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LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

South Carolina Police Shooting Case Examined; Reviewing Boston Marathon Bombing Trial; Previewing "Somebody's Gotta Do It". Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired April 8, 2015 - 12:30   ET

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


[12:30:00] ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: We're about to show you what could be some very damming evidence against the officer, he may have actually intentionally dropped his taser close to the body perhaps in an effort to boost his claim that there was self defense that the person had grabbed his taser as he radioed and to dispatch.

So, let's take a look at this one element you're going to have to watch very carefully, we have a highlighted picture of his hand as something dark is sort of tossed forward, this is after Walter Scott got has been shot, this is after the officer approached Walter Scott on the ground, left Walter Scott to return to where the shooting began and pick something up.

He returned to Walter Scott and there you see what happened next. Something flies out of his right hand, something long, something that looks dark. It is not for me to guess what that is because that is terribly unclear video.

But I want to bring in Dan Schorr and Joey Jackson on the stand. It's just uncomfortable to see it, it looks like the taser.

DAN SCHORR, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Right. And the officer statement after this before we, you know, if there's a video tape is that the suspect took his taser...

BANFIELD: Grabbed.

SCHORR: And that's just...

BANFIELD: Grabbed.

SCHORR: ... grabbed his taser.

BANFIELD: Very different. Look it means he's ran off...

SCHORR: Right, right, right. Grabbed his taser.

BANFIELD: Grab means we made an struggle for a grab.

SCHORR: Right. But obviously putting the taser near the body would be consistent with his statement. Now, we may not know what was dropped but law enforcement investigating it they will know what was dropped because they will investigate this and they'll be able to see what was found at the scene and what's consisting with what's on video. So, there will be an answer to this that will be used in the prosecution.

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: This goes to...

BANFIELD: So, Joey Jackson well that is ugly and uncomfortable. Sometimes people do things after a terrible crime because they're scared, because they know they've done something wrong and their intent isn't to pin the crime on someone else but it's out of fear. That's the defense that many attorneys will bring up in court.

JACKSON: Or in the alternative they do it because they want to cover up what they did. And what you can argue on the prosecution certainly will, is that this evidence is a consciousness of guilt.

You knew what you were doing, you knew what was wrong, you didn't render aid or other assistance at that time instead you were concern with one person that was yourself.

And out of that concern you walked over to get the taser to pick it up to make it as Dan said consistent with your story. What you put in that police report before you knew there would be a video out there that would contradict what you said. And that's how it will be used, this is very powerful.

BANFIELD: So, what we're trying to figure out is all these actions after the fact and what they say as Joey said may show a conscious of guilt. And in a case where it's murder you can bet every moment is going to be litigated with video in a court room. Dennis Root if I can bring you the issue of both of these officers, there's a second officer who shows up at the scene. And the two of them together are it seems processing what's happening. But at the same time like Joey Jackson just said not one of them is rendering aid.

And yet their police report in fact several police report all say the same thing that CPR was administered and that aid was rendered to the victim. Let's show the videos so that in real time our viewers can see exactly what was happening as Mr. Scott lay face down where it is impossible to perform CPR.

There you see officer Slager picking something up off the ground and what appears to be holstering it on his left side. Dennis Root you know something about holstering of tasers, what does this look like to you if your expertise?

DENNIS ROOT: Well, you mentioned two different things, and first thing that you -- that's I'd like to address is the taser weapon that when you slowdown the video at the very beginning, to me as somebody who's trained, you know, law enforcement across the United States in the use of the taser as a weapon system. Let's slowdown video to me looks like the taser being left out by the roadway.

And now here it is at the end of the video the officer after apparently dropping something that he went back to location and retrieve. Now he's dropping something that when he picks it up in the video you can clearly see him placed it on his duty rig belt.

Well, what that tells me is that's the taser weapon which means it made it from the roadway edge back to where the victim lying.

So, him picking that up and placing it on his duty belt is really indicative to me that he's picking up a weapon that is supposed to be 25, 30 feet away from him. So, that was...

BANFIELD: So, that was the duty belt. So, tell me about this duty belt because on the right hand side you can see his weapon is holstered. Is it typical for officers to have tasers holstered on their left hand side where he's actually working outside the preview of this camera?

[12:34:58] ROOT: Absolutely. Most agencies will require the officer to do cross draw techniques with the taser, so that they don't have weapon confusion. This way you have the firearm on the right side or left side which ever the dominant hand of the officer is. And he place the taser weapon on the opposite side, so that they can unintentionally draw the taser weapon instead of their firearm of vice versa.

So, when I look at the video and I see the firearm on his right hip and he's picking something from the ground and placing on the left side upfront. That would be the common location which the taser weapon would be carried.

And if all of this comes true, that through the investigation they actual reveal is its offensive that he made these efforts.

BANFIELD: All right. And I just want to be real clear as we're watching all of that video at no point with anyone performing CPR, maybe a pulse was checked, maybe vitals in someway that's hard to determine. But it is clear as day that no CPR was being performed yet that's what came out on the police report and the sound of ambulances is within hearing distance on that tape and no CPR is being performed.

Joey Jackson, I appreciated it, Dan Schorr and Dennis Root thank you to all three of you.

Coming up next his brother's death at the hands of a police officer is on a video and the entire world can see it and they are watching it. You're going to hear it from Walter Scott's family in a moment and why they say he was no threat to any police officer.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:40:00] BANFIELD: Shocking video of a police officer fatally shooting a fleeing suspect, shooting him in the back and it's even more shocking when you listen to the 911 tape of the incident.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MICHAEL SLAGER: Help to dispatch, shots fired, subject is down. He grabbed my taser.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Yes. That is the dispatch conversation. The tape also includes a description of the subject's wounds to his chest, chest and right side ending with the word unresponsive.

Walter Scott was a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard. His family says he did not have a history of violence and would not have tried to grab the officer's weapon.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ANTHONY SCOTT, VICTIM'S BROTHER: We can't get my brother back and my family is in deep mourning for that. But through the process of justice have been served. And I don't think that all police officers are bad cops.

But there are some bad ones out there. And I don't want to see anyone get shot down the way that my brother got shot down.

We've all seen the video if there wasn't a video would it have been would we know the truth, or we will be just going what was reported earlier. But we do know the truth now. And I just asked that everyone just continue to pray for my family that we've get through this because we do need prayer.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Both the mayor and the chief of police in that community arrived at the Scott family home earlier today. And this is the result of the pictures of them greeting the family.

We expect to learn much more about this tragic incident when they hold a news conference and that is expected in fewer than 20 minutes right at the top of the hour.

CNN is going to be covering this live.

I have some breaking news that's coming to us out of Louisiana at this our hour as well and it concerns the case of the murder suspect Robert Durst, that wealthy air of a New York City real state family.

A grand jury in that state has now indicted this man, Robert Durst on two weapons charges. One of the charges is possession of a firearm by a felon. The second is possession of a firearm while in possession of a controlled dangerous substance.

You may have already heard of these charges but now its official he's indicted in that state. He's currently locked up in New Orleans in that state, that's where he was arrested last month. But and it's a big one. He's been charged with murder.

A murder that happened in 2000 of a friend in Los Angeles and there still the whole deal of an expedition problem and actually going to California to face murder. He's a lot of illegal problems ahead.

Coming up on two years since the horrible deadly bombing at the Boston Marathon, today, the jury is deciding the faith of one of those bombers, the one who survived. We are on verdict watching it could come at any moment. You'll want to be here when it does.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:46:12] BANFIELD: Ten hours and counting, that's a long time. And its how long jurors in Boston have been deliberating the faith of the accused Marathon Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.

This is there second day at this. A guilty verdict is not going to come as a surprise to anyone. Tsarnaev's own attorney admitted at the beginning and at the end of the case that she -- that he pulled off this attack with his brother. But that his older brother Tamerlan may have done a lot more.

Three people were killed, hundreds of others were wounded. Dzhokhar Tsarnaev is facing 30 charges, 17 of which carries a death penalty.

Our Senior Legal Analyst Jeffrey Toobin joins us live right now from San Francisco and Legal Analyst Mark Geragos is live in Los Angeles. It's good to have both of you.

You and I -- both of you and I have covered lots of trials where we have tried to get inside the head of jurors while they're at deliberations. And wonder what they're thinking and why they're taking so long. It's a terrible question to ask why they're taking so long. Except in this case when his own attorney said he did it what do you think could possibly taking so long for jurors who have to click yes or no on the box. Mark I'll start with you.

MARK GERAGOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think the jury verdict form, if you take a look at it is 32 pages, it has subparts to it, it says complicated a verdict form as you will see even in the civil case and they're going through it and they -- and the way that it's worded I think their questions today were spot on because it just throws in there aiding and abetting inmates throws in their conspiracy and not exactly the best common sense use of the language.

So, I think that is part of the issue. And then I think also this portends well for the defense in the penalty face because if their focus on the aiding and abetting and the conspiracy and how expensive that is, that's precisely what Judy Clarke is going to be pointing to in the penalty face. What he did not have as expensive role.

BANFIELD: So, Jeffrey Toobin, I get it look, I've seen verdict forms that are close to hundred pages before, this is 32 pages. I expect that it might have been as high as 60 pages. But on each page it is very simple. It's either guilty or not guilty and every single one of these charges includes an aiding and abetting or a conspiracy.

And let's not forget that his attorney Judy Clarke said he did it, he did it, he did it to every single charge. So, I am still a little confounded at how long it might take a jury to check yes or no on 30 -- well I'm not even going to say 32 pages because there's a cover page and there's a signature page. So, 30 pages. Is this a surprise to you?

JEFFREY TOOBIN, CNN SENIOR LEGAL ANALYST: No, Ashleigh I mean I really would quarrel your premise that this is a long time. This is a complicated form. Each, yes each count requires just a yes or no answer, guilty or not guilty. But the judge was very careful to say you have to find each element of each crime.

The two questions we've gotten from the jury suggest a very conscientious group. They understand the stakes involved. I still think we're dealing in a high profile cases with the legacy of the O.J. Simpson jury which came back in just a day and a lot of people criticized him for that.

BANFIELD: No, Jeff it was under three hours. It wasn't even half a day.

TOOBIN: Well whatever, I mean it was just over it was just -- it was a day of deliberation. And jurors don't want to be seen as behaving reckless especially in a long trial. They are -- they're taking their time. And not also disagree with Mark, I don't think you can draw any conclusion about how this the penalty face will look based on, you know, just introduction...

BANFIELD: Well I love the fact and I'll just wrap with this that they sent out these questions about, you know, can conspiracy pertain to a sequence of events. And is there a difference between aiding and abetting. It says to me they're wondering if conspiracy in aiding and abetting basically means yes on all of these things because it's been admitted. He aided and abetted but the brother did a lot more.

[12:50:06] I'm going to talk to both you as these progresses and hopefully we'll have something more media to discuss and a decision in the next phase on our next go around.

Thanks to you both Jeff and Mark.

In now just a couple of minutes we expect to learn a whole lot more about the fatal shooting when unarmed men by a South Carolina police officer and that's because this is a live picture and those microphones are set to go hot. At the moment that the North Charleston city officials including the mayor and police chief are going to walk in, occupy those chairs and tell us the latest facts as we know them live from South Carolina.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: He's back: Mike Rowe, he's back in the saddle tomorrow night because it's the next season. It's the premier of somebody's gotta do it. And Mike is finding out the hard way what it's like to be a professional bull rider.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

MIKE ROWE, CNN HOST, "SOMEBODY'S GOTTA DO IT": How hard consorting bulls be, compared to riding on or fighting one.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Dude the last one is by you take it Mike.

ROWE: All right, Yeah.

[12:54:55] UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There the last one by you. OK, shut it (inaudible) there you go good job. Slam it. Next. Slam it on him. OK, Mike could just following with the gates when it comes live.

ROWE: Heads up there Toro.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Yeah, following.

ROWE: But of course just because your jobs not hard doesn't mean you can't get hurt.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hang on to the gate because if you let this go. Sorry about that.

ROWE: It's OK.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: That hurts too.

ROWE: Yeah that hurts. I mean it really hurts. Yeah.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Ouch, that does hurt. Mike Rowe is here bull riding is actually bull fighting when you enter the ring.

ROWE: Bull riding technically and literally is the riding of a bull. Bull fighting in this case is technically the distracting of a bull.

So, when the bull rider falls off of the bull, the bull fighter is going to distract the bull thereby keeping the rider from being driven into the ground.

BANFIELD: So make no mistake you are not a matador?

ROWE: No, no. And the costume didn't fit and there were a whole lot of issues with that. That's me really trying to profile three guys. Frank (ph) is his name, there's Jessie (ph) and there's Cody (ph). And these guys are the unsung heroes of this entire sport.

And what they do is somewhere between ill advised than insane.

BANFIELD: Yup.

ROWE: But, yeah they get trampled everyday. They get gored, it's ridiculous.

BANFIELD: I was a regular attendant of the Calgary Stampede in the rodeo there.

ROWE: Yeah.

BANFIELD: And I thought it was dangerous to be in the stand. Let alone go in to the ring as a clown or anything else for the dirt (ph) for that matter.

ROWE: Pound for pound.

BANFIELD: You agree to this?

ROWE: They are the toughest guys I know. Yeah but look I...

BANFIELD: What kind of parents do you have anyway?

ROWE: My parents?

BANFIELD: Yeah.

ROWE: Generally disapproving.

BANFIELD: Was the real parents on the (inaudible) that are shown?

ROWE: Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah.

BANFIELD: So, it was really your mom and dad.

ROWE: No, no I was -- we were joking before. The only time I've ever seen my folks anymore as if I hired them. But these conversations and these promos I swear they all actually happened we just recreated them. And...

BANFIELD: Ah cute.

ROWE: Yeah, yeah.

BANFIELD: Peg and John.

ROWE: Well it start soft my dad (inaudible) is on the T.V. because I told them I'd be on and, you know, something happened and I wasn't there, he got very upset. So we just brought that to life and so it goes.

BANFIELD: So, if I don't wrap the show right now it's going to push your show off the air for its premier. So, I'd better say goodbye.

ROWE: Story of my life.

BANFIELD: Come back anytime.

ROWE: You missed me didn't you?

BANFIELD: It's a journey job. I know.

ROWE: Don't say it.

BANFIELD: I know I can't say it anymore. That's no longer the show.

Somebody's gotta do it, it airs Thursday at 9:00 double thumbs right here on CNN. Thanks for coming back.

ROWE: See you.

BANFIELD: We love you here.

ROWE: I love you too.

BANFIELD: So the viewers. All right so speaking of viewers I know you've been watching the top of hour we got a live news conference coming there's a live picture in the North Charleston South Carolina. A police office charge was a murder in the shooting death of that unarmed man.

Wolf Blitzer is my colleague who was going to take this news conference live for you and his going to start right after a quick break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)