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Nancy Grace
Teen Boy Hazed to Death; Boy Forced to Drink Until He Dies; Luxury Cars Drag Racing in Beverly Hills; Search for Missing Rebecca Henderson Paul. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired September 17, 2015 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HLN HOST: Breaking news tonight, live to Poconos, a teen boy literally hazed to death by fraternity brothers in the brutal "Glass
Ceiling" so-called game. Bombshell tonight. We obtain secret grand jury documents, the horrifying details of Michael`s death. And tonight, the
cover-up.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Deng was speared and tackled on multiple occasions.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Witnesses say at points, Deng started to fight back, and that made other brothers angry. One suspect says they didn`t call for
an ambulance because the cost was too high.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And live, Drury (ph), Wyoming, parents charged in their schoolboy`s alcohol death after teaching him a, quote, "lesson" by forcing him to drink
booze, hard whiskey, until he gets sick and dies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 16-year-old Wyoming teen is dead. And are his parents to blame? After an evening of drinking alcohol, reportedly with
the permission of his mother and stepfather, who hoped the experience would cure him of any desire to drink in the future, his blood alcohol level was
more than seven times the legal limit!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And Beverly Hills, where two guys drag race their ultra-Ferrari -- La Ferrari (ph) -- and Porsche, cars valued at millions of dollars, plowing
through residential roads at speeds topping 100 miles an hour, ignoring the fact multiple little children live in this neighborhood.
But tonight, no punishment, no punishment whatsoever? That`s right, they`re hiding, hiding behind so-called diplomatic immunity from the
country of Qatar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Beverly Hills.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was scared to go home, 80-mile-per-hour zooming car.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Blazing through an intersection.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They come and hit all of us.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All caught on tape.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And Alabama, 26-year-old Rebecca Henderson Paulk (ph) goes missing, her car found abandoned in a ditch. Her parents tonight are devastated.
We go live with the frantic search for Rebecca.
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us tonight.
Bombshell tonight, live to Poconos, a teen boy literally hazed to death by fraternity brothers in the brutal "Glass Ceiling" so-called game. Tonight,
we obtain secret grand jury documents, the horrifying details of Michael`s death. And tonight, the cover-up.
Straight out to Solomon Jones, host on WURD. Solomon, the more I hear about this, the worse it gets. I understand the family had so many hopes
and dreams going with Michael as he goes to Baruch College. So he joins this fraternity that is known for having excellent grades and high
standards, dean`s list student. What happened, Solomon?
SOLOMON JONES, WURD RADIO (via telephone): Yes, these (ph) fraternity members -- it was a group of about 40 young men, traveled from Baruch
College to the Poconos for what they called a retreat. They were members of Pi Delta Psi. As you alluded to, it`s an Asian-American fraternity, a
very well-known fraternity, nationwide fraternity.
And while they were there, they engaged in a hazing ritual for four pledges who were there. And tragedy just followed after that.
GRACE: You know, the thing about it, Pat Lalama with Crime Watch Daily -- Pat, this fraternity was known for getting exemplary grades, honor
students. It was almost like a ticket to connections once you get out of college so you can network and get a really great job.
And this family thought, like so many of us, you know, you get your child the best education they can get, and you are setting them up for a life
better than what you had. You know, that`s every parent`s dream.
So this teen boy goes to college. He goes off to Baruch College. He gets into this fraternity, which is nationwide, and then they go through
something called a "Glass Ceiling" hazing game.
But what did that consistent of, Pat?
PAT LALAMA, CRIME WATCH DAILY: OK, "Glass Ceiling" -- you`re barefoot. You`ve got 30 pounds of sand on your back. And you`re basically getting
pummeled.
All right, you might say that`s not so bad. But this went to the next level. You know why, Nancy? Because he didn`t like it and he resisted.
Let me read to you from the indictment. Kwan (ph) stated, one of the witnesses, that he wasn`t doing what he was supposed to do during the
ritual. He wasn`t cooperating, so quote, "The bros got mad," and then they went after him. They thrashed him. He complained of head injury. They
covered it up!
[20:005:10]There`s a whole litany of things they did before they finally got help and they said (INAUDIBLE)
GRACE: Wait a minute. I want to talk about that. I want to talk about that, the cover-up because, Justin Freiman, isn`t it true that three major
regions of his body had internal damage? What were the damages to his body? What did he endure before he died?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): Nancy, he had head and neck damages, and they said the forces were considered significant and
severe. He had traumatic brain injury when he got to the hospital.
GRACE: You know, joining me right now is Doug Fierberg, the family lawyer for Michael Deng. And this boy goes off to college with such high hopes
from his family. You know, we`ve been looking over what we`ve learned from the medical examiner`s report.
What were his injuries, Doug? What were they exactly? Because when they - - it was happening outside and he was so cold, but according to sources within the party, I guess you call it, the hazing ritual, they bring him
in, and the first thing they do, Doug, they don`t call 911. They strip him. They lay him out flat. They strip off his sweatshirt and his pants
because it`s got the fraternity insignia on it, and they don`t want to be connected to it.
Then they all start Googling. And this is proven by what we learn in the secret grand jury documents. Many of them were standing around as he`s
lying there, dying on the floor. And they could have saved him if they had called 911!
Just imagine sending your child off to school and this happening. They start Googling concussion, adults, concussion, can`t wake up, unconscious,
snoring but not waking up, pupils don`t dilate, and the ambulance price.
Meanwhile, Doug, we learn from the secret grand jury they start a cleanup so when police get there, there will be no connection to Pi Delta Psi.
What do you know?
DOUG FIERBERG, VICTIM`S FAMILY ATTORNEY (via telephone): Well, Nancy, you know, those facts in terms of the cover-up and how they first acted to
cover their tracks before getting him to the hospital when it was so desperately needed is going to haunt the family for the rest of their
lives.
He had massive bruises to his back, which was blunt force trauma, which caused traumatic asphyxia with him. He had hundreds of pounds of force
applied to his head to cause those traumatic impacts to his head, which gave him a traumatic brain injury and then a need for emergency medical
care.
We have seen in a number of cases that we`ve represented for hazing victims who`ve been hurt or killed where one of the first things the brothers do
out of loyalty to themselves, to each other and to protect themselves from prosecution, is they start to clean the scene.
So we`ve had individuals who`ve died in New York, where the first thing the brothers did was undress the pledge, so that when the police arrived or
when the pledge was presented to the hospital, the police would have a difficult time linking hazing and fraternity misconduct to the wrongdoing.
GRACE: Joining me also, Dr. Michelle Dupre, forensic pathologist out of Columbia. Dr. Dupre, they waited and waited and waited. They didn`t want
the cost of calling an ambulance. They didn`t want to be associated with the boy and what had happened to him.
I mean, when you look at his autopsy report, he had, I think, swelling to the brain? What was the ultimate cause of death? And would calling an
ambulance sooner have saved his life?
DR. MICHELLE DUPRE, FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST: Nancy, that`s obviously hard to say without actually seeing the injuries. But reading this report and
talking about these injuries, it definitely, definitely could have saved his life had he gotten medical attention sooner. This is a tragic
incident, absolutely tragic.
GRACE: You know, I`m taking a look at this grand jury indictment, I mean, what we know in the findings in order. Justin Freiman, what can you tell
me about the alleged cover-up? That`s what we`re learning about tonight.
FREIMAN: That`s right, Nancy. Some of the people that police interviewed that were on the scene said they were told to put away things related to
the fraternity. That includes letters and paddles and banners, just get them away before the police come. And one of them even said that when the
police arrive to question them, they got -- the group of people were interrupted as they were trying to put together their story.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Joining me tonight, Carissa Kranz, former prosecutor out of Miami, Misty Marris, defense lawyer, New York, Yale
Galanter, famed attorney for O.J. Simpson joining me out of Miami.
So to you, Yale Galanter. I understand that you oppose all of these people standing around doing nothing being indicted. But this schoolboy goes
away, and all of these people, according to the grand jury, were part of a cover-up, Googling adult -- concussion, adult concussion, not waking up.
[20:10:08]He was making gurgling sounds in his throat and snoring sounds. They strip him down to get rid of the fraternity insignia but don`t call an
ambulance because they don`t want cops to know he`s connected to their fraternity.
So what`s your possible defense, your best defense? I mean, if you can defend O.J. Simpson, what`s your defense here?
YALE GALANTER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, first of all, murders are not group crimes. And as horrible as this crime is, you`ve got to look at
the individual facts against individual defendants because the prosecution is not going to get a conviction against 35 or 40 people.
Certain people are going to be more culpable than other people, and certain people may not have done anything to have contributed to this young man`s
death. So the first thing we`ve got to identify, who are the defendants, what`s the evidence against those defendants, and then mount an appropriate
defense.
But it`s not a group act and it`s not a group crime.
GRACE: OK. To you, Carissa Kranz, weigh in.
CARISSA KRANZ, FORMER PROSECUTOR: I think that the only way to figure out who`s guilty and who`s not is to charge all of them so they start turning
each other in and flipping witnesses, and then we can work out a certain deal with the ones that aren`t as guilty as the others, but...
GRACE: I mean, Misty Marris, how can you defend or say that they`re not part of it when instead of calling an ambulance, they stand there and watch
this kid die...
MISTY MARRIS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Nancy, you have to...
GRACE: ... while they`re trying to cover up fraternity insignias?
MARRIS: You have to look at each individual person. And the prosecution is going to have a heck of a time with this case...
GRACE: I don`t think so.
MARRIS: ... because each individual will have to be -- the crime will have to be proved beyond a reasonable doubt...
GRACE: Right.
MARRIS: ... to each individual. Therefore, I mean, we`re talking about witnesses that are going to be on the stand...
GRACE: Put her up!
MARRIS: ... who are also accused.
GRACE: Please put her up!
MARRIS: There`s an incentive to lie.
GRACE: Misty Marris, have you ever defended multiple defendants?
MARRIS: Of course I have.
GRACE: Have you ever been (ph) in a case where there were co-defendants at trial?
MARRIS: Of course I have. And I`ll tell you what...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: So what`s the problem?
MARRIS: They point at each other...
GRACE: Right.
MARRIS: ... and it creates reasonable doubt...
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Oh, no. No, no, no, you`re right. They point at each other. But then the jury hears them testify about what happened, and they all are
stewed in the same pot, Misty Marris.
MARRIS: Not all the time, Nancy.
GRACE: I don`t think it helps them at all.
MARRIS: No way. No way. Sometimes, they choose to believe one over the other, or they don`t believe the stories at all and it results in
acquittals. That`s what happens.
GRACE: OK. You know what? You`re living in a dream world. But that`s OK. I`ll let you try that on your next jury. Because Yale Galanter, you
know it as well as I do, you put 37 co-defendants in there, they`re all going to try to blame each other, and that`s the only way the full truth is
going to come out.
I mean, people, didn`t you read these findings in order from the judge? Didn`t you read what all they said happened to this boy?
I mean, Doug Fierberg, you hear the defense attorneys already tuning up, second verse same as the first. You can`t prove it. You know what? I
think the state can prove it for one reason. There were so many witnesses, Doug.
FIERBERG: Yes, well, let`s start off that, you know, some of that is -- I mean, it`s just patently wrong. They`re in different pots already. The
prosecutors haven`t just cast the same net for all 37 individuals.
So some of the individuals are charged with criminal homicide and involuntary manslaughter, which is based on reckless or negligent
misconduct. Some are charged with aggravated assault, some simple assault, and some flat out just with the hindering apprehension or criminal
conspiracy.
So it`s not stirring them all in the same pot. They`re in different pots. And I am fairly confident that, yes, they will turn on each other, and yes,
the prosecutors are going to get different convictions against different individuals because they are guilty.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:18:05]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A brutal death.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was standing blindfolded with a weighted backpack on. His arms were crossed in front of his chest, and fraternity members
would take turns tackling him.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Detectives say the Pi Delta Psi national president even encouraged the hiding of fraternity letters, paddles and banners.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: After they finally transport Michael to the hospital, hospital doctors determine he had sustained severe brain trauma during the hazing
ritual and was subjected to repeat blunt force trauma to his head, torso and thighs, bruises throughout his body, said he had traumatic asphyxia
likely from hits or tackles magnified by his backpack`s heavy load -- traumatic asphyxia.
Dr. Michelle Dupre, what is traumatic asphyxia?
DUPRE: Nancy, that`s due to an increased intrathoracic pressure. We often see it in injuries like this, and it`s basically from a build-up from that
pressure then the body can`t breathe.
GRACE: You know, it`s interesting, Doug Fierberg, representing the family -- he collapsed outside the home where the pledge weekend was taking place.
And the brothers take him in, strip him down, they put sugar on his lips and try to force feed him chocolate to bring him around. I`m afraid that
trick only works in Harry Potter fighting Dementors, not fighting traumatic asphyxia and brain trauma.
I mean, how did it go so wrong, Doug Fierberg? What started out as joining a fraternity to advance yourself when you get out of college to a hazing
ritual called the "Glass Ceiling," where he was beaten so badly, he`s dead. And they stood around and watched him die and didn`t call an ambulance,
took time to Google what could be wrong with him.
[20:20:07]What went so wrong, Doug?
FIERBERG: Well, you know, with fraternity hazing, which is an often unsupervised set of rituals that are passed down from year to year, things
go wrong. They`ve gone wrong no less than once every year since 1970. So there`s been someone who`s died in fraternity hazing.
You know, fraternities were the sixth worst insurance risk in the `80s, just behind asbestos contractors. So you have to have a lot of injury and
death in connection with these processes.
And make no mistake, that delay, the coroner concluded that it contributed to his death significantly. That one to two-hour delay continued his
physiological stressors and primary neurogenic shock, as well as secondary shock.
That killed him. He would have survived had they called, had they paid for the ambulance and had they acted reasonably. And they were in the
context...
GRACE: You know, I want to go...
FIERBERG: ... of the criminals laws that they`re cited with, it`s negligent or reckless misconduct that causes death.
GRACE: You may call it negligent or reckless...
FIERBERG: And they`re certainly guilty of that.
GRACE: ... but when you get a 15-foot lead and run towards somebody and tackle them and they end up with traumatic brain injury, where your brain
swells to a point that your skull can no longer contain it and then you die, I don`t think that`s really negligent. I think that`s homicide.
To Dr. Bethany Marshall, psychoanalyst, author of "Dealbreakers." Bethany, how do you tell someone`s parents that you watched their son lie on the
floor and die after you strip off their fraternity jersey and you don`t call an ambulance because it would cost too much, so he dies?
BETHANY MARSHALL, PYSCHOANALYST: Well, exactly, Nancy. It`s the same as saying, I killed your son.
You know, the fact is, Nancy, I think this victim was picked long before this hazing incident. It sounds like he had more of a personality. He
stood up to the group. He was not so conforming, but he wanted to be a part of the group.
A 15-foot lead means you want to inflict harm. So let`s not call it a hazing. Let`s call it a brutal attack.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:26:09]UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say Deng was forced to wear a heavy backpack while he was beaten unconscious, and then didn`t get help for more
than two hours.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He was singled out, and he was treated harsher than the other pledges.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: This young schoolboy goes to college to better himself. He ends up dead as a part of a ritualistic hazing game called the "Glass Ceiling."
After 10 minutes bringing him in, he`s unconscious, he starts, quote, "sucking air and making snoring sounds.`
Even so, they did nothing. His pupils dilated. They did nothing. His body was cold. They took his clothes off so no fraternity insignia would
be seen, and refused to call an ambulance because they thought it cost too much.
To Larry Fishelson, technology expert, co-founder of Dynalink Communications -- Larry, thanks for being with us. What`s very disturbing
right now is the allegations that there were no cover-ups intended. That`s simply not true, borne out by the cell phones and e-mails, where they`re
frantically contacting their national president, where they`re frantically texting and e-mailing each other about cleaning up the house before police
got there.
LARRY FISHELSON, TECHNOLOGY EXPERT (via telephone): Yes, Nancy, I mean, that`s obviously the easiest way to find things in cases, through texting.
Everybody texts back and forth. They don`t realize what`s going on at the time and that it could come back to them.
And even if these texts are deleted, through subpoena, you can get it from the carrier all stored on the server. So a lot of times, the smoking gun
is in the texts.
GRACE: In fact, it goes deeper than that. Pat Lalama, it says -- according to the grand jury, this is not me, this is not you, this is the
secret grand jury that heard all the facts in evidence -- the fraternity Pi Delta Psi protocol is to protect the fraternity, put away fraternity
letters, paddles, banners and so forth, that no one called for an ambulance because somebody looked it up and the cost was too high.
LALAMA: Nancy, to me, this is where I cannot get my head around this. When I covered the Reginald Denny beating trial, remember the defense
attorney using the mob mentality? Oh, my guy didn`t really mean to hurt Reginald Denny. He just got caught up in the swarm of mob mentality.
I kind of see that here, where their protocol was to protect the brotherhood above all things, and not one person said, Wait a minute,
dudes, this isn`t right. We got to call for help.
The brotherhood, the mob -- they were acting to me like a mob. And they lost their minds in the process. I`m not a lawyer, but it`s the only
analogy I can make was thinking about that mob mentality defense.
GRACE: You know, Doug Fierberg, the doctors -- and I`m quoting from the grand jury -- says "doctors found constellations of bruises spread across
his head, his cheeks, his back, his thighs."
When I think of sending my children to college and this happens -- constellations of bruises across his back, his head, cheeks, thighs?
FIERBERG: Yes, Nancy, I think it`s a serious issue with respect to joining fraternities in this country. This is a terrible circumstance. There is
absolutely no doubt about that.
Parents need to be -- have their eyes wide open with respect to pledging fraternities. I`m not saying they`re all bad, I`m saying there`s a lot of
injury and death in connection with joining fraternities. And it`s something parents need to know about when they send their kids off to
college.
[20:30:00]
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Live, Urie, Wyoming, parents charged in their schoolboy`s alcohol death after teaching him a lesson by making the boy
drink booze, hard whiskey, until he gets sick and dies.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Did a mother and stepfather cause the death of their 16-year-old son? According to his parents Kendall had expressed a
desire to drink, and so they decided to let him do so in their presence so that he`d learn a lesson. But he died a few hours after becoming
intoxicated. And an autopsy revealed that his blood alcohol level at the time of his death was .587.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: .587, that is alcohol poisoning. The legal limit is .08 and he`s .587? That`s this far from being a .6 as opposed to a .08.
To Chris Spargo, reporter with dailymail.com, what happened?
CHRIS SPARGO, REPORTER, DAILYMAIL.COM: So these parents claim this 16- year-old boy, 16, had wanted to drink for years and they wanted to teach him a lesson. And that lesson wasn`t until he should wait until he was 21
--
[20:35:02] GRACE: Hold on, Chris. Let me understand something you just said. That he expressed a desire he wanted to try alcohol? That`s what he
did wrong?
SPARGO: That`s what they are claiming.
GRACE: He didn`t come home drunk from a high school party or after a football game? No, he actually said I want to try alcohol?
SPARGO: Exactly.
GRACE: He expressed a desire to try alcohol. I just want to make sure I understand that. All right. Then what happened?
SPARGO: So then they didn`t tell him you need to wait until you`re 21. They didn`t teach him about responsible drinking. Instead these parents
decided to set their teenage son down with them and do shots. And not just that, hoping that he would get drunk and hoping that he would get sick,
thinking that was going to deter him from drinking in the future.
GRACE: Michael Christian, on the story, what were they giving him?
MICHAEL CHRISTIAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Nancy, apparently he was drinking Jack Daniels whiskey and something called Fireball, which is a cinnamon
flavored whiskey.
GRACE: Jack Daniels and Fireball. All right.
All right, Chris Spargo, so how much did they give him for Pete`s sake?
SPARGO: Well, the mother claims she gave him a few ounces. Of course when police arrived on the scene --
GRACE: OK, well that`s not true.
SPARGO: Exactly.
GRACE: That`s just not true.
SPARGO: Police arrived on the scene and found basically an empty bottle of alcohol. Now if you break this down, .587, he would have had to have over
15, probably 20 shots in the course of two hours to get this drunk.
GRACE: It`s just hard for me to take in. Let me go to Brad Lamm. OK. You`re the specialist. All right. I`m just a trial lawyer. Brad Lamm,
joining me, addiction specialist, founder of Breathe Life Healing Centers. And --
BRAD LAMM, FOUNDER, BREATHE LIFE HEALING CENTERS: Hi, Nancy.
GRACE: And, I`m sure you don`t mind me saying this, former addict, all right?
LAMM: Yes.
GRACE: So --
LAMM: It appears these parents get confused on this a lot, Nancy. They think that giving kids alcohol at home makes it safer, but actually the
opposite is true. It increases the chance that they`ll have problem with drugs and alcohol later in life. And so for the 23 million kids, 12 or
older, struggling with that -- this problem, parents are actually making it worse.
GRACE: You know, I`m trying to understand this, Brad Lamm, how when you teach your child about alcohol, you do it by feeding them Jack Daniels?
And what was the other one that had a picture of the devil on the front? What was that?
LAMM: Yes. It`s --
GRACE: What was it -- Fireball. Thank you, Liz. Fireball. Yes. It`s my understanding that`s Satan on the front as far as I can tell. So they gave
that to their kid?
LAMM: It`s totally backwards. But their thinking is if they`re safe under our roof they`ll experience it for the first time here. And we can keep an
eye on it. But it`s actually the opposite is true statistics tell us, Nancy.
GRACE: So, Michael Christian, pick me up where Chris Spargo, dailymail.com, ended. So they sit down and they feed him. And they feed
him the booze. And they feed him the booze. And they feed him the booze. So then what happens, Michael?
CHRISTIAN: Nancy, they started about 8:30 in the evening. He drank for two hours, until 10:30. And --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Oh, dear lord.
CHRISTIAN: Well, apparently by that time he was literally falling all over like -- sort of stumbling like a drunk. They checked on him. His mother
checked on him at 11:00 and he gave her a thumbs up from bed, meaning he was OK. But when his stepfather went to see him at 3:45 a.m. he was
completely unresponsive and declared dead soon afterwards.
GRACE: Had he thrown up, Michael?
CHRISTIAN: He had. His lips and eyelids were dark blue. There were large amounts of dark thick fluid pooled on the floor from his mouth. And
according to police there were multiple places that looked like vomit on the bedroom floor.
GRACE: I`m looking at this kid. You said his eyelids and his lips were dark blue.
CHRISTIAN: Yes.
GRACE: There was vomit everywhere.
Dr. Michelle DuPre, forensic pathologist, what happens? The alcohol to that degree right at a .6, what does it act like poison in your system?
DUPRE: Yes, Nancy, it is. That`s basically -- I mean, it`s obviously very significant. It`s seven times the legal limit as you mentioned. And
alcohol is a CNS depressant. So that dramatically depresses your central nervous system. Once a person vomits --
GRACE: Why would his -- why would his eyelids and lips turn dark blue, Dr. DuPre?
DUPRE: That`s because he choked to death on his own vomit and he could not breathe.
GRACE: I didn`t understand that that was his cause of death. So he didn`t actually die of poisoning from having so much alcohol saturating his body.
He poisoned from -- he died from choking on vomit and asphyxiating?
DUPRE: Well, without seeing the autopsy report he died from complications of alcohol poisoning. And one of those complications is that you throw up,
you vomit. And typically you choke or suffocate on your own vomit.
GRACE: Hey, put that graphic up again, Liz, if you don`t mind. Because there are symptoms of alcohol poisoning I never noticed this. Blue, tinged
or pale skin, low body temperature, seizures. I didn`t know that you get that from alcohol poisoning.
[20:40:16] So, Michael Christian, tell me what happened then. So the father, the stepfather goes in there around 3:00 a.m. and notices his
eyelids are dark blue, his lips are dark blue. There`s -- was there any blood in the vomit? What exactly occurred?
CHRISTIAN: We have not heard about blood in the vomit. It could theoretically have been there. We don`t know that for a fact. Immediately
the stepfather knew that something was wrong. He did immediately call for an ambulance. But by the time authorities got there he was declared dead
at the scene.
GRACE: Well, I`ll tell you what`s wrong. What`s wrong is feeding a kid, a boy, this much hard alcohol. Look at this boy. He had never even come
home with alcohol on his breath from what we can tell.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:45:11] GRACE: Live. Beverly Hills. Two guys drag race their ultra Ferrari, La Ferrari, and Porsche, cars valued at millions of dollars.
Plowing through residential roads at speeds topping 100 miles an hour, ignoring the fact multiple little children live in that neighborhood. But
tonight no punishment whatsoever. That`s right. No punishment. They`re hiding behind so-called diplomatic immunity from the country of Qatar.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Yellow Ferrari and the white Porsche seen blazing through an intersection, narrowly missing other vehicles and bystanders.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Scared to go home. Like any second 80-mile-per-hour zooming car could come and hit all of us.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: OK. First of all, to you, Pat Lalama, with Crime Watch Daily, who said, "F America"? Who said that?
LALAMA: Well, the guy, when there was a cameraman who approached him and took the video, he threw a cigarette at them allegedly and said, "F
America."
Nancy, welcome to my nightmare. I don`t live in a mansion. I don`t drive --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Hold on, I want to hear -- I want to hear it, Pat. Listen to this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pushing me, shoving me, he hit my camera. It was all caught on tape. I told him that in America we have the free press and we
are allowed to film from the sidewalk. And he said, "F America" and threw a cigarette at me. He indicated that he could kill me.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: "He could kill me," and get away with it because he has diplomatic -- look at that. Did you see that? It will be a cold day in H-E-double L
somebody drives through our neighborhood with our children there, like this, and they are not even behind bars, Pat Lalama? Can somebody tell me
what`s happening, Pat Lalama?
LALAMA: Well, according to this diplomatic immunity which happened like many decades ago, it was to protect the guests from being harassed by the
host country. How about the other way around? This -- I live about six blocks away from this. It is constant. It is such a problem in our
neighborhood.
GRACE: Look at the car is smoking.
LALAMA: Yes.
GRACE: The car is smoking. So who are these people?
LALAMA: This is my world.
GRACE: Don`t they have license tags -- look at that -- from Qatar or some people say Qatar? I mean --
(CROSSTALK)
LALAMA: Well, Nancy.
GRACE: What?
LALAMA: I`m going to -- I`m going to guess that they`re probably the children of the diplomats. I am telling you, come to my neighborhood. I
will show you this is a constant epidemic and nobody does anything.
GRACE: OK, want to talk about these guys, these guys. They`re living in - - how much did this place cost where they live, Stacey? Their home?
STACEY NEWMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well, Nancy, this is I think about a $10 million home. It`s 8,000 square feet, has five bedrooms. I mean, this
is a very posh environment. And not to mention all those luxury cars in their driveways, we`re talking cars worth up to $4 million. Very
exclusive, like Bugattis, Porsches, this luxury Ferrari, it`s out of control.
GRACE: OK. Stacey, you need to wipe those words out of your mind. All right? You don`t need to know about any Ferraris or Bugattis, or La
Ferraris because this is what kind of trouble they get you into.
OK, Stacey Newman? And another thing, Stacey, didn`t they have tag plates from Qatar?
NEWMAN: Yes, because they claim that they`re diplomats and have diplomatic immunity. But here`s the thing, the police department is taking this very
seriously now because this video`s gone viral. And they said they`re in touch with the State Department to find out do these people really even
have diplomatic immunity.
GRACE: They`re taking it seriously now that we got the video and we`re putting it on our show? Is that -- are these people behind bars, Pat
Lalama? Have they been arrested?
LALAMA: No, they are not. The investigation is ongoing. And I think they do have to establish that maybe these aren`t fraudulent plates or being,
you know, exploited and don`t belong to them. They`d have to find that out first and then we can figure out what to do about potential criminal
charges.
GRACE: With me right now international law attorney joining us out of Long Island, Michael Griffith. He`s practiced law all around the world and
specializes in felonies that take place in other countries.
Michael Griffith, help me out. Why are these people being protected under diplomatic immunity?
MICHAEL GRIFFITH, INTERNATIONAL LAW ATTORNEY: Nancy, nice to speak with you again. Well --
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: I wish I was in a better mood, Michael Griffith.
GRIFFITH: There`s two types of immunity -- diplomatic immunity. For an ambassador, for example, if he commits murder or stuff like that, he can
get off unless his country waives it. If it`s what lower kind of officials it`s called functional immunity, which means that if he`s doing something
within the course of his job --
[20:50:09] GRACE: His job? Nobody even said he had a job. This guy said, "F America."
GRIFFITH: Well, hold on. Hold on. He can`t be prosecuted. Now we have to find out if he has diplomatic immunity. And if he does, if he does,
there`s a couple of problems here. The first problem is, since this is unobserved by a police officer, OK, reckless driving can usually not be
prosecuted. But he can get -- he can get a traffic violation. But the problem is, he doesn`t have to pay the traffic violation, but what
California can do is they can suspend his driving privileges as a proper course.
GRACE: OK. You know what? I think what you just said is they can`t do anything but suspend his driving privileges. You know what? I don`t think
that`s going to stop this guy yelling, "F America."
"CNN HEROES."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I really grew up in a lot of different places. When you have a lot of things that are unstable, it kind of gets you in a really
bad situation where I really felt alone and it turned into me doing the wrong things.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: As a former school social worker, I witnessed how challenging it was to engage African-American male and Latino male students
in talk therapy. I knew that if I wanted to really engage this group, that I would have to do something different.
You`re going to have three statements, two that are true about yourself and one that`s a lie.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Pete`s Rounds and Lives is one of the country`s first hip-hop therapy programs where young people turn their pain into music.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Write my feelings down because I`m too shy to speak, but I`m loud on the beat, that`s what makes me unique.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Our program creates opportunities for youth to reflect and tell their story.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I can make a difference and I`m always looking forward to that any day.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It`s important for young people to create something that they can be proud of. And this studio makes that possible.
A lot of people come from the hip-hop, but they stay for the healing.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I was skeptical at first. It doesn`t feel like it`s a therapy session.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I gave you my life. Because it`s all I got.
When I`m rapping, I just let it all go.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hip-hop is everywhere so are the mental health disparities impacting young men of color. What people need to realize is
that when our young people have a voice, they can learn to help and heal themselves.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:56:47] GRACE: Live, Alabama, 26-year-old Rebecca Henderson Paul goes missing. Her car found abandoned in a ditch. Her parents devastated.
Tonight the frantic search for Rebecca.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Number one, we want her alive. Of course, I don`t want to bury my daughter.
UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: Many of Rebecca`s belongings were left inside the vehicle.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`re searching for you.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: The tip line, 855-485-8477. There`s a $5,000 reward. The whole scenario doesn`t make sense, Justin Freiman.
FREIMAN: That`s right, Nancy. And the scariest part of all is that her car was actually found in a small ditch. Its front wheels were actually
stuck in the ditch. But she was nowhere to be found. It was a secluded area where this car was. And inside they found her purse, her laptop and
her iPad.
GRACE: OK. You know, Yale Galanter, she`s not going to leave behind her purse, she`s not going to leave behind her cell phone.
GALANTER: No, I agree. And you know it doesn`t sound good.
GRACE: No.
GALANTER: And hopefully this young lady will be found alive and hopefully the authorities and the people who are searching for her will find her.
GRACE: Justin Freiman --
GALANTER: And you`re right, Nancy. I mean, I agree with you.
GRACE: Where was she last seen?
FREIMAN: Nancy, she was actually last spotted on video at a Shell service station in Mississippi. But after that, gone. Until they found her car
the next day in a ditch.
GRACE: You know what`s interesting about that, Carissa Krantz? It`s about six miles from the gas station to where the car found. Entirely possible
somebody followed her.
KRANTZ: Yes. That`s very possible that somebody followed her and they should look into that missing evidence or fingerprints or any kind of
evidence.
(CROSSTALK)
GRACE: Or, Misty Marris -- you`re right, Carissa. Or, Misty Marris, the video surveillance from the gas station could show who pulled out right
behind her.
MARRIS: Absolutely. And hopefully they can recoup that surveillance video We need to get some clues and we can find this girl, it`s a tragedy.
GRACE: 855-485-8477. Let`s remember American hero Army Sergeant Robert Ehney, 26, Lexington, Kentucky. Second tour, Purple Heart, loved
motorcycles, God, computers, parents Harry and Marybeth, sister Casey, son William, fiancee Amanda.
Robert Ehney, American hero.
Congratulations, Betty Cantrell, Miss America. Studied at my alma mater, Mercer University in Macon, Georgia, an opera singer, straight A student
and she knows how to drive a tractor. 20 miles from my hometown of Macon from Warner Robins.
Take a listen to this from Miss America Organization and ABC.
Good gravy. Congratulations, Miss America.
Thanks to our guests, but especially to you for being with us, letting us into your home. I`m Nancy Grace signing off. See you tomorrow, 8:00 sharp
Eastern, until then, good night, friend.
END
