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LEGAL VIEW WITH ASHLEIGH BANFIELD

Fighting Violence in US Cities; North Carolina Police Shooting Trial; Colorado Jury Deliberates Holmes Sentence; Severe Weather in the Midwest. Aired 12:30-1p ET

Aired August 3, 2015 - 12:30   ET

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


[12:30:09] FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: The president's plan also requires individual states to meet specific standards of carbon emission reduction based on consumption levels.

And another American is under fire for killing a lion in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwe government named a Pennsylvania doctor as the client of a safari operator arrested on illegal hunting charges.

The hunt took place back in April and no charges have been filed against the American hunter. This comes as Zimbabwe seeks to extradite a Minnesota dentist for killing the famous lion, Cecil.

All right, the numbers are very alarming and highlighting, a very huge homicide problem in Baltimore.

So far this year, the city has had 191 killings, 45 last month alone. Baltimore had not had 45 killings in one month since 1972 and until this year, had never had two months with more than 40 killings each.

And how many of those killings were solved? Well, according to the Baltimore Sun, 36 percent.

Baltimore is by no means unique. Shootings and homicide are up by double digits in many big cities among them, New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and New Orleans. And today, several big city police chiefs are comparing notes at a conference in Washington where a problem called B-FED is likely to come up. That's a new collaboration between a variety of federal agencies and Baltimore police.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KEVIN DAVIS, INTERIM COMM., BALTIMORE POLICE: We expect to enjoy successes with B-FED. We know there are federal law enforcement partners bring tools to bear that we necessarily don't enjoy. Federal assets and other federal investigative techniques, we think will help us close more homicide cases.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: All right, I'm joined now by CNN Correspondent Boris Sanchez in New York and CNN Law Enforcement Analyst and Public Safety Director in DeKalb in the County, Georgia, Cedric Alexander. Good to see both of you.

BORIS SANCHEZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good to see you.

WHITFIELD: All right so Boris, you first. You know, and I should note that two more people were killed in Baltimore in the first two days of August now. And we're also understanding that this B-FED actually entails a lot. Help explain.

SANCHEZ: It does, Fred, you mentioned two people killed in August. That doesn't account 11 others that were shot in total, the numbers certainly eye-popping.

B-FED is an attempt, the collaboration between Baltimore police and federal agencies. Five federal agencies sending two agents apiece that's the ATF, the FBI, the DEA, the U.S. marshals and the secret service all providing assistance to the Baltimore police department.

And we know the ATF is helping by checking firearms and shell casings, collecting evidence to kind of crack these cases.

The FBI is helping intelligence gathering. We should find out specifically what the roles of those other federal agencies will be later on today. There's a press briefing scheduled for this afternoon, some things to look for, how long this effort is going to last and what the ultimate goal, what success will be defined as. Fred?

WHITFIELD: And then Boris, I wonder, I think a natural question is, you know, is there a connection between the rising homicide rate in Baltimore and what happened in the days of Freddie Gray's death? You know, from anger about what happened to some police officers saying that they weren't going to police as vigorously. Is there a connection?

SANCHEZ: We've heard from several people in Baltimore alleging there is. One, Ed Norris, a former police commissioner in Baltimore was on CNN earlier today. And he said it's not something people talk about openly but he believes that police officers in Baltimore don't believe that leadership has their back and that lack of moral that lack of enthusiasm is hurting their investigation.

WHITFIELD: And then Cedric, homicide rates are up not just in Baltimore but we're talking New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago even New Orleans. Is there something, is there a common threat here?

CEDRIC ALEXANDER, CNN LAW ENFORCEMENT ANALYST: Well, the thing we have to keep in mind, Fredericka is that there are going to be similarities in terms of crime in a lot of major cities across this country that we can look at...

WHITFIELD: What do you mean?

ALEXANDER: ... whether it's lower unemployment, where there's poor education, whatever the case may happen to be.

But here is the thing we have to keep in mind. Each one of these cities are very, very different in its own way. In one city, a lot of the homicides may be related to domestic violence and others that may be related to robberies or other heinous crime.

So what they have to smartly do and think about, how do you look at each one of these cities and they have to scientifically measure the crimes and the types of homicides that occurring in each one of these cities. And then in order -- once you identify that, then you'll know how to attack it. So yes there are similarities and many adversities across America. But there are differences as well, too.

The other thing I want to mention as well, when you start talking about Baltimore and did the Freddie Gray case have some impact on officers not policing there, there's going to be a variety of thought in regard to yes it has and no, it has not. But here's really important piece that we have to keep in mind, regardless of what other technical assistance that's being entered into Baltimore with the feds being there, you still got to have that community part of the crime- fighting piece.

[12:35:33] That is clearly a very, very important piece of it all. And that's going to be what still appears to be the heavy lift for Baltimore is building those relationships and getting those officers back, reengaged it, if they're not engaged and using technical and investigative assistance that comes from your feds. All of that got to be working together.

WHITFIELD: Do you think that federal assistance, though, is going to be a great help?

ALEXANDER: Yes, I think it's going to be a help. Absolutely. They bring a lot of technical assistance, they bring a lot of investigative assistance but it has to be managed well by the leadership there in that police department as well too.

But here again is going to take that federal piece and is going to take the community as well. And officers that are on the ground doing the work everyday on the street to patrol those areas would keep high visibility as much as you can. No one piece is going to work by itself. All of it has to be working collaboratively with each other.

WHITFIELD: OK, Cedric Alexander, Boris Sanchez, thanks to both of you, appreciate it.

ALEXANDER: Thank you for having me.

WHITFIELD: All right, in the next hour, at CNN, we'll be hearing from police chiefs from Chicago and Washington, D.C.

They are meeting today, as I mentioned, in of the nation's capital to discuss gun violence across the nation.

All right, also up next, a North Carolina Police Officer on trial for the shooting death of an unarmed man who was just asking for help after a car crash.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:40:35] WHITFIELD: A suspended Charlotte, North Carolina police officer is on trial today and these are pictures from inside the courtroom where Officer Randall Carrick is fighting a charge of voluntary manslaughter for the September 2013 killing of Jonathan Ferrell, the former Florida A&M University football player who was unarmed and simply asking for help after his car crashed.

Officers were called to the home where Ferrell had knocked on the door seeking help after the wreck and was mistaken for a burglar.

(BEGIN AUDIO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I need help.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Where are you at?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: There's a guy breaking in my front door.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: There's a guy breaking in your front door?

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yeah, he's trying to kick it down.

(END AUDIO CLIP)

WHITFIELD: Police say when officers arrived, Ferrell ran towards them. They tried to stop him with a taser and then Officer Carrick fired 12 rounds hitting Ferrell 10 times, killing him.

In our New York Bureau, HLN Legal Analyst Joey Jackson and CNN Legal Analyst Danny Cevallos, all right, good to see you again.

All right Joey, you first. The dash cam video is expected to be shown to this jury. And if it shows what police admit happened, that a taser was first used, how might this help the prosecution?

JOEY JACKSON, HLN LEGAL ANALYST: Good afternoon Fredricka, always depends upon how evidence is spun.

Remember the prosecution is attempting to show that the officer's actions were not reasonable. Why? Because you have the United States Supreme Court that says that officers have to act off of split seconds, right? They have to make judgments in a span of a second that could be really causing someone to die. And so if the officer is deemed to have acted in a reasonable way then of course, it's favorable for the defense.

If the prosecution could show through dash cam, through independent witness testimony that of course, the actions were unreasonable and clearly the officer acted in a way that was not justified, there was no imminent threat that was posed, then of course, it favors them greatly.

So it depends upon how this whole thing is spun. The last point of course is that the defense is trying to point out that the victim, they're putting the victim on trial, that his actions were unreasonable, that he exercised bad judgment, that he had, you know, there's was some argument about marijuana and other things. They have to tread lightly in this regard but they're putting him on trial. So it all depends upon how the prosecution uses this advantageously.

WHITFIELD: And so Danny, this case was heard by two grand juries, the first grand jury did not return indictment but due to a technicality -- not enough jurors on the panel, apparently -- the state brought the case to a second grand jury which is now led us to this point of -- an indictment of Officer Carrick.

So how will that impact the unfolding of this trial?

DANNY CEVALLOS, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: It may not affect the trial so much as it might affect an appeal down the road. A defendant is entitled to a jurisdictionally valid indictment. What is that mean?

Well it means that as a general rule, you have to follow all the rules of the grand jury, the number of members, the procedure and otherwise.

So in this case -- well, for example, in New York if a grand jury dismisses an indictment, then the prosecutor cannot resubmit, he can not shop around and find another grand jury unless he gets permission from the court.

In this case, it's a little different because the prosecution is saying that there was a problem with the grand jury, the number of members present, the defense said "No there was no problem," this is basically a grand jury dismissal and this prosecutor shopping for a second grand jury.

The court disagreed but the reality is for defendants there -- it's more important they preserve that argument for appeal down the road in case there is a conviction.

So that's an important thing to raise. The defense did a good job in raising it. But it's not too surprising at least in my experience and I'm sure in Joey's experience that the court will allow those things to go to trial but the defense did score in the sense that it preserved an issue for appeal if the worst-case scenario happens and that is conviction.

WHITFIELD: And so Joey, do you think this is a case in which Carrick would testify to kind of justify his actions especially if other police officers were witness too, and the use of the taser, you know, was used but now he would want to really share his side of the story?

JACKSON: It's a great question Fredricka. And it's one that we struggle with as defense attorneys over and over. Should we put our client to testify?

Now keeping in mind the backdrop of this case, the jury in this case, it could very well be that they say, look, an officer hasn't even been indicted in 30 years and that must be some indication, right, in this particular jurisdiction that maybe they give great deference to what we do.

[12:45:06] So as a result of that, perhaps it makes sense for the defense, Fredricka, to put the officer on the stand and say "I really was in imminent fear for my life, I had to fire 12 shots, I was acting as an objectively reasonable officer would act under similar circumstances. I certainly didn't mean to take his life but he left me no choice."

And so that's an open question and I'm sure as the trial progresses the defense will be struggling with the decision of whether to put him on the stand or not.

WHITFIELD: All right, Danny and Joey, thank you so much, appreciate gentlemen.

JACKSON: Our pleasure, have a great day today.

WHITFIELD: And well do.

All right, and this just in now, breaking news in the movie theater shooting trial in Colorado, the jury has just reached a verdict in the sentencing phase.

That story next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

WHITFIELD: All right, this breaking news out of Colorado. At a courtroom there, jurors deliberating the fate of James Holmes have just reached a verdict in the sentencing phase of this trial. The same jury that convicted Holmes of the Aurora theater massacre in July of 2012 is deciding whether he deserves life in prison without parole or if the trial should move on to the final sentencing phase where the death penalty is still on the table.

Our Sara Sidner joins us from outside the courthouse there in Centennial, Colorado.

So, when might we know about this verdict?

[12:50:01] SARA SIDNER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We should hear in about two hours to about 2:30 Eastern standard time we're expecting to hear what the verdict in phase II will be and we should explain a little bit about this because a lot of states do not operate the same way as Colorado.

There are two phases of the Death penalty portion of the trial. This phase was about mitigating factors and those are thing that would technically help James Holmes to only be sentenced to life in prison.

We were listening to some of the testimony during all of that, but what basically the jury had to decide today was whether or not the mitigating factors, if they do not outweigh the aggravating factors against James Holmes, then this trial will move on to phase three of the trial.

And then in phase three, we expect to hear victim impact statement. It should be extremely emotional if that's the way this jury had decided to go. That means that they have not fully determined whether or not he will get the death penalty but they have determined that he will get life in prison.

So we're going to be moving forward to find out what the jury's decision is. If their decision is that the mitigating factors did indeed outweigh the aggravating factors, then we will have our answer and this trial will be over. We will find out then.

The least he can get, the least James Holmes can get is life in parole -- in the jail without parole. So that is the absolute least. And, of course, the worse he get is the death penalty, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: OK, and when we talk about those mitigating factors, we're talking about the circumstances that are being entertained under which there is a belief that the penalty is considered too harsh. So we're talking about testimony from his family members, say for instance, who might say that, you know, he did have some mental illness, right? And that he should not be giving the death penalty.

SIDNER: That's right. And also from, you know, psychiatrist basically determining that he does have serious mental illness. His mother was the last to take his stand -- the stand from this family and she was extremely emotional as you might imagine on the stand.

You can hear some of the things she was saying which it seemed as if she was blaming herself, thinking if maybe she done things better if she taken him on more vacations, if she been less stern that perhaps this wouldn't have happened so she was reflecting a lot on herself. But ultimately said, you know, "I had no idea that he was even talking to a psychiatrist about the possibility of killing people." She said "I just didn't know that -- and if I had have known that, I would have done something. I definitely would have done something."

So you're hearing the pleading for his life, really, from his mother and his father.

And, of course, the big thing the jurors are weighing is his mental capacity. They have already decided that they believe he knew the difference between right and wrong.

But in convicting him of the 24 counts of murder but now they're looking at whether or not his mental capacity was in such a state that they feel that she should be spared the death penalty and given life in prison without parole instead. Fredricka?

WHITFIELD: All right. So we should hear with some sort of finality, or at least, whether we're moving on to another phase in about two hours from now.

Sarah thanks so much. Keep us posted. Appreciate that.

All right, up next, homes burning, people on the run. 21 wildfires spreading across California, we'll going to take you live to the Golden State, next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[12:57:07] WHITFIELD: All right, we're following the wildfires in California closer.

But before we get to that extreme weather slamming in Midwest, take a look at this incredible video. Tornados touching down in several states, including this monster of a storm right here in Iowa, luckily, this massive twister did not injure anyone.

But Illinois did take the brunt of the storms, tens of thousands were forced to evacuate from the Lollapalooza music festival in Chicago.

Meantime, the storms turned deadly when a tent came crashing down at another festival outside of Chicago.

All right, and now to those wildfires burning out of control in California, thousands of people being forced to evacuate there, there are at least 21 known fires at this time. The worst of them dubbed the Rocky fire, 100 miles north of San Francisco and its only percent contained. It's already destroyed two dozen homes and it's threatening thousands more.

CNN's Stephanie Elam is live for us now in Colusa County, California with the latest. Stephanie?

STEPHANIE ELAM, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Hi, Fred. Yes, we are out here pretty much at a good intersection to take a look at what is happening here on the fire.

And you can see behind us we have Cal fire trucks here. This is a staging area for firefighters coming in from the fire line, some about to head out.

This is a 24-hour production out here where they are constantly battling these flames because you can't stop. In fact, it was overnight, a couple of nights ago that this fire actually exploded in size. And that's rare because the humidity goes up at night, the temperatures come down and normally that means fire activity sort of slows down until those warmer daytime temperatures come along.

That did not happen. This fire got larger and so they've enlarged in how much of the area now includes evacuations.

As you come around here, you can see they've got bulldozers out because that's a key way to try to get those parameters on this fire.

Now this rocky fire has burned some 60,000 acres. They now estimate, and they say they have containment 12 percent. That's good. It's better than what it was before. Yesterday was at 5 percent. So they're getting containment on it.

But look at this area behind us here. What you see out in the distance, that haze, that's because the fire is burning sort of in our direction, sort of an angle coming towards us.

And that is what smoky hazes. And in front of that, you see the black area, that been burned out by back burning. That's firefighters setting these blazes to burn out the brush basically to make so that there is no fuel for the fire to come this way. They're doing all they can to get their hands on the fire but really it has been a huge undertaking with some 2,700 firefighters just battling this blaze alone, Fred?

WHITFIELD: All right, a very tough and very potentially dangerous job.

Thanks so much, Stephanie Elam.

All right, thanks so much for watching, I'm Fredricka Whitfield. Brianna Keilar takes it from here.

[13:00:13] BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN ANCHOR: Hi there. I'm Brianna Keilar, in for Wolf Blitzer.