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New Evidence in Zimmerman Case; Giving Birth During Tornado; Hung Jury in Arias Trial

Aired May 24, 2013 - 11:30   ET

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

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: All right. David Mattingly, live for us, thank you for that.

For more perspective, I want to turn to our legal expert minds. Juvenile court judge, Glenda Hatchett joins us. She is an Emmy- nominated judge. And CNN legal analyst and former federal prosecutor, Sunny Hostin.

Sunny, let me begin with you, if I can.

This is the kind of evidence you can expect will be hard fought over in that courtroom. Based on what it is and what the arguments that seem to be fomenting now, do you expect we will see that in front of a jury?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: You know, I think it's too soon to tell, Ashleigh. I can tell you that every judge will make a determination to as to whether or not evidence is relevant. And even if it's relevant, if it's too prejudicial, that evidence usually doesn't come in, in front of a jury.

I will say this, though. In October, this judge indicated that any evidence of Trayvon Martin's propensity for violence or characteristics for violence could be relevant, because this is, after all, a self-defense case. So that kind of evidence may come in. The judge also may consider use, prior use of drugs as relevant, only because George Zimmerman, on that 911 call, says, hey, listen, he looks as if he is on drugs. So I think it's possible the judge will think, maybe this is relevant. But that still doesn't mean it comes in. Again the balancing test; even if it's relevant, is it so prejudicial as to sort of outweigh all of its relevance. And if you look at these text messages and you look at these pictures, I think it's so highly prejudicial, it's like the judge says, no, I'm not going to touch this, unless the prosecution opens up the door.

BANFIELD: Without question it's prejudicial as is so much evidence in the case. That's why it's brought in as evidence. It's prejudicial it shows or leads to evidence of guilt, at least on the prosecutor's side.

Judge Hatchett, exactly that point, when they open this case, they will say, this was a young boy, going to get Skittles and iced tea. Look at that defendant over there. Aren't they now opening the door for the defense attorneys to have that right to say, if you are bringing the prejudice up already, don't we have the right to defend that image that are you creating for this jury?

GLENDA HATCHETT, FORMER JUVENILE COURT JUDGE & TV JUDGE: Well, I agree with Sunny. I think this is going to be a balancing act. I think they will fight it out, frankly, Ashleigh, on some pretrial motions to see what happens. But I think the judge may well delay a decision as the trial unfolds.

I mean, you got to really bring it closer to what happened that night. I think the propensity about violence, they can show that may well be admitted, but what about implications of drug use? Was there a toxicology report? Was there any indication he was intoxicated and maybe enraged as a part of the self-defense, the defense will raise. I think this will be a tough one. But I'd be surprised if all of the things we now know will come into evidence and I do hope that there will be a gag order so that there will not be as we get close to selecting a jury in this matter. That's what I'm most concerned about.

BANFIELD: Maybe they will be able to cherry-pick some of that evidence.

Sunny, quickly, I'm out of time. I want to get your perspective on the possibility of any jury in this case, given what Florida went through with Casey Anthony, given what we seen in Arizona with Jodi Arias, sequestering another jury, do you think that's a possibility in the upcoming Zimmerman case?

HOSTIN: You know, I think a lot of times sequestering the jury comes down -- and Judge Hatchett will agree -- it comes down to money. It's very expensive to sequester a jury because you have to provide housing, transportation, food, entertainment, that sort of thing. So I actually think it's going to be very difficult. We know in Florida that was a huge consideration in the Casey Anthony trial. The judge, in particular -- I spoke to him about this. That's certainly a consideration. So I'm not sure that this jury will be sequestered. I do, however, Ashleigh, think it should be sequestered given the amount of media attention this case will get.

BANFIELD: I certainly agree with that, Sunny.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: It's hard to hear that only because jurors work so hard. They give so much in these big cases and then to hear that they're going to have to give up their families, it's just distresses. I understand most of what you're saying.

Thank you, Judge Glenda Hatchett, Sunny Hostin. It's nice to see you enjoying your Memorial Day weekend. Well deserved.

I'll take you next to Oklahoma. A woman goes into labor. Hard enough on its own, try doing fit front of an EF5 tornado.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SHAYLA TAYLOR, GAVE BIRTH DURING TORNADO: Once I felt the floor start shaking, it felt like an earthquake, and I knew we were getting hit directly.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: That is one cute baby. Our Brian Todd will talk to that new mom and the nurses that risked their lives to make sure that little Brayden was, in fact, born.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: To Moore, Oklahoma now, as a wounded town tries to rebuilds and then just try to heal. Five adults and one child are still in the hospital today. The child and one of the adults are in critical condition.

Another child is being laid to rest today. The funeral is being held for 8-year-old Kyle Davis. He was inside that school, the Plaza Towers Elementary School when the twister tore the building apart. 24 people were killed in Monday's tornado. Ten of them were children.

In the meantime, residents are returning to their demolished homes, trying to pick through them, find anything they can, any -- anything, a belonging, a picture. President Obama is set to tour that ravaged town on Sunday.

And amid the stories of the devastation in Moore, Oklahoma, just a remarkable story of survival and sheer will. I'm going to say that. Shayla Taylor went into labor as that tornado was bearing down on the hospital as the twister shook the whole building she was in, the hospital building. Four nurses decided to stick it out. They stayed with her, using their bodies to shield her.

Here's CNN's Brian Todd with her story.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED NURSE: Shayla, how are you? Oh my god, look how handsome your boy is.

BRIAN TODD, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): A reunion that came seconds and inches from not happening. Four nurses from Moore Medical Center congratulate Shayla Taylor on her newborn son, Brayden, six people that will last the rest of their lives.

As the tornado approached town, Shayla Taylor was in labor on the second floor of the medical center. She was dilated, going through contractions and --

ALYSON HEEKE, NURSE SUPERVISOR: She couldn't move. She had an epidural anesthesia that meant that it numbed her enough that she couldn't walk.

TODD: As the tornado bore down, the staff moved her to the hallway, then to the more solid windowless operating room. The power was knocked out. It was too dangerous to move her anywhere else.

CINDY POPJOY, CHARGE NURSE: Her baby was fought doing the best. I needed a way to monitor her baby to see how her baby was tolerating the labor process, especially since she was so far dilated. So the only place to do that would be the O.R.

TODD: But within minutes, the hospital was hit with massive force.

(on camera): Now what are you thinking?

TAYLOR: Once I felt the floor start shaking, it felt like an earthquake, and I knew we were getting hit directly.

TODD: Did you think at that moment you and Brayden could survive this?

TAYLOR: I didn't know if we would. I was praying we would.

TODD (voice-over): The walls were ripped off the operating room. Shayla's husband and the nurses shared these pictures from where they were a gaping hole to the outside, the tornado still raging.

TAYLOR: I opened my eyes, I could see I-35 and I could see the movie theatre.

TODD: With Shayla still in labor, Nurses Cindy Popjoy, Barbara Brandt (ph), Bonnie Stephens (ph) and Alyson Heeke draped blankets and their bodies over her and hung on.

HEEKE: We actually were on the floor. Bonnie, the scrub tech, was kind of leaned over her a little more. We had blankets, pillows all around here. We were holding on to each other and the bed.

TODD: It worked, the tornado passed without any of them being hurt.

But Shayla's husband, Jerome, who had taken cover on a lower floor, hadn't been allowed to go to his wife. He says he didn't know how to get her.

JEROME TAYLOR, HUSBAND OF SHAYLA: They were like, no, everybody is out of the building. I was like, no, my wife, my wife is upstairs.

TODD (on camera): And there was still danger. Even though the tornado had passed, floors and ceilings were unstable. There were gas leaks. Jerome Taylor and the nurses were able to get Shayla on a stair swell and out.

(voice-over): Shayla was taken to the Healthplex Hospital in Norman. Within hours, Brayden Emanuel Taylor was born at a healthy eight pounds, three ounces.

(on camera): What do you think of those nurses and what they did?

TAYLOR: Those nurses are amazing. You know, they're definitely doing the job they were called to do. You know, to put my life before theirs, I know that's what you are supposed to do. You know, as a nurse, I went to nursing school. So I know that's what you are supposed to do. But to actually see them do it and to be more concerned about me than them. I know that's, they're definitely doing the job they're called to do.

TODD (voice-over): As for this teeny troublemaker.

POPJOY: He'll probably sleep through anything now.

(CROSSTALK)

(LAUGHTER)

TODD: One final piece of symmetry here, Shayla Taylor just finished nursing school. She says she's always wanted to be a labor and delivery nurse. This experience only enforces that.

Brian Todd, CNN, Moore, Oklahoma.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

(LAUGHTER)

BANFIELD: I've had two babies. Let me tell you, Shayla, are you my new hero. And your baby, Brayden -- can I get that picture up of that labor and delivery room. Have we got that handy? I can't believe you endured that during labor. And to those four nurses, who do what you did, you are heroes everyday, but you deserve to be canonized. Unbelievable. Congratulations. Oh, remarkable. Just remarkable. Mother's Day will be a big deal in that house for a long time.

You know, this weekend, I want you to go along with Anderson Cooper as he gets and up-close and personal look at the storm chasers who risked their lives to bring us the documentation of how these storms travel and what they do. "Storm Hunters in the Path of Disaster," it's Saturday night, 7:00 eastern time.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: If you have wondered why the country seems transfixed by a young woman named Jodi Arias in Arizona, perhaps a condensed look at the last five years and the lies that Jodi Arias told and admitted to retelling and relying about, when you see them all condensed into one neat package, it might give you a picture of how this trial progressed from the moment anyone learned her name to the moment she was deemed guilty in the courtroom behind me.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: You slit his throat from ear-to-ear.

JODI ARIAS, ON TRIAL FOR MURDER: I can't imagine slitting anyone's throat.

Contrary to what everyone thinks, I'm a person of my word.

I'm not proud that I left the other person there to be slaughtered at the hands of two other people. I'm not proud of that at all

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why are you talking to us? ARIAS: Why are you talking to me?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Was going from a bombshell to a mousy church librarian look in court, was that a defense strategy, was that your idea, what was that?

ARIAS: No, they don't sell Clairol hair dye in jail.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Why didn't you apologize?

ARIAS: I did apologize to them in my allocutions.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: I never heard you say, "I'm sorry."

ARIAS: I don't think I used those two words.

This is a tee-shirt, which 100 percent of the proceeds go to support nonprofit organizations, which also assist other victims of domestic violence.

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The survivor tee-shirt you had in court, many people thought it was bad for you, it wasn't if great taste. It may have worked against you. What do you think about that?

ARIAS: I don't see how helping a cause is working against me.

Some people don't believe I am a survivor of domestic violence. They're entitled to their opinion.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Did you kill Travis Alexander?

ARIAS: I absolutely did not kill Alexander. I had nothing to do with his murder. I didn't harm him in anyway.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Well, the jury in this case may not have seen many of those early interviews and they certainly were told they were not to be seeing of the current interviews during the trial. Nonetheless, they saw a lot of Jodi, 18 days of her, on the stand.

At least the jury foreman, William Zervakos, told ABC's "Good Morning, America" told where they were and how they came to this eight-four split, eight in favor of the death penalty, four in favor of life. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WILLIAM ZERVAKOS, ARIAS TRIAL JURY FOREMAN: So I'm six-feet away from somebody talking a horrendous loss, and if you can't feel that, then you have no emotion, no soul. And yet we couldn't allow ourselves to be emotional on the stand. We couldn't allow ourselves to show emotion, though I'm sure some came through. I'm very, very proud of my peers and my jurors that were with us because they did a fantastic job of holding it together.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And our thanks go out to that jury foreman and the other jurors in that trial for the tremendous sacrifice they made in their lives over the last five months to sit in judgment in this case.

I want to bring in HLN's legal correspondents, Jean Casarez and Beth Karas, and also criminal defense attorney, Jose Baez, who joins us as well from Florida.

Jose, let me begin with you.

I was fascinated to hear what this juror said about Jodi Arias, didn't believe a thing from the stand, didn't think she did herself any favors, but in the end said you can't stand six feet away from someone and not feel something. And I have to ask you, as a defense attorney who defended a woman who was deemed one of the most hated women in America, those jurors said they didn't like Casey Anthony, but they still gave her a pass. So are you surprised by hearing what you heard from this juror?

JOSE BAEZ, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: No, I'm not surprised. I don't think her being on the stand helped her in the guilt phase. But it did help her in the penalty phase. Once you get to know someone, especially someone who you have to -- who you have some interaction with, they got to ask questions and they called her Jodi in their questions, so there was a lot of interaction between this defendant and this jury. So I'm not surprised at all that it had an effect on the penalty phase, but not on the guilt phase.

BANFIELD: Jean Casarez, it was hard to watch the faces of Travis Alexander's family and friends in that courtroom as that verdict of inability to reach consensus was passed down. Are they speaking at all? Have they said publicly what they would like to see happen? Are they at all willing to go through yet again another phase of pain and suffering and really disturbing evidence in order to secure a death penalty?

JEAN CASAREZ, HLN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: I don't think we have any of those answers. They have not made any public comments at all. They were so distraught in that courtroom. They probably are on their way back to California at some point. I'm sure the prosecutor's office will discuss with them, they will be part of the decision making process because there is a Victim's Bill of Rights here in Arizona of what goes forward. But what is interesting with all of the emotion, the juror also said in this interview which I think was very, very telling that he believed that Jodi Arias was abused in the relationship with Travis Alexander, emotionally abused. That would be the text messages. Those would be the e-mails, the instant messages that one day saying just discerning terms about her one day, the next day saying he loved her. And I think that also in part led to the emotion that maybe there was some attachment to Jodi.

BANFIELD: Beth, you're a former prosecutor. And I know that Jean just referenced the Victim's Bill of Rights here, but how much does the wishes of the victim's family and friends factor into a decision by the county attorney, the people who prosecute these cases, how much weight is given to what the family wants? Meaning, if the family says we just can't go through anymore, please strike a deal and send her away for life, is that really effective?

BETH KARAS, HLN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, I'm sure the county attorney will take their position into account, but it's the county attorney who makes the decision, not the victim's family. So I don't know if it's great weight, they'll just take it into consideration. It's a mitigator if the victim's family doesn't want death. The defense can use that as a mitigator, but in this case, you know, we know that the family couldn't ask for death, but they were supporting death. The state will take it into consideration.

BANFIELD: Beth Karas, Jean Casarez and Jose Baez, I appreciate all three of your perspectives, your insight. And we may all meet again in these very chairs in another two months. I hope we don't, but I think we may. Thank you to all three of you.

When disaster struck Moore, Oklahoma, a "CNN Hero" was one of the first on the scene. He sent more than $1 million worth of disaster response gear to dozens of disasters over all of the years all free of charge. We're going to find out more about this in just a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: There are so many amazing stories emerging from Moore, Oklahoma. Among them was a team led by 2008 "CNN Hero," Tad Agolia.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I've never seen anything like this.

TAD AGOLIA, CNN HERO: Watching the news and literally seeing this tornado touch downright before our very eyes.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, my god!

AGOLIA: We knew it was powerful.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There it is. It's a mile -- right there.

AGOLIA: My first response team was pre-positioned. We were able to get here within two hours after the strike. We saw massive destruction right off the bat.

We were able to get police escorts and we were brought right to the school. Search and rescue had just begun.

We had some equipment on site that really was needed, cranes to lift up heavy debris, CAT machines with buckets to move debris out of the way.

We were digging through an area of the school where we thought there could be some young children trapped. Seeing the desks, pieces of paper that children had written on, it just stopped me in my tracks and it reminded me of why I do what I do every day. My team has been to over 50 large scale disasters. Places like the earthquake in Haiti, Superstorm Sandy. This could be almost as bad as Joplin.

I'm not a scientist, but something is changing. The disasters are becoming more epic.

UNIDENTIFIED CNN REPORTER: It's a CNN breaking news --

AGOLIA: But thanks to the news, meteorologists, thanks to technology --

UNIDENTIFIED METEOROLOGIST: You need to be in your tornado shelter immediately.

AGOLIA: -- people are becoming more aware of how to prepare and get out of harm's way when these large scale disasters strike.

We've come here to help, to be a part of the community. But it's always vitally important for me and my team to remember every house had a family living in it. And they need a helping hand.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Speaking of helping hands, if you want to be one for Tad and help those impacted by this disaster, or you can find out about other "CNN Heroes" working in Moore right now, I invite you to please go to CNNheroes.com.

Thanks for watching, everyone. I'm Ashleigh Banfield, live in Phoenix, Arizona. Have a lovely Memorial Day weekend. We'll see you right back here on Monday.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)