Four Women File Lawsuit Against Actor, Scientology Church; Colorado Police Shooting Victim's Family Want Independent Probe
PAUL: 33 minutes past the hour. So, glad to have you with us here. You know, the Huffington Post is reporting, for women who accused actor Danny Masterson of raping or sexually assaulting them, have filed a lawsuit. Now, Masterson and the Church of Scientology are accused of stalking, physical invasion of privacy, conspiracy to obstruct justice. Masterson calls the accusations, "ridiculous". But Joey Jackson, CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney is with us now. And I have to ask you, Joey, considering that there is a documented history of intimidating by the Church of Scientology when you're talking about an organization that has as much power as they do, what does -- what does a case like this look like against them?</s>JOEY JACKSON, CNN LEGAL ANALYST: Christi, good morning to you. And so, starting with the case itself, of course, we know it's a civil complaint. Now, that's an important distinction because the allegations are very troubling, very serious. And they arise to the level of criminality, right? They were reported to the Los Angeles Police Department, the district attorney is investigating. And, of course, if it's a crime, it's another matter. It has not gotten there yet. And so, right now, what it looks like is that it's a civil complaint, making all the allegations you mentioned. Right? Which are horrific in nature about the stalking, the intimidation, the false imprisonment, the human trafficking, the controlling, the abuse, et cetera. And so, what occurs in the details that they layout as these woman's essentially suggest that this place, Scientology has run a mock. Right? So, the lawsuit focuses on Scientology itself is an organization. It focuses on the leader and it focuses on the gentleman we just saw, Madison in terms of the misconduct. And so, if these allegations are proven in a court of law, not beyond the reasonable doubt like in a criminal law, but by preponderance of the evidence. Is it more likely than not that you did this, then, it looks like ultimately a money judgment? But, still, with the investigation of the LAPD, nothing has come forward yet in terms of criminal allegations. That's not to say that it could not happen moving forward.</s>PAUL: Well, the LAPD in L.A. County D.A., as I understand, they say they have investigated multiple allegations of rape against him for the last three years.</s>JACKSON: Right.</s>PAUL: Here is what he is saying about this. This is a statement from Masterson, who says, "This is beyond ridiculous. I'm not going to fight my ex-girlfriend in the media like she's been baiting me to do for more than two years. I'll beat her in court, and look forward to it because the public will finally be able to learn the truth and see how I've been railroaded by this woman. And once her lawsuit is thrown out, I intend to sue her, and the others who jumped on the bandwagon, for the damage they caused me and my family." What evidence needs to be present, Joey?</s>JACKSON: So, what happens is, is that we should mention that of the four women, three are -- three were in Scientology themselves, right?</s>PAUL: Scientology. Yes.</s>JACKSON: So, they were involved in it.</s>PAUL: And two were ex-girlfriends.</s>JACKSON: Yes, and two were ex-girlfriends. And so, the issue becomes look, does that muddy the waters to the extent that there was some consensual relationship? Though Scientology and apparently its teachings, would suggest that you don't go forward with the police, you keep it internal. So, the evidence to your point is being stymied in some ways because if there are other people who've witnessed this, apparently, they're not saying much. And so, then, does it become a he say, she say. You know, if there's physical evidence, would that suggest then, was it consensual, was it not, they were ex-girlfriends. So, it could become complicated than -- you know, like that. But there could be other things out. There we don't know, perhaps, e-mail exchanges, text mail exchanges. We don't know what surveillance or other type of cell phone video footage or anything is out there. And so, ultimately it's going to be won by the evidence if there is evidence to come forward. But I would not look, for again, witnesses who are Scientologists to be supporting this lawsuit, the laws of Scientology, apparently, teach very much against that.</s>PAUL: All right. Hey, let's switch gears here to this other case. This family of a man shot in the back by police in Colorado. Well, the family's calling for an independent investigation. The body camera video that was just released yesterday shows two officers firing their weapons as 19-year-old De'Von Bailey is running from them. I want to just give you a heads-up here, this is hard to watch. But you need it for the context of what we're going to talk about. Take a look.</s>SGT. ALAN VANTLAND, COLORADO SPRINGS POLICE DEPARTMENT: Put your hands up. All right. So we got a report of two people, similar descriptions, possibly having a gun, all right? So don't reach for your waists, we're going to just check and make sure that you don't have a weapon, all right? Hands up! Hands up! Hands up! Get your hands up! Get your hands up! Get your hands up!</s>PAUL: Joey, I want your reaction first and foremost to what you see there.</s>JACKSON: It's horrifying. It's just unbelievable. Now, here is the point. The point is this, yes, a gun was found after the fact, and they'll make hay about that. You don't, and you're not subjected to the death penalty for having a gun. The critical question becomes what was being done with the gun in the event he had one, which they're suggesting he did at the time of the shooting. Was the officer in imminent danger? Was the gun brandish? Was the officer in fear in any way? You don't shoot at someone in the back and kill them just because they run away from the police officer. That is not a death penalty case. I should hasten to add, yesterday, Eric Garner's stepfather was buried. Was at the services yesterday and looking at the front row, right? With all the moms. Tamir Rice's mom, Michael Brown's mom. You name it. You know, Sean Bell's mom. Just all of them there. It's sickening and it's saddening, and I mention that because yet another mom will be there. Now, the Bureau of Investigations of Colorado which is the state entity has been asked to investigate in this case. I would hope that they do that. Because I believe local officials are too close involved and too closely connected to the district attorney's office, in my view, to make a sound judgment that would be objective and non- biased. But I am horrified by what I see. It looks like it did not need to happen at all.</s>PAUL: Police may argue that he ran.</s>JACKSON: Right.</s>PAUL: Yes, I mean they were right there and that the officer did not seem to be out of control. I mean, he seems to be giving him the information that he needed and just said, "Just hold still, we're going to do this," and then he ran. To that, you say what?</s>JACKSON: So, let me say this. A couple of things. The first thing is, is that I always -- when I speak to people, I say, comply now grieve later. Whatever your grievances may be, don't run from the police, comply with the police, do what they tell you to do. Having said that, right? That's textbook, but in real life, things happen, and that happened. The issue is not whether you run. People run from the police every day. The issue is where the officers in immediate fear for their life? And if the answers to that question is no, how do you justify the shooting? The officers will also argue, Christi, that we were informed that one of the gentlemen had a gun, that they were involved in a robbery, where they brandished the weapon, and all that informs their judgment as to whether they should be in a heightened state of alertness. I get that. Again, it turns on what they did when they were there, and the reasonableness of their conduct. And when you shoot someone in the back three times as the apparent autopsy indicated, and once in the right elbow, that suggests to me, they're running away, not approaching you, where's the imminent fear, where is the reasonableness, this is a travesty, needs to be investigated thoroughly.</s>PAUL: Joey Jackson, always appreciate your insight. Thank you, sir.</s>JACKSON: Thank you, Christi.</s>PAUL: Absolutely.</s>BLACKWELL: So, high water levels across the Great Lakes are threatening homes, and businesses, and lives. We'll talk to the Fishtown Preservation Society which is struggling to keep its town above water.