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Nancy Grace
Judge Throws Sobbing Victim in Jail; Judge Orders Electric Shock in Court; Charlie Sheen Confirms He is HIV Positive. Aired 8-9p ET
Aired April 04, 2016 - 20:00 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
NANCY GRACE, HOST: Breaking news tonight, outrage. A female judge berates, attacks a sobbing mother, a mother who was beaten and held at
knifepoint. Then the judge throws the victim behind bars. That`s right, you heard me. The judge throws the sobbing victim behind bars.
Judge Jerri Collins, you`ve got to be thrown off the bench, lady. Can you hear me, Jeb Bush? You put her on the bench. Now you can get her off
because tonight, she`s getting nothing!
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
JERRI COLLINS, FLORIDA JUDGE: Why didn`t you show up to court?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just -- my anxiety and I`m just...
COLLINS: You think you have anxiety now? You haven`t even seen anxiety. I sentence you to three days in the county jail.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: A trial judge gets irritated on the bench and orders a man electric shocked in court until the man falls on the floor screaming in pain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
ROBERT C. NALLEY, JUDGE: Mr. Sheriff, do it! Use it!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: With the push of a remote, a sheriff`s deputy sends 50,000 volts through a stun cuff on the defendant`s ankle, sending him to
the ground.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Movie, TV superstar of "Two-and-a-Half Men," "Platoon," "Wall Street," Charlie Sheen confirms he`s HIV- positive, paying millions in
blackmail money to keep his HIV secret, but reportedly continues to sleep with dozens afterwards. But in the last hours, Charlie Sheen`s fiancee
goes to police begging -- begging -- for protection, swearing Sheen says, I will f-ing kill you.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charlie Sheen is accused of wanting to order hits on people and even threatening to kill his ex, Bret Rossi (ph).
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was scared of him. Charlie was so abusive to me and used intimidation tactics to make me fear for my life.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A million-dollar lawsuit filed by Sheen`s ex accused the TV star of assault, battery and even having sex with her multiple times
before disclosing he was HIV-positive.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: That news from Foxnews.com.
Tonight, a man is dead, his 9-year-old daughter fighting for her life after a dip in the family pool turns deadly, the back yard pool electrocuting
them.
Good evening. I`m Nancy Grace. I want to thank you for being with us.
Bombshell tonight, outrage. A female judge berates and attacks a sobbing mother. The mother was beaten and held at knifepoint. Then the judge
throws the victim behind bars. That`s right, this judge throws the victim in jail.
Judge Jerri Collins, you`ve got to be thrown off the bench, lady. Can you hear me, Jeb Bush? You put her on the bench and now you can get her off
because tonight, after throwing a victim in jail, this judge is getting nothing at all. Listen to what happened.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: We had a jury, six people there ready to try Mr. (DELETED) who has a prior criminal history of domestic violence. You were required to be
here by a court order. You disobeyed a court order, knowing that this was not going to turn out well for the state, knowing -- is it true, what you
told the police? Is it true? Those statements you told to the police on the date of this incident, was it true? The incident that happened on
April 2nd, was it true?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.
COLLINS: ... order did not do anything for you. I hereby find you in contempt of court. I sentence you to three days in the county jail. Turn
around!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh! Oh! Judge, I`ll do anything! Please, please...
COLLINS: You should have showed up. You should have showed up.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I have a 1-year-old son! And I`m trying to take care of him by myself! I`m begging you, please don`t put me in jail! Please,
please!
COLLINS: You`re in violation of my order. Court`s in recess.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:05:04]COLLINS: Then why wouldn`t you come to testify?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They told me originally -- I went to the domestic abuse class. I asked them to drop everything. I just...
COLLINS: Why?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m trying to move on with my life because it`s not - - it`s not just -- it`s not just domestic. This has been -- this has been for years! And I -- I`m just -- I tried to move on a couple months ago,
and it`s -- it`s just like -- I don`t know.
I`ve moved out. I tried to move on with my life. And then when I had -- I had filed for child support last June, and it took them an entire year to
find him. I don`t understand why. And May 1st, I was supposed to be getting my child support so I can go get an apartment and go get a job and
everything. And when he lost -- when he was in -- when he went to jail for two weeks, he lost his job. He lost everything.
And I`m -- I`m -- I`m, like, homeless now. I`m living at my parents` house. Everything has been shut off. I had to sell everything I own!
Like, I`m just -- I`m just not in -- not in a good place (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And she takes the victim, crying and sobbing -- she`s physically falling over in the courtroom because she`s got to leave her baby because
this woman throws her in jail. She`s the crime victim!
Joining me right now, Ray Caputo with WDBO. Is it true, after this judge, Jerri Collins, sends the victim to jail, making her leave her baby and go
to jail, nothing`s happening? She is not thrown off the bench. There is not a recall. There is nothing!
Is that what we`re dealing with tonight, Ray?
RAY CAPUTO, WDBO (via telephone): Well, Nancy, that is exactly what we`re dealing with. It`s completely outrageous. We`ve seen the video. It`s
heart-wrenching, as this woman pleads to not be thrown in jail, what Judge Collins does. And all she`s getting is essentially a reprimand, where -- I
think the worst part of it is she`s going to get embarrassed on -- you know, they do simulcast it around the state, I believe, a lot of times when
they do this. So she`s going to get embarrassed a little bit.
GRACE: Embarrassed.
CAPUTO: But nothing more.
GRACE: Embarrassed. Excuse me, Ray Caputo, isn`t it true that she`s bringing in a big, fat salary, and the taxpayers -- that`s you and me --
are paying her to carry on like this on the bench? I`m paying her. The taxpayers are paying her, and she threw a crime victim behind bars. The
victim was snotting and crying and begging. She showed no mercy whatsoever because she was just inconvenienced? And nothing`s happening. That`s my
point, Caputo.
CAPUTO: That`s correct. She makes quite a lot of money, moreso than me. And that`s exactly what`s happening...
GRACE: Wait! What? Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa! What kind of money are we talking about? How much do think this judge pulls down?
CAPUTO: I believe I saw a figure between 120 and 130K.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers. Joining me right now is Robin Ficker, Maryland, defense attorney, Carissa Kranz, multi-state lawyer. And also
joining me is a very special guest tonight. You remember him as the judge who presided over the tot mom, Casey Anthony, trial. It is Judge Belvin
Perry joining us.
And Judge, no offense, but why is this woman still on the bench? Wait a minute. Did Bush appoint you too, Perry, Judge Perry.
BELVIN PERRY, FMR. JUDGE IN CASEY ANTHONY TRIAL: I was elected. I was not appointed.
GRACE: OK. Thank you, Lord. OK, see, this is what I don`t like about this, political appointees. Now they`re not going to do anything. Judge
Perry, did you hear that? Did you see on your monitor what she did to that victim?
PERRY: What she did was horrible. It was the worst case I`ve seen...
GRACE: I`m surprised...
PERRY: ... a judge...
GRACE: ... you say that because I thought you were going to cover for her.
PERRY: How can you cover for that, Nancy? A picture is worth a thousand words.
GRACE: Well, you know...
PERRY: Even Ray Charles could see she was abused.
GRACE: Another thing, Judge. I`ve had victims, female victims of horrific domestic abuse, not come to court. I`ve had to go out to their place
myself and knock, knock, knock, knock, knock on their door, ask them why they didn`t come to court.
But it would be a cold day in H-E-L-L that I would send a woman who has already been beaten to a bloody pulp, had a knife to her throat -- that I
would send her to jail because she`s afraid to testify against the perp.
Ficker, what are you smiling about?
[20:10:00]ROBIN FICKER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I`m not sure it`s clear that she was actually injured. There was a flashing of a knife. Her eyes were
pressed. I haven`t read any medical reports about injury. Where was the prosecutor? The prosecutor had a lot of discretion in this case. He
didn`t have to proceed in this case. There were lots of things that the prosecutor should have done. You should point your finger at him, Nancy
Grace.
GRACE: You know what? I`ve got five on this hand and five on that hand. I can use them all.
OK, hold just a moment. I want to clear that up. Rita Cosby, investigation journalist, WABC host -- Rita, of course, Ficker has found
what he thinks is a loophole, that there was no injury. That`s absolutely not true. Did you hear Ficker euphemistically refer to it, there was a
flash of a knife. A flash of a knife. She had a knife to her neck, Rita!
RITA COSBY, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: She had a knife to her neck, and also, Nancy, she also says she was choked. And in the end, by the way, the court
also agreed with that. He was sentenced to 16 days. He would have gotten more had she testified, but they did go after him and find evidence against
this guy.
GRACE: OK, let`s go back in the courtroom. Kranz, I`ll be right back with you. Listen to this judge, and nothing has happened. She throws the
victim in court. And hey, she`s still pulling down about 150K. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
COLLINS: So now you need to tell the court why I should not hold you in contempt of court. I can sentence you to jail. So tell me why.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Your honor, I`m very sorry for not attending (INAUDIBLE) I`ve just -- I`ve been dealing with depression and just a lot
personally since -- since this happened. And I just -- my anxiety is, like -- I mean, this is every day for me. It`s, like, we were trying to
separate, and it`s like -- it`s just things were -- I don`t know -- I just...
COLLINS: Why didn`t you show up to court?
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just -- my anxiety and I`m just...
COLLINS: You think you`re going to have anxiety now? You haven`t even seen anxiety.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I know.
COLLINS: (INAUDIBLE) order did not do anything for you. I hereby find you in contempt of court. I sentence you to three days in the county jail.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh! Oh!
COLLINS: Turn around!
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
[20:16:34]GRACE: A trial judge gets irritated on the bench and orders a man electric shocked right there in the courtroom. The man falls on the
floor, screaming in pain.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A defendant representing himself in court was ordered shocked by a judge, and it was all caught on tape.
DELVON KING, DEFENDANT: (INAUDIBLE)
ROBERT C. NALLEY, JUDGE: Stop. Stop!
KING: (INAUDIBLE)
NALLEY: Mr. Sheriff, do it. Use it!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: OK, that really happened here in America. That happened. And it`s caught on the courtroom video. This is a guy who was standing in front of
the judge, representing himself in a matter. He therefore is talking to the judge. He is explaining what he believes is his case. And the judge
gets irritated and orders him electric shocked.
What -- what is this, Communist Russia? Let`s see the whole thing from the beginning.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
NALLEY: Stop. Stop.
KING: (INAUDIBLE)
NALLEY: Mr. Sheriff, do it. Use it!
KING: Ahhh! Ahhh!
NALLEY: All right, I`m going to take five, and I`ll be right back.
KING: Oh! Oh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
NALLEY: Don`t (INAUDIBLE) when he calms down, and I`ll be back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
KING: Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
KING: Oh! Oh! Oh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re just going to rest right here (INAUDIBLE) Judge said that give him five minutes, and he`ll come right back.
KING: Oh! Oh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
KING: Oh! Oh! (INAUDIBLE)
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: So the judge can`t stand to hear the guy crying and screaming in pain, so he leaves the bench. And could you go back in the courtroom for a
moment, please, because look at everybody just standing around. They`re all just standing there with the guy lying on the floor, screaming and
crying, and nobody tries to help him. They all stand there and watch the guy.
And I want to make sure I understand this. Rudy Takala, investigative reporter with "The Washington Examiner" -- Rudy, let me understand this.
This guy has not been convicted. He`s been charged with something, and he`s representing himself. He`s pro se. And he was just telling the judge
-- he was beginning to tell the judge about his case, and the judge got irritated, and instead of delaying the case or him go take and have a
coffee break, get off the bench, come back, he orders the guy electric shocked?
[20:20:06]Did I miss something, Rudy?
RUDY TAKALA, "WASHINGTON EXAMINER" (via telephone): Well, I think you brought up a great point about the fact that he hadn`t even been convicted
yet. You know, considering he`s there representing himself, you think he`s doing a pretty good job just trying to figure out the process. And then
you have this guy just brutalize him like that.
You know, you have good officials in the justice system trying to do their jobs, but then you have people like this scumbag who really don`t give
people a lot of faith in it.
GRACE: I`m just overwhelmed, Rudy -- Rudy joining me from "Washington Examiner" -- because if I had walked up to somebody and electric shocked
them that way, I`d be in jail right now on an aggravated assault charge, and so would you.
But because he is a judge -- I mean, look at this guy. He comes to court, poor guy -- and I`m not saying he`s innocent of whatever he is accused of,
but look at him. He gets all dressed up, he gets on his little suit pants and his belt and he`s got his shirt on all buttoned up, got his hair pulled
up. He`s got all of his papers out, where he`s trying to present a case. And the judge orders him electric shocked.
For those of you that are just joining us, you have to see this. Listen.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
KING: (INAUDIBLE)
NALLEY: Stop. Stop.
KING: (INAUDIBLE)
NALLEY: Mr. Sheriff, do it. Use it!
KING: Ahhh! Ahhh!
NALLEY: All right, I`m going to take five, and I`ll be right back.
KING: Oh! Oh!
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)
NALLEY: Don`t (INAUDIBLE) when he calms down, and I`ll be back.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yes, sir.
KING: Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
[20:26:00]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Judge Robert Nalley asks the defendant questions which seem to be ignored.
KING: (INAUDIBLE)
NALLEY: Stop. Stop.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s when the judge tells the deputy sheriff to shock the defendant, saying...
NALLEY: Mr. Sheriff, do it. Use it!
KING: Ahhh!
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: This judge had not been threatened. He had not been cursed at. He had not been yelled at. And instead, he chooses to electric shock a guy
standing in front of him delivering his case?
Unleash the lawyers. Joining me, Carissa Kranz, multi-state attorney, Robin Ficker, defense attorney out of Maryland, and special guest Judge
Belvin Perry. You will recall that he presided over the tot mom, Casey Anthony, case.
All right, to you, Ficker. You`re defending the judge. What`s your defense?
FICKER: Nancy, don`t get on your high horse over a judge that`s a little too sanctimonious. Every day, there are hundreds of thousands of Americans
that are shocked with tasers, with the equivalent amount of juice. Why don`t you talk about all those cases that our citizens are suffering?
GRACE: Put him up, please! Because, Robin Ficker, they`re usually tasered to stop them from committing a crime or attacking the police or attacking a
third party. You don`t taser somebody standing in court, trying to deliver their case.
And Belvin Perry -- excuse me, Judge, but has the bench just gone haywire?
PERRY: It sounds like a case of judge gone wild in this particular case. But Nancy, each and every day, in some courthouse, you have lawyers going
back and forth between each other and with judges...
GRACE: OK, that`s why you -- put him up! That is why you judges get paid, to put up with lawyers grandstanding, OK? That`s why you bring home the
big bucks. You don`t get to just taser them because you`re tired of hearing them!
PERRY: We don`t tase lawyers. And why should this guy be tased?
GRACE: Well, I tell you what. I think the judge needs to go to jail because if one of us three had done that, we would be behind bars.
And Justin Freiman, go ahead, tell the whole truth about this judge, Judge Robert Nalley. Didn`t he have a little incident with slitting the tires of
one of the courthouse cleaners, a lady that parked in his parking spot one day?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER (via telephone): That`s right, Nancy. Apparently, somebody that cleans the courthouse did park in his space one
day, and the judge actually did deflate one of the tires and ended up admitting to it.
GRACE: OK, hold everything. With me is Rudy Takala, "Washington Examiner." So this judge slits, to my understanding -- or deflates if you
want to put perfume on the pig, Rudy -- some cleaning lady, this poor cleaning lady who comes to clean, parks in his spot and he slits her tires.
Why is he still on the bench. And now he tased somebody. Why is he on -- why isn`t he in jail? That`s my question, Rudy. Why isn`t he in jail?
TAKALA: That`s a great point to bring up the 2010 incident. That was a misdemeanor that he was convicted with for tampering with a vehicle. He
was suspended five days without pay. I guess...
GRACE: Five days? That was his punishment? He didn`t get paid for five - - Rita Cosby, please tell me that Takala is wrong. Sadly, I think he`s right.
COSBY: He is right. And sadly, it was because the cleaning lady was apparently parking in his favorite spot where he always wanted to park.
And he was caught by a sheriff deflating it. So he only got five days without pay. That was the only punishment he got for that.
GRACE: OK, Dr. Gallagher, Dr. Tim Gallagher, forensic pathologist joining us tonight -- Dr. Gallagher, the guy got electric shock, like a cattle prod
in the courtroom, for no reason. What does that mean? What does that do to your body?
[20:30:03] GRACE: Pull me up that video, Sanchez, please. What does that do to you?
TIM GALLAGHER, FORENSIC EXAMINER: Well Nancy, it would depend on what other medical problems have. If he has a pre-existing heart condition, it could
actually give you a heart attack. If he had asthma, it could actually trigger an asthma attack. So, without knowing his previous medical history,
it would be very dangerous to electrocute somebody ...
GRACE: Dr. Gallagher, I`d be afraid it would give you a heart attack and I know one thing, the pain this guy is suffering -- take a listen to Sanchez.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: I`m about to receive 50,000 volts of electricity. Do it.
(YELLING)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh -- it hurts. It`s painful.
[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Movie, TV superstar of Two and a Half Man, Platoon, Wall Street -- Charlie Sheen confirms he is HIV positive, paying millions in blackmail
money to keep his HIV a secret, but reportedly he continues to sleep with dozens after being diagnosed. Bombshell right now in the last hours,
Charlie Sheen`s fiancee goes to police, begging for protection. Swearing Sheen says, "I will effing kill you."
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charlie Sheen`s ex, Scottine Ross, also known as Brent Rossi, filed a lawsuit against the TV superstar saying he threatened to
kill her and became enraged when he was told she was pregnant with his baby.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Sheen had pestered (ph) you with insulting and demeaning messages.
SCOTTINE ROSS, CHARLIE SHEEN`S EX-WIFE: Yes. The first time I attempted suicide was on the day that I was supposed to give birth to our baby.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: And that`s Brent Rossi talking to foxnews.net. Melissa Cronin joining me, managing editor of Radar online.com. I want to go straight to
what has gone down in the last hours, the last 72 hours. You`re saying Anger Management from Lionsgate TV, the superstar Charlie Sheen seems like
nothing could bring him down but now we learn the fiancee has gone to police swearing that Sheen says, "I will effing kill you," afraid for her
life. And this has happened within the last 72 hours. Melissa, what do we know?
MELISSA CRONIN, RADAR ONLINE MANAGING EDITOR: Right Nancy, so just when we think that all of Charlie Sheen`s dirty secrets have been exposed, this is
a new development and new shocking claims about his disgusting double life. His ex-fiancee, Scottine Ross, was seen leaving the police department in
Van Nuys, California last week and she -- it turned out on Friday that she had asked for and was granted an emergency protective order against the
actor.
When she was asked if she had fears for her safety, she said obviously. And past documents that she`s filed in court about Sheen reveal just a few of
her explosive claims against him regarding emotional abuse, and what she calls psychological and emotional torment.
GRACE: Well, you know, Melissa, I hear what you`re saying about - everybody, that`s Wall Street from 20th Century Fox. I hear what you are
saying about emotional and mental abuse but I`m worried about her claim that he might kill her. That`s my first concern.
For those of you just joining us, apparently in the last 72 hours, movie-TV superstar Charlie Sheen`s fiancee goes to police and swears he said, "I
will effing kill you." Everybody, that`s Platoon from Orion Pictures. Will his movie star background pull him out of this predicament? Justin Freiman,
what more do we know? What were the earlier claims?
JUSTIN FREIMAN, NANCY GRACE PRODUCER: Well Nancy, there`s been a number of claims that she put in her lawsuit saying that he tried to attack her and
even said that he would try to kill her as well as other people, talking about putting hits out on people and going to blame it on her. And there is
a lot of stuff here.
GRACE: There were claims also that he was dragging her by the arms, locking her -- what was the claim? Oh, that`s Scary Movie 3 from Miramax. Justine,
what was the claim about locking her in a bathroom and not letting her out then dragging her out by her arms?
FREIMAN: That`s right. There are claims in here of him locking her in a bathroom while he tries to interrogate her and then does drag her by her
arms. There are also fights they`ve had on boats, fights they`ve had on vacations, an incident at their own home where he started throwing stuff
and a screaming (ph) person warned him -- her to go inside the house. And then he allegedly throws an object at a large glass door, breaking the door
that she is standing right behind.
GRACE: Unleash the Lawyers, with me Judge Belvin Perry, Robin Ficker out of Maryland, Carissa Kranz out of New York. Okay Carisaa, what is your defense
of Charlie Sheen, because you know when you fill out a police report and you go to police, if you look at the bottom of the report, that`s all under
oath. That is sworn when you tell a cop and especially when you take out an emergency protection order.
CARISSA KRANZ, MULTI-STATE ATTORNEY: Well, we know that that happens all of the time where people swear under oath and then stories change at trial or
when other testimony is given. You know, this is Charlie just being Charlie. He`s getting angry, he`s getting emotional. He`s being explosive.
That doesn`t mean that he actually intended to kill her. That means that is he on a rant and rave which is what Charlie Sheen does.
[20:40:00] GRACE: Okay. Here`s Major League from Paramount. The reality Seth Meyers, clinical psychologist joining me out of L.A. Seth, that is the
defense every time there`s domestic violence. And the woman apparently is so afraid that she goes and swears to police she needs a protective order
and apparently they believe her. Within the last 72 hours, Charlie Sheen, TV-movie superstar, fiancee gets a protection order claiming he has sworn
he will effing kill her. What about it, Seth?
SETH MEYERS, CLINICAL PSYCHOLOGIST: Yeah, well, first of all, you know, he is famous. Charlie Sheen is a very famous, very wealthy man. But all of the
behaviors that we`ve been talking about so far don`t sound anything different from so many of the men who are not famous and do this kind of
behavior every single day with women.
GRACE: And they go to jail for it. Back to you, Melissa Cronin, managing editor Radar online.com - here`s Hot Shots part two from 20th Century -
Melissa, so we contacted Sheen`s lawyer, the spokes people, and instead of saying, "that`s absolutely not true, he never threatened to kill. He`d
never hurt a hair on her head," they say, "We haven`t been served with these papers. We don`t know about this."
And then nobody denied that it happened. When we contacted Charlie Sheen`s people, they don`t say, "it didn`t happen. She`s lying." What they say is,
"we weren`t served with the papers. We don`t know what you`re talking about," Melissa?
CRONIN: Well, his team certainly has a history of kind of using careful wording to obscure when these bombshell events happen. Obviously, he
covered up his HIV status for many years and they denied that year after year. We`ve confirmed with the court that she did file that emergency
protective order and I guess in the situation you have to ask, who has a reason to lie about it.
GRACE: You know, Judge Belvin Perry joining me, you know, you`ve presided over probably countless, countless of domestic violence cases, but domestic
violence is bad enough but threatening to kill somebody. Judge Perry, why does he walk away from every claim that gets thrown at him? Always walks
away unscathed. What? Rich? Money? Famous? TV star? What is it?
BELVIN PERRY, ATTORNEY, FORMER JUDGE: His celebrity and his money. But the problem here, Nancy, is the fact that if he keeps saying it, with his
explosive personality, with his alleged drug use, that`s a cocktail that`s going to explode and somebody is going to eventually gets hurt unless
somebody really takes this seriously. It`s a dangerous situation.
[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
GRACE: Tonight a man is dead. His 9-year-old daughter fighting for her life after a dip in the family pool turns deadly. The backyard pool electrocutes
them.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A father was electrocuted at a family pool party in Palm Springs. The man dove into the pool to save children who had been shocked
and were turning blue.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Police say faulty wiring sent high voltage through the water.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: Joining me right now, host of the Chad Benson Show, Chad Benson. Chad, thank you for being with us. I don`t quite understand how this
happened because it seems to me even if there had been some sort of mistake and somebody dies, you are looking at a homicide charge. But let`s don`t
put the cart before the horse. Chad, tell me what happened?
CHAD BENSON, CHAD BENSON SHOW HOST: Well, you know, it was an Easter Sunday. People are out playing and having fun. A father sees his child in
the pool struggling and does what any father would do, jumps in the pool to help his daughter and he subsequently electrocuted. There were several
other people in the pool as well.
They were further away from the wiring and it was just one of those - it`s a freak situation, but when you look back over time, since 1990, it has
been very few of these, only 60 of these. But a father is doing what he`s supposed to do, he`s trying to save his child, Nancy.
GRACE: I hear you Chad Benson. I know you`re saying there are only 60, but if you are one of the 60 -- to me 60 is a big number -- but when you are
one of those 60, it is your family, none of that matter. With me is Chad Benson from the Chad Benson Show. A dad jumps in the pool to rescue his
nine-year-old daughter. He sees her turning blue. She tonight is fighting for her life and the dad is dead. You know, also with me right now, the PIO
for the Palm Springs police Sergeant William Hutchinson. Sergeant, thanks so much for being with us. I`m curious, when the officers got to the home,
sergeant, what did they see?
WILLIAM HUTCHNSON, PALM SPRINGS POLICE: Thank you for having me.
GRACE: Yes, sir.
HUTCHINSON: Well one of the first things the first responders saw was at least one, if not two, people if I`m not mistaken were being actively given
CPR as soon as they arrived. One of those was the father and one of them was his daughter as well.
GRACE: So, they get there, they see the father and the daughter -- Dr. Tim Gallagher, why did they turn blue from electrocution. I`ve never heard
that.
GALLAGHER: Thanks, Nancy, yes the people do turn a bluish color because their lungs are shocked. They are not able to breathe and they start to -
their body starts to get deprived of oxygen which turns their skin a bluish color. They`re just not able to breathe, Nancy.
GRACE: Well, okay. I didn`t make the connection but now that you`ve explain it, Dr., Gallagher, I get it. Sergeant William Hutchinson, the PIO of the
Palm Spring Police Department, were they in fact, still blue when the police got there, sergeant?
[20:50:00] HUTCHINSON: That is the information that we have. Now, there is definitely some in the reports -- I obviously wasn`t there, but that is
some of the reports coming out of our office.
GRACE: Okay. Joining me right now, special guest, Alison Osinski, aquatic consultant with the Aquatic Consulting Services in Catalina Island. Alison,
thank you for being with us. Listen, something went way wrong. A father sees his nine-year-old daughter drowning in the pool, jumps in to save her.
He dies from electrocution. And we know nothing was thrown into the pool. Nothing electrical got into the pool in any way. There had to be some sort
of negligence. What do you think?
ALISON OSINSKI, AQUATIC CONSULTANT: Right. There is a problem here. And as the other gentleman mentioned, it`s a rare occurrence but it occurs more
often than we would like it to. There are in fact electrical safety things in place like bonding and grounding that should eliminate shocks that stay
current (ph) and voltage gradients and faulty equipment. But, what most likely happened here as this is a little bit older pool that didn`t have
adequate protective safety mechanisms in place.
GRACE: Now Alison, why do you believe it is an older pool?
OSINSKI: Well, it doesn`t have to be ancient. It`s just that typically newer pools built in the last few years pools comply with current national
electrical code article 680 standards and older pools typically are not upgraded to comply with them. They`re not retroactive. So, if you have a
pool more than a few years old, you`re using an older version of the electrical code that doesn`t have the same safety measures.
GRACE: But you know, it seems to me that every time -- first of all, lights in a pool to me just doesn`t make sense. You are swimming in the water and
you`ve got an electrical conductive in the water. Everyone, a father jumps into a pool to save his daughter. Tonight, she is clinging to life. He`s
dead.
I want to tell you about a Kansas mother and her desperate plea for the last photos of her little girl. It was stolen by heartless perps in a home
robbery. The little girl here, Faith, died of terminal spine disorder. The last memories are in mommy`s Cannon Rebel camera. Topeka Police analyzing a
crow bar left behind for fingerprints. But if you have info on the stolen camera, please, please contact the family on mother Ashley`s facebook page.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The pictures were of my daughter and my family. After she had already passed. I don`t even want the camera back. I just want the
chip, the SD card.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A 9-year-old girl is in critical condition.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She and several others were swimming in this pool when police say faulty wiring sent high voltage to the water. The father of
three gave his life for his oldest daughter. He got his 10-year-old out but Jim died a short time later.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
GRACE: I find it very difficult to believe that this child just jumps in the water and she is electrocuted and nobody seems to realize what exactly
went wrong. The father dies trying to save her. Think about it, think about your own family. And everyone just explains it away. You know, Matt
Zarrell, do we have an idea what actually caused the electrocutions?
MATT ZARRELL, NANCY GRAC PRODUCER: Yeah, a preliminary investigation suggest that light fixture in the pool was missing screws and may have had
some sort of power surge perhaps caused by the faulty pool wires. Now, the police tell us that there was a light fixture inside the home that was
being fixed and that possibly was connected to the pool light as well. And when the light was fixed, it possibly sent electrical waves through a
faulty pool light which cops believe possibly energized the pool.
GRACE: Unleash the lawyers, Belvin Perry, judge out of Florida, Robin Ficker, defense attorney in Maryland, Carissa Kranz, multi-state lawyer.
Okay Ficker, what`s your defense because I`m not buying that it`s just an accident. This is faulty wiring. This is at the best, it is gross
negligence that ends in a death of another. That`s negligent homicide Ficker.
ROBIN FICKER, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, res ipsa loquitur. Here, everyone with any common sense --
GRACE: Don`t try that on me.
FICKER: Anyone with common sense knows that electricity and water do not mix under any circumstances. Why do they have lights in this pool?
GRACE: Ficker, every pool and every hotel has lights in them. And don`t throw Latin phrases around. Res ipsa loquitur means the thing speaks for
itself. That doesn`t even apply to what you just said.
FICKER: Oh, I think it does because here, everyone knows that electricity and water do not mix. The fact that there`s an electrical fault here means
someone`s going to be seriously shocked or indeed, die.
[21:00:00] GRACE: You know what? Let`s stop. Let`s remember American hero Virginia trooper Chad Dermyer, 37, killed in the line of duty, served
Virginia State Police, Newport News Police, Marines. Parents Ann and John, brother Johnny, sister Lori, widow Michelle, children Page and Philip. Chad
Dermyer, American hero.
Tonight we remember MLK, a civil rights icon who lost his life pursuing justice. We remember his dream. Everybody, Alan James, singer/songwriter
singing at a local church on Easter when i heard him. Well, it turns out he has hit the music charts. New country music hit "Just Drive." See, miracles
do still happen on Easter morning. Go to Amazon and iTunes and good luck Alan James. "Forensic Files" is up next. Nancy Grace signing off. See you
tomorrow at 8:00 sharp eastern. Until then, good night, friend.
END
