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CNN NEWSROOM

Tulsa Dentist Under Investigation; The Latest in the Jodi Arias Trial

Aired March 29, 2013 - 11:00   ET

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


ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The bigger of those free-floating ice sheets was just off the capital with 181 people stranded on top of it.

Another one was near a resort town and, just as of moments ago, one person was still out on the ice, but not because they couldn't get to him, because he refused to get on the rescue helicopter, instead preferred to wait for a boat.

So far we don't know of anyone who has been hurt, but certainly an intriguing story, ice floes breaking off with people stranded.

Also making news, the acting mayor of Brunswick, Georgia, is in jail this morning. He's under arrest in connection with the murder of Antonio Santiago, that 13-month-old baby who authorities say was shot while in his stroller with his mom.

James Brooks, Sr., is accused of obstructing the investigation. Brooks allegedly wouldn't let a county investigator talk with the mother of one of those teenagers who were charged in the killing.

Plenty of people fear the dentist with absolutely no rational reason, but this story that we're about to tell you is about a dentist whom the state of Oklahoma probably wishes more people would have feared and would have never let within a mile of their mouths.

Dr. Scott Harrington is accused of running a practice so foul, so disgustingly unsanitary, that he may have exposed thousands of patients to hepatitis or HIV.

My colleague Ed Lavandera is on the story. He's live with us in Tulsa.

Ed, the head of the state dental board is saying that when inspectors went into this place, they were, and I'm quoting them, "physically sick."

How much are we finding out about what they found?

ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, all these investigations or these visits to this dental practice you see behind me have happened over the course of the last two weeks.

I'll give you just some of the highlights in the complaint that they have filed against Dr. Scott Harrington, and some of the things that they had found inside -- rusted and unsterilized equipment, reused needles, non-sterile gauze, open vials of drugs, and even one drug vial that had expired in 1993.

And as you mentioned, Ashleigh, when the investigators on the couple of visits that they have made me and speaking with the assistants that worked with Dr. Harrington, when they left here, they said that they felt sick, and they described the practice here as a menace to the community.

So very serious allegations that are being levied against this dentist here in Tulsa.

BANFIELD: Ed, he's in Tulsa, but other patients there other states and other communities have undoubtedly visited his clinic. He's been practicing for 36 years and apparently without any complaints or previous issues.

But what are the authorities doing to find all of his previous patients or at least the ones who might be at most risk?

LAVANDERA: Well, that is the interesting thing. Like you say, more than 35 years of practice, nothing on his record.

But now what authorities are most concerned with and really pushing on is trying to get in contact and sending letters out from the records they've been able to compile from inside the dentist's office to some 7,000 patients that have visited here over the course of the last six years.

And they picked those six years because, according to the health officials, the assistants that have worked with him had spent about that much time with him, and so they were able to kind of document that far back.

So they're trying to get those people to get out and get tested and for possibly being exposed to infections of hepatitis B and C as well as HIV.

And they're offering free tests to people, those people who are getting those letters, but that's the real push now.

It's not just people here in the Tulsa area, but we understand that there are several patients that are from out of state, as well.

BANFIELD: And, Ed, I've just got the complaint that the Oklahoma Board of Dentistry has made public and, inside the investigation, it's pretty remarkable to find that there is an admission here among two of his dental assistants that they were actually performing IV sedations, actually inserting the needles into patients' arms and reinserting needles into open vials to sort of re-inject -- I mean, this is remarkable stuff.

Could there be some criminal activity coming their way?

LAVANDERA: Well, there's no question this could definitely lead to criminal charges. And what's interesting is that the investigators in that report, it also documents how the investigators were trying to find the certifications and the background of these assistants to kind of see where they were trained, if they were certified to do the kind of work that they could do.

And in that complaint, they were unable to find the assistant certifications, so they were not legally supposed to be doing that according to these health officials.

So not only does Dr. Harrington face possible criminal charges, although none have been filed yet, but the people who worked with him as assistants also face possible criminal charges.

None have been filed so far, Ashleigh, but this is something health officials are already this contact with prosecutors here in the Tulsa area.

BANFIELD: A whole mess of trouble that that office could be in.

Ed Lavandera, thank you for that.

We're also going to talk about some of the actual legal implications in this story, not just the criminal, but also the civil implications, too.

That's coming later in this hour with our legal duo, Sunny Hostin and Paul Callan.

Other top stories now, North Korea's Kim Jong-un approves a plan to prepare standby rockets to hit U.S. targets.

That move comes after those American B-2 stealth bombers flew from Missouri to South Korea to carry out a military exercise yesterday over the Korean Peninsula, just about 50 miles from the North Korean border.

As the ground continues to rumble and crumble, people north of Seattle will have to decide real soon whether they should stay or whether they should get out.

A massive landslide has put several homes there at risk. One home has already been lost.

Homeowners are telling CNN that they moved here for the view and now they're having to move things out. This was not the view they say they had anticipated.

OK. This is from the creepy file, folks. Take a close look at this man. Do you see anything strange? Ordinary guy? Just maybe a little animated, maybe not animated enough?

Let me tell you. He's 100 percent animated. This is not a real live human being. This is a graphic animation, so incredibly realistic, developed by the company called Activision, and revealed at a gaming conference just this week.

You can look for this face or a face that's sort of like it coming to a computer game sometime soon, but take a close look at the blinking and the squinting and the emotion, the mouth movements, all of these thing, every single part of this is animation. It has nothing to do with an actor or any video that's been shot. Oh, that is so creepy. Could have fooled me. Wow, Activision.

All right, bombshell testimony from a defense expert who stepped up onto the stand in defense of the woman on the left, Jodi Arias.

She says the man on the right, Travis Alexander, who is now dead, says that e-mails indicate he had a history of abusing women.

We're going to look at what those e-mails really said and whether the level is something the jury is really going to seize on.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: It looks like the Jodi Arias murder trial is having an effect on some other inmates when it comes to how they eat their meals.

We reported this to you yesterday. They used to get two meals a day somewhere around 12 hours apart.

That was given to us straight from the Maricopa County sheriff's office and now that office says we have to update the information we gave you because, about two weeks ago, trial inmates started getting an extra snack with a hoagie roll and a two-ounce cup of peanut butter.

So all trial inmates and not just Jodi Arias are now getting food three times a day, not twice. That amounts to 3,000 calories per day. They are also allowed to buy snacks from the commissary like candy and soda and crackers.

We reported to you yesterday the information that they gave us was that they were splitting her breakfast in two and making it into breakfast and lunch. And she'd been getting some headaches, she says, because of it, possibly.

In any self-defense murder case, a defendant had pretty well have a good compelling reason for killing. In the Jodi Arias case, she might need even more than that.

Somehow she has to convince the jury that she was so abused or so afraid of her ex-boyfriend, Travis Alexander, that is he had to stab him 29 times and shoot him in the head and run off and pretend like nothing ever happened.

So her defense has put a domestic violence expert on the stand to discuss the level of abuse Jodi Arias says she suffered as a kid among other things.

And I want you to hear Alyce Laviolette's testimony. You can hear her voice on the clip that you're about to hear in this tape. But the ladies you're initially see are Jodi's family memories in the gallery listening.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) ALYCE LAVIOLETTE, DOMESTIC VIOLENCE EXPERT: I learned that in Jodi's family, there was a certain amount of physical discipline, some which I would consider went over the line, and some that didn't.

When you leave welts on a child, and that was information I was given, that they were hit with spoons.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: "In Session's" Jean Casarez and Beth Karas, our correspondents, live in Phoenix, who have been covering the trial every day, join us.

The domestic violence expert said that Jodi told her that she had agreed to all of the kinky things that Travis Alexander had demanded because of, quote, "loyalty and giving up what I want for people that I love." This is something that she said that had to do with her family.

I guess the only question that I have at this point, and, Jean, I'll start with you, lots of people suffered corporal punishment and worse, but they didn't take to the level of reaction that Jodi Arias had.

That's got to be a tough translation for a jury, I'm guessing.

JEAN CASAREZ, CORRESPONDENT, TRUTV'S "IN SESSION": I think what Alyce Laviolette is testifying to is that there is no formula, there is no mold that goes from abuse victim to abuse victim, that there is this continuum of abuse, that it begins with a honeymoon period and then it goes to some emotional abuse, but you're vested at that point so you stay in there.

And remember, she is looking at e-mails and text messages and journal entries for much of her testimony. And in regard to emotional abuse, there are some entries from Travis Alexander that one could say was emotionally abusive toward Jodi.

Now, she's going to have to rely upon Jodi for the physical abuse aspect, but the whole point here, Ashleigh, is the state of mind of Jodi Arias. It's not Travis.

And although people are saying they're trying to create Travis as a very bad person, but the point is what is in Jodi's mind.

And the defense wants, Ashleigh. The defense wants, when this case gets to the jury, an instruction saying you have to look at the state of mind of Jodi in that bathroom as a victim of domestic violence. That's what they want the jury to have to look at.

BANFIELD: OK, so, Beth Karas, jump in here because we have two issues that the domestic violence expert is answering to.

First and foremost is the kind of violence that she said she suffered growing up and then the kind of violence that she said she suffered with Travis Alexander. I want to go back to the growing up part because I grew up in the '60s and '70s and the wooden spoon was part of everyone's vernacular or the belt or the brush or anything else of that ilk.

And I just have to wonder how many jurors -- I'm not sure it's easy for you to tell, but how many jurors look for be about my anyone and have memories that that's just standard operating procedure and it doesn't make you a killer?

BETH KARAS, CORRESPONDENT, TRUTV'S "IN SESSION": Well, it is an older jury. There are 18 of them and six will be randomly selected as alternates, and we don't know what the final deliberating jury will be like.

But I've spoken with a number of people around the courthouse, people who saw that testimony, and they said it sounds like what I experienced. It's not so bad.

So maybe there will be some jurors that that are resonate with, they'll be on the same page with you. You know, the whole point about Alyce LaViolette's testimony is as to explain the overkill in the bathroom. What you just said having to -- did she have to kill him the way she did 29 stab wounds. It's really five of those wounds are defensive wounds and 24 are slices and stabs inflicted by her. But the other five to his hands. And she will explain rage. She will plain explain that Jodi Arias, I think, had this rage, this emotion that was coming out and she just couldn't stop. Almost couldn't stop. The jury, though, has to believe that she was truly abused otherwise this whole defense will fall apart.

BANFIELD: Oh, my lord, I have covered cases where we've talking the kind of abuse you can't imagine a child could even physically survive let alone emotionally survive and this doesn't seem to rise to any of those levels. But I want to go back to the defense witness, the domestic violence expert, who was on the stand talking about e-mails that she read through between Travis Alexander and some of his friends that seem to indicate he had some major issues with women. Have a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

LAVIOLETTE: They advised her to move on from the relationship that Mr. Alexander has been abusive to women. There was information about Mr. Alexander calling Miss Arias a skank and then acting like it was a joke.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: Jean Casarez, again, if we're talking about the level of abuse that would lead to the kind of rage that Beth just described, being called a skank in an e-mail or being treated by somebody who thinks that's appropriate language. I'm looking for the abuse here. Help me. Help me help you, Jodi. How much abuse, true abuse, are we hearing from -- so far from this expert?

CASAREZ: Well, I agrees if has to do with how it is assimilated into the person of Jodi. And there was definitely name calling toward Jodi from Travis in e-mails and calling her very, very bad things. The letter, though, that this witness got to summarize yesterday, actually it was critically important for the defense because Chris and Sky Hughes they are a couple that were like family to Travis Alexander.

They had known him for five years. He's the one that they turned to, he turned to them and she got to summarize a letter that they had written to him saying you've got to let Jodi move on because you're not treating her well. You don't acknowledge her in public. You don't show her affection. And if my own sister wanted to date you, I would say no because of how you treat women. The jury heard that yesterday. And you know what that does, that corroborates Jodi Arias on the stand. Many of the things she said.

BANFIELD: I just keep coming back talk to me about serious abuse when you plunge a knife into someone 25-28 times and shoot them in the head. Now, I want to hear some serious abuse, because my Twitter account is meaner than those e-mails. Ladies, stand by for a moment.

Jodi Arias is not the only person notorious at this point. The spotlight has also shifted to prosecutor. His rising popularity may even now be having an affect on the trial. We'll talk about it in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: The Jodi Arias trial has gone on since January. And like many other high-profile trials, the longer it lasts, the more popular it seems to get. And it's inevitable. Even the attorneys end up hitting celebrity status. Take the prosecutor Juan Martinez. All it took was for him to go out that front door of the courthouse just one time and, bam, look at that, people crowding around wanting pics.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I want you to sign my cane.

JUAN MARTINEZ, PROSECUTOR, JODI ARIAS TRIAL: Really?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I do.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: This morning when we got here, we got to the elevator and he was standing right there. And I was just kind of like shocked. And he just looked at me and said hi and I was like, hi, it's so nice to meet you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BANFIELD: There you have it, Martinez joins a list will of attorneys who reached newfound fame. Remember the O.J. Simpson case? Who can forget Johnny Cochran, the late great Johnny Cochran. And in the Casey Anthony case, Jose Baez to the left, Cheney Mason to the right, surrounded by camera crews. It was a madhouse every day they came into that courtroom. A little more recently, as well, Drew Peterson, his attorneys came out and here is how they did their news conference. Lined up in sunglasses. I want to bring back "In Session" correspondent Jean Casarez who is there every day. In fact, the fame factor got under the skin of the defense attorney yesterday so much so that he even hauled you, you Jean Casarez, into court and had you on the stand. I looked up and I saw you and I thought what on earth has this trial come to. What had the really come to that you had to be pulled in?

CASAREZ: I was called by the judge to the stand so that's why I went up. It all happened very quickly and the defense attorney stood up because he was concerned and he has a right to be concerned that a juror could actually see the public just in awe of the prosecutor. And he misunderstood something that I had said believing I said that I had witnessed a juror looking and watching as Mr. Martinez signed autographs. I did not say that. And so he wanted to question me. And the judge said fine with me, Ms. Casarez are you in the courtroom. And so I was sworn in and I testified. I've never testified before. And it's very serious. When you're up there doing it, you know how serious it is. I knew that he misunderstood and was not correct and I was happy to correct what he thought I had said.

BANFIELD: It's a very sobering experience. Everyone who does it will tell you there is something very different about take stand when take you that stand and all of a sudden you face everyone. Just quickly, I have to wrap it up there, but not before I ask you this, this essential rock star status that is being ascribed to the prosecutor in this case, is it having any effect otherwise on the trial or are we okay to move on and continue our road down this path (ph)?

CASAREZ: I think they polled all the jurors yesterday after court. So I assume we're fine. We will see on Monday. But you know, there is a trend in this area when I covered the Conrad Murray case in Los Angeles, there would be applause for the prosecutor on the entire ninth floor. And I was very concerned that a juror could hear this because they were on the ninth floor. So there seems to be a trend in this direction.

BANFIELD: You can keep them segregated for so long, even try to sequester them, but ultimately it gets hard to shield them from everything that's going on. Jean, thank you. Nice to see you out there. You did an excellent job.

CASAREZ: Thank you.

BANFIELD: Jean Casarez joining us live from outside the courthouse in Phoenix.

I want to ask you this question. What would you do if you found out that you could be among several thousand people infected with a deadly disease just from having gone to see your dentist? This is happening in Oklahoma right now. What are the legal rights involved for those who might actually be infected and how about the dentist? Answer those questions in a moment.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BANFIELD: We've been talking about that really awful health scare in Oklahoma. Health inspectors there saying a Tulsa dentist may have exposed thousands of his patients to HIV and hepatitis all because of very unsanitary practices in that building. And we found out a couple hours ago that the doctor, Scott Harrington also allowed unauthorized and unlicensed employees to put IVs in the patient's arms. Now 7,000 patients could be at risk of developing potentially life-threatening diseases. I want to bring in CNN's legal analyst Sunny Hostin and CNN legal contributor Paul Callan. Let me start with you, Paul, no criminal charges filed yet, but is this an inevitable thing?

PAUL CALLAN, CNN LEGAL CORRESPONDENT: I think it is given the large number of patients involved and serious nature of the potential injuries. I mean people could contract hepatitis, there's a small risk even of transmission of AIDS. So this is a serious matter and certainly a number of criminal statutes have been violated.

BANFIELD: So let me jump off that, Sunny, and, gosh, when you're talking about 7,000 potential victims, how do you -- let's just say one of those people has a disease, let's say it's HIV. How do you know that patient contracted it at that dental office because it's been years and years apparently in the making?

SUNNY HOSTIN, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: I think anyone that's tried medical malpractice cases, or prosecuted these kinds of cases, there is a way to be able to tie the disease or infection to the practice. And I suspect and I agree with Paul that this is something that is likely to happen. Let's face it, this has -- everyone is talking about it, it's almost shaken the dental industry. And the fact that this dentist did treat a high population of people with diseases, that happens all over the country. But the fact that they just weren't doing what they were supposed to do in terms of the conditions within which they practice dentistry it's just --

BANFIELD: Oh. Have you read this thing? It's disgusting. I mean, the complaints?