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LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD
Las Vegas Shooter's Attorney Claims Self Defense; Impure MDMA Resulting in Hospitalizations; CNN to Air a Special Regarding Bill Cosby Assault Allegations; Silicon Valley Sexual Discrimination Trial Examined
Aired February 24, 2015 - 12:30 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
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ASHLEIGH BANFIELD, CNN HOST: A lawyer for a Las Vegas teenager who's accused of shooting and killing a mother of four, apparently in a road rage incident, says that his client was actually fearing for his own life. Eric Nowsch's attorney is also claiming, and this is strange that police allow the 19-year-old to smoke marijuana during a stand off before he was arrested and then went ahead and questioned him while he was high.
The lawyer is also denying that the road rage was actually anything that led to Tammy Meyers' death. He's saying something completely different than that. CNN Sara Sidner sorting all of this out and have the latest details in this very disturbing shooting.
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SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: When Erich Nowsch walked into the courtroom, Robert Meyers was right there to look into the eyes of the teenager charged with killing his wife and mother of four.
ROBERT MEYERS, TAMMY MEYERS' WIDOWER: I'll be here every court witness went up.
SIDNER: The Meyers have said a lot about what happened the day Tammy Meyers was killed. The case initially build as a road rage incident with a stranger that turned deadly. But then it turned out the victim and suspect knew one another, a fact the family knew but police say only found out the day of the arrest. Robert Meyers telling CNN he didn't think it was worth mentioning to police because they did not suspect Nowsch was directly involved until the day he was arrested.
Now for the first time we hear a few details of the shooting suspect's side of the story. His attorney Conrad Claus sat down with us.
Was this a case of road rage?
CONRAD CLAUS, ATTORNEY FOR ERIC NOWSCH: We can say with some confidence there was no road rage.
SIDNER: Can you tell me anything about, what he's saying happened?
CLAUS: What we know is that a story kept changing, that it was an illogical story. There's a sequence of illogical and untruthful stories that come out one after the other that just lead you to the inescapable conclusion that you cannot depend upon what the Meyers family is saying occurred that night.
SIDNER: The Meyers family says it is the defendant who is lying, not them. Police are still investigating the case. The prosecution says this is not a simple case, but a case of murder nonetheless.
STEVE WOLFSON, CLARK COUNTY DISTRICT ATTORNEY: You know, I don't want to get into the specifics because it would take me about 30 minutes. But it is not a straightforward case. It is not a garden-variety run of the mill case. We all know there are certain nuances to this case. But at the end of the day, this young man is charged with a senseless, stupid act of murder and we intend to prove it in court.
SIDNER: Are you going to say that this is a self-defense? Is Erich Nowsch going to say "I was defending myself?"
CLAUS: Yes.
SIDNER: Which indicates he was there, I mean, he was in that car at some point. Did he indicate that he was afraid for his life?
CLAUS: Yes, he was afraid for his life.
The suspect's attorney said someone pointed a gun out of the window at Nowsch before anyone started shooting. Robert Meyers did admit to going over to the suspect's house the day before he was arrested but says he nor his son threatened anyone.
Defense attorney Conrad Claus says his client did get death threats and argues the Meyers' story that appears in the police report doesn't add up.
CLAUS: What I'm saying is that for one reason or another, according to Brandon Meyers, Tammy Myers asked Brandon to forego calling the police and to go out with her to look for somebody, somebody that we now know they knew was Erich Nowsch.
We know that later, after the police were questioning Brandon as to why they went out looking for Erich, that the reason that he supplied after the fact, after his mother was dead and there was gunplay involved, that was started because they went out looking for Erich, the story they're providing after the fact is because of this fake road rage situation. There will come a time when we are going to be a bit better prepared to present an evidence-based version of these events.
SIDNER: Sara Sidner, CNN Las Vegas.
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BANFIELD: So his client, the guy he's talking about, Mr. Nowsch, is charged with a murder, an attempted murder and assault and firing a gun from a car. Tammy Meyers was killed on February 12. So we'll keep you updated when more details come out about this very strange case.
So, here is a line a lot of kids are tossing around these days. Have you seen Molly? It isn't cute, it's deadly and it's about these deadly pills, drugs, fun little highs that lot of kids are doing. They're synthetic party drugs and though they may sound harmless, two college students are fighting for their life right now after a whole bunch of them ended up in the hospital.
We're going to tell you the real danger of these synthetic drugs after the break.
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BANFIELD: So at last check, four people were still in a Connecticut hospital today. Two of them in critical condition after some really bad reactions to a drug, you may have heard called Molly. This happened at Wesleyan University and a total of 10 students from that university and two visitors were hospitalized early Sunday after a party at a co-ed residence.
Molly is this cute name that refers to a pretty bad little ingredient normally found ecstasies MDMA but the fed say that Molly isn't so pure anymore. It's primarily a toxic mix of Chinese-made knock off drugs that ravage the central nervous system, not so cute, right?
More now from my colleague, Jean Casarez.
JEAN CASAREZ. CNN CORRESPONDENT: The real priority at this point is two-fold. First of all those that remain hospitalized here at Harvard Hospital, their health continuing to get better. And also it is the police investigation, Middletown Police Department is looking at to try to understand why students from Wesleyan University went to a party and suddenly that next day were rushed to the hospital, some in critical condition.
Now, the police department tells me the investigation should take some time because many students aren't able to talk right now, they've got to have time to convalesce, but when I asked what evidence they are collecting, the response was we have a lot of things.
Now, as the investigation continues we can tell you that it really came to light Sunday morning when many started calling fire EMS with symptoms throughout the day on Sunday, ambulances picked up students, took them into the hospital, those in critical condition here at Hartford Hospital were actually might have act in.
Some of the students were able to verbalize that they took Molly. So that's when the testing began, it was a urinalysis test to see what chemicals were there. Further testing is done to aid law enforcement right now the Connecticut State crime lab to see exactly what was in the pills that were taken.
We do know it will take time, but the ultimate question is, who distributed and/or sold drugs to students that is thus responsible for this? Now I spoke to the elected State Attorney Peter McShane who told me he was aware of what is happening but at this point what he is concerned about those students that are so seriously ill. Jean Casarez, Hartford, Connecticut. Back to you.
BANFIELD: Oh, OK. Thank you Jean and, you know, here's the worst part. These kids think it's just so pure. In a letter to the student body, Wesleyan's president writes and I'm going to quote, "Please, please, please stay away from illegal substances. One mistake can change your life forever." It is just so clear. Thank you.
Silicon Valley, mecca of modern technology, right? But when it comes to women's rights, some say it's still in the Dark Ages.
The Legal View on the latest sexual harassment suits, next.
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BANFIELD: You may think of Silicon Valley as a place for a lot of forward-thinking people working on the latest and greatest technology, but some of the biggest companies in the techie promised land have been accused of sexism. Companies like Tinder, Zilo has faced serious allegations of female harassment. But most of the cases don't make it into court because the parties settle beforehand.
But CNN's Laurie Seagall is about to explain the trial that's getting underway this week to be a landmark case for gender equality in Silicon Valley.
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LAURIE SEAGALL, TECH CORRESPONDENT: Sexism in Silicon Valley in focus once again. This week, a trial again, the plaintiff is Ellen Pao, she's a former partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers, it's a prominent investment firm. They're known for backing titans like Google, Facebook. And now she's the CEO of Reddit.
But she's filing suit against her former employer saying she and other female colleagues experienced discrimination. The complaint detail sexual harassment, a loss of business opportunity then compensation due to gender and failure of management to act on her complaint. Pao claims that she face career-altering retaliation after ending a romantic relationship with a colleague.
She says she received less compensation than men and less shares from investment. She also says she was excluded from dinners, important ones, because another partner claimed women "kill the buzz." In another incident Pao says she received an inappropriate gift from a senior partner on Valentine's Day. Pao is seeking $60 million in damages.
In a statement to CNN, Kleiner Perkins says the suit is completely without merit and has no basis in the law. It says the firm has a well-established record of championing women in the firm, portfolio companies and the overall industry. We look forward to clearing our name in court, a spokesperson tells us. In a final brief, Kleiner Perkins questions Pao's credibility and sights poor performance reviews and an inability to lead others.
So, at the heart of this trial, the treatment of women in Silicon Valley is such a sensitive subject in light of multiple lawsuits and continued criticism over a male-dominated culture. Companies like Tinder, Zilo, they face serious allegations of female harassment.
And here's the thing, most of these cases are settled before they can stay out in court, but this trial could highlight one of the increasingly pressing issues in Silicon Valley, gender.
Laurie Seagall, CNN Money, New York.
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BANFIELD: So I want to bring in CNN's legal analyst Danny Cevallos to talk about the significance of this case.
OK, so that lady is a Princeton undergrad, a Harvard law graduate and a Harvard MBA. She is no dummy. How are you then as the company going to fight and say, you know what, she just wasn't a good employee that's why they didn't like her.
DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Yeah. As breathtakingly stellar as her credentials are, it's the actual at work reviews that are going to be important to this case because one of the defendant's responses is that they can prove a non-discriminatory reason for her negative employment decisions, then they're in the clear.
So, just because she alleges discrimination doesn't necessarily mean, that discrimination occurred and the defendant company is going to do everything it can to show in it's H.R. file that number one, she was reviewed and number two, that she didn't get stellar reviews. And if she didn't, then they're going to hang on to that as the reason why she was - and they won't use the word discriminated against, but why she didn't achieve what she wanted to at her job.
BANFIELD: Yes, she's in California and for her that is a good thing, why?
CEVALLOS: It is. Well, in every state you can file a discrimination claim both federally and under your state law. And it is works out in California, the state laws are somewhat more favorable to plaintiffs than the federal laws. And I suspect from a tactical perspective that's why this case landed in California State Court and not in federal court.
BANFIELD: And when you say favorable, you don't mean they like the plaintiff better, it's more like no caps on the awards.
CEVALLOS: These are minor distinctions but they can be huge, if there are caps and awards they can be massive differences when we were talking about these dollar amounts and in this case, there are some every serious damages at stake. So that to me is an indication strategically why they may have filed in state court. BANFIELD: OK. We'll keep an eye to see if magically things settle before the court case.
CEVALLOS: It usually do.
BANFIELD: It isn't that funny how that...
CEVALLOS: Statistically, they usually do.
BANFIELD: Especially when you talk about sex. Yeah. OK, Dany Cevallos, thank you for that, appreciate it.
And also if you want to take a closer look at this, just visit CNN Money and click of Tech. So, thought you had heard it all about Bill Cosby and the scandal, not even close. Stay with us.
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ASHLEIGH: Some breaking news to bring to you in a story may have thought was over but it has been simmering for three years.
The Trayvon Martin case, the George Zimmerman investigation, the federal investigation, because the Department of Justice is about to announce that it will not pursue any civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in the killing of Trayvon Martin.
Remember, he was at trial charged with murder, acquitted of murder but the investigation continued on a federal level for almost three years and a month now and that's the news that we're about to get courtesy of our Evan Perez and (inaudible) in Washington D.C. reporting that the DOJ is not going after the civil rights charges federally, George Zimmerman presumably in the clear for now.
Other news, I want to tell you about over the last several months, dozens of women have been accusing Bill Cosby of sexual assault andsyou might be wondering why this is coming out now decades after the alleged crime.
For Alisyn Camerota found the answer to that question and she found a lot more too in her special report No Laughing Matter: Inside the Cosby Allegations, and it airs tonight, just want you to be advised though that this excerpt contains some pretty graphic sexual content.
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ALISYN CAMEROTA, CNN ANCHOR: Last fall, the legendary Bill Cosby was re-staking his claim as an A-list superstar at the age of 77.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: What Cosby was really looking at a career rejuvenation.
CAMEROTA: Thirty years after his NBC blockbuster. The network was cooking up another Cosby sitcom. Netflix have planned to stream a comedy special and a 500-page biography was a New York Times best seller.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And then, it hits.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Bill Cosby, under fire.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: New fall out, one project after another getting evolved from embattled comedian, Bill Cosby is now accuse of multiple sex assaults.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: And once it hits, where does it ever hit.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: And he offered me a large white pill.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: The last thing I remember I was -- I blacked out and Cosby mounting me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He drugged and raped me.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: You are such a perverted freak.
CAMEROTA: Bill Cosby has not been charged with any crimes, yet he has gone from one of America's most revered entertainers to one of its most reviled.
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CAMEROTA: We should also mention that Bill Cosby has denied our request for an interview but his lawyers all along have always denied all of these allegations, they have called them saying that they're innuendoes, they are fabricated lies and this is just media vilification.
BANFIELD: But they're not innuendoes, Alisyn they're -- anyway those are suggestions that something's got to happen. These are flat out accusation and yet the people who go to the shows, they just seem to brush this all off like this is silly.
CAMEROTA: Well, it's interesting at his comedy shows of which he is still booked around the country, he does encounter protesters outside calling him names and with signs.
Some of the venues have canceled, some have been postponed but yes, Ashleigh you're right there are still some comedy shows that he's doing where he is met with standing ovations and applause.
BANFIELD: I don't even know if we know the answer to this question but how women yet now have we had come forward?
CAMEROTA: At least two dozens, so at least 24 women have come forward and said, you know, really...
BANFIELD: It happened.
CAMEROTA: Not only did happen, they have vivid memories of it and tonight, you know, one of the questions that's always have been how could this happen? How could he have gotten so many women if he's alleged to do what they say he did and tonight its Versant will show you methodically exactly what they say happens and sometimes it's very graphic detail.
BANFIELD: And what drives me bananas is the corroborative evidence as well but the statue for limitations that, you know, ultimately just don't allow anything to prevail otherwise. I can't wait that because we need sort of the thread to tie this all together. Ali you have a dong day.
CAMEROTA: I do.
BANFIELD: And you're back tomorrow morning 6:00 a.m. (inaudible) is working late in showbiz. But also, this special tonight, don't miss it, it's No Laughing Matter inside the Cosby Allegations 9:00 Eastern tonight.
Thanks everyone for watching. We got a lot of breaking news that we're following here on CNN, so stay tuned as my colleague Wolf starts right now.
