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Jane Velez-Mitchell
S&M Trial Continues: Was Defendant a Sex-Crazed Killer?; Billionaire Getting a Break for Child Molestation?; Woman Stripped Naked for Seven Hours; Tracy Morgan Injured in Fatal Crash
Aired June 09, 2014 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Tonight, breaking news in a real-life sordid S&M murder story that makes "50 Shades of Grey" seem like a Disney movie.
Thirty-one-year-old Seth Mazzaglia, who worked, by the way, in an appliance store by day, but by night, he allegedly saw himself as a powerful master,
a sexual master of women.
Well, now this guy is on trial for the brutal murder of 19-year-old college student Lizzi Marriott, an innocent that he allegedly strangled to death
because she refused to take part in one of his sadomasochistic sex games.
But the defense claims the suspect`s then-girlfriend, Kat, Kathryn, McDonough is the real killer. There she is. Today the defense grilled
this woman on the stand about her kinky sexual relationship with the defendant. Was she an innocent submissive, following her master`s orders,
or a femme fatale, pulling the strings?
Good evening, I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, coming to you live. Thanks for joining me.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Who killed Elizabeth Marriott?
KAT MCDONOUGH, DEFENDANT`S EX-GIRLFRIEND: Seth Mazzaglia.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Lizzi Marriott was raped and murdered.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: By strangling her and/or suffocating her.
MCDONOUGH: He asked me to put up an ad to get a sex slave.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We are all so sad at this tragedy.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No matter what comes out, she didn`t volunteer for this.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: How do you know what Seth Mazzaglia did to Elizabeth Marriott?
MCDONOUGH: I was there.
It was because of us that she never got to live her life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Do you believe those tears?
The defendant`s ex made a deal with prosecutors, and she became the star witness against her ex-lover. Kat says she watched as Seth tied a bondage
rope around Lizzi Marriott`s neck, strangled and raped her.
Kat does admit, she lured the innocent college sophomore back to their apartment, a dungeon of depravity, claiming they were going to watch a
movie. Then the couple convinced Lizzi to play strip poker. Then they tried to get her to join in a kinky, sexual threesome. The prosecutor says
when Lizzi said, "No way," the defendant then strangled her. So were Seth and Kat both in on it? Or is Seth the single twisted mastermind?
I want to hear from you. Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297.
We have a fantastic Lion`s Den panel ready to debate tonight. But first, straight out to trial queen, Sharee Ruiz.
Sharee, you`ve been tracking this case from the start. It is a window into a secret world. Tell us the secrets this trial has revealed about the S&M
lifestyle Seth and Kat lived and how they tried to lure other women into it.
SHAREE RUIZ, TRIAL QUEEN: You know, it really has progressed that the trial has gone on, more facts have come out. We`re in day five of Kat
being on the stand, and more stuff is coming out that the defense is trying to pull from her with her lies about her being more dominant in this
relationship. And I do believe today, more than was able, she is getting exhausted; she`s getting tired. She is starting to trip up a little bit
more. But...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tell me about the lifestyle. And what lifestyle they led, like set the stage for us so that we understand. We can get into their
world. Because we`re not going to be able to understand the nuances of this trial until we understand the crazy upside-down world that these two
created, an appliance worker and a former Target saleswoman or cashier.
But in their secret world, this woman, who looks like she could be working at a farmer`s market, was involved in incredibly kinky sex. Tell us about
-- take us into their apartment.
RUIZ: You go into their apartment, it`s very cluttered. They tied each other up. They did a lot of bondage. They did very -- just things that I
don`t really want to say. But they have done, you know, a lot of sex acts that are very terrible. They`ve done bondage. They`ve had personas.
They`ve really gone and explored pretty much every aspect.
And every persona that they take on, they go and they want to invite these people in. Seth Mazzaglia wants to have women come in, because today Kat
revealed that she was expected to perform certain acts that she wasn`t comfortable with, and so she went to go seek women to please him, because
she thought that he wanted these other women, because she was not able to sexually satisfy him. So that was kind of a new detail that came out
today.
As a dominating -- on either side, whether he was the master and she was a slave -- she was submissive, he was dominating -- they were both
participating in a lot of bondage, a lot of role-playing, which depending on what definition of role-playing she gives you, she`ll be very flippant
at times about it, and says it`s just sex. But she -- she had a lot that she was involved in when she was younger, before she met Seth. But then...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me stop you right there. Because now -- thank you for telling us what was going on in that apartment.
Now today the defense grilled this young lady, self-proclaimed submissive Kat, about Post-It notes she would leave, telling Seth what she wanted him
to do to her.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You claimed in the grand jury that you were the type of submissive who literally had no say in how they were going to be dominated.
You would leave Post-It notes expressing what you wanted to have happen.
MCDONOUGH: I wasn`t taking control saying, "This is what`s going to happen; you`re going to do it to me now." I was just putting them out
there as suggestions. I was -- I didn`t ask him. I didn`t go up and say, "This is what I want to do." I instead put it in a spot where I knew he
could read it.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Back out to the Lion`s Den. Wendy Walsh, psychologist, author of "The 30 Day love Detox." Boy, do we need you on this case.
This young woman, 20 years old, acting like she didn`t have any say, that this guy, the defendant on trial for murder, controlled her every movement.
Well, let`s face it. In these kinds of S&M relationships, it takes two to tango. She was a willing participant. Why on earth would she go along
with this?
WENDY WALSH, PSYCHOLOGIST: Well, yes or no. First of all, this couple is not a true representation of anyone in the BDSM community. They have very
clear rules and guidelines for how they operate.
They are like some people in the BDSM community, however, because one plays the submissive and the other the dominant consistently, across the board.
It`s a lifestyle. It`s not just sexual. It`s what you do in your life.
The down side is, and where they sure didn`t follow the rules, is that you cannot ever use a tie without it being a break-free knot, a way that a
person can only play act.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Whoa, whoa, whoa.
WALSH: And this was the problem.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wait. So you`re saying it`s all OK; it`s all wonderful, as long as there`s a break-free knot? You know what? I can see the steam
coming out of Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor`s ears.
WALSH: I`m saying it`s consensual and adult only. Sane, consensual and adult only.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But couldn`t this quickly get insane, and indeed it did. As she didn`t want to perform certain acts, and she said, "No, that`s
gross. I won`t do that."
WALSH: That`s not consent. And they should have respected the non- consent.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me bring somebody else in. As an understudy. She could do that.
WALSH: Exactly. They should have respected the non-consent. So safety, as well.
WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: but wait, wait, wait. The key here -- the key here is not kinky versus vanilla, boring intercourse. It`s fantasy
versus dead woman! With rope on neck. I mean, this is not -- about pleasure. Let`s be clear.
People involved in kinky activities usually are doing it because they want, you know, an orgasm. Nobody wants to die. And nobody wants to kill!
That`s just not what we`re talking about.
And if the jury thinks everybody in the room is a freak, they`re still going to hate the freaky weird guy more.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wendy...
MURPHY: Because he was abusive.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: ... I have to tell you, you sound like you`re in a sex dungeon right now. We`re going to -- we`re going to work on your audio.
Now Kat claims she was given the task of bringing women back to what was essentially their sex dungeon. All kidding aside, that`s what it was.
Their little apartment. He`s an appliance salesman by day. She works at Target, reportedly, and then they`d go back and they`d have this secret
life.
And, again, she did draw the line. Not very well and not often. But there was one thing apparently she didn`t want to do, and Seth was looking for
somebody else to do it. Kat testified today that she would post ads online for Seth, advertising for a 24/7 sex slave.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCDONOUGH: He asked me to put up an ad to get a sex slave.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Your claim is that Seth controlled you to write it, right?
MCDONOUGH: I never said that he controlled me. I said that he wanted me to write it, so that we could have a sex slave specifically for him. He
wanted a sex slave to pleasure him entirely all day long.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Michael Yo, correspondent at "The Insider," this case is a best argument against being able to post those kinds of ads on
Internet sites that I`ve ever heard. Because this is not a game anymore. This crossed a line. He had a bondage rope, allegedly, in the apartment,
and the next thing you know, when this girl, this pretty young lady who thought she was going to see a movie, said no, the rope was around her
neck, and she was dead.
MICHAEL YO, CORRESPONDENT, "THE INSIDER": Yes. It`s an awful case. But I will tell you, nothing like the sexual fantasies, the Post-It notes,
nothing is against the law with that.
I kind of hope this girl is a credible witness to actually be able to put this guy away. It`s about murder. Like, the person said before me, it`s
about murder. And this woman needs to be credible so they can actually put the guy away that committed this murder.
So I get the S&M part. I get that world. But what we need to focus on is this murder, and not letting this guy get away with it. So I hope she`s a
credible witness.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, she flipped, and she`s getting one to three years on some minor charges. But the defense thinks she`s the one who should be
charged. That`s why we`re talking about her, because she`s putting it all on him.
There were three people in that room. One`s dead. One`s at trial for murder and the other`s the star witness for the prosecution, who used to be
his sex slave. I mean, allegedly.
Let`s go out to the phone lines. Nancy, Pennsylvania, what do you have to say, Nancy?
CALLER: Hi, I think they`re both culpable. I mean, they were both there when it happened. This 23-year-old didn`t want to participate. She ended
up dead. As far as I`m concerned, they`re both guilty. And as far as credible witness, I think she`s just an incredible liar.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, Kirby Clemens, criminal defense attorney, they don`t have a body. She admits that she pushed the body off a cliff. That it was
in a suitcase and it`s never been found. They were there together when they did that, too. Do you think she`s getting off scot-free?
KIRBY CLEMENS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Oh, she`s got a gift of a deal. I mean, if I were her lawyer, I`d be putting this on my website, telling
everyone how I got this woman a great deal.
If you listen to the testimony, she has done everything. She puts the Post-It notes; she does the advertising; she does everything but the actual
murder, which I would suggest the defense is going to show she actually did in this case. She got a sweetheart of a deal.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: On the other side, we`re going to talk about her outfit, OK? I mean, is this the real Kat, or is she toning down the sexuality with
the glasses and the hair and the bun, and the T-shirt?
Don`t forget to check out our Facebook page. And while you`re there, please like it for a moment. That would be very nice. I`d love that.
Facebook.com/JaneVelezMitchellHLN. We`re behind the scenes with exclusive content on this story. But we`re just getting started. Stay right there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCDONOUGH: She never really got to live her life yet. It was because of us that she never got to live her life.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MCDONOUGH: I remember an occasion -- it happened multiple times -- where my laptop would be on the bed. I would be underneath him. He would be
having sex with me while he was scrolling the Internet for pictures of women.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Gives new meaning to the phrase multitasking.
This is a horrific, horrific case, and this young lady is right at the heart of it. She`s the girlfriend of the defendant, who`s accused of
murdering a young woman they lured in, allegedly, for a kinky sex game. It`s out of "50 Shades of Grey" or the movie "Secretary." You remember
that movie, right?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If we can fully experience pain, we can live a more meaningful life.
MAGGIE GYLLENHAAL, ACTRESS: He`s the best.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Something sexual.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There are other ways to show your feelings.
JAMES SPADER, ACTOR: We can`t do this 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
GYLLENHAAL: Why not?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Most of us picture people involved in S&M lifestyle, we think of a dominatrix with a collar and a whip. But on the stand, this
Kat, this so-called sex fiend, submissive, looks like a demure librarian.
I mean, Lisa Lockwood, investigator, author of "Undercover Angel," she`s wearing this T-shirt and the glasses and the bun. Will the jury buy this
act?
LISA LOCKWOOD, INVESTIGATOR/AUTHOR: I really don`t think so. And I believe that she hit the lottery as far as deals go.
Think about the whole issue of her saying that she never felt controlled by him. You know how many opportunities she had to leave him? To get out of
that situation? She was part of it. That was part of her lifestyle, and she enjoyed that.
Her whole idea was to get somebody there to help him in order to keep him and to stay with him. Even when she was being interviewed, she admittedly
said, "I want to be with him when it`s over." This is not a woman who`s controlled. She`s love-sick.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, the details of the story are just literally just almost like you cannot believe them. OK.
So Kat, this woman, the ex-girlfriend, reportedly worked at Target. She claims, as you just heard, she was under the defendant`s spell, meaning
"I`m not responsible." That this guy, an appliance store worker, completely controlled her and isolated her from family and friends.
Now she believed she supposedly had spiritual powers and could see into the future. That he had an alternate persona, Cyrus, and other dark personas,
Dark Heart and Doomsday.
They both liked to read tarot cards and use them to make major life decisions. He even used tarot cards, reportedly, allegedly, deciding what
attorney to hire.
The prosecution is portraying him as a megalomaniac who thought he was a dragon in a past life and was seeking a cult or an army. So I`ve got to go
back to our psychologist, Wendy Walsh. How would you diagnose this looney- tunes?
WALSH: Well, you know, these are people who are sort of under the guise of having this sort of healthy S&M lifestyle. But I really see somebody who`s
a narcissistic personality who`s dominating somebody who I don`t know exactly what her diagnosis is, but I do believe that she felt emotionally
she may not have been able to leave. That she was so dominated emotionally, so controlled emotionally.
Hey, we had a story just a couple weeks ago, Jane, about the one who was married to a guy for ten years, and had all these opportunities to escape,
but we know that her emotional chains were much greater than the others. This is the one that was kidnapped, remember, when she was a teenager.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, but, you know, kidnapped, that`s a totally different thing. A woman -- and now you`re out of the dungeon, Wendy Murphy. We can
go to you on this one -- who voluntarily participates in this kind of S&M role playing, can`t just abdicate her responsibility. She`s still an
adult. And you know, if you talk to people involved in this lifestyle, they say the bottom is the top sometimes. That really the one who pulls
the strings is the submissive.
MURPHY: Yes, I mean, it`s a very unusual sexual lifestyle to most jurors. I think they`re just going to be, you know, rolling their eyes and kind of
freaked out by it all. But they`ve got to keep their eye on the ball, because it doesn`t much matter that she was both clearly an idiot, clearly
an emotionally very vulnerable maybe disturbed young woman. And kinky. Real kinky. And why ever she did that, who cares? Maybe she`s healthy,
maybe she isn`t. She`s got a weird sex life, I don`t know.
I`ll tell you this: the jury has got two choices. There`s only two people were in the room. Either the guy did it with a rope or she did it by
performing oral sex on the face of this woman until she suffocated to death. That`s the stupidest defense I`ve ever heard. That guy is going to
be convicted.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, we`re going to give the last word on that one, because it was quite a mouthful.
Next, a man who admitted to molesting his own stepdaughter. He is just going to spend a few weeks in jail for his crimes. Did I mention? He`s a
multibillionaire?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The arrest after police said he sexually assaulted a teenage girl he knows about 15 to 20 times over a three-year period.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Fifty-five-year-old Samuel Curtis Johnson was arrested after police say he sexually assaulted a teenage girl he knows
about 15 to 20 times over a three-year period.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You committed the crime.
SAMUEL CURTIS JOHNSON, DEFENDANT: I understand that, your honor.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, it has happened again, public outrage over yet another case of "affluenza." This time one of the heirs to a billion-
dollar cleaning products empire, billionaire Curt Johnson, admits to molesting his young stepdaughter, but he`s let off with what critics are
screaming is a slap on the wrist.
Listen carefully to his apology during sentencing, courtesy of the "Journal Times."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JOHNSON: Yes, your honor, thank you. I`d like to deeply apologize to my stepdaughter and my wife, Tracy (ph), for the tremendous hurt that I`ve
caused.
And I would also like to thank God for walking closely with me through these trials, and for helping me become a better person.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What do you think of that apology? I want to know.
Prosecutors say the case broke wide open when Johnson allegedly confessed to a counselor that he had done something to his stepdaughter. That
counselor was a mandatory reporter who turned him in.
Prosecutors say the victim originally told them her stepdad had inappropriate sexual contact with her 15 to 20 times by exposing himself,
fondling her under her clothes and kissing her breasts, but the case crumbled, because the girl did not testify.
Johnson ended up pleading guilty to one count of fourth degree sexual assault and disorderly conduct. Misdemeanors. The judge sentenced him to
four months in jail and a $6,000 fine. He`s a billionaire: $6,000.
So let`s break this down. He`s worth $3 billion. OK? He`s at the high end of the 1 percent. And the judge hands down a $6,000 fine. You know,
guys like this, they can spend that on lunch. What is wrong with our criminal justice system?
The maximum penalty for the original accusations against him could have, according to public reports, enough to be 40 years behind bars. Forty
years. Instead, he got four months. He`s up for parole after 60 days. He does not have to register as a sex offender.
Straight out to the Lion`s Den. Former prosecutor, Wendy Murphy, you`re the author of, I believe, "And Justice For Some". We`ve got to ask, is
wealthy the ultimate "get out of jail" free card?
MURPHY: Yes, and I`ve got a chapter on that, among other things that relate to this case.
First of all, even though he`s not going to be on the registry, can I just say you just put him on a nice little registry, Jane, right on this show.
We`re all going to know him forever, and that`s the good news about shows like this.
The thing that bothers me the most about this is how many times in the stories that I read, there was somebody blaming the victim for not
testifying, the victim`s mother for not wanting to testify. Since when do the victims get to dictate whether a prosecutor proceeds with a case? Did
Bernie Madoff`s victims and witnesses get to say, "I don`t feel like testifying. Why don`t we give a discount?: No.
Violence against women and children is just as serious and in my opinion more serious than what Bernie Madoff did. This discount is disgusting.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I want to -- I want to understand this. Kirby Clemens, criminal defense attorney, OK, the prosecutors say their case crumbled.
They had to downgrade their charges from a felony to a misdemeanor, because the victim was not allowed to testify, by the court, unless she submitted
her medical records, and she didn`t want to do so.
Now, so many questions. Why does she have to submit her medical records, and what about having the mandatory reporter, the person he said whatever
to, the counselor he talked to? Why not drag that person to the stand?
CLEMENS: Well, there are a couple of things here. First of all, I`m a former sex crimes prosecutor, as well. And I can tell you this. Under
their law, the victim made her records something that had to be disclosed and by not letting them be opened up to the defense to review, then the
court said that she couldn`t testify, and that was upheld on appeal. That`s No. 1.
No. 2, with respect to the case crumbling, if you will, I had many cases where the victim didn`t want to go forward and when I was a sex crimes
prosecutor. And you have to respect that. They`re the ones that suffered the trauma, and sometimes they determine for themselves that what`s best is
not to go forward. This guy didn`t get extra special justice.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Come on, jump in here somewhere.
CLEMENS: He got the crime, the punishment that he deserved.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Michael Yo.
MURPHY: ... the victim decides. To control the prosecutor! The government decides.
CLEMENS: It`s respecting the victim`s wishes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s too much burden.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Michael Yo.
YO: This -- this is absolutely disgusting to me. The mother should have helped the daughter move forward. How can the mom not push the daughter
forward? This is the big problem in this whole thing. I do not like this. And having money is a shut-up card, because it gets everybody to shut up.
And that`s exactly what he did.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Exactly.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jane...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wendy Walsh, psychologist, I almost fell off my chair when I read -- and this is published reports, I don`t know, I didn`t go to
their wedding, and I`m not their divorce attorney. But they apparently don`t have a divorce attorney. She, the mother of this daughter, this
child, is still married to this guy, according to published reports.
Are you kidding me? He refers to his wife -- he apologized to his wife, and I thought is that a slip of the tongue? No, they`re still married.
WALSH: Jane, people often ask me why I`ve been a single mother for nine years and never remarried, and the answer is always the same. Because I`m
raising girls. And the most dangerous place for a child to live in America is in a home with an un-biologically related male. Mom`s boyfriend,
husband, step-brothers, et cetera.
So I`m sad to say that these girls are put in these circumstances all day long. But the bigger issue here is that to not re-traumatize this victim.
This trial would have been horrendous for her. And if she made this choice, we have to respect the victim.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Look, here`s the attorney for this billionaire. Quote, "I thought it was a very fair sentence, well-thought-out. We are happy to
have it resolved," end quote.
They`re invited on any time, because I have a lot of questions about this case.
Up next, a woman is arrested, stripped, pepper sprayed, and forced to sit naked in a jail cell. Naked. And we will tell you on the other side how
many hours this allegedly went on. But guess what? It`s caught on tape. Why is the sheriff defending his officers?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Left her there naked for about 30 minutes, while she banged on the door, begging for someone to give her some clothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They descended on her, grabbed her around the neck, grabbed her body.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The video clearly shows Gentry being stripped of all her clothing.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They left her there naked for about 30 minutes, begging for someone to give her some clothing. What this is, is
humiliation.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight, shocking surveillance video of a female inmate who says she was forcibly stripped naked, pepper sprayed and left totally
naked inside a padded jail cell for almost seven hours.
Tabitha gentry says she was embarrassed, humiliated, scared and paraded around naked. Her attorney joins me exclusively in a moment. Tabitha,
arrested for disorderly conduct and resisting arrest after a fight with her estranged husband. Here she is being brought into the Lloyd County jail.
Cops say she appeared drunk and belligerent from the start, kicking and cursing officers, refusing to answer questions, resisting their command.
Tabitha says almost immediately she was assaulted by four officers -- two males, two females. The surveillance video shows the cops dragging Tabitha
to a padded cell where they hold her down and that`s when Tabitha says her clothes and underwear are ripped off and she was left naked as -- well, we
have to say it -- as a jail bird, with no jumpsuit for several hours. Her attorney says it was, quote, "submission through humiliation", end quote.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We don`t know what was said. But we do see in the video that Tabitha said something to these officers, and they descended on
her, grabbed her around the neck, grabbed her body and dragged her into what they call a padded cell. They left her there naked for about 30
minutes while she banged on the door, begging for someone to give her some clothing.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Lloyd County jail tells us they are in compliance with everything and her accusations are way out of line.
Straight out to our exclusive guest, Tabitha`s attorney, Laura Landenwich - - Laura thanks for joining us. Spell out your -- yes, why do you think cops violated your client`s constitutional rights in the manner they
treated her?
LAURA LANDENWICH, ATTORNEY FOR TABITHA GENTRY: Why do I think they did it, is a question that I can`t answer. They appear to have unchecked control
in this jail, and I believe that this has been going on for years in this facility, and no one from the top down has taken any steps to address these
egregious constitutional violations.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: In what way were her rights violated? Spell it out.
LANDENWICH: Well, the constitution prohibits illegal searches and seizures under the Fourth Amendment and it also prohibits cruel and unusual
punishment under the Eighth Amendment. I think that this case implicates both of those constitutional guarantees. This was an illegal search, an
illegal seizure, and it was cruel and unusual under any definition of the term. This is cruel and unusual punishment.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me give our viewers a little more background on this, and then I`m going to come back to you with another question.
Tabitha, your client says after banging on the door, screaming and begging for clothing, a cop opened the cell and pepper sprayed her. She claims she
was left pepper sprayed in this jail cell for 45 minutes until she was finally taken to wash off.
Her attorney, you, the person we have on, says Tabitha was, quote, "paraded around the booking area naked in front of cops with only a blanket over her
shoulders then thrown back into the cell naked.
LANDENWICH: There is no justifiable law enforcement purpose to treating someone this way. There is no officer safety issue that is implicated by
her having clothing. What this is, is humiliation.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Laura, just to play devil`s advocate, what about her intoxication, being combative? What were they supposed to do with that? I
mean what if she had gone into the cell -- and I understand your position. What if she had gone into the cell and hurt herself with something that she
was concealing inside her clothing?
LANDENWICH: Look, this was not a strip search. This is humiliation. A legitimate strip search is permissible under certain circumstances when
there is a concern that there is some sort of contraband on the individual. A search ends and someone is re-clothed. That is not what happened here.
What happened is a prolonged period of sexual humiliation, accompanied by an assault completely unprovoked during a time period that this naked
woman, who was locked in a jail cell, could not have possibly been a threat to anyone at that point. And yet she is put in a gas chamber full of
pepper spray for 40 minutes. I mean it`s unconscionable.
Now after she is pepper sprayed and then she has to wait and then you say they parade her around with a blanket over her, then they throw her back in
the cell naked?
LANDENWICH: That`s right. And with a wet blanket that had gotten wet when they washed her eyes out. She sat there for five hours naked with a wet
blanket and nothing else.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I had heard some report claim there was some kind of jail smock on the floor there during all of this. In other words, that there
was something she could have put on, but she -- I guess she didn`t see it?
LANDENWICH: Well, there was -- this blanket. They call is a smock. It`s not something you can actually wear, it`s something you can sort of wrap
around yourself.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But did she avail herself of that while she was in the cell?
LANDENWICH: Well, she did. But what happens is, when they came to take her to rinse her eyes out after pepper spraying her, they handcuffed her.
And you can imagine trying to hold -- it`s like a towel, trying to hold a towel around yourself while your hands are cuffed around your back. You
can`t hold it up.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And by the way, I just want to say, that was an example, that wasn`t her. This is her naked. And there she is, obviously at least
topless. We blurred the bottom part. But you`re saying she was naked as a jail bird all these many hours.
LANDENWICH: She did not have undergarments, socks, nothing.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: When I got arrested for a story -- I wasn`t really arrested, but I went through the entire thing, cuffed and go through the
booking process and put in that orange outfit like orange is the new black. First of all I went through a metal detector. Then a female cop patted me
down and another female helped me change into my jail jumpsuit. There were no men involved with anything except fingerprinting and the photo.
So I want to go to Lisa Lockwood, investigator. Did they violate procedure in your mind? Because I don`t think a man should be present while a woman
is being disrobed or a man should be able to even see a naked woman on the monitor which obviously they could, because there she is naked.
LOCKWOOD: Yes. Jane, the process that you went through is the actual process that needs to take place. They`ll take away a belt. They`ll take
away shoes. In some cases they`ll do a search where they`re patting down to make sure that there is nothing secreted in an orifice.
She had no, no obligation whatsoever to be strip searched, which she was not strip searched. She was just -- had her complete clothing taken away
from her. And the point of it was, it was for humiliation because they had no regard whatsoever for her privacy. Men should not have been on that
scene to be able to see her without clothes at any point -- police officer or not.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I don`t know if it`s a coincidence. Let`s go out to Jan, Georgia. You`ve been very patient. I don`t know if it`s a
coincidence, she happens to be attractive with a good figure. What do you say, Jan?
JAN, GEORGIA (via telephone): Hey, are you there?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, I am. What do you have to say about this?
JAN: Well, I`m not real happy about it at all. I`m old-school and everything. And I`ve got some issues with everything that`s going on.
First of all, I don`t think that that woman deserved that. But I would like to know who was viewing the video camera.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, let me bring that back to Laura, the attorney, Laura Landenwich. Who saw this?
LANDENWICH: I don`t know who all has seen this. But these were on the jail surveillance system, and they were accessible by any of the deputies
on duty. And so theoretically, any of them could have seen it. But at this point, I don`t know how many people did or didn`t.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Got to leave it right there. Thank you so much for joining us, Laura.
And up next, this is so sad. The latest on the devastating chain reaction crash that nearly killed comedian Tracy Morgan. This story trending,
number one, all day long -- people want to know what happened. Well, the truck driver who caused the crash is involved in a controversy right now.
Stay right there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A Wal-Mart employee is the truck driver, charged in the crash. In the criminal complaint, prosecutors pinned the blame on him.
He hadn`t slept for a period in excess of 24 hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: A Wal-Mart truck driver is facing charges in an accident that left actor/comedian Tracy Morgan hospitalized in critical
condition and another man dead.
TYRON GALE, TRUCK DRIVER: I saw traffic and I stopped. And I was upside down in the vehicle.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six-vehicle accident, two tractor-trailers involved.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Killed in the crash, 63-year-old limo passenger, James McNair, known as Jimmy Mac, a fellow comedian and friend of Tracy
Morgan.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Shocking new details tonight, a huge story trending online. Actor Tracy Morgan badly injured in a deadly car crash. The
former "Saturday Night Live" star coming back from a major gig in Delaware with several other comedians when a big rig slammed into them, plowed into
them from behind, flipping over their huge Mercedes limo bus. Tracy`s close friend, long-time writing partner, comedian James "Jimmy Mac" McNair,
killed in the six-car accident. Tracy and three other passengers including comedians Artie Fuqua and Harris Stanton were raced to the hospital.
Just before the accident, Artie posted these photos on his Facebook, along with the caption, "This is what it looks like from the stage to see a
standing ovation from 15,000 people. Then we traveled back to New York City in style in a luxury Mercedes sprinter. Road life is a good life.
#TracyMorgan." That was before the crash.
Today, Tracy`s family says he`s in critical but stable condition. The comedian rose to fame on SNL and then starred on "30 Rock". Watch this
from NBC and Broadway Video.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRACY MORGAN, COMEDIAN: Stop eating people`s old French fries, pigeon. Have some self respect. Don`t you know you can fly?
I love this cornbread so much I want to take it behind a middle school and get it pregnant.
Look at this. My gold record from that novelty party song.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Straight out to Raina Seitel, entertainment journalist -- what is the buzz on this very, very, very horrible development coming back
from a night of triumph?
RAINA SEITEL, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALST: Yes, it`s so sad all around for everybody involved. And I think the buzz is really about who is
responsible here. Is it the driver, is it the company? And I say both.
The driver, of course, is responsible for his own actions, but I really hold Wal-Mart responsible and all of these trucking regulations. These
guys are up because they need to make money. And if they don`t deliver the goods on time, they don`t make money. So I think -- yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. And we have responses from everybody involved. But let me set the stage here for our viewers. The driver of the big rig is
somebody named Kevin Roper, and he has now been charged tonight with vehicular homicide and several counts of assault by auto. Cops say, and
this is crucial, he had been awake for more than 24 hours at the time of the crash. Remember, he`s driving this huge, huge truck. Tonight he`s out
on $50,000 bond.
Now, Wendy Murphy, former prosecutor, here`s where it gets really disturbing. A Twitter account bearing his name reportedly tweeted, quote,
"It`s my road, move or get hit." We cannot independently confirm that was this individual. But if it turns out that this individual did, indeed,
tweet that, should he be charged with something even more serious, like murder?
WENDY MURPHY, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, maybe. I mean, to get something like murder in a case like this, you have to show a high degree of
recklessness. And that certainly is relevant on the question. I`ll tell you this much. New Jersey clearly has a big problem with this, truck
drivers going too long without sleep, because unlike most states, they actually have a specific law that says, if you don`t sleep for 24 hours,
there will be a legal presumption in your criminal case that you were reckless.
So this is clearly not a first case of its kind. And good for New Jersey for having a law on the books that will allow this guy to be successfully
prosecuted, even if they can`t prove murder. If he`s found guilty of just recklessness, and it sounds like he probably will be, based on that tweet
and the fact that there was, you know, no rest for 24 hours, that`s a very serious charge. He will be behind bars for a long time.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And the driver who crashed into Tracy`s limo was driving a Wal-Mart truck. Now, in a statement, Wal-Mart told CNN, quote, "This is a
tragedy and we are profoundly sorry that one of our trucks was involved. The facts are continuing to unfold. If it`s determined that our truck
caused the accident, Wal-Mart will take full responsibility," end quote.
Michael Yo, you know, I want to get back to this aspect that performers travel all the time. We saw it with the rock groups that went around the
country. You know, Willie Nelson has a huge bus that I`ve seen that is so extraordinary. Here is the Mercedes limo bus that Tracy Morgan and the
others were in. We forget that these people are always on the road, and it can be dangerous.
MICHAEL YO, TV HOST: Oh, yes, absolutely especially stand-up comedians. Yes, he broke into acting but standup comedians are usually in a different
city every Thursday through Sunday. A lot of times it`s cheaper to drive there because they make more money than bringing their whole crew on a
plane. That would have been an expensive plane ride.
So they all get into one car and drive around. So you`re out of the pocket four days out of the weekend. I`ve been in those situations where trucks
almost ran me over. Like these 18-wheelers, a lot of times they`re not careful. How many times have we driven home and kind of got home and was
like how? How did we get here? You know, I`m sure they go through the same thing. So -- yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Who? Who drives a truck when they haven`t slept in more than 24 hours allegedly? That`s outrageous and we`ll talk about that right
on the other side.
Let`s pray Tracy Morgan and the others injured will make a full, complete recovery.
Stay right there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The limo bus overturned. Tracy Morgan was in the limo bus, but he is alive. He`s in intensive care.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TINA FEY, ACTRESS: Why don`t you try the church of practicology. They love movie stars and stuff.
MORGAN: They already turned me down. I`m still not sure what happened.
I believe the moon doesn`t exist. I believe that vampires are the world`s greatest golfers but their curse is that they never get to prove it. I
believe there are 31 letters in the white alphabet. What was the question again?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tracy Morgan is such a great actor. That`s "30 Rock" from NBC Broadway Video. There had been some rumors that his legs have been
amputated. Not true. That`s been shot down. He broke a leg, he broke his nose, but he is getting the treatment, had the surgery and we believe he
will be fine. Our thoughts go out to Tracy Morgan and everyone who suffered in that crash. We`re with you.
Nancy next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
