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Nancy Grace
Bride Stabs Groom-to-Be; Wife Drives Through a Building to Kill Husband
Aired August 13, 2012 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, live, Whitehall, Pennsylvania. Just hours before they walk down the aisle, a young groom stabbed through the heart. But wait until you hear the rest of the story.
Bombshell tonight. Literally hours before the bride walks down the aisle in a designer dress, the bride`s not posing surrounded by bridesmaids or wedding photos. She`s posing with the jailhouse sheriff for a mug shot after the bride stabs the groom to death practically en route to the wedding. With evidence of multiple stab sounds, tonight, the bride insists, I didn`t mean to kill him.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A Pennsylvania bride-to-be planning to wear her wedding gown now clothed in prison garb.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police found 36-year-old Billy Brewster dying from stab sounds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty-one-year-old Na Cola Franklin charged with stabbing her fiance to death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just hours before he was set to walk down the aisle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brewster was about to go out for food when an argument broke out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There was an argument, I guess (INAUDIBLE) and the gentleman got stabbed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The argument turning so violent, it leaves her would-be groom dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why Franklin allegedly attacked her soon-to-be husband.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE:
GRACE: And tonight, Salt Lake City. Just moments after she visits her husband at work, video surveillance catches her husband running for his life through a parking lot, across a grassy knoll and into an office tower. But why? Because Mommy puts the pedal to the metal and tries to run her husband down after he demands a threesome and refuses to sign the house over to her. We`ve got the video!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A Utah woman accused of chasing down her estranged husband.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Running him over in her SUV.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This SUV just drove into our building!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Plowing into a building and breaking her husband`s legs by trying to run him down.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) A guy kept running by with an SUV right following right behind him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The wife doesn`t dispute that she was behind the wheel of this SUV.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The defense claims Brenda (ph) wasn`t in her right mind due to emotional distress and taking anti-anxiety medication.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Blamed it all on Xanax.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The so-called Xanax defense.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Certainly, it`s our position that the Xanax definitely had an impact on what happened (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The attack behind the wheel was just part of it. Hours earlier, she reportedly visited her estranged husband, John White (ph), at work.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She says, I want to wipe you off the face of the earth.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And played the song "Angry Johnny (ph)" by Pogue (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE) my husband. I did not want to hurt him or kill him!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight, live, Whitehall, Pennsylvania. Literally just hours before she`s set to walk down the aisle in a designer wedding dress, the bride not posing surrounded by her bridesmaids for the wedding photos, she`s posing with the jailhouse sheriff in a mug shot after she allegedly stabs her groom to death practically en route to the wedding.
We are taking your calls. First, straight out to Allentown. Joining us, Bob Hauer with WAEB. Bob, what happened?
BOB HAUER, WAEB RADIO (via telephone): Well, sometime around 2:00 AM, Nancy, Saturday morning, about eight hours before they were set to walk down the aisle, Na Cola Franklin and her would-be husband, Billy Brewster, got into some form of an argument inside the apartment they shared in Whitehall township, just outside of Allentown.
Things got very heated. At one point, Mr. Brewster said he was going to go out and get something to eat. The next thing we know, someone yelled, Knife, and Mr. Brewster was stabbed several times in the heart -- twice.
GRACE: Everyone, we are taking your calls. To Matt Zarrell, also joining us on the story. It was literally hours before they`re set to walk down the aisle. The pastor had already been in the home visiting them just before the wedding. Family had arrived. In fact, he was going to get some food for the family before they left for the wedding itself.
What do we know? Why on earth would the bride stab the groom in the heart?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Nancy, we`re still trying to learn more exactly about motive. We spoke to police a number of times. They`re also trying to figure it out. But Nancy you`re right. There was multiple family members in the house, including four children who reportedly witnessed this incident. Now, we`re still trying to figure out how it was broken up. Apparently, the cousin interrupted them as the wife was allegedly stabbing her soon-to-be husband.
GRACE: Matt, let`s take it from the top. They were all there in the home. Relatives were over. Everyone had converged for the wedding. Children were in the home. Next thing you know, the relatives hear an argument in the next room.
Do we have any idea what a bride and groom are arguing about just before they walk down the aisle? And how does she suddenly have a kitchen knife in her hand?
ZARRELL: Well, Nancy, the argument took place in the living room, not far from the kitchen. It was a kitchen knife that she allegedly stabbed him with. And what happened, Nancy, is the victim`s cousin actually heard the word "knife" yelled. that is when they went into the living room and saw the two of them -- the wife confronting her soon-to-be husband.
And as he -- as she stabs him, he is -- she is swinging the knife as he is falling down, punctured his heart. He`s bleeding on the floor. There`s actually a blood trail, Nancy, leading from the living room outside to where he was eventually found.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Joining me, Anita Kay out of LA, Hugo Rodriguez, defense attorney, former fed with the FBI, and renowned defense attorney out of the Atlanta jurisdiction Michael Hauptman.
Michael, I know it`s hard -- Michael, this way. This way. There you go, buddy. Michael...
MICHAEL HAUPTMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I`m just -- I`m just shocked you referred to me as renowned.
GRACE: Michael, I know it`s going to be tough for you to put it in a nutshell, but give me your best defense. And don`t say pre-wedding jitters. Don`t. Don`t.
HAUPTMAN: I was going say pre-wedding jitters!
(LAUGHTER)
HAUPTMAN: I would hope that he probably said something that just pushed her off the edge.
GRACE: OK, let me get this straight. I think we`re all familiar with the venerable legal theory "sticks and stones can break my bones, but words will never hurt me"? What about with it Rodriguez? Doesn`t matter what he said. He could have said anything. He could have called her every name in the book. He could have backed out on the wedding. He could have gotten cold feet. Words don`t matter. Under the law, that is not justification.
HUGE RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, words do matter. If you would have said, I`m going to kill you, I`m going to hurt you, those words matter. But we don`t know what happened. But right now, we have he`s dead, she`s alive. It depends on what her -- on what happened.
Maybe he had done something before. Maybe he had just come back from having done something. We don`t know yet, and I`m not going to jump to any conclusions.
GRACE: OK, Anita Kay, let`s talk a little sense into our male counterparts today because even if somebody says, I`m going to kill you, if that is not combined with some overt act, you do not have the right to stab somebody in the heart. Absolutely not.
And when Hauptman -- we were kidding about pre-wedding jitters, but the reality is that even if he had said during those moments, I`m going to kill you, which there`s no evidence of anyway, Anita, that still is not justification or even self-defense under the law, Anita.
ANITA KAY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Absolutely, Nancy. I mean, he could have said whatever he wanted to her. We have heard nothing from family members that he tried to attack her with a knife. Nothing. Just her attacking him with the knife.
GRACE: Uh-oh! You brought up a good point, Anita Kay. Let me see the other lawyers again -- Hugo Rodriguez, Miami, Anita Kay, LA, Michael Hauptman, Atlanta.
That reminds me, guys. Their (ph) eyewitnesses. And Hugo, nobody says anything about the groom making a move to harm the bride.
Let`s take a call. Sandra in Texas. Hi, Sandra. What`s your question, dear?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Did she have any history of any mental illness or anything of the sort?
GRACE: OK, Sandra, Sandra, in Texas, I want to commend you because you have come up with the normal defense that a veteran defense attorney would come up with. When somebody`s caught red-handed, like they`re on videotape or there are eyewitnesses to the crime, then you`ve got to have a fall-back position. That fall-back position typically, insanity or mental illness.
Out to Dave Mack, morning talk show host, joining me from WAAX. Dave, there`s nothing in her history, to my understanding, about any mental illness whatsoever.
DAVE MACK, CLEAR CHANNEL WAAX: Nothing at all, Nancy. And it`s odd. Last week, we had a story of a man, you know, hatcheting his live-in to death, and it was, Don`t blame the victim. Now it`s blame the victim. They`re trying to blame this on the guy, that he must have said something or done something. She just came unglued and knifed him. And thank God his -- his cousin was there to break it up.
GRACE: You know, back to you, Sandra in Texas. You know, your question is -- and I like your question. Your question is not about the fact scenario. It`s not about how many times he was stabbed, was he fighting her -- was he fighting back, did he initiate the confrontation, was he dead on arrival, nothing like that. Your question leaps immediately to mental defect. I find that very interesting, Sandra.
I want to go to Patricia Saunders, clinical psychologist. You know what this means? Her question goes immediately beyond the facts of what happened and to, She must have been crazy. She must have an excuse. Already looking for an excuse because this is so extraordinary, Patricia.
PATRICIA SAUNDERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, that`s the last option defense is insanity or extreme emotional distress. But the only thing I would want to know really is, does she have a history of violence with this guy? Did he ever take out an order of protection against her?
GRACE: Matt Zarrell, do we know anything about orders of protection or any domestic calls?
ZARRELL: We actually asked law enforcement, Nancy. They say no domestic violence calls. And Nancy, she doesn`t even have a criminal record at this point.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Brian in Florida. Hi, Brian. You`re not a groom-to-be, are you?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I love your show, Nancy, and I love you.
GRACE: Thank you.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And I have a question.
GRACE: OK.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How does somebody snap so fast that nobody notices this?
GRACE: OK, Brian, in Florida, are you still there?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m here, Nancy.
GRACE: OK, Brian, thank you for the compliments. I am married as of this hour -- breaking news tonight. But I appreciate the love you`re sending me over the phone there.
Brian, here`s the thing. When you say "snap," you`ve been listening to too many defense lawyers because there`s no such thing as a "snap" defense. And the fact that they were in the middle of an argument does not mean that you immediately lose your mind.
I`m going to go out on a limb and go back to the defense attorneys, Michael Hauptman, Hugo Rodriguez. Also joining me, former sex crimes prosecutor out of LA Anita Kay.
Now, before Hauptman and Rodriguez cloud the issue, muddy the water, Anita, there`s no such thing as a "snap" defense under the law, all right? We hear it all the time, layperson talk, I snapped. But there`s no such defense.
What about heat of the argument, Anita?
KAY: Well, you know that`s what the defense is going to try and argue. They`re going to try and argue that she`s insane or it was heat of passion because they were in the middle of a fight, and all of a sudden -- you know, she didn`t premeditate and deliberate this.
But as far as that goes, you have eyewitnesses. They`re talking about an argument. The snap defense doesn`t work, but the snap prosecution does work. She snapped, she stabbed him, he`s dead.
GRACE: You know, Michael, take off your defense hat just a moment. I`ve heard you argue many, many arguments, legal theories. But under the law, under heat of passion, typically, the law accepts heat of passion if there is what the law sees or what a jury sees as a legitimate excuse, and typically, they always use the same cliche, man finds wife in bed, and in the heat of the moment, kills everybody in the house. That`s the typical scenario that`s laid out in court.
Do you think just an argument, a verbal confrontation, pre-wedding argument is going to rise to the level of heat of the argument, heat of the moment passion?
HAUPTMAN: Well, I think it depends on what the argument was about. If it was about the color of the tuxedo tie, no. If it was an argument about, you know, we`re getting married in 20 minutes and I thought I might tell you that I`ve got this communicable disease that you now have, possibly. You know, people...
GRACE: OK, what about it, Hugo? He actually has -- that`s a good point.
RODRIGUEZ: No, no. Something triggered her. We don`t know the background. We don`t know any -- but there was a trigger. It`s not a snap, it triggered. And it could have been dormant for a long time that rose to a certain level. She took a very drastic action. There`s got to be a reason for it that triggered her action.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A bride-to-be.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Thirty-one-year-old Na Cola Franklin.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Charged with stabbing her fiance to death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just hours before he was set to walk down the aisle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just hours before their wedding.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: An argument broke out in the early morning hours before their big day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: His fiance stabbed him.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The coroner`s preliminary report shows Brewster suffered two stab wounds to his left torso.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Now dead from his injuries. Franklin now facing criminal homicide charges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. Just hours before they walk down the aisle, the relatives are all assembled, the pastor has already been to the home. Before they all head to the wedding, the groom is stabbed in the heart, stabbed to death, literally leaving a trail of blood behind him.
And now instead of posing with her bridesmaids, she`s posing with the jailhouse sheriff for her mug shots. That`s right, the perpetrator, allegedly, the bride stabbing her groom-to-be to death.
Matt Zarrell, I want to go over the physical evidence because you already hear the lawyers ruminating about what a possible defense is going to be. But very often, Matt, you and I know from looking at the evidence, the physical evidence can completely unhinge a lot of defense arguments.
So tell me what we know about who heard what when. I want to hear about the knife. I want to hear about how the knife was recovered, if it was recovered. I want to hear how many stab wounds were there because every time she stabs him gives her that much longer to create premeditation under the law. I want to hear about the trail of blood. What does it show me? Was he dead on arrival? Was he dead when the cops got there?
Tell me the whole thing, Matt!
ZARRELL: OK, Nancy. First of all, he was stabbed at least twice, and as you know, medical examiners sometimes can determine a stab -- more than multiple stabbing wounds during autopsy. So we may find out more.
Now, what we know now is that the groom-to-be`s cousin told police that he and his wife were in the bedroom when the groom-to-be and the bride began to argue. The groom had just announced he was going out for food.
The cousin leaves the bedroom to see what`s going on. Someone at that point yells, Knife. The cousin`s wife then steps into the living room, sees the husband standing between the groom and the bride. The bride is swinging a knife. The groom is bleeding from his side.
Now, when cops spoke -- now, when cops spoke to the cousin, the cousin told the -- the cousin told cops that he witnessed the bride allegedly stabbing her soon-to-be husband.
Now, then what happens is the cousin`s wife comes into the room. The cousin is yelling for the victim to get out, for the groom to get -- for the bride to get back. Now, the cousin`s wife is terrified that her husband would be stabbed. She proceeds to tackle the bride and take the knife away. One of the children grabs the knife and puts it on the kitchen counter.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Just hours before the couple expected to walk down the aisle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Franklin allegedly attacked her soon-to-be husband.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. You know, Matt, what I didn`t hear about is the trail of blood. And did you tell me how the knife was recovered? And did you mention whether he was alive at the time police found him?
ZARRELL: OK, Nancy, let me take it from there. There was a blood trail leading from the living room out to outside the apartment, where he was eventually found. One of the children actually recovered the knife and brought it into the kitchen area.
When cops arrived on scene just after 2:00 o`clock, they found him bleeding from chest wounds on the second floor landing outside his apartment. That is when he was transported to the hospital. He was pronounced dead at the hospital. Now, we don`t know if he died in the ambulance or on his way to the hospital, but he was pronounced dead about 3:24 AM, just hours from the wedding.
GRACE: Out to the lines. Maria in Florida. Hi, Maria. What`s your question?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. I would like to know what really ticked (ph) her off to really do that to him. I mean, I really don`t -- I mean, I don`t get it. It was almost on her wedding, and she just -- I don`t know, all of a sudden, she just take (ph) him and kill him.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Maria, Maria, I`m interested. You want to know what ticked her off.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
GRACE: Can I ask you this? What would it take in your mind, if you`re sitting on that jury, to say, All right, you know what, she`s not guilty, I would have stabbed him, too?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. Well, I don`t (INAUDIBLE) to be honest with you. But I mean, just -- I mean, I`m still in shock because it`s unbelievable for somebody to really do that.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A Pennsylvania bride-to-be planning to wear her wedding gown now clothed in prison garb.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police found 36-year-old Billy Brewster dying from stab wounds.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Thirty-one-year-old Na Cola Franklin charged with stabbing her fiance to death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just hours before he was set to walk down the aisle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Brewster was about to go out for food when an argument broke out.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was an argument, I guess, woke the dog up, woke us up. And the gentleman got stabbed.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The argument turning so violent, it leaves her would-be groom dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Why Franklin allegedly attacked her soon-to-be husband.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She was really friendly. I didn`t really see him that much, but she was really nice.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The brutal attack allegedly unfolds in the same apartment occupied by the couple`s children and family.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Police say four children were in the apartment at the time. One of them reportedly took the knife away.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Used a kitchen knife to puncture her groom in the heart.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are still blood stains outside apartment 7.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m shocked. They were very nice people.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: Just before they are set to walk down the aisle, they had just spoken to the preacher who visits their home prior to the wedding, the family is all convened, the groom is stabbed to death in the heart. Now behind bars, the bride.
We are taking your calls. Back to you, Matt Zarrell. Isn`t it true, that we know of two stab wounds, there may be more, she is still insisting, quote, "I didn`t mean to kill him." Was she just before a judge?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRACE STAFFER, COVERING STORY: Yes, Nancy, she actually had her arraignment just a few hours ago. She actually cried, rocked herself back and forth, and she was able -- interrupting by sobs, choking out, "I did not kill him on purpose." Now when the judge announced that he -- that the soon-to-be groom was pronounced dead, Franklin actually told the judge, you`ve got to check again. She was unable to comprehend that her fiance was dead.
The judge responded by saying he was pronounced dead by the Lehigh County coroner. The bride proceeded to wail, covered her face in her hand, saying, I want my family back, saying, I want to go home, I want to go home. And the judge said, you`re not going any time in the near future.
GRACE: To Steve Kardian, former police detective, lead instructor at Defend University.
Steve, I find it very difficult to believe that she says, I didn`t mean to kill him. Then when you swing a knife at somebody, he`s got multiple stab wounds, what do you think is going to happen?
STEVE KARDIAN, FMR. POLICE DETECTIVE, SELF-DEFENSE EXPERT, LEAD INSTRUCTOR AT DEFEND UNIVERSITY: Well, Nancy, typically we see in heat of the moment or passionate moments like this in which she`s in a state of denial. So she doesn`t believe that she actually completed the act and law enforcement has a very good case against her.
GRACE: To Dr. Michelle Dupre, medical examiner, forensic pathologist, joining me out of Columbia this evening.
Dr. Dupre, thank you for being with us. Doctor, why is it that even at this hour we`re not sure how many stab wounds there are?
DR. MICHELLE DUPRE, M.D., MEDICAL EXAMINER AND FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Yes, Nancy. I think we probably do know. As a medical examiner probably does know. They just simply may not be releasing that information now. However, it could be the case that if there are a couple of stab wounds that are close together, it may be a little more difficult to separate each one. But I would bet that they already know. They`re just not telling us.
GRACE: We are taking your calls. I want to go back to Bob Hauer, WAEB.
Bob, I`m not sure where the children are that were in the home, but I know one of the children actually found the weapon, found the knife and brought it back, which leads me to another question as to was the knife disposed of? Why did the child have to bring the weapon back?
BOB HAUER, REPORTER, WAEB RADIO: Well, Nancy, we`re kind of wondering that as well. I will tell you that the knife was picked up and taken into the kitchen area just moments after the incident occurred. And when police arrived later that day they did take out about eight or nine bags worth of evidence. Assuming that knife would be among those items.
GRACE: You know, I`m just trying to determine, Bob Hauer, and you`re hearing it from all of our caller. We got a flood of phone calls, they`re all basically asking the same question, not who, what, where, when, they`re asking why. Everybody is just assuming the groom must have done something to deserve to get stabbed. I don`t really see it that way, Bob Hauer.
HAUER: Yes. And especially for a quiet couple, too. Neighbors said they never really heard them argue. They described Nicole as nice, you know, Billy the same way. It`s very difficult to determine that there was anything else going on except for this one incident in which -- be probably the worst thing in the world that happened.
GRACE: Another question, unleash the lawyers. Anita Kay, Hugo Rodriguez, Michael Hauptman, her speaking openly in court, she`s got a lawyer. She says, I didn`t mean to kill him.
You know, you`ve got multiple stab wounds, Hugo Rodriguez, you`ve got a crime scene, a murder weapon and now you`ve got the bride sitting in court saying, in open court, there`s not going to be constitutional protection for her. She says, I didn`t mean to kill him. That`s like me holding a gun to your head, Hugo, pulling the trigger and killing you, going, oops, I just meant to scare you.
Yes, it doesn`t work that way, Hugo.
HUGO RODRIGUEZ, DEFENSE ATTORNEY, FMR. FBI AGENT: What she said -- what she said before the judge is just a continued manifestation of the shock she`s in and the trauma that she`s going through. We don`t know what triggered it, Nancy. This is not normal behavior.
GRACE: Put him back up.
RODRIGUEZ: Something triggered it. Something triggered it.
GRACE: OK. Not normal and something triggered equals no defense.
Michael Hauptman, I`m going to go out --
RODRIGUEZ: Equals possible justification. Possible justification.
GRACE: Now I`m hearing a legal phrase, but justification under the law is typically self-defense, that would be justification. Heat of passion is not justification. That`s simply a way to --
RODRIGUEZ: Extreme emotional distress? Justification?
GRACE: As I was saying, that no, actually that`s not justification.
Hauptman, justification is self-defense. What he`s saying are legal defenses, not justification. They`re mitigating. Maybe. But they`re not justification under the law. But if it`s an accident, or it`s truly self- defense you walk. It`s over. You and I go round and round about that in court, Hauptman. We don`t see any self-defense here. Weigh in.
MICHAEL HAUPTMAN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I see accident.
GRACE: Multiple stabbing. Please explain the accident theory. I`m interested.
HAUPTMAN: You know, you`re giving us an empty set of facts and we`re trying to fill them. I`m thinking accident. You know they`re nice people. She didn`t believe she did it. She wanted the judge to check again. To me it sounds like an accident. Maybe she tripped and fell. We don`t know.
GRACE: Maybe she tripped and fell. You know, Hauptman, when you say that with a straight face, you might actually get a juror to believe it.
HAUPTMAN: I tried.
GRACE: But Anita Kay, did you just hear Hauptman say accident? Now there was a preamble to that. He was saying, you know, just go with me on this, when I`m just throwing it out there. That may very well be the defense. They may just throw something out there.
HAUPTMAN: No, that`s not going to --
ANITA KAY, FORMER SEX CRIMES PROSECUTOR: Well, they`re going to have to throw something out there, but accident? I mean, it was hard to stifle the laugh on that one that she accidentally got a knife from the kitchen and stabbed him several times. And left him for dead. That`s hard to buy. An accident.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I did not want to hurt him or kill him.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Brenda drove her SUV through this Mill Creek office building and ran down her estranged husband John.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Hours earlier she reportedly visited her estranged husband and played the song "Angry Johnny," while repeating the lyrics.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The defense claims Brenda wasn`t in her right mind due to emotional distress and was taking anti-anxiety medication. The so- called Xanax defense.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Well, next I guess she`ll blame Pfizer.
Caught on video, allegedly his wife tries to run him down, there you see her. Don`t worry, a building didn`t seem to stop her. She ended up breaking his legs.
Straight out to Jim Kirkwood, joining us, KTKK, from Salt Lake.
Jim, what happened?
JIM KIRKWOOD, NEWS SHOW HOST, KTKK: Amazing story, Nancy. This woman claims she took a handful of Xanax and then because her husband wouldn`t sign a quitclaim deed on the house and help her to refinance it, she was angry, threatened to kill him, according to the song, at least, she denies threatening him directly other than through the song. And then ran him down with her SUV, went through a wall.
GRACE: Ouch.
KIRKWOOD: Went through the glass doors.
GRACE: That`s got to hurt. OK. Hold on, Jim.
Clark Goldband -- let`s go to Clark Goldband also joining us on the story.
Clark, are you with me?
CLARK GOLDBAND, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER, COVERING STORY: Yes, Nancy. I can hear you.
GRACE: OK, Clark. What is a three-way sex trio fit into this thing?
GOLDBAND: Well, according to court documents we`ve obtained, it`s clear, both were upset with the marriage. However the wife who was the alleged driver of this vehicle you see on your screen speaks of all sorts of problems including an affair and the husband also, according to her, requested threesomes with a co-worker.
GRACE: OK, question, with her co-worker or his co-worker?
GOLDBAND: That`s not clear from the documents, but from the way I read it, it seems his co-worker because she was a stay-at-home mom prior to this, Nancy.
GRACE: Repeat. Was a stay-at-home mom, taking care of all of their children. But then -- doesn`t she have to have a job that work out to 70 to 80 hours of work a week?
GOLDBAND: According to the wife, Nancy, she fell on financial hard times as talk of a separation started. She claims the husband refused to pay health insurance multiple times and went from a stay-at-home mom to working about 80 hours a week and money was very tight.
GRACE: Now take me through the scenario that we know of so far. Somehow she`s blaming Xanax in this whole thing, and as say, for instance, she`s going to be blaming Pfizer for creating Xanax. But she`s claiming she`s not -- she`s not guilty because she took a handful of Xanax, but isn`t it true just -- just weeks before the Xanax defense came up, the defense was extreme emotional distress.
And the defense took that all the way to an appellate court and remanded down. And it was an (INAUDIBLE) on the stress day. In other words the court said no, that`s not a valid defense. Then they came up with the Xanax defense, isn`t that true, Clark?
GOLDBAND: That`s right, Nancy. And if it had been accepted by the court, this attempted murder charge could very well have been less. The jury may have been able to vote for an attempted manslaughter or something like that, but right now, she is looking at attempted murder and that carries life behind bars.
GRACE: OK. Let me go out to heather in Tennessee. Hi, Heather, what`s your question?
HEATHER, CALLER FROM TENNESSEE: My question is, doesn`t it say on the label on the bottle do not drive or operate heavy machinery while you`re taking Xanax?
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: I don`t know, I`m checking, but I don`t have a bottle of Xanax on me, but I imagine it does say that. But hold on, Heather in Tennessee.
Back to you, Clark Goldband. Take me through the facts, because there`s a lot more to this. There`s more to it than just when you see this SUV pulled out, went through this office building, there`s a lot more to what happened. Go ahead.
GOLDBAND: Yes, Nancy. Based on testimony in court, this did not start on this video you`re seeing. This was the end result. It started a few hours earlier, the wife and the husband were in a nasty separation where she was to receive the house, but first she had to sign some -- she had to get the husband to sign some kind of a quitclaim deed document.
She goes down to that office a few hours before and apparently the husband does not want to sign it for whatever reason. They get in some sort of an argument. But before she leaves, she`s over in her vehicle and plays a song by Poe that speaks of mayhem and murder and killing. And she allegedly in court, according to the husband, said that she wants him to be dead and he is nothing but a parasite.
Now the wife claims she called him a parasite, but says she didn`t want him dead. Fast forward about four hours, he`s leaving work and as he`s leaving work, the husband claims he hears the screech of the tires on this SUV, and he looks up and he sees his wife`s eyes locked on him. He begins to run and take off. He hops over a grass -- he hops over a concrete barrier and into this office building thinking he`s safe, but moments later, you see it right there on your screen, what he says happened, that SUV plows through the grass and rolls over him and according to testimony, Nancy, it didn`t stop there, the SUV kept rolling down the hallway, the husband finally hides in a maintenance closet where he`s found by a custodian sometime later.
GRACE: Clark, you seem happy about it.
GOLDBAND: No, Nancy, just reporting the facts.
GRACE: Well, you look happy. Clark, you`re a newlywed, aren`t you?
GOLDBAND: Yes, it`s always nice to be with you, Nancy.
GRACE: Clark, you left something out. When the wife pulls out to see the husband, she overhears him on the cell phone, does she not?
GOLDBAND: Yes, and let me add --
GRACE: And what does she hear, Clark? What is he saying on the cell phone?
GOLDBAND: He`s telling another woman, I love you, according to the wife and let me add --
GRACE: That`s it.
GOLDBAND: Let me just add one more thing here, Nancy, really quick. He claimed he didn`t have a cell phone and that`s why he wasn`t talk to the kids according to the wife.
GRACE: So she finds him on the cell phone telling another woman he loves her.
GOLDBAND: Right.
GRACE: All right. Unleash the lawyers. Anita Kay, Hugo Rodriguez, Michael Hauptman. While I`ve got the lawyers, let`s go to William in Florida.
William, what`s your question?
WILLIAM, CALLER FROM FLORIDA: My question is, what gives her the right to think -- I`d start over. I`m sorry. What gives her the right to think that she -- she chose to take the medicine and given all the facts of the medicine -- I`m a recovering drug addict myself. There`s no defense in taking prescription medicine for attempted murder or any other crime.
GRACE: William in Florida, you`re absolutely correct. Voluntary use of drugs and alcohol is no defense under the law, unless you`re basically comatose during which you would not be able to drive, isn`t that true, Michael Hauptman?
HAUPTMAN: That is true, and voluntary intoxication is not an defense. However taking a medication and having a reaction that you`re not expecting would be a defense.
GRACE: You mean reacting to your husband telling another woman he loves her?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Brenda drove her SUV through this Mill Creek office building and ran down her estranged husband, John.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He was my best friend. And I love him.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Facing charges of trying to murder her estranged husband.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s not me.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: She says it`s not her fault, she wasn`t in her right mind after taking too much of the anti-anxiety drug, Xanax.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: We are taking your calls. There you`re seeing video that is being introduced in a court of law. That`s the husband lying there. That`s the wife behind the wheel of the SUV, plowing him down, trying to kill him, breaking his legs. There he goes scrambling into the custodian`s closet.
It`s in an office building. It`s full of workers. It`s surrounded by a grassy area and importantly, a parking deck. She apparently finds him in the parking deck and then goes after the him.
We are taking your calls, but I want to go back to the lawyers, Anita Kay, Hugo Rodriguez, Michael Hauptman.
Weigh in, Anita Kay.
KAY: Nancy, I am so tired of cases where they`re blaming Xanax, Prozac, Zoloft, whatever drug it was, for doing what they did. It is ridiculous. She obviously had taken Xanax before. She was taking Xanax. If anything, it would have made her mellow, not to the point of driving her car over her husband. And it`s just one ex-clues after another.
GRACE: You know, Hugo Rodriguez, if you -- if you stack the jury full of women, somebody might hang that jury after they hear about the phone call to the other woman, not calling his children, claiming he didn`t have a cell phone, refusing to give her the quitclaim. The whole kit and caboodle.
RODRIGUEZ: Not giving her child support, OK? Not seeing his children, abandoning his responsibility. She`s financially in trouble. She can, and I disagree with you, Nancy, the Utah Supreme Court said that she can get -- possibly get an instruction for emotional distress. Jurors will listen to that.
GRACE: Actually, this went up on appeal by the defense team and it was remanded back to the trial judge. That defense is disallowed.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Actually, Hugo Rodriguez, I`ve got with me right here the ruling of the Supreme Court of the state of Utah, disallowing that defense.
Now, Rodriguez, let me make clear, though, they`re claiming in this particular case. But listen, Hugo, let me tell you what they cite, the defense attorney said that she had a complicated driving pattern. In other words, there was a lot of traffic that day, that stressed her out. That she was in the middle of a divorce.
Hey, in this country, who isn`t? She goes on and on and on about experiences in losing self-control, extreme emotional reaction. Bottom line, you may have a leg to stand on, Hugo, but what they gave the court was not enough, so they fell back on Xanax.
RODRIGUEZ: I may not disagree with -- in that respect that they rise to the level to get an instruction, but that is a recognizable defense. That goes to mitigation. She took the pills as a result of the emotional distress which caused her to act out and do what she did.
GRACE: You know what, Hugo? I keep looking at this video and I get why she was angry, but if you switch the genders, and you`ve got a husband running down the wife, it would be a slam dunk. And I predict that`s what`s going to happen in this case.
Everybody, let`s stop and remember, Army Private First Class Eric Hario, just 19, Monroe, Michigan, killed, Afghanistan. Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Marksmanship Award. Loved weight lifting, football, wrestling. Leaves behind parents James and Rebecca, brothers Mark and Robert.
Eric Hario, American hero.
Thanks to our guests but especially to you for being with us.
And good night to our intern, Sirrah. His mom on the Supreme Court in Sri Lanka, fighting for women and children`s life.
And happy birthday to our superstar, Anita. Mother of three. Take a look at this beautiful friend of the show.
And also tonight, out to Linda from Monroe. Get well, Linda.
Everyone, Dr. Drew coming up next. I`ll see you tomorrow night, 8:00 sharp Eastern, and until then, good night, friend.
END
