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Jane Velez-Mitchell
Where Is Jenise Wright?; Jury Deliberates on Renisha McBride Murder Trial; Protecting America`s Wild Horses
Aired August 06, 2014 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: -- if it`s not for that pizza box, if it`s not for the DNA under Karen`s fingernails, you have a guy who potentially is framed,
and you have another guy who gets away with murder.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HLN HOST: Tonight, a frantic race in a total mystery to find a missing 6-year-old girl in Washington State. The FBI jumps in as
we uncover toxic family secrets. Did little Janise`s dad molest her older half-sister when she was just 8? Could that have anything to do with this
child, Jenise`s disappearance? Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell coming to you live.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jenise Wright was always on the go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last seen Saturday night.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s really independent.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: By her parents says she went to bed.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m hoping she`s just spending the night somewhere.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is crazy that there`s a missing child.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jenise Paulette Wright is one of ours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She`s just really sweet, trusting. She would walk up to a stranger and talk to them.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: My head is just swimming, swimming.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Little Jenise Wright vanished outside her family`s trailer park home last weekend. Her parents said the last time they saw their 6-
year-old daughter she went happily to bed after dinner on Saturday night. When her bed was empty Sunday morning, the parents say they didn`t worry.
No, because little Jenise likes to play outside in the neighborhood.
And the mobile home park is fenced in. It wasn`t until Sunday night at 10:00 p.m., about 24 hours later, that the family called the cops. Was
this precious 6-year-old snatched from her bed or did something sinister happen while she was out playing?
Tonight, we`re learning about a disturbing family secret. Fourteen years ago, Jenise`s dad, James Wright, was accused of molesting Jenise`s half-
sister according to court documents. The then 8-year-old girl told investigators he had, quote, "She indicated that he had touched her
privates with his hands. He put his hands inside her clothing. He touched her skin directly."
Now those accusations and charges were deferred when this guy took a deal and pled guilty to gross misdemeanor assault. But cops announced hours ago
those old accusations of molestation against this dad are totally irrelevant and that the parents are, quote, "very, very cooperative."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED POLICE OFFICER: I can`t emphasize enough how cooperative that they both have been with law enforcement authorities in the course of this
investigation. There`s been speculation reports in the media concerning issues involving the father in the past, criminal history, things of that
nature. That is something that we`re not focusing on.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So why did child protective services find probable cause to take Jenise`s brother and sister away? Call me, 1-877-586-7297. Join
the conversation by going to my Jane Velez-Mitchell Facebook page. The lion`s den ready to debate.
But first out to KOMO anchor reporter, Russ Bowen. Russ, what`s the very latest on the search for this child?
RUSS BOWEN, ANCHOR REPORTER, KOMO (via telephone): Hi, Jane. The latest is the police are now telling us for the first time they have several
credible leads, which means that they`ve expanded the search outside of that trailer park to neighboring communities and homes.
They`ve brought in several specialized dogs today to search for little Jenise. So credible leads at this point compared to what we`ve had the
past couple of days.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And the leads are pointing outside the trailer park, which has 103 different trailer units, is that what you`re getting the sense of?
BOWEN: Yes, that`s what we`ve been told at this point. There are 103 mobile homes, as you mentioned, in that trailer park. They`ve gone door to
door, closet to closet, under every single bed, talked to every single person who lives in that trailer park.
Now they`re expanding outside of that area. They were in Jenise`s mobile home for nearly 24 hours searching. They did take some evidence out of
that home that`s currently being processed.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: If you could stand by, we`ll come back to you. According to court documents, cops investigated the missing girl`s dad, James Wright,
for more than one attempted child molestation. The records show a 14-year- old girl who was babysitting was also accusing Wright of molesting her the very same night as the 8-year-old.
She told cops she woke up to him, quote, "Rubbing her breasts and trying to put his hands down her pants," end quote. I want to stress he was never
convicted on those charges. Police say these old accusations that absolutely nothing to do with the disappearance of the dad`s 6-year-old
daughter.
But I have to go to Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids Foundation. You are the leader, the national leader on missing children.
How can cops be so sure so early in the investigation that there is absolutely no nexus or connection?
MARK KLAAS, PRESIDENT AND FOUNDER KLAAS KIDS FOUNDATION: Well, Jane, first of all, you have to understand that regardless of what they say, they are
investigating the father very, very closely. Not only because of his past, but also because of the horrible decisions he`s made in allowing this
little girl to run around the community completely and totally unsupervised and making the decision not to look for her or even try to find out where
she is for more than 24 hours after she was last seen.
But they will continue to focus on him, they`ll continue to focus on the neighborhood. And they`ll just continually expand the search until
something gels and they have one direction to look in.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, in fact, cops say Jenise`s parents both took polygraph tests, but they`re not releasing the results. Listen and watch
to the dad`s plea to anybody who he believes might have his little girl. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m hoping that she`s just spending the night somewhere. She`s really independent. She`s tenacious. She`s got her name
written all over the house. My head is just swimming, swimming. Trying to stay focused, good thoughts. If she`s staying at your house, send her
home.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Behavior expert, Simone, I know people can have a nervous chuckle. But there`s a chuckle there, his 6-year-old -- he`s taking like
she`s a 16-year-old.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s an idiot.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Six years old.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I cannot get my head around this. I`m sorry. There is nervous laughter and there is just -- in my opinion, sadism. This is
sick. He`s using cliches, hiding behind these cliches, talking as if he`s scratched his car. This is a little girl that he has let loose for three
years, Jane.
She`s been wandering around unsupervised for three whole years, since she was a 3-year-old little girl. So I think the two cases, everything goes
and point, in my opinion, towards the father because this is not how you look after a child --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me just say this, Mike Brooks. First of all, I want to say that he is invited on any time. People do have inappropriate
reactions to situations like this. There is no guidebook on how to react. The laughter, obviously, upset a lot of people.
But I talked to our producer, talked to a neighbor who said she always saw this little girl playing outside, that the girl was a social butterfly.
Sometimes had shoes on, sometimes didn`t. But that this neighbor never, ever saw her parents. That they never came out looking for her.
MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: I wish someone had called law enforcement back a number of years ago. Number one, whether her father`s
charges with associated with this case or not, her dad`s an idiot. She`s 6 years old, she`s very independent -- no, pal, she`s 6!
When you hear law enforcement say basically that these charges have nothing to do with this investigation, that says to me that maybe they did OK on
the polygraph and also the man we heard from, the KOMO reporter, that the investigation is outside of their -- says to me that maybe one of the dogs
got a scent that led outside the gates of this place. But still I think her dad`s an idiot.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: When he says, I`m hoping she`s spending the night somewhere -- again, he`s sounding like he`s dealing with a teenager who`s
dating and has gone to the prom --
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Six years old!
VELEZ-MITCHELL: She`s 45 pounds! Go ahead, Brian.
BRIAN CLAYPOOL, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: This sounds like child endangerment. It doesn`t sound like the father is a murderer or the father
sexually assaulted his daughter. We have to be careful about castigating this man. He clearly sounds like a guy that shouldn`t be a father.
But the fact of the matter is he has a child and he`s let her run free. But I don`t think it means that he sexually assaulted his daughter. Those
charges were 14 years ago. There`s been no pattern and practice or allegations year in and year out of him having done this to other children.
I don`t think that should play a part in this investigation.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me stress -- go ahead.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was just going to say, at what point is cps a glorified child service -- babysitting service? For a reason they have
taken out the two other -- the brother and the sister. They have done that for a reason, because those children are not safe. We know that. Children
are not safe within this man`s home.
CLAYPOOL: That doesn`t equal sexual assault, Simone.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We are simply talking about the fact that this man has a past. It`s our obligation to mention that. Now, authorities claim it`s
totally irrelevant. The only thing I said, trinity, is that I was wondering how they could be so sure so quickly.
They didn`t even get the call until late Sunday night. Didn`t start looking with cadaver dogs and other search teams until search dogs, we pray
it`s not cadaver dogs, until 1:30 in the morning on Monday. It`s Wednesday night. How can they come to that conclusion so quickly?
TRINITY HUNDREDMARK, ATTORNEY: I don`t think they can. As a defense attorney, I`m sitting here going, why are they telling this and why are
they so adamant it has nothing to do -- if I was representing these individuals, I would be saying, you need to be careful about what the
police are trying to get you into.
Maybe they`re trying to lead them down some path. It`s a good plan. But I think it`s way too early. If these cops have taken that case and put it
totally aside, I think they`re silly to have done that. You can`t look at that in a vacuum. Those charges are serious charges. You have a missing
6-year-old girl. You can`t ignore that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And what psychiatrists say if that pattern, one is hard to break for an individual. But I read the court papers. And the accusation
was that he was very, very intoxicated and essentially didn`t seem to remember what had happened. I`m not making excuses. I`m just talking
about the facts or the allegations that were contained in the court documents.
I want to go back to Russ Bowen, the anchor reporter from KOMO out of Seattle. There were reports we can`t independently confirm that some
witnesses claim they saw this child playing some time on Sunday.
BOWEN: Yes, between 2:00 and 4:00. But that`s unconfirmed still at this point. We can`t find one neighbor to tell us the same thing.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So between 2:00 and 4:00 would mean she had done exactly what her parents suggested she had, which is wake up in the morning and go
out and play and that something untoward happened after 4:00 p.m. That`s what I think -- Simone, what blows my mind, even if you buy the idea that
your daughter goes out and plays in the morning.
Your 6-year-old daughter, what happened to lunchtime, what happened to snack time at 3:00? What happened to 4:00 p.m., whatever? Change your
shirt time? And then it`s only at 8:30 at night that they decide, well, something must be wrong.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She`s not getting fed. Who is feeding her? You would be going frantically from room to room wondering, where is my child?
It doesn`t matter that she normally goes out to play. You would enlist the help of neighbors who have seen her.
But we know that he thinks this is a normal occurrence. He`s minimizing this behavior. Saying that it`s normal for a 3-year-old to be independent,
for a 6-year-old to go and stay at some random`s house.
We know that she was on the lawn of somebody`s house. With just a man`s shirt on. This is a child who it seems has never had the proper care that
she need.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Marc Klaas, president and founder of Klaas Kids, I know the subject is very dear to your heart. You tragically lost your daughter
to an abduction. She was at a slumber party with a whole bunch of friends. Things don`t necessarily follow linear patterns.
This is a rural area and maybe they live that kind of -- in other words, we`re judging. I`m talking from Manhattan where you can`t let anything out
of your sight for 30 seconds including your purse. This is a gated area in a mobile home park where the woman -- the neighbor we talked to said she`d
never had any problems in 13 years except one fire.
Could we be looking at this from sort of a city slicker`s perspective and judging harshly the way things happen in a remote, rural area?
KLAAS: I think we`re being myopic. No question about that. Law enforcement is correct. They have to look outside the family. There`s a
plethora of possibilities here. It`s a very overgrown area, very near one of the largest rain forests in the world.
It`s an area that`s got hundreds of sex offenders within a very short radius of where the house is. And she`s been unaccounted for more 24
hours. So they really have to look in all directions.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`ll be back in a second. I want you to join our debate on our Facebook page. What do you think of this dad`s behavior, his
reaction to the disappearance of his 6-year-old daughter? Go to my Facebook page, Jane Velez-Mitchell Facebook. We`ll be back with more
information that is coming in as we speak. This is a breaking news story. Where is little Jenise?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m hoping that she`s just spending the night somewhere. She`s really independent. She`s tenacious. Got her name
written all over the house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Jenise Paulette Wright is one of ours. She`s a daughter of East Bremerton. The investigation to this point in time has
been focused on nothing but her recovery, finding Jenise.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Where is little Jenise? She went to bed Saturday night. Sunday morning, the bed was empty. Her parents thought, she`s out playing
like she always is. Then there`s reports, unconfirmed at this point, that between 2:00 and 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, some witnesses that nobody can find
saw this child.
So was she then OK until 4:00 p.m. Sunday? What happened to her? Facebook, Twitter lighting up. Angela from Twitter says, I truly hope when
she is found she goes into CPS right away. Her siblings are with CPS. You can`t let kids alone out like that. Creepy bad guys are everywhere.
Look at this map. A public record shows there is 12 registered sex offenders within five miles of where little Jenise was last seen. And we
heard that cops did search virtually all of the 103 trailer homes inside the trailer park where she lives.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The cooperation from the folks inside has been phenomenal. We have not had to obtain one search warrant. It`s, yes, we
understand why you`re here. Please, here you go. For the most part, it`s in. They do what they need to do and they`re out.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, it`s important to search thoroughly. Remember, when little Jessica Lunsford vanished from her bedroom, cops searched door to
door. Her neighbor, John Couey, had her hidden in a closet.
Mike Brooks, it`s not enough to go up to these front doors and say, did you see a child? Do you think they`ve been able to search in every nook and
cranny of 103 mobile homes?
BROOKS: I would say most likely they have, if they got good cooperation. Hopefully they took scent dogs in who say, I don`t have any scent at all of
her there. That wasn`t done with John Couey. We talked about that years ago and covered that on your show.
So back then, I don`t think they had that. But it sounds like now maybe the investigation has taken them outside of this trailer park.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I have to ask you a follow-up, Mike. What do cops do now? She could be anywhere. If they`re cleared the park itself with 103 mobile
home units and she got out of that perimeter, where on earth do they go?
BROOKS: One of the other things you follow up on, you showed that map of those sex offenders within a five-mile radius. They`re going to make sure
that all of them were in place or at least they were able to go and talk to them and maybe also do a consent search of their homes, to make sure
that they were all somewhere in that area and all able to be accounted for, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, this child, this 6-year-old -- go ahead, quickly.
CLAYPOOL: Jane, there`s pros and cons of her disappearance in a rural area. Since it is rural, there`s less people that they have to visit and
search for her. So that helps. The downside is since it`s so rural, there`s not going to be any surveillance tape of people coming and going
and things like that. It`s going to be harder to possibly track --
BROOKS: One of the good things is they`re able to use helicopters and look for heat signatures using forward-looking infrared in a rural area like
that. That`s one advantage of a rural area compared to urban.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You are absolutely right. I`ve been in those helicopters. You can literally at night look down and you will see a red spot wherever
there is a living creature. The key is determining, is it a wild animal or somebody maybe walking their dog or is it perhaps this child? Stay right
there. Your calls coming in. More on the other side.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The family says the little girl was last seen going to bed Saturday night in a room she shares with a sister. They say they
believe she left the house Sunday morning to go hang with friends. But by noon, became worried and started their own search.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If she`s staying at your house, send her home. She has a home. She doesn`t need to make a home at your place.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That is the father of the missing 6-year-old. And of course a lot of people commenting, this is not a laughing matter, not even
nervous laughter. But authorities say, don`t look at the parents. This has nothing to do with the troubled history that the dad has. It`s
irrelevant to this case. Out to the phone lines. Nancy, Pennsylvania?
UNIDENTIFIED CALLER: Hi, Jane. This case makes me so sick. First of all, that father`s behavior is absolutely atrocious. And I know someone like
that that would molest children, it`s because they cannot distinguish love from sex.
They think if someone loves them or says "I love you" that that automatically means something sexual. He definitely has some problems.
It`s interesting the one policeman said now they`re in recovery mode. That word recovery thinks they think it`s going to be a body rather than saying
her return.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s hope that that`s not true. We have had cases where it didn`t look good. And the child shows up. Simone, the reporter for
KOMO said that the dad called the missing little girl a spoiled little brat and a princess of the household and said the older siblings can`t stand it.
CPS took two of Jenise`s siblings, an 8-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. What do you make of that?
SIMONE BIENNE, BEHAVIOR EXPERT: Well, at what point would you call your child a spoiled little brat if you have the capacity to love? Clearly he
doesn`t want the responsibility of being a parent. He`s externalizing the fact that, you know, toddlers are hard work. Six-year-old girls are hard
work. She probably wants his love and affection and he doesn`t want to give it to her.
And the fact that, you know, he says that the other siblings don`t like her. Well, from what we`re hearing from the other two half sisters and
brothers, they got on very well, all of the siblings. So it seems to not all match up.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me say this. First of all I know that some parents have a casual way of saying things like, oh, she`s a brat, but it`s said in
a loving way. You know, it all depends on the inflection. The father`s invited on any time. Remember, we are looking for your daughter. We want
to put her face out there so that she can be found safe and sound.
And I want to stress, you are not considered a suspect. That is what police are saying. Your past is irrelevant.
On the other side, we are on verdict watch in the case of the man who gunned down an unarmed teen, shot her in the face on his front porch. His
fate rests in the hands of jurors. Was this self-defense? Or was this guy just mad?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You opened the door to go outside to where these --
TED WAFER, ON TRIAL FOR RENISHA MCBRIDE`S DEATH: I was hoping to end a confrontation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You sure ended it, didn`t you, Mr. Wafer? You sure ended it, didn`t you?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Objection. Argumentative.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAFER: I raised the gun and shot her.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Shot in the face. Fewer than three feet from the end of the barrel of this .12-gauge shotgun.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He had had enough. He creates the confrontation.
WAFER: I was hoping to end the confrontation.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You sure ended it, didn`t you, Mr. Wafer?
WAFER: It was just a reaction -- self-defense reaction.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In fear for his life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Just wanted to go home. Yet she ended up in the morgue.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Breaking news tonight. We are on verdict watch in the Renisha McBride murder trial, the 19-year-old woman who was shot in the
face and killed when she knocked on Ted Wafer`s door looking for help after she crashed her car while intoxicated.
The 55-year-old airport maintenance worker says he was home alone and asleep on his la-z-boy at 4:30 in the morning when he heard violent banging
at the front and side doors of his Michigan home. When it didn`t stop, he claims he couldn`t find a cell phone to call 911. So he grabbed a bat at
first and then ultimately grabbed his shotgun. Went to the front door, and then ultimately grabbed a shotgun, went to the front door, saw a figure
dart out of nowhere and pulled the trigger on what he claims he thought was an unloaded gun. But it was loaded. That single gunshot killed Renisha.
Today, closing statements and dramatic ones. His defense attorney passionately arguing, Ted Wafer was terrified and shot in self-defense.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The man that you heard was in fear for his life -- did it sound like I was trying to say this was an accident? No, I wasn`t.
I did this in self-defense. I thought they -- they were coming in. It was getting louder and louder and louder and louder until the floor started
vibrating, the walls were shaking, the window was about to break. The screen door was already broken.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But prosecutors say dramatic but nonsense. There was no "they". It was only one scared, disoriented, intoxicated teenager who
crashed her car and just wanted help.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Ms. McBride, injured, disoriented, just wanted to go home. Yet she ended up in the morgue with bullets in her head and in her
brain. Because the defendant picked up this shotgun and released this safety, raised it at her, pulled the trigger and blew her face off.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oralander Brand-Williams, reporter, Detroit News, you were in court for those dramatic closing statements. What has happened so far
with this jury of seven men and five women?
ORALANDER BRAND-WILLIAMS, REPORTER, DETROIT NEWS: We had two alternates that were released. So we have five women, seven men, four African-
American. They deliberated for three hours today. They asked to see the gun. They asked for the screen door. They asked for a tape measure, they
asked for a notepad and markers. They wanted the plastic clips that held the screen door in place but that was never admitted into evidence. So
they can`t have that.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, one of the reasons the screen door is so crucial, Mike Brooks, is that the prosecution and the defense have two different
stories about it. This guy, the defense, the guy who shot Renisha, claims oh she damaged my screen door. It wasn`t where it was supposed to be. The
prosecution says, no, you damaged it when you shot a bullet through that screen door. She didn`t do anything to damage your house therefore you
can`t claim you`re defending your property.
MIKE BROOKS, HLN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Right. But one of the others things, too, the autopsy from the medical examiner said that there were no
injuries to her hand, but then the other -- the prosecution said, oh, yes, there was.
But whether or not that`s the case, right now, they have to decide, what was his state of mind? Was he really scared for his life at that
particular time? I thought the defense did a better job than the prosecution in their closing arguments. I also thought that the defense
did a good job on basically talking about the neighborhood, the problems that he would have there, one of the neighbors being held at gunpoint by
three men before. So, again, it`s going to come down to the jury deciding whether or not he was in fear of his life at that time.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Scared or angry? This guy took the stand in his own defense. You know, it`s interesting. He said he was absolutely petrified
that night. But let`s hear what he said during the interrogation tapes where he reveals to cops he was actually mad.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
WAFER: I don`t know what`s happening. I`m scared.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Have you ever felt that scared in your life?
WAFER: No.
Now I`m mad. I`m going to find out what is going on. I think I even said something -- I`m not sure what I said because I`m piss and vinegar now.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So, J. Wyndal Gordon, which is it? Terrified, petrified or full of piss and vinegar as he himself said?
J. WYNDAL GORDON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Piss and vinegar. He was piss and vinegar. I mean all of us have at one time or another heard some
rapping on our door. Our first inclination is not to pull out a .12-gauge shotgun or any shotgun for that matter. It could have been the police.
You don`t know who it is.
What you`re trying to -- what you`re going to try to do is try to figure out who it is before you take up your arms. Although it`s 4:30 in the
morning, it could be a relative. I mean there are a myriad of possibilities as to who could have been at his door. So scared wasn`t what
it was.
I believe he actually knew that it was a person who was a stranger to him that was unfamiliar to him and that he got his shotgun and it wasn`t loaded
by accident. I mean you just don`t sit around with a loaded shotgun by accident, pull the safety off and pull the trigger. It was loaded on
purpose and he intended to use and he perfect the opportunity to do so. And he did it.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Brian Claypool?
CLAYPOOL: Hey Jane, we live in a different environment. Post-9/11, you`ve got to be kidding me? Somebody`s pounding on your door at 4:30 in the
morning, pounding on the side of your windows, pounding on the front of your windows, you`re going to invite somebody in for a tea party and figure
out who they are?
GORDON: But why open the door at all?
HUNDREDMARK: You absolutely don`t have to shoot them.
CLAYPOOL: We live in a different society. Let`s look at the lens through which the defense lawyers presented today. They presented a fact that this
man had prior incidents with paint-balling. That a neighbor had an incident where a neighbor --
HUNDREDMARK: And that`s why he was mad. That`s why he was full of piss and vinegar. That`s why he wanted to get somebody back and shoot them in
the face.
CLAYPOOL: The crime in that city is very low so this man had a reasonable and honest fear that his life was in danger --
HUNDREDMARK: No, he didn`t. How many burglars knock on your door before they come in?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hold on a second. Let`s give Trinity Hundredmark, prosecution, an attorney, a chance to speak.
HUNDREDMARK: Jane, how many burglars knock on your door before they`re going to come in and rob you?
BROOKS: A lot of them. Most of them here in Atlanta do before they kick your door in, Trinity. I live in the inner city. I know. Yes they do.
HUNDREDMARK: You don`t have to shoot somebody in the face.
BROOKS: He should have called 911 but he couldn`t find his phone.
HUNDREDMARK: He could have shot her in the leg. He could have shot at the bottom. He clearly went directly at her face. He didn`t have to go that
way. It`s not reasonable.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hold on a second. One at a time, please, guys. That`s all I ask. Go ahead but quick.
CLAYPOOL: Jane, here`s how the 911 call would have went. Hi, 911. Somebody`s knocking on my door. What do you want us to do? Is somebody
breaking into your house? Is somebody harming you? No.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you for that demonstration.
(CROSSTALK)
CLAYPOOL: He didn`t come out.
GORDON: That`s all the more reason not to pull out a shotgun. That`s all the more --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: He claims he didn`t call 911 because he couldn`t find his cell phone which ended up in a pants pocket, J. Wyndal.
GORDON: That`s funny -- not funny. It`s sad, really. That he came up with that flimsy excuse. Should have said he did it on purpose.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Facebook lighting up. We`re going to read your comments on the other side. Give me a call. We`ve got some other
dramatic, dramatic moments from closing arguments. Will he end up behind bars for life?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Self-defense gone wrong?
WAFER: There`s no leveling of the gun. There`s no pointing, just a reaction -- self-defense reaction.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: As closing arguments get under way, did Theodore Wafer convince the jury his shooting was justified?
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Big question. Why did you open the front door?
WAFER: I thought they were going to come through. And I was not going to cower. I didn`t want to be a victim in my own house.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What is the jury thinking? Well, Facebook is divided.
Danny on Facebook says -- actually it is Kevin, "He shouldn`t have opened the door. But I do feel he had a fear for his life and it`s very possible
for him to be acquitted. Diana says, "He`s guilty. If he was so scared, he wouldn`t have opened the door."
Straight out to Chris, Pennsylvania -- what say you, Chris, Pennsylvania?
CHRIS, PENNSYLVANIA (via telephone): Does anybody know if he had any mental health issues before, you know, he made this decision -- back in his
career or his daytime, was he ever on any medication? He slept on the couch, they say, that night when he had the gun loaded?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes. It`s very interesting. Simone Bienne, his story is that he had three beers which by the way the cops never asked him about
even though much has been made of the victim being very intoxicated on alcohol and pot. Then he came home, turned on the TV the way he usually
does. Has a little bit more to eat and then falls asleep on the La-Z-boy with the TV on and then was woken up after 4:00 a.m.
What does that tell you? He`s an airport maintenance worker. What`s your take on his psyche?
BIENNE: Well, plenty of us can go out for a drink and then fall asleep on the couch. What tells me is the behavior afterwards. In the sense that we
are, if you`re in that situation, you get startled. And I think that -- I think that he has rage issues clearly, there is a big difference between
pointing a gun and pulling the trigger. If we say it`s not a race issue, I don`t believe it because he saw a black girl standing him in the face.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: There could be a verdict tomorrow. Join us tomorrow as we continue our coverage of this very controversial issue and trial.
On the other side: a surprise and an important story where you can make a difference. And save lives. It`s a mystery. How will it turn out?
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hey, little Rico. We`ve got breaking news in the fight to protect America`s wild horses. Animal rights groups, including the famous
Cloud Foundation, have just filed this lawsuit that I`m holding in my hands to block the Bureau of Land Management, that`s right, the U.S. government`s
plan to round up more than 800 horses at the end of this month, horses that are now roaming free on the range in Wyoming.
Now, the critics say the government, the BLM, the Bureau of Land Management, is placing ranching, special interests, private corporations,
in other words, the private sector, over their duty to protect our wild horses and that they`re using our tax dollars.
Now, the critics say these roundups which often -- look at that, helicopter, chasing these horses. They`re incredibly traumatic for these
animals. The choppers chase down terrified horses, corralling them into pens. You know, there used to be millions of horses on the range. There
are currently only about 50,000 wild horses. And you know where they are? They`ve been driven off the range. They`re under government control. And
many of them, thousands and thousands of them, are packed into these holding pens.
We`ve asked the Secretary of the Interior, Sally Jewel, what her long-range plans are for these horses that are in these holding pens. She won`t tell
us. We called the Interior Department today. She`s the boss of the Interior Department. They directed us, as they almost always do, to the
Bureau of Land Management. The BLM says we`re not going to comment on ongoing litigation. Critics say it`s the Bureau of Land Management that`s
the problem.
Straight out to the Cloud Foundation`s Ginger Kathrens -- Ginger, why did you feel the need and other animal lovers, animal rights groups, horse
advocates, to go to court to try to stop this latest roundup of about 800 horses in Wyoming?
GINGER KATHRENS, CLOUD FOUNDATION: We went to court because we`re going to win this fight, Jane. I think we have to win. They violated three major
acts of congress. They gave no opportunity for the public to input into the process. They violated their own procedures, their own numbers, their
own laws so we think we`re going to win. And that`s why we went to court. Because we`re not going to let these land barons dictate to the BLM about
our wild horses on public lands. We`re going to save them this time.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: There used to be millions of them -- correct me if I`m wrong. And the government keeps rounding them up. Even though there is an
act called something like the wild horse and burro act that says these are a symbol of America, of our freedom, that we wouldn`t have really a country
without the help of horses that took us from coast-to-coast, and that we want to protect these animals as an icon, an American icon.
So if we want to protect them as an icon and there`s a whole law that says that, why is our government rounding them up with helicopters and then
putting them in holding pens?
KATHRENS: They`re capitulating to the livestock barons. It`s the Rock Springs Grazing Association. It`s a huge landgrab -- millions of acres
twice the size of Rhode Island. And they want it for their welfare livestock and they want to be able to lease it for oil and gas.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I didn`t know you were going to mention that association, that you`re invited on our show anytime. We would love to
have them on our show and talk to them about this issue.
This lawsuit claims that if rounded up, these animals will be destined for a life of essentially incarceration in these holding pens. And, you know,
the critics say they don`t get enough shade in the summertime. And in the wintertime they don`t get enough shelter.
And if you want to get involved you can go to the CloudFoundation.org. That`s just the CloudFoundation.org. We`d also like to put up Interior
Secretary Sally Jewel. You can write to her. Let`s see a picture of Interior Secretary Sally Jewel, the Secretary of the Interior.
You can go to my Facebook page and get all the information if you want to write to this lady because really, ultimately she is the one.
We`ve got ten seconds, what would you say to Sally Jewel?
KATHRENS: Save our mustangs for our kids, for our future. They`re an icon for us.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: A great way to end the segment. Right, Rico?
Nancy next.
END
