Return to Transcripts main page

Crime and Justice With Ashleigh Banfield

Apple Sued Over Distracted Driver Death of Child; Couple Found Dead Next to SUV; Employee Canned for Protecting Herself; Bizarre Mystery; Finally Legalizing Marijuana; Taking Advantage of the Holidays. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired January 02, 2017 - 20:00   ET

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

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST (voice-over): Talk about a bad idea!

WHITNEY BEALL, DRUNK DRIVER: I`m driving super-drunk right now. We`ll see if I get a DUI.

BANFIELD: Live streaming when you really shouldn`t be.

BEALL: This is horrible. Like, hey, I can`t even believe I`m Periscoping right now.

BANFIELD: It happens a lot. And now Apple is under fire for a deadly crash while the driver was using Facetime.

Roadside mystery.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know what happened (INAUDIBLE)

BANFIELD: A young couple is found dying beside their SUV, their three little boys inside. Was it an accident, or did someone want them dead?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My instinct was to go out to my car and get my gun.

BANFIELD: She`s a Waffle House hero, the gun-slingin` waitress who fired off a warning round and chased away the robbers. But instead of a reward,

she was fired! What kind of justice is that?

And a woman who spent her days saving lives loses hers in the most degrading way.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They took someone out of this world that was not trash.

BANFIELD: Now her family is on the hunt for the person who tossed this hero into a filthy dumpster.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BANFIELD: Hello, everybody. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.

And we`re going to start off the new year with a real cautionary tale. You know, this is something we all criticize. In fact, we all criticize, but

we all do. Almost all of us, that is. Face it, admit it, you have probably picked up your phone at some point while you have been behind the

wheel of a car.

It all started with calling. We were on our phones while we were calling. And then it went to texting. And now it has progressed to streaming video.

People like Whitney Beall, you might remember -- this was her appalling video from Florida as she was driving home drunk and streaming it live from

her phone.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WHITNEY BEALL, DRUNK DRIVER: I am -- I am drunk beyond belief, people! I can`t read your Snaps. I can`t read your Periscopes. I feel like I`m

going to be drunk all the way home. All the way home, people, I`m going to be drunk! I wish I could read. I wish I could read your Periscopes. OK,

I`m at a red light right now. If anybody has anything to say at the red light, let`s go right now.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Whitney Beall was not the first person to do something stupid like that behind the wheel. She was lucky. She was only arrested and

charged, but she`s alive today.

Moriah Motisette not as fortunate. Just 5 years old, Moriah was no match for the 5,000-pound SUV that slammed into her at 65 miles an hour on a

Texas interstate. The driver of that SUV, Garrett Wilhelm, was busy Facetiming while driving and says he didn`t even see the brake lights on

the little Toyota Camry that Moriah was buckled into. His Facetime app was still running when the police found his phone in the wreckage.

But there is a twist here in that Moriah`s family is suing Apple, the company behind the Facetime app on the iPhone. So how much of the blame

for what happened to Moriah falls on Apple versus the guy using the app?

Tom Perumean is the editor and investigative reporter for Theadvocacyereport.com, and he joins me from Los Angeles. So Tom, just

walk me through what happened to Moriah.

TOM PERUMEAN, THEADVOCACYREPORT.COM: Moriah was riding in the back of the family vehicle. They were on the I-35 west near Dallas, Texas, and they

had come to a stop on the freeway due to some kind of police activity that was going on up ahead of them.

And apparently, Garrett Wilhelm, who was apparently Facetiming, was coming up behind them doing 65 miles an hour when, indeed, he crashed into the

Motisette vehicle. He went up over the back of that vehicle and right over the left side of the Toyota Camry, trapping Moriah and her father, James --

James was in the driver`s seat. She was right behind her father. Trapped them in the vehicle. The mother, Bethany Motisette, and the other

daughter, Isabella, were also injured in that accident, but they were able to escape.

The two, James and Moriah, had to be extracted from that vehicle. In fact, Moriah was flown to children`s hospital in Dallas, or a children`s

hospital, I should say, and unfortunately, she died of her injuries. And in fact, when police found that iPhone, the Facetime was still up and

running.

And the family says that Apple is to blame for not providing a lockout device or potential lockout app on that phone that would shut that phone

down when it was in a vehicle.

[20:05:00]BANFIELD: And he`s been charged with manslaughter in all of this, but nothing else, just the manslaughter. There`s no other

telecommunications charge he`s facing, right?

PERUMEAN: He is facing manslaughter. As a matter of fact, he was supposed to go to court back in September. They`ve delayed that -- delayed that

court trial now until February 27th.

BANFIELD: So I want to read a little bit from the lawsuit. And I also want to bring in Larry Fishelson, who`s a telecommunications expert and

chief operating officer, in fact, of Dynalink, which is a telecom contractor in New York. And Larry, permit me, if you will.

The lawsuit says, "As a result of the distraction caused by the use of Apple`s Facetime on the defendant`s iPhone 6 -- his iPhone 6-plus while

operating the vehicle, Wilhelm" -- that`s the defendant" -- his attention was diverted away from the traffic conditions on the road."

I think that makes perfect sense, but at the same time, there are so many other things, Larry, that distract me while I`m driving, like a billboard,

like people talking in the passenger seat, the radio, the air-conditioning. Why is the iPhone any different in this case?

LARRY FISHELSON, TELECOMMUNICATIONS EXPERT: Well, it`s terrible and tragic what happened here. But Apple can`t be held responsible. I mean, this is

really a frivolous lawsuit. Basically, anybody that goes in a car, that texts or uses Pokemon Go or any other game or Facetime, is totally at risk.

We`re seeing more issues with texting and deaths than DUI. It`s like going on a football field blind for 100 yards. So it`s terrible.

So the whole issue here with Apple was there was a patent that they filed a while ago that would give basically a lockout feature, that if you went at

a high MPH on any device, it would track it through GPS and motion detection. But that never came to fruition. It`s really too hard to do.

And at the end of the day, the onus is on the person that is using the device that needs not to use the device like you shouldn`t drink and drive.

BANFIELD: But -- you know, I hear you, but I will say this. When I am in the car and I use the app Waze (ph), which is a traffic navigation app and

it`s fabulous, it asks me right away before I can actually operate it, Are you the passenger, or are you the driver? And it actually says, Uh-oh.

That`s what it says.

So they`re very cognizant of the liability here. And if that app has the ability through my phone and the technology in my phone to detect that,

shouldn`t that also inculcate (ph) Apple in some way because they don`t do the same thing?

FISHELSON: You can`t hold it on Apple. You got to hold it on the person that`s using the service. Yes, you know, Waze does have an app and also

Pokemon Go has an app and it can tell you the MPH that you`re going.

But at the end of the day, it`s like anything else when you`re driving. You can`t hold the onus on Apple to go ahead and have a lockout feature

every time somebody goes on Facetime because the truth is, they can`t -- right now, it`s not really perfected where they can do it where they can

just block it out and not take down the whole phone.

So there are other issues here. Maybe eventually, they do get something like that. But in this case, it`s not operational and they shouldn`t be

held accountable.

BANFIELD: All right, I want to bring in former LA County prosecutor Loni Coombs and defense attorney Kathleen Mullin and defense attorney and CNN

analyst Danny Cevallos.

You know, Loni, let me start with you. I can see both sides of this argument. What if I am a passenger in that car? You know, I would assume

that the technology inside that iPhone will see that I`m moving at a high rate of speed. How can it tell the difference between me as a passenger or

me as a driver, especially if I fudge it? I mean, in that sense, Apple can`t possibly know who everybody is in the car.

LONI COOMBS, FORMER LA COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Exactly, and that`s essentially what Apple has said in the past. Now, they haven`t responded specifically

to this lawsuit. But they said, Look, we can`t always protect -- it`s not fool-proof, I mean, and we don`t want to lock people out. If they`re a

passenger, they should be allowed to use it. If they`re on a train, they should be allowed to use it. And this lockout device doesn`t know how to

differentiate from that.

And let`s be honest, I use that Waze app all the time, that you were talking about. And I have to say I have been guilty once in a while of

saying I wasn`t the passenger -- or I was the passenger because I wanted to use it. I didn`t stop and pull over to the side. So it doesn`t protect

perfectly.

BANFIELD: Right.

COOMBS: It is still up to the driver to take that responsibility upon themselves.

BANFIELD: Kathleen, I want to ask you something, and Larry sort of touched on it, and I want to read you the actual code here that highlights what

Larry was saying, they filed -- Apple filed for a patent years ago. I think it was in `08, in fact. And I want to read from a bit of that

application.

It says, "This relates generally to safe operation of handheld computing devices, and more particularly, to providing a lockout mechanism to prevent

operation of one or more functions of handheld computing devices by drivers when operating vehicles."

I`m no lawyer, and you are. Doesn`t that tell you that back in `08, Kathleen, Apple kind of knew that they should have this technology because

it could be dangerous if people are driving and Facetiming?

KATHLEEN MULLIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, Ashleigh, you know, I think we`re talking about the politics of personal responsibility. We`re looking to

Apple to protect us from using a device that they have created, when, in fact, the only one responsible for protecting us is us.

[20:10:14]And on that Waze app, Ashleigh, that we`ve mentioned now twice -- I also lie to the Waze app and tell it that I am the passenger, not the

driver. But you see, that`s a device that is designed to protect Waze because if I get into a wreck after I lie to the Waze app, the Waze company

will come back to me with my lie and tell me that I cannot sue them because I`ve lied to the device. So it keeps them clear...

(CROSSTALK)

MULLIN: ... personal responsibility.

BANFIELD: I get you. There is this -- we showed a little bit of Whitney Beall, who did that unbelievable Periscope livestreaming video while she

was loaded after leaving a party. And I don`t know, it seemed to me she was somehow proud of her trip home, almost enticing the police to come and

find her.

I want to play a little bit more of that. And then, Danny, I`m going to ask you something specific about it. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BEALL: (INAUDIBLE) If you`re (INAUDIBLE), I`m driving home drunk. Let`s just -- let`s see if I can drive (ph), in the USA, people. Let`s see if I

get a DUI. I don`t think I will. I really don`t because I live on back roads.

Oh, my gosh! I am so -- I am so sorry. Oh, that was an accident!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Yes, that was an accident. Luckily, she survived that bumpy accident, but she didn`t survive getting prosecuted for that.

So Danny, I just want to ask you, do you think there`s any chance that in this day and age, Apple might actually have to face the music in this only

for the fact that it`s now becoming quite obvious that this is a deadly -- not just distracting, it`s deadly. And if they don`t make a point of

actually singling out this issue, it will continue to happen.

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN/HLN LEGAL ANALYST: My prediction is no, Ashleigh. Here`s why. It`s true that Apple created this technology and it`s true

that we could probably foresee it being misused in this way, in even a deadly way.

But the reality is, for centuries in America, new technology has often been misused and in a dangerous way. A classic example is the motor vehicle.

It`s probably the most dangerous thing in America today, yet it has such value that car companies make cars all the time knowing that they`ll be

misused, just like we saw in that Periscope, just like we see in DUIs, just like we see with Facetime.

So with any new technology -- and in this case, Apple would have to create technology that would disallow using this app and somehow sift through the

people who are passengers, people riding on Amtrak, people riding on the 6 train, people who are sitting in the back of a taxicab. And until they get

to that level of technology, even the mere fact that Apple can foresee someone misusing this technology and injuring somebody else, that alone in

the law is not always enough to pin liability to a company.

BANFIELD: And I can also see if they want to make an example of Apple, then they will have to next look to say, Revlon for the lipstick that we

all put on in the car and McDonald`s for the burgers we eat in the car and Starbucks for the -- and, and, and. Guys, thank you. Stand by.

A lot more coming your way. We`re following some breaking news out of Aurora, Colorado, where people have issued an Amber Alert for 6-year-old

David Puckett. He was last seen near his house on Saturday afternoon, and volunteers have been scouring the area looking for that little boy. Now

bloodhounds have joined in that search. Police say they don`t suspect kidnapping at this point, but his mother is worried because the

temperatures are supposed to drop to 15 degrees tonight.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEPHANIE PUCKETT, MOTHER: Please bring my -- my baby home! The coat he`s wearing is not a very thick coat! I`m worried with how cold it is that

something might really bad happen to him!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: David Puckett is 6 years old. He`s just 4 feet tall. He only weighs 48 pounds. And he was last seen wearing that coat his mom was

talking about, the green camouflage pants, as well, and a black T-shirt, orange boots, a tan coat. If you have any information, if you think you

may have seen this little 6-year-old, please contact your police station locally.

Parents of three young boys found dead on a highway. It`s a complete mystery as to what killed those parents, leaving those kids inside the car

alone as orphans.

[20:15:02]And as the ball dropped in Times Square, within one minute, this was going on, these guys ringing in the new year by ripping off a jewelry

store. Not $1 million, not $2 million, not $3 million, not $4 million. I`m going to keep counting during the break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Three boys -- ages 4, 3 and barely a year -- are orphans tonight after their parents were found dead outside of their parked SUV. And get

this. It was along an interstate near Delan (ph), Florida. The authorities are working out now, trying to figure out just how these two

parents, who are described as loving and devoted, died at the same time right outside the vehicle with the kids inside.

And the neighbors say they just cannot understand this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LILLIAN BRATCHER, NEIGHBOR: They`ve always been so close together and everything. Never seen them even argue or anything like that. I don`t

know what happened. I`d give the world to know.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Ray Caputo is a reporter for 96.5 WDBO radio in Orlando. Ray, this is absolutely a mystery. They were both -- parents, both of them,

found outside of the vehicle on the side of the road. Do we know anything more about where their bodies were found? Were they hit? Was there any

indication of what caused their death?

[20:20:06]RAY CAPUTO, WDBO (via telephone): Well, this is kind of a mystery, as you say. The victims` bodies were found close by the SUV.

They didn`t try to run away. There was no signs of a struggle, no physical trauma to either body. So it didn`t look like something where, you know,

they died of nefarious causes. It`s very perplexing right now, especially in terms of how they were found.

BANFIELD: And do we know if they were -- I mean, this is just such a morbid thought, but were they found, you know, to the passenger side of the

vehicle so passing vehicles might not notice that this car with its hazard lights on was actually in crisis?

CAPUTO: No. They were found, I believe, in the grass. So it wasn`t completely obvious. But this is a busy stretch of road right now. Even at

2:00 AM on New Year`s Eve morning, you know, not a lot of people are out, it`s still a busy stretch of road.

So what I understand is that it wasn`t completely obvious that they were there because somebody probably would have stopped before. It was a state

trooper then that have (ph) finding them because they stopped, seeing the car with the hazard lights on.

BANFIELD: So that`s the other question, Ray. The state trooper made the discovery. It wasn`t as though a passing driver said, I just passed an SUV

with three little babies inside, and there doesn`t seem to be any adults anywhere. It`s not as though they got a tip, or do we even know that?

CAPUTO: No, we don`t. In fact, that`s one piece of the story that I`m still trying to -- kind of as a father to a young child, it`s very heart-

breaking. You know, were these kids sleeping when all this happened? Were they awake? I mean, one of -- the oldest is 4 years old, certainly enough

to be cognizant of what`s going on.

So you know, nobody saw the kids. And could you imagine that trooper`s surprise when he, you know, pulls over...

BANFIELD: Oh!

CAPUTO: ... and he finds two people unconscious and then, you know, these three small kids in this SUV? It`s just tragic.

BANFIELD: Babies! And I do think they were probably asleep. It was 2:00 o`clock in the morning.

I want to play -- you know, obviously, everybody`s wondering at this point, you know, was it drugs, or was it something else that could have taken

these two parents` lives? But if you ask the neighbors about these parents, they`ll tell you something pretty special about them. Have a

listen to Lillian Bratcher and what she had to say about them.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BRATCHER: I believe they was good parents. They loved their children. They`d get out there and play ball with them and everything. They was just

wonderful.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And then there were these other interviews that were done with people who lived nearby, some of the neighbors who knew them and were

absolutely mystified by what happened on that roadside. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Both parents at the same time? That makes no sense.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We just hope they figure out what happened and the babies are all right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Bizarre indeed. Joseph Scott Morgan is a certified death investigator and a professor of forensics at Jacksonville State University.

Joseph, what would be the first thing that investigators would look at in this bizarre find, two unconscious parents roadside who ultimately died

right there on the spot? Where would they start?

JOSEPH SCOTT MORGAN, CERTIFIED DEATH INVESTIGATOR: Yes, good evening, Ashleigh. The first place that they`re going to start is right here at the

beginning at the scene. This is going to be the epicenter of everything that the investigators are going to do henceforward.

Given the fact that they were both off in the grass, I hope, I truly hope at this point that this area was thoroughly secured and that there was a

thorough search done around this scene relative to this vehicle, everything else radiating outward because, you know, for me as a -- as a -- you know,

a veteran of over 20 years of medical-legal death investigation, it`s just beyond anything that you can imagine that two adults who are relatively

healthy would simultaneously die at the same time.

So automatically, the first place I`m going to look -- I`m going to think, well, maybe there`s something in the vehicle, maybe some agent that has

affected them, like carbon monoxide or something. But you still have the three children that are OK.

Both of these individuals have essentially gotten out of the vehicle, gone to a grassy area I would assume immediately adjacent to one another and

were found unconscious there. I`d have to know, was it something that they had ingested? A big question here is where were they coming from prior to

this last stop that they made? Had they ingested anything between the two of them? Had they injected anything? Had anything been given to them?

Had they been at a party? I`d like to know who they had been in contact with.

Also, another big piece to this is I`m sure that the authorities are doing a very thorough exam on the children. The 4-year-old -- I don`t know how

much information that that child would be able to provide, but I`m sure that the children will be subjected to a pretty rigorous medical

examination to make sure that they`re OK.

At autopsy -- standard procedure here is that they`re going to say, Look, this is pending further investigation. And essentially, what the public

needs to understand is that that means they`re waiting for toxicology and tissue samples to be examined.

[20:25:06]BANFIELD: And that takes some time.

MORGAN: Yes, it does.

BANFIELD: And again, these kids, you know, under the age of 4 and it was 2:00 o`clock in the morning...

MORGAN: Right.

BANFIELD: ... so they might well have been fast asleep and not been able to -- certainly, the 4-year-old might not have been able to give much

investigative information. But we`ll continue to watch. Thank you, Joe. Appreciate that.

Also want to tell you this story. What would you do if you were in a circumstance like at a Waffle House, three guys allegedly try to rob the

Waffle House, and the waitress -- the waitress takes matters into her own hands. She does something that gets them running, and now she is out of a

job. Kind of frustrating. Kind of annoying. It`s probably going to annoy you. We`re going to give you more details in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: A would-be hero is paying the price for trying to do the right thing, but did she do the right thing? Heather Burkinshaw Stanley was a

waitress at the Waffle House in Newnan, Georgia until she attempted to stop three alleged robbers in their tracks.

Instead of paying their bill, those men allegedly handed the cashier a note that demanded money and threatened to shoot everyone in the restaurant.

Police say the men actually did make it out, walked out after a waitress gave them $200.

[20:30:12] But Heather Burkinshaw-Stanley went to her car in the parking lot, looking for her 9 millimeter.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

HEATHER STANLEY, FORMER WAFFLE HOUSE EMPLOYEE: I didn`t know if they had guns. I didn`t know if they were going out to their vehicle to get another

one and come back and try to get into the safe or what not. I didn`t know. So, I guess my instinct was to go out to my car and get my gun.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And that she did. So she fired once into the air over their heads. She says she was in fear for her life and the lives of her co-

workers and the people in the restaurant. And then she was promptly fired from the Waffle House, and we can`t get any answers why.

We have reached out to the Waffle House. They`re not commenting at this point. She has talked to them. They say they`re investigating. But what?

Joining me again, Loni Coombs, Danny Cevallos, and Kathleen Mullin. Loni, seriously? There`s nothing illegal about what she did. This is a -- this is

Georgia. You`re allowed to have a weapon in your car, even if you don`t have a permit you can have weapon in your car in Georgia.

LONI COOMBS, FORMER L.A. COUNTY PROSECUTOR: Well, Ashleigh, there`s one thing that everyone who fires a gun needs to remember. Even if you`re not

aiming at someone, when you fire a gun and that bullet goes up in the air, it`s going to come down, and there`s always a possibility it`s going to hit

someone.

Now, she says that she was protecting the Waffle House, her co-workers, trying to get the money back. The problem with what she did is that the

robbers were already leaving. They had the money. They were leaving. At that point, it`s hard to argue that she was still in fear for her life. She

can argue it.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: I can argue it. No, I`m going to stand up for this lady. I really like her. She`s adorable by the way. We got a hold of her on the

phone. She doesn`t want to come on camera and talk anymore, but I can tell you what she told us.

She said, I just did what any mom would do, protect the nest. Everyone on that shift called me mom and Waffle House was my family. She also said that

she worried those guys were headed back to their car to get additional weapons, and so she scared them off.

And you know what, they did take off. So, ultimately...

(CROSSTALK)

COOMBS: Well, Ashleigh...

BANFIELD: Danny, you know what -- I want to get Danny to jump in here because you`ll always play devil`s advocate too. Can`t you argue for her

that she did the right thing?

DANNY CEVALLOS, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I was going to argue against her, Ash. I was going to take the position opposite to you and defend Waffle House. And

full disclosure, in fairness, I have spent many hours from 2 a.m. to 3 a.m. in Waffle Houses.

BANFIELD: How did I know that about you?

CEVALLOS: Other than that, I have absolutely no direction. I will tell you Waffle House, from what I understand, has a no firearms policy inside the

store. Add to that the fact that this is not a case of somebody carrying a firearm or brandishing a firearm.

This is somebody discharging a firearm, arguably after the threat had passed. And just as Loni said, when you discharge a firearm, the law treats

you very differently, and it will scrutinize the reason that you used that firearm.

But irrespective of whether the use of force was warranted under criminal law, Waffle House, as a private company, is free to make whatever policies

it wants.

BANFIELD: She didn`t break the law.

CEVALLOS: No firearms. No funny hats. You must wear t-shirts, although I`ve seen that violated many times.

BANFIELD: Kathleen, come in and defend her. I like this woman.

KATHLEEN MULLIN, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: I am going to.

BANFIELD: Thank you. Thank you.

MULLIN: You are welcome. I am with this lady.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: She`s OK.

MULLIN: Listen, a gun policy is all well and fine, and a private employer certainly has that right. But if I`m a customer in that Waffle House at

2.30 eating my eggs and hash brown, and these guys come in looking for me, I`m liking my waitress to have her own 9 millimeter.

She did what she believed was the right thing to protect herself and her co-workers in the face of obvious and videotaped danger. I am with her 100

percent.

BANFIELD: I`m with Heather too. I`m going to get a hash tag I`m with Heather. She says there`s a 50/50 chance she`s going to get her job back. I

hope the Waffle House goes easy on her. I think her intention was good and those jerks have really messed things up for a lot of people today.

By the way, do we have those pictures we can show them again? It`s kind of hard to see who they are, but they released those pictures of those guys.

Let`s put them up there. Do you know these guys? They have not only taken $200 and a free meal from Waffle House that they cost Heather shorty

Burkinshaw-Stanley her job so far.

You know what? Do something good on this New Year. Do something to find these guys. Man, losers. Happy New Year, Heather. I hope you get your job

back.

A woman who dedicated her life to helping others goes missing, and then days later she`s found dead in the worst place possible. The trash. An

investigation is heating up.

[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: A woman who made it her life`s work to save people`s lives has lost hers in what can only be called a bizarre mystery. One minute, 27-

year-old Ashley Brown was visiting a friend`s apartment in Nashville, Tennessee, and the next minute after stepping outside for a cigarette, she

was gone.

A few days later, she was found, but she was dead, and her body was found at a dump site. So far no arrests, no suspects either.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JULIE BROWN, ASHLEY BROWN`S MOTHER: Something bad happened to my child. Something bad happened to her, and I can`t imagine what the last five

minutes of her life were like. Please, come forward and tell the truth. Ashley deserves the truth, and whoever did this to her deserves to pay

because they took someone out of this world that was not trash.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So, what happened to Ashley Brown? Brian Joyce is a radio talk show host on 102.3FM in Chattanooga. Brian, she was found at a disposal

site. Is that the first clue into tracing back what possibly could have happened to her outside of that gathering?

BRIAN JOYCE, RADIO HOST: Well, it`s very difficult to say right now, Ashley. And thank you very much for having me on the show and thank you as

well for covering this story.

[20:39:57] But as you just mentioned there, she was last seen alive in the early morning hours of Saturday, December 17th. She was at this house party

with friends and co-workers that Friday night. They were at an apartment in the west end section of Nashville, which quite honestly is really not a bad

section of the city.

It`s not the kind of place where you would expect violent crime. It`s right near Vanderbilt University. And she stepped outside for a minute.

Apparently, she told her friends she was going to the store or maybe outside to get some fresh air, and she was never seen again, which is quite

unusual for that part of town. And as to how her body ended up being discovered where it was, which is a completely separate part of town, that

right now is still the mystery.

BANFIELD: But the interesting thing, Brian, is that they were at least -- and I hate looking at these pictures of this refuse site because this is

where this young woman ended up.

But ultimately, they were able to track the different trucks that pick up those dumpsters all around the area and actually track it back to perhaps a

dumpster in the area near that apartment where she went missing, right?

JOYCE: Right, right. That`s what police -- and, again, right now police don`t seem to have too much information on this. They`re asking people to

please step forward if they do have information, but they`re trying to figure out what happened here.

And right now that`s what they believe did happen, is that her body ended up in a dumpster in the neighborhood where she was, and then of course that

dumpster was picked up and transported or eventually dumped. That dumpster was dumped in a different part of town in this industrial area, where a

trash site was. And so, why she ended up inside the dumpster in the first place, what happened to her...

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: That`s the big question. Yes.

JOYCE: How she ended up dead, this again is the mystery right now. And it`s obviously quite a sad tragedy for her family and friends.

BANFIELD: And so far, no cause of death determined. Still awaiting some tests, obviously from autopsy.

I want to bring in Loni Coombs again, Danny Cevallos, and Kathleen Mullin. Guys, this is such a bizarre mystery because you do have to do a lot of

backtracking. But ultimately if you end up at that apartment, there were people there. There was a co-worker there, and there were people she didn`t

know at that apartment as well.

So, Danny, I`ll start with you, what do the police do with those people?

CEVALLOS: You have to -- you have to get them in a room and, using not just the old-fashioned read technique, use some of the more modern

questioning techniques, open-ended questions. Get people to commit to a story and either clear them or continue to look at them.

With so many possibilities out there, law enforcement has to keep all of their options open and really keep anyone in mind as a potential, not just

a suspect but somebody who may have information.

And then you start thinking about things like surveillance video, other sort of data that`s created just by us walking through the streets at night

that may have some information out there, whether it even be cell phone towers or anything.

BANFIELD: Good point. And Loni, the fact that we literally can`t walk 50 feet without appearing on someone`s surveillance video, whether it be

government or whether it be private.

COOMBS: Right.

BANFIELD: There`s got to be some kind of investigative tool out there right now. Through that 5.5 mile-route that will help investigators get

closer to whoever did this to her.

COOMBS: Exactly. Starting with the apartment building and wherever this location was that she came out of, all along that route, but, Ashleigh,

going back to these people in that room. Like Danny said, I would be so focused on them, because what`s interesting is the different stories we`ve

heard is that she either stepped out just for fresh air, to smoke a cigarette, or even potentially to go to the store.

And yet, apparently, she left her purse and her car at that location. So, for anyone who knew her and heard that`s where she went and then she

doesn`t come back for a few hours, what are they doing about that when they find out her purse and her car is still there?

I would think that bells would be ringing, that red flags would be flying. Did they do anything? Did they try and look for her then? What efforts were

made at that point? Did something happen at the location perhaps to her? We just don`t know. There`s and that really is the key is starting at that

location.

BANFIELD: So, Kathleen, I`m going to catch you on the next segment because I do want to move on. I have this story about a firefighter. And you guys,

this drives me nuts because firefighters dedicate their lives to protecting your home, right? But the firefighter you`re going to meet was forced to

watch on his iPhone as two guys just busted into his.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I was like, oh, it`s just the dog walking around, and that`s when I saw them kicking the door. And I literally just started

shaking.

[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Recreational marijuana is now legal in California. Cue the New Year`s Eve horns. Somebody decided to update the famed Hollywood sign to

reflect that change. Hello, holly weed. California is one of nine states that has legalized recreational pots, 18 others has approved the use of

medicinal marijuana.

But no one has legalized that kind of vandalism. Joining me again, Loni Coombs, Danny Cevallos, and Kathleen Mullin. Kathleen.

MULLIN: Yes.

BANFIELD: Is that such a crime given the fact that if you look really closely at the banners that they put over the two o`s, one of them had a

peace son and the other had a heart.

MULLIN: Yes, I got to say, Ashleigh, I think we`ve lost our sense of humor in this country if you don`t find that at least marginally entertaining. As

to whether or not it`s a crime, the tarps that were used to cover the Hollywood sign to make it say `Hollyweed` are temporary, can be removed

without any dangerous side effects, permanent impairment of the iconic Hollywood sign.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: It`s kind of adorable actually.

MULLIN: So I don`t think -- I don`t think it`s that big a deal frankly, and I think we should have a chuckle, new year`s chuckle and move on.

BANFIELD: You know what I like the most is that because it was a holiday, they didn`t have as much staff on hand to get to it until like 11 a.m. So

even the drunk and the stoned could sleep late and still see it.

I want to move on to something that`s not funny. But ultimately, actually people giggle at. And they shouldn`t. This happened in my former adorable

town of Calgary, Canada, where I worked for many years.

[20:49:55] This pilot was found drunk and passed out in the cockpit of a plane with 99 passengers onboard. And I can only imagine, Danny, if you

want to have a crack at this one, that`s a big problem.

CEVALLOS: You cannot drink and drive a bicycle, you cannot drink and drive a car and not surprisingly you cannot drink and fly. And the rules for

flying are even stricter. Some rules require that you cannot even imbibe eight hours before you fly. And the penalties are covered not only under

state law but there are very serious FAA penalties that follow.

So, and that`s for the United States. I`m sure Canada has very similar laws for air aviators.

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: You know what? This airline is called Sun Wing. I have not heard of it. But it is there, Sun Wing. They have a 12-hour bottle to throttle. I

love the way the airline lingo is bottle to throttle. A lot of -- well, the FAA has an eight- hour rule. But a lot of the airlines go to 12 hours.

And this guy was three times the legal limit which made me think that he was nearly dead until I realized the legal limit for flying is .4, not .8.

But that is still super-duper drunk, Loni.

COOMBS: Yes, and I`ll tell you, Ashleigh, it`s interesting. The airline praised their staff and their crew for catching this guy. But I am amazed

that he made it into the cockpit.

BANFIELD: I know.

COOMBS: It took the co-pilot to look over and say, oh, my goodness, he passed out to say there`s an issue here.

BANFIELD: Right.

COOMBS: I mean, that makes me very anxious that he got that far. They said he was be acting strangely before that, yet, nobody apparently stopped him

until he was in the cockpit ready to go.

BANFIELD: OK. Next story this firefighter, I am so angry that this hero had to watch on his iPhone as his doorbell went off and then this happened.

Watch.

That is not an invited guest. And the dog just seems kind of bewildered by all of it. This happened in Kansas City, Missouri. And Ryan Taylor could

only watch as this guy, and then in a few seconds you`re going to see his other friend. Yes, that dude, just waltzing in and helping themselves to

the TV on the wall and a bunch of other electronics and stuff, too.

Every time I see something like this I just want to play it over and over so that anybody watching can help to find those guys. Do you think, Danny,

we are going to find these guys given that they don`t even know that they`re on video?

CEVALLOS: You know, I like to think of all these police departments that used to just fill out a report in any case a burglary or theft and just

stick it in the circular file.

And now there is a little more pressure on them because people are coming not just with tales of missing items but high definition video of actual

suspects in the home caught in the act. So, I hope that the advent of this video and this video evidence will really put a fire under local law

enforcement to go after home invaders.

BANFIELD: Right. Not only that, but you hope that there is no honor among thieves. And they put out reward money, the thieves say that was an easy

five grand.

Anyway, if you know anybody WDAF, that`s the source of the video. If you know anybody in that area that looks like those two guys or if you

recognize them or you know they were up to no good, call the police.

Guys, I know that you have been in this before. I have been in this before. Awaken on January 1st with maybe a couple of regrets. The guy I`m about to

show you, though, definitely has a few regrets a rap sheet to go with it.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Shut down the car. I`m Phil Mickelson, pro golfer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:55:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Back with me, my panel. Former L.A. County prosecutor, Loni Coombs, defense attorney Danny Cevallos, and defense attorney Kathleen

Mullin. Guys, this is the way you should not celebrate New Year`s Eve.

I`m going to take you to Menasha, Wisconsin where a guy who I am guessing have something to drink on New Year`s Eve spotted a police cruiser and then

did this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Get off the car! Get off the car!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So, he had to be yelled at to get off the car. The two officers were inside the car. Kathleen Mullin, I don`t even know what question to

ask you. I`ll be honest, I really just don`t know. What will he be charged with for that? That`s not fair at all.

MULLIN: Well, you know, Ashleigh, it`s the same old story, one crime at a time. If you`re publicly intoxicated, don`t fling yourself on to the hood

of a police car with policemen in it.

BANFIELD: You know, it`s like you don`t need a manual to know that.

(CROSSTALK)

MULLIN: True. Absolutely true.

BANFIELD: You just still need a manual to know this. But it does it make for really incredible New Year`s, you know, video.

All right. Now I want to take you to 12.01 New Year`s Eve. Do you guys remember where you were, what you were doing? Were you watching Anderson

and Kathy?

CEVALLOS: Yes, I was.

BANFIELD: You just say yes if you could, because I was. There were 7,000 police officers in Times Square watching over all the business at Times

Square and about six blocks away this was happening at 12.01 on the sixth floor of a building with a jewelry store. These two guys using simple tools

like a wrench or a hammer and then they notice the camera. But not before that stuff was already in the cloud.

So the NYPD released this video. This is not a small heist, $6 mil. Look up at the camera, fellow. Say, hi. Everybody sees you. He doesn`t know

everybody sees him. but we all see him. Six million dollars in jewels and they said this had to be an inside job. Loni, this has to be an inside job.

COOMBS: Absolutely. And as they say, timing is everything. I mean, they took advantage of the fact that they knew all of law enforcement would be

focused on protecting Times Square at that moment.

But what they found out and they saw on this surveillance camera is that these guys apparently knew the combinations to the safe. They knew how to

get into that building. That floor was -- had no signage to show that there was all of this jewelry stored there. There was something going on with the

owners where they have these vaults that were on loan. They weren`t the typical vaults that they kept these jewelries.

BANFIELD: They might have thought they were clever, Loni, and smacking out the camera.

COOMBS: Yes.

[20:59:59] BANFIELD: But they just made it on national TV. And by the way, our national show is over. Thank you to the three of you for being with us.

Thank you for watching. We`ll see you back here tomorrow night.

END