Hope for a Convicted Murderer
BALDWIN: All this legal back-and-forth in the case of convicted murderer Jeffrey McDonald is really enough to give you whiplash. Today, the latest and perhaps final turn begins. A federal hearing in North Carolina will determine if this ex-Green Beret doctor should get a new trial more than 40 years after this crime. So, let me take you back to 1970. This military court cleared him of murdering his pregnant wife and two young daughters. Fast-forward to 1979, he was convicted in a federal trial. 1980, he went free. "The L.A. Times" reports a federal appeals court dismissed the charges. And then, in 1982, the U.S. Supreme Court overturned that ruling. MacDonald has been behind bars ever since. And, all the while, MacDonald maintained that hippie intruders were the ones who slaughtered his family. Back in 2006, he talked to Larry King.</s>LARRY KING, FORMER TV HOST: Are you optimistic?</s>JEFFREY MACDONALD, CONVICTED MURDERER: I'm optimistic if the tests are done legitimately, yes. There is no way that those people were in that house and didn't leave evidence and the government record shows the evidence. It shows wig fibers from Helena Stokley's wig. It shows brown hair in my wife's hand that was secretly tried to match ...</s>KING: You're saying the government knew this ...</s>MACDONALD: Knew it.</s>MACDONALD: Still went ahead and prosecuted.</s>BALDWIN: Let me bring in legal analyst Sunny Hostin. She's "On the Case" with us today. Is there enough evidence for a new trial?</s>SUNNY HOSTIN, LEGAL ANALYST: You know, there very well may be, Brooke. I mean, I've been looking at this case all day. Of course, I remember the movie and I remember this case very well. The district court judge is going to be looking at two key pieces of new evidence. One, DNA. Remember, you just said this happened 40 years ago. There was no DNA evidence at that time. And, so, three strands of hair were found in Jeffrey MacDonald's daughter's hand. Those hairs don't match anyone in the house, not Jeffrey MacDonald, not any of the daughters, not his wife and, so, that's one crucial piece of evidence. Another piece of evidence that is coming in is this evidence that pertains to Helena Stokley. Now, she says that she told a marshal -- or rather a marshal overheard her telling the prosecutor that she was in the home on the night of these murders and that she witnessed her boyfriend and two other men commit this crime. Well, the U.S. marshal says that the prosecutor threatened to prosecute her for murder and then she recanted -- sort of retracted that story and did not say that when she was on the witness stand. So, this is really blockbuster evidence. What is fascinating, though, Brooke, they are dead. Helena Stokley, no longer alive.</s>BALDWIN: Forty years, Sunny.</s>HOSTIN: The U.S. marshal, no longer alive.</s>BALDWIN: Forty years has passed.</s>HOSTIN: Exactly. So, this case doesn't necessarily get better for Jeffrey MacDonald. It kind of get worse.</s>BALDWIN: How long is a hearing in North Carolina supposed to last?</s>HOSTIN: It's going to be about two weeks. It's going to be about two weeks and, so, we may at the end of two weeks hear whether or not Jeffrey MacDonald will be getting a new trial.</s>BALDWIN: OK, Sunny Hostin, please stay with me because we have to talk about something that every one of you is talking about. And I'm reading your tweets. You're tweeting me about this one. Roland Martin weighed in on this whole topless photos fiasco involving the royal couple. And you know what? Roland doesn't feel sorry for the duchess. He explains. We'll talk to Sunny, next.