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Nancy Grace
Misty Croslin Still Out of Town
Aired September 28, 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 little girl tucked into bed. Five hours later, she`s gone, vanished, the back door propped wide open. Daddy comes home from the night shift to see not a trace of little Haleigh. The last person to see the 5- year-old alive that night, girlfriend turned new stepmother Misty Croslin.
Bombshell tonight. After Croslin skips town following a bitter fight with Haleigh`s father, Ronald Cummings, a week passes, no sign of Croslin, her planned return home come and passed, long passed. Where is the key witness?
In the last 72 hours, Croslin`s mother behind bars on felony forgery, bond a whopping $100,000. She`s already publicly stated her daughter hasn`t come clean about the night Haleigh vanishes. What else will she tell police now that she`s behind bars? Croslin`s brother confesses in his own late-night jailhouse interrogation he goes to Haleigh`s house the night she goes missing, pounds on the door, nobody home.
In another major development, a woman caught on grainy surveillance video delivers a detailed tip as to Haleigh`s location. Police investigate. Big question -- where was girlfriend-turned-stepmother Misty Croslin during the crucial hours when Haleigh goes missing? As Croslin flunks another polygraph and goes missing herself, tonight, where is Haleigh?
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: OK, when did you last see her?
MISTY CROSLIN, BABY-SITTER/STEPMOTHER: We just, like -- you know, it was about 10:00 o`clock. She was sleeping.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What we need is for Misty to come back home and tell us the truth.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is gone. She left town. Misty is nowhere to be found. She is no longer in Satsuma right now, and Ronald is not with her.
CROSLIN: I`m trying to do everything to find her. You know, I`m answering any questions I have to, because I know I didn`t do anything to that little girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Harris reports Misty and Ron had a bitter fight and she took off with a friend.
RONALD CUMMINGS, HALEIGH`S FATHER: I don`t think that she holds any information that`s going to find Haleigh.
CROSLIN: If I had something to do with it, if I knew where she was, we wouldn`t be sitting here today, we would have her. And I don`t -- I don`t know where she is!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can tell you that she is not at home and she is on the road, not expected back anytime soon, as a result of a fight with Ronald.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Investigators with the Putnam County sheriff`s office spoke to the woman seen in this surveillance video. She dropped a letter off at "The St. Augustine Record" newspaper.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`ll probably solve what happened to Haleigh Cummings.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I want them to find whoever this is, and I don`t care who it is. But we want Haleigh to come home!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And tonight, after 30 years hiding out in Europe, a Hollywood superstar finally behind bars. Thirty years ago, he admits to raping a 13- year-old little girl at the home of superstar Jack Nicholson. At grand jury, that little girl testified under oath that he also forced anal sodomy on her. She`s 13.
After 30 years on the lam, he collides with Lady Justice. Hollywood reaction this morning, they`re, quote, "shocked." Oh, no, they`re not shocked he raped and sodomized a 13-year-old little girl, oh, no, a little girl he got drunk on champagne and quaaludes. But all the Hollywood stars are shocked he`s arrested for it. Shame, shame, shame on them! Tonight, Polanski behind bars. Lady Justice comes through. Thank heaven, better late than never.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The movie director who made "Chinatown," who won an Oscar for "The Pianist," is fighting extradition to the U.S. on a 32- year-old sex charge. Roman Polanski was arrested on Saturday on an international warrant.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The year was 1977. Polanski was called before the grand jury to answer to charges that he participated in a statutory rape and sodomized a 13-year-old girl after giving her drugs and liquor in the jacuzzi of actor Jack Nicholson`s home in the Hollywood hills.
ROMAN POLANSKI, DIRECTOR: (INAUDIBLE) to say to you except that I`m innocent.
SAMANTHA GEIMER, VICTIM: He did make me a little uncomfortable. He asked me to change, you know, and I kind of turned my back and stuff, but it felt a little funny. But I thought, well, you know, that`s what models do.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The warrant was issued in 1978 after Polanski pleaded guilty to committing sexual acts with a 13-year-old girl.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After he was convicted of statutory rape, he fled the country prior to sentencing. Director Adrien Brody says Polanski`s absence from Hollywood has affected the industry.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Definitely, young actors have lost out in America because they haven`t had an opportunity to work with him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Even if Hollywood is able to forgive and forget, the law is not, and that is the issue.
GEIMER: All that stuff was so traumatic that I never even had a chance to really, you know, worry about, you know, what happened that night with him. It was like -- it just -- I had to worry about surviving the next day.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us. After new stepmother Misty Croslin skips town following a bitter fight with Haleigh`s father, Ronald Cummings, a week passes. There`s no sign of Croslin. Where is the key witness, and what does that mean in the search for 5-year-old Haleigh?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROSLIN: When I went to sleep, she was there. And then when I woke up, she was gone.
CUMMINGS: How (DELETED) can you let my daughter get stole (DELETED)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Apparently, people saw Misty and Ronald having an argument over the weekend when all of this searching was going on, draining of the pond. There were a lot of tensions, so they were arguing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sources tell me that Ronald actually threw her clothes out, threw her out, and she was going down the road when he runs after her, apologizes, and brings her back. It was not pretty.
CUMMINGS: I`m not hiding anything for anybody, and if somebody has something to do with it, let them fry.
CROSLIN: I would have woke up if I heard any noise, and I didn`t hear anything at all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That front door is all but 10 feet from the bedroom where Misty was sleeping with Haleigh and Junior that night. So if someone`s whaling on the door, there`s no way she couldn`t have heard that whatsoever.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It took just a few seconds for this blond woman in blue scrubs to drop off a letter with purported information about what happened to Haleigh Cummings. It`s one paragraph long, typed, and has three letters at the bottom.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the information is accurate, it`s going to be pretty volatile.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe Haleigh is alive. I have faith in God to cake care of my baby girl and find her.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to Jean Casarez joining us, legal correspondent with In Session. Jean, Misty Croslin`s friends and relatives gave us all sorts of stories last week as to where she was. They said she`s gone to Orlando for a vacation. I don`t know how you can afford that. Have you ever been to Epcot? You know how much it costs down there? And nobody down there is working. Nobody has a job. She was supposed to be back this weekend. Then we heard she went to the beach with her girlfriends. She`s not back, Jean. It`s long past the time for her arrival home.
JEAN CASAREZ, IN SESSION (via telephone): That`s right. Misty Croslin, the last person to ever see Haleigh alive, she has not returned to the Satsuma area. But Nancy, I think the most important point here is that it coincides with some very important aspects of this case. First of all, a hand-written letter coming out of the local jail, saying that Haleigh allegedly ingested some pills. She died. The body was then taken and put into a pond. And it also coincides, Nancy, with the arrest of her own mother in Tennessee.
GRACE: To Marlaina Schiavo, our producer on the story. Now, police have pooh-poohed the letter. They don`t even want anybody to report about that letter that outlines the details of a late-night party fueled by drugs at which Haleigh was allegedly present and swallowed oxycontin. I find it hard to believe, Marlaina Schiavo, that people at a party could all keep their pieholes shut this long and not blab. There`s a $70,000 reward. But police do tell us, on the other hand, that they`re investigating it and they have actually interrogated people about this. So somebody`s taking it seriously.
MARLAINA SCHIAVO, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Someone is taking it seriously. They have investigated her car. They took forensic evidence from her car. They -- this person that wrote this letter, they have talked to her directly, you know, according to some. She`s saying that there`s some affidavit out there, some sworn affidavit saying that all of this stuff is true. Now, they won`t confirm or deny whether this affidavit actually exists, but it`s coming from somewhere because not one but two letters have surfaced, Nancy.
GRACE: Straight to Art Harris at Artharris.com. Art, what can you tell me? First of all, aside from the letter, I want to find out where is Misty Croslin? What are the various stories we`ve been told?
ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Well, we`ve been told that she was on a foray one to one of the amusement parks. I can confirm she was at Universal Studios with a friend, and she was seen wearing a Haleigh pendant around her neck. She was spotted by the press and she took off. There were rumors that Ronald was going to join her, but that was not the case. I`m told they are still on the rocks. And it`s very questionable where she will go if she comes back to Satsuma, Nancy.
GRACE: OK, so did you say she`s last been spotted in Orlando?
HARRIS: She was at Universal a couple of days ago.
GRACE: Doing what?
HARRIS: Just being a tourist.
GRACE: OK. To Dr. Jeff Gardere, psychologist and author of "Love Prescription." Everybody, we`re taking your calls live. OK, Jeff, maybe I`m projecting. Excuse me, Dr. Jeff...
JEFF GARDERE, PSYCHOLOGIST: Yes?
GRACE: ... you`re the doctor, I`m just a trial lawyer. Maybe I`m projecting what I went through when I was a crime victim, but following the sudden death or disappearance of someone you love deeply, I find it hard to imagine whooping it up at the Epcot Center.
GARDERE: Oh, absolutely.
GRACE: At Orlando. Let`s go to Disney World. I don`t get it. It doesn`t mesh to me.
GARDERE: Absolutely. This is the same Misty Croslin who was crying crocodile tears about what happened -- you know, what may have happened to Haleigh. She really has been inappropriate. We`ve seen this, Nancy, in her behavior for the longest time. So it`s not out of character that she`s there, but it certainly is inappropriate that she should be partying while Haleigh is still missing.
GRACE: Art Harris, where -- what time -- when was she supposed to have come home?
HARRIS: There`s been a lot of talk from Satsuma, from Ron`s family, trying to paper over their differences. But I am told that he would not take her phone calls.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CUMMINGS: She got out of bad and went to use the restroom, and came back to find that my daughter was not in bed with her and the back door was wide open and she was gone.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
CUMMINGS: If I find whoever has my daughter before y`all do, I`m killing him. I don`t care.
911 OPERATOR: OK. OK.
CUMMINGS: I`ll spend the rest of my life in prison. I`m telling you. You can put it on record, and I don`t care.
911 OPERATOR: OK. It`s OK, sir. We`ve got them on the way. OK, can you give me any -- what kind of description of her pajamas that she was wearing?
CUMMINGS: I don`t (INAUDIBLE) know! I was at work!
(END AUDIO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROSLIN: Three o`clock in the morning, I got up. And I got up because I had to use the bathroom, but I didn`t make it to the bathroom. I seen the kitchen light on and I walked in the kitchen, and the back door`s wide open.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Right beside me on my left is the bed where Misty Croslin was sleeping. And here on the right, we have the bed where little Haleigh was sleeping. And you can see, it is all but about three- and-a-half feet from each other. And this is right where Misty said she got up and she had to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have to leave the investigative part of this to law enforcement because, you know, if I go with every whim and every accusation, then I`m going to be flipping back and forth in my life. And you know what we stand -- you know, we just stand for Haleigh here. We just want Haleigh to come home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls live. Let`s unleash the lawyers. Joining me out of New York, defense attorney Carmen St. George. And joining me out of Atlanta, Mr. and Mrs. Eleanor Odom.
(LAUGHTER)
GRACE: Welcome, everyone. Out to Lorraine in New Jersey. Hi, Lorraine.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi, Nancy. I can`t believe your twins are going to be 2 already. I`m the one that made the pillow cases for them for their first birthday. So my question is about the 20 times that Ron called home. I don`t understand that because I have two kids. I would have called home twice. If I hadn`t got an answer, I would have left work. I would have went home. He could have got in. He could have seen if anybody was there, and then he could have reported it to the cops immediately. Do you think that would have made any difference at all?
GRACE: I think it would have made a difference if he had come home earlier. Then...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t understand that. That really frustrates me.
GRACE: Then tonight, we would know. We would know, was she there, was she not there, was Haleigh already missing? You know, Lorraine, number one, thank you for the pillow cases. We have used them, and they are a thing of beauty. I have photos of them, actually. So Lorraine in New Jersey, thank you for that.
You know, let`s go to the lawyers. Eleanor, Peter, Carmen St. George -- first of all to you, Eleanor Odom, if I didn`t have the nannycam so when I am away from the twins, I can watch them constantly, I would go berserk if I kept calling home and nobody answered. I would assume the worst, something horrible had happened, that the place had burned down or the twins were sick and had to be rushed to the hospital.
ELEANOR DIXON, PROSECUTOR: Exactly. And it makes me wonder what Ronald`s got going on and whether or not he had to be at work and if he`d get docked pay or whatever.
GRACE: Well, most of us do have to be at work. I mean, of course, he had to be at work. He punched a clock. He had to drive about 30 minutes away to get there. And I`m guessing, Carmen St. George, that they had just had a huge argument because she had been missing for three straight days, doing I don`t know what. But I believe that he thought she wasn`t picking up because they were in the middle of an argument.
CARMEN ST. GEORGE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, I think I would agree with you. And I think there`s evidence that they had been out partying the weekend before Haleigh went missing, and there could have been an argument and she may not be picking up his calls. I think the big issue is whether or not she was home.
GRACE: What about it, Odom?
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I think, Nancy, that really, it corroborates the brother`s story, Misty`s brother, where...
GRACE: OK, let me clarify something...
ODOM: ... because that`s naturally what you`d do.
GRACE: ... Peter Odom. OK, you`re the defense attorney. So it`s not helping Croslin for you to say the brother`s story that she wasn`t home at the time Haleigh goes missing was accurate, all right? So help out Misty, if you can. Maybe you can`t.
ODOM: I think you`d have to look at the course of conduct between Misty and Ron. You know, it`s clear that they were arguing at some point close to that time. If she wasn`t answering the phone, he might not have thought anything about it, Nancy.
GRACE: Yes, I would cut Ronald Cummings a break on that one.
To Marie in Mississippi. Hi, Marie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. How are you, Nancy?
GRACE: I`m good, dear. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My question is, you know, I`ve seen Misty many times crying real tears and being real upset because of this, and I`ve never seen Ron do anything but screw up his face and whimper. And I think he married her to keep her close to him, but to make sure she wasn`t telling on him, instead of seeing what she might have done. I really believe you need to look closer to Ron.
GRACE: But he absolutely has an alibi for when she went missing, Marie.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who stuck up for him? Who punched the clock for him at work? Who made sure that...
GRACE: OK, let me just dispel that right now. And I`m going to go out to Art Harris. Art, people at work saw him at work. Nobody punched the clock for him. He showed up 30 minutes early to work after, I believe, one of them (ph), picking her up from the bus stop. Yes, no.
HARRIS: He`s got a good alibi there, Nancy, and he`s got cell phone pings to towers nearby that put him there, as well.
GRACE: What about it, Marlaina?
SCHIAVO: Well, he also has confirmation from the police. I mean, they went all through his cell phone records, like Art was saying, and the bottom line is, Nancy, is that he had nothing to do with it. He`s been cleared from police.
GRACE: But we do know that Misty Croslin claims she was going out of town for a girls` weekend away while her stepdaughter is missing and many believe dead. But now she`s never come home. Why?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CUMMINGS: I want to get to the bottom of what happened. I don`t know if hypnosis is going to do it. They`ve already tried to hypnotize her...
GRACE: Aren`t you of the mind that you should try anything?
CUMMINGS: Absolutely. If that`s what we need to do, then that`s what we can do.
CROSLIN: I wish that they would have took me instead of her, you know, because I can -- I could have fought. You know, she`s only 5. She can`t really do anything!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Everything she says is crazy.
CROSLIN: I don`t know where she is!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We would love to have a break in this case, and we really would not care who it implicates as long as it brings Haleigh back to us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I believe Haleigh is alive. I have faith in God to take care of my baby girl and find her. And I don`t care who had something to do with it. Those are the people who need to be put away and bring my baby girl home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Straight out to special guest joining us tonight, Terry Shoemaker, the attorney for Haleigh`s biological father, Ronald Cummings. Two quick questions, Terry. Thank you for being with us...
TERRY SHOEMAKER, ATTORNEY FOR RONALD CUMMINGS: Thank you.
GRACE: Terry a well known attorney in the Jacksonville area. Number one, are there witnesses placing Ronald Cummings at work about 30 minutes before he was supposed to punch in and that he was there until his shift ended, the night shift? Yes, no.
SHOEMAKER: Yes. And it`s not a punch-in, you know, as far as a time clock.
GRACE: Correct.
SHOEMAKER: They actually have to use their fingerprints in order to scan in and check in for work, so...
GRACE: OK. Even better.
SHOEMAKER: ... he definitely was there.
GRACE: What kind of job was it, Terry?
SHOEMAKER: He was hired as a crane operator. However, his job duties would, you know, differ depending on what they had in store for him that night.
GRACE: OK. Terry, you have appeared on our show many times, answered a lot of questions on so many different subjects. Misty Croslin, your client`s wife, was supposed to be home by now. Where is she?
SHOEMAKER: To my understanding, Misty is still down in the Orlando area.
GRACE: Why?
SHOEMAKER: Well, originally, we thought that she was only going to be gone for a couple days. I know that Ronald has been speaking with her regularly. I don`t know the nature, the full nature of all those conversations, but I know that he has been speaking with her. And every time I talk to Ron...
GRACE: Yes. My question is, why hasn`t she come home? I don`t care if they`re talking or what they`re talking about.
SHOEMAKER: I couldn`t answer that for you, Nancy. I wish I could.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROSLIN: When I lay down, I guess, you know, I just- I was out.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she -- there`s no way she could have wandered off?
CROSLIN: No, she is scared of the dark. She would not go anywhere by herself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SAMANTHA GEIMER ROMAN POLANSKI`S 13-YEAR-OLD VICTIM: During the course of this, I was posing with some champagne glasses and did drink champagne. So maybe that`s why I was feeling a little more comfortable. So it got late towards the evening and then he wanted to take some pictures in the hot tub. You know a real pretty-looking hot tub outside.
And I was in there up to here, but topless, but covered up. So that was even still fine. And I just -- I didn`t think anything -- you know, I assumed if something was showing, it would be cropped out and it would be appropriate, because this was going to be for a magazine and you know, it must be the way things are done.
But then he got in the hot tub. That`s when I realized that something was wrong. It was like, this doesn`t feel right anymore. Uh-oh.
CHRISTIAN FREI, SWISS FILMMAKER: I feel deeply ashamed, because Mr. Polanski was supposed to be honored this evening. We were supposed to speak about his work, his career, and his outstanding films and now he`s being arrested.
GEIMER: I told him that I needed to get out of the hot tub and that he needed to take me home because the steam was giving me an asthma attack. I`m feigning my asthma attack. You know, I got out and put a towel and everything, we walked in the house, I was going, I really don`t feel good, like I`m having trouble breathing, I need to go home, you know, because I`m not feeling well.
And then that progressed to, you know, eventually, why don`t you come in here and lay down into a very dark room and that`s when I really realized, you know, what his intentions were.
You know, I said no. I didn`t fight him off, I`m like, no, no, I don`t want to go in there. No, I don`t want to do this. No. And then I didn`t know what else to do. We were alone, and I didn`t want to -- I didn`t know what would happen if I made a scene, so I was just scared and I just -- after giving some resistance, figured, well, I guess I`ll get to go home after this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Polanski admits, pleads guilty 30 years ago to raping a 13-year-old little girl. I`ve got the child`s grand jury testimony, her sworn testimony here with me. She goes on to outline how he fed her champagne at the home of Jack Nicholson.
That he gave her Quaaludes at the home of Jack Nicholson. He then had her take her clothes off. She`s 13 years old. And not only did he rape this child, as he had pled guilty to under oath, but the girl goes on to outline forcible anal sodomy.
But today when Hollywood learns that he has been arrested on rape after 30 years, their response is that they are shocked.
Straight out to Ellie Jostad. Ellie, what can you tell me?
ELLIE JOSTAD, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Nancy, Roman Polanski was supposed to be honored this weekend at a film festival for a lifetime of his achievements in the film industry. Instead, he was arrested at the airport in Zurich. He`s behind bars right now.
We believe the extradition process will start, which could end him back in California, facing the sentencing that he ditched out the night before he was supposed to be sentenced, over three decades ago. He got on a plane, took off to France, hasn`t set back in the U.S. since then.
He could have to come back to California and finally be sentenced for this rape of the 13-year-old girl.
GRACE: Take a listen to Hollywood`s reaction this morning to Polanski`s arrest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is, for me, a shock, and I`m ashamed to be Swiss that Swiss is doing such a thing to a brilliant, fantastic genius.
FREI: I feel deeply ashamed, because Mr. Polanski was supposed to be honored this evening. We were supposed to speak about his work, his career, and his outstanding films. And now he`s being arrested.
DEBORAH WINGER, ACTRESS: We came to honor roman Polanski as a great artist, but under these sudden and arcane circumstances, we can only think of him today as a human being, uncertain of the year ahead. His life has always informed his art and it always will.
This fledgling festival has been unfairly exploited and whenever this happens, the entire art world suffers. We hope today this latest order will be dropped. It is based on a three-decade-old case that is all but dead, except for a minor technicality. We stand by and await his release and his next master work.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The art world is suffering. What technicality would that be, Ellie Jostad? The man admitted under oath that he raped a 13-year-old little girl, not to mention anal sodomy on a child! And Debora Winger says the art world is suffering? Please explain the technicality.
JOSTAD: Well, Nancy, Polanski`s supporters allege that the prosecutor and the judge in this case acted improperly. Apparently, what was going to happen is, Polanski was sentenced for about -- or he was sent to jail for 42 days for some psychiatric testing.
Apparently, his lawyers made a deal with prosecutors that he would plead guilty to this one charge of unlawful sexual intercourse, he would get time served and he`d get no more jail time. Apparently, Polanski found out on the eve of that sentencing that the judge planned to renege on that deal and send him to jail. That`s why he took off.
His supporters claim that was improper. And that`s why they called this technicality.
GRACE: Right. Just stop right there. Just stop right there because that scenario is impossible.
Let`s unleash the lawyers and explain why Polanski`s side is lying about a so-called technicality. Eleanor Odom, a veteran prosecutor specializing on crimes against children. Peter Odom, a former prosecutor turned defense attorney. Carmen St. George, veteran defense attorney.
Eleanor, that is complete BS. That scenario is impossible. Because when you enter into a negotiated plea deal, the judge doesn`t suddenly sentence you to jail that day. If he or she rejects the deal, you have a right to go to trial. You don`t get sent off to jail if a judge rejects a plea. That is absolutely a lie. That is not true. There is no technicality here.
ELEANOR DIXON, PROSECUTOR: You`re exactly right, Nancy. What we`ve got is a negotiation between the prosecutor and the defense attorney. As you said, the judge does not have to accept it. If the judge doesn`t accept it, then the person has every right to go to trial.
GRACE: What about it, Peter Odom?
PETER ODOM, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, you know, it`s not an impossible scenario when there`s collusion between the judge and the prosecutor.
GRACE: Put up Odom. Put up Odom.
ODOM: And that`s -- and that`s exactly what was alleged here. And in fact, a court reviewing the process found irregularities in the sentencing process. Unfortunately the .
GRACE: He was never sentenced so how can there be irregularities in the sentencing process if he was never sentenced? The process was not complete.
ODOM: There were irregularities that were occurring before the sentencing took place and.
GRACE: Such as?
ODOM: And there -- collusion between a prosecutor.
GRACE: What collusion?
ODOM: . from prosecutor`s office.
GRACE: What collusion?
ODOM: Apparently, a prosecutor was manipulating -- I`m just quoting the AP reports that were out today. A prosecutor from the Los Angeles DA`s office was attempting to manipulate the judge that was doing the sentencing. Apparently.
GRACE: Was the judge manipulated?
ODOM: I`ve just reported what I read today.
GRACE: So you don`t know, you`re just repeating what a reporter said?
ODOM: Well, I can tell you that a judge in reviewing the motion to dismiss that was never heard did -- a judge from Los Angeles, did find irregularities in the process. Unfortunately, those never got flushed out because Polanski, very unwisely in my view, fled.
GRACE: So long story short, Eleanor, I believe what Peter is telling us, is that this claim was made, a judge looked at it and said, you know what, you`re making a claim so let`s have a hearing and find out if there was an irregularity. That`s the crux of it.
There was nothing proven about an irregularity. In fact, Carmen St. George, the only thing that we know for sure, is that Roman Polanski, a famous Hollywood director, admitted under oath he raped a 13-year-old. We know that much.
CARMEN ST. GEORGE, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: We do know that, Nancy, for sure. And no matter what irregularity is claimed, I still would say that no one has the right to then flee the country or flee a state based on that. He does have to answer to this, but maybe it will come to Governor Schwarzenegger commuting this or pardoning him at this point, being that it`s three decades later and the victim.
GRACE: Excuse me. Put up Carmen St. George. Carmen, you`re a new mother, right?
ST. GEORGE: I am, Nancy.
GRACE: Now, think about it. If your child, God forbid, was treated this way and all this time passed -- the time has passed because he went on the run. It`s not the victim`s fault, it`s not the judge`s fault. It`s Polanski`s fault. That`s why the case is 30 years old.
ST. GEORGE: That`s right.
GRACE: So you`re saying because the case is old, because he`s been living it up in a mansion in Europe, that we should just forget about it, that that`s a problem, that Lady Justice should just pack her bag and go home?
ST. GEORGE: Absolutely not. And you know, Nancy.
GRACE: Then what are you saying?
ST. GEORGE: I was a prosecutor for a long time. And I was.
GRACE: Yes, I know that.
ST. GEORGE: . saying you shouldn`t be getting an Academy Award if you`re fleeing a country based on this thought. The fact remains that the victim in this case has settled with him, has come has come forward.
GRACE: No!
ST. GEORGE: . and said that she no longer is interested in this prosecution. You do consider that.
GRACE: She says she has forgiven him. And frankly, Lady Justice is blind. Just because she, in her -- at this time, 30 years later, doesn`t want to rehash this in court, do you blame her?
Everyone, we are taking your calls live.
To tonight`s "Safety Tips," a parent`s worth nightmare. SIDS, sudden infant death syndrome, the leading cause of death in infants. Always put your child under one year to sleep on their back. Remember, back to sleep. No pillows, quilts, comforters, stuffed toys in that crib.
Use a sleeper instead of a blanket and a fitted bottom sheet designed for cribs. Make sure the crib is assembled properly and the mattress should always be firm with a snug fit so the baby cannot get trapped between the mattress and the crib. Always keep the crib away from a window and always raise the crib railing.
For more information, please, go to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission at CPSC.gov.
ANNOUNCER: "Nancy Safety Tips," brought to you by.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The year was 1977. Polanski was called before the grand jury to answer charges that he participated in a statutory rape and sodomized a 13-year-old girl after giving her drugs and liquor in the Jacuzzi of actor Jack Nicholson`s home in the Hollywood Hills.
GEIMER: He photographed me topless. He`d seen me topless. I was just thinking, this is very European, it must be all right.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: It was supposed to be a photo shoot, but the girl told the grand jury Polanski gave her champagne and a Quaalude then forced her into sex.
GEIMER: I`m feigning my asthma attack, you know, I got out, I put a towel on, everything, we talked in the house, I was going, I really don`t feel good, I`m having trouble breathing. And I don`t remember exactly what I said.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Polanski would plead guilty to one charge, unlawful sexual intercourse with a minor, but before sentencing, Polanski fled to France, where he has lived as a fugitive ever since.
GEIMER: I need to go home, you know, because I`m not feeling well. And then that progressed to, you know, eventually, well, why don`t you come into here and lay down, into a very dark room. And that`s when I really realized, you know, what his intentions were.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Swiss Police detained the 76-year-old Polanski when he arrived at Zurich Airport Saturday. Authorities say he`s being held based on a U.S. arrest warrant pending extradition proceedings.
The warrant was issued in 1978 after Polanski pleaded guilty to committing sexual acts with a 13-year-old girl.
GEIMER: I said no, I didn`t fight him off. I said, like, no, no, I don`t want to go in there, no, I don`t want to do this, no, and then I didn`t know what else to do. We were alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is a shock and I`m ashamed to be Swiss that Swiss is doing such a thing to a brilliant, fantastic genius.
GEIMER: He asked me to like change and change in front of him and stuff. It didn`t feel right. I didn`t, at that time, have the self- confidence to tell my -- you know, my mother and everyone, no, I`m not going to go.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: You are seeing sound from ABC`s "Good Morning America." The celeb yakking on and on about how Polanski`s brilliant, fantastic genius. Well, according to court documents, he pleads guilty under oath to raping a 13-year-old little girl at the home of Jack Nicholson and she testifies in grand jury that he also forced anal sodomy on her.
And today, Hollywood`s crying, eh, eh, that he has finally been arrested.
Out to you, Tom O`Neil, senior editor, "In Touch Weekly." I want to go through that day. Give me the bullet points about what happened the day of the rape. And I`m not even saying alleged rape, because this guy pled guilty and before sentencing went down, he runs to Europe and lives the rest of his life as a celebrity there.
TOM O`NEIL, SENIOR EDITOR IN TOUCH WEEKLY, COVERING STORY: Well, let`s set up something else that`s even more sinister here, Nancy. And that -- it looks like it was premeditated. Her mother was supposed to be with her for this photo shoot that was being held for. He was the guest editor of "French Vogue" magazine.
And there has been a previous meeting between the mother and the girl and Polanski where this all looked very legit, but mama wasn`t allowed to come on the day of the shoot when she was invited to Jack Nicholson`s house.
She was asked to disrobe and get into the hot tub. He got naked, according to her testimony, and got into the hot tub with her.
GRACE: And not only that, Eleanor, it then proceeded to the deep end of the pool where he insisted, she didn`t have her clothes on, and that it was over her head and he would hold her up. Then there were Quaaludes, there were champagne.
She was describing all this to the grand jury, Eleanor, and the photos matched her story, the photos he was taking of her during this incident.
DIXON: And you`ve got to remember, this is a 13-year-old child, Nancy. This isn`t a grown woman making some decisions. She`s very naive.
GRACE: Joining me is Dr. Evelyn Minaya, women`s health expert. Dr. Minaya, thank you for being with us.
DR. EVELYN MINAYA, M.D., WOMEN`S HEALTH EXPERT: Thank you, Nancy.
GRACE: You have dealt with so many women.
MINAYA: So many.
GRACE: Young ladies and women through all points in their life that have been raped as children. This is a child, a 13-year-old girl. It affects them forever.
MINAYA: Forever. And not only that, the physical aspects of it also. Remember, she had anal sodomy. Do you know that that puts her at an increased risk for anal cancer in her future, let alone all the other psychological ramifications that there are with that, you can just imagine.
So everybody is talking about, you know, this poor man and things like that. Personally, I just don`t have anything to say. I`m kind of, like, astounded that we`re actually talking about this but.
GRACE: I`m stunned at Hollywood`s reaction.
To Marc Klaas, special guest, president and founder of KlaasKid Foundation, child advocate.
Marc, I can hardly take in the response where everyone acts like because he`s been living it up in Europe for 30 years, we should forget about what happened.
MARC KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER, KLAASKIDS FOUNDATION: Well, I think I join you and others in expressing my disgust, that the art community feels victimized by this. And I join many in being appalled that somehow Mr. Polanski is being portrayed as some kind of a victim in this whole situation.
If this case plays out on the merits of the case, he is going to go to prison. If it plays out any other way whatsoever, I think an increasingly cynical public will be reinforced in their belief that there are two systems of justice, one for the super wealthy and the super powerful and one for the rest of us.
GRACE: To Ron Shindel, former NYPD deputy inspector. Ron, if someone so much touched a hair on the twin`s head, they wouldn`t need a judge. They`d get a little finger necklace courtesy of Nancy A. Grace. And I am stunned that anyone thinks we should just forget about this. I`m stunned. And I hope some LA judge doesn`t agree.
RON SHINDEL, FORMER NYPD DEPUTY INSPECTOR: Nancy, this is a case that`s pretty simple. He pled guilty. He is convicted. He should be brought back and he should serve his time. Plus the time, whatever they`re going to tack on, for evading the charge and the sentence anyway.
GRACE: And out to Tammy in Massachusetts. Hi, Tammy.
TAMMY, CALLER FROM MASSACHUSETTS: Yes, Nancy, that actually was one part of my question is I don`t know if they were exaggerating on a show that I saw today, but they said something to the effect. He had been sentenced to 100 years or something like that.
GRACE: No. No. He never got sentenced.
TAMMY: Right. Right. I realized that now watching your show. I don`t know if they were just exaggerating it or whatever. But I mean, how could there be any kind of a statute or limitations or any kind of a thing when, you know, this guy flees the country.
And I`m with you about the finger necklace type thing, because I have a daughter myself and listening to Deborah Winger, I could really, physically vomit, Nancy.
GRACE: I agree, Tammy.
TAMMY: She is a mother.
GRACE: And I`m going to answer your question when we come back but as we go to break, happy birthday to South Carolina friend, David. A former cop and Navy vet, he loves the sea, volunteering.
Happy birthday, David.
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GRACE: 181 brave women across 31 countries raised nearly $1 million in the fight against breast cancer. They break the world record in women`s free style formation skydiving.
Take a look. Take a look at them.
Tonight, Jaclyn Kaylor, one of the women who jumped for the cause is with us live.
Jaclyn Kaylor, you`re very, very brave. Tell me, aside from you raising $1 million doing this jump to fight breast cancer, what was it like?
JACLYN KAYLOR, SKYDIVED FOR BREAST CANCER AWARENESS, WWW.JUMPFORTHECAUSE.COM (via phone): It was almost indescribable. Just a great feeling to see so many women come together regardless of race, religion, nationality, all for one common goal and to have everybody get along and achieve that goal. It was incredible.
GRACE: I mean, what was it like -- going through the air like a bullet and trying to grab somebody`s hand and look coordinated in the air? By the way, which one are you? I`m showing video right now. Well, I can`t even imagine it.
KAYLOR: Well, it`s actually not as much bullet-like as you would think, even though you are going 120. It feels more like you`re floating than anything. But we did a lot of practice on the ground before we got up on the air.
GRACE: Holy molly.
KAYLOR: . and everybody knew exactly where they were supposed to go. And.
GRACE: I don`t understand. In the middle of the air, how can you, quote, "know where you`re supposed to go?"
With me, Jaclyn Kaylor from Americus, Georgia, who skydived for breast cancer awareness. You can find the cause at www.jumpforthecause.com.
How do you find where you`re supposed to be in the middle of the air, Jaclyn Kaylor?
KAYLOR: Well, you -- what you do on the ground it`s called a dirt dive. And you get everybody all dressed up in their jumpsuit and their rigs so that you know what color the person is next to you, in front of you.
GRACE: Man. Hey, Jaclyn.
KAYLOR: . behind you.
GRACE: We`re showing video of you guys jumping right now and I`ve got to tell you, you, Jaclyn Kaylor, are my new hero.
Everybody, Jumpforthecause.com.
Let`s stop and remember Army Sergeant Andrew Perkins, 27, Northglenn, Colorado, killed Iraq. Lost his life trying to save fellow soldiers. Highly decorated. Given the Silver Star, Service Cross, the country`s second and third highest awards.
Heart of gold, loved volunteering, taking special needs children fishing. Leaves behind grieving parents, Weldon and Kathy, four sisters and three brothers.
Andrew Perkins, American hero.
Thanks to all of our guests but especially to you for being with us tonight. Everyone, I`ll see tomorrow night 8:00 sharp Eastern. And congratulations to Michael Mazzariello. Judge Mazz starting "Street Court."
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