Cashman Changes His Sentence for a Child Rapist!

This is a partial transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," January 26, 2006, that has been edited for clarity.

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BILL O'REILLY, HOST: Now for the top story tonight. Some analysis of what happened today in Vermont. Joining us from Burlington, Michael Mello who teaches at Vermont Law School, and Wendy Wilton, a state senator.

Senator Wilton, begin with you. The Democrats, you're a Republican, in the state legislature say Republicans wouldn't vote today on a resignation suggestion to Judge Cashman. Is that true?

WENDY WILTON, (R) VERMONT STATE SENATOR: I don't know if it is true, Bill. I only know when a resolution or a bill comes out on the floor it's not usually taken up immediately. And you know, quite frankly, it's really a good thing that it's not. It gives the people of Vermont another couple of days to address this issue with their representatives, and I think that's a good thing.

O'REILLY: All right. So you just want people to see what the resolution is. But you're not going to hold it up. You guys are going to vote on whether the legislature wants Cashman to resign, correct?

WILTON: Well, the issue is in the House right now and I'm in the Senate. So if the House passes it, it will come to us.

O'REILLY: All right. But you fully expect that it will.

WILTON: I hope so.

O'REILLY: Well, so do I. Because if Democrats are going to introduce it and Republicans are going to block it, I mean, that's not going to be good.

WILTON: No, the Republicans aren't going to block that.

O'REILLY: OK. The rally in St. Albans on Saturday. I hope it's going to be well attended.

WILTON: I hope so too.

O'REILLY: I'd like to see the governor — if Governor Jim Douglas, who has been hiding under his desk for the last two weeks, he's a Republican, if he doesn't show up at that rally, I'm going to throw my hands up in the air. This guy has not led, senator. He has not led on this.

WILTON: I actually think the governor did the right thing by coming out early with a statement about how concerned he was about the sentence. And he did everything I think he could from the administration's side to make things happen so that we got a resolution to this. That's .

O'REILLY: I'm going to disagree with you. The reason you got a resolution and I'm going to throw this over to Professor Mello, is because of the press, is because of the press pressure was so intense, not Douglas, the press. Do you disagree with that, Professor Mello?

MICHAEL MELLO, VERMONT LAW SCHOOL PROFESSOR: I do, actually. I think that Douglas made his views known early. He made them known emphatically in Vermont.

WILTON: Yes, he did.

MELLO: It's a more difficult and more complicated issue when you're here on the ground having to deal with the real situation and the real impacts on a number of people.

O'REILLY: All I know is the leader of the State of Vermont wouldn't appear on any television broadcasts. He wouldn't take the lead in the national story. This was not a Vermont story, it's a national story. And I'm sorry, but I don't think it's any more complicated than what I reported. I reported every single fact of this, sir. And there was no repudiation, other than personal attacks on me and this network and it was a disgrace. Vermont media absolutely a disgrace, sir, what say you to that?

WILTON: I totally agree with you on that.

O'REILLY: I know you do. But I want to hear what Professor Mello says. This is a disgrace, what the Vermont media did.

MELLO: What was a disgrace, it seems to me, was the sentence, the original sentence.

O'REILLY: That's where you start.

MELLO: That's where I start.

O'REILLY: All right. Now, if you're with me on that .

MELLO: I am with you on that.

O'REILLY: Then why is the Vermont media holding water for Cashman? Why are they attacking me and saying he's fine, which they did? They tried to justify that station .

WILTON: Some of them, not all of them.

O'REILLY: Every newspaper except for the Burlington newspaper.

WILTON: The Burlington Free Press did .

O'REILLY: And they wouldn't even give us a picture of Cashman's brother-in-law, who as you know, senator, is the big mover and shaker behind a big political scene up there.

MELLO: It seems to me that this isn't really about you or about Cashman, even, or about the Vermont newspapers. You won a victory today. Something good happened in a situation that 72 hours ago I would have thought was impossible to happen. Judge Cashman changed his mind. He changed his mind, it seems to me, for a number of reasons. One of them was the massive amount of publicity. You did something good here, I think. And you found some good in a situation in which there really isn't a whole lot of good.

O'REILLY: Well, we wanted to stick up for the little girl. And why I'm so teed off is that the rest of the Vermont media did not. Now, I've got to ask you about the parole board. This guy is going to get three to 10, senator. We don't expect to see him out after three. How tough in general is the Vermont parole board? Are they going to keep him in for the 10 he deserves?

WILTON: I don't know. The parole board is actually very fair in Vermont. They look at it on a case-by-case basis. And they do look at a lot of factors. From my experience and what people have told me is that they are fair. So unfortunately, I think if Mark Hulett does what he should do and does the treatment program and does what he should while he's incarcerated, chances are he's going to get out in three years. I hate to say it.

O'REILLY: That wouldn't be fair. Not to the little girl.

WILTON: I hear you. I would have liked to have seen an eight-year sentence like the prosecutor asked for.

O'REILLY: If he gets out in three if I'm still around, that's going to be a disaster for them. Because if he re-offends, we're going to — every parole board's name and address right on the screen.

MELLO: If he re-offends he goes back to prison for the rest of his life.

O'REILLY: And what happens to the kid, professor?

WILTON: It's awful. You make a very good point.

O'REILLY: You don't take a chance like that.

MELLO: You are right. And the bad news is he's almost certainly going to get out at three. It's a decision that's up to the Department of Corrections, and under their own internal guidelines they almost have to let him out at three once he served the mandatory punishment assuming he...

O'REILLY: Well, that's depressing. It really is. He should serve 10.

MELLO: It is depressing.

WILTON: The only possibility here is that the parole board would perceive, if there's an evaluation from DOC that says they're concerned about his likelihood of re-offense, they may keep him in.

O'REILLY: Well they should be concerned and you guys should pass "Jessica's Law" and we hope everybody goes to St. Albans .

WILTON: I'm working hard on it.

O'REILLY: We're going to have a camera at St. Albans, and we want to see the governor of Vermont at that rally.

MELLO: And keep civil commitments in mind, too.

O'REILLY: Thank you very much both for appearing tonight.

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