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American Morning

Tragic Mistake?

Aired July 21, 2003 - 08:33   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.


SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us from Southfield, Michigan are two members of Masheka Robinson's family, her mother, Gwendolyn and her aunt Harriet. And also joining us this morning as well, their attorney, Geoffrey Fieger.
Good morning to all of you. Thanks for joining us, especially under such difficult circumstances. We truly appreciate it.

Geoffrey, let's begin with you. As we mentioned, Daniel Franklin is going on trial for murder. You've made an offer to state officials. You've basically said that they can avoid a lawsuit if they'll settle under, I guess, circumstances that are good for the family.

Describe for me what you want, what you want out of the settlement, and tell me why you wouldn't just go ahead and go with a lawsuit?

GEOFFREY FIEGER, ATTORNEY FOR ROBINSONS: That's a good question, Soledad. Everybody, with my reputation, they say, well, people go immediately into court, people are litigious nowadays. We have a situation here where the state department of corrections, state of Michigan, has admitted responsibility, has admitted responsibility for a family being slaughtered, and now we have a little 4-year-old girl who doesn't have sisters, who doesn't have a mother, and who won't have a father; he'll be in prison the rest of his life.

I'm offering, and I extended an olive branch out to the state, let's resolve this. You've admitted your responsibility. Now you're going to have to put your money where your mouth is. And let's avoid the necessity of a lengthy lawsuit that will cost the state millions of dollars anyway. I'll sit down with you. These are people who I know. I ran for governor of the state, as you know, in 1998. The present governor was my selection as attorney general. She's now the governor of the state. They can contact me. I'm available.

But yet, it's now Monday, I made this offer last Thursday, and although they went in front of the cameras and admitted their mistake, Soledad, nobody's called me to resolve this matter. I'll wait several weeks, but that's it.

O'BRIEN: What will the resolution involve? What does the fix involve? What part of system do you think needs to be fixed? And also what financially are you looking for? I mean, give me a dollar number.

FIEGER: I can't give you a dollar number. But obviously, we have a 4-year-old little girl who observed her family being slaughtered and she needs to be taken care of the rest of her life. That is not inexpensive. We're looking at seven figures. But I can negotiate that. We also need to review what happened here.

The state of Michigan admits that a certain number of inmates of the department of correction, although the law says they may not be released, do get released because they don't review all their files. We've got to make sure that there's a failsafe mechanism by which this type of tragedy never occurs again. Mr. Franklin should never have been released from prison. They admit it now. He committed a crime while he was on parole that could have been prevented. But apparently, they say anywhere from 7 to 10 percent of all inmates, regardless of the appropriateness of their release, are going to get released because they don't review their files.

O'BRIEN: Gwendolyn, I read a report that you went to police with your daughter the day after her ex-husband was released from prison.

GWENDOLYN ROBINSON, VICTIM'S MOTHER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: And what happened? And what was she claiming?

ROBINSON: Well, the day she called me and told me that she had been harassed by him, and so we went to the police department, and we made a -- we tried to make a report. And when we told them exactly what had happened they refused to even take a report. And she even asked for a POP, a police protection, and they told her that she had to pay some money. And I asked them, well do we have to make a police report? And they said no. And so we left. We left.

O'BRIEN: You left without doing anything.

ROBINSON: No, no. We left without them doing anything.

O'BRIEN: Without them doing anything.

Was your daughter terrified of her ex-husband?

ROBINSON: Yes, she was. Yes, she was. Because I went over there that same night, I packed up, I went home, and I packed up some things, and I stayed over there at her house that night, because I was waiting for him to come back over there to bother her, or my grandchildren again.

FIEGER: What's really incredible, Soledad, is he had raped her that day, the day he's let out of prison.

ROBINSON: Yes, he did.

FIEGER: He raped her. Gwen goes with Masheka to the police department, they refuse to take a police report and tell her to simply get a PPO, a personal protection order. That's incredible. I mean, the number of errors that occurred here that could have prevented the slaughter of an entire family is unbelievable.

O'BRIEN: Harriet, I want to ask you a little bit about the baby, Denasia. She's not quite 4 years old. First of all, are you looking for a number, a financial figure that will allow you to take care of this child? And who in the family will be the one who actually is her caregiver now?

HARRIET ROBINSON, VICTIM'S AUNT: Currently, my sister Gwen is the temporary -- she has temporary custody for Denasia. And the probate court will conduct hearings based on the amount of time that's allotted through the court system. But Oakland County has one of the best probate court systems in the United States.

And as far as a number is concerned, I would let Geoffrey Fieger determine that, because actually you can't put a price tag on human lives, and we're talking three human lives here. The elder girl, Racquel, she had just turned 10 years old. Her life was beginning as about to approach puberty years and all that, and we have missed out on a great deal with those children, the loss of those children, and Masheka, what she could have continued to contribute to society.

But Denasia is -- actually she'll be 4 years old in two days, and she's doing well. She's basically a normal preschooler.

O'BRIEN: Geoffrey, quick final question for you, and we are out of time, so if you can keep it short, I'd be grateful. You say you're willing to wait a couple weeks. What's the deadline? When do you say, OK, we're going to go to a lawsuit?

FIEGER: Two weeks. I think it's reasonable, Soledad. I've extended my hand. I believe we can resolve this. The people in authority know who I am and they know what I've said. Let's do this. Let's say that we're going to not involve ourselves in lawsuits, and do what everybody says should be done, resolve it without that. But if I don't hear from them, I promise you, within two weeks, a lawsuit will be filed.

O'BRIEN: Geoffrey Fieger, and also Gwendolyn Robinson and Harriet Robinson, thank you for your time. Our condolences to you. What a terrible, terrible situation. We are grateful for you joining us.

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 July 21, 2003 - 08:33   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
SOLEDAD O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: Joining us from Southfield, Michigan are two members of Masheka Robinson's family, her mother, Gwendolyn and her aunt Harriet. And also joining us this morning as well, their attorney, Geoffrey Fieger.
Good morning to all of you. Thanks for joining us, especially under such difficult circumstances. We truly appreciate it.

Geoffrey, let's begin with you. As we mentioned, Daniel Franklin is going on trial for murder. You've made an offer to state officials. You've basically said that they can avoid a lawsuit if they'll settle under, I guess, circumstances that are good for the family.

Describe for me what you want, what you want out of the settlement, and tell me why you wouldn't just go ahead and go with a lawsuit?

GEOFFREY FIEGER, ATTORNEY FOR ROBINSONS: That's a good question, Soledad. Everybody, with my reputation, they say, well, people go immediately into court, people are litigious nowadays. We have a situation here where the state department of corrections, state of Michigan, has admitted responsibility, has admitted responsibility for a family being slaughtered, and now we have a little 4-year-old girl who doesn't have sisters, who doesn't have a mother, and who won't have a father; he'll be in prison the rest of his life.

I'm offering, and I extended an olive branch out to the state, let's resolve this. You've admitted your responsibility. Now you're going to have to put your money where your mouth is. And let's avoid the necessity of a lengthy lawsuit that will cost the state millions of dollars anyway. I'll sit down with you. These are people who I know. I ran for governor of the state, as you know, in 1998. The present governor was my selection as attorney general. She's now the governor of the state. They can contact me. I'm available.

But yet, it's now Monday, I made this offer last Thursday, and although they went in front of the cameras and admitted their mistake, Soledad, nobody's called me to resolve this matter. I'll wait several weeks, but that's it.

O'BRIEN: What will the resolution involve? What does the fix involve? What part of system do you think needs to be fixed? And also what financially are you looking for? I mean, give me a dollar number.

FIEGER: I can't give you a dollar number. But obviously, we have a 4-year-old little girl who observed her family being slaughtered and she needs to be taken care of the rest of her life. That is not inexpensive. We're looking at seven figures. But I can negotiate that. We also need to review what happened here.

The state of Michigan admits that a certain number of inmates of the department of correction, although the law says they may not be released, do get released because they don't review all their files. We've got to make sure that there's a failsafe mechanism by which this type of tragedy never occurs again. Mr. Franklin should never have been released from prison. They admit it now. He committed a crime while he was on parole that could have been prevented. But apparently, they say anywhere from 7 to 10 percent of all inmates, regardless of the appropriateness of their release, are going to get released because they don't review their files.

O'BRIEN: Gwendolyn, I read a report that you went to police with your daughter the day after her ex-husband was released from prison.

GWENDOLYN ROBINSON, VICTIM'S MOTHER: Yes.

O'BRIEN: And what happened? And what was she claiming?

ROBINSON: Well, the day she called me and told me that she had been harassed by him, and so we went to the police department, and we made a -- we tried to make a report. And when we told them exactly what had happened they refused to even take a report. And she even asked for a POP, a police protection, and they told her that she had to pay some money. And I asked them, well do we have to make a police report? And they said no. And so we left. We left.

O'BRIEN: You left without doing anything.

ROBINSON: No, no. We left without them doing anything.

O'BRIEN: Without them doing anything.

Was your daughter terrified of her ex-husband?

ROBINSON: Yes, she was. Yes, she was. Because I went over there that same night, I packed up, I went home, and I packed up some things, and I stayed over there at her house that night, because I was waiting for him to come back over there to bother her, or my grandchildren again.

FIEGER: What's really incredible, Soledad, is he had raped her that day, the day he's let out of prison.

ROBINSON: Yes, he did.

FIEGER: He raped her. Gwen goes with Masheka to the police department, they refuse to take a police report and tell her to simply get a PPO, a personal protection order. That's incredible. I mean, the number of errors that occurred here that could have prevented the slaughter of an entire family is unbelievable.

O'BRIEN: Harriet, I want to ask you a little bit about the baby, Denasia. She's not quite 4 years old. First of all, are you looking for a number, a financial figure that will allow you to take care of this child? And who in the family will be the one who actually is her caregiver now?

HARRIET ROBINSON, VICTIM'S AUNT: Currently, my sister Gwen is the temporary -- she has temporary custody for Denasia. And the probate court will conduct hearings based on the amount of time that's allotted through the court system. But Oakland County has one of the best probate court systems in the United States.

And as far as a number is concerned, I would let Geoffrey Fieger determine that, because actually you can't put a price tag on human lives, and we're talking three human lives here. The elder girl, Racquel, she had just turned 10 years old. Her life was beginning as about to approach puberty years and all that, and we have missed out on a great deal with those children, the loss of those children, and Masheka, what she could have continued to contribute to society.

But Denasia is -- actually she'll be 4 years old in two days, and she's doing well. She's basically a normal preschooler.

O'BRIEN: Geoffrey, quick final question for you, and we are out of time, so if you can keep it short, I'd be grateful. You say you're willing to wait a couple weeks. What's the deadline? When do you say, OK, we're going to go to a lawsuit?

FIEGER: Two weeks. I think it's reasonable, Soledad. I've extended my hand. I believe we can resolve this. The people in authority know who I am and they know what I've said. Let's do this. Let's say that we're going to not involve ourselves in lawsuits, and do what everybody says should be done, resolve it without that. But if I don't hear from them, I promise you, within two weeks, a lawsuit will be filed.

O'BRIEN: Geoffrey Fieger, and also Gwendolyn Robinson and Harriet Robinson, thank you for your time. Our condolences to you. What a terrible, terrible situation. We are grateful for you joining us.

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