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PRIMETIME JUSTICE WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

New Accusations Against Harvey Weinstein; Hung Jury in Cheerleader`s Burning Death; No Charges After Cheerleaders` Forced Splits. Aired 8-9p ET

Aired October 16, 2017 - 20:00:00   ET

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


(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We all want to know where she (INAUDIBLE)

ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, HOST (voice-over): A 3-year-old with a beautiful smile gone in the dark of night.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There`s hope.

BANFIELD: Dad admits she was punished for not drinking her milk.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: A lot of time elapsed before we were actually contacted.

BANFIELD: But what kind of punishment involves a toddler out behind the house at 3:00 AM?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Why was there such a lapse in time?

BANFIELD: And why did it take five hours before police were called?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If he really loved the little girl, why didn`t he call 911 as soon as he find that the little girl was missing?

BANFIELD: And why did the family car take a mystery drive shortly after the little girl vanished?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We`re looking for any type of video.

BANFIELD: Police say she was raped and offered yard work to make up for it.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Let`s not minimize any act of sexual misconduct.

BANFIELD: Another rapist, say cops, asked the victim to let him have a few beers before calling for help.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Lawyers do not take cases where there`s minimal actions like one kiss on the cheek one time.

BANFIELD: And dozens accuse a successful, well-educated millionaire of sexual bad behavior. Just why is it that some think rape is just naughty

when it`s actually a crime?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Severe or pervasive.

BANFIELD: Last we checked, it can land you behind bars for decades. And still, it`s often met with a shrug.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: She had black all over her face. Her body was severely burned.

BANFIELD: A former cheerleader, doused in gas, set on fire and left to die.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The injuries did not appear to be compatible with life.

BANFIELD: Did the fate of her accused killer all come down to his name?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: From who?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: The lips of a liar, Quinton Tellis.

BANFIELD: But Quinton Tellis isn`t even close to what the victim whispered while dying.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: "Eric set me on fire."

BANFIELD: But say that defendant`s name as the dying woman did, and might it sound like Eric?

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Put the tongue at the top of your mouth. She wasn`t able to say "T`s."

BANFIELD: Young cheerleaders at practice in agony, their coach accused of forcing them into painful splits. She repeatedly begs for it to stop. The

coach let go. Other school leaders out (ph).

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can`t! I can`t!

BANFIELD: So why no charges in this case?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Good evening. I`m Ashleigh Banfield. This is PRIMETIME JUSTICE.

Most kids have been told at one time or another, Go stand in a corner. To some, it`s a pretty harmless punishment meant to teach a kid a lesson. But

you would be hard pressed to find any kid who`s been told to go stand outside at 3:00 AM in a back alley where coyotes reportedly roam freely.

But it`s an even better guess that you would not find a 3-year-old, a 3- year-old punished that way, unless you were in Richardson, Texas, just outside of Dallas.

That`s where Sherin Matthews`s dad apparently said that he did exactly that, sent this adorable little toddler, 3 years old, outside into a back

alley in the middle of the night because he said she wouldn`t drink her milk.

Surprisingly, 15 minutes later, he said that little 3-year-old was gone. So he waited until daylight to check again and eventually five hours later

to call the police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

SGT. KEVIN PERLICH, RICHARDSON POLICE DEPARTMENT: A lot of time elapsed before we were actually contacted. And why was there such a lapse in time?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If he really loved the little girl, why didn`t he call 911 as soon as he found out that the little girl was missing?

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: That was over a week ago. And since then, Wesley Matthews has been arrested for abandoning or endangering his child. She`s still

missing. And tonight, he`s out on bond just as we are finding out that the family`s SUV also went on a mystery drive that night just after little

Sherin went missing.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: We contacted neighbors, seen if they seen anything or heard anything. We`re looking for any type of video.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: They are asking everyone from local businesses to owners of homes in the neighborhood or even further afar if they saw that car. And

maybe more importantly, who was in that car? And where did that car go in the middle of the night?

[20:05:06]Sergeant Kevin Perlich joins me now. He`s the public information officer for the Richardson Police Department. Sergeant, thank you so much

for being with me. What can you tell me about this investigation that we don`t know already?

SGT. KEVIN PERLICH, RICHARDSON POLICE DEPARTMENT (via telephone): We are looking and still hopeful that some day, we will be able to find Sherin.

At this point, we are trying to follow up with any leads that we might have and we are looking for some video or anything that anybody might have that

might be on some of the thoroughfares that lead away from this home.

What we do know is that this car, the family car, left from their residence between 4:00 AM and 5:00 AM that morning, and we`re trying to find out

where the car went during that time period.

BANFIELD: Has anybody come forward with any video that`s helpful?

PERLICH: We have been able to get some video, some tips from various citizens around this particular area. And we are sifling (ph) through

that, trying to make the best efforts as far as determining who`s on that tape and who may be of interest to us. So we`re kind of working our way

through that right now.

BANFIELD: So it`s my understanding -- and correct me anywhere were I`m wrong, Sergeant, please. But it`s my understanding that the father, Wesley

Matthews, was the person who called 911 five hours after this child apparently disappeared. And he would have come in to talk to

investigators, is my guess. Did he ever mention anything about a mysterious road trip at 4:00 AM until 5:00 AM?

PERLICH: Well, that`s what we are working on right now, is some of the stuff that both he and his wife told us on the day that their daughter went

missing. Obviously, they were in for a long period of time. We interviewed them extensively. And then we go back and we try to put

together what they told us as far as what happened. In this particular case, we are very concerned with the fact that this car was not at their

residence during that 4:00 AM to 5:00 AM time period.

BANFIELD: And let me just put this another way. Did you find that fact out after your interview with them?

PERLICH: Well, he told us what happened and we kind of worked from there. That`s the starting point that you have to go from. I mean, initially, we

had to start out as if this was actually a missing child and someone may have abducted her or something else may have taken place to her. And so we

conducted extensive searches by air, with K-9, on foot, door-to-door, looking in each back yard, through the drains ditches, you name it, we did

it two or three times over trying to either prove or dispel what he was telling us.

BANFIELD: So as I understand it -- and again, correct me if I`m misunderstanding this story -- but this man, Wesley Matthews, told the

police she wouldn`t drink her milk, so I punished her by putting her by a tree outside near an alley some 100 feet away from my home at 3:00 o`clock

in the morning, which I don`t understand. Why would a child need punishment for not drinking milk at 3:00 AM? But this is the story I

understand he told police. And that he went out 15 minutes later to check on her, and she was gone.

And instead of sounding the alarm at that moment, he did some laundry. He thought he`d wait until daylight to maybe do a more thorough search for

her, and five hours later, he reported it to the police. No, if that is his narrative to you, did he leave anything else out that you found out

later?

PERLICH: Well, that is correct. And obviously, for the same reason you have concern with that, we have concern with that story. And so we had to

go back and try to rebuild what may have taken place that particular night. And what we`ve come up with in the course of this investigation is between

that 4:00 and 5:00 AM hour, one of the cars, particularly the 2013 Acura, was missing from their driveway.

BANFIELD: I`m going push one more time. Did he tell you that in that interview right away at the beginning? Did he say anything about, In that

time I thought I`d wait until daylight to search for her, I took a little road trip.

PERLICH: What he told us is that he went outside, could not find her, thought he`d wait until daylight came by, he`d be able to look again, and

he went inside hoping that she just might return. And as he waited, he did a load of laundry. When daylight broke, he couldn`t find her, he decided

to call police and that`s been five hours since he first noticed his daughter missing.

BANFIELD: And I guess between your comments, I`m going to read between the lines. You gave me a fact pattern that did not include that mysterious

road trip, which is extremely curious in this fact pattern. What about his wife, Sini, Sini Matthews? And I don`t know if I`m pronouncing it right.

It could be Sini Matthews. You`ve interviewed her, as well. What`s your read on the wife, what she knows, what she has said and whether she knows

anything at all about this?

PERLICH: Obviously, we`ve done extensive interviews with her, as well. We`d like to do some additional interviews with her. Unfortunately, the

attorney that she has does not wish to do that at this particular time. Our understanding is, from what we`re being told, was that she was asleep

during the time that he took the child outside.

[20:10:04]BANFIELD: You were being told that by Wesley Matthews or by Sini herself that she was asleep?

PERLICH: By the two of them.

BANFIELD: And did you feel that the way that was reported to you was believable?

PERLICH: Well, that`s what we have to work off of and that`s what we`re trying to either prove or disprove. And that`s where we`re at with this

particular investigation.

BANFIELD: Let me ask you this. Polygraph -- did either of them agree to, were they asked to take a poly?

PERLICH: By the time we got to the point where we would offer a polygraph, they were no longer cooperating with us.

BANFIELD: So neither one of them is cooperating now. They both lawyered up with separate lawyers, and that`s it for police interviews with these

two, who apparently have a missing child somewhere out there, correct?

PERLICH: That is correct. And so we`re having to work off of the information we were able to gain from them on the initial day that she was

reported missing.

BANFIELD: Sergeant Perlich, do you find it strange when parents have a 3- year-old daughter somewhere out there -- an Amber Alert even went out for her -- aren`t cooperating with the police, aren`t going out in front of the

microphones, saying, Dear God, help me find my baby?

PERLICH: Well, it is of concern, but you know, different people react differently, different cultures. But you know, what we`re trying to do is

put together the facts as they told them, and we`re working from actual facts, and not whether or not we feel it`s appropriate or not.

BANFIELD: OK. So the fact is, is that the charges he`s facing right now, abandoning or endangering a child, nothing more, but there is always the

potential for more. I don`t even need to ask you that. That`s the way the law works.

I want to ask you this, though. In the past, CPS has been contacted about this household. Do you know anything about that?

PERLICH: We do know that CPS has conducted a prior investigation there. The exact details you would have to get from them as far as what their

investigation that was about.

BANFIELD: And do you know about the second child that they have, not now living in that household with them, but instead being in foster care. Do

you know anything about that child?

PERLICH: Yes, the second child was taken into custody by CPS once Wesley bonded out and was going to return to the home. CPS responded to that home

and took custody of the older child.

BANFIELD: Sergeant Perlich, I`m going to ask you to stand by for one moment. I want to bring in Bobby Chacon. He`s a retired FBI special

agent. He joins me from Los Angeles.

Bobby, right now, the FBI is part of this. They have joined this because it is a child of tender years, under 12 years old, the FBI comes into an

investigation like this because of the age of the child. At this point, Wesley Matthews bonded out on abandoning and endangering a child.

Presumably, he`s at home. What is the FBI doing in terms of monitoring his movements, what he`s saying, what his wife is saying? Do you think there

is surveillance? If so, what?

BOBBY CHACON, RETIRED FBI SPECIAL AGENT: I can`t say for sure, but I would say that there`s a high likelihood that they would be surveilling both of

them. The ankle monitor does prevent him from doing certain things, and that`s administered by someone else, by another agency. But I`m sure

they`re keeping a very close eye on them and their ability to travel. Yes, and in addition to that, obviously, you saw the FBI conducted that joint

search warrant. You saw those FBI agents on the -- on the -- on the lawn going shoulder to shoulder, leg to leg, looking for...

BANFIELD: What are they looking for?

CHACON: Anything.

DOBBS: When they go into that home, if they`re guessing, if they`re trying to sort of theorize about what happened to this little girl and maybe she

didn`t wander off, or maybe the coyotes didn`t get her, maybe something happened in the home -- when they walked through that front door, into that

very nice home, what are they looking for?

CHACON: Well, quite frankly, they`re looking for anything. And in the cases that I`ve been involved in with missing children, oftentimes, we

don`t need a search warrant because the parents invite us in.

The first think you want to do is look at the child`s room, right? If it`s an older child, you`re looking if they packed anything or if they wrote

anything to anyone. But they -- in this case, when you`re looking for possible involvement of the parents in a violent act -- I have no doubt

that he probably did do laundry, and that might have been a forensic countermeasure. So they`re probably looking very closely at that washing

machine and the area around it. You know, they`re using luminol. They`re probably, you know, going over where the dryer is and seeing what`s in that

lint basket. They`re looking at everything to see, you know, did he wash clothes? What clothes did he wash? You know, and they`re looking at those

kind of things. They`re looking -- I mean, you`re really looking for almost anything that could have indicated that there was a -- you know, a

violent incident that happened anywhere in the house and where likely that might have happened, where blood might have been, you know, traced and --

so you`re looking for anything like that because clearly...

BANFIELD: Bobby...

CHACON: ... according to the father`s story...

BANFIELD: can you answer me this?

CHACON: Yes.

BANFIELD: I`m assuming the answer is going to be no or I don`t know or it`s not prudent to say. And I`ve got 10 seconds left. Do they record off

of ankle bracelets? Meaning, if you`ve got one of those ankle monitors, are there recording devices in them?

CHACON: Not audio recording, no.

BANFIELD: But otherwise? Video?

CHACON: Well, tracking, but no, no video. There`ll be a tracking...

BANFIELD: Nothing else.

CHACON: Just a tracking (INAUDIBLE)

[20:15:00]BANFIELD: So they can`t surveil his actions in a place where he has an expectation of privacy.

CHACON: Right.

BANFIELD: They can`t be listening in, in that respect.

CHACON: You`d need a court order to do that.

BANFIELD: Bobby Chacon, thank you for that. I really appreciate it.

CHACON: Thank you.

BANFIELD: We`re going to keep watching this story because that little girl -- she deserves justice. And that is unbelievable, so many aspects of it

unbelievable. A punishment at 3:00 AM outside, 3 years old? Doing laundry at 3:00 o`clock in the morning? There`s a lot that doesn`t make sense in

this story. We`re going to keep watching it.

Rape is a four-letter word. It strikes terror in the heart of women everywhere. So why is it that we`ve seen stories this past week about an

alleged rapist offering to do yard work to make up for what he did to his victim, as an apology? Or another guy asking his victim to, Could you just

hold off for a minute calling 911? I`m going to down a couple beers first.

That`s how it was regarded. It`s nothing compared to the Harvey Weinstein story, who`s been ousted after decades of alleged bad behavior. Why is

rape being treated as something naughty and not what it is, a crime?

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[20:20:26]BANFIELD: There are three stories I`m about to tell you that just might make the hair on your neck stand up. And there`s one reason I`m

going to tell you all three. But first, here are the stories.

In Missouri, police say this man raped the mother of a 3-year-old while that child was still in the home. And they say that the victim may have

been handcuffed during that rape. After the attack was over, apparently, the suspect, Russell Burd, according to police, told his victim to give him

a little time before calling 911 so that he could down a few beers before going to jail. That`s Missouri.

So now I want to take you to Florida. In Florida, a teenager is accused of breaking into his neighbor`s house. Apparently, he was wearing a mask. He

tied that mother up and raped her at knifepoint, allegedly. After the attack, the police say the 18-year-old young man, named Timothy Walding

(ph) -- here`s his mugshot -- decided to stay for a while and have a chat, even took off his mask to ease the fear of the victim. The victim says

that teenager then did the unthinkable. She asked -- or rather, he asked her if he could make it up to her by doing a little yard work for her or

maybe a little cleaning.

And we continue to report on Harvey Weinstein, who is arguably legions above middle class and considered pretty damn well educated. He`s the

famed Hollywood mogul behind mega-hits like "Pulp Fiction," "Shakespeare in Love," "Gangs of New York," the "scream" franchise. And I have only

scratched the surface of his success rate.

Dozens of other very successful actresses, like Gwyneth Paltrow and Heather Graham and Angelina Jolie and Patricia Arquette and Rose McGowan and Ashley

Judd, who don`t have, you know, shelves big enough for all of their awards, have accused Harvey Weinstein of sexual harassment and of sexual assault

and of rape, full on. And the list keeps getting longer, too, because now it`s believed a third woman in London has made sexual assault allegations

against Harvey. There`s some work going on in New York, too.

It all seems to expose this culture of complicity and intimidation in Hollywood that allowed Weinstein to carry out the alleged actions. And in

what sure looks like a good ol` boy reaction, a man with a questionable moral compass of his own, director Woody Allen, who faces sexual assault

allegations from his own adopted daughter, and actually married another adopted daughter in his household -- well, he commented on the Weinstein

saga, condemning the actions of Harvey to the BBC, but adding that it was also sad for Harvey, and that he hopes the allegations don`t lead to a

witch hunt atmosphere for every guy in an office who winks at a woman, is suddenly having to call a lawyer and defend themselves. Just let that sink

in for a minute.

That`s the way it is, folks. I don`t need to explain that to Lavinia Masters. She`s a sex assault survivor and an advocate for the Rape, Abuse

and Incest National Network, and she joins me live from Dallas.

Lavinia, you were 13 years old when you were raped at knifepoint by a home intruder.

LAVINIA MASTERS, SEX ASSAULT SURVIVOR: Yes.

BANFIELD: What you had to go through was victimization after victimization after victimization. The final insult being that your rape kit sat on a

shelf for over 20 years and it didn`t even get tested.

MASTERS: Yes.

BANFIELD: If that`s not the biggest shrug to sex assault in our system, I don`t know what is. Is there more?

MASTERS: Exactly. Does there need to be more is the question. No, it doesn`t need to be. That`s enough. That`s more than enough. And frankly,

I`m sick of it. I`m tired of it. I`m tired of how, you know, society views sexual assault and sexual abuse and rape and all of this. No, it

shouldn`t be anymore. You know, I`ve had enough. And we should all have enough.

BANFIELD: So you just heard me tell those -- those stories. You`ve probably been listening all week, you know, to the Weinstein saga.

MASTERS: Yes. Yes, I have.

BANFIELD: And you know, the rest of us say, Ooh! Gosh! Ooh! Terrible! Ooh! Ouch! How could that be? And I wonder if you have that same

reaction. Do you have a different reaction?

MASTERS: My reaction is, good for you young ladies that decided to come forward and speak about it. So many people in power positions, of money or

what have you, they intimidate us. Like you said, they intimidate us. And sometimes not even in those positions. But I`m excited that they finally

came forward and they spoke out. And whatever repercussions happen from that, I stand for them wholeheartedly.

[20:25:06]No, I have nothing positive to say for the Weinstein case. But I -- I -- hooray for my victims who`ve finally come forward and speak about

this.

BANFIELD: So Lavinia, can I ask you something?

MASTERS: Yes.

BANFIELD: You know, as we continue to build these cases and I continue to report on these cases, it`s becoming abundantly clear that a lot of

reputations come before the victim. For instance...

MASTERS: Yes. Yes.

BANFIELD: ... the studio, the university`s reputation, the team`s reputation, the perpetrator`s reputation and his family and the advertisers

and the student and the student`s future before the reputation and the effect on the actual victim him or herself. Do you ever see that changing?

MASTERS: I hope that it changes. The rate that it`s going now, it looks like it will never change. But if we, as advocates and survivors, continue

to speak up and use our voices, it has to change. It has to change. We have to demand change in all of this.

Who cares about their reputation? What about our reputation? What about our lives as victims, you know? And shame on them. Shame on them. You

know, it`s a reason whey they`re hiding the things that they`re doing. So no, no one should be concerned about their reputation and that aspect where

you criminalize and you dehumanize, you know, victims and women and discredit them by taking things by force. No. No. I have no sympathy for

that.

BANFIELD: Lavinia, let me bring in Stacey Honowitz to our conversation. She`s the supervisor for the sex crimes unit for the Broward County state

attorney`s office. She`s also the author of "My Privates Are Private," and she joins me from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida.

Stacey, if I had a dime for every time you and I have been on television together talking about a sexual assault crisis -- you`ve been at it 30

years, and guess what? So have I. And so I am surprised to see the comments coming out of even a Woody Allen. And if you`ll permit me for a

second, with all of your 30 years of expertise, I want you to sort of ruminate over these comments that I`ve got to share with our audience.

Allen called the situation about Harvey Weinstein in an interview to the BBC, and I`ll quote him, "tragic for the poor women that were involved.

Sad for Harvey that his life is so messed up." He went on to say that he didn`t want it to lead to that witch hunt atmosphere where every guy in an

office who winks at a woman is suddenly having to call a lawyer to defend himself. And then he continued to say, "You do hear a million fanciful

rumors all the time, and some turn out to be true and some, many, are just stories about this actress or that actor."

I guess he didn`t get treated too well by the press yesterday when that came out, so he issued a clarification today. Here`s the clarification.

He said in a statement, "When I said I felt sad for Harvey Weinstein, I thought it was clear the meaning was because he`s a sad, sick, man. It was

surprised it was treated differently. Lest there be any ambiguity, this statement clarifies my intention and my feelings."

Thirty years on the job, my friend, 30 years on the job, were you surprised at all to see that it was sad for Harvey? Once again, the reputation of

Harvey was an issue?

STACEY HONOWITZ, SUPERVISOR, SEX CRIMES UNIT, BROWARD COUNTY: Well, I mean, of course, when everybody saw that statement from him last night --

you really need to consider the source because I don`t know if many people remember that he himself was the subject of an investigation. And so I

wasn`t surprised to see a fellow, you know, person who`s been accused reaching out and saying that he feels sad and he doesn`t want to be, you

know, a part of a witch hunt because he believed himself that he was part of a witch hunt.

But this is the mentality, this is the society that we live in. And this is why -- you asked that pointed question, why don`t women come forward?

What takes so long? This is exactly why because although he`s the one that made that statement, I`m sure there were a lot of other people that felt

that way and just knew that it wasn`t the proper thing to do in the climate of what`s going on.

Women are victimized. They`re victimized the first time when the action takes place, and then they`re revictimized because they`re made out to be

liars many times. And so that`s why you have women that say, I`m not going to put myself through it. I`m not going to be the one that is made out to

be the defendant. And in many cases, in all the years that I`ve been doing this, I`ve had many cases where the person might start the process, and

then as things proceed, they begin to say, I can`t do this. It`s too...

(CROSSTALK)

HONOWITZ: ... in these cases.

BANFIELD: That`s the prevailing, you know, theory and wisdom and feeling for women who want to report sexual -- and men who want to report sexual

assault, but the reality, the statistics show are 2 and 10 percent of accusations are actually false. So that`s amazing, that between 90 percent

and 98 percent are true, if those statistics bear out.

Hold on for a second. If anybody knows a thing or two about this type of trauma, it`s Kay Smith (ph) because she was 5, 5 years old when she was

first molested in a movie theater. And then when she was around 10 years old, she was molested by a family friend for two years. And then, if you

can believe it, in her 20s, she was raped.

She is the founder of ReClaim Global and she works with victims and perpetrators of sexual violence. She is live with me in Atlanta. Kaye,

thank you so much for being with me.

The notion of a Harvey Weinstein, as opposed to these other two that I just told you about, the one who said, I`ll do some yard work to make up for it,

as though that somehow equates or hang on for a second, I have a couple beers, because I need them at this moment, before you call 911.

To me, it is a -- it`s a symptom of a society that doesn`t really teach everyone that this is a crime that is sometimes punishable by more than if

you kill someone. Why is this?

KAYE SMITH, FOUNDER, RECLAIM GLOBAL: Thank you, Ashleigh, first for having me on your show. Let me say this. I have worked with in this field since

1995, and I probably helped over 2,000 victims of sexual assault. There`s many levels of rapists or sex offenders or pedophiles or things like that.

In fact, I`m writing a book on this right now.

When you deal with people such as Weinstein, who has a position of power, it`s a whole new level of control that he takes over his victim. Let me

tell you the first mindset that not all -- that likely most of his victims have had.

They have left him, groping them, feeling them up, touching them, going as far as he possibly could, and they have left that room thinking, what in

the world happened to me? How could this be possible?

And it takes so long for a victim to process that through her brain. She just starts suppressing it. For example, when I was molested at five years

old in a movie theater, I didn`t tell anybody about that. I was five. Until I was 45. I didn`t know how to talk about it as a child.

Then you progressed to when I was molested by friend of my family at the age of 10 to 12. He was doing God awful things right under the nose of my

parents, my siblings, my aunts and uncles, and everything. But I didn`t know how to talk about it. The only thing I thought of as a child was, why

doesn`t he like me? Why doesn`t he like me? Layer on top of that.

And think of a woman, 23 years old, and she comes home, an intruder was in her house, and I`m violently raped. So, I have experienced the spectrum of

people who molest children, rape women and everything.

But, I never brought this up until I was 45 years old, to know one. I suppressed it. I ran forward in my life as fast as I can, ignoring it. This

is what a lot of victims do of sexual assault. They just build a life around it.

Quickly, I was a self-made -- I was married. I was raped at 23, a baby at 24, divorced at 25. By 32, a self-made millionaire, had my own ad agency.

For 10 years, got my doctorate masters with honors and blah, blah, blah.

And then one day, I decided I can`t run from this anymore, which is what we`re seeing now and I am so grateful for it in the United States. We

cannot have silence anymore. Every victim has to come forward.

BANFIELD: Amen.

SMITH: Every sex offender, rapist has to pay.

BANFIELD: Amen.

SMITH: And I want to add this on the Weinstein case because this book that I`m writing, the forerunner to rape is sexual harassment. And that person

who sexually harasses someone will go as far as he thinks he can go. The problem is, he comes from a very twisted mindset. It`s dark, it stink, and

it`s sheer evil. And America has to come to grips with this --

BANFIELD: I think what you are doing right now is helping America come to grips.

SMITH: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Kaye, I thank you so much for telling your story.

SMITH: Thank you, Ashleigh. Thank you.

BANFIELD: For coming out with this -- for going on television with your story because the more this happens, the less that hopefully will happen.

Kaye Smith, thank you so much for being on.

SMITH: You`re welcome.

BANFIELD: I also want to thank Stacy Hannah (ph). I want to thank Lavinia Masters (ph) for talking about this and it is not over.

A shocking law and order moment that happened in a Mississippi courtroom. Take a look at this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, found the defendant, Quinton Verdell Tellis, not guilty of capital murder.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: The only problem is, that was not the jury`s verdict. How did that happen?

[20:35:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: I have covered a lot of courtrooms. I have sat in a lot of courtrooms. I have watched so many verdicts, I can`t even count. But the

was a verdict today in Mississippi that truly blew my mind more than O.J.

Because in the case of Jessica Chambers and the horrifying death that she suffered, she was virtually burned alive, Quinton Tellis, the man on the

right of your screen was charged and he was tried. And the jury came out today

[20:40:00] with something I can only describe as absolute chaos. When they came back, they actually returned two, two verdicts. And it didn`t take

long for the first one to create a big ole stir. Here it was.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Please read the verdict.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, found the defendant, Quinton Verdell Tellis, not guilty of capital murder.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: In a request to cancel?

JOHN CHAMPION, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, PANOLA COUNTY (voice-over): Yes, sir. We request the jury to be polled.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: All right.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Not guilty. That would be very, very upsetting for that family. I could have said it would be like clockwork that a family would fall to

pieces. Remember O.J. and the Goldmans and how they fell to pieces hearing not guilty? It is devastating because we have protections in this country

called double jeopardy. You can`t be tried again. That`s it, done.

Not guilty means you walk out that door, you cannot be tried again for that murder. Here is the problem. That was absolutely not what the jury decided.

That was not what they deliberated over nine hours and agreed upon. That was not what they marked their jury ballots with. What they marked their

jury ballots wit turned out to be something completely different.

So, an hour later, guess what happened? They came out and they announced this. Have a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We, the jury, cannot unanimously make a verdict of guilty or not guilty for the defendant, Quinton Verdell Tellis.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Oh, that`s totally different, yes. That is totally, totally different. That means you got another crack at this guy. That means we

couldn`t come to consensus for or against this verdict, but you can go ahead and find another jury, if you want. So that is a very big deal.

Therese Apel is a reporter for the Clarion Ledger. She was in the courtroom for that moment or should I say (INAUDIBLE) moments. You know what? This is

an easy question. WTF. What happened there?

THERESE APEL, REPORTER, THE CLARION LEDGER: I think that`s kind of what we all felt because, you know, you had the first time they came out and wanted

to know, if we can`t decide unanimously that he`s guilty, does that mean that he`s not?

So, the judge reiterated again that you have to have a unanimous verdict. What the jury instructions actually said was you have to have a unanimous

guilty verdict, but I don`t think it specified that also applied to a not guilty verdict.

So, I believe that the confusion was that they thought that if they didn`t all think he was guilty, that he was, by default, not guilty.

BANFIELD: Well, that`s a problem. That`s a big problem because, you know, you are supposed to have instructions when you go back. These are average

people. They are mechanics and hairdressers. They are everything but usually lawyers and judges who know how the mechanicings of a courtroom

work.

Shame on the system for not helping those people to understand how significant that was. Real quickly though. Is this make up correct? Is this

-- five black jurors said not guilty. Two black jurors said guilty. And five white jurors said guilty. Is that correct?

APEL: Yes, that`s what we got as we listened to them when they polled the jury.

BANFIELD: Well, that`s a big ole racial split right there. Let me bring in defense attorney and CNN legal analyst, Joey Jackson. He joins me now. I am

always upset when I see that. I am always upset when I see things almost exactly going down racial lines. For the white folk, it went right down

racial line.

JOEY JACKSON, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY, CNN AND HLN LEGAL ANALYST: It absolutely did. And back to your point about polling the jury, let`s take

it all the way back.

BANFIELD: Oh, yes. By the way, really important if you are a litigator, poll your jury.

JACKSON: And let`s talk about what that means. So now they come back. That is the jury, right? They say they read the verdict and it`s not guilty.

It`s over, right? But then they ask for the jury to be polled. That is the attorney, right?

BANFIELD: They wanted the jury to be polled.

JACKSON: Now, polling a jury means going one by one to the individuals and saying, is that your verdict? And then surprise, Ashleigh, it wasn`t the

verdict because seven of them said guilty. Now we get to the issue of the racial lines.

Think about O.J. and, of course, the O.J. jury which, right, said that he was not guilty. A lot of America would beg to differ. How many of those

jurors, 11 African-American, right, having a point of view that, look, there`s a problem with the system. There`s a distrust to the system.

Perhaps justice is not justice after all. I think to this case --

BANFIELD: One of those -- one of those jurors, a black juror in the O.J. articulated that in a fantastic documentary that came out that this was a

screw you over Rodney King.

JACKSON: A hundred percent of years of injustice.

BANFIELD: Yes.

JACKSON: But if you go to the racial composition and the make up,

[20:45:00] you have the African-American jurors here apparently saying, wait a second, she said it was Eric, Eric, Eric who did it, right? Derrick

or Eric who did it. This guy`s name is Tellis Quinton, so that is a discrepancy. He has an alibi defense, and so race matters, whether we want

to believe it or not.

BANFIELD: I thought the case was a stinker, period. I just thought the evidence was stinker material. I don`t think it was conviction worthy. To

see five whites all say guilty troubles me greatly. But to just see such division, it troubles me even more for another --

JACKSON: I get it.

BANFIELD: Yes. Joey, hold on for one second. I got that shocking video. I want to bring that if I can. Remember the cheerleaders on video brought to

tears by a coach who forced her and others into very, very painful splits? So the D.A. looked at the case and guess what? Like the banner says, no

charges. How is this not criminal?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

(SCREAMING)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

[20:50:00] (COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: I`m about to show you a video from a high school cheer leading camp that is disturbing and difficult to watch, not just because of the

pain that has been captured, because that`s the reason so many of these videos go viral, but also because it`s a grown man who was behind it, and

also because he won`t be charged for what you are about to see. Take a look.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, no.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Make it worse --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I can`t! I can`t!

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: That`s a teenage girl being forced to do the splits. Her teammates forced to help her as an adult coach holds her down, ignoring

those cries. That coach is Ozell Williams, who reportedly called this exercise a "rite of passage." But the mother of this girl in the video said

it looks more like assault to her.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KIRSTEN WAKEFIELD, CHEERLEADER`S MOTHER: Somebody had attacked my little girl and people sat around and let it happen and nobody stopped them.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So, the mom set out to stop him. At first confronting the coach directly about his methods. But to the mom, it did not seem that the guy

thought there was anything was wrong, but that more was like a tradition.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAKEFIELD: Well, I first brought it up to the coach, and he said she`ll be all right. It`s just a little war wound.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And that little war wound to her meant war, totally. She filmed at least eight of the girls on her daughter`s team being forced to do the

same rite of passage, the splits. Listen. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: No, no, no.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: And she decided to share the video that she took with local news stations. Of course, it went viral. And then Coach Williams lost his job.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WAKEFIELD: Hopefully, by doing so, that will prevent one more child from being injured under the hands of this man.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: So, here is what`s strange. Tonight, the coach`s job is the only thing that he lost. Authorities say it does not appear to be enough

material there for criminal charges. If you are shaking your head, I am, too. So, I would like to ask a few questions to the Denver district

attorney.

Beth McCann joins me live now. Thank you so much, Miss McCann for agreeing to be on the program. I am a little confused. I`m reading the release that

your office sent out. In your own words, you say things, like, the injured cheerleader, painful to watch, the technique should not be used.

This type of technique has no place in high school cheer leading coaching. It looks to the naked eye that that is extraordinarily painful and being

forced. Why is that not assault in your eyes? It`s on video.

BETH MCCANN, DISTRICT ATTORNEY, DENVER (via telephone): If we just have the videos and we can limit the evidence at the trial just to the video, it

would be one thing. But there are a lot of inconsistencies, a lot of differing accounts among other members of the team, other members of the

cheer squad about the incident and their voluntary participation in it, and what the coach had talked to them about.

BANFIELD: OK, you know, I`m just going to jump in there, because they`re voluntary participation. They are kids. Everybody knows that a kid can`t be

a volunteer in a participation of sex if somebody -- if they are under age. They are kids. This doesn`t look voluntary at all. They are screaming in

pain and it shouldn`t be happening, even if they want to be on the team. Why is that different?

MCCANN (via telephone): Well, my ethical and moral obligation as the district attorney is to file a case when I believe a member and the staff

believe that we can actually prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

There`s a lot of evidence and a lot of statements, a lot of physical evidence that you don`t have access to. And when you look at all of the

facts and all the statements by numerous members of the cheer leading squad, many of whom are in the videos,

[20:55:00] who describe what happened in a different way, and we looked at what kinds of issues are going to be raised during the trial, we have to

look at it in a broader perspective.

BANFIELD: I get it. I just want to get Joey Jackson to comment on that. Real quick. I have 10 seconds.

JACKSON: The problem is I think you have to prosecute. I think there`s a deterrent value to be set here. To the naked eye, it certainly looks like

he is not acting intentionally, he is acting recklessly or certainly in a negligent way.

BANFIELD: I heard that. Reckless was the word. I wish I had more time for this conversation. Miss McCann, thank you for joining us. Joey Jackson, as

always. We`ll be right back right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: Thanks for watching, everybody. My thanks to Joey Jackson, as always.

[21:00:00] You are amazing. Physically amazing.

JACKSON: Thank you.

BANFIELD: We are going to be back tomorrow night at 8:00. Hope you will join us at "Primetime Justice." "How It Really Happened: Casey Anthony"

starts right now.

END