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Nancy Grace
Haleigh Photos May Show Physical Abuse
Aired March 19, 2009 - 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, Satsuma, Florida. A 5- year-old girl tucked into bed, five hours later, she`s gone, vanished into thin air, the back door propped wide open. Dad comes home from the night shift to find not a single trace of little Haleigh.
Bombshell. A custody battle brewing over Haleigh`s 4-year-old little brother, Haleigh`s mother hiring a lawyer, and now her own private eye called in to investigate the mom`s allegations of physical abuse and neglect against the father. Then why, why did not one but two judges grant father Ronald Cummings custody of both children on three occasions?
Tonight, photos emerge of Haleigh and 4-year-old little brother Ronald, Jr., with cuts, bruises on face, arms, legs. We have those photos. But do the photos prove the mom`s allegations of abuse? The Cummings firing back, calling the claim, quote, "garbage" and pointing out correctly that DFACS, Department of Family and Children`s Services, just at the home and leaving empty-handed, no charges.
In the last hours, police and DFACS both confirm a full-scale investigation, as the search goes on for 5-year-old Florida girl, Haleigh. As we go to air, we learn father Ronald Cummings lawyers up with not one but two lawyers. Tonight, where is Haleigh?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The allegations against Ronald Cummings, the father of the missing girl, are being fueled by Haleigh`s mother.
GRACE: What exactly are the nature of the charges your client is leveling against the child`s father?
KIM PICAZIO, ATTORNEY FOR HALEIGH`S MOTHER: That would be physical abuse of both children.
RONALD CUMMINGS, HALEIGH`S FATHER: It`s ridiculous.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is she supposed to sit by and watch when she knows what`s going on in that household? She would be remiss.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`ve known these children all their life. They`re happy. They`re loved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t believe that anyone knew exactly what was going on in that household until the spotlight was shown upon it.
GRACE: Did you not feel it incumbent or necessary to stay close to your children if you thought your children were in danger?
CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD, HALEIGH`S MOTHER: At the time, I didn`t know they was in danger.
GRACE: In four years, you did not observe any physical abuse on the children?
SHEFFIELD: No, ma`am, because when me and Ronald was together, he had nothing to do with the children.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: At the end of day, the question`s going to be if she knew about this abuse prior to this kidnapping, why she never came forward.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This path that you`re headed upon now is a complete distraction from the point at hand. Find Haleigh. Don`t take the focus off of Haleigh.
MISTY CUMMINGS, RONALD`S WIFE: Everybody knows that I love Haleigh and Ronald and Junior (INAUDIBLE)
RONALD CUMMINGS: Bring my little girl home, please. Whoever`s got her, bring you home. I`ll give you everything I`ve got to bring my daughter home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, the desperate search for a 2-year-old Florida girl, Caylee. Six months of searching culminates when skeletal remains found in a heavily-wooded area just 15 houses from the Anthonys` home confirmed to be Caylee, manner of death homicide. A utility meter reader stumble on a tiny human skeleton, including a skull covered in light- colored hair, the killer placing a heart-shaped sticker directly over the mouth and then triple bagging little Caylee like she`s trash.
Tonight, tot mom celebrates her 23rd birthday in her private jail cell, but let`s remember Caylee not home for her 3rd birthday party, where tot mom served missing Caylee`s favorite meal, chili, and she did it with a straight face, little Caylee never getting a chance to open her birthday presents, tot mom kicking back, reading fan mail behind bars and counting up all the money orders she`s racked up from lovelorn guys and other strangers from across the country, tot mom`s lawyers reportedly combing through videos of the Anthonys` private eye, caught digging in the same woods a month before Caylee`s remains discovered exactly there.
3-D crime scene photos and e-mails between the renowned Oak Ridge labs and local detectives also set to go public. Reports tot mom`s personal diary includes a sideways confession to murdering her girl, the diary reportedly so damning, even calling Caylee`s murder a, quote, "mercy killing" and full of notes on chloroform and pesticide.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY ANTHONY, CAYLEE`S MOTHER: Mom! Can someone let me -- come on!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
GEORGE ANTHONY, CAYLEE`S GRANDFATHER: My wife fell apart. She said, George, we lost her. We lost her. And I said, Lost who? Lost who? She said, Caylee. Caylee.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY ANTHONY: I don`t have any answers because I don`t know what`s going on! I am frustrated and I`m angry. I have no one to talk to!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... private investigator Jim Hoover says he recorded of this wooded area where Caylee Marie Anthony`s remains were found about a month before they were found.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
ROY KRONK, METER READER: I`m a meter reader with Orange County. I noticed something that looked white. I`m not telling you it`s, you know, Caylee or anything of that nature.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CINDY ANTHONY, CAYLEE`S GRANDMOTHER: It smells like there`s been a dead body in the damn car!
(END AUDIO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I actually went into the car to smell what the smell smelled like. And in my experience, the smell that I smelled inside that car was the smell of decomposition.
GEORGE ANTHONY: I just got to tell you what my feelings are. I don`t like how it smells. I`m being straight with you guys. I don`t like the smell in the car.
CINDY ANTHONY: Casey has lied to me in the past. And when she`s lied, she`s told me the truth. We`ve always gotten to the bottom of the truth.
CASEY ANTHONY: My entire life has been taken from me. Everything has been taken from me!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If I did that...
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: (INAUDIBLE) it`s your birthday. Boo-hoo.
Also, exclusive tonight, Missouri woman Stacey Lannert claims she shot her own father in a rage after years of brutal sex abuse starting at the tender age of 8 years old, but the jury was told to disregard -- that`s right -- to ignore years of alleged child sex abuse. And now after nearly 20 years served on a life sentence, Lannert walks free. Tonight, for the first time since walking out of that jail, Stacey Lannert with us live.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
STACEY LANNERT, CONVICTED OF MURDERING ABUSIVE FATHER: I had jeans on. And he took my jeans off and he raped me. I wanted this to be the last time we were ever in there. And I just thought, you know, we`re leaving one way or another. And that rifle was downstairs, and I picked it up and I went upstairs. And by the time I got back upstairs, he was passed out -- he wasn`t passed out, he was laying down on the couch again.
I don`t ever want to be back here again. I don`t ever want to feel this way again. I want everything to stop and go away. And I shot him. He said, Wait until I get up from here. Wait until I get better, saying I couldn`t do anything right and...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And so what happened?
LANNERT: I panicked, and I shot him a second time.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. Bombshell tonight, photos emerging of Haleigh and her 4-year-old little brother Ronald, Jr., with cuts and bruises on face, arms, legs. We have those photos.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Florida`s Department of Children and Families is investigating claims of abuse and neglect inside Haleigh Cummings`s home.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Haleigh is the most important thing that we`ve got going with this, but -- as far as the missing person. But equally important is the safety of her brother.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Each incident that she saw bruises she had reported them to the Department of Children and Families.
GRACE: So are you telling me that she has gone to DFACS before now?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
GRACE: Ms. Picazio, the photos -- what do they depict?
PICAZIO: They depict Haleigh with a black eye, lacerations to the nose, scrapes on the cheek. They depict Junior with bruises that look like they were from a stick.
GRACE: What do you make of the potential custody battle that you`re facing on top of everything else?
RONALD CUMMINGS: I think that it`s absolutely and utterly ridiculous. All it does is take the focus off of my daughter being gone and put the focus on, Oh, let`s see who can get custody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s been five weeks since little Haleigh has been seen in her Satsuma home.
GRACE: Has the theory that Misty left the home during the night been disproved?
RONALD CUMMINGS I`m not sure. I believe that it has, Nancy.
MISTY CUMMINGS: A lot of people are trying blame me for something like that, but I would never hurt any little kid. I love Haleigh more than anything in this world. That was like my baby. They used to call me stepmom.
RONALD CUMMINGS: Haleigh, if you`re watching, you know you`ll always be Daddy`s little girl. I love you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to the attorney for Haleigh`s mother joining us live tonight. A respected lawyer in the Satsuma, Florida, area, Kim Picazio, is joining us. Kim, last night you alluded to photos of a big black eye, photos that I believe you said made you shudder. Well, Art Harris, investigative journalist at Artharris.com, has obtained those photos. Let`s take a look. There`s the one with the black eye that you were telling us about. Is this the correct photo, Ms. Picazio?
PICAZIO: I don`t have the photos here with me. So whatever Mr. Harris...
GRACE: It is...
PICAZIO: ... was given by me...
GRACE: It is little Haleigh in a pink top with a bruise to the chin and the nose. It looks like a laceration on the chin and nose.
PICAZIO: That sounds like the photo I gave to Mr. Harris.
GRACE: OK. Now, correct me if I`m wrong, but wasn`t that on or about November the 6th, 2008?
PICAZIO: The photo actually was taken, I believe, on November 16th.
GRACE: The 16th, yes, 10 days later (INAUDIBLE) the incident. OK. I`ve got in my hand, Ms. Picazio, a school report written by apparently objective school professionals that state Haleigh Cummings, 1:50 PM, cut nose at playground, apparently falling off the monkey bars. This is November 6, 2008. Yet you represented to me last night that this was the result of physical abuse by the natural father, Ronald Cummings, isn`t that true, Ms. Picazio?
PICAZIO: Well, I believe we also have the documentation that was posted on the Web site with regard to the incident occurring on the playground at 11/6, which is what you have. But then six days later, the child is in the emergency room also claiming stomach virus, and the same injuries are seen, except they`ve gotten worse.
GRACE: Well, it turns out...
PICAZIO: So it should...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: The stomach virus turned out to be E. coli. I hardly believe that`s a result of abuse. And the injury, which resulted in a CAT scan -- obviously, you`re saying that this laceration was caused by the father. It came from a fall from the monkey bars, according to this school report. Is there some big conspiracy and the school teacher`s in on it, too?
PICAZIO: No. If you look at the documentation and the timeline, 11/6 was the playground incident. Six days later, the child appears at the ER with greater injuries than had occurred on the playground.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD CUMMINGS: I`m not here to answer any questions. I`m here to plead for the life of my daughter.
SHEFFIELD: When me and Ronald was together, he had nothing to do with the children. I took care of them. I did everything. He had nothing to do with them. And then when I left, he decided he wanted to take them from me.
PICAZIO: Hitting in the face until bloody, hitting with sticks, hitting with belts. I could go on and on.
RONALD CUMMINGS: I had nothing to do with this. I`ve been slandered into a sorry father. I would say, in most cases, the fathers don`t get custody of their children. I took good care of my kids the three years I had them by myself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: With me right now is mother Crystal Sheffield`s lawyer. She`s a well-respected lawyer in the Florida area, graduating summa cum laude from University of Florida.
But Ms. Picazio, I`m very disturbed. The allegations last night of physical abuse by the father on little Haleigh were grounded in, to my understanding, these horrible photos. I see the photos and they go with the school report that we dug up claiming she fell off the monkey bars. Now, you say days later, she goes to the hospital and the injuries had worsened. And she had a CAT scan. What does the CAT scan reveal?
PICAZIO: And I just received those documents. I just want to go through the timeline again.
GRACE: OK.
PICAZIO: On November 6th, the school nurse says that she fell down on the playground and had a scratch to the nose. Six days later, the child is in the emergency room now with black eyes, a laceration to the nose and a scrape on the cheek. The medical reports that we just obtained from the hospital also say that whoever took her to the hospital on the 12th, six days later from the small scratch on the nose incident, stated that the injury occurred while she was playing on the playground three days ago.
So there are inconsistent versions of the event, and I really doubt -- I can`t imagine, although I`m not, you know, a medical doctor...
GRACE: OK.
PICAZIO: ... that the injuries that I see in that picture did not arise...
GRACE: Ms. Picazio...
PICAZIO: ... from a fall on the playground six days ago.
GRACE: Ms. Picazio, a careful look at this photo reveals she`s already getting a black eye from the fall on the monkey bars. So you want me to believe she got another black eye? Also, when the doctors performed the CAT scan, did either the school teachers or the doctors report this incident to family and children`s services?
PICAZIO: I don`t know. I understand that they usually will report E. coli and salmonella. However, the fact remains that the picture was actually taken on the 16th, 10 days after a school nurse reported that she had a small fall on the playground.
GRACE: OK. Let`s unleash the lawyers. But first to Art Harris, investigative journalist who obtained these photos. Art, what can you tell me? Are there photos of the condition worsening, or is all of this as it stands according to the school report, due to a fall on the playground?
ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Well, Nancy, that`s what I wanted to know. And I went back and I found the relative of Crystal`s who took the pictures, she told me the weekend before Thanksgiving. She`s a registered nurse, works in a pediatrician`s office. And she said she saw Haleigh`s injuries and just said, Oh, my God, Crystal, what happened? And that`s when she took out her camera and started taking pictures.
GRACE: OK. Now, Art, let me ask you a couple of quick questions. This photo was taken on what day, November 16?
HARRIS: Well, it was the Sunday before Thanksgiving.
GRACE: Ms. Picazio, was this photo taken on or around the 16th?
PICAZIO: (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: OK. What day did she go to the hospital?
PICAZIO: She went to the hospital on the 12th.
GRACE: So these are the photos after -- these are photos after the hospital, and this is still the injury? This is the injury you`re talking about?
PICAZIO: Yes. The injury which allegedly occurred, and the school nurse said it occurred, the small scratch to the nose, on November the 6th.
GRACE: OK, I understand.
PICAZIO: On the 16th -- on the 12th, she went to the ER. And on the 16th, she still looked like this from a scratch on the playground?
GRACE: Well, it doesn`t say actually just that. It says a cut on the nose at the playground. And I have documentation that the school did not report this to DFACS.
Let`s go to the lawyers, Eleanor Dixon, Peter Odom, both out of Atlanta, Mickey Sherman, author of "How Can You Defend Those People," out of New York. Eleanor, isn`t it true that in your jurisdiction of Georgia, as well as Florida, it is mandatory that doctors and teachers, all school and hospital personnel immediately report suspected child abuse, be it physical or emotional or sexual? Yes, no, Eleanor.
ELEANOR DIXON, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes. And if they don`t, that`s a violation of the law. So if they didn`t report it, obviously, they didn`t suspect abuse.
GRACE: And isn`t it true in this case, Peter Odom, the school did not report this as child abuse?
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: They didn`t, and it just tells you that they didn`t believe it was child abuse. And the documentation that your staff came up with, Nancy, also says the same thing.
GRACE: Mickey Sherman, weigh in. You`ve tried enough high-profile cases. What do you make of it?
MICKEY SHERMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: He`s getting slimed, and it`s just so unfair because it`s so difficult to defend himself. And you know what`s interesting, is he`s not there with a lawyer. He`s talking on his own, which kind of speaks volumes.
GRACE: Well, hold on. Hold on. We`ve learned as we go to air that Ronald Cummings has lawyered up with not one but two lawyers. And the reason he`s not here today as scheduled is because they told him not to speak.
All right, we may have cleared up this photo, but I`ve still got a photo to deal with from Art Harris at Artharris.com of a seemingly elongated bruise on Ronald Cummings, Jr.`s leg. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RONALD CUMMINGS: This is my heart, and somebody stole my heart from me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I cannot even come close to imagine what goes through his mind and now his heart is broken.
RONALD CUMMINGS: Obviously, I`m frustrated. Of course. I mean, I want my daughter home. Who wouldn`t be frustrated?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He just lost his little girl. He holds onto his little boy, and he prays for that little girl every night, every day.
RONALD CUMMINGS: Haleigh, if you`re watching, you know you`ll always be Daddy`s little girl. I love you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Back to the attorney for the biological mother, Crystal Sheffield, Kim Picazio. She is a respected lawyer, graduating nearly at the top of her class from Florida State University.
Kim, listen, I don`t want to be hard on you, but the mother is claiming physical abuse. Your duty as a lawyer is to investigate it and bring it to light, if it`s true. I understand that. I want to get the timeline right. This bruise and cut that she got at school was on November 6th. You are saying that the injuries worsened on what day, November 10?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: No, I`m saying the nurse reported -- and I guess they probably saw her fall on the playground. So they would have no reason to report that to DCF. She was -- the nurse called the parents. They picked her up. And then on the 12th, six days later, the injuries had worsened to the point where she had to go to the ER. And she had black eyes and now a laceration to the face and a scrape on the cheek. None of that was reported to the nurse. And the ER doctor thought the injuries were so serious to her face at that point that they ran a CAT scan.
GRACE: Well, don`t you think...
PICAZIO: And as a matter of fact, she went to the ER...
GRACE: Don`t you think it`s possible that they ran a CAT scan because she may have fallen off the monkey bars and re-contacted the school principal, who said they at the school never saw signs of child abuse and never contacted DCF regarding Haleigh Cummings? Doesn`t that concern you as you are making these claims of physical abuse?
Don`t get me wrong. If there`s physical abuse on a child, somebody is going to hang, all right? But let`s just make sure we know what we`re talking about. What can you tell me about these bruises on Ronald Cummings`s leg? Where did they allegedly come from?
PICAZIO: And just to address a point you just made -- obviously, the doctor did know that she fell off the monkey bars at school after the incident. They also took her to the ER on the date of the incident, and the doctors did not have any reason to believe a CAT scan was necessary. Only later on, when the injuries worsened for whatever reason...
GRACE: Do you have photos of that?
PICAZIO: ... did then the doctors feel...
GRACE: Are there photos of the injuries that you`re claiming?
PICAZIO: The photos of the injury I`m claiming, you have. I have the doctor`s records that she went twice to the ER for this injury.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MIKE BROOKS, FMR. DC POLICE DETECTIVE SERVED ON FBI TERRORISM TASK FORCE: The inconsistencies of Misty Croslin. The police have not still, have not been able to put together a timeline on exactly what happened that night because of her inconsistencies.
MISTY CROSLIN, RONALD CUMMING`S WIFE, LAST PERSON WHO SAW HALEIGH: I put her to bed at 8:00. That`s her bedtime because she had school. She didn`t go to sleep. She was probably sleeping about 30 minutes. I was washing our blankets. I went to her, laid her blanket over top of her. She was sleeping. And then I made my bed and got into bed.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: What time did she go to bed?
RONALD CUMMINGS, FATHER OF MISSING 5-YR-OLD HALEIGH CUMMINGS: Approximately 10:30, 11:00.
GRACE: 10:30, 11:00. At that time was little Haleigh in the bed asleep with the brother?
CUMMINGS: Yes.
GRACE: And they all slept together in the same bed, correct?
CUMMINGS: Yes.
CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD, MOM OF MISSING 5-YR-OLD HALEIGH CUMMINGS: I was told they was all three in the same bed.
GRACE: You`re sure?
SHEFFIELD: I`m sure.
CROSLIN: I just want everybody to know that I didn`t do anything to that little girl. I loved her like she`s my own.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Police still not understanding the timeline set forth by girlfriend/babysitter, now teen bride, Misty Croslin, the last person to see little Haleigh alive.
Everyone, joining me tonight the attorney for the biological mother of Haleigh, Crystal Sheffield, who is launching physical abuse claims against the father. I want to move on from this photo, but very quickly to Eleanor Dixon who is a specialist, specializes in crime on women and children. You`ve seen all the photos.
ELEANOR DIXON, PROSECUTOR: Yes, I have.
GRACE: When I prosecuted abuse on children I would see cigarette burns, children in irreversible comas, severe bruising, child molestation, what do you make of these photos?
DIXON: Well, there are clearly linear marks that could have been made by a belt, a switch, anything like that, but honestly they`re not -- they don`t look that bad, Nancy. It looks like maybe normal punishment, at that.
GRACE: You are seeing the abuse photos provided to us by Artharris.com.
Art, what is the defense? What do the Cummings say about these bruises on Junior`s leg?
ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST, ARTHARRIS.COM, HAS EXCLUSIVE HALEIGH PHOTOS ALLEGING ABUSE: Well, I asked Ronald the other night, and you know, he said that, you know, this is just I normal course of events for a child. He`s a strict disciplinarian and to go back at what the children told Crystal when she asked how did you get that bruise on your leg, Haleigh piped up, daddy hit him with a stick.
So DFACs did investigate after that and they found it did not rise to the level of unlawfulness. It was not enough to call in, you know, child welfare advocates on his behalf.
GRACE: Well, I`m certainly not advocating beating a child with a stick. What I am saying tonight is do these photos prove child abuse? Remember Ronald Cummings, Jr., still in the home with the father.
I want to go out to Mike Brooks, former fed with the FBI. Mike, it`s the duty of the school and hospital to report any abuse. We`ve contacted the school principal. No reports.
BROOKS: Right.
GRACE: We can`t find any specific reports from anybody other than the bio mom and her lawyer of abuse, what do you make of it?
BROOKS: OK. Look at the timeline. We`re talking -- her attorney is talking about the timeline. OK, these injuries occurred on the 6th and she said -- says now that they went to the hospital the day the injuries occurred. There might not have been any black eye at that time.
But then they go back to the hospital on the 12th. She still had the cuts, they are in the healing process. The black eye may have come out now and maybe because they saw the black eye they figured hey, there possibly could be a head injury and out of an abundance of caution they went ahead and did a CAT scan.
But then we see these pictures of this beautiful little girl on the 16th and you can see that it`s starting to lighten up. There`s -- maybe she had picked at the scab so it didn`t heal very well.
You know, so, Nancy, what I was hearing last night there were these horrible pictures, I was expecting to see what you were talking about, cigarette burns, abuse. And when it comes to the pictures of Junior, I want to know, I want to see some forensic-type pictures.
Are there any -- you know, fingerprints? Sometimes if you grab a child very roughly you`ll leave marks, they`ll leave bruises. You know, but with a little boy like him that plays outside, you know, you`re going to get bruises and she said yes, he`s a strict disciplinarian.
You know, but my question is, now that Putman County Sheriff`s Office is in the investigation, what are they finding out if anything?
GRACE: You know, Mike, you`re really barking up the wrong tree with me. I nearly had heart failure when my son, John David, had a red mark across the back of his head. I nearly reported myself to DFACs. It turned out to be a crayon.
Anyway, long story short, Marc Klaas, what do you make of this? These are very serious allegations and if there is child abuse in the home, the way that that will affect the investigation is make police turn back to the family again as opposed to investigating the predator, the outside intruder theory.
I mean, if you`ve got child abuse, arrows start pointing at the family.
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, in fact, that`s already happened. As a result of the allegations that were made yesterday and are continuing to be made today on national TV, despite the fact that the Department of Children and Families has already said they`re going to investigate, this has forced the sheriff`s department to refocus some of their resources.
So now we`ve got Misty`s inaccuracies diverting attention away from finding out what happened to her. We`ve got these accusations and, quite frankly, this character assassination against Ron Cummings diverting even more resources away.
The little girl has been lost in this thing. The focus has gone entirely in the wrong direction and I, quite frankly, think that despite the fact that Miss Picazio thinks that she`s helping Crystal with media relations, she`s just -- she`s -- she`s burning this case down to the ground.
This is absolutely horrible the way this thing is turning out over the last couple of days.
GRACE: You know, we`re all armchair doctors. We all have our J.D. What we need is an M.D. and we`ve got a renowned medical doctor with us, Dr. Joshua Perper, chief medical examiner, Broward County, author of "When to Call the Doctor."
Dr. Perper.
DR. JOSHUA PERPER, MEDICAL EXAMINER, AUTHOR OF "WHEN TO CALL THE DOCTOR": Yes.
GRACE: . from these photos, does it look as if these injuries could happen from a fall, for instance, from a monkey bar?
PERPER: Yes, they could. For sure.
GRACE: What do you make of the injuries, Dr. Perper?
PERPER: Well, the photographs are not very clear because they`re not close-up photographs so you cannot see exactly the pattern of the photograph. They`re most likely from a fall, but you know some kind of blow cannot be excluded.
GRACE: Dr. Perper, do you find it unusual that several days passed when the bruising got worse, that`s when the doctor ordered the CAT scan?
PERPER: Well, yes, but sometimes periorbital bruises can increase a little bit after several days and they change color as well. So basically the person who could make the proper determination is the person who saw initially the bruises and then saw the bruises later on because it`s very unlikely that the abuse occurred exactly in the same area on both occasions.
GRACE: To Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, author of "Dealbreakers." Bethany, I don`t even know where to start. We need your guidance.
BETHANY MARSHALL, PSYCHOANALYST, AUTHOR OF "DEALBREAKERS": Well, I`ve studied the child custody documents and one of the things I observe is although Ron Cummings and Crystal Sheffield throw a lot of accusations at each other about drug abuse and things like that, they don`t really -- there`s no groundwork laid for an attitude towards the children that would culminate in this kind of physical corporeal abuse.
What you would see in the dad is a punitive attitude towards the children, in the children, (INAUDIBLE), which is like bed wetting, tearfulness, sleeplessness, loss of appetite in that the father would view the children as unconditionally bad because that`s what you see in cases of child abuse.
No matter how it goes down if it`s physical abuse or neglect the parent almost always views the child as unconditionally bad and it is acted out in some way.
GRACE: Joining me is T.J. Hart from WSKY 97.3. T.J., what`s the latest in the actual search for Haleigh? Can we steer this thing back into the middle of the road? What about the search for Haleigh?
T.J. HART, PROGRAM & NEWS DIR., WSKY 97.3FM, COVERING STORY: Well, right now, as I spoke with Captain Dick Showland today, no active search as far as going out into the bushes, into the brambles today but they are still following up all kinds of leads and all kinds of tips.
Roughly about 3,000 have come in and also Ron has been very busy on his own taking some protective needs for himself professionally.
GRACE: Right. Marlaina Schiavo, our producer there in Satsuma, what more can you tell us?
MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, ON LOCATION AT HALEIGH CRIME SCENE: Well, Nancy, Ronald Cummings is -- has lawyers now. He`s with the local law firm. The family is not happy about these allegations. They think they are absolutely preposterous and, basically, they`re fighting back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CASEY ANTHONY, MOTHER OF CAYLEE ANTHONY: Oh, god. My heart is aching because I just want to be back with our family. In my gut every day, stronger and stronger, I know we`re going to see Caylee. I know she`s coming home. I can feel it. I want you to know that.
CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY ANTHONY`S MOTHER: I want her home now.
CASEY ANTHONY: I know. I want her home now.
CINDY ANTHONY: I want her home so we can celebrate her 3rd birthday.
CASEY ANTHONY: I know.
CINDY ANTHONY: And be a family again.
CASEY ANTHONY: I know. Every day I can feel it, mom. I know that I`m going to be home with you guys, I know she`s going to be home with us.
Everyone just has to keep that faith because mine`s growing stronger every day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Welcome back. Today tot mom`s birthday behind bars, boo hoo. Her child missing her 3rd birthday, killed long before that date, although the family still had a celebration.
To Mark Williams, WNDB Newstalk 1150. What can you tell me, Mark?
MARK WILLIAMS, NEWS DIRECTOR, WNDB NEWSTALK 1150: Well, she turned -- Casey Anthony turned 23 today, Nancy, alone in her jail cell which measures 12 feet by 7 feet. She had no family visitors. Her attorney Jose Baez was to stop by today.
Also it`s a far cry from the party girl that we know in Casey Anthony to be back last summer. Also what`s interesting is even though she turned 23 years of age today it`s outrageous that her little daughter Caylee never saw her 3rd birthday nor will she have any birthdays in the future.
GRACE: To Drew Petrimoulx with WDBO, tot mom`s appetite certainly hasn`t been hindered by her daughter`s -- the body -- her body being discovered. We see on her last commissary order, still ordering up the expensive bottled water, things for her hair, beauty products, chocolates.
You know, long story short, why no visitors on her birthday? Family not coming and what do we expect to come out as discovery?
DREW PETRIMOULX, REPORTER, WDBO RADIO: Well, the fact that she hasn`t had visitors is nothing new. She hasn`t had visitors since way back in the summer and the reason is because those interviews are videotaped and then released to the public. Her lawyers and the lawyers for her parents don`t want those interviews to be taped and released to the public.
As far as discovery, we don`t know what we`re getting. We think we might be getting some stuff tomorrow. And one of the things that we`re looking for is the secret under cover work that Tony Lazzaro did questioning Anthony`s brother, Lee -- Casey`s brother Lee Anthony when they met at a subway.
We don`t know if we`re going to get that, but apparently, Tony was working with the police and we don`t know. Tomorrow could be the day when we get videotape or audiotape of him performing that undercover work.
GRACE: Yes, completely wired up for police. To Mark Williams, WNDB Newstalk 1150.
Mark, is it true that tot mom is still raking in money orders and fan letters from people all across the country including a lot of lovelorn guys?
WILLIAMS: Yes. She`s probably one of the more popular prisoners of the 33rd Street jail according to Allen Moore who`s a spokesperson down there. You know, over the past couple of months, Anthony`s father George has said she deserves a little kindness by sending her some cards and maybe some money and she has gotten some money for her commissary fund.
She will not be getting any gifts, however, through the jail because they are considered contraband.
GRACE: Well, really? The last time her lawyer came he smuggled in a bracelet for her so don`t be so sure about that, Mark Williams.
WILLIAMS: Yes.
GRACE: Bethany Marshall, money, cards, letters from lovelorn guys all across the country, why?
MARSHALL: Well, actually, there`s a lot of research into why women fall in love with male prisoners, but not so much about why men fall in love with female prisoners. But why the women do it, if they have been raised in households where violence is fused with love, that`s one factor.
And so that the fact that the inmate being violent they sort of think of it as powerful, sexy, erotic. But the other is their secret satisfaction in the crime that the perpetrator committed against the other. So I guess if you use the male example that there might be some satisfaction in child abuse or a mother who would willingly just get rid of the child or maybe a man who would want the mother of the child all to himself with the mother who would be willing to get her child out of the way so they probably have a pretty rich.
GRACE: Bethany, Bethany, Bethany?
MARSHALL: Yes.
GRACE: You know, save the psycho talk.
MARSHALL: All right.
GRACE: A nut that would fall for tot mom Casey Anthony behind bars, never having met her, nothing. All right, tot mom, enjoy your money orders on your birthday. We`ll see you in court.
Right now what many people consider a travesty of justice, a teen murders her own father. He is defenseless, unarmed, but yet at court the judge instructs the jury to ignore allegations that she was the victim of sex abuse starting at the tender age of 8 at the hands of her own father.
Tonight, she has been freed from jail and she is with us live. Take a listen.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
STACEY LANNERT, CONVICTED OF MURDERING HER FATHER, JUST RELEASED FROM PRISON: I had jeans on, and he took my jeans off and he raped me. I wanted this to be the last time we were ever in there, and I just thought, you know, we`re leaving one way or another and that rifle was downstairs and I picked it up, and I went upstairs.
And by the time I got back upstairs he was passed -- he wasn`t passed out, he was laying down on the couch again. I don`t ever want to be back there again. I don`t ever want to feel this way again. I want everything to stop and go away, and I shot him. He said wait until I get up from here, wait until I get better, saying I couldn`t do anything right.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: With me right now, Stacey Lannert.
Stacey, it`s good to see you.
LANNERT: Thank you.
GRACE: That jailhouse interview you and I did seems like yesterday to me, but how long have you been behind bars?
LANNERT: I was incarcerated for 18 years.
GRACE: Starting at what age?
LANNERT: 18.
GRACE: Now you`ve never made any bones about it. You shot your father. He was unarmed. Did the jury ever know about your allegations of sex abuse starting at age 8?
LANNERT: They were allowed to know, but not take it into account. So -- right, so actually I was very fortunate four members of the jury were affidavits to the governor`s office for my release so.
GRACE: Stacey, how old are you now?
LANNERT: 36.
GRACE: And what are your plans?
LANNERT: Well, Governor Blunt asked that the one thing that I do upon my release is to make a difference in the lives of others, to use my past and I plan on doing that. I`m going to create a forum for abuse victims and blog on that called HealingSisters.com. And I hope to work with a doll that will hopefully help children to be able to talk for the first time and then eventually tell other people what`s going on.
GRACE: Stacey, I`ve got a question for you. And also, with us, Kristen Kemp, reporter who covered Lennert`s case from the beginning.
Stacey, your mom never tried to intercede during all this time. Isn`t it true that she found your bloody underwear stashed in various places around the home and you were just a little girl?
LANNERT: I was. I was. But we all made mistakes in our past. And, you know, she did ask me about them. And I didn`t tell her what they were from. I -- you know, there`s a lot of mistakes in the past. And I hope to leave them there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANNERT: How much longer do I have to keep fighting? How many more times do I have to go public and tell my deepest shame and what happened and, you know, what I did?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LANNERT: I was so unable to fight and stand up to him and to say you can`t do this anymore to me. And I just wanted it to stop.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: With me, Stacey Lannert who has now walked out from behind prison walls thanks to the governor.
To Kristen Kemp, investigative reporter, why did you stick with the case all this time, Kristen?
KRISTEN KEMP, INVESTIGATIVE, FREELANCE REPORTER, COVERED LANNERT`S CASE AND LIFE: Stacey moved me from the moment I read about it on Freestaceylannert.org. That was in 2001. And the case had obvious unfair charges and lots of conflict. It was hard to believe that a woman could be in prison for life without parole if in fact she really was abused.
GRACE: To Eleanor Dixon. Eleanor, it is not unusual for child sex molestation victims not to tell a parent. In fact, it`s actually rare that they do.
DIXON: It`s very rare, Nancy. And think about how parents look in the eyes of the child. They`re all-powerful, all-knowing. If they say don`t tell, children generally don`t tell.
GRACE: Stacey Lennert, what is your message tonight to other young girls that are being sexually abused?
LANNERT: I think definitely tell someone. If you don`t feel comfortable telling a parent, tell someone at your school. Tell a stranger. Tell anyone that you can. Make sure you don`t take the same path I did.
GRACE: Stacey, I just can`t tell you how many times I thought of you and prayed for you and your family.
LANNERT: Thank you.
GRACE: During all of these years. And I`m so overjoyed to see you free and I also pray that now you do make a difference in this world. Good-bye, friend.
LANNERT: Thank you. Bye-bye.
GRACE: Tonight, let`s stop and remember Army Sergeant Ruben Fernandez III, 22, Abilene, Texas, killed in Iraq. Awarded the campaign medal, global war on terrorism service medal, army service ribbon.
Bright eyes. A smile that lit up a room. Loved basketball. Dreamed of a military career. Leaves behind mom Aurora.
Ruben Fernandez III, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us. I`ll see you tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern. And until then, good night, friend.
END
