ISSUES WITH JANE VELEZ-MITCHELL Transcript 4-1-09Cops in the Haleigh Cummings case say they have lost focus. Could the feud between Haleigh`s parents be to blame? And stunning -- and I mean stunning -- new information just coming in as we speak. We`re sorting through it in this Haleigh Cummings mystery. It`s up next.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Astonishing news in the search for Haleigh Cummings as her mom suffers a second seizure. The local sheriff admits investigators have lost focus. Could the feud between parents Ron and Crystal be sending cops off on false leads?
Plus, the octo-mom finally gets a dose of reality as in her own reality show. New reports that she`s closing a deal for her own series; was this her goal all along?
More on octo-mom`s newest adventures in just moments.
First, shocking new developments tonight in the desperate search for 5-year-old Haleigh Cummings. Who is this mystery man, Greg, who some claim may have been with Misty Croslin around the time of Haleigh`s disappearance? Well, we have done some digging and found some fascinating information on a man who may, and I repeat a big may, be the guy some are talking about.
Also, stress takes its toll again on Haleigh`s mom, Crystal Sheffield, as she suffers a second seizure, this just after being discharge from a hospital. Meantime, the Putnam County Sheriff says enough is enough in that bitter custody battle between Crystal and Haleigh`s father, Ron. Cops say it is not helping the search for little Haleigh.
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SHERIFF JEFF HARDY, PUTNAM COUNTY, FL: Unfortunately, in the last few weeks it seems to -- we`ve kind of lost the focus of what our mission is here. It`s just been extremely difficult to try to narrow it and focus it down to where it needs to be.
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VELEZ-MITCHELL: Is the parental fighting distracting authorities from finding Haleigh by sending them on false leads? Or are these freelance investigators coming up with stuff that could help the cops?
I`m joined again by Drew Findling, Atlanta criminal defense attorney; as well as Paul Callan, former prosecutor and criminal defense attorney; plus the attorney for Haleigh`s mother, Crystal Sheffield, her name is Kim Picazio -- thank you for joining us tonight, Kim. And by phone, Jared Halpern, a reporter with WOKV AM 690 and 106.5 FM.
Jared, what is the very latest?
JARED HALPERN, WOKV AM 690 AND 106.5 FM REPORTER: Good evening, Jane. The very latest after talking to investigators this morning is that tips sadly enough seem to be down to single digits. This is an incredible drop- off from the early points of this investigation.
most of these tips we understand are also to be frank borderline absurd and those from callers wanting to share theories about the case instead of information. A lot of out-of-state psychics I`m told are starting to call.
So many in fact that police have sort of a psychic file of sorts. Unfortunately from a purely investigative standpoint, there`s frustration. A handful of local sheriff`s investigators continue obviously working very closely with the Florida Department of Law Enforcement and FBI.
Then as you`ve been mentioning Jane, there`s a lot of rumors. It`s all filtering back to the sheriff`s office. They are getting the information. But so far they tell me that they haven`t had anyone confirm any of the allegations that have recently surfaced.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes and we wish they would come out and talk about them so we could put the rumor mill to rest.
Now, everybody listen carefully to all of this. But I`m going to direct this question to Kim Picazio.
Ron Cummings` lawyers were the first to release the full name of somebody they claim they were told the authorities might be interested in contacting. They said, quote, "This office received information on March 25th, 2009 from an individual employed by a client of ours identifying Gregory Lewis Page as someone the police would be interested in contacting."
Now, here`s a question. Is that the same mystery Greg that investigators/bounty hunter Cobra claims was with Misty around the time little Haleigh disappeared? We do not know.
But we did some digging and we found a man by the same name who lives in the same area. And we learned that this Gregory Lewis Page has been arrested numerous times. Now, we have to emphasize that we do not know if this is the same Gregory Lewis Page Ron`s lawyers claim might be of interest to authorities.
But if this is the same guy mentioned in the press release, he has been in a lot of trouble with the law. He`s bookings she say, he was arrested for quote, "possession of drug paraphernalia, maintaining a drug dwelling, possession of ecstasy with intent to sell or deliver, failure to appear, possession of ecstasy, possession of cocaine, possession of cocaine with intent to sell or deliver within 1,000 feet of a school."
Ok. So this is clearly a long arrest record. I`m not talking about convictions. I`m just talking about arrests; 62 pages of court records show alleged violence against officers and a charge of grand theft.
Kim Picazio, my question to you is, is this the same Greg who you say you spoke to on the phone the other day? Is this the person you believe has a link to Misty or not?
KIM PICAZIO, LAWYER FOR CRYSTAL SHEFFIELD: This is the person. And I would like to say that we had known about this person weeks ago. And our investigators had been looking for him, tracking him down through friends. Apparently he did not want to speak with us.
I believe he did initially speak with the police. So the police had already been on top of it. But with a guy like this, I mean...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: You spoke to him on the phone?
PICAZIO: Yes, I did. I spoke with him on the phone. And my investigators got him and I spoke with him on the phone and I had a very frank conversation with him.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Did he say he was with Misty that night? Because maybe this poor guy, whatever his past, maybe he has nothing to do with this and he is just dragged into this because of the rumor mill and because Cobra keeps talking about this mystery man, Greg.
PICAZIO: Well, I believe that Cobra talked about him because we have been looking for him because we have credible information he could have been with Misty.
And I had a very short conversation with him while I was here right before I went on the other day. And he continues to maintain he was not with Misty that night. I did tell him that he was going to be giving interview with Art (ph) here that`s going to be coming out...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Does he know Misty? Is he a friend of Misty?
PICAZIO: He confirmed an intimate relationship with Misty yes...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Oh well, ok.
PICAZIO: ... and he confirmed many details about the household that we have been waiting to hear.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right.
PICAZIO: And we have subsequently given all of those details to police. And maybe he told them in the first place...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right.
PICAZIO: Maybe he didn`t.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right, let me just say this. We have no independent confirmation of anything that Kim just said. This is her investigation.
We would like to hear from this Greg. We invite him to come on and tell his side of the story. We don`t want to jump to any conclusions here.
And we also want to hear from Misty. We`ve been trying to reach out to Misty to find out what the story is and is there any connection? Does she even know this person? Do they really know each other?
But, you know, Jared, what are the authorities saying? Because obviously, this is stuff that has been discussed locally in that area. What are the cops saying about this?
HALPERN: There`s two big points I think here Jane. As for Greg, police are not naming him by name. So of course, we have no way of confirming if this particular gentleman was ever interviewed.
But as I mentioned, I spoke with a lieutenant in the Putnam County Sheriff`s office this morning and he said that every time any name is mentioned in a lead no matter where that lead comes from, that person identified is interviewed.
So far, everyone who they`ve asked to have interviews with has cooperated and gone forward with that question and answer, so police are stopping short of publicly saying who has and who has not been ruled out.
But a second point, and I think this is important, this isn`t the first time that we`ve gone through a muck-raking of sorts. A few weeks in of this investigation, you may remember a lot of attention focused on Misty Croslin`s cousin who lives in Tennessee.
You remember, claims were made that he had a shady past; may have had something to do with the girl`s disappearance. Police made contact with him in Knoxville, Tennessee and it was revealed he had nothing to do with the case. Again, that was police following up on a tip from family covering all of their base...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right, exactly and your point is very well-taken. We`re not saying that this individual Greg is a suspect or a person of interest -- nothing like that. Nothing like that.
DREW FINDLING, ATLANTA CRIMINAL DEFENSE ATTORNEY: Jane, let me say that oftentimes in cases like this, the problem is when somebody doesn`t have a criminal record and you don`t really know much about them.
Actually with regard to this Greg, he does have a long criminal record. And over the span of a decade, driving with suspended license, drug cases, confrontations with a police officer, there is no propensity...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Right.
FINDLING: ... to commit sexual related crimes or anything regarding kidnapping children or sexual acts with a children -- or child. Anything like this, so actually his record as far as I am concern, is exculpatory recording this gentleman Greg.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Paul Callan, you also studied it as a former prosecutor and defense attorney. What did you make of his court documents?
PAUL CALLAN, FORMER PROSECUTOR: Well, there`s a staggering number of arrests here. I mean, he`s been arrested numerous times for possession of ecstasy, cocaine, marijuana. He`s been charged with burglary, he`s been charged numerous traffic offenses, grand theft. I presumed it`s probably grand theft auto.
When I look at the record, Jane, as a prosecutor, what I see here is the record of a low-level drug user. And I would agree with Drew there`s nothing here over a ten-year period that indicates kidnapping, crimes of personal violence. It looks to be the record of a drug addict who gets charged with drug crimes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: But Paul, first of all, let me say something. And we have no knowledge that this individual is a drug addict. It`s very important to say that and again, we want to hear his side of the story. We`d love to talk to him.
A lot of the charges, I understand having scanned this -- but you`re the expert, you studied it, you`re a former prosecutor, were dropped.
CALLAN: Yes.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: I find that fascinating because the same happened with Ron. Ron Cummings, there`s a lot of charges were dropped.
CALLAN: Yes, this is really quite astonishing. And I was talking to a couple of lawyers today in Florida about this. To see these many charges dropped -- and usually there`s a phrase Jane that says No-Law-Pros (ph), that means the prosecutor voluntarily dropped the charge and it happens repeatedly through this criminal record.
And despite all of his arrests, I only find one arrest where he served any time in jail. Every single other case is either dismissed or results in probation and a fine.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow.
CALLAN: So a very, very lenient treatment by the Florida courts with respect to whoever this individual is.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: And that`s pretty fascinating.
FINDLING: Jane, I`d like to ask -- can I ask Kim a question?
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Yes.
PICAZIO: Sure.
FINDLING: Kim, I remember specifically the large number of people on the sexual registry. And I think we`d all agree those of us who do this work that the sexual registry all over the country, the number...
VELEZ-MITCHELL: We`re running out of time so jump in to the question.
FINDLING: They are inflated, the numbers are inflated.
Has your investigator looked into the number of people in the registry that are actually pedophiles?
PICAZIO: Yes.
FINDLING: Real pedophiles? And what are the numbers there and to what degree have they been looked into?
PICAZIO: They`ve been looked into thoroughly. We followed 257 leads as of today.
FINDLING: But what about the number of pedophiles in that area? Not boyfriends and girlfriends who had fights with one another a round up on the registry, pedophiles. How many pedophiles in the surrounding area have been looked into by your investigator?
PICAZIO: Over 30.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: Wow.
FINDLING: Ok.
VELEZ-MITCHELL: All right. Well, obviously we`re going to discuss this story again tomorrow. Thank you to my fantastic panel.
http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0904/01/ijvm.01.html
