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Nancy Grace

Girl Beating 911 Tapes Released

Aired April 15, 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: Tonight, real, live "Mean Girls" takes on a whole new meaning after a brutal all-girl gang attack on a teenage honor student cheerleader all on video, the so-called popular girls accused of luring a classmate into a vicious beating in an upscale Florida home, leaving the girl unrecognizable even to her own father and with loss of hearing and sight, the girls gone wild videotaping to star themselves on YouTube and MySpace, even laughing it up behind bars after arrest.
Headlines tonight. Just released in the last hours, the stunning 911 call the victim made, crying hysterically after the beating. And tonight, we learn what the victim tells police after she was rushed to the local hospital.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A newly released 911 call in the vicious attack allegedly by six Florida high school girls on a classmate and cheerleader. The victim, in pain and shock tells dispatchers, "I just got jumped."

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. I`m the mom.

911 OPERATOR: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m not her mom, but I`m the friend`s mom.

911 OPERATOR: That`s OK. Is she hurt? Does she need an ambulance?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I think she needs -- she`s got a big `ol knot on the side of her eye.

911 OPERATOR: OK. And who was it that jumped her?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They -- they need to know who jumped you.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m writing all the names down.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s going to write all the names down.

911 OPERATOR: OK. There was more than one?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, there were six, six girls.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If not more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "If not more," she said.

911 OPERATOR: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So she`s got blood in her mouth and she`s got a big ol` knot on her left eye and -- and we think that she`s got a tooth broke.

911 OPERATOR: OK.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Also, an Ohio pawn shop employee gets a shock of a lifetime. A videotape left on a pawn camcorder reveals an 18-month-old toddler girl being physically forced to smoke from a marijuana pipe. The two perps behind bars tonight, thanks to the video. But who took the accidental video? And more important, where`s Mommy and Daddy during all this? Little did they know this accidental video is connected to one of the biggest drug busts in Ohio history.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can see what looks like a toddler trying to get away, but she was held down while the man puffs on the pipe. Here he puts the pipe to her mouth. Then a short time later, the little girl was seen coughing and trying to speak.

Court records show Melvin Blevins (ph) confirmed to investigators it was him on the video. But no surprise here, he doesn`t even remember it. When federal agents raided his father`s home last month, they found more than a ton of marijuana, as well as $4 million in cash. Police say a clerk at a pawn shop found this video after Blevins sold his camcorder for cash. Blevins is scheduled to appear before a federal judge today in connection with the drug bust.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight. A brutal all-girl gang attack on an honor student cheerleader caught on video. Tonight, just released, a stunning 911 call made by the victim. We learn what she told cops that landed the girl gang attackers behind bars.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A teenage girl panicked, assaulted and scared, a 911 call from that Florida YouTube beating`s been released. Listen as the victim and a friend`s mother describe what happened inside the home.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Polk County sheriff`s office. This is Brenda. What`s your emergency?

911 OPERATOR: 911 transfer.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just got jumped.

911 OPERATOR: You just got what, jumped?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, ma`am.

911 OPERATOR: And do you know who did it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I do.

911 OPERATOR: OK. What`s your name?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (DELETED)

911 OPERATOR: OK. And where are you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m at my friend`s house.

911 OPERATOR: OK. There was more than one?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, there were six -- six girls.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If not more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "If not more," she said.

911 OPERATOR: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So she`s got blood in her mouth and she`s got a big ol` knot on her left eye and -- and we think that she`s got a tooth broke.

You were with them, hon? Hold on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I went there. They told me to hurry up and come home, that they needed me. And I walked in the house, and each one of them comes out of a different room.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She lives there, and they told her -- she was gone, and they said, Hurry up and come home. And when she walked in the house, each one came out of a different room and attacked her. I think she`s got a broken tooth. She`s got a mouthful of blood. And I`m a nurse, and she doesn`t look too good right now.

911 OPERATOR: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK?

911 OPERATOR: We`ll get EMS there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK.

911 OPERATOR: And we`ll get the deputy sheriff there.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thank you. Thank you.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The teen suspects all free on bail facing more than being kept away from Mulberry (ph) High School. Tonight, they could end up getting an education in prison.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

GRACE: Straight out to Rory O`Neill with Metro Networks, joining us from Florida. Rory, what more do we know tonight? Do we know for sure, have these girls been thrown out of school?

RORY O`NEILL, METRO NETWORKS: Well, it is the standard policy of the school department that any time a teenager in these schools is under arrest and goes to a juvenile detention center or to jail, they are automatically withdrawn from that school and they have to petition the school superintendent and the school board to have access to get back into classes.

GRACE: But under Florida law, Rory, doesn`t the state have to offer them some sort of education? So what`s the alternative? Is there a chance that these girls are going to be back in school?

O`NEILL: That will probably -- likely have to go through their school board, and the school board attorney would probably be one of the key people in making that decision. But so there will have to be a petition through the school board to make that happen.

GRACE: Tonight, just released, the 911 call made by the victim, hysterically crying just before she heads to the local emergency room. Take a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Does she know how many...

(CROSSTALK)

911 OPERATOR: Are they still there?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. Brittini (ph) Hardcastle, Mercades Nichols...

911 OPERATOR: OK. She can tell the deputies.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. OK. She`s writing them all down. OK. Are they still there, do you know?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, they left.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They didn`t want their nana to see what they did to her. They dropped her off and went back.

911 OPERATOR: To CVS?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, to her house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, to her house (INAUDIBLE)

911 OPERATOR: She was with them?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You were with them, hon? Hold on.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I went there. They told me to hurry up and come home, that they needed me. And I walked in the house, and each one of them comes out of a different room.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She lives there, and they told her -- she was gone, and they said, Hurry up and come home. And when she walked in the house, each one came out of a different room and attacked her.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Did they live there with her?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do they live with you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just Mercades.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just Mercades, just one of them.

911 OPERATOR: Oh, OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Do you have where we are?

911 OPERATOR: Yes, ma`am, I do. But they`re not there anymore?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are they at their house? Are they at the house now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She doesn`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She doesn`t know. She doesn`t know if they`re there. She`s shaking all over.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

GRACE: That would be 17-year-old Mercades Nichols. All of these popular girls turned mean girls have gone to jail and have bonded out, one with the help of Dr. Phil, the on-air shrink.

I want to go back to Rory O`Neill with Metro Networks. Why was there a gag order filed? And who filed it?

O`NEILL: It was the attorney who represents one of the two young men. I shouldn`t say -- well, the 17-year-old man in this case. It was that attorney who filed the request for the gag order. It was approved by the judge in the juvenile court. And basically, it was in response to some of the comments made by the Polk County sheriff, Grady Judd. Now, there is a legal fight that`s going to start warming up this weekend into next, trying to get that gag order lifted. Some of the local newspapers, and of course CNN, are fighting to have that gag order removed immediately.

GRACE: And why should there be a gag order? Let`s go out to the lawyers, Susan Moss, Ray Giudice, Seema Iyer. First to you, Susan Moss. Why should a gag order be allowed? They`re going to be treated as adults. This is no longer a juvenile matter. Why should they not have an open courtroom? They were ready to post the whole thing on MySpace and become celebrities on YouTube. Now they want a gag order? I don`t understand.

SUSAN MOSS, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: It makes absolutely no sense, especially since there`s a full video which seems to show virtually every punch and every kick in lurid details. And I`ll tell you something, if Dr. Phil wants these girls to get real, then they should eat a jail meal. I mean, this is crazy that he goes in and tries to bond them out, tries to bail them out. What, you know, they want publicity on YouTube, and so now he`s going to give them their own show maybe? This is crazy!

GRACE: What about it, Ray Giudice?

RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Look, Nancy, a gag order does not close the courtroom. The courtroom is open. People can come in, as the media can, and look at what happens in the courtroom. The sun will shine there. That gag order prevents all these folks from leaking information, from leaking 911 tapes, from leaking information that will hurt this case and probably lead to a change in venue. The pool has already been poisoned in this case.

GRACE: Well, I`m not afraid of a change of venue, if I were prosecuting the case. If you, Ray, as a defense attorney, fear a change of venue, I`m not quite sure why. You mentioned a 911 tape. That is typically releasable.

GIUDICE: Yes...

GRACE: There`s typically no reason to keep a 911 tape...

GIUDICE: Not with a pending gag order.

GRACE: As I was saying, usually, they are released. They`re not leaked. There`s no nefarious meaning to us having access to a 911 call, Ray Giudice.

GIUDICE: Not after a gag order, Nancy. There`s a gag order. And the sheriff, before he released the 911, should have gotten a county attorney, just like he`s already done in this case, to see if that gag order can be released. What`s the harm in getting a judicial ruling before, again, one more piece of leaked evidence hits the potential jury pool?

GRACE: Well, what I don`t understand, Ray, is why you want to hide everything about this case. What about it...

GIUDICE: The courtroom is open, Nancy.

GRACE: ... Seema Iyer? Seema Iyer, 911 tapes are not private.

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: They are not sealed.

SEEMA IYER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, you`re incorrect. The 911 tapes are never disclosed until right before the trial.

GRACE: Oh, really?

IYER: This case is ludicrous.

GRACE: Then how come...

(CROSSTALK)

IYER: There`s so much prejudice...

GRACE: ... all the time and play them?

IYER: There`s so much prejudice, it`s inflaming the potential jury pool. There`s no issue that these kids are not going to have a fair trial. There`s no issue. They won`t. The fundamental fairness, their potential freedom -- they are children. And don`t even get me started on why they`re being treated as adults.

GRACE: OK.

IYER: But the 911 tape, that is a separate issue from whether this went on YouTube and whether Dr. Phil was involved or anything like that. The gag order is one way that we...

GRACE: Can you wrap it up, please, Seema?

IYER: ... we can protect the record, as defense attorneys.

GRACE: OK...

IYER: We`ve got to do that.

GRACE: ... thanks. Now, back to you, Sue Moss. Let`s talk about what the law really is, not what defense attorneys want it to be. We have access to 911 calls all the time. That is not protected.

MOSS: It`s certainly not. What is anticipated with this gag order is that in the future, attorneys, the clients, the prosecution, they will not be able to speak in terms of, you know, the next day`s -- the coming motions that certainly will be pending and the coming court dates. It does not cover this past 911 tape.

GRACE: Let`s go out to the lines. We`re taking your calls live tonight. To Alan in Florida. Hi, Alan..

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hi, Nancy. You`re the best.

GRACE: Thank you, dear.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re welcome. I have a comment and a question. You get some really good, fine attorneys on this. Susan Moss is great. That guy, Alan Ripka, I wonder, if it was his daughter that was the one being beat, if he would have last night said, you know, all it deserves is probation.

GRACE: True, and I will ask him that the next time he`s on the show. Continue.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, he`s in another world, as some of these lawyers that you get on here are. But my question is...

GRACE: Oh, listen, Alan, you ought to be in a court of law sometimes and hear what they come up with. But go ahead. What`s your question?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My question is, what kind of message is this judge sending out to the world of people watching, especially teenagers, to set a bond of $3,000 or $4,000 -- or $30,000, which means they can get out of jail on a couple of thousand dollars bond? And then you`ve got lawyers saying that, you know, all this deserves is probation. What kind of message is this stuff being sent by judges and lawyers? There`s our problem.

GRACE: You know, Alan in Florida, I agree with you 200 percent.

To Mike Brooks, former fed with the FBI. You know, Mike, we`ve been in the trenches. We have fought crime for a really, really long time. And Alan is right. The message that it sends to everyone else -- not good.

MIKE BROOKS, FORMER D.C. POLICE, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Not a good message at all, Nancy. And these girls were laughing at the hearing. They were laughing at the judge. You know, as I said yesterday, they should have brought them right before the bar of justice, right in front of that judge, let them feel like what a courtroom is really like. And then it probably would have wiped that little smirk right off their face.

And you know, these girls apparently -- this is not the first time they`ve been involved in incidents such as this. The woman on the 911 tape, Nancy, said that they`re toughies around town, that her daughter had even had issues with these same girls. Something`s got to -- a message has to be sent by the criminal justice system in this jurisdiction. These girls, when they go to jail -- and I hope they do go to jail -- when they encounter real adult women in there, we`ll see who the tough girls are.

GRACE: Mike Brooks is right. Take a listen to the 911 tape, and you hear the mother of the little girl who went to rescue the victim talking to 911. When the victim breaks down crying, the mom takes the phone and starts getting -- telling 911 what happens. And she says These girls have been bullies in the neighborhood for a long time, have even bullied her own daughter, and yet this happens. Nothing was done about it. And it`s very rare that you see girls with a pack mentality actually physically attacking someone else.

Take a listen to that just released 911 call.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: She`s safe at your house?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is safe here with us, yes.

911 OPERATOR: OK. (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Two girls who left are on probation.

911 OPERATOR: OK. And they`re -- they`re at -- are they over at her house then?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Where -- where do you think they are?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I think they`re going back. They`re going back to the house where they had to pick up their nana.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She said they`re going back to the house and they`re spending the night at the house.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: OK. What`s that address?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What`s the address?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s on Calendar Court.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s on Calendar Court.

911 OPERATOR: I`m sorry, I didn`t get...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s one of those duplexes, isn`t it, sweetie?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, it`s just like a house.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s a house on Calendar Court. She doesn`t know the actual street address.

911 OPERATOR: She doesn`t know the street address?

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. She does not need to wash her face.

911 OPERATOR: No. Don`t...

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Don`t wash anything. Just stay the way you are, OK? What else do you need? I`m sorry. It`s just they`re very upset.

911 OPERATOR: I understand. I understand.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter -- my daughter herself has had trouble with these same girls.

911 OPERATOR: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They tried to run her off the road and everything. So I do know these girls. They just are toughies around town.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

GRACE: To Eben brown, investigative reporter, also joining us from Florida. Eben, did you hear that? She said...

EBEN BROWN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: I`ve heard it...

(CROSSTALK)

BROWN: ... listening to it all day.

GRACE: ... these girls who left are on probation. What girls are on probation out of this girl gang attack? Who`s on probation, and for what?

BROWN: Well, we`re still not quite sure. We`re still trying to get a lot of this out. Now that they`ve all been charged as adults and we all know their names and we can investigate into this stuff, we`re beginning to find out that a lot of these girls, like the mother said on the tape, have been problems in the neighborhood. For instance, they were -- the mother says that these girls tried to run her daughter off the road. So these...

GRACE: Well, hold on. Hold on.

BROWN: ... these teens have had...

(CROSSTALK)

GRACE: What about it, Ray Giudice? Two of the girl attackers on probation!

GIUDICE: Wait a second. Who said that? The mother or the official crime report and the records of probation that you`re going to send and show us right now?

GRACE: OK, so...

GIUDICE: That`s the danger in releasing...

(CROSSTALK)

GIUDICE: Well, was it true or not?

GRACE: OK. Thanks, Ray.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: All right. There was more than one?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, there were six, six girls.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If not more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "If not more," she said.

911 OPERATOR: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So she`s got blood in her mouth and she`s got a big ol` knot on her left eye and -- and we think that she`s got a tooth broke.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Did they live there with her?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do they live with you?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just Mercades.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just Mercades, just one of them.

911 OPERATOR: Oh, OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: OK. Do you have where we are?

911 OPERATOR: Yes, ma`am. I do. But they`re not there anymore?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are they at their house? Are they at the house now?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She doesn`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She doesn`t know. She doesn`t know if they`re there. She`s shaking all over.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

GRACE: Just released, a 911 call. What we didn`t see on the videotape that was intended for MySpace and YouTube we now have on audiotape, the victim making a hysterical 911 call after taking this beating over and over and over.

It`s my understanding that the girl in the white tank top is Brittini Hardcastle, correct, Mike Brooks?

BROOKS: Absolutely right, Nancy. Apparently, she was the one who did most of the hitting on her. And it was Mercades Nichols who was (ph) lured there to her grandmother`s house, where they all came out of the different rooms.

And one other point I want to make, Nancy, with Dr. Phil. If he really wanted to do something to help anyone, he should have been helping this victim. Number one, she was traumatized physically and all the mental trauma she went through and will go through after this, he should have brought her on the show, helped her and paid her medical bills.

GRACE: Out to the lines, Chris in California. Hi, Chris.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy! I love you! Thank you for sticking up for all of the victims.

GRACE: Thank you. Thank you very much. What`s your question, dear?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, are their -- parents of these girls, are their heads hanging as low as these girls` heads are?

GRACE: Are they what?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hanging as low as the girls` heads are?

GRACE: Excellent question. Rory O`Neill with Metro Networks, isn`t it true that the little bit we`ve heard from the girl attackers` parents is that, They`re good girls, we don`t know what happened?

O`NEILL: Right. They`re saying very little, except most of the time, they`re shielding their child`s face as they walk out of the jail. So we`ve gotten very little substantive comment. But what`s also complicating this the case is the fact that Lindsay (ph) was actually living in the home where she was beaten. She was not staying with her parents at the time. So that is complicating things as they try to sort out whether or not this was a setup for the teenager.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My daughter -- my daughter herself has had trouble with these same girls.

911 OPERATOR: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They tried to run her off the road and everything. So I do know these girls. They just are toughies around town.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: OK. There was more than one?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, there were six, six girls.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If not more.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "If not more," she said.

911 OPERATOR: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: So she`s got blood in her mouth and she`s got a big ol` knot on her left eye and -- and we think that she`s got a tooth broke.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

GRACE: That girl victim still suffering from loss of hearing, as well as loss of sight.

I want to go to a special guest joining us tonight, Allan Beane, bullying expert and author of "Protect Your Child From Bullying." Dr. Beane, question. We already hear from one of the moms that two of these girls were on probation. What does it mean about their pattern of bullying? And how does that happen, the pack mentality?

DR. ALLAN R. BEANE, BULLYING EXPERT: Well, so many times, Nancy, when you see this kind of behavior, it`s always there`s a deeper problem. And this is probably some form of bullying behavior is occurring in the schools and also in the neighborhoods. And this pack mentality, many times when we have students who are true aggressive bullies, there are other passive bullies who might not initiate something like this but they join in on it. And then you have others who are afraid not to participate in it. So they make a bad choice and they engage in the same behavior.

GRACE: It just amazes me that not one person had the backbone to stand up to these bullies, Dr. Beane.

BEANE: Exactly. And I try to help students understand they have a lot of power. Students who don`t want to mistreat others outnumber those who do. So it`s just a matter of them taking a stand.

GRACE: When we come back, everyone, a pawn shop employee gets a shock of a lifetime. A pawn camcorder reveals video of a toddler girl being physically forced to smoke from a pot pipe, the 18-month-old little girl gagging and coughing. Where`s Mommy and Daddy? And who in the hey videotaped the whole thing?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You can see what looks like a toddler trying to get away, but she was held down while the man puffs on the pipe. Here he puts the pipe to her mouth, then a short time later the little girl was seen coughing and trying to speak.

Court records show Melvin Blevins confirmed to investigators it was him on the video, but no surprise here, he doesn`t even remember it. When federal agents raided his father`s home last month, they found more than a ton of marijuana as well as $4 million in cash.

Police said a clerk at a pawnshop found this video after Blevins sold his camcorder for cash. Blevins is scheduled to appear before a federal judge today in connection with the drug bust.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: $4 million in a drug bust and they`re pawning a camcorder?

Out to Jody Andes, court reporter with "The Columbus Dispatch." What exactly happened? You`re seeing the video right now. This is an 18-month- old toddler girl being forced to allegedly smoke pot. We see her smoking from a pot pipe.

Jody, what happened?

JODI ANDES, COURTS REPORT, THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH: The defendant, Melvin Blevins turned over a camcorder for cash, $150 worth is what he got for it. And apparently he had forgotten that this video was on the camera.

GRACE: It`s incredible to me. And joining me right now is John Kinney, the manager of the Lev`s Pawn Shop.

John, thank you for being with us.

JOHN KINNEY, MANGER, LEV`S PAWN SHOP: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: What did you think when you first saw the video?

KINNEY: Well, when they brought it to me, they said, hey, we got -- the guys were cleaning it up to get it ready for sale and they said we`ve got this video and the guys are giving kids pot. And so we looked at it and I was -- I couldn`t believe the age of the kid. I figured they were teenagers or something. But we were floored when we saw it. It was unbelievable.

GRACE: You know, I`m just looking at this little girl squirming. And if you can hear the video.

KINNEY: Yes.

GRACE: .she`s coughing and gagging. This is video of an 18-month-old baby girl, allegedly smoking pot. A lawyer for the suspect, Michael Blevins, says he won`t discuss the whole thing because maybe his client was a juvenile at the time of the video. Blevins is also facing federal charges, but he hasn`t been convicted as of yet, obviously. Take a look at this little 18-month-old toddler girl, a pot pipe being forced on her over and over and over. She tries to get away. There`s a girl and a guy involved.

Who`s taking the video, Jodi Andes?

ANDES: It appears that Mr. Blevins is taking the video, although in his statements he doesn`t remember taking it.

GRACE: What about bunch of pervs. That`s all I can say.

And out to you, Dr. David Posey, medical examiner and forensic pathologist, he`s with the Glen Oaks Pathology Medical Group there in L.A. Dr. Posey, what effect could this have on a baby 18 months old?

DR. DAVID POSEY, MEDICAL EXAMINER, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST, GLEN OAKS PATHOLOGY: Well, Nancy, if it`s just a one-time occurrence probably little or none, with out the (INAUDIBLE) effect of the first tip anybody would take with marijuana. A little bit of sleepiness, the child may get hungry and so forth. But if it`s a prolonged chronic usage of the marijuana, then there`s going to be some problems, you know, potential.

GRACE: You know, Dr. Posey, I`ve got a problem with what you`re saying because before I brought the twins home from the hospital, they told me that I couldn`t even let them come in contact with people that smell like smoke because the smell of smoke has definitely been linked to SIDS. And that`s just a cigarette, much less smoking from a pot pipe.

POSEY: Well, you`re dealing with apples and oranges here. You`re dealing with newborn children. That`s true. You`re dealing with an 18- month-old versus a newborn. You`re right, Nancy, that`s correct. However, what I was going to say is let`s say this little 18-month-old was exposed over and over and over again, so you have chronic exposure. Then you`re going to have problems with mental development, coordination, possible tantrums and other such developmental things.

And you`re correct. You just don`t want to expose children to any kind of drugs, cigarette smoke, be it whatever. And it`s just not good for the kids at all.

GRACE: Quickly, Jodi Andes, where`s mommy and daddy?

ANDES: Well, we don`t know. The child hasn`t been identified in court records. We believe that the child is a family member of the defendant, Melvin Blevins. But we don`t know where mom and dad are right now, nor do we know where the baby is.

GRACE: Gee, I`d like to find out where mommy and daddy are, because I know where they should be. They should be behind bars having a little Jell-O for dessert tonight.

To the Dr. William July, psychology professor and author of "Behavior of the Interest."

Dr. July, could you explain to me the psychology behind giving, forcing drugs on a child and videotaping it?

WILLIAM JULY, PSYCHOLOGY PROFESSOR, AUTHOR OF "BEHAVIOR OF INTEREST: Well, this is what`s fascinating to me about both cases tonight. What is going on with people that are videotaping it? It is a symptom of our society where we not only do things that are wrong now, but we go and we videotape it to parade it and show it to everybody because there`s a lot of punishment for these things to the extent that there should be anymore.

Now you look at this guy and you know, there he`s saying he didn`t remember what he did. He`s probably high. And the whole idea that he -- that doesn`t absolve him. So we`re looking -- that`s not going to absolve him from his behavior, because he`s not -- probably not a person who`s insane, he`s probably not a person who is not aware of what he`s doing.

GRACE: You`re absolutely right. And even so, let`s unleash the lawyers. Susan Moss, Ray Giudice, Seema Iyer.

Susan Moss, the last time I checked the criminal code, voluntary ingestion of drugs or alcohol is not a defense, unless one is totally comatose.

SUSAN MOSS, CHILD ADVOCATE, FAMILY LAW ATTORNEY: Absolutely not. But I want to know who left this kid with Cheech and Chong? I mean these parents should have known that there had already been this bust -- of close family members of these two defendants. How could you leave a young child with them? They are also going to face some serious trouble and some charges.

GRACE: And it just seems to me by now we would have heard of those charges against the parents.

I want to go out to the lines, Jade in Wisconsin. Hi, Jade.

JADE, WISCONSIN RESIDENT: Hi, Nancy, I love your show. I`ve been a watcher for five months now.

GRACE: Thank you.

JADE: I`m just astonished that, you know, teens can do this to a poor innocent, you know, human being. And my question is, is this baby related to the person filming and, you know.

GRACE: I think there is a family relationship.

Jodi Andes, is there?

ANDES: There is a family relationship. Also, I think you`d like to note that the charge that Blevins faces for this is two years in prison. It`s a small amount of time compared to the other charges he is facing.

GRACE: You know, I`m stunned, Mike Brooks, just two years in prison for this, for abuse of a child.

MIKE BROOKS, FMR. DC POLICE DETECTIVE SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: That`s unbelievable, Nancy. But, you know, he`s got -- he`s facing a lot of years in prison. $4 million. There was over 80 guns involved in this case.

GRACE: Oh, please. You know the feds. They`ll probably turn him over against some kingpin in Colombia and then lose the case. I want him to go to jail for this.

BROOKS: You and me both, Nancy. And you know, I also find it -- on April 3rd when they went to arrest Mr. Blevins and his wonderful girlfriend, his 16-year-old girlfriend, apparently she resisted arrest and he aided in trying to get her to escape. So.

GRACE: Yes, that 16-year-old girlfriend, she`s such a sweet, wilting flower.

BROOKS: Oh yes.

GRACE: Out to the lines, Christina in Kentucky. Hi, Christina.

CHRISTINA, KENTUCKY RESIDENT: Hi, Nancy, I love your show.

GRACE: Thank you, dear.

CHRISTINA: I just want to know about this little girl. Is she going to go back to her parents because.

GRACE: Where is she tonight, Jodi Andes?

ANDES: We don`t know. I would very much like to know. But we have not been able to locate her or to find out where she is.

GRACE: To Tina in New York. Hi, Tina.

TINA, NEW YORK RESIDENT: Hi, Nancy. Congratulations on your twins. They`re beautiful.

GRACE: Thank you, love.

TINA: God bless them. And, also, Nancy, I`m sick. I mean, I can`t believe this is going on to babies. I mean, what is this -- what are teenagers coming to? What`s happening in this world?

GRACE: You know, I don`t understand why they`re not in school, number one, and why they`re at home without any supervision whatsoever.

Back to John Kinney with Lev`s Pawn Shop. After you saw this, what did you do with the camcorder?

KINNEY: We held it for the police. They came immediately and John Summers with the Columbus Detective Bureau had showed up with two other assistants and took statements from the guys and determined who they could identify on the tapes and that type of thing.

GRACE: Well, not only are they obviously criminals, they`re idiots as well for leaving it on a camcorder they then pawned. We`ll be back with that, taking your calls live.

To tonight`s case alert. We`re asking for your help in missing kids. 10-year-old Adriana Warwell vanished in December 2007, Missouri City, Texas. Warwell is 4`10", 71 pounds, brown hair, brown eyes. If you have info, please call Ft. Bend County Police, 281-341-4665.

And tonight, the search for 16-year-old Asia La Coco Randle, last seen Watauga, Texas. Randle believed to still be in the local area with an adult male. Her nickname Coco, 5`11", 178 pounds, black hair, brown eyes, tattoo on left breasts that says Deidra. If you have info call the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, 1-800-THE LOST.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were going through the hard drive on the camera and came across the video images. To be perfectly honest with you, it`s pretty disgusting just to watch it. There`s a lot of anger there, obviously. You know, I`ve had children myself, grandkids, that type of thing, you know. And you see that type of activity going on, and it`s really repulsive.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

(NEWSBREAK)

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The 2-year-old squirms and tries to escape, but the man repeatedly tries to put a marijuana pipe in the toddler`s mouth. Police say that`s 18-year-old Melvin Blevins. They arrested him for his connection to a large marijuana ring last March. But it wasn`t officers who discovered this video. Instead, a pawnshop worker, who says Blevins traded the camera for cash.

The people behind the camera seem determined to give the baby the drug. Next, a 16-year-old girl is holding her. After forcing her to inhale, they laugh.

MELVIN BLEVINS, SUSPECT: This is good stuff.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your water.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: And when asked if she wants more, watch the baby`s reaction. She shakes her head no.

BLEVINS: No. You want more? You`re good?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were going through the hard drive on the camera and came across the video images. To be perfectly honest with you, it was pretty disgusting just watching. There`s a lot of anger there obviously. You know, I`ve had children myself, grandkids, that type of thing. When you see that type of activity going on, and it`s really repulsive.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: And now I`m wondering what`s in the bottle. You know, I`ve got a pretty good idea what`s in the pot pipe.

Out to the lines, Chris in Kansas. Hi, Chris.

CHRIS, KANSAS RESIDENT: Hey, what`s up? I was wondering how -- what kind of psychological effect did this have on the kid being forced to smoke pot?

GRACE: Interesting. What about it, Dr. July?

JULY: That`s a great question. At her age, she`s still forming some of the structures that she will actually use for long-term memory, so she may not recall exactly the images and the smells and that sort of thing, or she might. But the -- she can still be traumatized, if that makes sense. She can still -- she can still have the nervous reaction and know something`s terribly wrong. And that can.

GRACE: And she can also grow up, Dr. July, thinking that smoking pipe from a pot -- smoking pot from a pot pipe is OK.

JULY: Yes.

GRACE: Because she`s obviously learning it at 18 months. She`s barely got a set of teeth and she`s smoking from a pot pipe. I guess it`s pot. It could be even worse for all I know.

Out to the lines, Kelly in Canada. Hi, Kelly.

KELLY, CANADIAN RESIDENT: Hi, Nancy.

GRACE: What`s your question, dear?

KELLY: My question is, like, do they -- did they do a toxicology test to see how much she had actually ingested? Was -- is that possible?

GRACE: Excellent question. To Jodi Andes, how soon -- well, they probably didn`t, did they? Because the camcorder was seized so much after this, several months at least.

ANDES: That`s right. The video was believed to be shot in January, and the camera was turned over in early April.

GRACE: And I heard the big defense -- to you, Ray Giudice, the defense attorney says his 18-year-old client, well, maybe he was a minor back -- all the way back in January, three months before.

RAY GIUDICE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think maybe that`s not going to work. And I would pitch in with Mike. I think this fellow`s biggest problem is his federal bond and that trafficking case is now going to be revoked. And I understand what you`re talking about, how these drug dealers roll over on one another. But with this amount of exposure, no federal court, no federal judge is going to let him go leniently on 2,000 pounds of pot.

GRACE: You know, Mike Brooks, this was connected to one of the biggest drug busts in Ohio history. Tons of marijuana, kilo after kilo after kilo, $4 million even hidden in the walls and the crawl spaces in the home. Who are these people?

BROOKS: That`s a great question, Nancy. You know, I mean, it was hidden in the walls, hidden in the floors.

GRACE: What a bunch of freaks.

BROOKS: Unbelievable. You know, and that`s not a huge town there in Ohio, Nancy. But -- and then the 18-year-old kid, he had to go -- man had to go out and hock his camera for 100 bucks? He couldn`t even get 100 bucks from, you know, his girlfriend`s daddy to give him a few bucks to live on? And he`s going down hard, just like Ray said.

GRACE: Weigh in, Susan Moss.

MOSS: Absolutely. This is going to be so -- first of all, I can`t imagine that he`s not back in jail at this very moment because at every bail hearing, at every time he is in court, they`re going to show images from this video. And this guy is sunk.

GRACE: You know, if the video comes into court, Seema Iyer.

SEEMA IYER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: If the video comes into court. Of course, the video is going to come into court. I mean it`s already out there. It`s primary piece of evidence for the prosecution.

GRACE: Seema, just because we`re showing it on our show does not mean it meets the evidentiary qualifications to come into court.

IYER: I am certain that it meets the evidentiary qualifications to come into court. It will come into court. However, as a defense attorney, I`m objecting because it`s inflammatory, it`s prejudicial, it`s been overexposed, and as a jury pool, like I said before with the last case, it`s already been tainted.

GRACE: You know, let`s take a look at those arguments, Susan Moss, inflammatory. Every piece of evidence the state has is inflammatory to the defendant. Prejudicial, same thing. Been out there too much. That is not a defense to keep it out of evidence. It may be a defense to move the jury trial. But it will not keep evidence out that should rightfully be in court.

MOSS: They are the very people who created this video. They are responsible for this evidence. You bet it`s coming in and you bet it`s going to make the jury make up their mind a lot quicker.

GRACE: To Valerie in Virginia. Hi, Valerie.

VALERIE, VIRGINIA RESIDENT: Hi, Nancy, how are you doing?

GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?

VALERIE: OK. I don`t understand who in their right mind would do something like this? But my whole thing is, there`s two people in the video. Could that be the 16-year-old girlfriend that he tried to help elude the cops?

GRACE: I think that is the 16-year-old girlfriend, Jodi Andes.

ANDES: Correct. They are boyfriend and girlfriend and her father is one of the two principal ringleaders or charged ringleaders.

GRACE: So John Kinney, the manager of Lev`s Pawn Shop joining us there in Columbus, Ohio, I guess you better get ready to testify at trial.

KINNEY: Well, I hope it doesn`t come to that, but if we have to, we will.

GRACE: John Kinney, the manager of the Pawn Shop that got a shock of a lifetime, he`s getting -- his store is getting a camera ready to pawn and they find this video left over.

Ray Giudice, what`s your defense? Just give it your best shot.

GIUDICE: That`s a good one, Nancy. Especially since they took all their money in that first case, I don`t think they can afford to get a good defense in this case. But I`m going to tell you, this is a big problem. You`re going to lay your ground of appeal error to try to keep the video out. It looks like a plea bargain, especially if there`s only a two-year maximum. Take the deal and run.

This is a felony cruelty to children in Georgia with 10 years to serve every day of the week.

GRACE: You know, Mike Brooks, he`s right. I`m stunned that they`re only looking at two years. That`s what they get for letting the feds handle it.

BROOKS: That`s unbelievable, Nancy. I mean, this is a felony. This is a -- you know, two years? Come on. It should be at least 20 years.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

GRACE: We at NANCY GRACE are on the hunt for parents who inspire. Now tonight`s extraordinary parent.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

LINDA DOLEZAN, BREAST CANCER SURVIVOR Ryan was born on June 6, 2005 with down syndrome, a complete AV canal heart defect and a blood disorder.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: After weeks in a neonatal unit newborn Ryan Dolezan got to come home for the first time. But things soon turned for the worse not just for baby Ryan but for his mother, Linda, too.

DOLEZAN: On the 25th of October, I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Just as Linda was about to undergo a double mastectomy, she learned that her son had leukemia.

DOLEZAN: I had people pushing me forward saying don`t give up, Ryan needs you.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: With the support of friend and family, mother and son would struggle through surgeries, chemotherapy and recovery together.

DOLEZAN: One thing that I`ve learned by going through this, no matter how tough the challenges are that you face, to never give up hope.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Nearly two years later, both mother and son are doing well.

DOLEZAN: Today we`re both doing great. It was a tough thing, but we got through it.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

GRACE: God bless them.

Let`s stop and remember Army First Lieutenant Jeremy Ray, 26, Houston, Texas, killed Iraq. A Texas A&M grad, loved outdoors, fishing, guitar, classic cars and motorcycles. Leaves behind parents Randy and Debbie, brother Justin and grandma Essie.

Jeremy Ray, take a look, American hero.

Thanks to our guests but most of all to you for inviting all of us into your homes. And a special 92nd birthday to a friend of the show, Alta Gore. You`re not getting older. You`re getting better. And happy birthday to one of our stars, Debony. Isn`t she cute? Happy birthday, Debony.

I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp eastern. And until then, good night, friend.

END