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Jane Velez-Mitchell
Judge Throws out Scuba Murder Case
Aired February 23, 2012 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST (voice-over): Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live from New York city.
Outrage as a judge throws out the case against the husband accused of murdering his new bride while scuba diving. The judge says in two weeks of testimony, the prosecution did not provide enough evidence to move forward. Really? So how did they get a conviction in Australia? I`m going to tell you what went wrong, next.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight in a stunning twist, the man accused of killing his new bride on their honeymoon while scuba diving is suddenly acquitted by the judge, who insists there`s just not enough evidence. The jury never even gets a chance to deliberate. We`ll have the very latest on this breaking story.
Also, secrets and lies exposed as a man stands trial for gunning down the husband of his alleged mistress right outside the family`s daycare. The widow takes the stand and vehemently denies having an affair, but now another witness says she saw it with her own eyes.
And as friends of Rihanna and Chris Brown desperately try to keep the pair from sparking up another romance, could Chris be picking another fight? Will a Twitter war land Chris in the ring with a muscle-bound WWE superstar? I`ll have the details.
Plus, it`s the next chapter in my Dumpster-diving adventure. Check out what I`m cooking up this time.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tried, convicted and in prison for killing his newlywed wife in 2003, Gabe Watson was released from prison in Australia.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Gabe Watson remained silent walking into court with his current wife from the trial of the 2003 drowning death of his bride of 11 days, Tina Watson.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Tina Thomas Watson lost her life in 2003. Tina drowned to death while diving the Great Barrier Reef with then-husband Gabe who was on trial for killing her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: After the funeral, Watson joked he was glad that he didn`t pay more money for a million-dollar joint life insurance policy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re just one step closer trying to get justice and peace for Tina, and that`s the most important thing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That`s what we want is justice for -- for our daughter.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, just a little while ago, in fact, an unbelievable decision in the trial of a man accused of murdering his new bride on their honeymoon, a ruling that literally -- I`ve got to say it -- had me jumping out of my chair going, "What?"
Just hours ago, smack in the middle of the murder trial, the judge suddenly threw out the entire case against Gabe Watson, claiming there just was not enough evidence. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Case dismissed.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s the defendant, Gabe Watson. And he`s hugging and clapping and basically celebrating. He literally proceeds to walk out of court a free man. Jurors never got a chance to deliberate.
Is this justice?
Gabe was accused of murdering his wife of 11 days while they were scuba diving in Australia`s Great Barrier Reef. There`s a photo right there. Evidence.
Obviously, Tina`s family is not happy with the judge`s decision. Lynn to her dad right outside court.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, we`re very disappointed in this case for Tina.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who do you blame for it?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can`t blame anybody, except for the person who did it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I`ll tell you who I`m blaming tonight. This judge right there, Judge Tommy Mayo. He`s the gentlemen who decided to set Gabe Watson free, even though Watson spent 18 months in an Australian prison in Australia for manslaughter in this case? Was this just an impulsive and arbitrary and capricious decision by the judge? I think it`s a fair question to ask.
I want to know what you think. I`m taking your calls, and I want to hear from you: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297. Call me.
Straight out to Leah Brandon, News Radio 105.5, WERC on the ground in Alabama, where this all went down just a little while ago. What`s the reaction to this decision that seemed to come out of the blue?
LEAH BRANDON, NEWS RADIO 105.5 (via phone): Well, it`s exactly as you said it was. Shock and outrage, and now -- you know, now that it`s sunk in for a little while, it`s extreme sadness. This is a case where there was plenty of evidence.
As you said, he was convicted in Australia. He served 18 months. He came back here, and this judge ironically says there`s not enough evidence while methodically through this trial he quashed the chance to have evidence introduced.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, you`re absolutely right, and I`m going to show some of that evidence in just a second. Even before the judge dismissed this case, he kind of revealed what I might say is a bias. He laid into the prosecution about their motive. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let me see if I can get your theory right. The defendant has an engagement ring. He gives it to his future bride. He marries her. He takes a trip halfway around the world that`s paid for by him. And he did all that and planned it all out so he could go over there and get the insurance plan that he purchased?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. He says, this doesn`t make any sense. The guy is going to kill his wife on their honeymoon? Well, murder is weird. That`s the way it is. What`s -- have you ever heard of a normal murder?
This same judge did refuse to allow key evidence into court. For example, the victim`s father said before her death, Tina came to him and said the defendant asked her to increase her insurance policy to 130 grand. Her dad told her, quote, not to worry about it but to tell her husband the insurance had been increased.
Isn`t the defendant seeking to have his wife up the insurance payouts relevant evidence?
And the judge also refused to allow prosecutors to show the jury this reenactment made by Australian cops, showing how cops believe -- right there -- that he grabbed her and shut off her oxygen while under water.
So I got to go to my dear friend, Jon Lieberman, who is here, investigative reporter. How can he refuse to allow all this, what I think is relevant evidence in, and then turn around and say, "Well, there`s not enough evidence"?
JON LIEBERMAN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: There`s really two different issues here, Jane. One is that, in a lot of these cases, our gut feelings tell us that the person did it, but gut feelings don`t prove cases.
The real miscarriage of justice here is that it didn`t even ever really get to a jury. Let a jury hear the evidence of both sides.
I do take issue with the previous guest. I wouldn`t say there`s plenty of evidence in this case. I would say there is circumstantial evidence in this case.
There is one eyewitness, the only eyewitness, in fact, who would have testified that, no, this eyewitness actually thought that he was trying to save his wife under the water there.
So I don`t think there was plenty of evidence, but I do think the system is set up to allow a jury of your peers to decide this, not to have a judge jump in and say there`s not enough evidence.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s odd. And there were -- I`ll tell you what really got me was a friend -- this is a real gem -- this friend says that at the funeral for this dead woman who died scuba diving, this is what her husband, the former defendant, said at his wife`s funeral.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I said, "Oh, she looks very pretty in that outfit."
And he said, "Well, at least her breasts are perky."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That sounds a little cold and heartless. Add to that, listen to this one, Joe Jackson, criminal defense attorney. Gabe Watson showed off pictures of his dead wife in front of "Caution: Drowning" signs at her funeral! Hello?
JOE JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Yes, he did, indeed. Yes, it`s -- this is very unusual. Now, I have to say, at the end of every case, Jane, we as attorneys always stand up as defense attorneys and say, "Your honor, there`s not enough evidence. The people have not put on a prima facie case to show intent." We always do it. It`s a matter of form; it`s a matter of course.
And judges customarily say, "You know what, Mr. Jackson, that`s nice. However, we`re going to let a jury make that determination. Maybe I`ll revisit it later."
So the strange thing here is, and John is correct in his assessment, that a jury should at least have the opportunity to assess and evaluate the evidence, come back with a verdict. And then, if it`s against the weight of the evidence, the defense can now renew their application to have it dismissed.
So while we make the motion customarily, it is customarily, Jane, denied.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`ve never seen it given. I`ve been in many courtrooms where they do this pro forma, and nobody even expects a reaction because it`s just something that is a formality.
And this guy actually turns around, this judge, and says, yes. Nothing to see here. Go on your merry way.
And the family of the dead woman says that`s not justice, and I agree with them.
Let`s go out to the phone lines. Susan, New Jersey. Your questions or thoughts, Susan.
CALLER: Jane?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
CALLER: Yes -- yes, hi. I listen to you every night.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, good.
CALLER: What I want to say, like most of the judges, he was bought.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, wow.
CALLER: And I have mental telepathy. He was bought. That judge was bought. He should be taken off the -- he shouldn`t be a judge anymore.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Susan Constantine, you`re not only a body language expert but you`re also a trial consultant. Can there be some kind of investigation? Do you think -- have you ever heard some kind of investigation into a judge issuing a ruling that`s sort of out there? And what recourse do they have?
SUSAN CONSTANTINE, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT: Certainly they could. They could certainly open that up and have it reopened with the chief judge there.
But here, let me share something with you, Jane. You know, we empower our jurors to help to determine the guilt or the innocence of the alleged. But here, let me share something with you. It`s up to them to decide.
I have been in the courtroom many times, and I know you have, too, as you shared, and I have never seen a judge take it upon themselves and just flat out say, you know, there`s just not enough evidence here. We`re going to have to -- there`s an acquittal.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I have never seen it.
Let me ask, very quickly, Joey Jackson, have you ever seen it?
JACKSON: I have not. I`ve seen myself denied multiple times, but in terms of the judge agreeing, have not.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jon Lieberman, have you ever seen it?
LIEBERMAN: I`ve never seen it. Never.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: None of us have ever seen it. That`s why I say I literally jumped out of my chair when I heard this. I said, "What?"
More on the honeymoon murder acquittal next.
We`re also taking your calls on this. I want to know what you think was behind this incredible decision by the judge: 1-877-JVM-SAYS.
Also ahead, a bizarre twist in the daycare shooting murder trial. So far, we`ve heard about angels, demons, make-out sessions between the widow of the dead man and the dead defendant, and that`s just for starters.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How many times did you call Rusty?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Call Rusty?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Rusty.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Zero times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why didn`t you call Rusty?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Because they just told me something happened to Rusty. What are the chances he`s going to answer his cell phone?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON VALESKA, PROSECUTOR: There is no appeal in Alabama. This case is over forever.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You seem sad, emotionally sad, upset about this.
VALESKA: Well, why wouldn`t I be? I mean, Tina lost her life. Why wouldn`t I be upset?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That is the prosecutor, who was understandably very upset by the judge`s decision. My understanding is -- and I`m happy to get my panel`s opinion on this -- that there`s absolutely no opportunity for appeal, that this judge has almost absolute power. We`re going to debate that in a second.
But straight out to Bryant Somerville from WBMA-TV. I understand, Bryant, you were in court when the judge made his decision? What was the reaction?
BRYANT SOMERVILLE, WBMA-TV (via phone): Well, it depends on who you ask. There were -- it`s really -- you could really feel the air being sucked out of the courtroom at that time. I mean, there were people -- there was laughter, sighs of relief from one side, of course, from Gabe Watson`s side.
And then there were others, family members and friends of Tina Thomas Watson that, you know, visibly shaken up, crying instantaneously.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And is it your understanding, Bryant, that there`s no recourse here?
SOMERVILLE: That is my understanding. You just heard right there from prosecuting attorney Don Valeska. He told us that in the state of Alabama, this type of case, the state, you know, can`t appeal this. So this is the last time that Gabe Watson will be on trial for this case.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Leah Brandon, you`re down there on the ground in Alabama, as well. You heard a caller saying there should be an investigation. Do you think that that should occur, and what`s the chance of that happening?
BRANDON: Well, I tell you, it`s very interesting, because breaking out like crazy on Twitter and Facebook, people are calling for this guy to be thrown from the bench. So we`ll see where it goes.
Now, I will say that this judge has a history -- I`m not going to say of being soft on crime, but he has never given the death penalty, and some people very, very close to this case are saying they`re not surprised at what happened.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I will say my gut reaction -- and I want to go to Joey Jackson very briefly on this -- is that because this guy served 18 months in Australia on this case already for manslaughter, I think the judge felt like it was kind of double jeopardy, even though technically it wasn`t. That`s my gut.
JACKSON: You know -- you know, I think it may be a very good gut, Jane. And as much as we don`t like judges imposing their views or opinions or, you know, anything on a particular case, it may very well be what happened here.
And very quickly, Jane, the way our system works is if a defendant loses, there are many modes to an appeal. If a defendant prevails, those modes are gone. It`s once you win, you win. And so if the judge made a ruling here, it`s over. Cannot be. Although he certainly could be looked at.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Since this tragic honeymoon, Gabe Watson is already remarried to a woman the media calls a Tina Watson lookalike. Check her out. Here she is.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep off the walk, please.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Do you think your husband needs to let go of his loss?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Keep off the walk, please.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Take a look at the two wives of Gabe Watson. Nearly identical looking. Almost look like they could be twins. What do you know, Jon Lieberman?
LIEBERMAN: They went to the same high school together, Gabe and the new wife, and in fact, they got married before Gabe served that 18-month sentence over in Australia. So they were married all during that term of him being in jail.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, let`s go to Judy, Michigan. Judy, your question or thought?
CALLER: Hi, Jane. I was just wondering what a body language expert would have to say about, in the wedding video, he just seems like he`s actually looking away from her and not...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s go to our body language expert, Susan Constantine, on that one.
CONSTANTINE: Boy, she`s great. I might want to hire her to take on as another body language expert. That`s a very good point, because if he was looking away -- it`s the body angles we`re looking at. If his legs or shoulders are tilted away, eyes diverting to another direction, he doesn`t seem to be present with his bride on that one day where he should be, that`s telling you where he wants to escape, which is out.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. Well, I`ve got to say, Gabe Watson spoke to Australian police right after Tina`s death. Let`s hear from him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GABE WATSON, SERVED TIME FOR KILLING WIFE: Going through my head, but I was just thinking I can chase her down to the bottom, get down and either dump her weights let her dump everything, because at that point I knew something was going on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK, I just want to say, Watson was a certified rescue diver. A witness saw a large male diver giving Tina a big bear hug before she sank. Another witness says that he gave two conflicting versions of events.
But not enough evidence, says the judge.
Back with your "Viral Video of the Day" in a moment.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The Jason Young trial in a moment, but first, here`s your "Viral Video of the Day."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(DOG PANTING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Who? Who? Who?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jason Young? You`re charged with first-degree murder.
JASON YOUNG, ON TRIAL FOR MURDERING WIFE: I fell, I just fell. I broke on the inside. I`ve lost -- I`ve lost everything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you tell friends, did you, that you felt like you didn`t have enough sex in your marriage?
YOUNG: Yes, ma`am.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: A husband confronted in court with his sexual secrets, his lies, his double life. Will it convince a jury to find him guilty in his wife`s murder?
Jason Young`s testimony from his first trial played in court at the second trial, even though his first trial ended in a hung jury. This testimony chock full of scandalous secrets that might have remained behind closed doors forever, were it not for his murder trial.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you love your wife when you were having an affair with Michelle Money?
YOUNG: Yes, ma`am.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did you love your wife when you were having sex with Carol Anne Sowerby in her home on the couch with your daughter upstairs?
YOUNG: I didn`t have sex with Carol Anne in her home.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In your wife`s home.
YOUNG: Yes, ma`am, I did love my wife.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Michelle Young was five months pregnant when she was bludgeoned to death in her bedroom. Her 2-year-old daughter tracked tiny, bloody footprints through the gruesome scene.
Straight out to reporter George Powell, on the ground in North Carolina. George, what effect did this videotaped testimony from the first trial have on the jury in this trial?
GEORGE POWELL, REPORTER: Well, especially when they hear the new -- new information coming from Jason Young from that first trial but now hearing him on video, definitely compelling for jurors. You see them paying very close attention, taking a lot of notes on what Jason Young had to say.
And that`s when prosecutors took that -- that video testimony, then gave the jurors verbatim transcripts of that testimony, and then they`re going through line by line and pointing out inconsistencies.
But defense attorneys throughout the entire case are arguing that all of this is circumstantial evidence; no physical evidence, no DNA evidence linking him to the case.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let`s take a look at more of Jason`s fascinating testimony that was replayed in court. Jason was asked how his wife`s death impacted his life. And I personally found his answer very strange and also revealing.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
YOUNG: I`ve lost everything. I`ve lost -- I`ve lost -- family, friends, jobs. I`ve lost everything.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I got to say, George, this guy has already been convicted, in my mind, of being a cad, a liar and a cheat. Now, did you hear that? "I`ve lost everything. I`ve lost family, friends and jobs." How about "I lost the love of my life. I lost my wife. I miss her. I lost my best friend. I lost my unborn baby"?
Are the folks down there who are observing this trial commenting on that at all?
POWELL: It`s interesting. In court, prosecutors pointed that out, that he never said, "I lost my wife." He said the other things but never said, "I lost my wife." Certainly prosecutors want jurors to see that.
But overall, the picture that they`re painting here is that this is a man who was very focused on the life insurance policies that he had taken out on his wife, that he`s lied and cheated before, and that he did not care so much for the baby that was coming along. That`s the picture that they`re painting of Jason Young.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: George, thanks so much.
Up next, another one. A doozy.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Her whole family has lost its brightest light.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 36-year-old Sneiderman was killed right in front of his child`s pre-school in November. Neighbors tell me they can`t believe that family man Hemy Neuman is the same man now in jail charged with murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Neuman, DeKalb County engineer has admitted killing Sneiderman outside Dunwoody Prep.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A man witnesses described as having a beard and hat pulled up in a mini-van and shot Sneiderman several times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In court we learned he told doctors he thought Sneiderman`s children were his own.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mr. Neuman was propelled by his delusional thoughts to save the children who he thought were his children when he`s talking about six-foot angels that looked like Olivia Newton John. Mr. Neuman`s delusions rendered him incapable of differentiating right from wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The victim Rusty Sneiderman`s widow, Andrea -- she allegedly was having an affair with Neuman. Prosecutors say that`s the motive for the crime.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There was no (INAUDIBLE). Who kills someone else`s husband?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: Tonight, secrets again exposed in court about the wife of a man gunned down outside his son`s day care. Cops and prosecutors say Rusty Sneiderman`s wife was having an affair with the alleged gunman. And now an eyewitness claims to have seen them getting hot and heavy together.
Rusty Sneiderman had just dropped off his son at an Atlanta area preschool, November 2010 when he was gunned down. Police later arrested the man you`re about to see here, Hemy Neuman, who turns out to be the boss of the dead man`s wife.
Neuman has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity. And that involves Olivia Newton John -- we`ll get to that in a second, a very strange angle there. Now, while the wife, Andrea Sneiderman, isn`t charged in connection with her husband`s death, investigators insist she and the defendant were having a hot and heavy affair. And on the stand she seemed downright indignant over that suggestion.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ANDREA SNEIDERMAN, VICTIM`S WIDOW: It was unfathomable and unbelievable that it could be him, someone that proposed to care about me, care about Rusty, care about my family, be a normal guy. Be my boss. And he murdered my husband.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. Listen, however, to a bartender who said she saw Andrea making out with defendant Hemy Neuman on a dance floor just a few months before Rusty was gunned down with three bullets to the chest.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grinding and his hands on her rear end and she was embracing him as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Does that sound like a professional relationship? Boss to your subservient person at work or does it sound like a love affair, bumping and grinding? Who would you believe?
I`m taking your calls, 1-877-JVM-SAYS.
Straight out to investigative reporter Jon Leiberman, you`re joining me now. I got to tell you, this woman`s attitude on the stand blows me away. It`s kind of like, how dare you ask me these questions?
JON LEIBERMAN, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Well, it does. And it actually works against the prosecution. It`s all very odd. The strange thing in this case is nobody disputes that Hemy Neuman committed this murder. He says, yes, I committed the murder. Prosecutors say, yes, you committed the murder. Then they come up with this crazy -- literally, absolutely crazy defense that he was insane when he did it, that he got orders from Barry White and Olivia Newton John to commit this murder.
And then with these allegations of the affair, and the problem is her timeline doesn`t match up. In other words, she -- her cell phone records show that she and the suspect, Hemy Neuman, talked several times before the murder and after the murder, and never once did she try to call her husband and see if he`s ok.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Funny you should mention that because we have some information on that. The big question, when did Andrea Sneiderman find out her husband had been shot? Listen to Andrea Sneiderman`s father-in-law -- the father of the murdered husband, Rusty -- carefully.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DON SNEIDERMAN, VICTIM`S FATHER: Around 9:30 in the morning, Andrea called us, and she called and said Rusty had been shot. She was so, so sorry and that she was going to Dunwoody Prep to find out what had happened.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Andrea says she found out something happened to her husband when the day care -- that`s Dunwoody -- called her at 9:15 a.m. She says as she`s driving she tries to call the defendant, Hemy Neuman, her boss several times. He doesn`t answer the phone.
Now that father-in-law said Andrea called in at 9:30 a.m. to say Rusty had been shot. But Andrea told cops she didn`t know Rusty was shot and dead until 10:15 a.m. -- something`s not adding up here.
Joey Jackson, I want to stress Andrea Sneiderman is not charged with anything, but there is a whole bunch of chatter online wondering, could she somehow be incriminating herself?
JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well she certainly may be. I think a conscious decision was made not to charge her to this point; what happens in the future, we`ll see what her testimony further reveals. But remember, this is an insanity case, and really, what it comes down to, Jane, is whether or not this defendant could appreciate the nature and consequence of his actions at the time that he engaged in this killing.
There is no dispute as to him doing it. There`s physical evidence connecting him, there`s that van that he rented. There`s the target practice he went to three weeks prior to this occurrence. There is no doubt about the fact that he was smitten with her, he was her boss, and, you now, he was even alleging he was the father of her children. But the question comes down to, on this particular defendant, whether or not he was insane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Let`s listen to Andrea Sneiderman deny having an affair with the defendant, her former boss. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
A. SNEIDERMAN: I couldn`t believe it, it wasn`t even possible. I thought I was being stupid. Who would think that this would be happening right now? Whose boss kills someone else`s husband? I don`t care affair or no affair. There was no affair. Who kills somebody else`s husband?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, listen to the bartender who says she saw Andrea Sneiderman, that woman, and Neuman kissing and grinding on each other.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Grinding and his hands on her rear end and she was embracing him as well.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Cheryl Arutt, forensic psychologist, what do you make of the vehemence with which this widow denies having an affair? Doth protest too loudly, perhaps?
CHERYL ARUTT, FORENSIC PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, honestly I`m a little puzzled why we`re focusing so much on the widow. She is not charged with a crime, and if this guy were her boss, there are all sorts of power dynamics there that if he were -- it could even be coercive that he was coming on to her in this way if there were something like that.
But this I is a man who`s obviously crossed the line at work and has admitted to killing the husband. What stands out to me, really, about this whole angel thing is that when somebody does have psychotic kinds of delusions, they tend to be culturally consistent. And this is a man who comes from a very, very tight-knit Jewish community who is having very Christian kinds of imagery if you believe it of these angels coming in to tell him. That would be a highly unusual form for a psychotic delusion to take. I just want to put that out there.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Ok. Well, let me explain to our viewers a little bit what you`re talking about. As part of his insanity defense, Hemy Neuman`s lawyers say right before Neuman shot Rusty Sneiderman three times in the chest he was visited by a demon sounding like -- are you sitting down people -- Barry White and also visited by an angel who had a voice like Olivia Newton John.
I have to point out he`s dating himself musical -- I mean seriously. This is one of the most bizarre defenses I`ve ever heard of. What are we going to call this, Jon Leiberman? The oldies defense, the `70s hits defense?
LEIBERMAN: Well, it`s the "I had nine months to think it up" defense. I mean this defense just surfaced recently. It took them months and months to come up with this. You would think perhaps they could come up with some better artists for a defense.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Let`s go to the phone lines.
Stacy, Alabama. Your question, Stacy?
STACY, ALABAMA (via telephone): Well, I just wanted to say regarding Neuman hearing voices, when I had my second child, I had postpartum psychosis, and every day I had voices in my head telling me to kill my husband and my children. But I didn`t do it, I got help. So why couldn`t he do the same?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I think you`re raising some important points. First of all, let`s go back to Cheryl Arutt for a second, forensic psychologist. This is a guy, so he`s not having postpartum anything. Secondly, the idea that suddenly he would listen and hear these -- literally, these are `70s pop stars. If you look at his age, that would correlate with his age. I mean he`s thinking up of people -- he`s not hearing from Chris Brown and Rihanna.
ARUTT: That`s true. They`re very musical delusions, certainly. But he doesn`t seem to have any history of having psychotic kinds of episodes before, from what I understand. It`s kind of puzzling that all of a sudden those would happen and yet he`d have time to do target practice and plan the van rental and all those things.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The defendant and Andrea Sneiderman stayed in a hotel together in Colorado, July of 2010. Listen to what Neuman asked the hotel clerk to do.
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BRADY BLACKBURN, HOTEL WORKER: He wished for me to go and personally purchase the most expensive flowers and chocolates I could afford and put them in the room and that he would reimburse me with a personal check when he arrived a few days later.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: That clerk testified the defendant Hemy Neuman told the staff Sneiderman was his new wife.
I have to go to Susan Constantine, body language expert. Maybe we can put up a little video of Andrea Sneiderman. I know she`s not on trial. The reason why her testimony is key is that prosecutors he just wanted to get his competition out of the way so he can continue his affair with this woman. He wasn`t hearing voices. What do you make of her demeanor on the stand?
SUSAN CONSTANTINE, BODY LANGUAGE EXPERT: Well, what I would like to do, first of all Jane, is to look and see what she normally behaved like. I mean she strikes me as someone that seems to be an angry person. Even when she`s sitting back into the galley, you know, she`s got this very furrowed eyebrow look. She seems to be very -- just kind of harboring a lot of anger and frustration.
I have to tell you though. Quite frankly as a jury consultant and I also do witness preparation. I don`t know who in the world ever coached her, but certainly would have seen this demeanor (INAUDIBLE) at some point in time and be able to work with her and be able to, you know, calm down her demeanor so that she looks more credible. Because quite frankly --
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Got to leave it right there. But who knows how we would behave in the same circumstance, and Andrea, you`re invited on any time to tell your side of the story.
Next, more trouble for Chris Brown. You will not believe it involves a pro wrestler.
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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s superstar singer Chris Brown versus a heavyweight wrestling champion and it`s all caught in tape.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He pleaded guilty to assault on Rihanna back in 2009.
RIHANNA, SINGER: It was a really dark time for me. It`s hard to ever just completely get rid of. But I`m in a different place now.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He apparently has anger issues, so to me, the best way to get those anger issues out is to actually fight somebody that can fight back. Fight somebody his own size, maybe fight a man. I don`t know. I don`t really think he takes the whole thing seriously.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put some gloves on and get in the ring.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Is Chris Brown a trouble magnet ever since his infamous beating of Rihanna three years ago? Drama following the star on the heels of his arrogant and profane tweets after the Grammy; he`s now in the middle of two new controversies tonight.
The R&B singer in an all-out Twitter war with pro wrestler CM Punk; now, that wrestler challenging Chris Brown to meet him in the ring. Really? Check this out from Twitter.
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CM PUNK, PRO WRESTLER: So Chris wants to throw stones my way now, and I say that`s fine, but put some gloves on and get in the ring. I will choke you loud and I will make you feel as weak and as powerless and scared and alone as any woman who has had the misfortune of knowing a sad coward with a little voice such as yourself.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: CM Punk obviously referring to Brown`s 2009 conviction for beating then girlfriend, superstar singer Rihanna. And of course, we always show that video, that photo, that infamous photo that TMZ obtained of the beating because it illustrates what we`re talking about, all this drama.
At the same time, new reports surfaced that Brown could face more legal trouble. Straight out to Mike Walters, news manager of TMZ; let`s start with the breaking news. What do you know about this other trouble in Miami?
MIKE WALTERS, NEWS MANAGER, TMZ: Well, Jane, another violent outburst that Chris Brown is being accused of here. Apparently a young 24-year-old woman was coming out of a nightclub in Miami over the weekend, and she claims that Chris Brown, when she attempted to take a photo of him with her iPhone, he reached up, snatched the phone out of her hand, rolled up the window and drove away. The problem is she went straight to the police department and filed a robbery report with the Miami Beach police and said, this guy said a really bad phrase that I can`t say on television, Jane, but basically said a bad word starting with a b, and I`m not going to let you put this on a Web site.
So here`s the problem with what he did. One, it`s illegal to take something out of someone`s hand that`s not yours. But two, I got to tell you, I`m not surprised by this behavior. You just talked about all this stuff with Rihanna, the music they had done, and how it seems that he`s not learning. Well, he`s now been accused of something that could put him in jail for a very long time.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let`s not forget what this is all about. And this is what CM Punk and Chris Brown have been in a Twitter argument about, the beating of Rihanna. And again, I have to show you the photo from TMZ of Rihanna after the beating. And it showed it was vicious. I`ve read the police report on this show numerous times. It just went on and on, punches, punches, punches.
CM Punk told "SHOWBIZ TONIGHT" that is why he is challenging Chris Brown.
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CM PUNK: Him doing severe bodily harm to a woman to me is the most deplorable thing that he`s obviously ever done. I don`t think he`s paid for it. He thinks winning a Grammy has absolved him of all wrongdoing.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: yes, but to me, let me say -- CM Punk is just using this terrible event to make a name for himself -- I`ve never heard of this CM Punk before now. And suddenly he`s a champion against domestic violence?
And also Jawn Murray, CNN heard back from Miami Beach PD. They say they have not made any arrests and not only that but they don`t plan -- they haven`t accused Chris Brown of anything.
JAWN MURRAY, ENTERTAINMENT EDITOR: Well, listen Jane, you may not have heard of CM Punk before, but I have, because I`m a wrestling fan and I`ve got my favorite wrestler Kobe King`s (ph) T-shirt on today.
And let me say this. CM Punk`s statements to Chris Brown, he doesn`t employ a publicist, but it was better put together than statements that I get from professional publicists all day every day. He really hit great marks there and says that he wanted to donate the money to charity if they did get in the ring, excellent.
I will say this. On this show the other day, what did I say Jane? Recording these duets were going to evoke all this talk from three years ago and it was just going to help people not forget. They`re talking about it. It`s on the top of the headlines again.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You are so right, this is all about "Birthday Cake". Rihanna and Chris Brown recording something together, and now everybody is talking about the beating all over again. Rihanna, what were you thinking?
Your laugh break coming up in one minute.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m going dumpster diving in a minute. But first, you deserve a laugh break.
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(BABY PLAYING WITH DOG)
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Last week I took you on my adventure dumpster diving with a bunch of food rescuers who call themselves freegans. We`re trying to show that huge amounts of good, perfectly edible food are being tossed out on a massive scale while people go hungry.
Tonight the adventure continues.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: This is some good cauliflower.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Watch me make a meal out of that food.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`m going to take my freegan booty and I`m going to whip up a fabulous freegan dinner.
Here it is, along with the toast -- the bread I got. Let`s see what we can do. I can tell this is absolutely very fresh. I think part of it is not wasting. We would have a tendency to just chuck this, these guys they say no. Every little bit of food, when people are starving in this world, we have an obligation to use every little bit of food that is edible.
I`m going to leave this out, but I`m going to use the very edge of the peppers. Walking down the street of Manhattan, you see somebody going through the garbage -- this is interesting because I will admit that I often throw this part of the broccoli away. And they`re saying, no, you slice it down and it`s perfectly edible.
If we take nothing away from this but that the food is much more edible in terms of the stems, et cetera than we appreciate then that`s one thing we can do. Everybody eat more of the food that we buy.
Starting to cook, people. We`re starting to cook our freegan dinner. Add those in. Quite delicious. Look at that. Wow. That`s looking good. If somebody served you this at a fancy restaurant you`d probably think wow, look at the wide variety of veggies and the beautiful colors and the spices and -- this would be a gourmet meal and I got it out of a garbage can.
Remember, I also picked out some sprouted grain bread right out of the garbage. I`m going to put that in the old toaster. And let`s see how that does.
Bon appetit, and let`s see what these taste like. Let me see what the broccoli stems -- the broccoli stems are delicious if you saute them with some garlic. I`m telling you, this is good. This is good stuff. I`m loving this. I`m going to dig in.
Take this bread that I found, with a little olive oil. And -- I`m loving this food. As I enjoy this wonderful dinner that I got out of the garbage, I can tell you that for people who are hurting financially and they have no food to put on the table for their families, this is an option. There is good food out there that is thrown out on a daily basis. What I`d like to see is Americans ask their supermarkets to do it in another way so people don`t have to dumpster dive in order to get really good food that`s being discarded every single day.
Americans, let`s get together and do something about this.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, the freegans, that`s what they call themselves, those dumpster divers who are often highly educated. The freegans who do this for moral reasons gave me the ultimate compliment. They said we think you`re becoming one of us.
On the other side of the break, more info.
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(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New York City is a city where 1.5 million New Yorkers don`t always know where their next meal is coming from. And City Harvest works to get them the food that they need for themselves and their families.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: You don`t have to become a freegan or dig through the trash to help out like freegans do. In New York City, the organization City Harvest rescues up to 33 million pounds of excess food from restaurants, grocery stores, delivering that food to the hungry across the city. You can go to cityharvest.org to get involved.
Not all restaurants throw away their excess food. Panera bread, for example, donates all unsold bread to the hungry at the end of every day. Yum Brand restaurant, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, they partner with a group called the Food Donation Connection to supply leftovers across the country.
So I think we`re going to get this conversation jump started. I want you to join me on Facebook. Yes, my Facebook page, right after the show to continue the talk.
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