Return to Transcripts main page
Jane Velez-Mitchell
Attorney: Tommy Croslin Cooperating with Police; Mother, Stepfather Suspects in Murder of Boy, 4
Aired May 14, 2010 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST (voice-over): Tonight, fast-breaking new twists and turns in the desperate search for Haleigh Cummings. Misty Croslin was the last person to see her alive. Now her brother Tommy says she knows what happened the night she vanished. Tonight, I`ll talk one-on- one with Tommy`s attorney. He claims Tommy led investigators to Haleigh`s body.
And terror on campus. First, Morgan Harrington vanishes during a rock concert. Then a lacrosse star, brutally murdered inside her apartment. Tonight, could these attacks have been prevented? I`ll talk to Morgan Harrington`s devastated, frustrated mother.
Plus Rachel Uchitel, smack dab in the middle of another Hollywood sex scandal. Tiger`s alleged mistress claims she has text messages from TV star David Boreanaz proving he loved her. Meanwhile, she`s shooting down other sexual text messages, claiming they`re fake. Tonight, I`ll talk one- on-one with Rachel`s attorney, the one and only Gloria Allred.
ISSUES starts now.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mind-blowing new developments in the case of missing 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings. We have more of the chilling jailhouse phone calls that proved to investigators they were no longer searching for a missing little girl.
Misty Croslin was babysitting Haleigh on the very night she vanished. More than a year passed before cops determined the child was murdered. Tonight the attorney for Misty`s brother, Tommy Croslin, confirms for the very first time that, when Tommy took investigators to this dock along the murky banks of the St. Johns River, he was leading them to little Haleigh`s body.
Now, it was this phone call that you`re about to hear that Tommy made to his Grandma Flo that sparked the massive underwater search for the little girl`s remains. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TOMMY CROSLIN, MISTY CROSLIN`S BROTHER: Tell her I`ve got to do something that I should have done a long time ago.
FLORA HOLLARS, TOMMY`S GRANDMOTHER: Do what, baby?
CROSLIN: Tell her I have to do something I should have done a long time ago.
HOLLARS: He said he`s got to do something that he should have done a long time ago, and I don`t want to hear the answer to it because I already know it.
CROSLIN: I`m just -- just scared. I don`t want no one to hurt my kids.
HOLLARS: I know it, I know it. Oh, my God.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: They are both crying in that phone call. Tommy insists he was not involved in Haleigh`s murder, but in the beginning, Tommy said he didn`t know anything at all about little Haleigh`s disappearance. When he was arrested on drug charges, he even told his dad he was not going to make up a story to get out of jail. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROSLIN: I hate (EXPLETIVE DELETED) having to be here myself. I would do anything to get up out of this situation, but besides make up a story, I ain`t making up no damned story.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now Tommy is the one cracking this case? Hmm, how can they trust him?
Straight out to my fantastic expert panel: CNN legal analyst Lisa Bloom; crime blogger Levi Page, and I am very delighted to welcome Tommy Croslin`s attorney, James Werter.
Jim, thank you so much for joining us. I think the big question is, why did you release the audio of the telephone conversation between your client, Tommy, and Grandma Flo, and what is significant to you about those phone calls?
JAMES WERTER, ATTORNEY FOR TOMMY CROSLIN: Well, there are a number of reasons. The No. 1 reason is that, for the past few days, or ever since, there`s been a lot of disinformation, a lot of speculation, a lot of hearsay and reporting as fact. And I`m here to set the record straight, just like I was the last time, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, set it straight. What exactly is your point with the release of these recordings?
WERTER: If you listen to the tape, you hear him do a tearful -- and I don`t want to use the word -- I`ve heard the word "confession" made. Wrong word. He was setting the record straight that he had to come forth finally and that he was operating for the past year under a veil of fear. Fear for his kids. You listen to the tape, you hear him complain about it. "I don`t want him near my kids." You know, "I was afraid for my kids." Things of that nature. So it lends to his present credibility.
Plus, he has been cooperating over the last month with law enforcement, and his story is now corroborating Misty`s current version. Both of these people have been operating out of fear for the past year, year and a half. And it adds a new twist and turn when you`re afraid for your life and you`re afraid for your kids` lives.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why should we believe him now, when he has told several stories. One, we heard him on camera telling his dad, "I`m not going to make up a story just to get out of jail." So in that sound bite he`s essentially saying he didn`t know anything, and he`s also reportedly said that he went to the trailer the night that Misty disappeared, knocked and there was nobody there. So that`s another story.
WERTER: Well, look at the story now. Both of these individuals are being interviewed or have been interviewed by FDLE and Putnam County Sheriff`s Office separately. They have not had time to corroborate or collaborate in the story they are presenting to the sheriff`s office and law enforcement today.
And I am told by law enforcement that they are comfortable with the version that they are getting today. They are -- they do kind of back each other up. And so...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I guess are you -- are you admitting that Tommy lied previously when he said that he wasn`t going to make up a story and then was at the house and knocked?
WERTER: In the past I told you it was out of a veil of fear. The individual that they point to, and both of them are pointing up north. OK? And again, Misty never pointed at Tommy, and Tommy never pointed at Misty. That`s another fallacy.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me play this -- let me play this sound bite, and then we`ll get your reaction on that. Tommy and Misty Croslin, just to bring our viewers up to date -- I think we all know this. They`re behind bars on drug trafficking charges. Grandma Flo Hollars spoke to her jailed grandkids, Tommy and Misty, over the phone on April 11. And after those conversations, Flo made some stunning allegations. Now listen to this. This is Grandma Flo.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLLARS: What I was told by Misty this morning was that Tommy and Joe took Haleigh and wrapped a yellow rope around her and carried her to the dock and put a -- tied a brick around the bottom of the other end of the rope and throwed her into the river. Now that comes from Misty`s mouth into my ear.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, so Jim, Grandma Flo is saying Misty implicated Tommy and Joe Overstreet, the cousin.
WERTER: When did that statement come out? I think that statement came out around April 21, way after the time. There was a lot of speculation and leaks out of -- out of different agencies about...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Lisa Bloom, your reaction.
LISA BLOOM, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Well, I`m not buying this story, Jane. First of all, jailhouse snitches are notoriously unreliable. And if this story is true, where is Haleigh?
And really? Fear? Fear is what kept these people from coming forward? How about the fear that little Haleigh felt the night that she was abducted and whenever something terrible happened to her, as it probably did by now? I just don`t buy any of this.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Levi Page, you`re the crime blogger who`s been on top of this story. What is your reaction to the attorney for to Tommy Croslin, coming out and saying, basically, he`s the good guy in all this. He did the right thing by telling cops where to look, and he`s not involved.
LEVI PAGE, CRIME BLOGGER: He`s a good guy? He waited a year to come out with this information. He`s not a good guy who`s been lying through his teeth for a year. If he was a good guy, he would have come out as soon as Haleigh went missing and provided this information to law enforcement.
Because this Joe that they`re afraid of, he lives in Tennessee. He lives in a completely different state than Florida. Give him up and give him up quick if he`s the one that did it.
In my opinion, Tommy may know information. I don`t think that he`s the main perpetrator in this case. The people that I`ve zoned in on from the very beginning is Ronald Cummings and Misty Croslin. They got married a month after Haleigh went missing. And in my opinion, that was a big old shenanigan that showed that they didn`t care about Haleigh. Ronald was doing drugs a year after Misty went missing, because guess what? He knew what happened in this trial, and he`s out there dealing drugs, dealing OxyContin instead of searching for her.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Take a look at this guy. This is Cousin Joe. That`s not Cousin Joe, but we were just looking at Cousin Joe Overstreet. That`s Ron Cummings. There`s Cousin Joe.
OK. Cousin Joe Overstreet in Tennessee, he says, "Hey, I`m -- I`m being framed. I`m being framed by my cousins down south." So everybody in this family is pointing the finger at the other. He says he`s not involved in any of this.
Why haven`t, Lisa Bloom -- why haven`t we found the child`s body already, if Tommy took authorities down to the river, and Misty also went down to the river and they all pointed to the very dock where supposedly she was thrown into the water?
BLOOM: That`s the key question here, Jane. If this story is true and not just being told to get somebody out of another criminal matter, then where is the body? You know, bodies -- I hate to get this grisly -- but usually rise to the surface, eventually come to the shore. They are usually found. It hasn`t happened in this case, so it undercuts this entire story.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, according to Grandma Flo, little Haleigh`s body was weighted down with a cement block. Authorities did remove a couple of cement blocks from that river. We haven`t heard anything about the tests on those cement blocks, but it was a long time that they were in the water. So who knows if they would be able to find anything, even if those blocks were involved.
Everybody stay right where you are. Much more on the Haleigh bombshell. Are we any closer to finding answers?
Plus, horrifying new details in the gruesome murder of a 4-year-old boy. This is such a sick story it turns my stomach. How could anyone do such things to this beautiful little boy?
But first, theories swirling out of control. What happened to Haleigh Cummings? We are investigating tonight.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HOLLARS: Well, if it was your child or your stepchild, would you be walking and laughing with her gone? Look how Misty is laughing. She doesn`t care. She had Ron by herself.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROSLIN: I need her to get my lawyer down here, very important.
HOLLARS: What`s the number, baby? Nine-oh-four?
Hey, Lindsay, I`ve got Tommy on the other line.
What is it you want me to tell her, baby?
CROSLIN: Tell her to get my lawyer down here. It`s very important. I`ve got to do something that should have been done already.
HOLLARS: Get the lawyer down here. It`s very important. Do what, baby?
CROSLIN: Tell her I`ve got to do something.
HOLLARS: Do something.
CROSLIN: Should have been done already.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The shocking, emotional jailhouse phone call that sparked a massive underwater search for the body of 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings.
Haleigh vanished in the dead of night more than a year ago. Tonight, we are speaking to Tommy Croslin`s attorney about his breakdown in prison. Tommy was desperately asking for his lawyer so he could talk to investigators and, quote, "do something he should have been done a long time ago." That according to Tommy, who is Misty`s brother.
And we are with James Werter, Tommy Croslin`s attorney. The big question for our panel: why did he wait so long? If this is the truth, why not solve this mystery that has perplexed the entire universe a lot sooner?
WERTER: Well, if you listen to that tape, it`s right there on the tape, the fear of what was happening for the past year and a half. Tennessee is not China, as Levi would say. Tennessee is so far away. It`s not that far away. He does not know what these people grew up with. It`s pure speculation on Levi`s point.
As far as the body, I think Lisa, you might be from up north, judging from your accent. I`m from up north too, but I`ve been down here 30 years. Come on down. It will take me five minutes to show you there might not be a body down here. It`s unfortunate. It`s ugly. The police, the law enforcement know where the dots lead to. It`s time for the state attorney`s office to make a final decision. I don`t know if it`s going to get better.
BLOOM: Do the laws of physics not apply south of the Mason-Dixon Line? I -- I mean, I don`t understand what geography has to do with it.
WERTER: We have a little community down here called alligators. And let me tell you, it`s no joke. It really isn`t. I had an eight-foot alligator in my back yard last summer. It`s -- it`s a real problem here. It was talked about way early on, after the river.
BLOOM: I don`t understand the fear.
WERTER: No, I`m talking about the body.
BLOOM: He`s afraid of somebody who would abduct a little girl? What`s the fear factor?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me -- let me do this. Let me first of all -- I`m going to set up the clip. And, yes, Grandma Flo referred to the alligators, and there was even some talk in all the -- what I would call speculation that maybe somebody put blood on little Haleigh and threw her in the river so that the alligators would eat her. Deer blood is what we heard. And that is certainly gruesome.
Now, Tommy, your client, Jim, told his Grandma Flo that he waited this long to tell the truth because, as you were saying, he was scared to death of his Cousin Joe hurting his two young kids. Let`s listen to that sound.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CROSLIN: His (EXPLETIVE DELETED) is crazy.
HOLLARS: Yes.
CROSLIN: He tried to kill all of us. Don`t be telling them until they get this (EXPLETIVE DELETED) because they`re going to get his (EXPLETIVE DELETED). I don`t want him getting my kids.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, I have to say that Joe Overstreet, the cousin in Tennessee, is saying he has been framed by his cousins, Tommy and Misty. He -- he claims he`s totally, and he has been interviewed by police and has not been named a suspect.
But Jim, I want to ask you, as Tommy`s attorney, what has Cousin Joe done in the past that is so violent that your client would be so afraid of him?
WERTER: He does not have a criminal record, per se, but his activities, fights, actually use of firearms. I think his MySpace Page has him holding a couple of guns, one of them aimed at the camera on his MySpace Page. I don`t know if that page is still up. And I saw that picture of myself. This is a guy who prides himself on being a tough guy. Even though, as you look at him, you wouldn`t think so. You know, he`s a skinny guy.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re looking at him right now.
WERTER: At the MySpace Page?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: No, we`re looking at video of Cousin Joe as you speak, and you`re right: he`s a very thin kind of guy. He`s not like a hulk. And that`s Tommy. That`s your client, Tommy.
All right, let`s move on to another issue. On last night`s show here on ISSUES, investigative journalist Art Harris broke some news that Tommy`s wife, Lindsay, is divorcing him. Let`s listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALIST: Jane, I can tell you that this is taking a toll on the family. And Tommy Croslin`s wife, Lindsay, is filing for divorce. This is an emotional bombshell to Tommy, who adores his wife and their three children. And this could pulverize it right from under him, and he`s now at his most vulnerable.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jim, why is Tommy`s wife divorcing him, and first of all, is it true to your knowledge?
WERTER: Yes, she did file the divorce. That`s a matter of public record. But I will tell you this. That was a knee-jerk reaction. She is a mother, so she feels for Haleigh. She feels for the family of Haleigh. And obviously, you`re going to react that way. My wife is the same way.
However, in court yesterday, who was standing by my side and who has put the divorce on hold? Lindsay.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wait, you`re saying now that there`s yet another new development, that she`s putting the divorce from the man you`re seeing right there on tape, she`s putting it on hold, so she`s not going to, perhaps, go through with it?
WERTER: This is correct.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why?
WERTER: Because she loves her guy, and she believes the story that has come out and that law enforcement has accepted.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Lisa Bloom, you`ve been listening. Final thoughts.
BLOOM: Well, the final thoughts is that this story came out too little, too late. Let`s not forget that there`s a little girl who`s missing here, and I really don`t buy this fear story that he`s so afraid of somebody who would do something like this to a little girl that, rather than catching the perpetrator who abducted and probably murdered this child, he`s watching out for himself all of this time. And now he`s accused of a drug crime, now he comes forward, trying to curry favor. It`s just not plausible.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Quick answer, Jim, to that last word.
WERTER: There`s no deals on the table. It`s been voluntary. There`s no plea bargains on the table. And additionally, like I said in your last show, Jane, this is speculation, based on Lisa`s own upbringing and experiences. And you can`t translate it to the community here (ph).
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Got to leave it right there, but we were trying to be fair to all sides. Thank you so much, Jim. Fantastic panel.
A new woman comes forward, claiming Roman Polanski sexually abused her when she was just 16 years old. I`ll talk to Gloria Allred next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Horrific and disturbing new details emerging about a little boy who`s abused, murdered and mutilated, allegedly by his own mother and stepfather. Can you believe that?
Cops in Utah say this couple confessed to wrapping the body of little 4-year-old Ethan Stacy in plastic, taping it up, and dumping it in a shallow grave. But not before trying to make the child unrecognizable by taking a hammer to the child`s face and knocking out his teeth. This is a sick story.
Now new court documents reveal that Ethan`s biological father tried to warn a judge that his son was in danger, and this is what he wrote about Ethan`s mom in the divorce petition. Quote, "I`m afraid she`ll come and take him, and I`ll never see him again. She is unstable," end quote.
The deranged pair of accused killers has not been formally charged, but here`s what they will be facing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TROY RAWLINGS, DAVID COUNTY, UTAH, ATTORNEY: We`re looking at aggravated murder. Both defendants are suspects at this point. We`re looking at child abuse, a second-degree felony. We`re looking at obstruction of justice, a second-degree felony. And we`re looking at desecration of a dead body, a human corpse, a third-degree felony.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jean Casarez, correspondent for "In Session" on TruTV, this is one of the sickest cases in recent memory. What is the latest on this story?
JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, TRUTV`S "IN SESSION": The latest is we thought that they were going to be filed with formal charges today, but the prosecutor came forward, saying that they are going to be held on probable cause of committing those crimes, and the public defender is stipulating allowing to it.
Here`s the issue, Jane. They`ve got to find the cause of death and the little body is still at the medical examiner`s office, because there was so much desecration, though, to the body before they hid it in the plastic bags in the canyon, they can`t determine the cause of death, because they`ve got to show the injuries before death and after death. And the cause of death would be those pre-mortem injuries.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And what`s so sick about this case is that this mother fought, went to court to get this child for the summer, demanding visitation, even though the biological dad across the country didn`t want to give him up. And the courts granted visitation. No sooner does the child arrive than they begin allegedly abusing him, and now the child`s dead.
Now new court documents show that Ethan`s stepfather also has a dark and violent past. Last September, he reportedly left a slew of profanity- laced tirades on his ex-wife`s voicemail. That`s the guy we`re looking at right here. Quote, "I`m coming after your bleeping throat," end quote. That was just one of 20 menacing messages regarding custody over their daughter.
Jean, the ex-wife of this guy, Nathan Sloop, said he had multiple personalities. One called Ghost flew into frightening rages. So what in God`s name is a court doing, giving a precious young child to a woman who is dating and then marries this sicko?
CASAREZ: That`s right and I think you`re talking about two jurisdictions, and there`s where the lack of communications. Virginia, this little boy lived in Virginia. He had just arrived to Utah for the summer. And here`s one example of what Stephanie Sloop, the boy`s mother, said that the stepfather did to him. The scalding water in the bath tub burned the soles of his feet and the back of his legs and his stomach. That`s when he was alive.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, my God. I pray that this child is in a better place. Thank you so much, Jean Casarez.
Two vicious attacks with one thing in common: the University of Virginia. Morgan Harrington and Yeardley Love look the same (ph).
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Terror on campus: First Morgan Harrington vanishes during a rock concert. Then a lacrosse star brutally murdered inside her apartment. Tonight, could these attacks have been prevented? I`ll talk to Morgan Harrington`s devastated, frustrated mother.
Plus, Rachel Uchitel smack dab in the middle of another Hollywood sex scandal. Tiger`s alleged mistress claims she has text messages from TV star David Boreanaz proving he loved her. Meanwhile she`s shooting down other sexual text messages claiming, they`re fake.
Tonight, I`ll talk one on one with Rachel`s attorney, the one and only Gloria Allred.
Stunning, shocking revelations tonight in the wake of the brutal murder of University of Virginia lacrosse player Yeardley Love. Cops have charged her wealthy ex-boyfriend, lacrosse player, George Huguely with murder one. The University of Virginia`s president said if he had known about Huguely`s criminal history which allegedly includes threatening to kill a female cop, he would have done something.
So this begs the question, why didn`t the university know and could Yeardley Love`s murder have been prevented? Twenty-two-year-old Yeardley Love -- look at this beautiful girl -- found dead in her apartment May 3rd. Cops say her one-time boyfriend, suspect George Huguely, admitted that he shook her violently and beat her head against the wall.
Friends report Huguely was an angry violent drunk who exhibited a pattern of abuse against Love. Huguely had previously had been arrested for public intoxication and resisting arrest, even tackling a female police officer.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OFFICER R.L. MOSS ARRESTED HUGUELY IN 2008: He became more aggressive, more physical toward me, started calling me several other terms that I`m not going to state now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now ISSUES has learned that in 2008, UVA violated federal law. Why? By requiring student victims of sexual assault to keep quiet about it. The school says the confidentiality rule was to protect the victim`s privacy. Oh, really? So it wasn`t to protect the university`s image?
Straight out to my fantastic panel: CNN legal analyst Lisa Bloom; clinical psychiatrist Dr. Dale Archer; and we are honored to have Dan and Gil Harrington with us. They are the parents of Morgan Harrington, the beautiful 22-year-old Virginia Tech student who disappeared during a concert at UVA last October. Look at her -- look at that young lady. Her remains were found in January.
Gil and Dan, we are very, very sorry for your loss. Our hearts go out to you and we know that there are no words to describe the horror and the nightmare that you have endured. Thank you so much for being with us. We here on ISSUES want to work with you to be part of the solution to this epidemic of violence against young women.
So Gil, let me start with you, you`re very upset about this so- called culture of silence on the UVA campus. What message do you want to get across tonight?
GIL HARRINGTON, MOTHER OF MORGAN HARRINGTON: I think we have to have a zero tolerance policy for violence and when violent acts happen, they are ugly so people tend to turn aside. You know, I have had to witness some very ugly things; my daughter sprayed out like a deer carcass in a field was very ugly.
Ugly things are happening. You can either ignore them or take steps so that they never happen to anyone else`s child. That`s what I`m working for. I don`t want anyone else to be sitting in this chair feeling what we`re feeling now.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, it`s so interesting that you say that, because I hadn`t spoken to you previously, but that was our big issue tonight and it is our big issue tonight. Women and the men who love them need to say enough is enough. We need a zero tolerance policy vis-a-vis violence against women on campus.
Here`s my take. These women are being set up, lulled into a false sense of security, led to believe that college is a sanctuary, a safe place. Instead their living in a stalking ground for sickos.
Look at beautiful Morgan Harrington, she was simply at a concert at the University of Virginia when she vanished. She left that concert to go to the bathroom, she couldn`t get back into the stadium and she vanished only to turn up, as you just heard from her devastated mother, months later.
So I want to ask Dr. Harrington, Morgan`s father, where were the people who were supposed to be looking out for your precious daughter?
DR. DAN HARRINGTON, MORGAN HARRINGTON`S FATHER: Well, I think the situation for Morgan was one in which there were many, many misses, so to speak, from the beginning of Morgan leaving the seat of the arena to the time that she was taken and ultimately killed. There were many, many steps where people could have intervened, from friends to university officials to arena officials.
From the standpoint of people being responsible for one another and looking out for one another, I too think that we need to have a different culture of looking at community and how we can care for one another and watch out for one another.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now your daughter was a Virginia Tech student, but she was at a concert, I think it was a Metallica concert at the University of Virginia --
D. HARRINGTON: That`s correct.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: -- and of course there`s been another tragedy since then involving the University of Virginia, the murder of Yeardley Love, a star lacrosse player, by another student, George Huguely, who was also a star lacrosse player who had a violent past and who actually, according to a female officer threatened the life of a female officer and was arrested and had to be tasered because he was so violent.
UVA`s president says he never knew that George Huguely had a criminal history. Since then, he has met with Virginia`s governor to discuss possible changes to the law that would alert the university if a student is arrested.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHN L. CASTEEN III, PRESIDENT, UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA: The loss of a student in this way is both an agonizing thing for the family, and a challenge for every system in a university. There is no protocol to deal with this kind of death.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Gil, as the mother of a young woman who died, shouldn`t there be a protocol? Who`s dropped the ball here?
G. HARRINGTON: I don`t know if you can make a protocol that will fit because each incident in murder, everyone is different. And the Yeardley`s family, my heart goes out to them. They had a different set of circumstances.
The commonality though is violence, the undercurrent and the system that enables, encourages this behavior to fester, particularly on campuses. Things are different now. The world is more violent for whatever reason.
We have changed how we are in airports, we have changed how we are in high schools. We need to really look at campuses and not dismiss these as isolated incidents, but see a pattern because there is a spatter pattern of blood that you can connect the dots and make some changes so these can`t happen anymore.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I have to say that these parents are my heroes. They`re my heroes, Lisa Bloom because they have turned their grief, their horrific grief, into action and their grace in this situation is unbelievable, they have really, really, really started, I hope, what becomes a movement, a movement of zero tolerance to violence against young women on campus -- Lisa.
LISA BLOOM, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It is and it`s so inspiring. And look, ignorance is never the answer, ignorance is the problem. The university doesn`t know what the police know, victims are not allowed to speak out.
No, the more information we get out there, the more we hold universities responsible for transparency, the more we`re all going to be safe and our children who go to college are going to be safer.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Here`s the scariest thing at all. According to the U.S. government, one out of five women who attend college will become a victim of rape or attempted rape before graduation. That is the government`s statistic.
It`s an outrage, Dr. Dale Archer -- just a few seconds.
DR. DALE ARCHER, CLINICAL PSYCHIATRIST: Absolutely, domestic violence is rampant on college campuses, 25 percent of women will be assaulted. Last year there were 1,000 deaths in domestic violence cases.
Education is the key. We have to stop sweeping this under the rug and address it as a huge, huge national issue.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Coming up, Gloria Allred is here. She is one busy woman -- from Rachel Uchitel to Roman Polanski. We will have the latest details.
But first, a bizarre new twist in the abducted college student -- it turns out, hey, she wasn`t abducted at all and she wasn`t a college student. What the heck is going on here?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We learned from the UCLA Police Department that she has not been a student there since 2008. That certainly does put a crinkle in our investigation and we have to re-evaluate what we`re looking at.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The one and only Gloria Allred in the house next, but first, "Top of the Block" tonight.
A bizarre new twist in the missing woman case in California: Nancy Salas went for a jog on Wednesday, never returned. Family members feared the worst, setting off a frantic search for their beautiful daughter.
Well, fantastic news, cops tracked her down yesterday, she`s safe and sound, Salas told cops she was abducted at knife point. It turns out the entire thing was a hoax.
Nancy was actually leading a double life. She had dropped out of UCLA in 2008 and she was too ashamed to break that news to her family, namely that she was not going to graduate this month even though they were planning a party for her.
So her solution to that problem is that she faked her own abduction. Well, I have bad news for you Nancy, they now know and so does the rest of the world. I`m going to call her the runaway student. Nancy you may not have graduated from college, but you are now part of an elite group of hoax artists. You join charters members like runaway mom and runaway bride and the balloon boy`s dad. Well done, young lady -- not.
That`s tonight`s "Top of the Block".
Turning now to breaking news in the Roman Polanski sex scandal, a new woman has just come forward to accuse the famous Hollywood director of sexually assaulting her when she was just 16 years old. Charlotte Lewis says it happened while she was working on Polanski`s film "Pirates" in 1986. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHARLOTTE LEWIS, ACCUSES ROMAN POLANSKI OF ASSAULT: I am also a victim of Roman Polanski. He sexually abused me in the worst possible way when I was just 16 years old four years after he fled the United States. I have traveled to the United States at my expense to make sure that justice is finally done and that Mr. Polanski gets what he deserves.
Mr. Polanski knew that I was only just 16 years old when he met me and forced himself upon me in his apartment in Paris. He took advantage of me and I have lived with the effect of his behavior ever since this occurred. All I want is justice.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Big news, just breaking. Polanski pleaded guilty to statutory rape way back in 1978, but then he fled the country, the U.S. that is, before he could be punished. Will these new allegations be a game changer in that old case from the `70s?
We are talking to high-powered attorney Gloria Allred who is representing this new alleged victim.
Gloria also has some news first on the Hollywood sex scandal involving married actor David Boreanaz, Gloria`s client, Rachel Uchitel is trying to debunk a slew of racy e-mails between her and the "Bones" actor.
Rachel says the messages are, quotes, "not authentic, taken completely out of context or incomplete" end quote. Well, if their fake who made them up?
I am thrilled to welcome my fantastic guest, famed attorney Gloria Allred.
Gloria, let`s start with the breaking news in the Polanski case. We just heard from your new client who is accusing Roman Polanski of sexual assault. Why is she coming out now more than two decades later and what impact will her allegations have on the older charges against Polanski involving the 13-year-old girl in L.A.?
GLORIA ALLRED, VICTIM`S RIGHTS ATTORNEY: Well, what my client, Charlotte Lewis, has to say and it`s very brave of her to say it, Jane, is that she was victimized by Roman Polanski when she was 16 years old. She is coming forward now.
Yesterday we met with the -- a very high level deputy district attorney in the Los Angeles county district attorney`s office, also with the detective from the Los Angeles Police Department and they interviewed her at length and we believe that what she has to say is certainly relevant on the issue of the sentencing of Mr. Polanski.
And that with this information, it will be important to the judge who ultimately does decide on the sentence to take this into consideration and give whatever weight he or she decides that should be given before the sentence is handed down.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Roman Polanski is at the center of a handful of Hollywood tragedies and scandals. His wife, this is a very famous case obviously, actress Sharon Tate was eight months pregnant when Charlie Manson`s followers murdered her at her home in the Los Angeles area. About eight years later Polanski was arrested for sexual assaulting 13-year-old Samantha Geimer.
She testified that Roman Polanski fed her champagne and a sedative before performing multiple sex acts on her. Now Polanski pleaded guilty to statutory rape but then -- he fled the United States before he was punished. He was finally arrested just last year in Switzerland and put under house arrest.
Now a California Supreme Court Judge ruled just this past January that Polanski must return to be sentenced. But there is a big international extradition battle going on as we speak.
Gloria, if a judge ordered Polanski to surrender and return for sentencing, why hasn`t he been hauled back to the United States?
ALLRED: Well, because it`s a very complicated legal question, but it`s an important question that you ask, Jane. He is now under house arrest in Switzerland. He is fighting returning to the United States to stand before the bar of justice, and be accountable, and pay the legal consequences for his crimes.
And I know that the L.A. County D.A.`s office is doing everything possible to return him. And I think it`s important that the judge know what he`s been doing since he`s been a fugitive from justice -- and he is a fugitive from justice. And I think the message of by pursuing him is this, that you can run, you can hide, but you are going to be pursued, and whether -- even if you are rich and you are powerful, you don`t get a pass, you still must be accountable for your criminal acts. And that`s what this is all about.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s turn -- let`s turn to another one of your clients, Rachel Uchitel. RadarOnline published very erotic, graphic, text messages that they insist were exchange by Rachel Uchitel and actor David Boreanaz. But Rachel, your client, denies that they`re real and she said quote, "somebody is deliberately trying to portray me in a false light". Who would want to do that?
She also says she`s got authentic texts which reveal that she and David repeatedly expressed deep love and affection towards each other.
So Gloria, why would somebody go to great lengths to whip up a whole bunch of phony texts that would link her to David Boreanaz in an explicit way?
ALLRED: I have no idea why anyone would do that, but she contends that they absolutely are not authentic. She and David did text. They had a romantic relationship and it`s very important to point out that he pursued her. And that he texted and that they texted frequently during the day and evening and even openly took her out as his girlfriend and even put her on the phone with his own son and gave her gifts. So we don`t know who would have put out those texts.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, Gloria, stay right where you are, more with Gloria Allred, talking about Rachel Uchitel right after this quick break.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
RACHEL UCHITEL, ALLEGED DAVID BOREANAZ AND TIGER WOODS` MISTRESS: I don`t have any comment. I`m not going to have any comment. So I have to live my life and I would appreciate you guys not being on my property and not bothering me while I`m trying to be here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Ok. We`re just trying to get one comment from you about Tiger because they`re spreading those rumors that he was here with you but no one`s really seen you with him. So that`s why we`re just trying to clear it up.
UCHITEL: I know. I have absolutely no comment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We first heard Rachel Uchitel`s name in connection with the Tiger Woods sex scandal. She is now linked to another star, "Bones" actor, David Boreanaz.
We are here with her attorney, Gloria Allred. Gloria, do you have any thoughts as to why your client, Rachel Uchitel, her name has come up in connection with first Tiger and now David Boreanaz?
ALLRED: Well, she did have a romantic relationship with David Boreanaz. And as I said, he pursued her. He told her that he loved her. She even has a video in which he declares his love for her. And he even gave her some gifts, basically silver jewelry, which he said it was a key on a chain to symbolize the key to their hearts.
This was a relationship that was going on but ultimately she broke it off with David Boreanaz because she no longer trusted him or respected him.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, there`s another layer to this story that`s quite bizarre. "Bones" star David Boreanaz claims he was the victim of extortion. He claims he was involved with a woman who asked for money and tried to blackmail him. Instead of paying her, he decided to publicly admit that he cheated on his wife which is why the story, I guess, first broke in the news.
Gloria, you have said that you also represent this mystery woman. Now does she deny the extortion allegation? And does she plan to come forward?
ALLRED: Well, of course, the allegation is completely false and that`s often what celebrities say. Often celebrities will hurt women and then do not want to be accountable for what they have done to the persons that they have hurt and who have meritorious legal claims against them.
She has not come forward yet. I do believe that she will be coming forward. And you will hear about her, I`m sure, very, very soon.
But all I can tell you is that David Boreanaz is now revealing himself for what he is. And he was married; he did have relationships outside of marriage. And I think he needs to really sit down with his wife and be honest about those relationships.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: He has publicly admitted to cheating. And once again, we invite him on the show if he wants to tell his side of the story or his attorney, they are welcome.
Dr. Dale Archer, psychiatrist, given all the problems that emanate from of a famous person straying outside the marriage why do they do it?
ARCHER: Well, they do it because they can. And it`s -- it`s opportunity, Jane, and obviously the more powerful you are, the richer you are, the more famous you are, the more opportunity you`re going to have to be able to have infidelities outside of your marriage.
So this is a problem that occurs across the board, but it`s more pronounced in celebrities because the opportunity is so much more prevalent.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to say that we are going to stay on top of this story. We don`t know which direction it`s morphing in, but I`m sure that when the next aspect of this story breaks, Gloria Allred, you`ll be back to talk about your mystery client and perhaps we will learn that mystery client`s name.
ALLRED: Absolutely.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you so much, fabulous panel for joining me --
ALLRED: Thank you very much.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You are watching ISSUES on HLN.
END
