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Fullerton Police Officers Charged in Kelly Thomas Case; Fullerton D.A. Holds Press Conference on Kelly Thomas Case; President Obama Opposes Palestinian Bid at the United Nations

Aired September 21, 2011 - 14:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

RANDI KAYE, CNN ANCHOR: This is the day Kelly Thomas's family and supporters have been waiting for. Allegations and outrage only intensified since Kelly's gruesome beating and death in July allegedly at the hands of six Fullerton, California, police officers. Now the official cause of death from the coroner is in, the wait is over, and there could be criminal charges against the officers who allegedly beat Kelly Thomas.

He was 37 and schizophrenic. He died from his injuries days later.

All the protests, interviews, lawsuits come down to the next few minutes. The Orange County district attorney is about to announce at this press conference his decision on whether those six offers will face criminal charges.

There you have it. You're looking at a live picture as we wait for that press conference to start. It will happen at any moment. And the Kelly Thomas family is hoping what we're about to learn will bring them a step closer to justice for Kelly.

Sandra Endo is there watching everything for us.

Sandra, the D.A. has told us on this show that he couldn't make a final decision on charges until he got the toxicology, the cause of death, and the other test results from the coroner. We understand the D.A. finally got those late last night.

Any details on that?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, I can tell you that report has not been made public. In fact, the Thomas family has not seen that coroner's report as of this morning, but we have been warned that the D.A. is about to step into this room to make the announcement on whether or not he will decide to file criminal charges against those six police officers involved in the beating death of Kelly Thomas.

We spoke to the father of Kelly Thomas earlier this morning, saying he is hoping that at least two of the officers will be charged with murder. He indicated that he would be happy and OK with manslaughter as well, but he made clear he wants all six Fullerton police officers involved in his son's beating death to be off the job completely. Now, we know that they are on paid administrative leave right now, so we are just waiting to hear from the D.A. in just a matter of minutes. But I can tell you, Randi, there is a hush that fell across this room.

There are no less than a dozen cameras here. As you were mentioning, this case has drawn national attention because of the graphic nature of those injuries and the pictures that we have seen, and also because this beating death was caught on tape. So, clearly, this is a day that family and many of the people involved in rallying around this case have been waiting for -- Randi.

KAYE: And I understand that you did get a chance to speak to Ron Thomas, Kelly Thomas's father. So can you bring us a little bit of that interview?

ENDO: Yes. He mentioned what he is hoping to hear from the D.A., also what he's anticipating. But he says the evidence is clear.

Even though the family has not been privy to the coroner's report, he says that the medical examination that his family and his lawyers have released about his son has indicated that he suffered multiple brain injuries, multiple fractures to the face, a shattered nose, fractured rib cage. Also, the toxicology report released by the family shows that Kelly Thomas did not have any narcotics or prescription drugs in his system at the time. So he says that is evidence enough that there should be filed -- criminal charges filed against these officers.

Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

RON THOMAS, FATHER OF KELLY THOMAS: We do have the medical records, and of course our team of doctors analyzing it. And that's how the computer graphic was generated 100 percent by the medical records.

How can it differ? You know, we have a whole team of professional doctors that do this kind of thing. I want him to use the computer animation. I hope he did and makes the right decisions here.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ENDO: So that is the evidence they are basing all of their fury and also their passion around as well, because as you mentioned, Randi, of course we know that after the brutal beating death on July 5th, five days later Kelly Thomas passed away.

Again, we are waiting for the D.A. to come out momentarily. And I can tell you that Ron Thomas, the family members of Kelly Thomas, are not in this room. This has only been limited to media. Again, a packed room here, all waiting to hear what the D.A. decides to do.

Here he comes right now -- Randi. KAYE: OK. Let's take a listen there as the D.A. makes his way to that microphone.

We've been covering this story quite closely for months here on this show, and we've spoken with the D.A. many times. And as we said, he was waiting for this key evidence before he made his decision on whether or not to charge these six Fullerton, California, police officers.

Let's see what he's decided.

TONY RACKAUCKAS, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, ORANGE COUNTY, CALIFORNIA: Thank you all for coming.

Is this working?

During the pendency of this investigation, we've heard over and over again the word "justice," the cry for justice. The public has been crying for justice for Kelly. In order to make sure that justice has been done, the Orange County District Attorney's Office was entrusted with the task of investigating this case and getting to the truth.

Since July 7th, we've been in pursuit of the truth as to all of the facts and circumstances of this case to try to determine what happened on July 5th at the Fullerton bus depot. Our office took our responsibility faithfully and seriously. We executed the task thoroughly and efficiently.

In Orange County, we generally trust our law enforcement, and we have good reason to. I believe the law enforcement in Orange County is second to none.

My office works every day with thousands of police officers from 26 different agencies. They're hard-working, they make daily sacrifices to protect and to serve our community. We must do everything that we can to ensure that we protect this trust, including, if necessary, prosecuting police officers who violate the law.

In our pursuit of the trust, the Orange County District Attorney's Office conducted a thorough investigation over the span of 11 weeks. You'll get a full and extensive list of all of the evidence that we considered, but it includes videotapes including those from two cell phones, the surveillance video from the Fullerton Transportation Center, the pole camera there, bus videos, 151 witnesses, police reports written by all of the involved Fullerton Police Department personnel, medical reports, examination of physical evidence such as batons and Tasers, the coroner's report.

We also conducted all relevant legal research to determine the applicable law as it applies to this case.

After considering all of the law and all of the evidence in this case, I'm charging Officer Manuel Ramos with second-degree murder, one felony count of second-degree murder. And I'm also charging Officer Ramos with one felony count of involuntary manslaughter. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life in state prison.

Corporal Jay Cincinelli is charged with one felony count of involuntary manslaughter and one felony count of the use of excessive force. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of four years in state prison.

The biggest shame about this case is that it didn't have to happen. It could have been avoided. It never should have happened.

We're alleging the following facts to support the charges in this case.

Ramos set in motion the events that led to the death of Kelly Thomas by committing an act that was dangerous to human life with conscious disregard for that life. His actions were reckless and created a high risk of death or great bodily injury, and any reasonable officer would know that acting the way Ramos did would create such a risk.

Cincinelli used excessive force when he assault and beat Kelly Thomas, acting recklessly under color of authority and without necessity.

At about 8:37 p.m. on July 5th, Ramos and Wolf (ph) responded to the Fullerton bus depot in separate vehicles. Ramos knew Kelly Thomas from prior contacts as a homeless person who hung out in the area. He did not believe that Kelly Thomas posed him any risk.

Kelly Thomas was shirtless, with a backpack, wearing pants with no obvious bulges. The officers did not think Kelly Thomas even needed to be patted down for weapons.

During the detention, Officer Wolf (ph) stepped 10 to 15 feet away behind his vehicle. He went to the rear of his vehicle to review the contents of the backpack that Kelly Thomas had been wearing when they arrived at the scene, while Ramos gave instructions to Kelly Thomas from two feet away from Kelly Thomas.

It was obvious to any reasonable observer that Kelly Thomas had cognitive issues and that he had difficulty following Ramos' instructions. After several minutes of increasingly aggressive instructions, the bus depot video shows Ramos escalating the contact into a physical altercation.

It was 16 minutes from the initial contact to the beginning of the physical altercation and the engagement of unlawful police conduct. Ramos made a deliberate showing of putting on latex gloves in front of Kelly Thomas.

He approached Kelly Thomas and he stood over him. Ramos repeatedly instructed Kelly Thomas to sit with his hands on his knees and his legs outstretched, and Kelly Thomas had trouble following that instruction. He would move his hands from his knees to behind his backs at times, and he would fold his legs up in a sitting position, bending his knees.

Ramos stood over Kelly Thomas with a pair of latex gloves, and he made a demonstration in front while he was standing over Kelly Thomas in a very menacing manner, demonstration of putting on those gloves. When he put the gloves on -- and I have to refer to some language here. It's not my language, but it's the language that was used by the officer, so it's necessary for us to refer to it.

When he put the gloves on --

(END OF LIVE COVERAGE)

KAYE: All right. You've been listening there to the district attorney. We're just going to drop that for just a moment. We'll get back to it in just a second. But we weren't sure exactly what he was going to say.

But there you have it, charging two officers officially. One officer, Manuel Ramos, being charged with two felony counts, second- degree murder, as well as involuntary manslaughter.

These are felonies. He could get 15 years to life.

This has taken quite some time to get this final charge coming from the district attorney. They spoke with 150 witnesses, they reviewed medical reports, they looked at the batons and the Tasers that the officers had with them that evening. They looked at the coroner's report. There was cell phone video and surveillance video from that area.

So this has been a very long process for them.

Let's go back to that press conference once again to the D.A.

(JOINED IN PROGRESS)

RACKAUCKAS: -- police investigation, a fairly routine police detention, to an impending beating by an angry police officer. By making this declaration of violence against Kelly Thomas, Ramos instilled in that victim fear, a reasonable fear for his life, that he was in danger, and he was in danger by a police officer who wanted to "F" him up with his fists.

Police officers have a right to use reasonable force in the performance of a lawful duty, but citizens have a right to self- defense even against the police if the police are using excessive force, if they're not performing a lawful duty. Ramos took this contact from a lawful detention to an unlawful use of excessive force when he lifted his fist and told Kelly Thomas that he was getting ready to "F" him up.

There followed a brief change of words, as Kelly Thomas remained seated. Ramos then grabbed Kelly Thomas behind his arm and Thomas pulled away. He stood up and he started taking steps away from Officer Ramos. Then the baton came out. Kelly Thomas put his hands up, palms out, in a defensive position, palms open. Ramos yelled at Kelly Thomas, "Get on the ground!" Officer Wolf (ph), seeing this altercation, came running out from behind his car. The evidence is that he joined.

He came running out from behind his car to assist with the arrest that Officer Ramos was doing. The evidence does not indicate that Officer Wolf (ph) had any knowledge of this exchange that had just taken place between Officer Ramos and Kelly Thomas. The evidence does not indicate that Officer Wolf (ph) had any knowledge that Officer Ramos was engaged in unlawful police conduct.

The physical altercation began as Officer Ramos swung his baton and chased Kelly Thomas. Ramos punched Kelly Thomas several times in the left ribs after tackling him to the ground, using his hand to hold Kelly Thomas's neck, partially laying on Kelly Thomas to use his body weight to pin Kelly Thomas to the ground, and holding him for other officers who were responding to the scene because there was a call for help to use their physical force against Kelly Thomas.

Ramos caused Officer Wolf (ph) to come to his aid and to apply force on Kelly Thomas, including tackling him, kneeing him, punching him three or four times, and using his body weight, holding and pinning Kelly Thomas to the ground.

Cincinelli arrived at the scene at about 8:45 p.m. he kneed Kelly Thomas twice in the head and used his Taser four times on Kelly Thomas, Tasers that look like this. Three of the times were a stun drive, contact and fired the Taser. And each of these times lasted about five seconds.

The fourth was a dart deployment, two darts fired from the end of the Taser, connected to wires. And they -- the darts affixed to Kelly Thomas for approximately 12 seconds.

Kelly Thomas screamed and yelled in pain while he was being tased. Cincinelli used the front of the Taser to hit Kelly Thomas in the face, eight times in the facial area -- eight times -- while Kelly Thomas was pinned to the ground with the weight of the other police officers' bodies. All of this hitting with the Taser happened, and there was no audible response from Kelly Thomas at that time.

When Kelly didn't scream in response to these blows, it should have indicated to Cincinelli that Kelly was down and seriously hurt.

The rest of the police officers who arrived at the scene, Officer Hampton (ph), Sergeant Craig (ph), Corporal Blateny (ph), arrived in response to the calls for assistance. The evidence does not show any knowing participation in an unlawful act on the part of any of these three officers, and therefore no charges are being filed against them at this time.

From what's visible on the videotape, Kelly Thomas appeared to be acting in self-defense, in pain, in a state of panic. His numerous pleas of "I'm sorry," "I can't breathe," "Help," "Dad," all to no avail. Screams, loud screams didn't help. Kelly Thomas not responding when the blows to his face occurred, no help. A growing pool of blood as Kelly Thomas became unresponsive.

Ramos is charged with murder for recklessly creating this dangerous situation that placed Kelly Thomas's life in jeopardy, and also creating a volatile situation for the other police officers responding to the scene. We simply cannot accept that in our community, that it's within the police's right to place gloves on a police officer's hands and put his fists in front of a detainee and say, "These fists are ready to 'F' you up." That is not protecting and serving.

Ramos had to know that he was creating this situation where Kelly Thomas would fear for his life and was struggling to get away from an armed police officer who was going to "F" him up. Ramos knew that the other officers would come to his aid and assist in applying force to Kelly Thomas. Ramos knew when he did that, that Kelly Thomas was going to get hurt, badly hurt.

The cause of death in this case is -- it's mechanical compression of the thorax, making it impossible for Kelly Thomas to breathe normally. In other words, the chest being compressed, Kelly Thomas was not able to inhale, and he can't take in oxygen.

Over time his brain was deprived of oxygen and he became unconscious and went into a coma and died. That is the primary cause of death. The other injuries to the face and head contributed to the death.

It falls so far short of the professional and reasonable police conduct that our community has every right to expect and do receive by thousands of police officers from so many different agencies in our county every day, police officers who put their lives at risk to protect the rest of us. All of the people in this great country of ours have a constitutional right to be free from the imposition of unlawful and excessive force under color of law. That is the rule of law, and we will proceed to enforce it.

(END OF LIVE COVERAGE)

KAYE: And there you have it, charges now from the District Attorney's Office there in Orange County, California.

Six Fullerton police officers allegedly involved in this case that we've been following here closely on this show. This is the beating death of a homeless man, a schizophrenic homeless man just 37 years old in Fullerton, California, a man by the name of Kelly Thomas.

We want you to know his name. Here's what the charges are.

Manuel Ramos, one of the police officers involved, according to the district attorney, now faces a murder charge, a second-degree murder charge in the case of Kelly Thomas.

We also have Corporal Cincinelli who was also charged, according to the district attorney, with one count of involuntary manslaughter and one felony count of excessive force. He faces a maximum of four years in state prison. But the officer who is facing that second- degree murder charge faces 15 years to life for that felony and for recklessly created a dangerous situation.

Those are the words of that district attorney.

Here's the cause of death, just in case you missed it, mechanical compression of Kelly Thomas's thorax. What that means is that he lost his ability to take in any air. He lost his ability to breathe because these officers were on top of him.

His chest was compressed. He was unable to inhale. His brain was deprived of oxygen.

He then went into a coma. He became unconscious, went into a coma, and died five days later.

I will spare you repeating all of the horrible details of this, but I can tell you that this man, according to the district attorney, was tackled, kneed, punched, held down against his will, threatened by the officers involved here. He was hit in the face with the butt of a Taser gun eight times.

So this is what this man lived through in his final moments as he called out for his father, yelling, "Dad! Dad!" as he laid there on the ground dying.

That is the very latest of the case that we've been following in Fullerton, California.

We'll be back with more news.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Every year at this time world leaders meet at the U.N. General Assembly, and there is never any shortage of wars and other crises to talk about.

This morning, as you may have seen live on CNN, President Obama talked about the Arab upheaval, famine in the Horn of Africa, and statehood for Palestinians. The president said it is long overdue, but needs to come through direct talks with Israel, not from the U.N.

With zero chance of that happening anytime soon, Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas plans to ask the world body on Friday to recognize the sovereign state of Palestine. Israel, of course, objects. And in a meeting that followed Mr. Obama's address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called his objection a badge of honor.

The president meets later with President Abbas.

And CNN senior state department producer Elise Labott joins me now to set the stage for that.

Elise, does it seem as if the Palestinians are now trying to head off a showdown in the U.N. Security Council, do you think?

ELISE LABOTT, CNN SENIOR STATE DEPARTMENT PRODUCER: That's right, Randi.

I don't think anybody really wants to have a showdown, President Abbas, certainly, not with the United States by going to the Security Council and forcing a vote, yet he promised the Palestinian people that he's going to seek full statehood at the United Nations for the state of Palestine.

So what we understand from our Palestinian sources, what he's going to do is he's going to submit that letter applying for full statehood, but he's not going to force the vote, that showdown, that magic moment here at the U.N. this week. We understand he's going to submit the letter to the U.N. Security Council, make his speech to the General Assembly on Friday, and then he's going to get on a plane, and then he's going to talk to the Palestinian people and wait to see what else the international community can come up with.

You know, some people think it's a dramatic move, a tactical move, because he's hanging this over the Security Council's head. He's waiting for some improved terms of reference to jump-start negotiations, and people think he's going to get it.

He might come back though in a few weeks to the United Nations General Assembly much stronger, with a lot more international support to seek enhanced status for Palestinians at the United Nations. Palestinian officials say they want to negotiate with Prime Minister Netanyahu state to state, not as one state occupying a people -- Randi.

KAYE: So it sounds like there seems to be pretty broad support for Palestinian statehood at the UNGA.

LABOTT: I think so. I mean, certainly, the Europeans have been talking. And this bloc of 27 EU nations is very important. You heard President Sarkozy earlier today talking about how a U.N. General Assembly resolution could be a good idea, really talking about what would be important for a Palestinian state.

And we understand a lot of nations would support President Abbas, especially if he doesn't risk that showdown this week. And what we're hearing is, basically this would jump-start -- this looks as a way far.

He averts a showdown, but this also preserves some kind of political space for the Israelis and Palestinians to look forward, say everyone knows we're not going to get a state here at the United Nations, how are we going to get there? Certainly the U.S. is staying at the table. And this is what the international community is trying to come up with, some parameters of framework to get those parties back to the table -- Randi.

KAYE: A lot of action there at the U.N. and a lot to keep up with.

Elise Labott, thank you so much.

Well, the clock is ticking for Troy Davis. In just hours, he is set to be executed in Georgia. And up next, I'm going to speak with one of the witnesses in the case.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: In a little more than five hours from now, Georgia is set to execute Troy Davis by lethal injection. Davis was convicted of killing off-duty Police Officer Mark MacPhail 22 years ago, a crime he maintains he did not commit.

Now despite those pleas, the state's Board of Pardons and Paroles today refuse to reconsider their decision against clemency and moments ago, the Georgia Department of Corrections denied the requests by Davis's lawyers to conduct a polygraph test.

Right now, a Georgia judge is considering an emergency appeal from Davis. His attorney claims there's new evidence. No DNA evidence ever linked Davis to the crime and most of the witnesses who testified against him have recanted.

Joining me now in a CNN exclusive, Quianna Glover, Ms. Glover testified before the parole board yesterday that she overheard another man, Sylvester Coles admit to this crime. Sylvester Cole is one of the original witnesses who refused to recant.

She has never told the media that Mr. Coles has threatened her life until now. Joining her alongside her there is Benjamin Jealous, President and CEO of the NAACP and also here with us in studio is Rafael Warnock, the pastor for Baptist Church.

Thank you all for coming in. Let me start with you. You testified at the parole board hearing. What did you tell them and what can you tell us now that we haven't heard before about this pressure?

QUIANNA GLOVER, SAYS WITNESS THREATENED HER LIFE: Well, first when I went to the parole board. I told them what happened and I told where we got a party where Mr. Coles was there with me also. And he was drinking heavily and someone asked him why was he drinking so heavy and to slow down and he said this is about to kill me.

And another young lady asked me, what are you talking about? And he said if they're going to hold Troy for it let them hold Troy for this. He has kids to raise. Also he stated that he was the one who committed the murder, but he has kids to raise so they let them go ahead and keep Troy there.

KAYE: Why are you sharing your story now? Had you not shared the story before?

GLOVER: I did share the story before, but it never came out like the threat that was made to me when I was there in Savannah, when he told me it's none of my business and that he was going to get me if I said anything. And now it's really sticking to me because I have two kids of my own that I protect and I care and love dearly just like any real mom would.

KAYE: And do you still believe as we weigh, as the hours tick down for Troy Davis to be executed that he is innocent?

GLOVER: I truly believe he's innocent because if the young man would state that they did such a crime, why would you state such a crime like this in this high rate of a manner and you didn't do anything at all. So, yes, I do truly believe that Troy Davis was innocent.

KAYE: Was he able to give you any details about the crime?

GLOVER: No, he doesn't give me any details.

KAYE: What was the reaction of the parole board yesterday as you shared these details?

GLOVER: They were very attentive to what I had to say, they listened and asked me questions and I felt like they took it into consideration.

KAYE: Ben, let me ask you. What do you make of this? Here we have her saying that Troy Davis didn't do it. She was pressured not to share the story of someone she says admitted to it.

BENJAMIN JEALOUS, PRESIDENT AND CEO, NAACP: For her to say that Red Coles at a party was drinking and someone said why are you drinking and Red Cole said this is going to kill me, what's going to kill you because I'm the one who killed the officer, but let them keep Troy because I have kids to raise is deeply disturbing.

Why do people 20 years later feel compelled to say such things? I mean, the party happened recently, you know, when the pressure was heating up in Savannah again. She now has fled Savannah because he threatened her just months ago that he would kill her if she said anything.

Why is he making threats? Why is Red Coles making threats 22 years later to kill his neighbor for saying something if it wasn't true and here's the actual killer. Here we are hours before. This is our country, we believe in justice and we believe in this country innocent people don't get executed.

But here we are hours before she had gone into hiding after the board came down. She had lost hope that they would reopen the case and put the right man in prison and then she called us today and said, you know what? I've got to go out and say what I know because I can't live with myself if they kill Troy. The world doesn't understand that I'm being threatened by the man who's the real killer.

KAYE: We're glad that you're hearing you sir. We're certainly glad that you're sharing it here on CNN. I will get in just a moment. I want to share though, the prosecutor in this case. He did speak with our David Mattingly and here's what he told him about the fact that Mr. Coles has never been considered a suspect.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SPENCER LAWTON, FORMER CHATHAM COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Instead of rushing into court brandishing this effort to say, wait, wait, we have this new important evidence. They didn't. They pocketed them.

They waited till eight days before the first execution was schedule to disclose the fact that they had these affidavits of recantation as they're pleased to call them.

What do we learn from that? We learn from that in my opinion that the affidavits of recantation were of more value to the attorneys as a device for delay than they were valuable to the attorneys as a device for substantive argument.

It has been a game with delay throughout. The longer the delay, the more time they have to create doubt, not honest doubt, real doubt, but the appearance of doubt.

There's no evidence against Sylvester Coles. In fact, it's the height of cynicism for them to claim on the one hand that the evidence against Troy Davis is insufficient to convict him, but they're willing to condemn Sylvester Coles on a good deal less evidence than that.

In fact, substantially no evidence at all other against Sylvester Coles other than he was there and he makes a good person for them to shuffle the blame off onto.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: Reverend, I'd like your reaction on that.

REV. RAPHAEL WARNOCK, EBENEZER BAPTIST CHURCH: I mean, if you had one witness or three witnesses to recant their stories that would be one thing. But you have seven of nine and as I look into Quianna's face, I ask myself what does she have at stake in making all of this up and fabricating this?

Spencer Lawton knows that in Chatham County there have been three exonerations, three death row exonerations. There have been eight in the state of Georgia, 159 counties, three of them in that same county, which he well knows.

I'm from Savannah, by the way. So clearly there's a pattern here and unfortunately tomorrow morning it will be too late for an exoneration for Troy Davis and so we would urge the Justice Department and the FBI to take a close look at this.

You have these stories of the police going into the community and pressuring witnesses, coercing them, a 16-year-old said they threatened him. This is the kind of thing that just flies in the face of who we say we are as Americans.

The U.N. is meeting right now, and in just a few hours unfortunately it seems we're facing a human rights disaster and a moral disaster right here in the state of Georgia. KAYE: Quianna, I'd like to give you the chance to respond to what the prosecutor, Spencer Lawton had said thereabout, the fact that there isn't any evidence against Sylvester Coles.

GLOVER: Well, to me I'm not a lawyer. I'm not a judge and I have not viewed any of the evidence. First off, when this crime first took place I was only like 5 or 6 years old. Me being 27, I surround myself with older people so that's how I got in the company.

But I do believe that they should take this into consideration that someone would go around and say such a thing and nip it in the bud now and try to get a hold on it because like the reverend just said, tomorrow morning will be too late to try to do anything.

Also you have people recanting their stories and looking at it. They were forced and told you have to say that Troy Davis did it. To me it doesn't add up at all and it won't be any justice. You will have two dead people.

WARNOCK: There isn't any physical evidence to tie Troy Davis to this crime, but he's --

JEALOUS: Because now here you have Troy Davis who for 22 years said he has not done it and then you have this man who says that he has done it, and that's what we're saying is reopen the case. Try the case today.

KAYE: Right.

JEALOUS: Pull him into court. Hear what he has to say. If he's telling his neighbors he did the crime, shouldn't we care?

KAYE: Unfortunately, he's been down this road many times before and they've basically said it was smoke and mirrors.

JEALOUS: But they've never reopened the case.

KAYE: You're right. It looks as though, though, this could be really his last effort at this point. So I appreciate you all coming in.

Quianna, thank you so much for sharing your story. Ben Jealous, Reverend, thank you very much all of you.

We'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: All eyes were on the Federal Reserve today awaiting a plan in boosting the economy. CNN's Alison Kosik is at the New York Stock Exchange following the announcement, which was just released. Alison, bring us up to speed.

ALISON KOSIK, CNN BUSINESS CORRESPONDENT: Sure, Randi. So operation twist is a go. That means that the Fed is going to go ahead and sell its $400 billion worth of short-term securities and buy up the same amount in long-term securities. It's what the market expected.

So that market is happy about that, but we do see a selloff right now. The Dow down 125 points and that's because of the accompanying statement. That's where we're getting this information from, from the Fed.

The language is really what some traders are honing in on, specifically that the Fed says there's significant downside risk to the economic outlook and the way that traders are interpreting this is that the economy is going to get significantly weaker and that's why you're seeing a self of self-off right now -- Randi.

FAYE: All right, Alison, thank you very much for that quick update.

And we'll take a quick break, but we'll be right back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

KAYE: Did you know car crashes are the leading cause of death for children ages 3 to 14? That's according to the Department of Transportation. But in today's "Technoviations," Reynolds Wolf shows us a new car design inspired by race cars that could help save lives.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

REYNOLDS WOLF, AMS METEOROLOGIST (voice-over): The first children's car seat was introduced in 1921, but by today's standards, early versions didn't offer much safety. Ninety years later, an Indiana division of Dorel Industries is looking to the Indiana 500 for ideas to create what they believe is the safest car seat yet.

BARRY MAHAL, DOREL INDUSTRIES: Being close to Indianapolis really is what inspired us to try to work with them.

WOLF: The answer is a material similar to the ones used in race car seats. It's a foam called "Air Protect." It reduces the impact by spreading out the force of the collision and "Air Protect" has been put to the test.

MAHAL: We've concentrated on side impact crashes primarily because they're the most dangers. In all the advances of automotive safety, a lot of that is up in the vehicle. But when you talk about side impact crashes you have approximately 18 inches of distance between the side of the vehicle and the occupant.

WOLF: The developer says the key is protecting the child's head and the upper torso.

MAHAL: The design of the seat itself, so we have larger wings out the side so that we're dealing with and addressing the intrusion that happens on a side impact crash.

WOLF: "Air Protect" is on the road now and investors hope crash protect will be the only thing taking a hit.

Reynolds Wolf, CNN.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

KAYE: The brutal beating of a homeless man in Fullerton, California has the community outraged. Now one officer is charged with murder. We'll have many more details for you coming up.

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KAYE: Nearly 80 days later, more than 150 witnesses and an intensive investigation by the district attorney, the wait is over for the Kelly Thomas family. Two police officers involved in his gruesome beating and death now face criminal charges.

One has been charged with second degree murder. A second faces an involuntary manslaughter charge. The Orange County district attorney revealed the charges at a press conference, which wrapped up just a few moments ago.

The DA's decision is critical as community outrage against the Fullerton police force grows. I want you to look at a picture that may give you an understanding of the brutality involved in Kelly Thomas's death. I have to warn you this picture is graphic, but take a look here.

This is Kelly Thomas before and after the alleged beating that took place on July 5th. Witnesses say this was done at the hands of six Fullerton police officers who held him down, repeatedly beat him, Tasered, kicked him, and hog-tied him.

We're going to get to Susan Endo here in just a moment. She was at the DA's press conference, but the district attorney was very detailed as he recounted what the evidence shows. He painted a picture of two officers savagely beating a homeless man they knew was helpless and harmless. Here's what he said about the one officer who is now charged with second-degree murder of Kelly Thomas.

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RACKAUCKAS: He lifted his fist to Kelly Thomas in front of his face so that he could see him and he said, now see my fists? They're getting ready to "f" you up. That declaration was the turning point.

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KAYE: This, as you know, is a very emotional day, a very important day for family of Kelly Thomas. Let's go to our Sandra Endo who was at that DA's press conference.

Sandra, certainly we got a lot of horrible details from the district attorney there? Have you been able to speak to the family, and what is their reaction?

SANDRA ENDO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, Randi, I can tell you while we were inside the district attorney's press conference as he was reading those charges specifically, the charge of second-degree murder against one police officer and charges on another, there were cheers from outside the building, a small group.

They call themselves "Kelly's Army" were out here in support of the decision today and I'm joined by the stepmother of Kelly Thomas. You're outside. You weren't allowed inside. You heard the news of the charges. How are you feeling and what do you think of the charges?

DANA PAPE, STEPMOTHER OF KELLY THOMAS: Well, I think it's great that there are charges against two of the officers. We're very happy with that, very pleased. We would like to see the charges against the other four because they watched while the two officers were excessively beating Kelly.

ENDO: This is pretty rare for a district attorney to file murder charges against a police officer. He said the video was damning and everything was caught on tape. What is the message here and do you want to see those videotapes come out in public?

PAPE: I know people want to see the videotapes. While we were waiting for the results and what was going to happen, I had wanted to see the videotape, but just hearing what the DA said was on the videotape, I don't really think I want to see it myself anymore.

ENDO: Do you feel like this is justice though?

PAPE: Yes, yes. It's a start of justice. I'm very pleased with the two getting charges, but, still, I would like to see some charges against the other four too. I don't think they should just be able to be scot-free.

ENDO: Thank you so much and congratulations.

PAPE: Thank you.

ENDO: Randi, back to you.

KAYE: Sandra, thank you very much.

As we said, this is a very important case that we've been following. I want to share with you as we leave you today, one image from outside that courthouse. Ron Thomas, Kelly Thomas' father along with the family attorney announcing the charges against the officers, involuntary manslaughter.

Let's listen in.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- with second-degree murder. And I'm also charging Officer Ramos with one felony count of involuntary manslaughter.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, yes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If convicted he faces a maximum sentence of 15 years to life. (END VIDEO CLIP)

KAYE: There you have it. Hopefully one day this family will find justice.

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