nums24
Praying for Justice!
Issues Transcript:
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1010/08/ijvm.01.html
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight -- breaking news. Are we any closer to solving the Haleigh Cummings homicide? Or is the secret of what happened to the precious child 19 months ago locked up forever?
Just hours ago, little Haleigh`s teenage baby-sitter and one-time stepmom, Misty, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined $500,000 for her role in a prescription drug trafficking ring.
During the dramatic hearing, Misty made a shocking claim about being raped in the seventh grade. Misty became hysterical -- and I mean hysterical -- when her own mother took the stand to testify on her behalf. We`ll tell you what Lisa Croslin had to say in moments.
Misty is now the fifth and final dealer in a tight-knit bunch of bandits to be snared in an undercover videotaped sting, copped a plea and be sent away. So, what does this mean for the unsolved mystery of Haleigh`s disappearance and presumed death? Do investigators still have scare tactics up their sleeve to squeeze Misty for the truth? Does Misty even know the truth?
Misty`s sister-in-law Chelsea says yes, she does and explains why.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Meantime, the justice system is not done with Misty, not by a long shot. Today`s sentencing was just one of eight counts that`s she faces. She could face additional prison time later in the month for the other seven counts.
I want to begin not with our fantastic panel but with somebody who`s very, very close to all of this. Chelsea Croslin. You are the sister-in- law of Misty Croslin.
You just found out that Misty, who I understand you have strong feelings for, familial ties, an 18-year-old girl is going to spend at least the next 25 years of her life behind bars. That means -- well, when they do the other counts, who knows if she`ll ever see the outside of a prison again. What is your reaction to this news?
C. CROSLIN: It makes me so mad. It makes me so angry because I just don`t think that it`s fair. Misty was 18. Yes, she was doing something wrong, selling drugs. But she was doing it because she was under the control of Ronald, just like this Haleigh stuff.
Misty wasn`t a drug dealer. Misty did what Ronald said. Misty went by Ronald`s lead. Misty only sold what Ronald told her to sell. And for 25 years plus more for an 18-year-old little girl -- that`s just outrageous to me.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What would you say to Misty right now? Apparently when she heard the sentence she just became hysterical in court, which is totally understandable. I mean, I think we feel like we all know her at this point. We`ve watched her so much. I have to say that my heart breaks for her as a human being, one human being to another.
C. CROSLIN: I don`t -- I just -- I don`t even know what to say to her. I don`t know how to get through to her any more at this point because, you know, I believe Misty maybe has told what she knows. Maybe she has.
I spoke with her the other day on the phone and she said that she`s promised me -- she said, I swear to God, Chelsea, I would tell if I knew any more than I`ve already told. She said, I told them everything. But the police don`t believe me and they don`t want to hear it.
It`s Ronald. They don`t want to believe Ronald had anything to do with this disappearance. They cleared Ronald from day one. They were best friends with Ronald, riding around with him, hanging out with him, like he was their buddy or something. I don`t --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, he`s doing 15 years. He is doing 15 years, Chelsea. He also got sentenced. And he`s doing 15.
C. CROSLIN: Out of five charges. Out of five charges. Tommy had one charge and got 15 years. Ronald had five charges. What was his plea deal? That he knew so much that got him out of the other two. He`s the drug boy. Doesn`t everyone hear him saying that on the jail tape?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I`ve got to tell you today`s hearing was emotion-packed, and Misty took the stand in her own defense and claimed she was raped in the seventh grade. What do you know about that, Chelsea?
C. CROSLIN: Misty had her virginity taken from her by a man who brought her out in the woods and raped her and beat her. And we found her with sticks in her hair when we had to call the police and have them come help her and bring her to a victim advocate. DNA was done.
Misty went through so much trauma after that. She stopped going to school. She was scared of everybody. And he only got sentenced to eight years. His name is (INAUDIBLE). He`s a rapist and pedophile and he got eight years in prison. That`s it. Eight years.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Misty`s mother also testified on her behalf. Lisa Croslin admitted on the stand that she was a terrible mother to Misty who used drugs while she was raising Misty. She also admitted to blackmailing Misty for Xanax during the Haleigh investigation.
I`ve got to go to Art Harris on this. What on earth kind of information would Lisa, who you`re looking at right there have on Misty that she would blackmail her own daughter while they`re searching for Haleigh?
ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Jane, we reported this at artharris.com. Do you remember when Lisa Croslin was claiming she suspected Misty knew a lot more than she was revealing a long time ago? That was at a point when Misty had Xanax that both Lisa and her husband Hank wanted. And she would not give it to them according to my sources. And that is what Lisa -- you know, it led Lisa to perhaps dangle this, "I`ll tell more if you don`t give me the drugs."
BEHAR: Here`s my big issue, and it`s called turn of the screw. Misty is charged with a total of eight counts, but today`s sentencing was only for one count, and she got 25 years, a quarter of a century. So why not sentence her to everything? Could this be a clever way to turn the screw and say to Misty, hey, ok, you`re getting 25 years, but you could get the rest of your life, Levi Page?
LEVI PAGE, CRIME BLOGGER: Yes. I mean, that`s a good way to get her to talk. And you know, I agree with Chelsea in the sense that Ronald is involved, but I disagree with Chelsea saying that Misty has told all. I mean she`s failed lie detector, she failed a layered voice analysis. I think she knows more than what she`s saying. And it`s obvious.
And let`s remember Ronald Cummings in a situation over a year ago had Misty and himself put a headless rat in Tommy Croslin`s mailbox, a headless rat. And Tommy -- Ronald told Tim Miller, I told Misty to lie for me and give me an alibi because I wanted to see how good she lies. Only someone that is guilty that wants Misty to cover for him would say something like that.
HARRIS: Jane, I can tell you that this is just the first course law enforcement has planned for Misty; she has seven more counts facing her. And they hope that between now and three weeks from now when she comes back to court that she will crack even more.
You saw that two weeks ago I reported artharris.com that she did give up some information she had never revealed before. Whether it`s true or not she said --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Like what?
HARRIS: Her brother Tommy was the one who took Haleigh from the trailer.
C. CROSLIN: That`s a lie, Art. She never said that. That`s a lie.
HARRIS: She said that.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s hear Chelsea. Wait a second. I want to hear from Chelsea. Hold on.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: I don`t know what you know, but I do.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s hear Chelsea`s side.
C. CROSLIN: I know exactly what her lawyer told me, that that was a lie. Misty never once said her brother is the one that took -- Tommy has no ambition and no reason to do anything with Haleigh.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Well, he may have been taking her --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: One at a time.
C. CROSLIN: That was a lie that Misty never said that. That came out of her lawyer`s mouth. Why would a lawyer lie and say that when he`s already said everything that he said.
MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s right. Lawyers don`t lie.
HARRIS: I have other sources, Chelsea. And I hate to say it but that is what --
C. CROSLIN: Other sources aren`t Misty. Misty and the lawyer are the only two people who would know.
HARRIS: No, no. There was interrogation, Chelsea -- there was interrogation by law enforcement, by investigators at the prison.
C. CROSLIN: Law enforcement told us all we did it, Art Harris. Law enforcement told us all we did it. They say everything and anything they can to get you to try and say whatever you want. They try to tell me I did it. They told my husband he did it. They told Tommy he did it. They say whatever they can until someone gives them what they want.
They`re going to tell Misty, they`re going to give her the frigging world in prison if she doesn`t tell what they`re going to hear. That`s not -- interrogation is nothing. What comes out of Misty`s mouth and Misty`s lawyer`s mouth is what`s believable.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Misty said Tommy knows everything. She told law enforcement to go talk to Tommy, that he knows everything and your grandmother told me, Chelsea, that she was talking to Tommy and he said to come visit him on the yard in the prison where nobody had a telephone call that could be taped and he would tell her details.
C. CROSLIN: Which grandmother? Is that Nanny Flo? <snipped>
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/1010/08/ijvm.01.html
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Tonight -- breaking news. Are we any closer to solving the Haleigh Cummings homicide? Or is the secret of what happened to the precious child 19 months ago locked up forever?
Just hours ago, little Haleigh`s teenage baby-sitter and one-time stepmom, Misty, was sentenced to 25 years in prison and fined $500,000 for her role in a prescription drug trafficking ring.
During the dramatic hearing, Misty made a shocking claim about being raped in the seventh grade. Misty became hysterical -- and I mean hysterical -- when her own mother took the stand to testify on her behalf. We`ll tell you what Lisa Croslin had to say in moments.
Misty is now the fifth and final dealer in a tight-knit bunch of bandits to be snared in an undercover videotaped sting, copped a plea and be sent away. So, what does this mean for the unsolved mystery of Haleigh`s disappearance and presumed death? Do investigators still have scare tactics up their sleeve to squeeze Misty for the truth? Does Misty even know the truth?
Misty`s sister-in-law Chelsea says yes, she does and explains why.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Meantime, the justice system is not done with Misty, not by a long shot. Today`s sentencing was just one of eight counts that`s she faces. She could face additional prison time later in the month for the other seven counts.
I want to begin not with our fantastic panel but with somebody who`s very, very close to all of this. Chelsea Croslin. You are the sister-in- law of Misty Croslin.
You just found out that Misty, who I understand you have strong feelings for, familial ties, an 18-year-old girl is going to spend at least the next 25 years of her life behind bars. That means -- well, when they do the other counts, who knows if she`ll ever see the outside of a prison again. What is your reaction to this news?
C. CROSLIN: It makes me so mad. It makes me so angry because I just don`t think that it`s fair. Misty was 18. Yes, she was doing something wrong, selling drugs. But she was doing it because she was under the control of Ronald, just like this Haleigh stuff.
Misty wasn`t a drug dealer. Misty did what Ronald said. Misty went by Ronald`s lead. Misty only sold what Ronald told her to sell. And for 25 years plus more for an 18-year-old little girl -- that`s just outrageous to me.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: What would you say to Misty right now? Apparently when she heard the sentence she just became hysterical in court, which is totally understandable. I mean, I think we feel like we all know her at this point. We`ve watched her so much. I have to say that my heart breaks for her as a human being, one human being to another.
C. CROSLIN: I don`t -- I just -- I don`t even know what to say to her. I don`t know how to get through to her any more at this point because, you know, I believe Misty maybe has told what she knows. Maybe she has.
I spoke with her the other day on the phone and she said that she`s promised me -- she said, I swear to God, Chelsea, I would tell if I knew any more than I`ve already told. She said, I told them everything. But the police don`t believe me and they don`t want to hear it.
It`s Ronald. They don`t want to believe Ronald had anything to do with this disappearance. They cleared Ronald from day one. They were best friends with Ronald, riding around with him, hanging out with him, like he was their buddy or something. I don`t --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, he`s doing 15 years. He is doing 15 years, Chelsea. He also got sentenced. And he`s doing 15.
C. CROSLIN: Out of five charges. Out of five charges. Tommy had one charge and got 15 years. Ronald had five charges. What was his plea deal? That he knew so much that got him out of the other two. He`s the drug boy. Doesn`t everyone hear him saying that on the jail tape?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Well, I`ve got to tell you today`s hearing was emotion-packed, and Misty took the stand in her own defense and claimed she was raped in the seventh grade. What do you know about that, Chelsea?
C. CROSLIN: Misty had her virginity taken from her by a man who brought her out in the woods and raped her and beat her. And we found her with sticks in her hair when we had to call the police and have them come help her and bring her to a victim advocate. DNA was done.
Misty went through so much trauma after that. She stopped going to school. She was scared of everybody. And he only got sentenced to eight years. His name is (INAUDIBLE). He`s a rapist and pedophile and he got eight years in prison. That`s it. Eight years.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Now, Misty`s mother also testified on her behalf. Lisa Croslin admitted on the stand that she was a terrible mother to Misty who used drugs while she was raising Misty. She also admitted to blackmailing Misty for Xanax during the Haleigh investigation.
I`ve got to go to Art Harris on this. What on earth kind of information would Lisa, who you`re looking at right there have on Misty that she would blackmail her own daughter while they`re searching for Haleigh?
ART HARRIS, INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER: Jane, we reported this at artharris.com. Do you remember when Lisa Croslin was claiming she suspected Misty knew a lot more than she was revealing a long time ago? That was at a point when Misty had Xanax that both Lisa and her husband Hank wanted. And she would not give it to them according to my sources. And that is what Lisa -- you know, it led Lisa to perhaps dangle this, "I`ll tell more if you don`t give me the drugs."
BEHAR: Here`s my big issue, and it`s called turn of the screw. Misty is charged with a total of eight counts, but today`s sentencing was only for one count, and she got 25 years, a quarter of a century. So why not sentence her to everything? Could this be a clever way to turn the screw and say to Misty, hey, ok, you`re getting 25 years, but you could get the rest of your life, Levi Page?
LEVI PAGE, CRIME BLOGGER: Yes. I mean, that`s a good way to get her to talk. And you know, I agree with Chelsea in the sense that Ronald is involved, but I disagree with Chelsea saying that Misty has told all. I mean she`s failed lie detector, she failed a layered voice analysis. I think she knows more than what she`s saying. And it`s obvious.
And let`s remember Ronald Cummings in a situation over a year ago had Misty and himself put a headless rat in Tommy Croslin`s mailbox, a headless rat. And Tommy -- Ronald told Tim Miller, I told Misty to lie for me and give me an alibi because I wanted to see how good she lies. Only someone that is guilty that wants Misty to cover for him would say something like that.
HARRIS: Jane, I can tell you that this is just the first course law enforcement has planned for Misty; she has seven more counts facing her. And they hope that between now and three weeks from now when she comes back to court that she will crack even more.
You saw that two weeks ago I reported artharris.com that she did give up some information she had never revealed before. Whether it`s true or not she said --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Like what?
HARRIS: Her brother Tommy was the one who took Haleigh from the trailer.
C. CROSLIN: That`s a lie, Art. She never said that. That`s a lie.
HARRIS: She said that.
(CROSSTALK)
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s hear Chelsea. Wait a second. I want to hear from Chelsea. Hold on.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: I don`t know what you know, but I do.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Let`s hear Chelsea`s side.
C. CROSLIN: I know exactly what her lawyer told me, that that was a lie. Misty never once said her brother is the one that took -- Tommy has no ambition and no reason to do anything with Haleigh.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Well, he may have been taking her --
VELEZ-MITCHELL: One at a time.
C. CROSLIN: That was a lie that Misty never said that. That came out of her lawyer`s mouth. Why would a lawyer lie and say that when he`s already said everything that he said.
MARK EIGLARSH, CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: That`s right. Lawyers don`t lie.
HARRIS: I have other sources, Chelsea. And I hate to say it but that is what --
C. CROSLIN: Other sources aren`t Misty. Misty and the lawyer are the only two people who would know.
HARRIS: No, no. There was interrogation, Chelsea -- there was interrogation by law enforcement, by investigators at the prison.
C. CROSLIN: Law enforcement told us all we did it, Art Harris. Law enforcement told us all we did it. They say everything and anything they can to get you to try and say whatever you want. They try to tell me I did it. They told my husband he did it. They told Tommy he did it. They say whatever they can until someone gives them what they want.
They`re going to tell Misty, they`re going to give her the frigging world in prison if she doesn`t tell what they`re going to hear. That`s not -- interrogation is nothing. What comes out of Misty`s mouth and Misty`s lawyer`s mouth is what`s believable.
(CROSSTALK)
HARRIS: Misty said Tommy knows everything. She told law enforcement to go talk to Tommy, that he knows everything and your grandmother told me, Chelsea, that she was talking to Tommy and he said to come visit him on the yard in the prison where nobody had a telephone call that could be taped and he would tell her details.
C. CROSLIN: Which grandmother? Is that Nanny Flo? <snipped>
