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Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield
Police Shoot, Kill Armed Teen in Car; Woman Kills Dad, Blames Intruder; Tennis Player Banned from French Open; Child Therapist Molested and Terrorized Kids; Playboy Playmate Speaks Out on Body-Shaming Woman. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired May 31, 2017 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
[20:00:00] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST (voice-over): When good goes bad in the blink of an eye. Watch from all angles as holy hell breaks out when a
perp opens fire on the cops! One moment, it`s a simple traffic stop. The next moment, he`s going for his gun! Find out how many shots he fired
before they took him down.
A family of six that had it all -- waterfront mansion, boats, parties and a life written in Hollywood.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Then I heard a gunshot and my dad is screaming.
BANFIELD: The gunshot that tore them apart.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can smell gunshot powder.
BANFIELD: Now police say one of their own is the killer.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s blood everywhere.
BANFIELD: Tonight, the disturbing trail of the prodigal daughter charged with murdering her wealthy dad.
Lewd, crude and criminal. That`s how police are describing a child therapist.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had a major league meltdown that day.
BANFIELD: Charged with the physical and sexual assault of kids she was treating.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Spray painted victim one with black spray paint on the leg.
BANFIELD: With a checkered past, how did she ever get close to kids? And are there more victims?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jessica (ph) stated then that she was going to kill everyone and herself.
BANFIELD: A father`s emotional reaction upon hearing his toddler is dead.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) no! No, no, no, no!
BANFIELD: Charged with killing that little boy to appease his teenage girlfriend, the jury hands the judge their decision.
From body shaming to shame on you, a former "Playboy" model speaks out on ABC`s "GMA."
DANI MATHERS, FORMER "PLAYBOY" MODEL: To hide out at my mother`s house at age 30 because of something I`ve done, it just felt really low.
BANFIELD: Dani Mathers on the infamous nude photo she posted of a 70-year- old woman at the gym.
MATHERS: I never meant to hurt her.
BANFIELD: But does she really mean it? And can a mean girl ever change her stripes?
MATHERS: And I`m so sorry.
BANFIELD: A defendant dragged through a Florida courthouse.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop! You`re hurting me!
BANFIELD: She refused to move away from a courtroom when ordered. But she suffers from mental illness.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why do I have to be (INAUDIBLE)
BANFIELD: Guess how much she got in her lawsuit.
And talk about balls. A no-name tennis player tries to grope and kiss his way into the headlines. Nice try, fella, but the only winner here is the
reporter who got away from your filthy French press (ph).
(END VIDEOTAPE)
BANFIELD: Hello, everyone. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.
Of all the times you have held your breath in fear, your pulse has raced and fight or flight kicks in, I can almost guarantee you it is nothing like
what three officers in Grand Rapids, Michigan, went through this month when they came upon Malik Carey in the back seat of a white Chevy.
The car was parked. The rear window was down. The officers were on high alert because they were looking for an 18-year-old guy who busted his
probation on a violent assault.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What`s your first name?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: I am going to jump ahead right now and I`m going to tell you that Malik did not survive this encounter. But you are about to see why,
like you have never seen before, in fact, five crystal clear angles of exactly what happened, every single shred of evidence. And it is not often
that bodycameras can take you into the trenches like this, but it just might be a sign of the times.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did they forget about you?
MALIK CAREY: No, I`m waiting for them to come back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh. What`s your name? What`s your name?
M. CAREY: Is there a reason?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. What`s your first name?
CAREY: Is there a reason, sir?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, we`re looking for a guy that looks just like you.
M. CAREY: Looks like me?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes. What`s your name?
M. CAREY: Why are you all looking for me for?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s an easy question. I just need to know your first name, man.
M. CAREY: Well, sir, I`m just waiting (INAUDIBLE) can`t be looking for me.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You sure? Positive?
M. CAREY: I`m sure.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: It didn`t take long before officers actually made the confirmation that that young man was 18-year-old Malik Carey. As you`re
about to see, when the police go in for the arrest, Malik goes into his waistband, reaches for a gun, and that is when all hell breaks loose.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:05:02]UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You ain`t got no search warrant. You can`t go in the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s TV, not reality. I`m sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You can`t go in the car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands on top of your head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don`t -- don`t be...
M. CAREY: For what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands on top of your head.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch your back!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 1978 emergency. (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don`t move!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You OK? You OK? You OK, Lyles (ph)? He`s still got the gun. Lyles, get this way! Lyles, get this way!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m good. I`m good.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: One bullet struck Carey in the head. Another round hit him in the arm. Two officers fired a total of 18 rounds. Malik Carey collapsed
in front of the house that you saw. Soon after, he was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. And when the bodycam and dashcam footage was reviewed,
all five angles of it, the county prosecutor said Carey`s shooting was justified, and there weren`t a whole lot who would have disagreed.
Chris Becker is the Kent County prosecuting attorney. He joins me from Grand Rapids, Michigan. Sir, thanks so much for being with me. Before I
even ask you the first question, I said there were five angles. You just saw one. I want my viewers to see the second angle, the moment when Malik
Carey actually went off running from the car. Let`s take a look.
(VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Sir, a five-page report was written about this. And as I said, I`ve not seen this many angles on a situation like this. Tell me what you
went through when you came to your decision.
CHRIS BECKER, KENT COUNTY PROSECUTING ATTORNEY: Well, obviously, you look at the bodycamera videos. It is rare that you get that many good angles
and good views of something like this. So I read the report first to get an idea of what was going on. There`s a lot I got from the media
originally. So I want to read through the report, and then I looked at the videos, and that made it pretty clear as to exactly what happened.
BANFIELD: So in some of the other angles, and audio, you can hear tasers going off, as well. I want to play our third angle from a bodycamera where
you can see from yet another angle the exact action of when the moment where Malik was shot. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s TV, not reality, I`m sorry.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands on top your head?
CAREY: For what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands on top of your head.
CAREY: For what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Watch your back! Watch your (INAUDIBLE)! He`s still up! He`s still up!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Mr. Becker, I wanted specifically to address that because I could hear the taser going off, and I know that one of your decisions was
that the first response of the police was not deadly force, it was taser force. How is it so clear to you that the first four shots that were fired
in that entire melee actually came from the suspect and not from the police?
BECKER: Well, if you look at the in-car video, the one that captures the whole scene, the car and the officers around it, that doesn`t pick up any
of the voices of the officers through it. And so the four shots when they go off, you hear the shots, you can see two of the officers (INAUDIBLE)
Officer Gamez is backing away. He got his taser, doesn`t have his gun drawn. Officer Lilley (ph), who actually deploys a taser, never fires a
shot and doesn`t have his gun drawn.
And then Officer Hawkins is falling backwards. And when you see the bodycam, you put it together, he`s drawing his gun as he`s falling
backwards. So those four shots (INAUDIBLE) happen just after Officer Hawkins leaves the vehicle have to come from Mr. Carey.
BANFIELD: So Officer Hawkins, you said, was retreating from the car after he went in to make the arrest, correct?
BECKER: Correct.
BANFIELD: OK. So I want to put up a still picture. It`s very hard to make it out, but when you look at this picture, you are looking at that
bodycam angle that I just showed that is actually pointing towards Officer Hawkins after he has fallen back from the vehicle. And you can see in that
yellow circle Malik`s hand pointing a .38 Smith & Wesson revolver at Officer Hawkins, who you can see in the right-hand side of your screen as
he`s falling -- falling back.
[20:10:15]And is this the -- I mean, look, I`ve looked at these videos, sir, probably six or seven times. How many times have you and your team
looked at them to assess exactly who shot when, who tased when, who fell back when?
BECKER: More than six or seven. We spent -- I mean, we got the -- it was actually a relatively quick turnaround because the bodycamera videos were
very helpful, but we probably went over them dozens of times, especially when you try and slow them down. And I wanted to put something together
for the media when we released it locally so we could break it down and show exactly what happened and be very clear that, you know, he -- you have
the one shot (INAUDIBLE) in the circle where he`s actually going for the weapon, where he`s drawing it. And then you have Officer Lilley`s where --
I`m assuming. I can`t see your video, what you`re showing, but where it`s pointing -- the gun is pointing at the two officers. So you have two good
still shots of exactly what it was. We didn`t want any question that this is -- in fact, he drew his weapon first.
BANFIELD: OK. There is yet one more officer with a bodycam. This will be the fourth angle of the exact same incident. This is coming from Officer
Tony Gamez`s bodycamera. And I`m not sure if it shows anything different than we`ve already seen, but it certainly does clarify anything that might
be in question. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands on top of your head.
M. CAREY: For what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put your hands on top of your head.
M. CAREY: For what?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just do it. Don`t -- don`t...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s got a gun! Got a gun!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Damn it!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Stay down!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don`t move!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Don`t move!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Mr. Becker, in Officer Gamez`s hands, I can see what looks to be a yellow taser. I`m not the expert here. You are. It also appears that
he`s holding a weapon, as well. Did that angle show you that he fired the taser and then switched into firing the weapon?
BECKER: No, Officer Gamez never fired his taser because he was coming around the front of the vehicle. It was Officer Lilley who was standing by
the passenger side door. Officer Gamez pulled it and had it available, but when the shots fired, by the time he got around, you can kind of see him
draw his revolver -- or his weapon at that point in time, not the revolver, and that`s when he fired. But he had a taser out, but he never discharged
his taser. It was Officer Lilley that was standing on the side of the car by the open window that deployed his taser.
BANFIELD: Mr. Becker, stand by, if you will, for a moment. I want to bring in Douglas Carey. Douglas Carey is Malik Carey`s father, and he
joins me from Grand Rapids.
Mr. Carey, I am very sorry for what you and your family are going through. Clearly, this is no fault of yours. Do you understand why -- having seen
the different angles of the shooting of your son, do you understand why the police did shoot your son and that they were cleared because of it?
DOUGLAS CAREY, MALIK CAREY`S FATHER (via telephone): I just want to say thank you for your condolences. And obviously, yes, I do see that my son
may have had a weapon and he had a weapon and fired at the police. But what I`m trying to understand is the officers are also shooting at my son
like he`s an animal. He`s running across the street, as you clearly see, and they`re still firing shots. He`s not returning fire, but the officers
are still firing shots trying to get this person down as he`s running for cover, or running for his life. And 18 shots to his four shots with a .38
revolver doesn`t sound like we`re trying to put this man down. It sounds like we`re trying to kill this black man.
BANFIELD: So Mr. Carey, I`m going to play one more angle that came from another officer who entered into the picture after all four of those
bodycam images. So this will be the fifth bodycam from Officer Rene Garza (ph), who watched what happened after your son ran from the vehicle. And
as you`re watching this, you can hear the officers asking your son to show both hands because he still has the gun. Have a look at this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Raise both of your hands up! Raise both of your hands! Your other hand, can you pull it out? Can you pull out your other hand?
You got to show me that you can pull it out.
He`s rolling back on it. Roll the other way! Roll to your left side, and we can come help you. Otherwise, we can`t come and help you!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Mr. Carey, does it seem more evident now why police officers did what they did because your son still had the weapon, and he was not
considered an ended threat? The threat had continued because the weapon was actually found underneath him.
[20:15:08]D. CAREY: OK, well, what you`re showing me is a person that is alive. You`re showing me a person that is responsive. You`re showing me a
person that is clearly understanding what they`re telling him, OK? My son suffered a gunshot wound to the left side of his temple, his head. When
did that gunshot occur? If he`s responding -- it`s a real slim chance that this person is going to be responding to your commands with the left side
of his brain blew out. Explain that to me.
Now, show me that this is the correct, proper way to do something. If you see this man is laying here, he`s moving, he`s injured, how can I respond
to you? Would you know how to respond with a .40-caliber stuck in your shoulder? Or can I respond or say anything with a .40-caliber left side of
my head blew off? No, I can`t. When did that occur?
Did he run with the left side of his head blew off while he was running, or did the officers go to him and then his head get blew off? When did that
happen?
BANFIELD: So let me bring back Chris Becker...
D. CAREY: Can they explain that to me?
BANFIELD: ... the Kent County prosecuting attorney who`s still with me. Mr. Becker, Mr. Carey has a lot of questions about the lethal shot to the
side of his son`s head. Has anybody taken the time to take him aside to explain why that happened? Because he is clearly a victim in all of this.
He`s lost his son. He wasn`t there. He didn`t take part in this. He didn`t have the weapon, but he is suffering.
BECKER: Sure, and I understand that. And my condolences go out to him. And it`s -- I`d hate to lose a son. But to dispute some of what he said,
his son did fire a weapon. There were actually five shots fired by his son, and one of those shots was as he was exiting the vehicle. That`s in
all three officers` reports. You don`t necessarily see it from a bodycamera video that well, but you can see him exiting the car and kind of
almost make a twisting motion. All three of the officers in the report indicate that he was firing the weapon at that point in time, and that was
backed up by the fact there were five shots missing out of that revolver, not just the four you heard initially.
In addition, we believe the shot that -- you know, that was fatal occurred as he was fleeing the vehicle, as he was running from the vehicle. There`s
no blood inside the vehicle, so none of the shots hit him inside the vehicle. It was one of the shots, we don`t know which one, as he`s, you
know, leaving the vehicle and when he was down.
I did speak with the medical examiner. He said any movement that was done was not responsive. You know, he was rolling around, he was moving, but
there is no way that that was reactive to anything that any Grand Rapids police were doing. It was a fatal shot. There`s nothing they could have
done even if they got there immediately to assist him. But they don`t know that at that point in time. That`s why it took about a half an hour to get
the officers there because they used a special response vehicle and shield because he still had the gun right underneath him where it was found.
BANFIELD: So Mr. Carey, does that answer -- nothing will bring your son back. You will never get closure. No parent who loses a child ever will.
But does Chris Becker, the county prosecuting attorney, answer your questions as to why your son died the way he did?
D. CAREY: No, because my thing is this. You have trained officers on your force. You have guys on your force that go to gun ranges. They shoot.
They know what they`re shooting at. They know what they`re shooting for. They should be about to shoot correctly.
You shouldn`t have to fire 18 shots at a guy that, as he just said, had a revolver and already fired five shots. You shouldn`t constantly have to
shoot your automatic weapon at this person. And if he`s laying on the ground, for which he was, for 40 minutes -- 40 minutes because I`m standing
around the corner. They won`t let people around there to see him. I`m standing there for 40 minutes before they even send the ambulance.
BANFIELD: Mr. Carey, I appreciate you speaking to us. Again, our condolences because of your loss. And you know, Chris Becker, I appreciate
you speaking to us, as well, and I think it`s a sign of the times. As I said, five different angles, clear as day as to exactly what happened.
Thanks to both of you. And again, I do appreciate the candor. Thank you.
BECKER: Thank you.
BANFIELD: Also tonight, from one dashcam story to a very different dashcam story. We are now getting that dashcam video of what happened to Tiger
Woods Memorial Day, the DUI arrest. Have a look.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: So where are you coming from (INAUDIBLE)
TIGER WOODS, PROFESSIONAL GOLFER: Jupiter, Florida.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re coming from Jupiter, Florida?
WOODS: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Do you know where you`re going?
WOODS: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You`re just driving around, or what?
WOODS: I like to drive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m sorry?
WOODS: I like to drive.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You like to drive?
WOODS: (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Have you had anything to drink tonight?
WOODS: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Are you sure?
WOODS: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: 100 percent?
WOODS: 100 percent.
[20:20:02]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Have you taken any illegal drugs?
WOODS: No.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. Have you taken any medication?
WOODS: Yes.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: According to police, Tiger Woods`s Breathalyzer registered at zero. Woods is charged with DUI, but he says it was, quote, "an unexpected
reaction" to prescribed drugs that led to this arrest. And he`s set to make his first court appearance on July the 5th.
A murder mystery in South Carolina, a movie-making dad found shot to death in his million-dollar mansion, and his troubled daughter, his own daughter,
the prime suspect.
First, though, there is a brand-new show that`s premiering on HLN this Friday. It`s called "BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT." And it goes deeper inside
the world of forensic investigations than ever before.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For years, they got away with murder.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Serial killers don`t stop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Now the evidence they left behind...
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Time was not on our side. It`s going to be a cold case.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: ... is coming back to haunt them.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Suddenly, we had physical evidence that placed someone there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We got him.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: The devil is in the details. "BEYOND REASONABLE DOUBT," an all- new true crime series premiers Friday at 9:00 on HLN.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:25:38]BANFIELD: They lived in a beautiful home on the water just miles from a prime vacation destination in Charleston, South Carolina. Look at
this home. But with a single gunshot, the perfect family of six, including three beautiful daughters and a son, shattered. And the linchpin to the
murder was sinking slowly off the end of their dock in a backpack weighted down with a 3-pound pink dumbbell.
Moments later, this 911 phone call came from inside that mansion.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: OK, tell me exactly what happened.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know. I just woke up and I heard a gunshot. And my dad is screaming. There`s blood everywhere. I think he`s been
shot.
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BANFIELD: That blood was oozing from the children`s father, Robert Simpson. More specifically, it was hemorrhaging from a gunshot wound to
his chest. And during that 911 call, police were led to believe he`d been shot during a home invasion.
(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)
911 OPERATOR: Someone broke into the house?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know! I don`t know!
911 OPERATOR: OK, is that what your sister is saying?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s saying that he was downstairs.
911 OPERATOR: OK. All right. Stay on the line.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God. Please hurry!
911 OPERATOR: They`re coming as fast as they can, OK?
(END AUDIO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So that mention on the call of your sister -- that was a massive piece of evidence and a very big clue in the case of who killed Robert.
Because police were soon pointed to Brittany, one of Robert`s three daughters, and a young woman who had just been kicked out of that $1.8
million mansion.
And it turned out that Brittany had a history. Police reports showed pages of erratic behavior long before she allegedly gunned down her own dad. She
was once found driving naked all around the neighborhood in a car with her boyfriend, pills and weed in the vehicle. She had tossed neighbors` mail
all over their yards. And that was just the beginning.
Dave Priest is the morning show co-host on WRNN. He joins me from Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Dave, this is a very strange story, a history of
issues between Brittany Simpson and her dad, all of this strange behavior. But what made them think she actually did the shooting?
DAVE PRIEST, WRNN (via telephone): Well, it was a little bit -- well, when the 911 call that you heard there obviously came from one of Robert
Simpson`s other daughters, but Brittany Simpson had been there. And she said, Oh, yes, I was working out and I went to the pool and I didn`t get
back. And when I came home, I saw that the door was open. And then I saw that some intruder had come in here and shot my father. I chased them down
the dock and I came back, and you know, you were on the phone with 911.
That story started falling apart really quickly because a neighbor of hers had seen her run down to the dock and run back, and the police started
investigating and it fell apart real quick after that.
BANFIELD: Yes, but the neighbor thought, Well, it could have been Brittany, it could have been her sister Brooke on the dock.
PRIEST: Right.
BANFIELD: I`m not sure which. Here`s more of that 911 call when it`s actually Brooke, the sister, calling the emergency services and talking
about maybe there was an intruder because I think that`s what she had heard from her sister Brittany. Have a listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone came in the house?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, in those back two doors.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: How do you know?
(CROSSTALK)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And someone just came in the back door (INAUDIBLE)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Someone just came in? Who would have came in?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were changing the lock for safety. Someone just came right in and then through that door.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: Dave, the fact that the mother had been sleeping in a guest bedroom, oddly enough, on the night that, you know, her husband is shot
dead in the master bedroom, and the sister who, like I said, the neighbor said, Well, could have been Brooke, could have been Brittany on the dock...
PRIEST: Right.
BANFIELD: Nothing can dispute what was in that backpack thrown off the end of the dock. It was Brittany`s T-shirt, two of them from the gym, the gym
shorts that she was seen wearing in the gym not just one hour prior to all of this, a .9-millimeter handgun, a holster, the magazine and a pink
barbell. Ultimately, Brittany actually even copped to it, didn`t she?
PRIEST: Yes. She did eventually by that night admit that she was the one who did that. And of course, that`s all still alleged at this point in
time.
[20:30:04] But you`re right. I mean, it`s pretty damning evidence that they found down at the end of the dock, where she has reportedly run
earlier that morning right before the police came.
BANFIELD: Danny Cevallos and Joey Jackson are here with me on the set as well. Look, I was all about this case being right for a defense attorney
until the video showed her wearing the clothes that ended up being tossed off the end of the dock with the gun until she actually said in the arrest
affidavit, yeah, I did it.
JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Oh, dad.
BANFIELD: Oh, dad. I shot my dad. But she is mentally unstable as well, right? How do you pick this apart?
DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Okay, mentally unstable, but most people forget that when it comes to pleading insanity, you have to show that you
didn`t know what you were doing was wrong.
Nothing you personally believed that you were righteous in doing what you did. But if you`re aware that society deems what you`re doing to be wrong,
if you hide bodies, if you hide weapons, if you conceal what act you committed, then you`re aware that society deems.
BANFIELD: Insanity. So, you brought it up. You`re saying it is only insanity.
JACKSON: That dog is not going to hunt. It`s not.
BANFIELD: Yeah.
JACKSON: What is critical and interesting for me, Ashleigh, is whether or not her prior bad acts make it into the actual trial. That is it`s
apparently there`s family history there and he gone back, the police were investigating from 10 years ago when she had a dispute with her father.
BANFIELD: She went after a local television demanding a trial.
JACKSON: Yes, she did. How much of that comes (inaudible).
BANFIELD: Texting messages to people saying give me money for shoes. I mean, she really kind of lost it.
JACKSON: Indeed. Do you let it in, Danny? You`re the judge. Do you let her prior bad acts in as evidence?
CEVALLOS: If this is a case where the prior bad acts would actually be good for the defendant, it would make her a little more sympathetic. You see
here somebody who clearly was suffering for a long time without the treatment she needed. So kill someone because you suffer for a long time.
BANFIELD: I will say this.
CEVALLOS: Mitigation.
JACKSON: Mitigation.
BANFIELD: . about Robert Simpson, you know, had a beautiful life at 66 years old. You know, those beautiful daughters, they found in that house,
in the mansion, in the water, and it`s such a tragedy but it was all torn apart with that gunshot. Stand by, guys. There is no debating the fact that
a court appearance can be extremely stressful and if the defendant is mentally ill, it can be doubly so. Take a look.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Stop. You`re hurting me. You`re hurting me.
(CRYING)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I wish they will kill me already. Why do I have to be (inaudible)?
BANFIELD: That is Dasyl Rios after a 2015 court appearance. She was charged with a misdemeanor drug offense. After the hearing, she became agitated and
refused to follow the directions of the deputy. Despite the fact that she is mentally ill, those Broward County deputies responded by dragging her by
her shackles down the courthouse hall and Rios sued.
She sued for excessive use of force and intentional infliction of emotional distress and guess what happened? They settled. Broward County Sheriff`s
Office settled for $30,000. So, in for a drug charge, out with a $30,000 settlement.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: In Paris, French tennis player has now been banned from the French Open after he did this smarmy pervy business during a post match
T.V. interview.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
(LAUGHTER)
(SPEAKING IN FOREIGN LANGUAGE)
BANFIELD: So that`s 21-year-old Maxim Hamou, groping and trying to kiss the sports reporter trying to interview him. Just watch his left hand. Take
that banner down so you can watch what he`s doing with his left hand. She`s struggling, clearly. Left hand goes down right over her breast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: She is pulling at it, pulling at it, finally gets it pulled away. And ain`t like he won much, either. He had actually just lost in straight
sets. Apparently, he`s apologizing for his behavior. The reporter for her part said if the incident hadn`t been live on the air, she would have
punched him. Good luck, Hamou.
She is a therapist charged with helping abused kids and now she is a defendant accused of abusing those kids that she was supposed to be helping
and wait until you hear what she did.
[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Do you ever wonder how some people get their jobs? Because when you hear about Jessica Lazzara, she`s a Florida behavioral therapist who
worked with sexually abused children. Any kind of wonder you might have about her will actually turn into shock because Jessica is facing life in
prison right now for her alleged crimes which took place allegedly during a home therapy session.
Police say that she poked an 11-year-old girl in the vagina with a cigarette lighter and then they say she rubbed her bare breasts on the
girl`s teen sister. And that wasn`t even all of it. Listen.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
GRADY JUDD, SHERIFF, POLK COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: Jessica after doing that then spray painted victim one with black spray paint on the leg and she
also spray painted mom`s crotch area.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So this all got to the point where the girl`s mother actually had to lock down the house to protect her children, leaving Lazzara outside
banging on the doors and the windows. And When Lazzara was finally busted, she apparently told police that she was
having a bad day. Big question now is, how did she get to have that day in the first place?
How did she get that job treating kids when a simple background check would have revealed some details in her sorted past. I want to bring in Dr. Drew
Pinsky. He is an addiction specialist. He is also the host of "Midday Live" on KABC and has a weekly podcast, the "Dr. Drew Podcast."
[20:40:00} He`s live with me from L.A. Drew, look, I`ve looked at her background and I am not entirely sure that people of your (inaudible) would
look at this background and say, you know, she`s banned from doing it.
She has a 2006 prior arrest for providing alcohol to someone under 21 and it`s a conviction. She has a 2010 DUI in which she was guilty. That`s an
arrest record. Would that necessarily preclude her for being able to do that kind of business?
DREW PINSKY, ADDICTION SPECIALIST: Absolutely not. It has nothing to do with what was manifested that fateful afternoon. By the way, when the
police showed up, my understanding is she tried to commit suicide by cop and asked them to please kill her. She was clearly in a psychotic state.
She was acutely psychotic and the throwing off of the clothing, in my experience, is one of two things. It`s either a drug-induced psychosis,
typically PCP or manic psychosis. Schizophrenic in a psychotic state will occasionally do things like that as well. But, you sort of add up the score
here and you get a manic psychotic, that is what this is. Now, why couldn`t the behavioral organization that hired her know that?
Well, guess what? Her psychiatric history is privileged and inaccessible to an employer. They could have found that out. And I`m glad I got a panel of
attorneys here because my question is, why do we consistently protect the rights or privileges of the individual to the detriment of the individual
and to the danger of the rest of us?
BANFIELD: That`s a good question.
PINSKY: Why can`t we at least after employ and forget the employment process, after employ. You have to release to your employer so we can make
sure you`re doing what you need to do to take care of yourself.
BANFIELD: I think that`s exactly the question. Big Bear Behavioral Health was the organization that was employing her. Danny and Joey, jump in here,
I am going to read what they said.
Big Bear performed the required background screening on Miss Lazzara and she was cleared to work with all clients by three separate state agencies
prior to hire, The Florida Department of Health, Board of Clinical Social Work, Marriage and Family Therapy, and Mental Health Counseling granted her
a license to practice after reviewing her history.
If Miss Lazzara had been evaluated or treated under the Baker Act, those records are confidential and not available to the public including
employers like Big Bear. In 2005, 2015, she had an emergency mental illness treatment based on that Baker Act information.
JACKSON: So the fine doctor who I miss, Dr. Drew, how are you?
(LAUGHTER)
JACKSON: He had a great question.
PINSKY: I got a big hug for you two and Ashleigh.
JACKSON: We are better now having seen you. But, look, here`s the reality. He raises the point, and the point is, why can`t we get to these records?
Because as a society, we want to encourage people to get their mental health treatment. We want to encourage you to feel better.
We want you to get the assistance that you demand, that you deserve, that you need so you can integrate into society. And, Ashleigh, I`m not going to
get it. Why? Because my employer is going to know I`m not going to get a job and therefore I am going to stunt my ability to move forward.
BANFIELD: Danny, what they say makes sense until two little girls, 11 and 13, sexual abuse survivors, are victimized under her care allegedly.
CEVALLOS: Yeah, the main case that we always go back to is the Tarasoff (ph) case. It really comes down to balancing the needs of the individuals
privacy against the safety of the community. And what Dr. Drew talks about is absolutely right. I mean, when you consider the danger to a community,
maybe we should air a little more on the.
PINSKY: Joey and Danny, with love, the idea that people would get psychiatric care in 2017, care of their brain shouldn`t be no different
than care of their pancreas. And it`s (inaudible) idea that we have to somehow treat mental health differently than anything else. And that Baker
Act is outdated. It is ridiculous.
JACKSON: It is.
PINSKY: We should have privilege but not to the point where (inaudible) individual in question and the community at large.
JACKSON: I agree. But, doctor, here is the problem. The stigma associated with it is what makes the person say.
(CROSSTALK)
PINSKY: You`re creating the stigma by treating it differently than any other.
BANFIELD: I got to wrap it there.
PINSKY: Creating the stigma.
BANFIELD: You`re right. I think the stigma has been the problem all along.
JACKSON: I`m going to call you to argue with you some more, doctor.
PINSKY: Do it.
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: I`m going to call you to have you on T.V. more.
(CROSSTALK)
BANFIELD: Listen.
JACKSON: Turn off that phone tonight.
BANFIELD: All three of you have to stop. I have a whole other story still to come. Drew, thanks, come on visit at any time.
PINSKY: Got it. I`ll be there.
BANFIELD: Dr. Drew, joining us from L.A. The tables have turned on a body shaming Playboy playmate who is now trying to live down her bad behavior at
Los Angeles gym. But will Dani Mathers` apology for body shaming a woman by snap chatting her nude photo really turn into something more than just
words?
HLN`s new original series "Beyond Reasonable Doubt" going deeper inside the world of forensic investigation like never before. The detectives revealing
the most enduring cases of their careers and they examine the forensic science that gave them the breaks that they needed to ultimately
[20:45:00] solve those cases. And this Friday, we are going to take a look at how detectives and forensic scientists brought down the most prolific
serial killer in American history, the Green River killer.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Next, I had to figure out how did the suspect get the bodies to that point? Did he carry them? Were they still alive when he took
them down to the river bank? Were they already dead? And then I discovered another body. She was a young African-American female who was partially
nude.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: "Beyond Reasonable Doubt." The Green River killer premiering this Friday 9:00 p.m. eastern and pacific. Don`t miss it.
[20:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: Dani Mathers gained fame by showing off her very nice body but she became even more well-known for shaming someone else`s body. Mathers is
the playmate of the year in 2015, but made some real big headlines by getting herself in hot water at the gym.
That`s where she shot a nude photo of a 70-year-old woman who was naked in the locker room and then Dani posted it on her Snapchat with very mean
comment, if I can`t unsee this thing, you can`t either, like she`s giggling.
Now after being sentenced to 30 days of community service for doing that, she`s speaking out. She`s still trying to apologize and explain herself and
says I just wasn`t thinking. Here she is on ABC`s "Good Morning America."
(START VIDEO CLIP)
DANI MATHERS, FORMER PLAYBOY MODEL: I just want her to be able to move on and move forward in her life, and not feel judged or that what she was
doing was being ridiculed, because it had nothing to do with that and I`m so sorry.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: When someone does something like body shaming and in such a public way, can the lessons learned be genuine? Can a mean girl or a mean
guy really turnover a new leaf? I want to bring in Danny and Joey into this discussion. I was astounded that the charge came down and that she had a
choice between 45 days in the slammer or 30 days community service, she chose the 30 days community service.
Before I ask you, I want to play one more piece of that interview from GMA this morning where she really said it wasn`t my intention to do anything as
mean as it`s made out to be. Have a listen.
(START VIDEO CLIP)
MATHERS: I didn`t have an intention of breaking a law, I just wasn`t thinking, to be honest. My intention was to reply to the conversation I was
having with my friend. I know the difference between right and wrong, and I chose wrong. I never meant to hurt her. I never ever intended on showing
the world this photo. And I hope that she could forgive me.
To hide out at my mother`s house at age 30 because of something I`ve done, it just felt really low. I had lost my privacy, that`s for taking privacy
from somebody else.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
BANFIELD: So on one hand, she sounds contrite and apologetic. On the other hand, she says, by the way, I never meant to put that on big Snapchat, it
was just supposed to be private to my friend. Legally, would that make a difference?
CEVALLOS: What hint did she sound contrite with? I would like to see that hint. She doesn`t sound all that contrite to.
BANFIELD: You don`t think so?
CEVALLOS: No. This is -- listen. Joey and I have handled a lot of sentencing and after awhile you sort of know the wrap. And you just look
between the lines here. If you don`t hear a lot of genuine remorse, you hear a lot of this is so sad because my life is affected and I have learned
and I just want to go on and get my life back. Judges know this when they hear it. That`s all I can say.
JACKSON: We are a country of forgiveness. We learn from our errors and mistakes. Redemption is the word of the day. And she has been (inaudible)
for this as well she should be. What she did was horrific. It was wrong. It should not happen. Let this be a message to anyone and everyone that doing
that is wrong. That body shaming is wrong.
No matter the size, the weight, the height, the color, right? People should be loved, appreciated, and respected. However, I think I am ready to
forgive you, Dani Mathers, but I would have preferred, Ashleigh, I really would have, that as opposed to the 30 days, that she go out and use her
celebrity to speak about this issue.
CEVALLOS: I didn`t know if (inaudible) gym in the first place. Now, I have one more reason because people are in there with their cell phones.
BANFIELD: It`s scary.
CEVALLOS: It`s a scary thing.
JACKSON: Yeah.
CEVALLOS: Listen, I don`t like to be naked in the shower alone.
(LAUGHTER)
CEVALLOS: This is something that is a horror to a lot of people.
BANFIELD: So I will say this. She`s never met the woman that she photographed and shamed. It is hard to tell who the woman is in the
photograph. No one has ever heard from the woman. She`s not been identified. She said that she would like that opportunity to apologize to
her in person. I guess the story will continue as to whether she`ll ever get that opportunity but when you`re on the T.V. like this, the punishment
is even bigger.
JACKSON: It is.
CEVALLOS: It is.
BANFIELD: All right. We are a nation of redemption.
JACKSON: Do good with your life, Dani Mathers.
BANFIELD: And I would say, you know what? You don`t need the sentence to go out and teach people about this. You got a speech platform. Back after
this.
JACKSON: Amen.
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
BANFIELD: My great thanks to the fantastic double team here, my team A, A players.
JACKSON: You are the fantastic one. We`re just happy to be here.
CEVALLOS: Right.
BANFIELD: Joey Jackson and Danny Cevallos. Thank you, guys, for
[21:00:00] weighing through this. Thank you, everyone, for being with us. We`ll be back tomorrow night. In the meantime, stay tune, "FORENSIC FILES"
is up next.
END