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Jane Velez-Mitchell
Jury Foreman "Disgusted" Over Casey Anthony Verdict; Search Group Files Lawsuit Against Casey Anthony
Aired July 12, 2011 - 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, Casey Anthony a free woman in just days?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, find the defendant not guilty.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now new details revealed about her release and a theory emerging about where she`ll go.
Plus I`ll talk to her ex-fiance`s father.
Then just in, former "Survivor" producer Bruce Beresford-Redman will be sent to Mexico to face charges for his wife`s gruesome murder. What took so long? And was their 6-year-old daughter forced to testify on his behalf? We`re taking your calls.
ISSUES starts now.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Caylee! Caylee! Caylee! Caylee!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Caylee! Caylee! Caylee! Caylee!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Caylee! Caylee! Caylee! Caylee!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (UNINTELLIGIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justice for Caylee! God is not going to (UNINTELLIGIBLE).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s heart breaking. A child is gone, and no one is held accountable.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She got away with it, and you know it. And people are saying that it was OK. She didn`t get away with this, that -- I can`t even talk. I`m appalled by this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that it`s about right, because she obviously didn`t do the murder.
JOSE BAEZ, ATTORNEY FOR CASEY: There are no winners in this case. Caylee has passed on far, far too soon.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Any time she comes out, it`s too soon for me. Her daughter`s gone. And she gets to get out of jail and make a book, make a movie, make all kinds of money. It`s giving her her bella vita life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, live in a very stormy and rainy Orlando, Florida. You can see the rain is pouring down. And right over my shoulder behind the barbed wire, you see Casey Anthony is spending her final days behind bars.
This coming Sunday she is going to walk out a free woman. And we`ve got some breaking news tonight. We have just confirmed that Cindy Anthony will not face perjury charges for her testimony about those sinister chloroform searches. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BAEZ: Do you recall in March of 2008 you doing any types of searches for any items that might include chloroform?
CINDY ANTHONY, CASEY`S MOTHER: Yes. And I started looking up chloroform, I mean chlorophyll. And then that prompted me to look up chloroform.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Was Cindy lying to protect her daughter, Casey? We may never know.
Meanwhile, the controversy over the verdict rages on. Florida investigators held an unprecedented news conference, seven of them. Yes, the investigators who took the stand, defending themselves against accusations of fraud and shoddy police work. Listen to this.
SHERIFF JERRY DEMINGS, ORANGE COUNTY, FLORIDA: We gave it 100 percent in our effort to try to locate her and to bring to justice the individuals responsible in this case.
CORPORAL YURI MELICH, LEAD DETECTIVE: It`s still amazing to me how she reacted; how she didn`t react inside the interview.
SANDRA OSBORNE, COMPUTER TECHNICIAN, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: It`s the defense`s job to cast doubt on the evidence that we present. They called it fraud. I would have to disagree.
SGT. JOHN ALLEN, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: In our mind, George was never a suspect. Our original suspect in this was Zanny the nanny, because that`s what we were told. You know, I think it`s been said by some people that we were desperate when, in fact, we were desperate. We were desperate to find a child that we were told was missing.
MELICH: Just didn`t come off that she wouldn`t tell us the truth. And that`s all we were after was the truth. That day this whole thing could have ended had we known the truth.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Meanwhile, the jury foreperson has broken his silence, telling FOX News that he was, quote, "disgusted" as he signed the verdict form. Jennifer Ford, juror No. 3 has said jurors cried over the "not guilty" verdict and were, quote, "sick to their stomachs."
So I`m a little confused. If they were all so disgusted, so conflicted, so sick to their stomachs, why didn`t they convict Casey of something serious? Some jurors have said, "Well, there just wasn`t enough evidence." Not enough evidence to convict her of child abuse? She failed to report her daughter missing for 31 days.
Give me a holler: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.
I am very delighted and honored to have Richard Grund with me here on this very rainy night in Orlando. And you almost were Casey Anthony`s father-in-law, which is a scary prospect. Thank you, sir, for staying here in the rain. I know your back is getting...
RICHARD GRUND, FATHER OF CASEY`S FORMER FIANCE: Wet.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Your back is getting wet. But it`s for a good cause. We`re seeking the truth here. Your reaction to the breaking news that Cindy Anthony will not be prosecuted for perjury.
GRUND: I think it sets a disturbing precedent, that any family member can go into a courtroom and lie on behalf of their son or their daughter to get them off, and there are not -- there is no penalty. I`m bothered by this.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, when we were waiting to go on, you were telling me that you recognized patterns, seeing Cindy on the stand and also Casey when she`s spoken to you in real life. Patterns of lies?
GRUND: The pattern I saw with Casey that reminded me of when I saw Cindy was they give you more information than you need. They take you down this long, rambling road, and then they finally give you an answer. They don`t just tell you what the answer is. They don`t take you from point A to point B. They go off road, and they take in the scenery, and then they get you to the point.
And that to me has always been a sign, all the years I used to do private security, and that was always the sign to me that somebody wasn`t telling the truth.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Are you referring to, for example, when Cindy said on the stand that, oh, the search for neck breaking was a -- was actually a pop-up, and it was about a -- some kind of skateboarder who was going so fast that he was going at neck-breaking speed?
GRUND: Right, right. All of that was unnecessary information to the question at hand.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So do you believe Cindy was lying?
GRUND: Personally I do.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Listen, your son has been through the wringer on this case, Jesse Grund. And I`ve seen him. I`ve chatted with him very briefly. Seemed to be a very upstanding young man.
Let`s listen to Jesse Grund and then talk about how much his life has been impacted by this case. Check this out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSE GRUND, FORMER FIANCE OF CASEY: I treat the Casey that I was engaged to like she doesn`t exist any more. This person who`s running around, laughing in the courtroom while a murder trial is going on, has done everything she`s done, I don`t know her. So I try not to think about it as much as possible.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: There are people who believe that Cindy Anthony lied on the stand, and there is also evidence that Cindy tried to implicate your son in the disappearance of Caylee. She said that to detectives. Do you - - do you recognize a pattern of lying there?
GRUND: It would seem so. There was absolutely no chance when they chose my son that he could have done this just from an emotional level, a moral level, but he also, he was on the job. They had his records. Law enforcement investigated him thoroughly. And if anybody thinks they just pushed him aside, they put him through the wringer to have the answers that he had no involvement whatsoever.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So, are you -- I guess what I`m asking is, did she lie when she said you should check out Jesse Grund, your son?
GRUND: I do believe so. And that was ongoing. If you read the e- mails between her and the private investigator, Dominic Casey, that didn`t stop at the beginning. That went on for another full almost two years.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to go to Aphrodite Jones. She`s the star of "True Crime" on Discovery Investigation. And we`re going to get to her in a second, because she has been in this case from the very beginning and at the trial.
But I want to go first to the foreman, juror No. 11, who spoke to FOX News about his qualms and the reason he did not -- and the other jurors did not convict Casey of anything serious. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really thought that George had very collective memory in the whole regard. I thought that George at times could remember something to be as vivid as it just happened the day before. The way that he described a number of things that happened on June 15 would be one example. He could tell you everything that happened. He could tell you everything that he was wearing. He could tell you the show that he was watching, the topic that they were on.
But then you go, and he`s questioned on a gas can. And I don`t know if you remember the whole situation with the can and how long it took for that whole scenario to play out. He couldn`t remember which can or -- and we had to go back and forth, him and -- him and the defense went back and forth as to which picture he was shown when he was really only shown one. And he went back and forth on that. He had very selective memory for me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Aphrodite Jones, it would appear the jury blamed George Anthony, precisely the defense strategy. They bought it, hook, line and sinker.
JONES: It`s amazing to me, Jane. You and I sat there, watched this trial, that the jury would actually buy that defense theory that George Anthony had anything to do with the cover-up or burial or whatever you want to call it of Caylee Marie Anthony.
You know, in that sense, Jose Baez did a good job. If that`s what they chose to believe, if that`s really what they want to believe, that George Anthony decided to take his granddaughter and move her from an accidental drowning into a tape -- duct-tape murder victim scene and throw her in a swamp, Jose Baez must be the greatest attorney this side of the Mississippi.
Because I find it incredulous that the jurors looked at all those jailhouse videos where George begged and pleaded for Casey to talk to police, to talk to the FBI, to help them locate Caylee.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me say this. They didn`t know the George that we all knew. We saw a George who was out there looking for his granddaughter. We saw a George who was going on "LARRY KING LIVE" saying, "I`ve got to find this child."
All they saw was this man who got on the stand and didn`t sound very believable and who they thought had an affair with River Cruz, a.k.a. Krystal Holloway, and therefore, if he lied about that, what else will he lie about?
All right. We are taking your calls on this: 1-877-JVM-SAYS.
Casey Anthony bolts out of jail this coming Sunday. And we`re all over it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Caylee! Caylee! Caylee! Caylee! Caylee! Caylee!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Caylee! Caylee! Caylee! Caylee! Caylee! Caylee!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Caylee! Caylee! Caylee! Caylee! Caylee! Caylee!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justice for Caylee!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We are here at the site where little Caylee`s remains were found, and as you can see, this makeshift memorial continues to grow and grow and grow. All sorts of dolls and stuffed toys and signs. Pretty much saying the same thing: "We love you so much, Caylee. You are in a much better place."
So really, the community continues this outpouring of love and concern for this child even after the trial is over.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live from Orlando, a rainy, stormy Orlando, although the rain looks to be dissipating right now. I`m very happy about that. Behind me is the jail. Casey Anthony is inside that jail. She is scheduled to be released this coming Sunday. We`re all over it. We`re going to be here for the duration until she is out of here. And we`re going to talk in a moment about where she`s likely to go. Some very fascinating new insights on that.
But first I want to go out to Tim Miller, the founder and director of Texas EquuSearch. We`ve got breaking news from Tim Miller in the form of - - well, you announce it, some new legal action that you are taking, a lawsuit. Tell us about it, Tim.
TIM MILLER, FOUNDER/DIRECTOR, TEXAS EQUUSEARCH: Well, the lawsuit was filed this afternoon. You know, it`s a tough decision. We`ve never, ever been put in that situation before. And I`ll certainly let my attorney talk more on that.
But the reason we -- we really looked at our options on that is that we were called by the Anthonys. The...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Who are you suing, sir? Who are you suing? And why? And for what?
MILLER: Well, why don`t we go to my attorney and talk about that? Of course, we`re going to attempt to sue for to recoup some of the monies that we put into this for being -- certainly for being misled on Caylee, that by Casey`s attorneys` own admission, was never missing.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. We want to go to Mark Wites, your attorney, Tim Miller, just to get the who, what, when, where, why, how of this lawsuit. Mr. Wites, who is EquuSearch, Texas EquuSearch? And Tim Miller`s suing for what and why?
MARK WITES, ATTORNEY FOR TEXAS EQUUSEARCH: Good evening. Texas EquuSearch filed a lawsuit today in Orange County in circuit court. It`s a civil lawsuit, and it is filed against Casey Anthony.
In this lawsuit Texas EquuSearch seeks to recover all of the money that it expended in the search for Caylee Anthony.
It`s important to note that Texas EquuSearch has conducted to date 1,232 searches. Never once, not one time have they ever been induced to engage in a search for a missing person or child based on the representation that that child was alive when the mother of the child, in fact, knew that she was, unfortunately, dead. They seek to recover in excess of the $100,000 that Texas EquuSearch spent on this search.
And during that time period, there were more than 15 other families across the country who had a missing loved one that contacted Mr. Miller. They asked for his help and, based on the representations that were made to Mr. Miller, he was not able to help him because he was devoting all of his resources and time looking for Caylee Anthony based on the representation that she was alive.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow, this is breaking news. You`re hearing it here on ISSUES. Tim Miller and Texas EquuSearch filing suit against Casey Anthony, as she sits in the jail behind me, getting ready to leave for freedom.
I want to go to my dear friend Aphrodite Jones, who is the star of "True Crime" on Discovery Investigation. Do you think this lawsuit, Aphrodite, might be successful?
JONES: I think it`s possible, because if she starts collecting money from networks, from whatever it is -- for books, for movies, for licensing fees -- that company has a right to recoup their money and their time that was spent with her acknowledging by her own defense that she knew her baby was dead. According to her, Caylee died in the swimming pool on the 16th.
So she wasted their money; she wasted their resources. She took away important searches for other real missing children. And she should definitely have to pay them for that, for their efforts. She -- and they do have a valid point.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now let me say this. Mark Wites, you`re not the only one suing Casey Anthony. Obviously, Zenaida Gonzalez is suing her for defamation because of the whole Zanny the nanny thing.
Her attorney, John Morgan, wants to do a deposition of her this coming Tuesday, but Jose Baez has said that she is going to leave the area immediately upon her release on Sunday. So presumably, she wouldn`t be around Tuesday.
Are you also going to try to depose her? And how do you get her? How do you wrangle her to depose her if she`s going to take off?
WITES: Well, we certainly will seek to take the deposition of Casey Anthony. And one of the reasons why -- why we filed the lawsuit as quickly as we did was to make sure that we could serve her to -- with the lawsuit, make her subject to the jurisdiction or the powers of the court before she`s released from jail. She will be served tomorrow in the Orange County Jailhouse. And once that lawsuit is served...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Louise -- I want to get to Louise in Florida. Your question or thought, Louise, because I know it`s about this.
CALLER: Yes, it is. When I called you, I had no idea that Tim Miller would be on the show, but my call was, I heard Tim speak last night saying he was coming to Florida. My assumption was that he was going to be filing suit against Caylee -- I`m sorry, Casey, and that the state of Florida is also looking maybe in recouping the damages, and that Zenaida Gonzalez is expected to...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. More on the other side. We`re get into this breaking news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee! Justice for Caylee!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jane Velez Mitchell back live in Orlando, Florida. You can see the barbed wire perhaps right behind me. Casey Anthony is somewhere back there. She`s going to be released this coming Sunday. We don`t know when, but we don`t even know where. We don`t even know much about it. There`s a lot of speculation.
I`ve had sources tell me that she`s going to leave in the dead of night. They`re going to go out the back way, five to seven vehicles, and then she is going to leave town. And we`re thinking maybe she might go to Puerto Rico.
I`m here with Aphrodite Jones, who is the star of "True Crime" on Discovery Investigation. Do you think Puerto Rico makes sense, given that we are here in Florida?
JONES: It makes perfect sense, because Jose Baez is Puerto Rican. He`s got the whole Spanish community with him. She can basically sit close to home. She can be laying low. She doesn`t -- in essence, she gets to have a retreat from her three years in prison and start over again.
But she`s going to have to dye her hair. She`s going to have to cut her hair. She better start doing something really different with her looks, because even in Puerto Rico, I don`t think this woman is going to have a kind reception.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me tell you something. I`m Puerto Rican myself, and I get calls all the time from people who watch my show in San Juan and all around Puerto Rico. So, given that HLN has been wall to wall on this story, and I`m inundated with e-mails from people from San Juan and other parts of Puerto Rico, I don`t know if she`s gong to be able to hide out there.
But Michael Christian, you`ve been covering this trial from the start. We all know there are plenty of islands around Puerto Rico in the Caribbean in general. And the interesting thing about the idea of going to the Caribbean is you don`t need a passport, because Puerto Rico is a commonwealth of the United States. You don`t need a passport to get there -- Michael.
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, SENIOR FIELD PRODUCER, TRUTV`S "IN SESSION": That`s correct. And there are other commonwealths, U.S. commonwealths in the Caribbean that she could go to, as well.
We`ve also heard rumors she may be going to Texas to stay with some relatives of Cindy Anthony`s. There`s also a rumor that she might go to Ohio. She was actually born in Ohio. And George and Cindy apparently have relatives up there, as well.
Now, all of those states make sense if she`s planning on living under an assumed name, changing her appearance. I still think that she could go to New York, possibly Miami, certainly Los Angeles, and not change her name, not change her identity. Some of those places where celebrity counts more than how you attained your celebrity.
So at this point, we simply don`t know, but all of those are logical assumptions.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, I want to ask both of you a question, because I hear she`s going to do some big interview, and that`s what everybody is speculating. But here`s my question.
Any interview would undoubtedly be with some major news organization, some big network. And can any network afford to interview her if it involves paying her for the licensing fees, because they never pay for the interview? They always get a photograph or a couple of photographs or some video. Could that cause blowback to that particular news organization, whatever it is -- Affie?
JONES: Very quickly, remember the blowback there was with O.J. Simpson and how there was such outrage that Judah Freeland (ph) was going to -- he was going to benefit from the book and the interview. The public needs to come in and present their outrage. Do not let her get money from a network.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: There`s always the possibility she`ll do an interview for free. I mean, let`s not -- let`s not discount that. It`s possible.
More on the other side. Stay right there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You have a "Justice for Caylee" sign. Why did you decide to come down here today?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: To be a voice for Caylee. I`m outraged at the verdict. I believe in our justice system, but this time I believe it`s failed us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do not want Casey Anthony to actually make money off of her daughter`s death.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Justice for Caylee. She was left in a swamp, nobody there to defend her. We`re out here to say Caylee we remember you. We will stand up for you, even when the jury failed you.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: This gentleman is outside the area where the protesters are supposed to be. And he is saying essentially that he thinks it`s fair and he`s not upset with the verdict and he`s not upset with the sentencing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tell me about your sign here?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Casey, will you marry me?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Is this a legitimate proposal to Casey Anthony?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. Just let her know hey, I`m available.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She definitely didn`t deserve the death penalty or to be locked up any longer than she is. So justice was served.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The prosecution hasn`t proved beyond a reasonable doubt that she committed this crime. And he failed and they failed to do so in this protest. So a jury of her peers proved that she was innocent. She wasn`t sentenced to the death penalty by law, but I feel like publicly she has.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think the court system is just messed up and I just think she should get more time than a year or two.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I think that it`s just about right what she`s getting.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Really?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Because she obviously didn`t murder because that`s what the jury said.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The judge did what the judge had to do. Because the judge went on the sentencing of the jury and the jury said she wasn`t guilty. So he only had the lying and could only do the maximum sentence there.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Is there any comfort in the fact that she`s not getting out today.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Is Casey Anthony skipping town? Sure looks that way. Could she be even leaving the United States?
Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell reporting live from Orlando, Florida. The rain has stopped. We`re drenched and we are here right outside the jail where Casey is housed, where she spent approximately the last three years.
This coming Sunday, she`s going to walk out of jail a free woman although she probably won`t even walk. She might not even drive. The latest reports have her leaving prison in a caravan of vehicles with tinted windows, immediately boarding an airplane.
And we don`t know where she`s headed, but some speculation tonight says she may be headed for Puerto Rico. We`ve also heard Texas. We`ve also heard Los Angeles. But anything would be a very nice change from solitary confinement.
That`s video of San Juan that you`re looking at now. But, you know what, Puerto Rico, I talk to folks there all the time. They get HLN. They`re very up to date on this case. She will be recognized there. So she`s going to have to go somewhere where she`s going to be able to lay low and not be seen.
In fact, some are predicting she will have to be disguised. Change her hair color, maybe wear a hat and sunglasses and cover herself with a wig. It`s all speculation at this point. We do not know. I guess the only thing you could say for sure is if you don`t want to be recognized, don`t wear one of those tank tops because they`ll see your "bella vita" tattoo.
All right. Now, I want to discus something that we have been really focused on here in Florida, and that is Caylee`s law, Caylee`s law. This is something that legislators are proposing and it would essentially make it a crime not to report a missing child.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I signed Caylee`s Law because if anything good can come from this it will be attention thing this sort of thing. One of the things that upset me most in this case is that this isn`t the only child that`s fallen victim.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. And as outrage against the verdict continues to spreads, I want to go out to Representative Jose Diaz, who`s a member of the Florida House of Representatives and he is pushing a Caylee`s law.
Representative Diaz, thank you so much for joining us; tell us what your Caylee`s Law would do. Thank you, sir.
REP. JOSE DIAZ, FLORIDA HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES: Thank you for having me. It`s a pleasure being here. And like so many Americans, I was watching the verdict last week. I was shocked to see those three consecutive "not guilty". I`m a father of a 1-year-old and really struck at my core.
So immediately, I went to work with Scott Plakon from Orlando, another legislator, and we crafted a piece of legislation that we filed almost immediately.
It has three parts. The first is it creates an affirmative duty to report the disappearance of a child under the age of 12, so long as you have knowledge of that disappearance and so long as you can call the police. Additionally, it creates a felony and a duty to report the death of a child. You have to let authorities know within a couple of hours to preserve the body so that they can actually investigate the cause of the death.
And then finally, one of the most shocking things was seeing that this obstruction of justice, which caused such damage in this case, a mother who did not report the death of her child for 31 days and in the meantime, lied to the cops; we`ve actually created an escalator that actually makes it a felony to obstruct that type of investigation of the disappearance or the death of a child.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I think that`s -- it makes a lot of sense. There are critics who say we have enough laws. We should just make some of the existing laws felonies, but I think something has to be done. It`s absolutely outrageous that you can go for 31 days and not say anything about your child being missing and/or accidentally drowned and/or dead in some way shape or form and nothing essentially happens to you except four counts of lying to cops. Something has to be done about that, I agree.
I want to go to Tim in Florida; Tim, your question or thought but first I want to ask you, what do you think about Caylee`s Law that you just heard from Representative Diaz, do you like the idea, Tim? You`re here in Florida.
TIM, FLORIDA (via telephone): Yes, I totally agree. Because if they had known that the body -- if Caylee had died, you know, already before she waited 30 days, at least it would have given them some kind of time, being the investigators, to find her remains or something, you know? Instead of totally just dismissing it for 31 days, leaving no evidence, which ultimately leads to another thing I`m really outraged about.
The jurors totally seemed to neglect the 31 days. I mean what mother in her right mind would wait 31 days to report her child missing, you know. It`s just obvious there was something wrong. And then her partying in between that time and acting like she doesn`t care, that just says something. That just says it all over and these jurors should have seen it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Thank you so much.
Tim you`re making some very (INAUDIBLE) points.
And I want to go back to Richard Grund, the father of Jesse Grund who was once engaged to Casey and who has seen Casey`s lies really firsthand. What do you make of the fact that this jury didn`t seem to draw any conclusions that the rest of the world is drawing and polls show that.
RICHARD GRUND, FATHER OF CASEY`S FORMER FIANCE: I personally don`t understand how with six weeks of volumes of evidence, they deliberated for 11 hours and came to a conclusion. I`m still shocked at that.
I don`t know what went on. We have to respect the jury process, but I`m just hoping that everybody will take this outrage and funnel it into positive efforts in Caylee`s name, like Caylee`s Law. Find a way to diffuse their anger and find a way to honor Caylee. I don`t think this vigilante mentality honors her at all.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, no, absolutely. I mean any idea that anybody wants to threaten anybody involved in this case is absolutely crossing a line. In order to maintain the moral high ground, you can`t be breaking the law yourself and to threaten somebody is to break the law.
I think, we all -- all reasonable people agree that that`s completely absurd and out of line and it should cease and desist immediately because yes, Cindy and George have gotten death threats. There have been death threats directed at all the principles involved in this case.
Now, I want to listen to Sergeant Allen at this extraordinary news conference today where seven investigators got together and basically said "No, we didn`t lie. We didn`t commit fraud. We didn`t do any of the things that the defense said we did. And we`re proud of the case we presented, even though we lost.
Now let`s listen to what Sergeant Allen had to say about this whole allegation that George is a molester. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SGT. JOHN ALLEN, ORANGE COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: We never conclude who Caylee`s father was. With respect to the sexual abuse allegations, the only thing that we have to indicate that there was any sexual abuse would be Casey`s word.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. The only thing that they had to show sexual molestation by George was Casey`s word. What do you think? You spent time with Casey Anthony. Do you think she`s a victim of molestation by her father or her brother?
GRUND: I believe that somebody did something at some time. Her patterns in her life indicate that to me. Who did it, I don`t know. And to accuse somebody without any evidence of documentation, it seems like between the investigators and the jurors, everybody is talking but Casey.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: well, do you think she`s going to do one of those exclusive interviews with some major media outlet where she`s going to tell her story quite possibly for licensing fees that make her wealthy?
GRUND: I believe she`s been waiting three years to do that and she`s going to do it first chance she gets.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You do think she`s going to do that?
GRUND: I do.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What would you say to any media outlet that would do that? That would give her money for licensing fees to tell her story?
GRUND: I wouldn`t imagine anybody would want the blowback of the public anger, but somebody will. Somebody will do it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, we`re going to go to break right now. There`s a honking horn behind us. We`re going to try to fix it and come back to you live from Orlando on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Fugitive Bruce Beresford-Redman should be extradited to Mexico to face charges of aggravated homicide in the death of his wife in April of last year.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You feel he took your sister down there to kill her? Is what that you`re saying?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My impressions are that yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who do you think killed your wife, Bruce?
What do you think of your new show being picked up by the CW?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, that`s exciting.
BRUCE BERESFORD-REDMAN, SUSPECTED OF KILLING WIFE: No comments, guys. Sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. We`ve got some breaking news in another big story ISSUES has been all over from the beginning, the mother of the a Hollywood wife who was found dead in a Cancun resort allegedly beaten to death by her own husband.
You`re looking at that man. He`s a former producer for the hit CBS show, "Survivor". His name is Bruce Beresford-Redman. And he is about to face justice in Mexico. A federal judge has ordered his extradition south of the border to face charges for murdering allegedly his wife Monica Beresford-Redman found dead in a sewer at their very exclusive Cancun resort where they were staying last year.
Other guests reported hearing the couple arguing in their room before she was found dead. And this man was reportedly willing -- wanted to put his own 6-year-old daughter through hell making her testify that mommy and daddy didn`t have a fight in their hotel room. And we`re going to ask tonight: What kind of father does that?
I want to go straight out to Jen Heger, legal editor for RadarOnline. Bring us up to date on the breaking news. What happened?
JEN HEGER, LEGAL EDITOR, RADARONLINE: This morning in court Bruce Beresford-Redman was ordered formally by a federal judge extradited back to Mexico. This was not a stunning development given that Mexico had shown the U.S. attorney`s office that they had probable cause to proceed with the case against Mr. Beresford-Redman. However, it took an unlikely turn when in the days leading up to the extradition hearing, Bruce`s attorneys thought they wanted to call the couple`s 6-year-old daughter to the stand to testify at the extradition hearing this morning.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable.
HEGER: Truly unbelievable. And the judge was about to --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, I want to get to -- yes.
HEGER: The judge was about to rule on it before the hearing started, and Richard Hirsch, who is Bruce Beresford-Redman`s attorney, decided not to put the daughter on the stand.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Good move.
Alison Triessl, before we get to the sister of the dead woman, who is our very special guest tonight, I want to ask you, as the attorney for the Burgos family, your reaction and also, is Bruce in Mexico right now? Has he been flown out of the United States?
ALISON TRIESSL, ATTORNEY FOR BURGOS FAMILY: Hi. Good evening Jane.
First of all, we want to say that we came here immediately from the hearing because you have been so supportive of this case and the Burgos sisters and helping us seek justice for their sister. We really appreciate it.
He is not on his way to Mexico.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, thank you. And that`s what we want to do here on ISSUES. We`re not just here cover stories. We`re here to, as they say in (INAUDIBLE) afflict the comfortable and comfort the afflicted. The Burgos family was afflicted by a horrible tragedy. They lost their beautiful Monica, and then they had to live through hell as they watched this man walk around town, and his parents have custody of the little children.
But let me go to Carla Burgos, who is the sister of the woman who was murdered. And get your reaction, Carla, to the news that Bruce has been -- or is being extradited back to Mexico to face trial in the murder of your sister.
CARLA BURGOS, SISTER OF MONICA BERESFORD-REDMAN: Well, it`s a first step, you know, for justice to my sister. I know it`s not going to be right now, because they`re still going to appeal, but, you know, it`s a good big, big thing that happened today. And I`m very happy about it.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Alison, what Carla`s saying is that he`s not on the way because they`re going to appeal the extradition? Tell us.
TRIESSL: Right. It`s our understanding that he will appeal and we understand that. We are thankful that this major hurdle has been gone through, which is this court, this magistrate judge found that there was probable cause to believe that he committed this offense.
So he may now appeal, and there`s various levels of United States appellate courts that he can go to. But he will remain in custody. He`s not going to be released. And we are fairly confident at the end of the appellate process he`s going back to Mexico.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. So tonight he remains behind bars in the United States, but you`re confident that Bruce Beresford-Redman will be, sooner rather than later, transferred finally, finally to Mexico to --
TRIESSL: 15 months.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Beg your pardon?
TRIESSL: It`s been 15 months, Jane. And this is a very historic day for us. It`s a big day.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I can imagine. We are a big step closer to justice. Will the former "Survivor" producer accused of killing his wife finally face justice in Mexico? We`re all over it.
We`re going to come back with more breaking news on the subject.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who do you think killed your wife, Bruce?
What do you think of your new show being picked up by the CW?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, that`s exciting.
BEREFORD-REDMAN: No comment guys. Sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That man you`re looking at right there, Bruce Beresford-Redman, a former "Survivor" TV producer had been walking free on the streets of L.A. for months on end. He was finally arrested but remained in the United States. He`s been fighting extradition.
And a judge just told him, hey, you are going to be extradited to Mexico. He remains in the United States tonight, but this is a huge victory for the family of his murdered wife who had fought for justice for Monica Beresford-Redman for many, many, many months.
And I want to go out to a friend of the dead woman, Marcelo Gomez. What is your reaction Marcelo to this news as a friend of the victim?
Ok. Well, we had Marcelo for a while, but it was a beeper.
I have to tell you and I want to go back to Alison Triessl on this. I have a personal connection to this story because I used to live in Los Angeles and there was a restaurant that Monica owned and ran and I have been there. It`s been many, many -- a couple of years actually, several years since I have been there. But I think it was called Zabumba. Is that it, Alison?
BURGOS: Yes.
TRIESSL: Yes. And Carla now owns the restaurant, is actually changing the name in honor of her sister.
BURGOS: The name now is --
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tell us about that. Tell us about that because this was no ordinary restaurant.
This Zabumba which was on Lincoln Boulevard right in Los Angeles --
BURGOS: Venice.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I was there for one of the major soccer tournaments. It is a gathering spot for, I believe, the Brazilian community, right? Correct me if I`m wrong, Alison.
TRIESSL: Carla, tell them about how the restaurant has been resurrected.
BURGOS: Yes. We opened Zabumba in 1994. It was always like a big hit for Football, World Cup and all the gatherings of Brazilians and not just Brazilians but the whole community. Now I renamed it Kika Fuloy (ph) which is Kika is Monica`s nickname when she was a kid and fuloy is a nickname for flower. So that`s what it is now. We`re going to keep the thing going.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, wow. I hope that provides you with some solace. The family has been through absolute hell, especially watching Bruce walk the streets for so long.
I want to go back to Jen Heger who is with RadarOnline. What`s happening with the children, there were two children? And we know Bruce wanted his 6-year-old daughter to testify because she was -- my gosh, this was about a year and a half ago. She was, what, 4, maybe 5 -- going on 5 and she was in this hotel with her parents.
He really wanted this child to take the stand and testify that she didn`t hear a fight. Are you kidding me? Jen.
HEGER: Yes he did Jane, shockingly. The federal magistrate judge was really surprised that Bruce wanted to do this. And she wanted briefs submitted on the matter that were due yesterday because she didn`t know how to proceed with this. It`s really unprecedented to have a child testify at an extradition hearing. The children are under the custody and care of Bruce`s parents.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Final thoughts in a moment. Hang in there. We`ll be right back.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Alison Triessl, quickly, once Bruce does get to Mexico, how soon before he faces trial there?
TRIESSL: We think it`s pretty immediate. We do think that the appellate process will take maybe even up to a year here, but once he gets to Mexico it`s going to move real quickly.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ten seconds. Do you think the evidence will be there given it was a hotel, given it`s another country?
TRIESSL: Mexico put together a very good case, Jane. They really did. And they put a lot of resources into it. We think that he will be convicted.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, I know that the family of Monica is hoping for justice and I see you there, Carla. It`s great to see you all. Thank you. We are going to stay on top of this and make sure that there is justice for Monica.
BURGOS: Thank you very much.
TRIESSL: Thank you for everything, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: "NANCY GRACE" is up next.
END
