Return to Transcripts main page
Jane Velez-Mitchell
New Assault Allegations against Jesse Matthew; Jodi Arias Trial
Aired October 01, 2014 - 19:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He`s a pathological, maniacal liar, and I don`t like him, but he received a fair trial.
JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL, HOST: Breaking news tonight. Cops say a well-liked, even loved, California mayor was gunned down. That`s right. Shot to death
by his own wife smack this the middle of the day right inside their home. The wife was briefly taken into custody and then cops just let her go.
Tonight, an uproar as this story goes viral and people ask why wasn`t this woman arrested and charged in her husband`s death? Was this self-defense
or was it something more sinister? And why is this woman holding a news conference tomorrow?
Good evening. I`m Jane Velez-Mitchell, coming to you live.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The mayor of a Los Angeles suburb...
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: ... was shot and killed by his wife.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The son screaming for help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The wife got a gun and shot her husband four times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That was our mayor, you know? And he did do a lot of things for us.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She shot her husband four times.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: But she has not been charged with any crime.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Why not? Police say 45-year-old Mayor Daniel Crespo was shot and killed by his longtime wife, wife of 28 years, Levette, at about
2:30 in the afternoon.
Cops say the couple was arguing when their 19-year-old son got in the middle. Then a physical fight erupted between father and son, and that`s
when Levette allegedly went, got a gun, came back, and shot her husband four times, reportedly. At least that`s the report we`re hearing right
now.
Tonight, we`re learning Mrs. Crespo, who was not charged, will hold a news conference tomorrow morning. Why?
The sheriff`s department did not say why the couple was arguing, but the mayor`s brother says it could have been about money and that the couple had
been fighting the night before the deadly shooting. What happened in the moments leading up to this deadly argument. Is there more to this story?
Call me: 1-877-JVM-SAYS, 1-877-586-7297. And you can join the conversation: go to my Jane Velez-Mitchell Facebook page or you can talk to
me on Twitter, @JVM.
I`m digging into this mystery with my expert Lion`s Den debate panel. They`re standing by.
The Los Angeles County D.A. will have to decide what to do about the mayor`s wife. Should she be charged?
Straight out to reporter from KNX 1070 News Radio, on the ground in California, Pete Demetriou. This is an unfolding breaking story. What
have you learned?
PETE DEMETRIOU, REPORTER, KNX NEWS RADIO (via phone): Bottom line is, this was, if you will, a family fight that turned very deadly. The interesting
thing is the community of Bell Gardens is really shocked, because Daniel Crespo was loved and literally respected by virtually the entire community.
The man had been a councilman for 14 years. He was a mayor; he`s very personable. He tried to solve issues which affected his community. But
apparently, this...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let me ask you this, Pete. Pete -- Pete, let me ask you. What happened? What do we know about what happened inside that home?
DEMETRIOU: Inside the home very simple. A fight between husband and wife, and Levette Crespo, while this was happening, apparently it got physical,
and her son Daniel Jr. at that point came in, tried to intervene between his mother and father.
The fight escalated between father and son. Levette apparently took a firearm from inside the home and opened fire on her husband, striking him
several times. He died in the ambulance on the way to the hospital.
Now, the question then becomes was too much force used in this particular case? In this case, she argues -- and her son backs her up -- that she was
taking actions trying to prevent him from being hurt and/or killed. And his comments corroborate his mother`s comments.
Now the sheriff`s department, they`re going to have to present the case to the county prosecutors, but you have the mother`s statement, and you have
the son backing her up. Those are the only people that are really involved.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh, the son is backing up the mom. OK.
DEMETRIOU: Absolutely.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Pete, don`t go anywhere. Will you wait -- will you wait one second? Because we`ve got to get to some other facts and bring in our
panel, but I`ve got some other questions for you.
Mayor Crespo`s brother is now claiming that the couple, the married couple, had been fighting the night before Mrs. Crespo shot Mr. Crespo dead.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Last night she was getting -- she was kind of angry and driving fast. And he was at the passenger and I`m in the back, and she was
just driving really fast.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So they were arguing the night before, and she was upset with him. That brother of the victim also reportedly told KTLA the couple
had been fighting over money. He claims that he was told Levette was mad. The mayor was upset or the mayor`s wife was upset that the mayor was
spending too much money.
So let me go out to my Lion`s Den debate panel. If, indeed, Taylor Koss, criminal defense attorney, they`re arguing the night before about money and
she is angry, does that impact her claims that, presumably, she`s going to claim she shot him in self-defense?
TAYLOR KOSS, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, good evening, Jane. Thanks a lot for having me.
I will tell you this: it can help, you know, if she`s going to claim justifiable homicide here, which is -- you know, an allowable defense under
the California penal law. She`s going to have to establish some really serious facts here.
And one is that, you know, her son was suffering injuries that would have eventually led to his imminent death or grave bodily injury. And let me
tell you something: nobody, including the son, is saying that the mayor had a weapon of any kind, a gun or a knife.
You know, if you want to claim justification, you better use the force that is being used. So if somebody is using deadly force against you, meaning
they`re about to shoot you, well, then OK, fine, you can shoot them. But...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Taylor?
KOSS: ... is only using physical force -- Yes, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Do you think this woman should have been arrested or not? Charged or not?
KOSS: There`s no -- there`s no question she should have -- she should have been arrested, 100 percent.
MO IVORY, ATTORNEY/RADIO PERSONALITY: No way. No. No way.
KOSS: If you want to claim justifiable homicide, you can do that as your defense.
IVORY: You cannot -- you cannot...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Go ahead, Mo.
IVORY: They brought her in to question her and ask her what went on. We do not know what he was saying to her, what he was saying to the son, what
the verbal threats were. And they have not said yet definitively whether or not he had a weapon.
I think there`s too many things that we don`t know to be able to say that they absolutely should have arrested her.
They brought her in. They questioned her, and from whatever she said and from whatever the son said, we know that they let her go. So we don`t know
if there was a past history of abuse. We don`t know...
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, let me say this. I can tell you, we have looked at both of these individuals` records, the mayor and his wife, and there is no
indication of any past history of abuse, no domestic violence, no reports of police being called to the home. They are squeaky clean.
IVORY: Sure.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mel Robbins.
(CROSSTALK)
MEL ROBBINS, CNN ANALYST: Jane, you know as well as -- you know as well as anybody else, Jane, that the fact that there is no criminal record and that
it`s squeaky clean on paper doesn`t mean squat about what was going on behind closed doors.
IVORY: Exactly. Exactly.
ROBBINS: So Mo is exactly right.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: One at a time.
ROBBINS: By the way, they could be two victims in this case. We don`t know what he was threatening in terms of his wife. We don`t know if he was
beating her up and the son intervened. We do know that he punched his son. We don`t know if there was alcohol. We don`t know if there`s a history of
abuse. We don`t know anything.
And we know is that you`ve got the mom and the son both saying they were victims of this guy in the middle of a fight, and she as the parent has the
right to use deadly force to protect her kid.
KOSS: No, she doesn`t.
ROBBINS: By the way, it has nothing to do with about -- it has nothing to do with the force used. It has to do with whether or not her perception of
the threat was reasonable.
IVORY: Exactly.
KOSS: If he was about to die, right?
ROBBINS: ... about to die. It could be...
KOSS: The statute says you have to reasonably fear death or grave bodily harm.
ROBBINS: Grave bodily harm.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hold on. Listen, guys, the young man is 19 years old. He did apparently have facial injuries, OK? So she`s -- she`s going to claim
self-defense, not that she`s defending herself, but she`s defending her son. Does it work like that?
ROBBINS: Sure.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Does self-defense work like that when it`s not a child; it`s a 19-year-old man who`s probably stronger than she is?
KOSS: Absolutely. You can claim self-defense in defense of another, but there are various steps that you have to meet. And one of them, of course,
is that, A, you believe using the deadly force is the only way to stop the action, him beating up his son.
And then, secondly, you use only the force necessary to stop it. OK. How about a bat to the head? How about one shot? Four shots? Did she need to
shoot him four times?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: How about running out of the house? How about running away?
ROBBINS: Again -- again, you don`t know what he was saying. Exactly. And again, you don`t know what he was saying. We don`t know for sure what the
circumstance was.
And believe me, these police officers obviously would have had a relationship with the mayor, a guy who has been in that city for a very
long time. If they wanted to make this close and shut and had the facts to do it, they would have definitely arrested her. So obviously, there`s
something more that says that they could not.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Whose gun was it? And you know what...?
JOE GOMEZ, KRLD REPORTER: Why couldn`t she have just fired off a warning shot or something like that?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Four shots.
GOMEZ: Why did she shoot him four times to make a point? I mean, she could have shot him in the leg and said, "Hey, knock it off." Instead she
shot him -- this seems like an act of passion, an act of violence. This doesn`t seem like something that, it just happens. I mean, four shots mean
that she had some intent to kill.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, on the other side of the break, we`re going to tell you what this man, the mayor of Bell Gardens, did when he wasn`t mayor. In
other words, he had another job. Did that other job require him to carry a gun? And why is the wife of 28 years, who shot him dead, holding a news
conference tomorrow? Stay right there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Friends say the mayor and his wife were high-school sweethearts. Neighbors say they heard yelling after the shooting.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We heard them. It was like the son screaming for help.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Neighbors of the couple say the wife was nice, but kept quiet and that Crespo was full of energy, always wanting to help his
neighbors.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Deputies say Crespo and his wife got into an argument. Their 19-year-old son intervened. Deputies say Crespo hit his
son, and that`s when the wife got a gun and shot her husband several times.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The Los Angeles suburb of Bell Gardens, just 10 miles outside downtown L.A., is missing a mayor tonight. That mayor, Daniel
Crespo, was gunned down by his own wife of 28 years. They were high-school sweethearts. But she whipped out a gun in an argument they were having
when their teenage son got in the middle of it. And she shot him four times, according to published reports. And he`s dead. This guy is dead.
The mayor is dead.
She has not been charged. She was briefly detained and released.
Now I can also tell you that, in addition to being mayor, this man was also a probation officer. Pete Demetriou, reporter on the ground, KNX 1070 News
Radio in California, what is the significance of him also being a probation officer in terms of the gun?
DEMETRIOU: When you`re a probation officer, he is authorized to carry a concealed weapon and to carry a firearm in the pursuit of his duties as a
county probation officer. You`re talking about the idea of a fight between the father and son. We don`t know whether he was attempting to draw a
weapon, get it from somewhere else. We don`t know whose weapon was actually used to shoot the mayor at that particular point that the wife
got.
So in essence, he did have access to a firearm. She may have been fearful that he may pull it out and use it against the son.
Now, as to what we`re talking about here, on the idea of shooting four times, is that too much or shoot him in the leg, when you`re in a life and
death situation, you shoot to stop. And you fire as many times as you have to until that hostile action stops. That`s what goes on in a life-and-
death fight. Not shoot him in the leg, shoot him in the foot.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Thank you, Pete Demetriou, my good buddy. Known him for decades out of Los Angeles.
Mel Robbins, legal analyst, first of all I want to say that Mrs. Crespo is invited on, orher attorney any time. We want to get all sides of the
story. We`ve been reaching out to them. But what do you make of her decision to hold a news conference tomorrow? Is that a smart strategy?
Does she think she can just explain herself and it will all go away?
ROBBINS: You know, Jane, it`s a great strategy if she`s actually innocent, and she was protecting herself. If she`s got nothing to hide and this is,
in fact, a situation where this squeaky-clean high-school sweetheart couple had a domestic dispute, whether it was over money or something else, it got
out of hand, it got physical, the son gets involved to protect his mom, the dad starts beating the you know what out of the son. We don`t know if
there`s a gun involved with the dad or not.
And the mom is legitimately trying to stop the dad from pummeling their son, and she uses the gun, then yes. Because otherwise, what`s going to
happen is we`re going to all speculate, and there`s going to be mounting pressure for an arrest in this case, where maybe that`s not what should
happen at all. So I actually think it`s smart if, in fact, her story is straight, Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s go out to the phone lines. Blair, Texas, what do you have to say? Blair, Texas.
CALLER: Oh, my Lord. Hey, Jane, thank you for taking my call.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Sure.
CALLER: My question is did Ms. Crespo think that Mayor Crespo was -- had, like, any infidelity issues that`s the reason that -- and then the son was
trying to get -- trying to get involved in their issues, and that`s the reason why he hit him and why she shot him? Like infidelity.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, we don`t know. The only thing that we know is that they were arguing about money. But Blair, Texas, you make an excellent
point. Generally, when a husband and wife are having an argument, it`s usually about, what, a handful, four or five things. You`re either talking
about money, you`re talking about sex, infidelity. You`re talking about family, the son, or some other family member. I mean, there`s usually only
a handful of things that people fight about when they`re married, but this is a very interesting point.
Chris on Twitter says, "If the situation was reversed, that man would be in jail today." Do you agree, Taylor Koss, criminal defense attorney?
KOSS: One hundred thousand percent he would be in jail. I mean, it`s without a doubt.
And let me tell you exactly why she`s holding this press conference tomorrow. She`s going to try to get ahead of the curve here; she`s trying
to poison the jury pool. She knows exactly what might be down the road here. And what might be down the road is an indictment. She may be facing
felony charges. And so she`s going to get out there, and she`s going to put her version of events to the public, whereas you know, law enforcement,
the authorities, are keeping it under wraps.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Mo Ivory, the last word on this.
IVORY: Jane, I disagree with that. I mean, he was the mayor. If the tables had been turned, he probably would have been given the benefit of
the doubt to tell his story until the facts corroborated or went against whatever he said. So I don`t think that, just because it was the woman
versus the man, that she got off scot-free. And I`m interested to hear what she`s going to say tomorrow.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: So are we. We`re going to stay all over it.
All right. We`ve got some breaking news. Speaking of self-defense arguments, here`s one that clearly did not work. A verdict just came back
in that loud music trial in Florida of Michael Dunn, the shooter.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We the jury find the defendant guilty of first-degree murder as charged in the indictment.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes, Michael Dunn. Look at him, and you`ll see him turn and stare at the jury, clearly unhappy, in disbelief, seeing his life flash
before him. He was just convicted in the first-degree murder of 17-year- old Jordan Davis.
Dunn, the defendant, got into an argument at a gas station with Jordan and his friends, because he thought their music was too loud. Remember, he
called it "thug music." And he claims he thought Jordan had a gun, and that`s why he opened fire on the car, hitting Jordan several times and
killing the young man.
The jury did not buy it. A gun was never found, and it`s very likely Michael Dunn will never see the light of day again, if that verdict holds
up.
On the other side, just minutes ago, big breaking news coming in as we speak about the disappearance of college student Hannah Graham. We`ve got
a live report from the scene on the ground. Jean Casarez, reporting from Charlottesville, Virginia, on the other side of the break. Stay right
there.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The man suspected in the disappearance of UVA student Hannah Graham has now been linked to a third case.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Authorities are now re-examining other cold cases in the state.
CHIEF TIMOTHY LONGO, CHARLOTTESVILLE POLICE: Jesse grew up here. He grew up in this community. He went to school here. He has family here. He
went to church here.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say Matthew`s arrest has provided them with what they`re calling a forensic link to the abduction and death of Morgan
Harrington.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And tonight we`ve got more big, breaking news in this case. Just in, we are now just learning about yet another accusation of
sexual assault levelled against the man who cops say abducted still-missing college student, Hannah Graham.
As cops desperately search for 18-year-old Hannah using drones, OK, like the ones that you see here. They`re using those to cover many miles around
Charlottesville.
Police are now investigating suspect Jesse Matthew`s ties to multiple other murders and sexual assaults, and just moments ago, a fifth accusation of
assault against a young woman surfaced, this one from back in 2003. So we are asking tonight, is Jesse Matthew a serial rapist and killer, who has
terrorized women in the Virginia area for years?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
LONGO: We`re certainly poised to be cooperative and helpful in any way that we can with regard to cases in which other departments might have an
interest.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Last week, 32-year-old Jesse Matthew was caught in Galveston, Texas. He was charged with kidnapping University of Virginia
sophomore Hannah Graham with the intent to defile. That means a sex crime.
Hannah vanished more than two weeks ago from Charlottesville after a night of partying. Cops believe Matthew kidnapped that co-ed, and they are still
desperately searching for her.
Cops have now confirmed a DNA link between Matthew and the brutal murder of 20-year-old Morgan Harrington. Morgan vanished from a Metallica concert in
the same town, Charlottesville, five years ago. Her body found a few months later in a remote field.
Investigators think the connection to Morgan`s case might only be the beginning.
Once again, this is breaking news for you happening right now. We`re going to go straight out to Jean Casarez. Jean, you are on the ground in
Charlottesville. What do you know about these new allegations of a fifth sexual assault alleged against Jesse Matthew?
JEAN CASAREZ, HLN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: Jane, we`re just getting the information in now. And it`s Christopher Newport University. This is a
college that Jesse Matthew went to starting in January of 2003. The university has confirmed that. And he virtually went through the whole
year.
In August, he joined the football team. And then in September -- and they have made this public now -- there was an incident report of an alleged
sexual assault. It happened in September. No physical injuries were seen at that point, and we now know that he left the university after that.
That`s fact.
Now we don`t know if this was investigated by the commonwealth prosecutors` office at this point. We just know the university has released what they
say was an alleged sexual assault incident report, and they`re saying that it was on Jesse Matthew.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: OK. I`d like you to stand by if you can, because I`m trying to put my mind around all of this, Jean.
And I want to go to Mel Robbins, legal analyst. Now, this comes on top of all the others. After Jesse Matthew was linked to Hannah`s disappearance,
and she still hasn`t been found and there`s a frantic search, we learned about something that happened back in 2002 at another university, where he
was accused of sexual assaulting a young woman. He claimed it was consensual, according to the reports that we`ve heard. The woman refused
to go forward with the case. There wasn`t enough evidence. And he left the university.
Now we`re hearing that next year he`s at another university in the area, and he`s accused again, and still he moves on.
Then 2005, you have a woman who was sexually assaulted, a 26-year-old. Now DNA appears to link him allegedly, purportedly to that woman. Then you
have Morgan Harrington brutally murdered in 2009, a DNA link. And then you have the missing Hannah Graham. We`re talking five, five, five cases here.
I`m trying to process what I`m hearing and putting it into context. Help me, Mel.
ROBBINS: Sure. I`ll put it in context for you. This is a 12-year span. He`s certainly a serial sex offender and I think he`s a serial killer,
because what you`re seeing is an escalation of incidents from sexual assault during college happening once, twice. Then you`ve got a rape
happening where the allegations in that case, Jane, are they he grabbed the woman from behind, dragged her into the woods, was forcibly raping her, and
then somebody passed by and he was startled and ran off. That woman did not want to go forward, as many rape victims don`t.
Then we have Morgan Harrington in 2009 whose body was found. And then, Jane, there are the four missing person cases that we know about in between
Morgan and Hannah Graham that have been unsolved where we don`t have bodies that are also in play now.
So, this all happened, I want to let you know, Jane, because when he fled, the police were able to get a search warrant. When they executed that
search warrant, they combed that house top to bottom and we don`t know specifically what they found, but what they found inside that home, Jane,
was DNA that connected him to Morgan and connected him to Hannah.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I`ve got to go back for a second to Jean Casarez. Jean, you`re on the ground. This is a shocker. You`re in the middle of a
college town. A lot of what we`re talking about has happened in and around colleges. What is the reaction in Charlottesville, because my jaw is
dropping?
CASAREZ: Absolute shock. I mean there`s no question about it, because I have been here from the beginning. And the beginning was, "No way, nice
guy. Really nice guy. Quiet." Today I visited the church he used to go to. And the pastor said he came every Wednesday night for services here.
"And he was quiet and he became a member of our church." And as this keeps going, there is disbelief but the reality is that these universities and
the courts here are alleging or charging him with a very serious crime.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I wonder what the co-eds of the University of Virginia and the co-eds in the surrounding universities are thinking tonight, if indeed
-- and it`s a big if, this man deserves his day in court. These are pieces of the puzzle just coming together. But if indeed this has been a serial
rape rampage conducted over more than a decade did someone drop the ball? Could Hannah be safe tonight had there been huge warnings that a predator
was on the loose?
I think we deserve to ask that question. We`re going to debate it on the other side. Stay right there.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In addition to the disappearance of 18-year-old Hannah Graham, law enforcement sources say DNA evidence also links Matthew
to the death of Morgan Harrington. She vanished in October 2009. Her remains found months later on a farm outside Charlottesville.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
CHIEF TIMOTHY LONGO, CHARLOTTESVILLE POLICE: Jesse Matthew is in custody in Galveston, Texas.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Sir, I have a question for you.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jesse Leroy Matthew Jr. is now in custody, charged with abducting missing UVA student, Hannah Graham.
JOHN GRAHAM, FATHER OF HANNAH GRAHAM: She`s our only daughter. All we want to do now is to bring Hannah home safely. Please, please, help us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jesse Matthew had not allegedly, purportedly been connected to five cases involving young women in the area. So we`re asking
is a serial rapist/killer on the loose? Has he been apprehended?
Now authorities are looking into the possibility that Jesse Matthew is connected in the 2009 murder of another young woman, Cassandra Morton.
Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
BILLY CROWE, CAMPBELL COUNTY SHERIFF`S OFFICE: It brings Cassandra back to the full front of people`s memories. And it makes them think again, when
was the last day I saw her? ATM records or bank records or credit card statements to see did he used something that shows he was in Lynchburg,
Virginia.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Forensic scientist, Lawrence Kobilinsky, Cassandra was reported missing the very same day as Morgan Harrington, ok? So it was
within that week that both of these young women disappeared, both found, you know, on a mountain trail or on a haystack somewhere. How did they
determine whether there`s a connection?
LAWRENCE KOBILINSKY, FORENSIC SCIENTIST: Well, clearly, police would like to connect the dots -- the dots being every alleged crime. And the way to
do that is through DNA. We have a very powerful tool, the DNA database, part of that database are missing individuals. And so the database is
designed to vet or test one case against another, so if there is DNA that has been collected from all these victims, it can be tested against each
other and it could come back to Jesse Matthews, perhaps.
Now, what broke this case was the warrant to get into the home, where I am sure they got his toothbrush, his hair brush, his clothing, and perhaps
other trace evidence. For all we know, there are souvenirs that he`s been collecting. They may be at the home as well.
But it`s the DNA evidence, the hair for example, which may in fact have been found on Morgan Harrington. Remember she was in the field for three
months. That means her body was skeletonized. So if there was DNA it could have come from her clothing, it could have come from under her nails,
or it could be in the form of hair. That would be a reasonable interpretation of how this linkage came about.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Thank you Dr. Kobi. Mo Ivory, attorney, radio personality, as a woman, I think we all get chills when we hear something
like this, and especially with Hannah Graham partying that night, walking around the area that all of this has happened in oblivious, it would seem,
to the danger that was lurking there. Now she`s missing. Did somebody drop the ball? Do we need to hold some aspect of society accountable for
all of this?
IVORY: Well, I mean I think that the reason that she was oblivious, we all know that she was intoxicated that night and she came from a party. So I
do think it`s hard to say that we should blame, you know, say somebody that was in the bar that might have seen him with her because people just are
not, you know, necessarily --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: No, I was talking more about systems -- whether it`s law enforcement, whether it`s the education system, you know, if there`s an
animal loose that poses a threat, people post signs. Well, there`s a wolf or a bear. Those animals are not as dangerous as somebody who could kill,
who can abduct and kill. Why are there not warnings to young co-eds about an ever present danger? That`s what I`d like to know.
IVORY: Sure.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And I want to bring in Joe Gomez on that.
GOMEZ: Yes. You`re right. I mean there should be more safety systems in place to keep young co-eds like this from falling into the traps of
predators like this Jesse Matthew individual. You know, it`s very frightening that he has been committing these assaults allegedly --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Allegedly.
GOMEZ: -- over the past ten years. And we both know Jane, covering as many cases as we`ve covered that if he is a serial rapist or serial killer,
he`s going to get gradually violent as time goes on. And as the days pass by and tick away, the chances that we may find Hannah Graham alive are very
low indeed.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But we keep that hope alive. This man deserves his day in court. I haven`t seen the DNA evidence but these developments are huge.
And we`re going to stay all over this story.
And speaking of ginormous developments -- yes, the Jodi Arias retrial, it`s underway right now. And you will not believe what her attorneys are doing
now demanding that the death penalty be thrown out. And we`re going to go live to Arizona on the other side and find out what the heck is going on
inside that courtroom.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
TRAVIS ALEXANDER, MURDER VICTIM: I`m going to tie you to a tree and put it in your (EXPLETIVE DELETED).
JODI ARIAS, FOUND GUILTY OF TRAVIS ALEXANDER`S MURDER: Oh, my gosh. That is so debasing. I like it. I am game for like almost everything you come
up. But you really are a wellspring of ideas. You are quite the source.
ALEXANDER: You sound like a 12-year-old girl having her first orgasm. That`s so hot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pictures of you laying on the bed in pigtails.
ARIAS: Pigtails?
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Jodi had a pony tail in which makes her look very young. She was turned towards every one of those jurors walking through
the door and giving them a little bit of a smile.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s obvious you guys are having sex.
ARIAS: I`m not a murderer but I guess if I were to do that I would wear gloves or, you know, something.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: For so many people that can`t be fair and have heard about the case.
(SINGING)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: The craziness is starting. Tonight attorneys for killer Jodi Arias throw a hand grenade into the case demanding in a lengthy motion
that the death penalty be taken off the table -- gone. The defense once again accusing the prosecutor, Juan Martinez, of misconduct -- wild
misconduct. The judge has heard these accusations before and will almost certainly say, we deny the motion.
But could there be another strategy here? Could Jodi`s attorneys be trying to save her life by sending messages out to the jury pool? Trying to
convince just one potential juror that the prosecution just can`t be trusted?
Jodi convicted last year of stabbing, shooting, and nearly decapitating her lover Travis Alexander. A new jury will decide whether she should live or
die by lethal injection. Now, it is proving very hard to get impartial jurors. They`re being dismissed in droves. Now, the jury pool has just
been exposed to claims that prosecutor Juan Martinez withheld evidence and claims that the wife of the lead detective Esteban Flores posted sealed
trial information on Twitter. Is any of this true?
Well, we`re going to start tonight by going to Jen Wood, reporter for "The Trial Diaries" in court today. And I get a feeling because I stood outside
that courthouse for months and went in there for months that the craziness is kicking in. What`s it like outside the courthouse?
JEN WOOD, REPORTER, "THE TRIAL DIARIES": The craziness is beginning and it`s beginning with dismissed jurors for today and yesterday -- or Monday.
But today they`re coming outside and telling reporters that they think Jodi Arias deserves the death penalty. And they even got as far as saying she
deserves to die.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Unbelievable. So they`re not holding back. Like usually, reporters are not supposed to approach jurors or anything in the
neighborhood, cousins of jurors, but yet these potential jurors who`ve been dismissed are coming out and telling anybody who will listen -- the
guillotine, is that what you`re saying?
WOOD: Yes, the dismissed jurors are coming out saying, she needs to die. Kill her. We want her to get the death penalty. And basically they have
said that in court to a degree, and that`s why they were dismissed to begin with.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow. Here`s one of the bombshells from motion by her attorneys who, by the way have a terrible relationship at least Kirk Nurmi
the lead attorney with her. They argue all the time. Jodi`s attorneys claimed the wife of Detective Esteban Flores -- that`s the lead detective -
- has tweeted inappropriate and sealed information about the case.
Again, we are talking about the wife of the star witness for the prosecution -- Detective Flores who interviewed, who grilled Jodi for hours
and hours in the now infamous interrogation tapes. Remember this?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I have pictures of you in Travis`s bedroom with Travis and pictures of him. And it`s obvious you guys are having sex. Taking
photos of each other. They are dated and time stamped on the day he died.
ARIAS: Are you sure it`s me? I mean because I was not there.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s all coming back. The head stand, the singing, the songs. Mo Ivory, attorney, radio personality, Mrs. Flores` Twitter account
(inaudible) from Twitter. But I mean really does any of this matter or is this just more manipulative you-know-what to try to postpone judgment day?
IVORY: That is exactly what it is. You know, I`m surprised at Jodi`s attorneys, that they continue -- it seems like they`re almost under the
spell that she sort of has over everybody or that she thinks she has because even to make this motion I think is just another way to spend more
taxpayer money to make this go further. It has nothing to do with the sentencing phase at this point. I just hope that this judge will see what
this smoke screen is and totally dismiss that, you know, motion.
KOSS: It`s comical Jane.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Go ahead -- Taylor.
KOSS: It`s comical and it would be funny if we were not talking about a gentleman who lost his life. I mean this is as clear of a public relations
ploy as ever. You`re in Arizona. This is a pro death penalty state. I went to law school there. I know from firsthand. So you have to try to
get all the juju out there that you can. And if you could float it enough times, prosecutor misconduct, prosecutor misconduct, you just hope that it
seeps into the prospective jury pool and therefore makes it literally impossible to get a jury that hasn`t heard about the case or doesn`t have
a, you know, clear mind.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And you know, in confusion there is reasonable doubt and the thing that confuses more people more often is sex. And most of the x-
rated sexual testimony from the first trial came out during the weeks Jodi was on the stand.
If she doesn`t testify this time, I wonder, will jurors be exposed to the salacious details of Jodi and Travis` sex life particularly the infamous
sex tape?
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ALEXANDER: Just like go forever.
ARIAS: You are not joking. I mean like, there were times when we just -- I can`t -- I`m trying to think of an example. There have been a few times
where I have been bold enough to just pull you on the bed and start.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Hold you on the bed and start -- oh, my gosh. That`s the clean stuff. We can`t play the worst of it.
Mel Robbins, legal analyst, everybody who was ever gotten up close and personal with this woman, she doesn`t like me so she`s never let me
interview her, has said that she exudes a weird sexual charisma and has crazy eyes. Can she somehow play that as a card to spare her life?
ROBBINS: I`m sorry, Jane. But when I hear those tapes, I just start to feel the nausea rising from my stomach into the back of my throat. Sexual
charisma? I don`t know. I think what she`s going to do is she`s going to try to appear meek. She is going to beg for her life, if you will, like
she did the last go around. And like Taylor was saying, they just need one juror. They just need one juror on that panel that basically says "Death
penalty, I don`t think so."
So I agree with everybody saying that this is a publicity stunt. It`s a stunt to try to pollute the pool. And she`s going to do everything she can
to basically have this fresh jury pool look at her and say we should spare her.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Jen Wood, I have to talk about the cost. I mean Arizona taxpayers have now spent more than $2.5 million just on Jodi`s defense --
$2.5 million. And the retrial has not even started. It`s expected to go until late December. What`s the reaction in Phoenix that you are hearing
about this incredible tax?
WOOD: You know people are really outraged about it. and in fact these jurors are going to get paid up to $300 a day because of this trial
(inaudible) that is a long term trial. And really the public is upset that don`t get to watch it. I mean we paid all this money and now, you know,
it`s not going to be broadcasted.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: It`s unbelievable and I just pray that she doesn`t try to character-assassinate Travis Alexander again, but unfortunately I feel that
that`s exactly what she is going to do. She is going to subject us to all those pathological lies.
IVORY: She loves it. She loves the theater of it.
KOSS: She can`t help herself.
IVORY: She loves the attention.
KOSS: Yes, she can`t help herself. This is what she is dreaming about. She can`t wait to get up there.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: That`s evil.
And I have to you a great primer for the death penalty phase of the Jodi Arias case is my "New York Times" bestseller, "Exposed: the secret life of
Jodi Arias". It is the definitive book on the case, just out now in paperback, with details that never came out at trial about Jodi`s past. In
the motion, they said -- the defense said they tried to send Jodi a book about the case in photocopy so that she could read up. I have to guess
that that`s my book. And they complained that the jail officials wouldn`t let her read it. But you can.
Nancy`s next.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
END
