Return to Transcripts main page
Jane Velez-Mitchell
Woman Tased for Spitting?; George Zimmerman`s Friends Speak Out
Aired September 10, 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: Tonight, a handcuffed woman unleashes her fury on police and appears to spit at the officer. But it`s what the officer did in return that got him in big, big trouble. But then again, could that cop have simply been fed up with this chronic criminal? We`re going to talk to this woman`s attorney next.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL (voice-over): Tonight, shocking video you have to see to believe. An Oklahoma cop caught on tape, Tasing a woman with her hands cuffed behind her back at the police station. It appears the woman spits in the officer`s face right before he uses a Taser. Is this cop way out of line or are all bets off after she spits at him?
Plus, George Zimmerman`s best friends speak out, breaking their silence for the first time since Zimmerman shot unarmed teen, Trayvon Martin. These are the same friends who let the former Neighborhood Watch volunteer stay at their home after the shooting. What will they reveal?
Cops go into Miley Cyrus` estate. And you won`t believe who they find, what he was carrying and why he was there. We`ll show you the rest of this extraordinary arrest caught on tape tonight. We`ll also go inside the mind of stalkers with a stalking expert.
And it`s the day we`ve all been waiting for. Superstar Jessica Simpson steps out for the first time since her weight skyrocketed while pregnant, showing off her slim new self. How much did the "Dukes of Hazzard" hottie lose and how did she do it? We`ll show you tonight.
And I am taking your calls for the hour.
JIM MORET, HLN ANCHOR: An Oklahoma police officer is in trouble after Tasing a woman who was in custody.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Caught an camera. Nakina Williams is handcuffed in custody for public intoxication. She appears to be mouthing off when she suddenly spits on one of the officers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A surveillance video has just been released that shows how the officer Tased her while her hands were cuffed behind her back.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Officer Sterling Taylor is seen circling Williams while the probes were still on her. That lasted for a little more than a minute.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, see for yourself as a police officer Tases a woman square in the chest after she spits at him. Did he go too far?
Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live.
The officer`s superiors would say, yes, Officer Sterling Taylor did go too far. They suspended him for two weeks and ordered him to get more training. Officer Taylor and another cop arrested Nakina Williams in June for alleged public intoxication. The video just coming out now.
When they got her back to the police station, the officers Nakina she exchanged words with the officer as other cops stood by. And that`s when she spit on him. Now, here`s what the ACLU has to say about the spitting and the cop`s reaction.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Obviously, spitting in the face of a police officer is inexcusable. The only justification for him Tasering her would have been if somehow she was able to physically attack him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: In other words, he`s saying cops shouldn`t Tase just to retaliate or punish someone. We have to point out, the woman in question, Nakina Williams, has a long, long arrest record and a long history with this particular police department in Oklahoma.
But this officer also has a very interesting track record, McAllisterNews.com (ph) reporting Officer Taylor, who Tased this woman, has been the victim of assault and battery in the field twice as much as his fellow officers.
So you know, one might ask, could he be egging these perps on to make them react and lash out at him? We called the police department to get a response but never heard back. The department speaks for the suspended officer. We`d love to hear his side.
What do you think? Excessive force or justified, given she allegedly spit at him? Give me a holler: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.
Straight out to criminal defense attorney Jayne Weintraub. He zapped her with a Taser, but she spit on him. Excessive force or, hey, she spit on him?
JAYNE WEINTRAUB, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: It`s excessive force. It`s outrageous.
Look, Tasers are good weapons for police when their life is in danger, when their life is being threatened. It`s a good weapon to have rather than a .38 to kill somebody. It is not -- it is not to be used when a cop is angry, when a cop is trying to retaliate.
I understand that he was offended and he was spit on, and that`s a bad thing. But it is not up to him -- I mean, what`s the next thing, if he didn`t have a Taser, to take out his .38 and kill someone, and the next would be -- news story would be that a cop shot another person in custody?
A Taser is a dangerous weapon. This cop used excessive force. And a two-week suspension is like a pat on the wrist: don`t do that again, please. It`s also ridiculous.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. We want to talk about, Jayne, this in a second. We`re going to talk about a woman who`s in a coma after being Tased.
Now, this police department in Oklahoma reportedly just started using Tasers a couple of years ago.
The attorney for this woman who was Tased joins me exclusively now. And he told us a Taser has been used 16 times total by all the officers in this particular police department combined since they were handed Tasers a couple of years ago. But this officer in question, according to the woman`s attorney, has used the Taser ten out of those 16 times.
So straight out to Jeremy Bieber, the attorney for Nakina Williams. Why do you think that fact -- if in fact, it was a fact, we haven`t been able to independently confirm it -- was so, so telling?
JEREMY BIEBER, ATTORNEY FOR NAKINA WILLIAMS (via phone): Thank you, Jane, for having me on. Obviously, this officer is using this -- using this Taser not as a weapon of need but rather a tool of convenience or punishment. He uses it -- of the 16 times that the McAlister Police Department has used their Tasers, he`s used it ten times. The other six times are from three other officers. And there`s 40 police officers on the force.
So you`re talking about 34 other officers who haven`t had the need to use a Taser at all. But this one police officer`s used it ten times. And the statistic that you gave earlier, that he is twice as more likely to have an assault and battery against a police officer case as the other peers -- the other police officers in this county; it`s actually ten times more likely. He`s had 14 cases. There have been 112 cases of assault -- assault and battery on a police officer filed in Pittsburgh County in the last ten years. Of those 112 cases, 14 of them are his. And that`s with hundreds of other officers in this county not having any of these type charges.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So you`re essentially saying he`s kind of Taser- happy. And again, we`d love to get the officer`s side. But we have not been able to reach him, the police department not responding.
You can be charged with felony assault for spitting at a cop, and you also might have to wear the so-called Veil of Shame, otherwise known as a spit mask. Watch this from TruTV.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Come on.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You`re not going to suffocate me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Nobody`s suffocating you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, you are.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This goes on your head.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m not resisting anything.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It ain`t about you resisting. You`re spitting and this goes on your head.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Dr. Cathleen London, what is the health risk for police officers when somebody spits at them?
DR. CATHLEEN LONDON (via phone): Really nothing, just a little bit of embarrassment. Unless she has morphed into an alien with acid spit, and I don`t think that`s really likely, there is really nothing -- it`s disgusting, but there`s no health risk.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So in other words, you can`t -- you certainly can`t get AIDS from being spit on?
LONDON: No.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But could you get something else, herpes or God only knows what?
LONDON: No. Go wash your face. You know, you need prolonged contact to get any of the sexually transmitted infections. So absolutely not.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s important to remember.
LONDON: And it would have to be mucous -- she`d have to aim really well, too.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: In other words, get in his mouth?
LONDON: Right. His mouth or his eye. You know, again, and if you go rinse it right away, you`re fine. So it`s a big nothing in terms of a health risk. So to use that as his defense, absurd.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s important to remember, using a Taser gun can be very dangerous to the person on the receiving end. Remember this Florida teenager who was running away from cops? She was Tased in the back, and she fell to the ground, hitting her head on the pavement? She has been declared brain dead, and she is still in a coma, but the cop who Tased her was cleared of any wrongdoing. And when asked if he warned the woman, he admitted, no.
Todd Shamshak, former police chief and private investigator, what`s the criteria? When is the proper use for using a Taser?
TODD SHAMSHAK, PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR: Jane, good evening. And as a former chief police and a police trainer, this is a real teachable moment.
Now I`ve commented on the early -- the second case that you referred to there. Both of those -- this case and the other case are great examples of the misapplication of a very dangerous weapon.
Law-enforcement officers need to have this tool, but they have to have strict guidelines. They have to be well-trained. The policy and procedure has to be well-articulated. And that policy that`s promulgated has to be supervised.
There are a lot of issues here. This officer has obviously fallen through the cracks if he has had these other issues. The early warning system for his supervisors to see if there`s a problem here has not been adhered to. There`s a problem here.
Again, this is a teachable moment. All officers should look at this. I was struck that other officers didn`t intervene immediately and say, "What are you doing here?" Somebody should have stepped in there. But they might have been shocked -- Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, it is -- it is quite shocking and it is always hard to intervene when a colleague is allegedly behaving inappropriately.
Let`s go to the phone lines. Vivian, Nova Scotia, your question or thought, Vivian?
CALLER: Hi, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hi.
CALLER: It`s nice to talk to you. My question is, he Tased her very close to her breasts. Could she have breast cancer in her later years because of that Taser?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Doctor -- Dr. London?
LONDON: There`s no studies that show that. But going into the chest, it could cause a fatal heart rhythm. We know that it affects heart rhythms, can cause the heart to stop or go into a dangerous rhythm. The muscle contractions have caused fractures and other things, in addition to the case you brought up where someone falls and hits their head.
So these are not -- this is not a benign little shock that`s being emitted. These are -- these are weapons and need to be used appropriately. Not because you`re mad that somebody spit at you.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Look, you have to admit here, Nikita [SIC] Williams has a history with this department. She`s got an arrest record as long as my arm filled with arrests for public intoxication, resisting arrest, obstructing an officer, interfering with an officer. The list goes on and on and on.
But here`s the problem. It`s not about that. It`s about the actual incident. We watched police kick this man, who was wanted for domestic abuse. The suspect also has a long record. And we also watched police slam a nurse -- that`s -- that`s -- this is a nurse who has absolutely no record, who was treated like this because she said something after being caught driving with her cell phone.
The point is that cops are not supposed to be judge and jury. Most of them are heroes. Most of them put their lives on the line. But every so often, you get a police officer who gets mad with power and drunk with the power of the weapons that he has, and he has to be held accountable.
All right. Thank you, fantastic panel. And we`re going to stay on top of this case.
On the other side, George Zimmerman`s BFFs speak out.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: George Zimmerman`s defense attorneys want Trayvon Martin`s school records. They plan to use those records in their defense strategy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trayvon Martin! Trayvon Martin!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Trayvon Martin! Trayvon Martin!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Trayvon Martin! Trayvon Martin!
GEORGE ZIMMERMAN, ON TRIAL FOR MURDER: I said, "I don`t have a problem, man."
SYBRINA FULTON, TRAYVON MARTIN`S MOTHER: This is not about a black and white thing. This is about a right and wrong thing.
ZIMMERMAN (via phone): If the bond is 50, pay the 50.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: $9,900, $9,900, $9,900, $9,900, $9,900, $9,900.
MARK O`MARA, ATTORNEY FOR GEORGE ZIMMERMAN: It`s not the grand conspiracy that the state seems to suggest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, shooter George Zimmerman`s best friends are finally breaking their silence. This is the very couple who gave George Zimmerman and his wife a secret hideaway right after he was accused of shooting 17-year-old Trayvon Martin while the teen was holding only Skittles and an iced tea.
Listen to George Zimmerman`s best friends` account of what happened the night George Zimmerman is accused of murdering the unarmed teen. Watch this from "Dr. Phil."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
DR. PHIL MCGRAW, TALK SHOW HOST: Do you believe if he hadn`t had that gun and shot Trayvon that George Zimmerman would be dead today?
MARK OSTERMAN, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN`S FRIEND: I do.
SONDRA OSTERMAN, GEORGE ZIMMERMAN`S FRIEND: Absolutely.
MCGRAW: So you think Trayvon would have killed him?
S. OSTERMAN: Absolutely.
M. OSTERMAN: I believe so.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Are you serious? Are you serious?
M. OSTERMAN: If I can have one moment. George -- the injuries that he had to his head could not be sustained for any period of time without either becoming unconscious or dying. He said, "I`m blacking out. I feel I`m going to die." And he told the police that. He said that in a lie detector test, all of which they have. They`ve connected all this together. And from George`s perspective, he felt, "I am going to die."
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: These are the injuries to George Zimmerman that his best friends are talking about, a broken nose, a pair of black eyes, two cuts on the back of his head and a minor back injury. This is a preview of the case Zimmerman`s defense attorney is likely to make, that it doesn`t matter what happened leading up to the altercation, because at the time Zimmerman shot Trayvon, he claimed he feared for his life.
Natalie Jackson, you are one of the attorneys for Trayvon Martin`s family. Thank you so much for joining us tonight. Do you think this "I feared for my life" argument will stand up?
NATALIE JACKSON, ATTORNEY FOR TRAYVON MARTIN`S FAMILY: Well, the fear has to be a reasonable fear, Jane. And that`s what we have to determine here. And that`s what a jury will have to determine, whether or not his fear was reasonable.
The fear -- we know that Trayvon was unarmed. We know that George Zimmerman had a gun. We know that the alleged injuries that George Zimmerman sustained did not require him to go to the emergency room. They required no treatment, no -- no stitches. He didn`t get any X-rays. He didn`t get any sort of tests that we can rely on that there was some injury.
When we look at these pictures, even the pictures of him afterwards, these were the injuries that you get from a fight. You cannot use deadly force in retaliation to a fight, a fistfight.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, I think this is going to be the crux of this upcoming case.
Now, this best friend of shooter George Zimmerman -- Mark Osterman is his name -- admits that he is the one who helped George Zimmerman choose the very gun that eventually shot Trayvon dead. Listen to Dr. Phil address that issue.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCGRAW: You helped him pick out the gun...
M. OSTERMAN: Yes, sir.
MCGRAW: ... that he ultimately shot and killed Trayvon Martin with?
M. OSTERMAN: Yes, sir.
MCGRAW: Now, that makes me wonder, if you are now bought into a point where you say, "I`ve got to defend the guy now, because I`m in the chain here." Does that mean that -- that you need to defend him here because if not, you`ve got some ownership in this?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Criminal defense attorney Michelle Suskauer, this is not an objective person. He`s a friend. He also helped George Zimmerman buy the gun. Does that invalidate any claims that he could make?
MICHELLE SUSKAUER, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY (via phone): Well, what is he going to be able to testify to anyway that`s not complete hearsay?
I want to go back to something that Natalie Jackson just said. And this case may not even get to a jury. She keeps saying, you know, it`s up to a jury, if a jury thinks that this is reasonable. This is going to be a motion to dismiss in front of this new judge now, and she is going to have to make this decision. If she denies it, then it could go in front of a jury.
And it doesn`t matter whether or not they had a fistfight or not. There didn`t even need to be a fight. It does -- there`s nothing in the statute that says there had to be a fight or whether he needed to go to the hospital for his injuries. That`s not the point.
So I think that we`re sort of losing sight of what the law is here and what exactly the defense is going to have to show in terms of using the "Stand Your Ground" defense.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Presumably you`re referring to the "Stand Your Ground" law, yes.
Natalie Jackson, do you want to respond to that?
JACKSON: The law -- the law says that he must have a reasonable fear of imminent death or great bodily harm. And it must be a reasonable fear. It can`t be George Zimmerman`s subjective fear. It can`t be someone who`s paranoid that someone looks suspicious and their subjective fear. It has to be a reasonable fear that a reasonable person would have.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And remember, Trayvon Martin had in his hands Skittles and iced tea. More on the other side.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FULTON: My son was not committing any crimes. Our son is your son. I want you guys to stand up for justice and stand up for what`s right. This is not about a black and white thing. This is about a right and wrong thing.
Justice for Trayvon!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: In a controversial move, Zimmerman`s defense team is now digging into the dead teenager, Trayvon Martin`s, past to find any dirt. His family`s calling it a witch hunt to assassinate his character.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
FULTON: The only comment that I have right now is that they`ve killed my son and now they`re trying to kill his reputation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Want to get my panel`s reaction to Zimmerman`s attorneys subpoenaing a huge list of things including Trayvon`s Facebook and Twitter accounts, school records, test scores, disciplinary records, attendance. They`ve already determined that he`s been suspended. He was suspended, I believe, three times.
Starting with Natalie Jackson, you represent Trayvon Martin`s family. What say you to these subpoenas?
JACKSON: Well, I mean, really, from a legal standard, it`s not relevant. This is character evidence, and it`s not relevant.
I -- you know, I agree with Sybrina. This is just an attempt to demonize the victim in this case. Trayvon is the victim. The only character that is relevant -- George Zimmerman did not know Trayvon Martin when he killed him that night. He knew nothing about his character.
I will tell you, this was a 17-year-old kid that was on his way to college. And he was a normal, average 17-year-old. He wasn`t an angel, but he certainly wasn`t a devil. And his character, George Zimmerman knew nothing about. And it`s not relevant to this case. It`s not even admissible.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
JACKSON: The only thing I can think is that once again, it`s just feeding into this propaganda machine.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Jayne Weintraub, will any of this -- you can subpoena but will any -- like the fact that he was suspended at the time, will that get in?
WEINTRAUB: Well, that`s not what he`s going for. What he`s going for is to be able to demonstrate whether or not Trayvon had a propensity to commit violence.
You know, it`s not about the character evidence. From the best friend, it`s not about George Zimmerman being a good guy. It`s about what happened at that moment.
And what the best friend was saying is he testified George Zimmerman told the police that he said he felt he was going to die. He felt he was passing out, and he passed a polygraph to that -- to those words. Now, what`s important is it`s not admissible in front of a jury, but it will be admissible in the "Stand Your Ground," and the judge will be able to give it whatever weight the judge thinks is appropriate. That`s No. 1.
No. 2, as far as the subpoena of the records, it`s not to show that Trayvon was a bad kid and that he was suspended for smoking pot. It`s to show whether or not he got into ten fights that day. It`s to show the propensity for what he was doing. That`s all.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: One second. Let`s give Natalie Jackson the final word here.
JACKSON: I will say that you do not look at one moment in time from one snapshot. This is a totality of circumstances. This is what happened from the time that George Zimmerman got out of his car with the gun to pursue an unarmed teenager.
It has nothing to do with the victim. His records are not relevant. They are not admissible. He had no propensity towards violence. If anyone -- if anyone`s records -- the only records that are relevant to this case are George Zimmerman`s, the perpetrator and the killer of Trayvon Martin.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, ladies, we have to leave it right there. But thank you for a lively debate, and obviously, we stay all over this case.
On the other side, Miley has a stalker.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Miley Cyrus under attack.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stand up. Put your hands in the air.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Me and Miley have been friends for five years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: A frightening, terrifying discovery at Miley Cyrus` California home this weekend. Cops found a 40-year-old man lurking literally in the bushes of the pop star`s house and the arrest was caught on tape. Watch as it all goes down.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Drop the bag. Put your hands up. Walk towards us. Keep your hands up, walk towards us. Put your hands on the wall. Put your hands on the wall.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Creepy. Cops say Jason Rivera climbed a fence surrounding Miley`s estate and was walking around her yard armed with a pair of scissors, of all things, when a neighbor called 911 reporting a possible intruder. Cops arrived fast and stumbled into a bizarre scene.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JASON RIVERA, STALKER: Me and Miley have been friends for five years.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: His wife? The only problem, Miley has no idea who this man is. Thankfully Miley and her real fiance, "Hunger Games" hottie, Liam Hemsworth, were not at home at the time.
This guy is now in custody, charged with trespassing. There`s the real fiance -- much better looking. This guy is now charged with trespassing and running from cops.
I want to go to my very special guest, Kristen Pratt. Kristen you were stalked online. It`s terrifying. How terrifying is it to be at the mercy of an irrational person? You never know when they`re going to show up.
KRISTEN PRATT, CYBERSTALKING VICTIM: It`s completely terrifying. It`s scary and invades your life. They`re physically invading you and emotionally invading you as well. It`s terrible.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yews. And thank God they weren`t home but he had a scissor -- pair of scissors.
PRATT: Yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And he had scaled the very massive wall. I mean that was no picket fence. That was a massive wall. And apparently he was banging on the wall, too, which is why the neighbor heard something and called cops. When you hear a story like that, what runs through your as a stalking victim?
PRATT: Well, it makes me realize that it doesn`t just happen to a couple of people. It happens all over the place and it`s all the time. What`s unfortunate is that in my experience, I`ve learned that when a stalker -- when you tell a stalker that you`re not interested, they don`t register that. They take it as almost like a test of your love, which is ridiculous. But that`s what they think.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. The more you say get away from me, leave me alone, the more excited they get. I think the only rational way to deal with them is to let the cops handle it and completely ignore. Do not interact whatsoever.
Unfortunately stars are often targeted, although as you heard from Kristen, regular Americans, everyday Americans are targeted, too. But stars, of course, live their lives in front of the camera and they are big targets for stalkers.
Madonna, for example, seen here in this video from Warner brothers, wow, she had to deal with stalkers.
Yes, several people have been arrested for getting too close to the Material Girl. The early `90s saw cops arrest Robert Hoskins after he reportedly threatened Madonna claiming he`d cut her from ear to ear if she didn`t marry him. Marriage seems to be a very big theme with crazy stalkers. He was also caught scaling the fence around her home trying to break in. He served 10 years for stalking. And then an ex-New York firefighter was arrested outside of Madonna`s apartment in 2010 carrying a homemade ice pick.
Rhonda Saunders, author of "Whisper of Fear", you are a stalking expert and an L.A. prosecutor. It is true what Kristen said. If you interact with them at all, even saying, "Why are you calling me, leave me alone," it just fuels the fire, doesn`t it?
RHONDA SAUNDERS, AUTHOR AND STALKING EXPERT: Absolutely because they`ve achieved what they wanted to do. They have achieved their goal, which is to get a reaction from their target. They`re not hearing "Go away, I don`t want anything to do with you." They`re thinking, "Wow, she`s talking to me. I`ve reached her."
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And some people unfortunately get -- look at this guy. Look at this heart. Look at this heart. Some kind of rope in the form of a heart he`s wearing around his neck. That gives me the chills. That gives me the chills because to me, that says this guy is cuckoo for cocoa puffs big time.
And this isn`t the first time that Miley has had trouble with an overzealous fan. Cops say back in 2009, 53-year-old Mark McLeod tried to break onto a movie sit where Miley was filming her hit movie, "The Last Song" and he tried to break in allegedly not one time, but two times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MILEY CYRUS, SINGER/ACTRESS: They`ve been on the hang all the time. I pretty much was out in the heat all the time and it never really cooled off a bit. That was in Nashville.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The humidity --
CYRUS: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
While Miley`s talking about whatever, arresting officers say Mark told them he was Miley`s fiance and that she had sent him secret messages through the TV, another common theme.
Kristen Pratt, we`re dealing with people who the real world doesn`t really exist for them. They live in a fantasy world in their where they create relationships with people. And so what`s so scary about it is that they can take anything you do, even if the cops like basically come by and throw you out and weave it into their sick story line in their head to somehow make it equal that, "Oh, you`re really interested in them and you`re in love with them."
PRATT: Yes. That`s very much true. You could make anything what you post online, what you say on the television if you`re famous, anything can be put into the story line that they think that you`re supposed to be with them. And they`ll do anything it takes to get with you.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. Guess what? Sometimes people interact with their stalkers and they don`t even know it.
Paula Abdul is a perfect example of this. And obsessive fan came face to face with Paula Abdul when the fan auditioned for "American Idol". Family members say Paula Goodspeed had a fixation on Abdul for years as well as a psychiatric history. And this woman was kind of ridiculed on "American Idol" a little bit as many are when they`re eliminated. Well, Goodspeed was found dead in her car from an overdose parked a few doors down from Paula Abdul`s home.
So Rhonda Saunders, stalking expert, author of "Whisper of Fear", these people are a danger to themselves. I mean they are out of control freight trains. Who knows where they`re going to land.
SAUNDERS: They`re very dangerous. However, I have to say that nowadays with Twitter and Facebook, especially with celebrities, when the celebrities are putting out these twitter messages, these stalkers believe that the celebrity is specifically speaking to them, giving them an invitation.
And then you have another trigger, such as the celebrity doing a film role, a romantic scene in a movie or getting engaged or some other trigger where the person who thinks they have a relationship with the celebrity gets angry. I`ve got to go and show her who`s boss. And that`s when it gets really dangerous, not only to the celebrity but to people around them, whether it`s their family, whether it`s their boyfriend or just people who are around them in the house, a bodyguard, an assistant. Stalkers are extremely dangerous people and we have to take them seriously.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And for too long, law enforcement didn`t. I would say back in the `70s. Now they are taking it much more seriously and Kristen Pratt -- last couple of seconds -- is your stalker hopefully behind bars? Has that problem gone away?
PRATT: Well, the problem hasn`t gone away, but, yes, he is behind bars and he has a long time behind there.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, thank God for that. So happy that you`re safe.
Join Nancy Grace for much more on the Miley Cyrus case. Nancy, what have you got?
NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: Jane, on the radar tracking crime and justice.
L.A., Hannah Montana superstar, Miley Cyrus, a love-crazed man wielding scissors attack -- caught on tape.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Nancy Grace at 8:00 p.m. Eastern here on HLN. You`ve got to see it.
And time for today`s "Shocking Video of the Day". Dramatic cam video just in shows us the aftermath of last month`s deadly shooting at the Sikh temple in Wisconsin. This dash cam video shows you what the responding officers experienced. It ends up in a gunfight with the shooter moments after arriving on the scene. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(DASH-CAM VIDEO OF SHOOTING AT SIKH TEMPLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It shows you what hero cops go through, risking their lives every day. Six people died, the shooter ended up taking his own life.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Our viral vid of the day features a very big dog and a very little grasshopper. So there`s the little grasshopper. There you see it. You know, they say that different species can be enemies. But what we`ve seen on these videos is that so many are friends and they play with each other. He`s not hurting the grasshopper. Interesting.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The first post-baby look at Jessica.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The message for tabloids, leave Jessica Simpson alone.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Story after story chronicling the ups and downs of Jessica`s weight loss struggle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: When Jessica`s gotten a ton of attention about her figure lately.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Last year, her empire made $750 million.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She has certainly had her struggles with weight loss over the years.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We watched Jessica Simpson begin a new chapter -- motherhood.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She had a beautiful baby girl.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You know that the number one thing that people want to see is how much Jessica has lost her baby weight.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She is working with Weight Watchers.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Weight Watchers reportedly paid Jessica $3 million to help her lose the baby weight.
DOLLY PARTON, SINGER: She`ll have to get skinny just to get people to shut the hell up.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s the day that new mom Jessica Simpson had marked on her calendar for months, the day she revealed her post-baby body to the universe on the premiere of Katie Couric`s new show. Take a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JESSICA SIMPSON, SINGER: I`ve just had a lot of pressure on me to lose the baby weight. And today was actually one of my goals, getting here and just feeling comfortable in a beautiful dress. And I have to say, I`ve achieved it. I feel beautiful today.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: She is a beautiful girl. Jessica tweeted this picture just before the show. She says she lost more than 40 pounds since giving birth to daughter Maxwell four months ago. Just a few weeks later, she signed a reported $3 million deal with Weight Watchers.
In case Jessica needs more motivation to slim down, she can think about all those tabloid headlines and late-night punch lines about her weight. She hasn`t revealed exactly how much she gained. But at one point during her pregnancy she admitted to being at least 170 pounds. Jessica also fessed up to indulging in outrageously high-calorie snacks. This from "The Tonight Show".
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JAY LENO, TALK SHOW HOST: Did you get the food graving thing?
SIMPSON: Oh, my god, yes -- right now, there`s this new thing that`s so heavenly and they`re called slutty brownies.
LENO: Slutty brownies.
SIMPSON: Yes.
LENO: Do you have to take shots before you eat those?
SIMPSON: They are a layer of cookie dough, a layer of Oreo cookies and brownie dough and you bake it together. It`s amazing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: She even tweeted a photo of these slutty brownies. She also tweeted a picture of another fave of hers, banana pudding pie. How do you think she looks now? Should we feel sorry for her after all that teasing over her weight gain? Or did she bring it on herself with the tweets about all these fattening foods?
Call me, 1-877-JVM-SAYS.
Straight out to my very, very special guest, Heather Dubrow from "Real Housewives of Orange County"; you`re a former actress, mother of four. You know what it`s like to have kids while you`re in the spotlight. Let`s look at you and your family from bravotv.com.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
HEATHER DUBROW, REALITY TV STAR: What`s one thing you feel sorry about this past year?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Well, I hit my sisters a lot. But that wasn`t this year.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, it was.
DUBROW: I have news for you. It`s every year.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`ll hit your sisters less next year.
DUBROW: Or maybe this year you won`t hit them at all.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, like that`s going to happen.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where did she get that personality from?
DUBROW: You.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Heather thanks for coming on the show. You have four kids. You say you`ve tried Weight Watchers. I think you look fabulous. Do you feel sorry for Jessica Simpson or did she bring it on herself by talking about pies and macaroni and cheese and everything else?
DUBRO: Well, hi. First of all, thanks for having me. You know, I`m a little torn about the whole thing. On one hand, I think that Jessica, you know, she is obviously a beautiful girl. She`s made herself I think very relatable by, you know, talking about her struggles and everything.
Yes, I mean to a certain extent she`s brought it upon herself. But I like the fact that she`s promoting -- you know, Weight Watchers is a very healthy way of eating. Of course you control.
I like that she`s promoting this healthy (inaudible). To me the only cop-out here is that the actual commercial only shows her from the neck up. I feel like if you`re going to go there, show it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I agree with you. In fact, I think that we have that commercial. She shot her first Weight Watchers commercial just about three weeks ago. I want to give you a sneak peek from the premiere of Katie. Check it out.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
SIMPSON: I just want to be healthy for my daughter. So I knew Weight Watchers was the only way to go. It`s working. I`m on my way. And it feels amazing.
Really I just want to be a better version of myself.
KATIE COURIC, TALK SHOW HOST: Now, I thought that was such a nice commercial. But you didn`t do -- I think a lot of people probably were expecting a full-body shot. But you weren`t comfortable doing that yet, right?
SIMPSON: I really didn`t want it to be about my weight because I know that everybody has their weight and has their own issues.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Christine Avanti, celebrity nutritionist, was that a cop-out, not showing her entire self for the Weight Watchers ad?
CHRISTINE AVANTI, CELEBRITY NUTRITIONIST: You were going to ask that, I knew it. In my opinion, I don`t know if we can call it cop-out. But we can say why aren`t they showing the whole body? Why are they holding back? What are they hiding? I mean if she`s wanting to be a better version of herself, show what the better version is whatever she is now. She looks better than when she was pregnant, I`m sure.
So show us and let`s all be real about it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: yes. And on the other side we`re going to show you the before -- the before, before pictures of this one-time superstar hottie.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
(JESSICA SIMPSON VIDEO)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That is the before, before of Jessica Simpson. John Mayer called her sexual napalm and we`re going to show you some other before and after pics of famous moms. Cindy, Texas -- your question or thought, Cindy.
CINDY, TEXAS: Yes. I did take a little bit of offense with the comments that the officer could not get any type of disease from the woman that was tased. I know from working in --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, Cindy, thank you for that but we`re talking about Jessica Simpson.
Heather, listen, it`s hard to lose weight. How the heck did you do it?
DUBROW: Oh, it`s terrible. You know the first time I was pregnant, I was pregnant with twins. I gained a lot of weight. I think it was -- all in all, I think I lied for one and said it was 55 but it was actually more like 62. It wasn`t cute and it was difficult. But you know what; I did it the old-fashioned way. That`s the only way to do it, diet and exercise.
I think one scary trend in pregnancy right now, especially in Hollywood, is this pregorexic thing that people are trying to gain the least amount of weight as possible.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And on the other side of the break I want to talk, when you say, the old-fashioned way, the only way, we want to know what that is.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mother of four Heather Dubrow secret -- eating right and exercise. Thank you so much.
Nancy next.
END
