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PRIMETIME JUSTICE WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Death By Texts?; Cosby Assault Case; Was Shooting Testified?; Outrageous Video; Stanford Rape Case; Caught on Video; Our Journeys Home. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired June 6, 2017 - 20:00:00   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): Like a scene from a Hollywood thriller...

RACHAEL LEAHY, CHARGED WITH ATTEMPTED MURDER: (INAUDIBLE)

BANFIELD: But this is no script, it`s a real murder for hire.

LEAHY: (INAUDIBLE) I love fire.

BANFIELD: A wife who wanted her ex drowned, burned, even sold as a sex slave.

LEAHY: And for him to be gone completely.

BANFIELD: All this to get her kids back.

LEAHY: (INAUDIBLE)

BANFIELD: She wasn`t thinking that hitman was a cop.

Prosecutors say she is the devil.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And she used Conrad as a pawn in her sick game of life and death.

BANFIELD: Texting her suicidal boyfriend to hurry up and do it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "You`re finally going to be happy in heaven. No more pain."

BANFIELD: And the messages just kept coming.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "You said you were going to do it. I don`t get like why you aren`t."

BANFIELD: You may think she`s a monster. But is she in the eyes of the law?

Two little babies in the midst of being drowned.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He saved three of my babies` lives!

BANFIELD: A neighbor saves the day, killing the attacker.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I managed to go forward and grab my son out of the bathtub. And he was face down in the water!

BANFIELD: But is it possible the hero will be charged?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And I`m sorry (INAUDIBLE) I know that`s going to be traumatic for him. But I`m very thankful that he did!

BANFIELD: And who`s the real criminal here, the man who attacked the babies or the good Samaritan who killed him?

A snake bites the face of a 1-year-old baby.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My intent was never to hurt her.

BANFIELD: But this was no accident.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: People are too sensitive.

BANFIELD: The mom says it was just a lesson on the dangers of snakes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And she`s not scared of snakes.

BANFIELD: Really? To a 1-year-old girl?

A tight squeeze for a brazen burglar.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Oh, I was really angry.

BANFIELD: Wiggling his way right through the doggy door. And if you think that`s weird, guess what he did next.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The doorbell rang around 2:30, and it was him standing at the front door.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

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

Ask any lawyer and they`ll tell you defending rapists and murderers is a cakewalk when compared to divorce, custody and family court. And if you

need further proof, look no further than Rachael and David Leahy.

Now, that thing was messy. Their divorce led to a custody fight, ugly accusations that she was abusing the kids, hearing after hearing until the

kids were ultimately sent to their dad. And that did not sit well with Rachael, who five years later must have told somebody that she wanted that

ex of hers dead. And when the cops got wind, they set up a sting. Naturally, the cameras were rolling as Rachael outlined exactly what she

was planning for David. Only the hitman she was hiring was an undercover cop.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAHY: The only thing that looks accidental, like, I mean if he was to drown or if he was to -- I love fire -- just, like, a fire thing, where

he`s just caught in a fire. There`s no other resolution to this than for him to being gone completely.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Gone completely. Oh! And that wasn`t even the worst of it. If drowning or fire proved to be too tricky, Rachael had another grisly idea

for her ex, telling the detective it would be great if a group of people all in black and hoods and stuff would just throw him in a van and take him

overseas and make him their "man gimp" for the rest of their life. I`m pretty sure "man gimp" is a code for sex slave.

Lucky for David, it never got past that planning stage. Rachael was arrested. She was charged with solicitation of premeditated murder, which

is serious. It carries with it possibly 30 years behind bars.

Jake Peterson is a reporter for CNN affiliate WFTS. He joins me live from Tampa. How on earth did this woman, Rachael Leahy, defend herself?

JAKE PETERSON, WFTS CORRESPONDENT (via telephone): Well, basically, what the psychologists were saying that she had abandonment issues. She had

PTSD and abandonment issues from her childhood and that by the state and by her husband taking away these children that she felt abandoned and that she

was basically insane when she tried to carry this plot out in the summer of last year.

[20:05:00]BANFIELD: But at the same time, Jake, she can say all those things, but she pleaded no contest, which is effectively, God, if I just

say I do it because, you know, you got me, maybe I won`t serve as much time as if I put everybody through a really ugly, messy expensive trial. Did

that work?

PETERSON: No. You know, the judge, you know, basically gave her 20 years. And one thing the prosecutor said was, you`re not -- you know, that your

background has nothing to do with how you`re really feeling. You basically are sorry you got caught.

And also, the psychologist was calling her a sociopath, as well, up on the stand. So you know, she tried to use these excuses of PTSD and abandonment

issues. But at the end of the day, the judge just said, Look, there are consequences for your action. He gave her 20 years. The state was

recommending 22.

BANFIELD: That whole sorry thing, that is why I love real courtroom action where you have a camera because you want to look at the person who`s saying

I`m sorry to see if they really mean it or as you just said, Jake, I`m sorry for getting caught.

So look closely because we have Rachael Leahy in court dishing out that big, huge apology for all those things that we`d already seen on tape, her

actually setting up a hitman. Here`s how she said, Please forgive me.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LEAHY: I am so sorry to my kids. I am so sorry to this court. I am so sorry to God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And that wasn`t all. She went on to say, And I want to apologize also to my ex-husband. I don`t know what I was thinking. I was

not in my right mind -- which, by the way, I don`t care about your kids and your God, that`s the person who`s the victim in all of this and who needs

to be apologized to if the judge is listening.

So real quick, Jake, how did David Leahy look when she was saying all of those things?

PETERSON: Yes, you could tell this was a -- this -- this whole incident bothered him, obviously. I mean, he was sitting in the courtroom by

himself. He did not have any family or friends with him. And while she was speaking, he was looking at the ground the entire time. He never, from

what I could see, ever looked at her. When he gave his victim impact statement, he looked straight at the attorneys. He never made eye contact

with her. And again, he -- at some point, you could tell he almost wanted to cry, but he looked at the ground the entire time she was speaking.

BANFIELD: One of the things that he had, you know, outlined to the court was he was scared after this whole plot had been hatched. He was scared

for his new family. He`s remarried. He`s got these kids, and he was afraid for their safety. He was afraid and wanted a particular security

system. He worried about things that went bump in the night.

This is what he said on the stand when it came to what he thought about Rachael, his former wife, and what he believed she had been doing to those

children prior to this whole plot against him. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID LEAHY, EX-HUSBAND: She would tie them up with zip ties, lock them to their bed, look them in the closet. This was while I was away at work.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So Jake, he said she was very abusive to these children. And my guess is that that ugly custody fight that brought all that out ended up

driving her to this plot in an effort to get her kids. Was that effectively the story that she told?

PETERSON: Essentially, yes. I mean, she mentioned several times -- the undercover detective said to her several times, Why are you wanting to do

this? And she said, My babies are the reason I have to live. And she completely believed that the state and that her ex-husband, you know, were

against her and that she is the victim. A psychologist even said she believes that she`s the victim in all of this.

BANFIELD: And that`s why I opened this program saying that murder and rape is easier than divorce and family court and custody.

I want to bring in Robert Schalk and Joey Jackson, two attorneys who knew all too well what I said. You nodded. You know all too well that this is

the ugliest kind of litigation, the ugliest kind of courtroom drama and the ugliest kind of victimization.

Jake, don`t go anywhere, but I wanted to ask you guys about this. Apparently, she was also caught on tape saying, as they were wrapping up

the transaction, that she -- she said she wants her kids back and that she`s played nice for too long. Prior to the conclusion of the meeting,

Rachael told the undercover that she may have another job for him to do.

So how does it happen that she only gets the 20 years? Because they could have given her 30. What do you think? What was that about?

ROBERT SCHALK, FMR. PROSECUTOR: Listen, she -- she`s obviously -- no prior criminal contacts based upon the articles that we`ve seen. There was no

violence. She wasn`t handing over guns and thing like that. Her words alone are what buried her.

But 20 years for someone who`s never spent a day, a month, a year in jail is a harsh, harsh sentence for this type of transaction. And you know,

she`s obviously going to be regretting this every single day and every single year as the years tick off of this 20-year sentence.

BANFIELD: How many of those 20 years do you think she`ll actually serve?

JOEY JACKSON, CNN/HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Oh, she`ll serve a substantial amount of them. I mean, you know, clearly, you have time off for good behavior,

et cetera, et cetera, you know, so usually, you`ll do two thirds or maybe even less than that. But it`s substantial time.

[20:10:04]And I know, Ashleigh, to some degree you say in jest that this whole, you know, divorce thing -- it`s a mess in (ph) family and we`d

rather be doing, you know, anything but that. But the reality is is that it isn`t a joke because there`s such a fine line between love and hate, and

people get to their very last straw.

And when you`re representing someone in a family matter, in a divorce matter, you know, no matter what you do for them, there seems to be lack of

satisfaction unless you do more to take away from the other person. And it just gets so bitter. Fortunately, not like it did in this case, but --

this is really beyond the bounds of human decency.

BANFIELD: I mean, look, it`s not like we haven`t covered these hitman cases before, right?

JACKSON: And they get caught.

BANFIELD: And they get caught. But I`ve never heard one where they have actually suggested, I want him to be taken away in a black hood, in a van,

shipped overseas to become a sex slave, man gimp, for the rest of his life. I mean, this was so beyond the pale.

SCHALK: You have a situation where -- and Joey said it so well -- is where clients in divorce cases, when the attorneys can`t accomplish what they

want, they oftentimes take matters into their hands and start doing things outside of their ordinary character and their ordinary day-to-day life.

This woman obviously cracked. She lost custody of her three kids. And whenever children are involved and messy divorces happen, you see an uptick

in criminal behavior from people you would never expect (INAUDIBLE)

BANFIELD: Jake Peterson, are you still there?

PETERSON: Yes, ma`am.

BANFIELD: OK. Do you have any idea who this other job might have been that Rachael Leahy suggested to the hitman that was the officer?

PETERSON: We don`t. They never really elaborated on that. We just know that, basically, she was friends with a private investigator who somehow

got wind that she was -- had these intentions, and he was the one who tipped off the cops.

BANFIELD: And is it true that she said to this private -- well, excuse me, this undercover cop, who was supposedly the hitman in her opinion, I don`t

have a whole lot of money. I`m on food stamps. So here`s how I`m going to pay you. When I get the insurance settlement after he dies, I`ll pay you

from his insurance policy. Is that really true?

PETERSON: Yes, that`s partially true. They basically -- they had met several times and she had given him two payments. The whole hit was

supposed to be $5,000. The first time she met with him, she gave $1,000, the second time $1,500, and then after the job was done, she was going to

pay the rest.

BANFIELD: I guess the rest of us were paying for part of it, too, if she had food stamps. Listen, Jake Peterson, thank you for your reporting on

this. Joey and Robert, I`m going to ask you guys to stick around, as well, because we have a lot of other stories that we`re working on.

And this one is a big one, Michelle Carter. Have you heard about her? She`s that young lady whose texts have landed her in a Massachusetts

courtroom and she`s charged with involuntary manslaughter because of them. It`s all about her boyfriend`s suicide. It turns out she texted his mother

after he died, and those texts are nothing short of creepy and without question inappropriate. And now those texts are part of the prosecution`s

case against her.

We`re also watching Bill Cosby because his accuser took the stand today in that assault trial, and some of the things she said are pretty remarkable.

That`s next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:17:38]BANFIELD: When is free speech evidence of manslaughter? How far can you go before your words can land you in prison? And is being immoral,

even grossly immoral, a crime in America? Meet Michelle Carter, the answer to all of those questions. At 17, she texted her suicidal boyfriend

hundreds of times suggesting that he just go ahead and pull the proverbial plug.

She`s a woman that plenty of people will come to hate during her trial because she`s been charged with manslaughter after that boyfriend, Conrad

Roy, followed her advice and turned on a generator inside his truck, slowly slipping away to his death. Michelle was even on the phone with him as he

did it. And when he chickened out, got out of the truck, she convinced him to get right back in.

Prosecutors are painting a disturbing picture of Michelle. They say that she craved sympathy, not to mention attention, demanding to be the grieving

girlfriend who just couldn`t stop her boyfriend from killing himself.

But then they found all of the texts, all of them. And in court, the assistant DA read a huge barrage of them, saying those messages played a

role in Conrad`s death, like this one. "All you have to do is turn on the generator, and you will be free and happy." But for good measure, Michelle

followed up with a phone call, which the DA described using Michelle`s own stark words.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It was during that last phone call that Conrad got out of his truck as he was being poisoned, and he got scared. And the

defendant (DELETED) told him to get back in. She put him in that car that night. She listened to him as he died.

Her behavior was wanton and reckless, and as a result, Conrad Roy is dead. We ask at the end of the trial that you find her guilty of involuntary

manslaughter.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: As for her defense, well, Michelle Carter`s version of everything is decidedly different. She says that Roy`s death is a sad and

tragic suicide, but she says it is not a homicide.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

[20:20:08]UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Michelle Carter was not present. Michelle Carter had been texting with him. She did not physically see this

individual for over one year. The evidence will show at times through the texting, Conrad Roy even acknowledges that Michelle doesn`t have influence

over her (sic). And the evidence of the texting is overwhelming that Conrad Roy was on this path to take his own life for years.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: HLN senior producer Natisha Lance is at the courthouse in Taunton, Massachusetts, and she was in that courtroom all day long.

I have been so anxious to ask you what the tension was like between that young woman, who seemed fairly stoic sitting there at defense table, and

her mother, who faced her from the stand, and her family members, who have been at the courthouse, and his family members, who are grieving and can

see her on a day-to-day basis now. What is it like in there?

NATISHA LANCE, HLN SENIOR PRODUCER: Ashleigh, there is definitely a division. On one side, and this is the side that I was sitting on today,

is Conrad Roy`s family. A large number of family members are in there. I can`t make out who everybody is, but it is a large portion of them. They

are in probably the first three rows in the courtroom.

And on the other side is Michelle Carter. And the only person we were able to identify was her mother who was in court today sitting behind her. And

as you said, Michelle Carter pretty stoic, a little pensive at times, not showing much reaction. And the only time I saw people from Conrad Roy`s

family lock eyes with her was when his mother was on the stand testifying, and she had to identify her in the courtroom. It was not a long glance at

her. She looked up at her, pointed her out and proceeded to look back at the counsel.

BANFIELD: OK. So Natisha, it is a weird dynamic between -- I mean, to say the least -- between Michelle Carter and Conrad Roy`s mom, Lynn (ph).

So just so our viewers are clear, after this all happened, Michelle Carter communicated with his mom regularly, saying, I`m so sorry, is there

anything I can do anything to help you? I want to support you. Can I help you go through his things? She went to the services to memorialize him.

She even organized a baseball tournament so that she could help support prevention of suicide!

So with all of that as the backdrop, that dynamic between Lynn, the mom of the kid who`s dead, and that young woman who encouraged him to kill

himself, it had to be absolutely bizarre!

LANCE: It was odd, especially when you see those text messages in full up on a projector screen, Ashleigh. And they were on both sides of the

courtroom. And in yellow highlighted were all these text messages from Michelle Carter. And they`re long text messages. And you know how it is

on a phone. It must have been pages and pages of text messages that coming through to Lynn Conrad.

And this is exactly what Michelle Carter told Conrad Roy that she was going to do after he had killed himself, that she would take care of his family,

she would make sure that his parents knew that he loved them and that they might be sad for a little while, but they would get over it and they would

move on.

BANFIELD: Yes, that`s the real peach, isn`t it, just to suggest, Don`t worry about his parents, they`ll get over it.

The prosecutor, Natisha, at one point read one of those very long texts that you were talking about, but it`s a different one. It wasn`t one of

the texts encouraging him to kill himself. It was text to Mom after Conrad killed himself, talking about what she felt for Conrad and what she thought

about all of this. I think it`s super-profound to hear the prosecutor in her words read Michelle`s words with Lynn on the stand. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "I loved him, Lynn. I thought he was the most extraordinary person. And I know I`m young, but I saw the rest of my life

with him. And he told me the same. He was the bright light of my life and I`m so grateful and blessed for the little infinity he gave me. And

knowing him was the best thing that ever happened to me. I just thought he was the greatest man, so special and kind. I adored him. And I loved him

so much. He`s your angel now and he will always be by your side. We will carry him in our hearts forever."

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And I`m going to organize a baseball tournament in support of suicide prevention. It`s unbelievable! The hypocrisy, the bizarre

connection to wanting to keep injecting yourself into this story as the centerpiece of it is so unfathomable for a lot of people.

And this might be something pretty unfathomable, too. The opening statements for the defense actually pointed to Conrad`s family, suggesting

they weren`t all that great, there was all sorts of emotional abuse, physical abuse, as if to suggest maybe his family is the reason that he

committed suicide.

[20:25:06]Am I right when I parse those words in that opening statement from the defense?

LANCE: No, you`re right, Ashleigh. There were several different times where the defense pointed out that there may have been strife in Conrad

Roy`s family that could have led to him committing suicide, going back to 2011, when his parents first got divorced. That is where the defense says

his issues with mental illness may have started.

And his mother did say that it didn`t seem as if he was any different. He always suffered from anxiety and trouble sleeping at night. But she did

notice that there seemed to be a little bit of an uptick once the divorce happened, and it was difficult for all of the children in the family.

But they also talked about this issue that came up with his father. There was an incident that happened with his father. The mother characterized it

as they got into a fight, but the defense characterized it as the father was abusive toward him, and because of that, his father was a stress in his

life.

BANFIELD: Here`s my guess, Natisha. We`re not going to see any text messages from his two little sisters or his mom or his dad suggesting that

Conrad just go ahead and do it, just go ahead, get it over with. What are you waiting for? Come on. You promised. Just go ahead and do it, OK?

I`m not making those up. They have actually burned into my brain. I memorized them accidentally because they sickened me so much to hear those

words. But those are absolutely Michelle`s words to Conrad as he was contemplating going ahead with this.

Here is one of the hardest things that a defense attorney has to do, cross- examine the mother of her dead child. And when Lynn Roy was on the stand, the cross-examination went towards, Did you ever get the impression from

your son that his friend, Michelle, was, you know, pushy? Now, those are my words, but here are his. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LYNN ROY, MOTHER: ... just had a mother and son talk. I talked to him very often. We were close.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. And he never complained to you about a girl by the name of Michelle Carter, did he.

ROY: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: OK. He never told you that anybody was threatening to hurt him?

ROY: No.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: He never told you that anybody was trying to convince him to do something he didn`t want to do?

ROY: No.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Want to bring Robert Schalk and Joey Jackson back into the conversation. Natisha, stand by, if you will.

I don`t think I`ve made it any secret how much I despise this young woman.

JACKSON: You have not.

BANFIELD: I have not. Her morals...

JACKSON: For good reason.

BANFIELD: ... sicken me. And I think everybody watching tonight, unless you`re made of concrete, you probably feel a little of what I feel for

Michelle Carter and what she did and how she behaved after the death of Conrad.

But the law is the law. And is it on her side in this case?

SCHALK: There`s no case law in Massachusetts on point where involuntary manslaughter has been charged with someone encouraging someone to kill

themselves. So this judge is potentially going to be setting the precedent for the entire state, possibly setting precedent for legislation to be

passed if it goes in the way of a guilty verdict.

At this point in time, it`s not going to be if the law is on her side, it`s going to be if the facts are on her side. And it`s going to be on her

attorney to bring to light the context of the text messages, his ability to bring to light all of the aspects that you mentioned. Was there this other

abuse? Was he talking to other people? Things are going to come out in the course of this trial through the defense which may lead to that

reasonable doubt where...

(CROSSTALK)

BANFIELD: Is this a stretch, this prosecution?

JACKSON: No. I think that there`s a major legal issue here, major legal issue. And why do I say that? If this were in front of a jury...

SCHALK: Oh, it`s over.

JACKSON: ... it would take seconds to convict her --

(CROSSTALK)

JACKSON: ... for the emotional component. And you, Ashleigh, have made no secret about how you feel. And you should feel that way because this is

moral depravity. Who does what this girl did? Kill yourself now. Do it now. Did you do it yet? Did you get back in the car?

BANFIELD: Hurry up.

JACKSON: I mean, who would think about that? And so a judge has to make the decision of whether it constitutes -- certainly, it`s wanton behavior.

It`s reckless behavior. It`s depraved behavior. But does there and is there that causation? Did he kill himself, or did she do it?

BANFIELD: OK...

JACKSON: And that`s the legal issue I think the judge may be (INAUDIBLE)

BANFIELD: I`m going to throw a total monkey wrench into all of this. And let`s just skip beyond this verdict. If she`s actually acquitted, there

could be civil action. They could file a wrongful death suit against her. Yes, she`s 20. yes, she doesn`t have a whole lot of money. But she has a

big long life of earning ahead of her. And guess what? The last I heard, I don`t think you get a bench trial for a civil case. You get a jury! You

get a jury of Ashleigh Banfields who will be outraged and sickened by her. And isn`t that a big problem for that young woman?

JACKSON: It`s a brilliant question. And you know, Bob and I have been researching the issue of whether you`re entitled to a bench trial. And the

fact is that if both parties waive, it appears to suggest that that`s the only time. You think...

SCHALK: No.

JACKSON: ... that the family would be waiving...

SCHALK: Never.

JACKSON: ... a jury in this case?

BANFIELD: Not a chance!

JACKSON: Not going to happen. Not going to happen.

BANFIELD: Not a chance. OK, we`re going to continue to follow this one because, obviously, we got a couple of weeks of pretty amazing testimony,

including the suicide note. That`s going to come into evidence. We are really looking forward to finding out what he said to Michelle in another

note. Other news tonight. And it`s another big, big case. Jurors and Bill Cosby`s assault trial heard from his accuser, Andrea Constand. She got up

on the stand and she described what she says of the night where he drugged her and assaulted her in 2004. She said he put his hand over her face and

then he shook his head as though she was testifying and inaccurately so.

She testified that he gave her pills and she took them and that she blacked out and that when she awoke, she says Cosby was grabbing her breasts and

penetrating her with his hand. Bill Cosby is charged with three counts of felony aggravated indecent assault. And if If convicted, he could face up

to 30 years in prison. CNN special report, The Case Against Cosby, hosted by Jean Casarez will be aired Wednesday night, 9:00 p.m. eastern, right

here on HLN. Back right after this.

[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: For all the bad in the world, there is plenty of good. So when I tell you this next story involves a madman trying to murder his own twin

babies, a little pair of preemies, stay with me, because Cash Freeman was there. And Cash Freeman did not let it happen. First, to the back story, it

begins in this house in Ada, Oklahoma.

Michelle Sorrells who had just delivered those twins three months ago was watching over them along with her 12-year-old niece. And that`s when the

father of the twins showed up. And there was absolutely nothing paternal about his visit. In a domestic rage, Leland Foster attacked Michelle and

then went for the tiny babies, filling a tub with water and holding those babies down face first.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

MICHELLE SORRELLS, MOTHER OF TWINS: I had the door unlocked and the door turned and I`m being plowed into and I go find a couple of feet into the

house. I managed to go forward and grab my son out of the bathtub. He was face down in the water.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: That crazed father fought like hell for several minutes threatening Michelle with a knife, even sitting on her as he continued to

hold those babies under the water. The 12-year-old niece escaped. She ran next door for help. This is the guy who lived next door, Cash Freeman. Cash

did not miss a beat. He told police that he grabbed his gun, charged into the neighbor`s home, and shot Foster twice, killing him.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

SORRELLS: He saved me and my babies` lives. There won`t be a day that will go by that I won`t thank him for that. I`m sorry that he had to shoot

somebody. I know that will be traumatic for him. But, I`m very thankful that he did.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Detective Captain Jason Potter is with the Ada Police Department. He joins me now on the phone. Captain Potter, what an unbelievable story.

What was it like when your officers got to that scene?

JASON POTTER, ADA POLICE CAPTAIN OF DETECTIVES: They really didn`t know exactly what was going on. You know, they showed up, they saw Mr. Freeman

and the 12-year-old niece standing out in the front yard with a pistol in the driveway. They could hear the mother screaming from inside the house

that my babies aren`t breathing. So, it was pretty chaotic.

BANFIELD: What was the first thing they did? Go for the babies or go for Cash Freeman who was standing on the lawn. He has a gun and they don`t know

who he is.

POTTER: Fortunately we had plenty of officers working that day so they were able to -- some were able to stay with him and the 12-year-old and the

evidence or the pistol. And other officers went inside to make sure everything was okay.

BANFIELD: You know, premature babies at three months old are pretty much like newborn babies and they are treated with kid gloves. To think that

this father was grabbing them by the arms and throwing them twice into a bathtub, what were the extent of the injuries?

POTTER: We don`t have any documented confirmation on it, but we were told that both babies have skull fractures, but they are both back with their

mother.

BANFIELD: Effectively, were they life flight? Did they have to be helicoptered immediately? What was the.

POTTER: No.

BANFIELD: I would be afraid being a responder not to know what to do, they`re so tiny.

POTTER: Right, yeah. And one of the officers who first got there, Mr. Freeman was -- not Mr. Freeman but Mr.

BANFIELD: Foster, the father?

POTTER: He was -- he was actually laying in front of the bathroom door and officers couldn`t get the door open and all they could hear was the mother

screaming, my babies aren`t breathing. So, the officers had to figure out a way to bust down the door.

BANFIELD: Wow. How did they do it? How did they get in?

POTTER: We have a couple of really big guys that forced their way in.

BANFIELD: And did they find those babies in the tub?

POTTER: I don`t know if they found them in the tub or not. But I know Officer Hubble was the first one in and the mother handed him a baby. And

the other officer was given the other baby. And they took them out to EMS.

BANFIELD: You know, the district attorney`s name is Paul Smith in this particular case. And obviously, some of the questions revolved around this

hero, you know, this good Samaritan, Cash Freeman, lived next door and grabbed a gun and shot a man dead.

That has to be investigated. You never know if your good actions are going to be rewarded or punished. And so I want to just play for you if I can or

at least read for you what the district attorney said about this.

[20:40:00] It`s not a closed case, he said. The official investigative report is not yet complete, but what I gather from the preliminary

briefings is that his actions may fall under Oklahoma`s Justifiable or Excusable Homicide Law having to do with the defense of others.

I don`t want to make any final decision until all the facts are in, but based on what I do know at this point, it appears to be heading in that

direction and we will be looking at it with an eye towards excusable or justifiable homicide.

Captain Potter, I don`t know how much you work with D.A. Paul Smith or how much your advice he leans on, but if you have talked to him, what did you

tell him?

POTTER: I have not spoken with him. I was actually on vacation when all this happened. Paul is new to our county. He has been a pleasure to work

with. So, you know, we do visit. And I think, you know, we`ll get this figured out.

BANFIELD: You don`t think he`s going to get indicted, do you, Cash Freeman?

POTTER: Well, I know that my department is writing it up as a justifiable homicide and then we`ll be getting it over to the D.A.`s office.

BANFIELD: If the facts played out the way I`m seeing these early preliminaries, you are spot on, sir, and I sure hope the D.A. follows your

lead on that. Captain, stand by if you will for a moment.

I want to bring in Jesse Sorrells because he`s granddad -- he is the maternal granddad of those twins who were saved. That was his daughter who

was being held down and threatened with a knife and watching as those two babies were going face first in the tub. Jesse Sorrells joins me right now

live on the phone. Jesse, can you hear me okay?

JESSE SORRELLS, MATERNAL GRANDFATHER OF THE TWINS: Yes, ma`am, I can.

BANFIELD: How are you doing, sir?

J. SORRELLS: Day by day. That`s all I can do. I`m thankful for the good Lord that my babies are alive and my daughter is alive.

BANFIELD: How is Michelle doing?

J. SORRELLS: She is a little emotional, but she is doing okay.

BANFIELD: And most importantly, Jesse, how are those little tiny babies, those grandbabies of yours?

J. SORRELLS: I took them to the doctor this morning and they were smiling and cooing at their grandpa.

(LAUGHTER)

BANFIELD: Really?

J. SORRELLS: Yes, ma`am, they were.

BANFIELD: Oh, my God. It`s pretty remarkable that you say that, Jesse, because as I understand it, they both suffered skull fractures. They were

both hauled up, yanked, and thrown in the tub twice by their tiny little arms. I`m astounded they were able to survive being held face down in the

water. How did they?

J. SORRELLS: I -- I really don`t know how to answer that. I have a bunch of grandchildren and the thought of one being hurt like that is enough to make

me think in ways I shouldn`t, but they were doing so good and I talked to the neurologist in Oklahoma City. She told me that she wanted them back in

six weeks, but they were going to be okay, according to her.

BANFIELD: That`s music to your ears and I think all of our ears as well. Jesse, give me an idea. How big are these little guys? It`s a little girl

and a little boy. How big are they?

J. SORRELLS: Well, they`re -- (inaudible) is 13 pounds and 3 ounces and Ezekiel (ph) is 12 pounds and, I think, 6 ounces, so they`re taking after

their grandpa because I`m fairly good size.

BANFIELD: That`s a pretty good size for preemies, you know, who are now 3 months old. That`s good. Perhaps that`s what gave them some of the strength

and fortitude to survive this attack. Can I just ask you, I know that you`ve spoken at length with your daughter about how this all this happened

and she told you what set off this crazed father, Leland Foster, what was it?

J. SORRELLS: To me, she told me that it was -- she told him that he was not going to be able to come around the children anymore because he had been

abusive to them prior to this incident. That she didn`t want him coming around because of this. That`s what she said set him off because that`s

when he attacked her.

BANFIELD: It sounds pretty plausible to me given what transpired. Real quick, you met Cash Freeman yesterday. I`m guessing your hero. I mean, the

good Samaritan you never thought you`d know and now you do. How was that meeting? What did you say?

J. SORRELLS: Well, ma`am, I never

[20:45:00] thought about it but that man is a hero to me. He has my undying gratitude for saving my grandchildren and my daughter.

BANFIELD: Jesse Sorrells, I really appreciate you joining us to tell this story. Please give our best to your daughter, Michelle, and to those

adorable little babies. Thank God they`re not going to have any memory of this. It`s good to meet you and best of luck to you. My thanks to Captain

Potter as well for joining us from Ada, Oklahoma. Ultimately, a story with a potentially deadly ending and actually great ending.

How far would you go to teach your baby a lesson? Would you let your baby touch a hot stove? Eat something that he or she found on the floor? Would

you let a snake bite your baby?

(START VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: The mother holding that snake, the mother of that crying baby, is now potentially facing charges.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: One year ago today, a young woman who survived a brutal sexual assault behind a dumpster at Stanford University, she made history even

though we still don`t know who she is. Emily Doe as she became known read a victim`s impact statement in court. And then in turn I decided to read it

live on CNN and the clip of that went viral. All around the world.

Millions of people saw and heard Emily`s words. And it really changed the way we talked about rape. Since then, women across the country have been

inspired to speak out, telling their stories of assaults and abuse and rape. It all started in that courtroom when Emily Doe turned and faced

Brock Turner, a Stanford swimmer, and spoke 7,000 resounding words.

You don`t know me but you`ve been inside me, and that`s why we`re here today. The next thing I remember, I was in a gurney in the hallway. I had

dried blood and bandages on the backs of my hands and elbows. This is how I learned what happened to me, sitting at my desk reading the news at work. I

learned what happened to me the same time everyone else in the world learned what happened to me. That`s when the pine needles in my hair made

sense. They didn`t fall from a tree.

Brock Turner was convicted of assault with intent to commit rape but a judge sentenced him to just six months in jail which sparked an outcry

especially after he got out after just three months.

Was it a teachable moment or possible case of child abuse when a Florida mom who now defending herself let a rat snake bite her 1-year-old baby as a

way to teach that baby that snakes are dangerous?

(START VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So what do you suppose that mother had to say for herself about this?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It bitten me and my son and didn`t leave a mark several times. So I thought it was a good opportunity to introduce her

without actually getting hurt. People are too sensitive and don`t bother to ask why, they just think that I hurt my child intentionally which I --

people that know me know that I would never hurt my children. She`s not scared of snakes, but she doesn`t want to touch them either. So that was my

goal.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Whatever your goal was, lady, the Highland County Sheriff`s Office disagrees with you and your explanation, because this afternoon,

they announced that there is probable cause that you violated the state child abuse statute and that office has forwarded your case to the state`s

attorney for review.

Burglars will stoop to all kinds of lows even as low as going through the doggy door. Police say a guy crawled through the doggy door in this Dallas

area home looking for prescription pain medication. Dressed very well. Turned out he was on his lunch break from work. After crawling into the

house, he stayed about five minutes as the family dog watched and barked, not much else.

Decided to leave through the same door he came in. Actually, he didn`t. He went through the front door and later that perp came back because he wanted

to apologize to the homeowner. Police have I.D.`d him and there`s a warrant for his arrest. Sorry, then you get arrested.

You know, it really seems like everybody has a war hero in the family. And I always knew that I had a few. But I really never knew many details. It`s

been 100 years since World War I so it`s a little hard to dig that stuff up until I took a journey home to Winnipeg, Canada.

And I learned about my uncle Jim and my uncle Jack, two guys who were ordered off their horses and given something brand new, called an airplane.

That airplane had all the integrity of a kite, yet they flew those things right into the line of fire.

(START VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was an extremely dangerous life these guys led. The average survival rate of a pilot at the beginning of the first world war

was somewhere around 18 hours of flying time. The airplane was only 11 years old when the war began. These planes were a lot more like kites.

BANFIELD: So this is basically the fabric.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That`s right.

BANFIELD: That the planes made of. It looks like metal.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It looks like it. In these early days of aviation, that`s all they had.

BANFIELD: Can I get a closer look?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Absolutely. You can climb inside if you like.

[20:55:00] BANFIELD: Unreal. I can`t believe it. It ain`t comfy.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: If the plane is hit with a bullet in this general area, it is going to pass right through this cloth. You can see it inside, it

really is just a piece of cloth.

BANFIELD: I can feel my fingers. Look at this. You can actually see my fingers on the inside.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: One of these things that you don`t really think too much about is at the beginning of the war the parachute had not even been

invented.

BANFIELD: It`s unbelievable to think that they went through this.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are going to talk a little bit more about Jack and his experience. This is from his personnel file and here it talks about.

BANFIELD: Wow.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The date is May 4th, 1916.

BANFIELD: Reported missing, believed killed.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: They were flying over the France-Belgium border.

BANFIELD: Airplane was seen to fall in flames, both pilot and observer were seen to fall out when machine was burning in the air. Presumption is strong

that he did not survive. Wow. That is amazing.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: That`s not the only amazing thing I found out about Jack. I want you to join me and the other HLN hosts as we embark on these journeys to

discover the secrets hidden truth in our family trees, Our Journey Home. It airs next at 9:00 p.m. eastern right here on HLN. Please, stick with us,

you will be surprised, especially with Robin Meade. We`ll be right back.

[21:00:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

END