Susan Polk Goes on Trial
POLK: And I hope that people will not be prejudiced by the charge that`s been brought against me and that they will listen with an open mind to what I have to say.</s>GRACE: Forget the charge. I think it`s the 22 stab wounds that is probably going to get to the jury. We`re talking about a California case. A woman drove a truck all the way from Montana to California to get her furniture and then, very quickly after, her husband was dead. Back out to Gasia Mikaelian -- I`ve been working on it in the breaks, Gasia -- with KTVU. What`s the most damming evidence the state has? And what`s the defense`s best shot?</s>MIKAELIAN: Well, from what we could tell inside the courtroom today, I think it`s going to be up to the prosecutors to prove that, not only did she act in cold blood, that she didn`t do anything about it. If they`re trying to refute the self-defense claim, they need to prove that she did not call 911, did not tell a friend. If it`s self-defense, you would ask for help. And in this case, that doesn`t happen.</s>GRACE: You know what`s amazing to me, though, Gasia, is -- Dr. Saunders was saying, in a struggle with a knife, that may have been how he got all cut up. But wait a minute. If you`re hand-to-hand struggling and rolling on the floor, why is she not cut up, too? Why are all the cuts to him?</s>MIKAELIAN: And that`s a good question here. I mean, it certainly is uneven. But what exactly happened -- only the autopsy and the woman inside the courtroom are able to tell us.</s>GRACE: OK, Daniel Horowitz, do you have more defensive wounds other than the scratching and biting you say this man inflicted on the woman?</s>HOROWITZ: Well, Nancy, you`ve got two black eyes. But remember this: She kicked him in the one place where men are more vulnerable than women and she got the knife away. The rest of the time he`s on top of her trying to get it from her. Five stab wounds, Nancy. Why are they exaggerating and trying to make it more, if she really did what they said? It`s because it`s defensive on her part and they need to make her into a crazed woman, instead of what she was, a victim who survived.</s>GRACE: Daniel, Daniel, did she have a single knife wound?</s>HOROWITZ: No. And, Nancy, let me tell you...</s>GRACE: OK. That`s all I wanted to know.</s>HOROWITZ: ... we always feel bad when women are victims. When they`re dead, we mourn them. But when women survive, it`s always, "How could a woman win?" That`s...</s>GRACE: No, that`s not what I`m asking, Daniel. I just want truth and justice to win out in this case. And you know what? Maybe you`re right. We haven`t heard all the evidence yet. Daniel Horowitz, thank you for being with us. We are switching gears, very quickly, and going live to Seattle for the shaken baby case. Rosie, do you have that picture of the tiny tot`s killer? Remember her, Sabine Bieber? We just brought you this trial live. In this case, Sabine Bieber charged with death by cough medicine on an infant. Who could forget the Louise Woodward case, the au pair hired in a northeastern city? A jury found her guilty in the death of baby Mattie Eappen. And now a 13-year-old baby-sitter on trial for shaking a 19-month-old child to death. Very quickly, I want to go out to Barney Burke standing by. Barney, what happened in court today?</s>BARNEY BURKE, REPORTER, "PORT TOWNSEND LEADER": Well, Judge Roberts gave the defense much of what they`ve been asking for since the sitter was charged with second-degree murder back in January. She ruled out two videotaped statements where the sitter allegedly confessed to shaking the baby. And the judge also, however, allowed the sitter`s 911 call and some other statements to police to be admitted as evidence.</s>GRACE: You know, I heard today, Anne Bremner, joining us from Seattle -- Anne Bremner, high-profile attorney in that jurisdiction -- that the state is actually thinking of dropping the case after the judge ruled out the confessions?</s>ANNE BREMNER, TRIAL ATTORNEY: Well, Nancy, exactly. And court recessed for the bulk of the day today. And for the prosecutor to talk again to the medical examiner to see if she correctly has ascertained what that testimony will be. But the rumor is that there could be a dismissal in this case, and the case has barely started.</s>GRACE: Well, Anne, as much as I want to see the case go to trial -- of course, this is a bench trial -- there you see the mom just in tears, today at the end of the courtroom day, after the judge threw out the confessions.</s>BREMNER: Awful.</s>GRACE: This mom of this little girl held up the picture at the baby- sitter. And this mom must be beside herself. She comes home, the baby`s dead, and now the case could get thrown out?</s>BREMNER: Well, and I think that`s what was played out today, Nancy, was this cannot be happening. She wanted to show the picture and say, "Remember my baby." You know, she wants justice. And she`s looked it in the face today, I think, in her own mind and is hoping against all odds that this case will continue. It could be a plea bargain. Bryan Hershman`s here, too...</s>GRACE: Well, I`ll tell you what, Anne. I would take the case to trial...</s>BREMNER: Sure.</s>GRACE: ... and lose before I threw it out, that prosecution.</s>BREMNER: I would, too.</s>GRACE: But very quickly, the police screwed the whole thing up. They did not give the girl her Miranda rights when they took her into custody. Of course, the statement`s going to be thrown out.</s>BREMNER: Well, and it`s like that song, you know, you have trouble and it`s tailor-made. I mean, it`s a case that is -- that exclusion came from mistakes made in the investigation. And the prosecutor was involved during that process, as well.</s>GRACE: Everybody, we`ll all be right back out of Seattle. But to tonight`s "Case Alert." "All-Points Bulletin." FBI and law enforcement across the country on the lookout for this man, Roberto Ramirez, wanted in connection with the January 2005 Chicago murder of 21-year-old Melissa Dorner. Ramirez, 25, 5`6", 180 pounds, black hair, brown eyes. If you have any information on this man, Roberto Ramirez, call the FBI, 312-421-1333. Local news next for some of you, but we`ll all be right back. And remember, live coverage of the Seattle shaken baby trial 3:00 to 5:00 Eastern, Court TV. Stay with us, as we remember Staff Sergeant John Glen Doles, just 29, an American hero.