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PRIMETIME JUSTICE WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Teen Girl Shoots and Kills Dad; Judge Throws Defendant`s Mother in Jail; Out of Order; War Machine Case; Child Custody Murder?; Brutal Beating; Caught on Camera; Passenger Meltdown. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired February 27, 2017 - 20:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

[20:00:00] UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can somebody come and put me in handcuffs?

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HLN HOST (voice-over): A 14-year-old breathless and crying.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just shot my dad!

BANFIELD: The girl calling 911 right after her dad is shot, admitting she pulled the trigger.

911 OPERATOR: You said you shot your dad?

BANFIELD: Police now trying to figure out why.

A tearful apology.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I deeply apologize for what I did.

BANFIELD: A mom begs a judge for forgiveness after acting up in court while her daughter was facing jail for a deadly DUI.

JUDGE QIANA LILLARD, WAYNE COUNTY THIRD CIRCUIT COURT: Ma`am, you are being taken into custody for criminal contempt.

BANFIELD: She`d been laughing as the victim`s family addressed the court, then got snarky with the judge when she was caught.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Imagine what that family feels like when their child`s dead.

BANFIELD: Justice after a brutal school bus beatdown. Caught on video, the attacker gets punished for what he did to this boy at that bus stop.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE) boy.

BANFIELD: But is the family satisfied with the sentence?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Exploded.

BANFIELD: Police say a woman flew into a rage, allegedly stabbing the father of their two kids right in front of them. What caused her to lose

it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, my God! Oh, my God!

BANFIELD: This is not your average commute.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh, I`m recording this (EXPLETIVE DELETED).

BANFIELD: A driver videotapes a man being dragged as the car speeds and weaves down the road.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh! Oh, my God!

BANFIELD: Why would he continue to hang on for dear life?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: What in the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) did I just see?

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

When you think about teenage girls, you rarely think about murder. But in Ohio, police say a phone call made by a 14-year-old girl to the police is

changing perceptions in their town. Police say she loaded a gun and pointed it straight at her father`s head, a father to five other siblings,

and then shot him in the face in one of the bedrooms in their home. That father, James Allen Ponder, survived, but not for very long. He died at

the hospital just after getting there.

And what is particularly strange about this story is his teenage daughter`s demeanor. Police say she did not run, she did not hide after pulling the

trigger, but that instead, she called 911 and then waited calmly outside for the police to arrive. It is more than just a little likely that the

911 dispatcher on the other end of the line was slightly if not very alarmed when that call came in. Listen for yourself.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: 911. What`s the address of the emergency?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. The address is (DELETED). Can somebody come and put me in handcuffs?

911 OPERATOR: Why?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just shot my dad!

911 OPERATOR: What?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just shot my dad.

911 OPERATOR: You just did what to your dad?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just shot him.

911 OPERATOR: You just shot your dad?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes, I did!

911 OPERATOR: OK. Where is your dad?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s in the bedroom. (INAUDIBLE)

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BANFIELD: After all of that, police say the 14-year-old girl had loaded the gun with the intent to kill her father, James Ponder. But they are

still trying to piece together one very important piece of this puzzle, and that is motive.

Melissa Neeley is an anchor and reporter at WLW and she joins me live now from Cincinnati. Are we any closer, Melissa, to figuring out that

question, why? Why did she do it?

MELISSA NEELEY, WLW: Ashleigh, no, we`re not. The investigators are still trying to figure out at this point why this 14-year-old girl shot her

father in the face.

It`s been very disconcerting in the community because this family was we well known. They were well liked. The little girl was known to have

friends and just be a normal little girl until this happened. And they do not have a history of domestic violence calls to their house or anything.

They were known as good neighbors. So it is a mystery as to why this little girl shot her father in the manner that she did.

BANFIELD: And I think, you know, you sort of hit the nail on the head there. One of the big questions that a lot of reporters were asking the to

those neighbors and to those classmates was what kind of, you know, kid is this and what kind of family was this.

[20:05:00]In fact, I think one of the classmates, Jacob McCoy, was asked about this 14-year-old girl and he had this to say about her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JACOB MCCOY, CLASSMATE: She was always fun to be around. She was always joking. Never heard -- you know, never really had -- she had some bad days

(INAUDIBLE) and she`d get through it and stuff. And she had plenty of friends.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And Melissa, the neighbors also said that this was a quiet family. And you just don`t often hear quiet family and aggravated murder

in the same sentence.

NEELEY: That`s right. You don`t. They lived in a nice neighborhood, nice neighbors. It`s a nonviolent area. It`s just a mystery as to what went on

to make this little girl go in, load a gun and point it at her father and shoot.

And even she isn`t saying why she did it. All we can hear from the 911 tapes and from the way that she`s been in court is nothing. She`s been

silent about why she did it. In fact, she told the dispatcher, I don`t know. So I think we`re going to have to wait to find out what exactly was

going on that day.

BANFIELD: "I don`t know"? I mean, "I don`t know" is a very unusual response when police have said, in fact, that she loaded it and had the

intention to kill.

Hold for a second because this dispatcher -- I just can`t imagine what this dispatcher was thinking getting this call from this tearful 14-year-old.

But this dispatcher had the wherewithal to start asking about details, like the where -- the where did you shoot your father, what part of his -- I

mean, really, really detailed things.

So let`s listen to what some of those questions and answers and questions were, see if we can get some insight.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: Where did you shoot your dad?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: In the head!

911 OPERATOR: In the head?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes! (INAUDIBLE)

911 OPERATOR: Where is the gun?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s in the bedroom!

911 OPERATOR: It`s in the bedroom? You don`t have it?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No. I don`t have it (INAUDIBLE)

911 OPERATOR: It`s in the same bedroom?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s in a different bedroom.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Joining me now, David Bruno and Lisa Giovinazzo join me to sort of sort through this. So you heard her clearly saying where, in the head

and in the bedroom. But you don`t hear the why. And when it comes to kids, is the why different when it comes to adults versus kids? I mean,

motive doesn`t seem to matter so much for adults in a trial, but doesn`t it make all the difference for kids?

LISA GIOVINAZZO, DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Well, there is mitigating circumstances with children. Just the tender age of the child presents a mitigating

circumstance. So this girl does -- the motive will impact how this goes forward.

BANFIELD: And with the juvenile system -- because right now, she is -- you know, it`s aggravated murder, but there is this whole juvenile concoction

that they have, you know, assessed. And she may actually apply for something called the SYO sentence, the serious youth offender, which means

you may be a kid, but you are going to jail for life. You`re going to prison for life if you`re convicted of this. But would motive make a

difference, say, for instance a young person were being beaten or abused or assaulted in some say?

DAVID BRUNO, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Yes, no, absolutely because right now, prosecutors are trying to put this case together and determine what

actually happened because they have a decision to make. And even though this person is 14 and a juvenile, a prosecutor can treat them as an adult

and make a formal motion to the court to treat the individual as an adult.

So when we talk about motive and why this happened, certainly, that`s going to be a relevant question for prosecutors because there`s a difference

between somebody that`s maybe been abused and had provocation versus a cold-blooded killer who just killed her father.

BANFIELD: Yes. So the other thing I was fascinated in this call -- it is so informative to hear what she says to this dispatcher. And

congratulations to the dispatcher for getting so much of this information. The dispatcher was able to elicit that this girl was scared, not so much

about what just happened but more about where she was headed. Have a listen.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

911 OPERATOR: What happened?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know! I just...

911 OPERATOR: You don`t know what happened?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I just shot him.

911 OPERATOR: You just shot him?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

911 OPERATOR: What?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I don`t know! I don`t know. I don`t want to go to jail! I don`t want to go to jail!

911 OPERATOR: What?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Am I going to go to jail?

911 OPERATOR: I don`t know.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (INAUDIBLE)

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Lisa, I`m scared about going to jail. Am I going to jail? Oh, God, I don`t want to go to jail. For a grownup, it`s a death knell, but

what about a kid?

GIOVINAZZO: You know what? The kid is scared on the tape. You can hear it in her voice. And we don`t know the background behind this. There was

a compelling reason for her to do this. I mean, she loaded a gun, she shot her father. People don`t just shoot their parents openly. Like, we don`t

hear -- remember back on Menendez. They were sleeping.

[20:10:00]It was a very egregious act, but they -- for a child to feel compelled or frightened enough to have this kind of action, we need to find

out what`s behind it. Was there any diminished capacity for the child? Is there any mental illness? And you know, there are some red flags coming

up, where -- where the shooting occurred...

BANFIELD: The bedroom.

GIOVINAZZO: Why she is...

BANFIELD: Could be anything.

GIOVINAZZO: ... very contrite. I mean, she seems to understand that...

BANFIELD: And stayed there, waited there, didn`t flee, didn`t run, no consciousness of guilt in that, in that sense.

Real quickly, I want to get Melissa back for a second. Melissa, do we know anything at this point about the rest of her family? I mean, she`s

presumably had family members in court at some point all very upset, but upset for her, upset for dad, upset for all of it? Like, what do we know

about her support system right now?

NEELEY: Well, she comes from a large family. She has five brothers and sisters so -- and her father was 71. So she was a child with an older set

of parents, presumably. And you know, they were in court, and they were very distraught. And the mother has been cooperating with investigators

and they have an attorney for her.

So -- and the -- her attorney, the defense attorney, he`s been quiet so far about what`s been going on with this, but it seems so far that the family

is being fairly supportive of the girl.

BANFIELD: Wow.

NEELEY: But they are very distraught. They have been sobbing openly in court.

BANFIELD: So two good things you just told me, that is that they have an attorney and that he is keeping quiet at this point. And it sounds as

though she is, too, especially with the "i don`t know" answer. Melissa, thanks so much for that.

I`m going to just move on. I`ve got a couple of updates that I need to get you that came across our wire. Police in Indiana -- oh, boy, are they

raising the stakes in that search for the man that they think killed those two teenagers who disappeared while hiking.

You have seen that picture. It is everywhere. And now the reward for any information about this guy has spiked. It`s now $96,000. You`ll remember

that 14-year-old Liberty German and 13-year-old Abigail Williams went missing two weeks ago after being dropped off for a hike in Delphi,

Indiana. Police found them dead not long afterward.

And last week, they released the haunting audio clip of a man that was recovered from Libby`s phone. And he can be heard saying the words, "down

the hill." And police are hoping that someone who hears that recording might just recognize the voice.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down the hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down the hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down the hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down the hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down the hill.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Down the hill.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Anybody who might know anything is asked to contact the police right away.

A Detroit judge in the middle of sentencing a drunk driver ends up throwing the book instead at her mom, in fact, as well.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

QIANA LILLARD, WAYNE COUNTY THIRD CIRCUIT COURT: You, ma`am, are going to the Wayne County jail for 93 days for direct criminal contempt. Anybody

else want to go, try it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And also, no one likes to be stuck on an airplane, least of all this woman.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can we get off the (EXPLETIVE DELETED) plane please?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s children on the (INAUDIBLE)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m upset because I`m from Colorado. And guess what? Colorado...

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:15:28]BANFIELD: A mother is sent to jail for, of all things, laughing out loud in court. There she is! And her outburst came as the judge on

the bench was actually trying to determine a sentence for that woman`s daughter because her daughter had been found guilty of a DUI -- in fact, a

DUI that killed a father of five.

So what do you think the judge said to this woman after the big giggle fest?

When someone is killed, there is nothing more painful or emotional in a courtroom than when that victim`s family stands up and gives what`s known

as an impact statement. Happens during sentencing. And you can usually hear a pin drop when that person`s speaking. It`s a sign of respect and

reverence. It`s also a sign of sympathy for their loss.

But that is not what was on display in a Michigan courtroom as a judge was trying to hand down a sentence to this woman who killed a man by drinking

and driving.

That man was a father of five. And when his sister stood up to read letters from his children, the judge actually noticed something. There

were people smirking and laughing. Who would do such a thing? Turns out it was the killer`s mother and her boyfriend sitting back in the gallery.

And to say that didn`t sit well with the judge does not even come close to it! Judge Qiana Lillard brought the proceedings to a complete standstill

and then said this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JUDGE QIANA LILLARD, WAYNE COUNTY THIRD CIRCUIT COURT: This is a court of law. You cannot come down to the Frank Murphy Hall of Justice and act any

way you want to act. This is a court of law and these are very serious matters. And I understand you all are upset because your loved one is

going to prison. But guess what? She`s going to prison for the choices that she made.

[20:20:02]Ma`am, you are being taken into custody for criminal contempt. Your disruptive and disrespectful behavior disrupted today`s proceedings.

And you, ma`am, are going to the Wayne County jail for 93 days for direct criminal contempt. Anybody else want to go, try it.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So there went Donna Kosal, mother of the drunk driver. Just Lillard kicking her out of the courtroom. But weirdly, real weirdly, that

did not seem to stop her from carrying on. Apparently, she kept up her disruptive and disrespectful behavior going all the way into the hallway,

and the judge could still hear her. So the judge ordered Ms. Kosal back into the courtroom and sentenced her to 93 days in jail for contempt.

Sandra McNeill is a reporter for WWJ radio. She joins me from Detroit. I can only imagine this is kind of the talk of the town, Sandra, that that is

a very long sentence, you know, over three months in jail for being snarky in a courtroom.

But can you tell me what was going on? Why was this so significant? What did -- do we know what she actually said as she marched out, what she

continued to do in that hallway that was so incredibly egregious?

SANDRA MCNEILL, WWJ (via telephone): I believe one of the comments was she was talking actually about the judge`s mouth, but it wasn`t really clear

what she was saying, more that the fact that, you know, she was continuing to talk when she had already been thrown out of the courtroom.

And it was interesting that the -- the -- Amanda Kosal, her daughter, was actually crying when that victim`s impact statement was made, crying

because she had made a fatal mistake, and you know, left these five children without their father. And yet her mother and this other man,

maybe her boyfriend, were snickering and making faces, and as the judge said, clowning about this.

BANFIELD: So Ms. Kosal, the older, not the one you`re seeing on the screen, but her mother...

MCNEILL: Right.

BANFIELD: ... she ended up in jail and she spent the night and clearly, a bologna sandwich and a lousy mattress has a really huge impact on how

snarky you are in a courtroom because here she is the next morning. And that is a very different face and I dare say a very different costume that

she`s wearing. She showed wearing the equivalent of a bathing suit and a sweater the day before, and here she is in her jail garb facing the judge.

Look at the difference. Look at the difference. Yes, jail sucks for a reason! I want everyone now to listen to Ms. Kosal as she addressed the

judge after her lousy night`s sleep.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONNA KOSAL, MOTHER OF CONVICTED DUI: (INAUDIBLE) to ask for what I did, I was under a lot of stress. This is everything overwhelmed and I deeply

apologize for what I did in your court. I just needed to get out and -- it`s very hard for me!

LILLARD: What you have to under is as hard as this is for you to see your baby going to prison, imagine what that family feels like when their child

is dead.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And that judge on your screen is Judge Qiana Lillard. She`s a Detroit judge and she`s live with me now. Judge, thanks so much for being

with me tonight. Wow!

LILLARD: You`re welcome.

BANFIELD: You were having none of that! You really threw the book at her. And then she was real contrite. Tell me what happened next?

LILLARD: Well, you know, I can`t say too much about the case specifically, but it`s not unusual that after a night in jail, anyone who has behaved

disrespectfully or in a disruptive manner, the next day, they seem to be contrite and apologetic. It`s not unusual. It`s not the first time that

someone in courtroom 502 has been held in direct criminal contempt.

I mean, there`s a lot of different contempt powers that judges have, and you have to be very careful when you exercise it. It really is something

that you should do as a last resort only when you need to restore order. And the next day, as expected, it was a completely different situation and

she was very apologetic. And so I let her go after one night in jail.

BANFIELD: Ultimately -- yes, so time served. One night, that`s a big departure, 93 days, which I think a lot of people thought, Holy smokes,

that`s a long punishment.

LILLARD: Well, that`s the maximum penalty allowed for direct criminal...

BANFIELD: That makes sense.

LILLARD: ... contempt. And so oftentimes, you say 93 days because it sends a message to anyone else in the audience that might be thinking of

acting out. They`ll think twice if they`re afraid that they`ll be taken into custody next and get three months.

So even though if the person doesn`t always get the whole 93 days, it`s important to express that that is the maximum that they could get because

you don`t want anyone else in the audience to get any ideas that they could act out, as well.

BANFIELD: I`m really interested that you said that because as I understand it -- you know, the TV cameras don`t catch everything, and one of the

things I think you had said was on your mind when this began was that things looked like they were getting dangerous. It wasn`t just that they

were snickering or being disrespectful, which is bad enough, but that it was causing a lot of angst and consternation both sides of this family. I

suppose people like you who have a bird`s-eye view of courtrooms know that they can explode into violence at any moment.

[20:25:18]LILLARD: Absolutely.

BANFIELD: Is that what was on your mind when you did this?

LILLARD: Absolutely because you have to think about a situation like this as very volatile. You have a grieving family that`s very upset, and you

have a defendant`s family. Even in other cases, whenever someone is dead and someone is looking at a lengthy prison sentence, there may be people

who feel like their loved one wasn`t treated fairly, or they`re -- it`s just a situation that`s full of raw emotions.

And as the judge, when you`re sitting there looking at the courtroom -- I don`t know if you ever cook, Ashleigh, but it`s like if you`re boiling

pasta to make spaghetti or if you`re boiling water to make rice, you have to watch that pot because if you don`t, it could boil over.

And so as I`m sitting there, I`m watching the courtroom. I`m watching the reactions of everyone involved, and I can see, and my deputies, as well,

can see when things -- temperatures are rising. There were people who had already from the victim`s family exited the courtroom because they were

getting so emotional. You know, people had been asked on multiple occasions to stop talking or quiet down. Just you have to be very well

aware.

My job, as the judge, is to keep the integrity of the proceedings and to make sure that everyone is safe. And you use your contempt powers in

situations when it`s necessary to restore order or to make sure that...

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: I`m so sorry to interrupt. I would never interrupt a judge! I apologize for that!

LILLARD: It`s OK.

BANFIELD: I am so -- and please don`t hold me in contempt. But I am so curious as to what that woman said. The microphones couldn`t catch it.

They didn`t hear what she said as she was walking by you. They didn`t hear what happened out in the hall. What did she say? Was it clear to you?

LILLARD: No. The only thing that was clear, which is what was problematic for me, which is why I sent the deputies out to go and get her was the

continued yelling and disruption in the hallway.

And you have to remember there are people that are from both sides of the case that are inside the courtroom and outside the courtroom. And there

have been occasions where right outside the courtroom, fights break out between people. And so you can`t have someone yelling and being disruptive

either inside of the courtroom or right outside the courtroom where I can still hear because that`s a continued disruption of the proceedings.

BANFIELD: And it`s also extraordinarily disrespectful.

LILLARD: Absolutely.

BANFIELD: I have a question for you. You look a lot younger than me, but I`ve been covering court and trials and news for three decades now. I

don`t have the perspective you do, but I do get a sense there is a loss of decorum right across the spectrum.

And I`m assuming that leads into your courtrooms, as well. Have you, Judge, seen things getting worse in terms of how people view the process,

how they hold themselves, you know, to a higher level when they are in that courtroom, and how they look at the bench as unassailable. Have you seen

that that has diminished in some way?

LILLARD: Absolutely. I think overall, in American society today, you see just a general lack of civility. There`s no respect for anything that we

used to hold sacred anymore. And I think that`s why this whole incident has struck such a chord with so many people across the country. I mean,

there`s hashtags and memes and -- I mean, it`s unbelievable. But I think that`s because a lot of people recognize that overall, there`s just a lack

of civility. People don`t know how to behavior, and the courtroom is certainly a place where you see that.

I see it not only from citizens that come to court, I see it from lawyers that don`t dress professionally. Or I had someone today start talking on

their phone out loud at counsel table while I was sitting on the bench and court`s in session. I mean, it`s like people just have no respect for

anything anymore.

BANFIELD: What is it? Do they...

LILLARD: I don`t know.

BANFIELD: I wonder if there`s anything to the judge shows because that is just a circus. And I think a lot of people think the judge shows are real,

that those are real courtrooms. I think you and people in your profession know full well those are not real courtrooms. They are often not actual

judges, they`re mediation, and they`ve got cameras there. But do you think people come into your courtroom thinking this is just like a judge show,

anything goes?

LILLARD: I do because if you think about it, your average citizen never has any interaction with a real courtroom, right? Something has to go very

wrong in your life for you to go to court, whether it`s civil court or criminal court. You only go to court if you`re getting a divorce, you`ve

been in an accident, you have to sue someone, you`re being sued, you`ve been the victim of a crime or someone you love is accused of a crime.

Outside of jury duty, most average people don`t have any interaction with a courtroom.

[20:30:00] Certainly, I mean, no disrespect to Judge (inaudible). I watch Judge Mathis. He`s from Detroit. He`s one of my guilty pleasures. But I

think that sometimes people don`t understand that what you see in TV is entertainment.

BANFIELD: Yeah.

LILLARD: And court -- real court is not entertainment at all.

BANFIELD: It is not. It is not. There is suffering. There is grieving. And I think you -- I like what you did.

LILLARD: Thank you.

BANFIELD: I think anybody who says a word in a courtroom especially in a moment like that when children, you know, their letters are being read

because they lost their father, it`s despicable. And I hope you`re getting the good feedback that you deserve. Thanks for being on the show. It`s good

to talk -- we don`t get to talk to judges often, so I appreciate it. Thanks very much.

LILLARD: Thank you for having me. It`s my pleasure.

BANFIELD: Nice to have you, Judge Qiana Lillard, joining us from Detroit. Great city of Detroit. In Las Vegas, jury selection is set to begin in a

trial of mixed martial arts star War Machine. He`s facing attempted murder, domestic violence, and sexual assault charges. War Machine also known as

Jonathan Koppenhaver is accused of brutally beating his ex-girlfriend with an adult film star named Christy Mack. And it left her like this.

Just take that in for a bit because that`s probably what the jury is gonna see a lot of. Ms. Mack was hospitalized with multiple injuries including

severe eye fracture, missing teeth, broken ribs, a damaged liver. She`s all 5`3" (inaudible) in weight, 105 pounds. For his part, War Machine is 5`11"

and 170 pounds. A 65-pound difference between those two.

And the jurors expected to hear testimony about a very volatile relationship between them. And there are alleged rape fantasy desires. War

Machine could spend the rest of his life in prison if he is convicted. We are going to continue to follow that trial and bring it to you with each

development as it comes.

A bitter custody battle ends in a horrible moment for one family. Why police say a mom in Maine stabbed her ex-husband to death right in front of

their two little kids.

[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Custody fights can be bitter and ugly and very often leave parents on both sides with hostile feelings towards each other. But that

does not even begin to describe what happened between Kandee and Scott Weyland. Police in Maine say their custody battle got so bad that Kandee

lost all control and stabbed her ex-husband to death right in front of their two children, an 11-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl.

The officers say it all started when Kandee drove to Scott`s mother`s house because that is where he was staying, rammed his car, jumped out, and

stabbed him in full view of the kids. Now, his family says that she had abused him for years. Her family members say that she had pushed over the

edge. It was only a few days before a judge had not only granted the Weylands the divorce but he awarded Scott full custody of both of the kids.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

BRUCE COLLIND, KANDEE WEYLAND`S UNCLE: And she just exploded. She couldn`t take it anymore. I say she wasn`t thinking. As I say, she`s pushed right

over the edge. She`d done everything she could to avoid this.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And while those two kids wonder tonight what happened to their family, Kandee is sitting in a jail cell right now, and she is being held

without bail. Joining me now is "Primetime Justice" producer, Stacey Newman. She has been working the story all day long. It appears to me the

way these two sides, these families are shaking out as it`s going to be he said, she said, as they sort of battle into the why all this happened.

STACEY NEWMAN, PRIMETIME JUSTICE PRODUCER: Yeah, you know, as you said in the introduction, this is really about her family saying she was abused for

years, his family saying that he was actually the one who was abused for years. And both of them had protection orders against each other at the

time of this killing. And as the family members said there, she seemed to be pushed over the edge when she got this letter from the judge she had

lost custody.

BANFIELD: Interesting you would bring that up, because her mother, Kandee`s own mother, said that she actually addressed her daughter right after she

got that letter and realized Kandee was really affected by it. And she said that she tried to calm Kandee down. Let`s listen to what Kandee Weyland`s

mom said about that whole incident leading up to this.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

LINDA GRIFFIN, KANDEE WEYLAND`S MOTHER: And I said you go home and sleep. That`s what I think you should do. I said if not, go to your psychiatrist

as he has said, tell him how you feel, and that you need to be put in the hospital. And she wouldn`t do that.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So David and Lisa, does this make any difference as to the he said, she said. If one says I was pushed over the edge, and the other says

I have been abused for years. Does it make any difference at this point?

GIOVINAZZO: Well, it`s a battered wife defense and what happened to the husband isn`t necessarily the question. She has to substantiate the

battered wife syndrome, which says that she`s been abused for years. There are lot of domestic relation orders in the past. There is an order of

protection. And when they took her children away,

[20:40:00] many mothers have a very visceral reaction to the protection of their children. And this could have been a trigger for her. That would be

the claim in a battered wife syndrome case.

BANFIELD: I get all that. But David Bruno, does that make any difference when you allegedly stabbed.

BRUNO: Right.

BANFIELD: . the father of your children right in front of them? Again, I`m going all back to what happened in front of those kids.

BRUNO: Yeah, it does, because there is a difference between a murder, an intentional knowingly murder versus the manslaughter. Because I will bet

that defense attorneys are gonna make an argument that she was provoked. And that it amounts to downgrade of the murder itself to the reckless

manslaughter. So motive, it goes back to motive. We started the show in the first case, but yes it`s important for prosecutors to nail down and make

this argument to the jury.

BANFIELD: And, you know, the lawyers can argue it out. But ultimately two kids tonight who will never have their live back. Dad is dead and mom is

likely not gonna be looking after them. So it`s tragedy all around. I have another update to a story that we brought you last month. A 16-year-old

boy.

He was jumped after he got off the school bus and he was beaten just mercilessly in the street. And the suspect, Mickal Ladd, described it as a

typical high school fight. And you should have a look at it and see if that`s what you think it is.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

(beep)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Boy, boy.

BANFIELD: That victim ended up in the hospital with a concussion likely from getting stomped like that in the head. His dad released that cell

phone video of the attack in an effort to secure a tougher sentence for Mickal Ladd. By the way, you`re seeing him pull off the kid`s belt so that

he could then whip him with that belt.

On Friday, that perpetrator, Ladd, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault. And now, he`s going to serve one year in prison followed by six years of

probation. He was facing 15 years, however, had that gone to trial.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: If someone stole your puppy, would you do this?

(START VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh! Oh my God! Oh my God!

BANFIELD: Look closely. That man is trying to get his puppy back. And he was dragged by the driver who stole that dog and did not let go. But was it

because he couldn`t? We`re going to talk to the woman who spotted this and hit record.

Plus, we have all been there, waiting for the people ahead of you to get off the plane, you have a connection to make, what have you. It can be

frustrating, but I will bet you that it didn`t end up like the woman in this You Tube video.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:45:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: If you were driving down the road, do you think you might have the wherewithal to yank out your cell phone and record this?

(START VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God! Oh my God!

BANFIELD: Yeah, that`s a man. Hanging from a car window after being dragged down a highway. For miles. We`re going to talk to the woman who recorded

that video next and find out what happened when the car eventually stopped.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Nobody likes to wait to get off a long flight. We`ve all seen the impatient ones, huffing and puffing and shifting their weight, and nudging

us with their carry-on. Oh, the injustice of it all. But there is one woman arriving in Colorado recently who took it to a whole new level. She just

really, really could not wait to get off that plane.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can we get off the (beep) plane, please?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s children.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I`m upset. I`m from Colorado. Guess what, Coloradans don`t give a (beep) get off the plane. Let`s go right now. Let`s go. I`m

bleeding down my legs. I have blood going down my legs. Get off the plane. I`ve got to go to the hospital.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There are children here. Knock it off.

(CROSSTALK)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Can you do me a favor and turn around and get off the plane so we can get off.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Watch your language, please. We have families and children on board. Not necessary to drop the "F" bomb. We already called

security.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: You know it is bad when it comes over the P.A. to watch your language. There are kids on board. That tirade was uploaded to You Tube

last week. We`re still trying to find out if she was actually punished for what she did. But you could hear the flight attendant saying we`ve already

called security.

[20:50:00] By the way, that went on for minutes upon minutes. Language, language. When you are headed to the grocery store, your brain is usually

on autopilot, right? Thinking about what you might have left off your list. But the last thing you imagine you`ll gonna encounter is what this woman

saw on a highway in California.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! I`m recording this (beep). Oh my God! Oh my God! What in the (beep) did I just

see?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: According to reports, the mother of the guy who was hanging on for dear life said that he was trying to stop the driver because that

driver had stolen his puppy, a 2-month-old Pit Bull in his yard.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: You saw for yourself that the guy`s arm was stuck in the window and as the driver sped up and slowed down and weaved in and out of traffic,

I`m sure it hurt a lot. Until finally that window was rolled down and the guy was sort of released and fell. Victor Valley News caught up with that

guy just moments after he broke free.

Yeah, it sounds like he`s in a lot of pain. The sheriff`s deputies say they`re still on the look-out for that driver and they have not found that

man`s puppy either.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Mawusi Fiagbenu is the person who was rolling tape in Victorville, California. She joins me now live. Mawusi, what did you think

when you came upon that scene?

MAWUSI FIAGBENU, CAPTURED THE FOOTAGE ON HER CELLPHONE: I just could not believe it.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

FIAGBENU: I could not believe my eyes that a human would do that to another human being.

BANFIELD: How long did this go on for? How long was he dragged?

FIAGBENU: He was dragged at least for a minute and 30 seconds.

BANFIELD: At this speed, I`m thinking like what, three miles or so?

FIAGBENU: Yes, three and a half miles.

BANFIELD: Three and a half miles. And could you hear anything? I mean, it`s hard to -- it`s hard to hear it on the recording.

FIAGBENU: I could hear yelling.

BANFIELD: What was he saying?

FIAGBENU: You could hear him yelling and screaming. He was not saying anything. He was yelling and screaming.

BANFIELD: It looks as though he was stuck. It wasn`t as though he was holding on. It was almost as though he could not let go. Was he trapped?

FIAGBENU: Yeah, the windows were rolled up on his arms.

BANFIELD: And when he was finally released, you stayed with him, didn`t you? You were there with him?

FIAGBENU: I was there. I stayed with him until the ambulance actually drove off with him.

BANFIELD: And you called 911?

FIAGBENU: Yes, I called 911.

BANFIELD: So tell me about what kind of conversation did you have with them when you were looking after him before the ambulance got there.

FIAGBENU: He was just yelling, you know, he was trying to get his dog back and then he was, you know, yelling for me to help him and I told him, you

know, I had already called the authorities and the ambulance is on the way. He was like, you know, I need you to do more.

I`m in pain, I`m in pain, get me to the hospital. And I can`t move. You know, I don`t want to injure or, you know, injure you more than you are

already injured. We have to wait. They`ll be here. But they got there pretty quick.

BANFIELD: Yeah, could you see any of his injuries? I mean, he really looked like he was trying to keep his legs and his knees keep off the concrete?

FIAGBENU: Yes, the skin was scraped off his legs and his arm -- he had a long sleeve shirt on at the time. So, at first, you couldn`t really tell

what was wrong but he kept yelling his arm, his arm, his arm was hurting really, really bad.

BANFIELD: And do you know anything about that car? Were you able to get the license plate at all with your video? Did the officers use your video to

try to track? As far as we understand, that man has not been caught.

FIAGBENU: No, he has not been caught. I have e-mailed the video to the officers. I don`t know if they got the license plate or not.

BANFIELD: What about the guy? Did you keep any information, you know, sort of follow up on how that victim is doing?

FIAGBENU: Well, his mom had inboxed me and on Facebook and she said for the most part he was doing better. He was okay now. He was just trying to

recover for the most part.

BANFIELD: Wow, well, the video was remarkable. It`s good that you could at least get some description and some video to the police. Let`s hope that

they find the perpetrator and hopefully reunite the victim with his lost dog as well. Mawusi, thanks for being with us.

FIAGBENU: You`re welcome.

[20:55:00] BANFIELD: Wow. That video is something else. I mean, I don`t know if I would be able to keep my composure the way Mawusi did, but look

at that, full view. If they catch him, they have the evidence for a court case right there.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Thank you, everyone, for watching tonight. It has been good to have you with us. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. We`ll see you right back here

tomorrow night at 8:00 for PRIMETIME JUSTICE. In the meantime, up next, "HOW IT REALLY HAPPENED WITH HILL HARPER" taking a closer look at the death

of Michael Jackson.

[21:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END