Michel Bryant (00:00):
There's another new case I want to talk about. I was talking just earlier with Lee Merritt about the case against Courtney Lenney. She is the model in Florida who has been now formerly accused of killing her boyfriend, Christian Elli. So this is another domestic violence situation. Apparently the real question becomes who was using abusive tactics against whom? There's some video of the two of them, Courtney Linney and Mr. Abelli in an elevator. And in this exchange it's pretty clear who's wearing the pants as it were. Can I say that A sexist might say that. I'm sorry. She's really the aggressor and he's taken it. So now we have this guy who was stabbed in the chest about three or four inches deep, I think is what Lee told me, and basically stabbed literally in the heart and dies. She says it was self-defense. You see that? You're thinking, I only see one person defending themselves. So Katie Smith, what do you think about this case? It's got racial overtones. They delayed in bringing these charges. It's got the usual kind of reversal of the normal, if it can be used at that term domestic abuse characterization. He versus she. No, this is she versus he. What are your thoughts on this case as it starts to evolve?

KATIE SMITH (01:24):
Well, as you know, I do a lot of civil rights litigation, and this just reminds me how important, unfortunately, race and gender are in the criminal justice system. It's always present regardless. And here we have a case where we know, as Lee had promptly said, and when you interviewed him just moments ago, if the role was reversed here and he had murdered her, there would've been no delay in this arrest. Let's just call it like it is. There's been a terrible history of white women alleging violence unfairly on black men. And I see that dangerous pattern of what's happening here. And I hope that our country and the criminal justice system has advanced far enough to know that that's not the get out of jail pre card for white women. This is clearly a forensic case of at least second degree murder. She had a downward plunging effort of the knife into this man, a history of heart inflicting violence upon him. I see a very problematic pattern here.