew each other? I`m only going on their adult criminal history. Who knows what lurks in their juvenile history.
HUNTER GLASS, FORMER GANG INVESTIGATOR, FAYETTEVILLE, NC: Well, what -- what I`ve been privy to is some photographs here and there from Lovette`s Web site. And of course, you come to me on the gang aspect. And you know, they appear in every sense of the manner, the signs they throw in the photographs -- they show all the signs of being gang members. And so gangs aren`t that uncommon up in that neck of the woods. They`re not that uncommon here. Most people don`t realize that North Carolina does have gangs.
GRACE: We`re showing you that Web site that Hunter Glass -- to which he is referring. This is Lovette`s Web site. Keep going, Hunter. I`m sorry.
HUNTER GLASS: I`m sorry. There`s a couple of pictures in there where they`re throwing some gang hand signs or signs that would be reflective of gangs. And you know, I personally don`t know them, but -- but you know, like I said earlier -- I think I talked to you yesterday, the Bloods, you know, a lot of symbols that were synonymous with Bloods, or a lot of Blood gang activity in that area. So it`s not unlikely they could be together. You know, they subscribe to a life of violence, and so everything about gangs is about violence, and so I don`t see a -- I could see where this would come about.
GRACE: Well, you would see a clear string of violence, the January 18 murder of an innocent grad student there at Duke, Abhijit Mahato gunned down in cold blood. And then they have the audacity to make phone calls on his cell phone. That was January, Eve`s murder weeks and weeks later.
To Lillian glass, psychologist and author of "I Know What You`re Thinking." That`s pretty bold, to use the victim`s cell phone for personal calls that can be traced back to you and to be caught on camera using Eve Carson`s ATM card.
LILLIAN GLASS, PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes. It shows how arrogant he is, how entitled he is. And it`s also interesting to note that when you look at his MySpace page, it was reported that there was some kind of gang reference there, and especially the -- somebody had evidently sent him a picture of a -- of a gun and it had some gang-oriented information.
GRACE: Yes. I think you`re absolutely correct. And the arrogance of actually allowing yourself to be photoed with her ATM card, as if you`re not going to be caught?
Let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining us tonight, Susan Moss, family lawyer out of New York, John Burris, veteran trial lawyer, defense attorney out of San Francisco, and Richard Herman, renowned defense attorney here in New York City.
First to you, Susan Moss. Weigh in.
SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: We`re just lucky that being dense is not a defense. The arrogance of this guy, of using the cell phone of the victim, of using the ATM card of the victim -- it`s unbelievable! This guy is a monster, and luckily, he won`t be on the streets again.
GRACE: Well, to you, Richard Herman. He was arrogant using the grad student`s cell phone back on January 18, but it apparently didn`t lead police straight to him, as it should have, and save the life of Eve Carson.
RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It`s incredible, Nancy. You know, I got to tell you, to the extent law enforcement from Durham, North Carolina, is involved in any of this stuff, they got to clean house. The Mike Nifong stench continues down there in Durham. They obviously are -- they don`t know what they`re doing. They`re a mess. They got to clean house in Durham, North Carolina. These murders, these slayings may have been avoided.
GRACE: You know, another issue -- to you, John Burris -- all three of you, all of us have tried a lot of cases. And there have been a million times when I`ve gone into court and we didn`t have the right paperwork. What do you do? You don`t sit on your thumb. You track down, send somebody. That`s what interns, investigators -- they`re standing around waiting to help justice proceed. But what did they do in this case? Instead of getting the paperwork and proceeding forward, they put it off, the probation ref (ph), yet again, John Burris, and Eve Carson was killed in the interim.
JOHN BURRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I would say this. It`s not just the district attorney`s fault in this case here. This is a failure of the court system in general.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: ... the court system didn`t pull the trigger, though.
BURRIS: I know. I`m not saying -- passing responsibility. I`m talking about in terms of making sure that the paperwork was processed and keep the person in court. That`s what I`m talking about.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A suspect in two North Carolina campus killings has appeared before separate judges today. Seventeen-year-old Lawrence Alvin Lovette was in a Durham courtroom this morning, where a judge set bail at $3 million. The victim, Abhijit Mahato, was found shot dead in his apartment near the Duke campus. Another man has also been charged in his death. And this afternoon, Lovette is in court at Hillsborough on the charge of killing the student body president of the University of North Carolina last week, Eve Carson. Yet another man is also accused in that shooting death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: After one delay and bungle after the next. Could Eve Carson`s death have been avoided?
Let`s go straight out to the lines. Kelly in South Carolina. Hi, Kelly.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hey, Nancy. You look absolutely beautiful tonight.
GRACE: Well, bless you. Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And those babies of yours, absolute angels!
GRACE: Oh, I`ve got some new pictures to show you in a little bit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can`t wait!
GRACE: What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have two quick ones. One, why was bail not denied to begin with? And what are the chances that a bail bondsman is even going to touch this? God help us all.
GRACE: Good question. Let`s go out to Gurnal Scott with WPTF radio, joining us tonight. What about the bail?
GURNAL SCOTT, WPTF RADIO: What the bail was set at, as we heard, $3 million in the Durham courtroom. Of course, no bail was set in the Orange County courtroom that covers the Chapel Hill murder. Why there was no bond issued in the Durham case, we don`t know. We do know that in issuing the $3 million bond, the judge had other things to say about gang affiliations and how the state needs to do something about gang-related crimes in North Carolina, and sort of making a statement as he was trying to make his point that this man needs to be behind bars.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I hope that all of us will keep Eve`s parents, her brother, and all of her family and friends in our thoughts and in our prayers.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The second suspect charged in murdering UNC student Eve Carson showed his face in court today. Seventeen-year-old Lawrence Lovette is being held on $3 million bond, and he is not only charged with killing Carson, police also think he had something to do with the shooting death of a Duke grad student in January. It turns out both Lovette and the other suspect charged in the UNC murder, Demario Atwater, have some pretty serious rap sheets.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Let`s go straight out to John Lucich, investigator and author of "Cyber Lies." John, question. In this particular case, Lovette wasn`t a suspect in Mahato`s death until after Eve Carson`s murder. Why?
JOHN LUCICH, INVESTIGATOR, AUTHOR, "CYBER LIES": Well, it`s very possible that they did not develop the intelligence or the evidence until after he was arrested.
GRACE: They had the cell phone records. He made personal calls on the victim`s cell phone.
LUCICH: Right, but they never got to that only -- how long after? See, what you have here is, is there`s no doubt, is the perfect storm of the failure of the judicial system. Got to remember something. You`re not dealing with regular people. These two are the sludge of society, and sludges got to be -- have to be stopped. The court system and the law enforcement, as well as parole, had several opportunities to stop these guys, and they did nothing. Justice denied is -- justice delayed is justice denied.
GRACE: Man, you`re not kidding, John Lucich! Justice denied for Eve Carson. To Dr. Michael Bell, Palm Beach County chief medical examiner. I noticed that Mahato, the Duke grad student, in his murder, apparently, a pillow was put between the gun and Mahato`s head. How would that have affected his injuries, or the sound of the gun?
DR. MICHAEL BELL, PALM BEACH COUNTY CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: Well, it might have muffled the sound of the gun, but it`s unlikely to have changed his fatal injury.
GRACE: Everybody, when we come back: After a North Carolina mom gets the shock of a lifetime from a secret nannycam, a South Carolina dad sees the video right here on our show, sets up his own nannycam. Worst fears come true.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yet another shocking nanny cam story tonight and it`s all caught on tape. After watching Stephanie Merrill manhandle twin boys right here on NANCY GRACE.
GRACE: Within hours of setting up the nanny cam, her brand-new instant twins spotted at risk being manhandled by a nanny that fooled mommy.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Wesley Locklair sets up a hidden nanny cam. After watching just the first day, Locklair`s wife sees the nanny Cheryl White violently shaking their baby. Parents say she hasn`t been the same ever since.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: And it gets worse. Liz, if you could just keep playing that for the viewers. I want to get out to Ed Miller with "America`s Most Wanted." What happened?
ED MILLER, CORRESPONDENT, AMERICA`S MOST WANTED: Apparently the videotape shows that the nanny was dragging, shaking, and actually dropping the baby on this videotape. I know you`re very passionate about this subject. I`m very passionate about it as well. My wife and I have gone through at least 12 nannies. And the big lesson I want people to know, just because you go through an agency like this couple did there`s no guarantee that there`s been background checks done on this girl.
GRACE: You are so right, Ed Miller.
To Jody Barr with WBTW there in Myrtle Beach, what happened, Jody?
JODY BARR, REPORTER, WBTW: Well, Nancy, last Thursday Wesley Locklair e- mailed our newsroom and said, "Hey, I`ve got a video tape of my nanny physically abusing our 5-month-old daughter." Went to Wesley, got a copy of the tape just yesterday, played that tape and I think the video speaks for itself.
GRACE: Jody Barr joining us from WBTW.
And I`m hearing in my ear joining us right now, Wesley Locklair, the parent of the baby victim. I`m taking a look. First of all, Wesley, thank god in heaven, you know, I believe you`re a trial lawyer, right?
WESLEY LOCKLAIR, FATHER OF 5-MONTH-OLD BABY GIRL: Yes, ma`am, I am.
GRACE: Well, I know you`re familiar then, with the Louise Woodward case we all covered, the au pair case out of New England where the little baby, baby Matthew Eappen, had -- shaken baby syndrome. A lot of people didn`t know about it then. I`m sure you`re familiar with that case.
Thank god your baby is well. Tell me what happened, Wesley.
LOCKLAIR: Basically, we decided to set up our nanny cam after my wife saw a footage of the program that you had aired regarding the mother out of Cary, North Carolina. We mainly put it out to make sure the nanny was doing her job. We never suspected abuse. We had told the nanny that we hired her because we wanted Caroline to get special attention, to be played with and read to. And we were just suspicious that she was leaving her in front of the TV because a lot of times if we`d come home unexpected the TV would be on and the baby would be on her play mat.
And we told her that`s not why we hired a nanny. We wanted her, you know, to play with Caroline, read to her, et cetera. And that was the sole reason we put it up.
GRACE: You know, Wesley, I`m looking at the video and I`ve seen quite a bit of it. You have to watch it for a little while but she shakes the baby over and over, spanks the 5-month-old baby girl on her rear end, it`s very forceful with her. What did you do after seeing this video? That`s pretty forceful shaking right there, by the way.
LOCKLAIR: Yes, it is. It was very scary. It obviously made us very emotional. I called some people that I know, attorneys and some law enforcement things. And you know, then we took her to the hospital. We took Caroline to the pediatrician first and then went to the hospital for all the tests and everything the next morning.
GRACE: Oh, oh. I just saw her slam her.
LOCKLAIR: And then after -- then Caroline was OK.
GRACE: I just saw her slam her down on a sofa cushion. So how is Caroline?
LOCKLAIR: She`s getting better. She`s eating better and sleeping better. You can definitely tell there`s been some changes in her behavior since the nanny`s left which we`re happy for. My mother-in-law was able to come dawn from the Raleigh, Durham area and take care of her. And now she`s going to move down here.
GRACE: What changes? What changes?
LOCKLAIR: She hadn`t been eating as much before when the nanny was there. She seemed very lethargic and tired when we`d get home. She seem more up when we`d leave for work in the morning. So now she`s been eating, (INAUDIBLE), sleeping better. She doesn`t -- even though it`s only been a few weeks she doesn`t seem as shy and anxious when she`s around other people.
It used to be, other me and my wife, if somebody else held her she`d get really upset and start to cry and that`s starting to change, too, so.
GRACE: Take a look at this video.
Joining me here in the studio is one of our producers, Clark. With him is a device used in a lot of courtrooms to display how easily babies can be irreparable harm from shaken baby.
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: And here`s how it works, Nancy. You see the baby is turned on and is crying. When you start shaking the baby, it continues crying until there`s a point where the child would have brain injury.
GRACE: And as you see those lights on the -- the baby`s head, that`s all it takes for brain injury to occur. Now, I want to show you something that the floor manager hooked up for me. This is one of the nanny cam devices. We got this from a spy shop on 34th Street.
Can we show this, Liz? Yes. It looks like a clock radio. And in it is some type of a little pinpoint camera. And there you see the monitor. Dusty, can you show that to the viewers, the monitor? And what you see on this little screen, I`m going to show Clark for a moment, while I turn the clock radio toward him. And then you see, there he is, that`s what you see on the video.
Now, back to Wesley Locklair, the parent of the baby victim, what kind of a nanny cam did you install? How hard was it?
LOCKLAIR: It was actually one somebody had given us and it wasn`t even a hidden camera. It was just a camera that was set out using infrared. And if you had looked where it was, you know, you could actually see it because it was hard to hide. But we decided, you know, we weren`t looking for abuse, we figured we`ll put it up anyways. If she sees it, she sees it. At least, you know, if she wasn`t doing what we wanted her to, she then she would. It wasn`t one of the hidden cameras.
GRACE: To Dorthea Becker, shaken baby syndrome education and prevention specialist, joining us from Kentucky.
Dorthea, how easy is it for a baby to have irreparable damage from shaking?
DORTHEA BECKER, SHAKEN BABY SYNDROME PREVENTION SPECIALIST: Nancy, it can happen in seconds. And I was horrified when I saw the nanny cam. Violent shaking for seconds, the brain is hitting the skull.
GRACE: I`m showing you that video right now. With me, Dorthea Becker who is a specialist in a family nurturing center.
To Wesley Locklair, I bet your wife was inconsolable.
LOCKLAIR: It`s just been really hard.
GRACE: Let`s go out.
LOCKLAIR: You know, we`ve both been emotional.
GRACE: I`m sure you have. Me just watching it. And everybody, this goes on and on and on. We`re just showing you some tidbits.
To Sheeba in Illinois. Hi, Sheeba.
SHEEBA, ILLINOIS RESIDENT: Hi, Nancy, My question is, God forbid, but if something happens to these children later on like a learning disability or they`re slow in development, can this or any of these nannies, especially caught on this cam.
GRACE: Be prosecuted?
SHEEBA: Be prosecuted and can.
GRACE: Let`s go out to the lawyers, Susan Moss, John Burris, Richard Herman.
What about it, Susan Moss, answer Sheeba`s question.
SUSAN MOSS, CHILD ADVOCATE, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Yes, you can. And it depends upon the jurisdiction. But in most -- many jurisdictions you absolutely can. And just -- you know, all I can say is thank God for Nancy Grace because now the world is a little bit of a safer place. I mean if this parent had not seen this show, I can`t even imagine what would have happened.
GRACE: We were lucky to get that first nanny cam video. Take a look at this.
To John Burris and Richard Herman, what kind of time is she looking at, John Burris?
JOHN BURRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, I don`t know. You know, it`s misdemeanors right now so that`s not more than one year. But I think there`s also a stellar component here in terms of if something would have happen to these children, but the agency that placed this woman with this family could have some civil liability in the event that they didn`t do a proper background, they weren`t properly supervised.
GRACE: You`re right.
BURRIS: There`s a whole another issue that lays out here aside from the criminal responsibility that occurs.
RICHARD HERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, there`s huge causation issues. If something happens down the road they`re never going to be able to tie this nanny into that. But I heard you have 86 nanny cams in your house. Is that true?
GRACE: Well, that was last week.
And very quickly to John Lucich, is it that easy to install on of these pinpoint cameras?
Absolutely, it is. In fact, they`re wireless. They don`t have to be wired into any server and you can actually watch these things live now over the Internet right from work. In fact, I can tell you that trust no one, suspect every one. You need this in your house to protect your kids.
GRACE: To Wesley Locklair, we wish you the best and thank you.
Wesley Locklair, a trial lawyer there in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina and tonight an expert in nanny cams.
APB, all points bulletin tonight for special moms and dads. If you know a parent who is an inspiration to others, get your camcorder, go to CNN.com/Nancygrace and click on i-Report. Enter them in the "Extraordinary Parent" contest.
And tonight, thank you from our heart for your prayers and your kind words for the twins. Here`s Lucy and John David. I`ll post these for you on the Web tonight. I hope you like them. There`s Lucy. There`s John David ready for a nap. This is just before the nap. There`s Lucy at a nap, after she had her lunch today.
LOCKLAIR: She comes across as a really nice, sweet person, you know, grandmotherly type of person. You know, when we`re around her with the baby she seems very loving towards the baby and you know, obviously we were duped.
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(NEWSBREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It is a bitter defeat for John Ritter`s family. A California jury has cleared two doctors of any wrongdoing in the actor`s death. Not only did his family lose the $67 million malpractice lawsuit, jurors say it was Ritter who didn`t follow the doctor`s orders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If John Ritter would have followed up on the advice of that radiologist two years before his death, maybe more would have been done to prevent what happened to him happening to him.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
GRACE: A stunning verdict handed down by a California jury after $67 million lawsuit taking on the medical establishment. That`s John Ritter`s family.
Let`s go out to Jim Roope, CNN Radio correspondent.
Jim, what happened?
JIM ROOPE, CNN RADIO CORRESPONDENT: With the verdict?
GRACE: Yes.
ROOPE: Well, it`s not guilty. No negligence, no wrongdoing, no malpractice on the part of any of the doctors. As you`ve probably heard by now, the radiologist who performed the body scan or interpreted the body scan on Ritter two years before he died, it took the jury 15 minutes, they said, to reach a clear conclusion that he did adequately warned John Ritter that he had an enlarged aorta. He needed to follow up with a physician. John Ritter didn`t follow up with a physician.
But they also concluded that wasn`t the cause of his death. And then they concluded, too, that Dr. Lee, the cardiologist who was called in at the time, had very little time to make much of a decision and when he arrived at the hospital, John Ritter`s vitals were already dipping, things were chaotic at that time. He had to make a quick decision on what to do so he treated John Ritter for a heart attack. He didn`t have time, so the jurors concluded, to take an X-ray and take a look at that X-ray.
So they concluded no wrongdoing. Everybody did everything they possibly could. And I think they believed the medical experts, and I think they believed the defense lawyer saying no matter what anyone would have done or could have done John Ritter would have died that night.
GRACE: I`m going to go out to a special guest joining us, Stephen C. Fraser, attorney for Dr. Lotysch, a radiologist in this case. Stephen is joining us from L.A.
Stephen, welcome. When did your client, Dr. Lotysch see John Ritter and for what?
STEPHEN C. FRASER, ATTORNEY FOR DR. MATTHEW LOTYSCH: Hi, Nancy. My client Dr. Lotysch saw John Ritter for a full body screening examination in 2001. Almost two years to the day that he died. And I`d just like to correct something.
GRACE: OK.
FRASER: Dr. Lotysch identified Mr. Ritter`s aorta at that time as nor normal in size. And there was no reason for him to follow up on his aorta at that time. And it was always been our position that there`s nothing that Mr. Ritter could have done to prevent his aortic dissection on the night that he died.
GRACE: So what was the claim against your client in a nutshell, the radiologist?
FRASER: The claim was that he did, in fact, have a large aorta in 2001 that should have been identified. And that had he been told that, he could have taken steps to prevent his death on September 11th of 2003.
GRACE: To Dr. Michael Bell joining us out of Miami, does it all make sense to you? Do you understand the juror`s verdict against the family of John Ritter?
DR. MICHAEL BELL, PALM BEACH COUNTY CHIEF MEDICAL EXAMINER: Absolutely. Aortic dissection occurs very suddenly. It`s a surgical problem. You need a surgeon to correct the problem, not a cardiologist. And whatever was seen, if anything at all, in the scan two years ago was unlikely to be the same thing that caused his death.
GRACE: You`re saying aortic dissection? Is that what you`re saying?
BELL: Yes.
GRACE: Aortic dissection.
To Jessica in Kansas. Hi, Jessica.
JESSICA, KANSAS RESIDENT: Hi.
GRACE: What`s your question, dear?
JESSICA: I`m wondering if the family can be counter-sued?
GRACE: Excellent question. To you Stephen Fraser, can they?
FRASER: Hypothetically they could, Nancy, but our doctors are just extraordinarily happy to be exonerated in this case and we`re looking to put this behind us. And to the extent that we can help the Ritter family pursue a cure for aortic diseases or help the cause, we`d like to do that. We`d like to turn this into a positive now if we could.
GRACE: I want to thank you Jim Roope, CNN Radio correspondent, and Stephen Fraser especially for being with us tonight. A stunning verdict. Ritter`s family loses a $67 million lawsuit.
Right now, CNN heroes.
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ARLENE SAMEN, MEDICAL MARVEL: Every year women die due to complications of pregnancy and childbirth. About one woman every minute. With simple life saving skills, some of these deaths could be prevented.
My name is Arlene Samen and I`m a nurse practitioner. I started a nonprofit called One H.E.A.R.T. We started reducing maternal and newborn mortality in Tibet and taking that model around the world. Right now we`re in a very remote area in Mexico. The parteras, who are the traditional birth attendants, told us there`s a fear of C-section and complications and they would rather die than to come in and get help.
No breathing. This baby is not breathing.
What we`re teaching is basic home-based life saving skills. They need to deliver with a clean birth kit, a sterile cutting instrument. These new messages that are safer will now be passed on from one generation to the next.
I feel so honored that I have this opportunity to come and meet these people, empower them. If we get them to change one behavior here, that makes it safer for the women and children to survive. One by one that baby was saved. One by one that mother was saved. That`s huge.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
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GRACE: What a week in America`s courtrooms. Take a look at the stories and, more important, the people who touched our lives.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He built his career on bringing down powerful people who had run afoul of the law. Today, New York governor Eliot Spitzer`s political career, well, it is in ruins just days after he was linked to a prostitution ring.
GRACE: Did I hear correctly? $80,000 on hookers?
RICHARD ROTH, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, that`s what investigators are telling news agencies. $80,000.
GRACE: One down, one to go. Let`s go straight out to CNN affiliate reporter at News 14 Carolina, Shelvia Dancy.
SHELVIA DANCY, REPORTER, NEWS 14 CAROLINA: This is where Chapel Hill police came out and gave us their biggest break to date in this case so far. They made that arrest this morning of 21-year-old Demario James Atwater.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police arresting a second suspect in the murder of UNC student, Eve Carson. They say that they received an anonymous tip that 17- year-old Lawrence Lovette was hiding out in a house in Durham.
GRACE: Former cop Drew Peterson, the prime suspect in wife number four`s disappearance, the suspicious bathtub drowning of wife three ruled homicide. Once again, Peterson discovers evidence. This time, it`s his third wife`s missing will. Really? Because I`ve never written a will on my way to vacation. I`ve thought about it after 911, didn`t do it. So listen.
JOEL BRODSKY, ATTORNEY OF DREW PETERSON: A lot of people do do it.
GRACE: .a will to fully enjoy his vacation. What were they? Sky diving? Scuba diving? What?
BRODSKY: Well, they just wanted to make sure that if something occurred to them during the vacation.
GRACE: Where did they go? Where did they go?
BRODSKY: I really don`t recall but.
GRACE: Daytona Beach? Disneyland? Somewhere dangerous they needed a will?
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GRACE: Let`s stop and remember Air Force Staff Sergeant Christopher Frost, Wakisha, Wisconsin, killed, Iraq, on a first tour. Trained Iraqi security forces, loved cookies, sent overseas by girl scouts, giving out candy and gifts to Iraqi kids, video games. Dreamed of becoming a top photo journalist. Leaves behind parents Gary and Bridgette, two children, 5- year-old McKenzie, 2-year-old Mitchell.
Christopher Frost, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us. A special good night tonight from the New York control room. Good night Brett, Liz, Rosey. Where`s Stacy? Stacy.
Everybody, I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp, Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
