This is a rush transcript from "On the Record ," June 10, 2008. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
GRETA VAN SUSTEREN, HOST: Jim Halstead was accused of putting a date rape drug in a woman's drink, but tonight, Halstead is here, live, to tell his side of the story.
Olympic gold medal skater Oksana Grishuk says that James R. Halstead put a date-rape drug into her drink at a business meeting. During the meeting, the skater said she saw a pill at the bottom of her wineglass and began to feel sick.
Halstead was charged with a felony count of administering a drug, but yesterday, the case was dismissed. Today, the Orange County district attorney's office released this statement: "And as we do in every case, the Orange County District Attorney continues to investigate even after filing of the charges. In this case, we conducted an independent investigation, reviewed material turned over by the defense, and re-interviewed the accuser. After considering the totality of the facts, we determined that we could not prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt and dismissed the case at the first opportunity."
So what does Jim Halstead said happened that night? Jim Halstead and his lawyer, Mike Molfetta, join us live from Orange County.
Jim, let me go to you first. What did happen that night?
JIM HALSTEAD, ACCUSED OF PUTTING DATE-RAPE DRUG IN SKATER'S DRINK: Well, the day before, she called me, and I talked to her on the phone. And she asked me to join her for dinner. And -- because she was upset that I had not gotten back to her on Valentine's thing and a birthday -- we happened to have the same birthday, by the way, which is March 17, St. Patrick's Day.
So I just basically said, "I don't know if I can go out or not. I've got to make sure my boys are covered, because I have an older -- two boys at SCA (ph). To make a long story short, my older son came down to the house, so I called her back and said, "I'll meet her down at the St. Regis Hotel for dinner." And that was it. And so I met her down there.
And when I first got there, I met her in the bar. And, basically, she ordered a drink of -- I think, it was Jack Daniel's and Coke. And I had my usual. And, basically, I went to go grab the drink, and she's like, "Oh, no, let me grab the drink," which I found unusual for her, because she's kind of picky about that kind of stuff, like closing doors and that kind of thing, kind of that type of individual. So I said, "OK, fine."
So we went to dinner, sat down and had dinner, having a great time, talking and laughing, and there was a nice couple next to us. The couple - - the woman was pregnant and I remember that. And the guy seemed like a really nice guy. They were there for the weekend, to enjoy the resort. And she and I talked. They got up and left. We said goodbye to them.
And then I went to the bathroom and came back, and there was a glass of white wine there. And we were talking some more. And all of a sudden, she got really weird, and just really strange, I would say. And she -- she said -- I told her that this relationship was over. I said, "The reason I came to see you is I told you that before. I just want to be nice friends with you, and that's it."
So about two minutes later, she reached inside the glass and pulled out a pill out of the glass, out of the wine glass, which I never touched, never got near. And she was sitting across from me, not next to me. And she pulled it out, and she said something like, "What is this?"
I said, "I don't know. What is it?"
And she goes, "I'm going to go find out."
I go, "OK, fine."
So she left the table, and I sat around for about 10 minutes, thinking, "Well, I better pay the bill, I guess." So I paid the bill, and then I walked out to try and find her. And she was in the bar was someone else, and I thought, "Oh, she's OK."
So I walked over. And then she got up and walked away. And she said she'll be back in a minute, so they walked to the front desk area of the St. Regis and went behind closed doors. And I thought, "OK."
So I waited about five or 10 minutes, called her a couple times. She wouldn't return my call. I got a call from my son, Zane, who he said, "Dad, we got a, you know -- somebody just called on the street about a party, and the cops had gone by." And we'd had a lot of problems with this. And that's like about the fifth or sixth time this has happened to me.
So I said, "Well, I'll be home right away." So I went to the front desk of the St. Regis and said, "Hey, I've got to leave. I'm sorry. Please tell her I have to go." It was about -- I waited about 15 or 20 minutes to a half hour. I think that was -- I didn't know where she went. And that was it.
And so I drove home. The next day I called her to make sure she was OK, and to explain to her I'm sorry I had to leave. And she never called me back until later that afternoon.
VAN SUSTEREN: Michael, you're the lawyer. Did you -- the district attorney has obviously dropped the charges. Do you know what was it that was the catalyst for dropping the charges? Why did the D.A. drop? Anything specific?
MICHAEL MOLFETTA, ATTORNEY: Well, there were a number of things. First and foremost is that she was tested about an hour and a half later. There were none of the drugs in her system. They were not in her system whatsoever.
The other thing is denial of a relationship.
HALSTEAD: Yes.
MOLFETTA: I brought in numerous documents, text messages, hotel bills, limo bills, hand-written messages which proved there was this relationship. And that interview on Friday was basically to confront her with those documents, and after 2.5 hours, they decided to dismiss. So I mean, reading between the lines, they never said it to me, but, clearly, she wasn't that convincing.
VAN SUSTEREN: And we only have 30 seconds left in this segment. Jim, so you guys did have a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, like of that description, prior to this episode?
HALSTEAD: Absolutely, absolutely.
VAN SUSTEREN: Where did you meet her?
HALSTEAD: I met her about three and a half years ago, and she came up with me to the Modern Hotel in Beverly Hills. I was in a car race at the time. And she stayed -- she stayed the night. I gave proof to the district attorney's office that the limos dropped her there.
That morning she called, the next morning, from my room to her nanny. At least, I think it was her nanny. And there's all kinds of evidence, all kinds of witnesses.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, Jim. Jim, thanks. Michael, I need you to stand by.
Coming up, we hear the skater's side of the story. What does she say happened? Was she drugged? Were she and Halstead ever romantically involved? Jim says yes. It's your show; you're going to be able to decide.
And later, he's a rock icon -- icon, and he is going "On the Record." Bret Michaels is here. What does he have to say about the future of Poison? And what happened behind the scenes of his show "Rock of Love"? Bret is ready to talk and has some news.
(COMMERCIAL BREAK)
VAN SUSTEREN: There's much more "On the Record" ahead, but first, let us go to our newsroom, where Laura Ingle is standing by with the other headlines -- Laura.
(NEWSBREAK)
VAN SUSTEREN: Olympic gold medalist Oksana Grishuk says that Jim Halstead drugged her at a business meeting. Halstead was charged with drugging the gold medalist, and yesterday, the charges were dropped. You just heard Jim Halstead's side of the story. Now, let's hear what the Olympic gold medalist has to say. Oksana Grishuk's lawyer, Gloria Allred, joins us live from Los Angeles.
Gloria, your client has denied a relationship with Jim Halstead. He has receipts: hotel, limo. Do you want to explain?
GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY FOR OKSANA GRISHUK: Well, no, she's not denied a relationship with Mr. Halstead.
VAN SUSTEREN: She says it was a business relationship.
ALLRED: What she has said was that her relationship was business and social, not romantic, intimate relationship.
VAN SUSTEREN: So she's up in a hotel room with him, and that's not romantic? That's social, or is that business? I'm a little confused. It could be either.
ALLRED: I don't -- I don't know what date he's talking about, but let me just say this. You are talking about this person, Mr. Halstead, who as -- who, I guess, failed to note that he has a previous felony conviction on his record and...
VAN SUSTEREN: For what? For what?
ALLRED: Well, I believe for fraud. According to the "Los Angeles Times"...
VAN SUSTEREN: How long ago? How long ago? And did it have anything to do with date-rape drugs or girlfriends or anything like that?
ALLRED: An article by Kim Christianson (ph) in the "L.A. Times" says it was a 1998 felony conviction in Orange County Superior Court for selling securities unlawfully.
VAN SUSTEREN: But -- all right. Well...
ALLRED: Well, that goes to truthfulness. But let's go -- let's go to this issue.
VAN SUSTEREN: This isn't -- this isn't -- he's not on the witness stand, and we're not impeaching his credibility with a prior conviction. Selling securities is a little bit different than putting a date-rape drug. But go ahead.
ALLRED: Well, he does have a felony conviction. I think that's relevant to credibility. I know you, as a very ethical attorney, would find that that would be relevant.
Having said that, let's go to the real issue. The real issue is that -- that on the day in question, there were controlled substances in her drink, and, in fact...
VAN SUSTEREN: How come they're not in her system? How come -- and 90 minutes later it wasn't in her system, and if these -- if these were so powerful drugs, you would have found some remnant.
ALLRED: OK. And I would be very happy to explain that.
VAN SUSTEREN: OK.
ALLRED: She had some alcohol, and that is not disputed. In addition, these controlled substances were found in her drink, not totally dissolved, the two pills.
And it's been explained to me that her blood test was about an hour and 45 minutes later, that she had shown a systems of having consumed some of that drug, but the blood test wasn't until an hour and 45 minutes later. And the drug, because most of it had not dissolved in the drink, would have metabolized by that time and would not show up in your system.
And, by the way, even though she had alcohol, it showed .00 in her system. In other words, the alcohol didn't show up either, and yet, there's no dispute about that.
VAN SUSTEREN: All right, Gloria -- Gloria, prosecutors, you know they love these cases. They love it if they've got the evidence. You know, they love going after these. This prosecutor has -- he's said -- he's said there's not enough to go forward.
You're a very good lawyer, as an advocate for your client. Apparently, you were unable to convince the prosecutor that there was anything here to go after, right?
ALLRED: Well, actually, no. I never had that opportunity, because I just came in for the arraignment yesterday and then find out exactly at the arraignment that suddenly they're going to dismiss the charges and really didn't have any opportunity to make our case to the prosecutor.
And -- but I want to point this out, and I have spoken to the prosecutor since, that the prosecutor has said very clearly that the case is dismissed, but it's without prejudice. In other words, they can refile this case. They can continue to investigate. And if they find additional evidence, then they could refile this case. And I think that's a very, very important part. And the fact...
VAN SUSTEREN: That -- that's a very, very important part, that it's dismissed without prejudice, but that is rather routine. Prosecutors always want to dismiss it without prejudice so they can keep it in their hip pocket if the opportunity. But right now, it doesn't -- right now, it is a dismissed case.
ALLRED: Well, yes, but the reason that was given by the prosecutor, Greta, is that they didn't have sufficient evidence, in their opinion, to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt, which is very different than what Mr. Halstead has said, wherein he has said that he was exonerated, and it is not true.
VAN SUSTEREN: Well, that's not the -- I agree with that. I agree with that.
ALLRED: That is not -- that is not exoneration. Of course, it is also not a verdict of guilty, but it's not an exoneration.
VAN SUSTEREN: And in fact, the only exoneration I've ever heard from a prosecutor was down in North Carolina with the Duke lacrosse. I think in all the years I've practiced law, it's the only time I ever heard a prosecutor say that someone was cleared or exonerated.
Anyway, Gloria, thank you.
ALLRED: Thank you.
VAN SUSTEREN: We're going to check back with Jim Halstead's attorney, Michael Molfetta, because he is still here with us.
Michael, I don't know this conviction is the least bit relevant. I guess, if your client were on the witness stand, I would certainly try to reflect on his credibility, but what's the story on this '98, selling securities fraud charge?
MOLFETTA: That's a nothing. That's a red herring. He didn't do a minute in jail for that. Gloria knows better.
By the way, if Gloria convinces them to re-prosecute him, I'll...
VAN SUSTEREN: ... It's not relevant. I mean, as an aside, the fact that he has a...
MOLFETTA: ... Special prosecutor. You (ph) can be a special prosecutor.
The bottom line is this: Gloria had her time. The bottom line is this, OK? This drug is a very strong drug. And there's a thing called the Internet, Gloria. So you can go on it and read about this. If this drug is taken in your system, it has a short half life, that's true.
However, given the symptoms that her client said she felt, quote, "I felt like I was about to die. I thought that I couldn't breathe." Those are very strong symptoms for not having anything in your system. Never mind...
VAN SUSTEREN: All right. Let me ask a quick question. Gloria, has your client ever said that this man administered date-rape drugs of her in the past or that the two of them engaged in any sort of, like, drug culture? Were they doing drugs together, other drugs?
ALLRED: Well, let me just say that, first of all, it's a complete red herring whether or not there was any kind of presence of drug in her system.
MOLFETTA: That's just simply stupid.
ALLRED: Because it is not necessary, Greta, at the -- to prove the crime, it is not an element of the crime that there be a drug in her system.
VAN SUSTEREN: No, but it would be -- it would certainly be instructive.
MOLFETTA: It's circumstantial evidence -- evidence.
VAN SUSTEREN: And that's -- I'm sure the prosecutor -- the prosecutor would have been more likely to go forward with the case if it were in her system. I understand that it has a short half life, but I understand it certainly would have made it easier for the prosecutor to go forward.
ALLRED: Well, it's just not relevant at all. Not to the crime.
VAN SUSTEREN: I take it we have not seen the end of this.
Michael, Gloria, I hope you both come back, assuming that this is not the end of it. If it is, so be it. Thank you both. You'll both be back, I'm sure, on other cases.
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