Man Awarded $15.5 Million; Sharks Put Spring Breakers on Edge
WHITFIELD: We continue to keep a close watch of the Jodi Arias trial. She is on the stand there. She's still entertaining questions that have been written by the jurors and being posed by the judge. All right, meantime, another case we continue to follow now. He just wanted to get out of New Mexico, but wound up in solitary confinement there for two years. Now, Steven Slevin has been awarded $15.5 million. Slevin was arrested for a DWI and accused of stealing a truck. He was tossed in jail, then solitary confinement for two years. Slevin says he was neglected so badly that his toenails grew around his feet and he was not allowed to even take a shower. So, to pick up the story from here, Victor Blackwell. Much more on this. And it does have one wondering if this happens to him, how often does something like this happen? Because this is all before he ever had a trial, right?</s>VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: There was no trial.</s>WHITFIELD: No trial.</s>BLACKWELL: At the end of this, the charges were just dropped. I mean this man, he says, had to pull his own tooth because he was so neglected by the dentist at the prison. 2005, Steven Slevin arrested for DWI. He was put in a cell alone primarily because of a history of depression, mental issues. He never had this trial. And aside from a few days of evaluation at a behavioral center and seven days of rec, he just sat in that cell for 22 months.</s>WHITFIELD: Was it an issue of, they forgot that he even existed, or was this, you know, a denial of due process?</s>BLACKWELL: Partly both. I spoke with a representative from Dona Ana County this morning and he told me that, yes, it was a failure of the management at the prison, but also the legal community. There was never a trial date set. Attorneys never asked for him. Nothing ever happened on that end. So he just sat there. Fungus grew on his skin. He had anxiety attacks every day. Charges dropped in 2007. He then sued the county and managers. Initially, he was awarded $22 million. But after mediation, it was dropped to $15.5. Let's listen now to Steven Slevin on the day he won that case.</s>STEVEN SLEVIN, WON SETTLEMENT: Walking by me every day watching me deteriorate day after day after day and did nothing, nothing at all, to get me any help. I wanted people to know that the people in the Dona Ana County Jail that are doing things like this to people and getting away with it.</s>BLACKWELL: Yes, the first payments of $12 million will be today or tomorrow wired to him. But here's another element. He's suffering from lung cancer and he's going through chemo therapy.</s>WHITFIELD: Oh. Oh, my goodness.</s>BLACKWELL: So the question is, how long will he live? Because he's already outlived the prognosis from his doctors.</s>WHITFIELD: Oh, extraordinary. Wow. You have to keep us posed on that one. That really is a jaw dropper of a case.</s>BLACKWELL: Yes.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, thanks, Victor.</s>BLACKWELL: Sure.</s>WHITFIELD: All right, meantime, this one, this is an interesting situation that has a whole lot of people scared along the Atlantic Coast. We're talking about sharks and spring breakers. Not a good mix. And a lot of sharks are being spotted off the Florida coast. Just take a look at that image right there. This is the view off Palm Beach. Thousands of sharks have been heading north along the south Florida shore and now some beaches are closed there. Biologists say the migration started at the beginning of the month. Our George Howell is in Boca Raton, Florida. So, George, how concerned are people? I see a lot of people on the sand, but not in the water.</s>GEORGE HOWELL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: You know, I think there is some concern. You see that several of the beaches just down south of us, Deerfield Beach, was closed for about 30 minutes. But, Fredricka, you know, these sharks, they're always nearby, just in smaller numbers. Right now, though, you can see a lot of them. We're talking about thousands of these black tipped sharks. They're all migrating north to warmer waters. And again, you see lifeguards, you see them taking precautions. As these sharks come by, they will shut the beaches down for, you know, 30 minutes at a time for the sharks to pass. So but keeping a very close eye on things. I want to go ahead and bring in -- just come on in -- a marine biologist here whose been telling me a lot about these sharks. Tell me, first of all, the nature of the sharks. Is this a real danger?</s>SHARI TELLMAN, MARINE BIOLOGIST, FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY: These sharks pass through these waters about this time every year. Through February and March, we see them in large numbers. They're small sharks. They're only about four to five feet in length. And they're chasing small bait fish. So not really a concern for swimmers offshore here.</s>HOWELL: So, when we see them close down the beaches, that precaution, is that pretty important to make sure people don't get in there?</s>TELLMAN: It's just that. It's a precautionary measure. When you're having a guarded beach full of swimmers and an ocean full of sharks, sometimes the mix isn't the best. So it's just safer to keep them out of the water when there's so many</s>HOWELL: Shari and I were talking earlier. This is obviously your passion. You love following this. And I've learned so much about sharks today from you. Thank you so much.</s>TELLMAN: No problem.</s>HOWELL: And, you know, the thing about it is, you find that people are staying out of the water. This has been happening for several days and will continue. It happens between February and March. So, Fredricka, we could continue to see it.</s>WHITFIELD: Oh, my goodness. OK. Well, I'm sure people will heed the warnings and most likely stay out of the water for a while.</s>HOWELL: Yes.</s>WHITFIELD: Especially if the postings say so. All right, thanks so much, George Howell. Appreciate that. From Boca Raton. All right, coming up, a 24-year-old girl is attacked and killed by a lion. Now her internship at a wildcat sanctuary is being very much evaluated. It turned deadly. The latest on the lion attack in California. Plus, we'll continue to watch the Jodi Arias trial. She is charged with her boyfriend's murder. They're taking a break right now, but we'll be bring that to you live when they resume.