Return to Transcripts main page

Live From...

Elderly Rage

Aired January 22, 2004 - 15:00   ET

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

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


KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A fight over movie tickets leaves one elderly man dead and now it could send a Florida grandfather to prison.
CNN's Susan Candiotti tells us about the most unusual case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jurors will be asked to decide whether one senior citizen, 69-year-old Seymour Schuss, should be found guilty of manslaughter for slugging another senior, 74-year-old Irving Rosenberg, outside a discount movie theater.

Rosenberg fell, hit his head on the pavement and died two weeks later. Widow Myra Rosenberg says she wants justice.

MYRA ROSENBERG, WIDOW: I cry myself to sleep plenty of nights, just going over it over and over again.

CANDIOTTI: Investigators say the incident happen after Schuss' wife lost patience with Rosenberg and the two exchanged words. According to police, Seymour Schuss, who is legally blind, punched Rosenberg in the chin.

ROSENBERG: He destroyed us, basically. He destroyed my life. It's never going to be the same.

CANDIOTTI: Before trial, Schuss was offered a deal, plead guilty, get one year in jail, house arrest and probation. He turned it down. Last year, Schuss' daughter called Rosenberg's death an accident.

ALLYSON SCHUSS, DAUGHTER OF DEFENDANT: We feel horrible, terrible, remorseful that this tragedy took place and that two families are really being destroyed with this.

CANDIOTTI: Authorities say elder-on-elder crime is rare.

KEN JENNE, BROWARD COUNTY SHERIFF: I would hope that, as we mature, that we get calmer, that we mature in a fashion that we recognize others will be rude to us and we don't need to act out back to them.

ROSENBERG: I miss him. I really do. And I'm glad we had that time together.

CANDIOTTI: If found guilty, Schuss faces up to 15 years behind bars.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: CNN has learned that, while the state will argue that a punch led to Rosenberg's death, the defense is expected to present experts who will testify that, just before he was hit, Rosenberg suffered a stroke and that's what killed him -- Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: Susan, where does jury selection stand right now?

CANDIOTTI: Well, it's been going on for the past couple of days. They hope to finish it up this afternoon. And then opening statements may come as late as this afternoon or perhaps first thing in the morning. And then they expect the trial to last a couple of weeks in what is very much a tragic case all the way around.

PHILLIPS: Yes, no doubt. Susan Candiotti, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com






Aired January 22, 2004 - 15:00   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: A fight over movie tickets leaves one elderly man dead and now it could send a Florida grandfather to prison.
CNN's Susan Candiotti tells us about the most unusual case.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

SUSAN CANDIOTTI, CNN NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Jurors will be asked to decide whether one senior citizen, 69-year-old Seymour Schuss, should be found guilty of manslaughter for slugging another senior, 74-year-old Irving Rosenberg, outside a discount movie theater.

Rosenberg fell, hit his head on the pavement and died two weeks later. Widow Myra Rosenberg says she wants justice.

MYRA ROSENBERG, WIDOW: I cry myself to sleep plenty of nights, just going over it over and over again.

CANDIOTTI: Investigators say the incident happen after Schuss' wife lost patience with Rosenberg and the two exchanged words. According to police, Seymour Schuss, who is legally blind, punched Rosenberg in the chin.

ROSENBERG: He destroyed us, basically. He destroyed my life. It's never going to be the same.

CANDIOTTI: Before trial, Schuss was offered a deal, plead guilty, get one year in jail, house arrest and probation. He turned it down. Last year, Schuss' daughter called Rosenberg's death an accident.

ALLYSON SCHUSS, DAUGHTER OF DEFENDANT: We feel horrible, terrible, remorseful that this tragedy took place and that two families are really being destroyed with this.

CANDIOTTI: Authorities say elder-on-elder crime is rare.

KEN JENNE, BROWARD COUNTY SHERIFF: I would hope that, as we mature, that we get calmer, that we mature in a fashion that we recognize others will be rude to us and we don't need to act out back to them.

ROSENBERG: I miss him. I really do. And I'm glad we had that time together.

CANDIOTTI: If found guilty, Schuss faces up to 15 years behind bars.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

CANDIOTTI: CNN has learned that, while the state will argue that a punch led to Rosenberg's death, the defense is expected to present experts who will testify that, just before he was hit, Rosenberg suffered a stroke and that's what killed him -- Kyra, back to you.

PHILLIPS: Susan, where does jury selection stand right now?

CANDIOTTI: Well, it's been going on for the past couple of days. They hope to finish it up this afternoon. And then opening statements may come as late as this afternoon or perhaps first thing in the morning. And then they expect the trial to last a couple of weeks in what is very much a tragic case all the way around.

PHILLIPS: Yes, no doubt. Susan Candiotti, thank you.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com