Nancy Grace is abrasive, confrontational and arrogant. There is no one better in the tabloid legal arena of taking content worth 15 minutes of coverage and stretching it into a interminable Law and Order style interrogation. Nancy has been known to rattle even the most seasoned attorney. Nancy can be tiring. When a case has been beaten to death so badly even vultures have stopped circling we can count on Nancy to find a crime scene stalker, expert witness wannabe or friend of a friend of the maid’s sister’s friend to interview. Her coverage of the Natalee Holloway disappearance was agonizingly redundant. No horse was spared. For better or worse this is Nancy’s style. It has made her the queen of tabloid legal. She understands that the first rule of tabloid television is to create content when there is little or nothing left to talk about. This is done by creating, prolonging or exaggerating controversy. Without the ability to consistently create content in this manner tabloid shows would consist of 20 minutes of Youtube video. Content must be created daily. It must draw the audience in and then drive them to the next episode. Nancy is an expert at this. Many a witness, person of interest and experienced attorney has walked into her studio with confidence hoping to tell a story. Many have left with a grimace and a sign that says “You Are The Story Sucker!” stuck on their back. Nancy does not back down. She has been accused of going too far with her guests. The family of Melinda Duckett think so. They have sued Nancy and CNN to make the point.
Melinda Duckett was a troubled single mother. There was a contentious divorce from Joshua Duckett, the father of her son Trenton. There was an on-going custody battle. By all reports she lived a chaotic life. This included alleged involvement in an online amateur porn business including some disturbing images of her allegedly posing nude on her son Trenton’s crib. 
On August 27, 2006 Melinda contacted the police and reported Trenton missing. She claimed someone had entered her residence and kidnapped him. An Amber Alert style search for Trenton ensued. The focus of the investigation eventually turned to Melinda. The initial theory being that she had handed the child off to someone she knew. Melinda was eventually narrowed down to the sole person of interest. This is nothing new in these types of scenarios. Statistics overwhelmingly point to a primary care giver or other family member. A kidnapping by a stranger is a statistical rarity. Melinda adamantly denied any involvement. The case became the focus of intense national media scrutiny. As would be expected the entire tabloid machine quickly revved into jet motion looking for any angle to create content and keep the drama alive until resolution for better or worse.
Melinda was approached by representatives of The Nancy Grace show. Melinda and Josh Duckett agreed to do the show. On September 8th Melinda and Josh Duckett appeared on the show. A review of the show transcript reveals a fairly even keel interview until Nancy begins to hammer Melinda about her refusal to take a polygraph exam. Josh Duckett had already taken two and passed. Nancy’s legal guests chime in. They all but accuse Melinda of lying about Trenton’s disappearance. Melinda begins to fluster and stammer. You can read the transcript here.
Melinda Duckett walked into the interview with Nancy Grace hoping to tell her story. Melinda left the interview considered the prime suspect by both law enforcement and the tabloid public. Was Melinda naive, stupid or calculating in what she hoped to achieve? In a battle of wits the war was lost to Nancy before Melinda ever did the interview. It was no contest. We will never know what Melinda’s true motives were. A day after the taping Melinda Duckett committed suicide.
The Duckett family has brought a wrongful death suit against CNN and Nancy Grace. They allege that Nancy lured an unsuspecting and emotionally unstable Melinda in the interview under false pretenses. They allege that it was Nancy’s plan all along to ambush Melinda, painting her as the prime suspect in her son’s disappearance. It was the emotional distress brought on by her aggressive questioning that caused of Melinda to kill herself.
Did Nancy Grace do anything wrong? As rhetorical as the question seems, there is precedent for an extremely “gracious” verdict. In 1999 The Jenny Jones Show was ordered to pay 25 millions dollars to the family of Scott Amedure. Jonathan Schmitz killed Scott three days after Amedure revealed his secret crush on Schmitz during a taping of a “same-sex, secret crush” episode of the show. The Ducketts should not be getting too excited over similar prospects. The Amedures had the benefit of an extremely friendly jury instruction. It stated that the negligence of the Jenny Jones show only had to be “a cause” of the circumstances leading up to the killing of Scott Amerdure. The Amedures never collected on the verdict. It was thrown out by an appeals court. The court stated that Jenny Jones show owed no duty to protect Scott Amdedure.
In 2002 The Jerry Springer Show was sued by the son of a guest who was murdered just hours after the segment was broadcast. Nancy Campbell-Panitz was murdered by her ex-husband after they appeared on a May 2000 episode in which he revealed that he had secretly remarried. The lawsuit alleges that the Springer Show created a “mood that led to murder”.
Did Nancy Grace have a duty to protect Melinda Duckett from herself or at least warn her of the show’s agenda? Did she “create a mood” that led to suicide? Melinda Duckett had a troubled life long before she met Nancy Grace. Linda Duckett knew she was a person of interest in the disappearance of her son before she agreed to do the show. Linda Duckett voluntarily did the interview. She could have stopped it at any time. Melinda was outgunned and over-matched. It is unclear how that translates into a duty to warn her of anything. Nancy should not be to cocky about victory. A federal judge recently denied a motion to dismiss the case. It looks like Nancy is going to get pleasure of being grilled by an attorney who will probably be abrasive, confrontational and arrogant. They will have a lot in common.
Nancy Grace is guilty. She is guilty of being Nancy Grace. While that might be a death sentence to some watching her show it has worked for well for her over the years. Neither her nor CNN owed any duty to warn Melinda Duckett that Nancy would be tough on her. It is difficult to imagine a realistic scenario in which they would affirmatively create such a duty unless Melinda told them she was going to harm herself if Nancy were too hard on her. The Ducketts will probably not be getting that same “Jenny Jones jury love”. Trenton Ducket is still missing…..
August 7th, 2008 at 1:30 am
Nancy Grace is a pox on American culture.
August 7th, 2008 at 1:47 am
People are so desperate to get their 15 minutes of fame that they’ll go on the most despicable of shows. They shouldn’t expect any better than any of the cases outlined above. What would one expect?
August 7th, 2008 at 2:04 am
Nancy Grace is not responsible for this woman’s well being. I do agree that she is annoying and overbearing. However, I do not believe she should be held responsible for this woman’s demise, when it is clearly due to a previously existing psychological disorder. Nancy’s act may have been the needle that broke the hay stack – but that would have inevitably happened to this girl. It was just the next thing that Melinda needed to snap.
August 7th, 2008 at 5:34 am
American Culture is a pox on American Culture. Poor Lady. Was some of the late Justice Rehnquist’s leftover Placydyl prescription left lying around at the old Court TV?….oh wait it’s Actuality now not Reality.
I’m more interested in the Ivins case….let’s see What if there was a loose cannon like Ivins in the Nuclear Launch Arena…Guess that’d be bad. Someone like bomber pilot Craig Button; but who decides instead to turn his anger outward instead of against himself. There really aren’t enough
failsafe procedures and that is why the Nuclear Disarmament issue should not be abandoned
and ranked behind Global Warming as an issue.
August 7th, 2008 at 8:25 am
JUST watching that show of Nancy Grace berating and humilating Melinda Duckett the young mother caused me emotional distress. Nancy Grace just kept on & on pounding & pounding, berating Melinda Duckett on national tv for ALL to see. Almost as if a public lynching. For ratings!
August 7th, 2008 at 1:46 pm
No matter how odious or despicable Nancy Grace appears to be, I can’t help but agree with your conclusion, Brian. She can’t be held responsible for what happened to Melinda. The public humiliation may be a factor, but as you observed, the woman led a troubled life long before she met Nancy Grace. Maybe we can help organize a group in Facebook to help find Trenton Duckett.
August 7th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
I would be very surprised if Trenton Duckett was not dead.
August 8th, 2008 at 4:53 am
She moved into my home town of Greenwich CT. I hear property values are down.
August 8th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
Nancy Grace is 100% responsible for this woman’s death. Do you who say she isn’t actually believe she would’ve killed herself when she did, if it hadn’t been for this self-serving attention whore who feels that trying cases in the media and proclaiming people guilty HERSELF before they’ve even been arrested? I have a bridge I’d like to sell you.
August 10th, 2008 at 3:29 pm
What Nancy Grace, a middle aged woman did to Melinda Duckett a very young mother was despicable, she came across again and again as a BULLY, pounding her desk, demanding, wild eyed “where were you”, “why aren’t you telling us where you were”?
Her words she used were like weapons, trying to use them to control Ms. Ducket and pound a confession out of her on national tv for nothing more than RATINGS, the
numbers. In her sinking voice, Ms. Duckett said “I was told not to”. That is bullying behavior. Nancy Grace was ragefull, impulsive, had lack of empathy towards Ms. Duckett and kept pounding her desk, demanding answers with disregard for the rights of Ms. Duckett. Nancy Grace got a great deal of satisfaction with her own performance. She thought she would get a confession from Ms Duckett. She fingers innocent people. To top it all off, Nancy Grace ran the show after Ms. Duckett committed sucide, with disregard to Ms. Duckett’s family and friends.
August 18th, 2008 at 7:26 am
Nancy grace did not kill this girl, she killed herselfbecause of the guilt she had, she would have killed herself with or without an interview.. Where is Trenton????
August 22nd, 2008 at 9:54 pm
It is clear to any educated and degreed person, that Nancy did contribute to the early demise of that poor young mother of a missing child. Since Nancy bought her own children, she has no clue at all what a parent goes through when a child is missing. Nancy is all about her ratings, and she doesn’t give a rat’s butt about anything other than money.
October 20th, 2008 at 1:00 am
I can’t understand why anyone would go on a show with an opinionated, arrogant, know it all like nancy grace. She convicts and condemns everyone, guilty or not. I personally can’t stand her and think she should be in jail for causing the death of that woman. Why even have a trial for anyone. Just ask nancy. She knows everything. Could save a lot of money… Can’t believe she is still on the air. I check in on the show to see if they found Caylee but can’t watch this arrogant argumentative bimbo.
I feel for her kids. What kind of a mother is she?
Wouldn’t surprise me if that guy didn’t commit suicide to get away from her instead of getting murdered.
November 7th, 2008 at 3:26 am
We love you Nancy. Keep showing us pictures of your great grandkids, they are aborable.
Are those the kids you are suspected of molesting?
March 2nd, 2009 at 6:07 pm
This argument is garbage. Nancy Grace is doing her job. If Melinda didn't know what to expect before going on the air, she was ultimately incredibly naive. And I still wonder, why didn't she take a polygraph?
March 4th, 2009 at 9:40 am
Actually it's your comments that are garbage kent.
If Nancy's harrasment of suspects is "doing her job", then someone else isn't doing their job.
Torture of any kind for the purpose of eliciting a confession is illegal. Period. The US is signatory to the United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment. Since she is a member of the bar and still has access to or involvement with the state legal system, she should be in prison for violating that convention, and her position, in the Duckett case alone. Now she's trying to harrass a confesssion out of Casey Anthony the same way. Again, why isn't she being charged with this obvious crime? Is she above the laws that the rest of us must abide by? If you seriously support her antics, then you're guilty of violating this UN convention as well.
Naive? Are you for real? You try facing what Melinda Duckett did, missing child, public witch hunt, malicious entrapment, and see how well you perform. I wouldn't sit for a dam polygraph either. It's a fools tool popularised by television and armchair criminologists like Nancy Grace. It's total bull and it has no evidentiary value so it's a complete waste of time. If your "hero" hadn't trashed Melinda publicly and pushed her over the edge, real law officials might have had more time to arrive at the truth of what happened to Trenton. Nancy Grace is a malicious pig, no better than anyone she accuses, and her ugly butt should rot in prison.
March 10th, 2009 at 2:29 am
It`s really mean to suggest that Nancy bought her children and what type of person would suggest that her husband committed suicide and even to suggest that her children are her great grand children that she hadn`t molested yet… you people are a disgrace to society.
The last time I checked every television show is about ratings…that`s the business and if you are too stupid to know that then keep watching.
March 15th, 2009 at 7:14 pm
I'd like to see Nancy Grace butt heads with Casey Anthony. Casey is hard core, very hard. Nancy G. wonders why Casey doesn't show much emotion….Blah, Blah. Well many families believe it shows, "Bad Manners." to cry and slobber in public. CNN had better get a grip on there viewers. "Axe the witch" with the Duke Lacrosse players not getting an a apologize; Milinda Duckett suicide. I don't want to see her ugly kids, what does that have to do with crime cases? I can't believe how she hates the younger generation. Just because she is middle age makes her an authority on everything? I see our young folks our future and love hearing about their ventures. In the mean time, I'll just ban her show and read comments from educated journalists on the web. Maybe she can get a job at one of the scandal sheets from local grocery story. Then it will useful for reading, and line the birdcage.
April 30th, 2009 at 5:14 pm
I think Nancy Grace rocks! She sees these iddiots for the murdering perverted scum they actually are! I mean come on….does anybody have ANY idea what happend to little Trenton? Obviously his mother did it and couldn't live with the guilt so she took the cowardly way out and instead of living up to what she did she decided to kill herself. I mean come on all you guys who think Nancy interrogated this woman, like wtf????? Nancy can see through these types of people just like I can and no we arn't psyhic we just hold what a lot of you should hold…COMMON SENSE.
May 3rd, 2009 at 2:26 am
Nancy Grace is the only place in the US that the VICTIM has more rights. They sure don't get any justice in our judicial system. Screw everyone's thoughts on it…..educated and degreed or not. And I don't even like the woman.
May 18th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
nancy went soft on that woman.she asked simple questions,which could have been answered simply.but the woman refused to comply.then she kills herself.she sounds guilty enough to me.you don't even wait to see if your kid is alive or dead,cause nancy grace was just so mean.give me a break.
June 12th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
I've been watching the Nancy Grace show now for a couple of months. I have noticed that almost always is the caregiver of a murdered or missing child in this show are either guilty of the crime or attributed to it. I would think that all options would be considered but it is not. The more I watch this show, the more biased it becomes. What is wrong with TV media. Too much negatism and people thrive on it. We need a change!
July 9th, 2009 at 9:43 pm
Nancy was responsible. Nancy lured the girl on her show by acting nice over the phone saying she just wanted to help her find her son but then turned on her. Melinda was accused by this piss poor media of being a sociopath but clearly Melinda was not. They also took the side of the ex husband parading him as a saint yet he is the one who appears sociopathic. Sociopaths stand up for sociopaths and Nancy Grace is the one who is the sociopath.
Media has no right to declare anyone guilty as if they are the courts!
July 24th, 2009 at 3:14 am
Some folks can’t handle the truth, and Nancy doles out the words to describe such, as ugly as they may be. She was a prosecutor, for christ’s sake, would you expect any less?? Also, pleanty of defendants, celebrity and non, have been torn-into by hard-ball interviewers, humiliated, left defenseless- mostly due to guilt or the fact that indeed they committed accused acts, and backed into a corner, but have not committed suicide. This woman, whom posed nude next to her kidnapped baby’s crib, happened to have killed herself post interview. An unfortunate fate was probably not far away in this poor girl’s future…and if Nancy G. was ridiculous in her accusations, buttons triggering an immediate suicide would not have been pressed. Blaming NG is a cop-out when looking for a source to blame for this tragedy.
September 4th, 2009 at 6:27 am
As a person who suffers from depression, I can say that when you’re severely depressed, you often don’t think in your own best interests. In fact, chances are pretty good that you’re not thinking of yourself in any kind of self-preservation mode or considering anything but what’s bothering you. I’m not saying Melissa was innocent or guilty, but I believe most people don’t understand how a depressed person thinks.
Melissa did the show for whatever reasons motivated her, but chances are pretty good that she never thought about what would happen, what kind of person Nancy Grace is, that the fact she was a “person of interest” would become such a focal point of the whole interview, etc., because she was bothered by the disappearance of her kid and the things that were going on around that. Regardless of whether she had any involvement in his disappearance or not, that would have been what she was focusing on.
For those that believe Melissa could have just stopped the interview, when you’re depressed and someone is taking something out on you or hammering you for an answer, you can’t think of how to stop it. Your brain freezes up, and you start to shrink in on yourself, wondering how the heck this whole thing started and just wanting someone to stop it. Depressed people are easily intimidated, and I can vouch for the fact that I was often the target of playground bullies and bratty girls that liked being able to pick on me because I couldn’t figure out how to fight back effectively enough.
The court may rule Nancy Grace innocent, but all I can say is that that will just prove to people that they can bully someone or take advantage of someone and not have to be responsible for their actions. I’m sure most people don’t think about how their actions affect other people and some don’t even care, but the truth is what you do DOES affect other people. You never know if the person you run into may be pushed over the edge by what you’ve done. It seems to me that people just don’t want to take responsibility for what they do, even though the only person responsible for your behavior is you.
And with regards to this comment:
“The last time I checked every television show is about ratings…that`s the business and if you are too stupid to know that then keep watching.”
The last time I checked, not every interviewer out there was as abrasive, rude, or arrogant as Nancy Grace, and their ratings are doing just fine.
And this one:
“and if Nancy G. was ridiculous in her accusations, buttons triggering an immediate suicide would not have been pressed.”
Maybe in a rational person’s mind, but a depressed person would have just wondered why this was happening to them. I was reduced to tears once by a guy who was behind me in line at a grocery store. He decided he wanted to be ahead of me and that I hadn’t been paying enough attention to know that I was actually ahead of him. Unfortunately, I did know he should have been behind me, but I was unable to put up a defense to keep my spot.
October 13th, 2009 at 1:23 pm
Was It Really Worth It?
Trenton Duckett is missing since August 27, 2006. His mother Melinda Duckett is the prime suspect, but there is no evidence proving that Melinda did anything with or to Trenton. However, there is a handful of people who want to paint the picture of Melinda as an unfit mother and have persuaded the press to do their dirty work for them. Just like they had DCF do their dirty work for them. Melinda Duckett was set up
All the info that Nancy Grace was supplied came from the Duckett Trust fund signatory, Laurie Konnerth. She bragged about it on the forums. Here is a quote from her:
“I want to post the comment made by Laurie Konnerth about the porn. You can view it at http://www.ihearttogossip.blogspot.com/
“Friday October 20, 2006 7:44 PM
Also, I didn’t mean to be rude the other night when I didn’t answer this….. without looking back and reading, I know someone asked me about the porno thing. The answer to that is yes, I do know all about it. I actually provided that information (print out of site with photo) to the FDLE at the end of August. I swear….the investigator practically skipped into the PD he was so happy to get it. At that time they were finding out more and more about Melinda and were still amazed with her multi-faceted abilities!! Also, just about everything that you see on NG, is info that I have given her… so with that in mind, she hasn’t had a chance to do anything on the porn yet, so I would like to wait until this evening to see if she is able to get it into the show tonight. Don’t want to upstage her, she has been so good to us! Also, I have not given any of the porn stuff to the local media —although I was tempted at times!!”
Laurie provided that info “at the end of August”. Trenton went missing August 27th. So in four days Laurie “found” the porno.
Are you starting to “get the picture here?”
December 7th, 2009 at 1:42 pm
Just watching Nancy Grace berate Melinda Duckett on that show caused me emotional mental distress……I can just imagine what it did to the young Ms. Duckett, who's child was missing. Grace's hostile, anger ridden accusatory and relentless questioning was demeaning. The public humiliation that Grace inflicted on the young mother on national television in front of millions of people was disgraceful…..then to re-run the
show over and over and over and over for ALL to see. For Nancy Grace to inject HERSELF into an open police investigation and try to interrogate Duckett in the manner she did…..was so wrong. She is only a
tv host/anchor for god's sake. She pushed and pounded over and over….. ambushed her! Melinda Duckett
did NOT have to answer one question that was DEMANDED by Nancy Grace.