Selma Blair Charged With Felony Assault, Her Lawyer Says It Was a Medical Emergency, Tyreek Hill Testifies, Brand Jury Warned Off Podcasts

0:10 Good morning. This is Daily Crime and Justice from Calaroga Media, powered by AI. I'm Garrett Fisher. It's Wednesday, October 14th, 2026. On Sunday night, a Delta flight from Los Angeles landed at JFK with police waiting at the gate. The passenger they took off that plane was the actress Selma Blair. By Monday night, she was standing in a Queens courtroom pleading not guilty to two felony assault charges. And her lawyer told the judge it wasn't an intentional assault. He said she was having a medical emergency. So today's question, when does a medical crisis stop being a crime and who gets to decide? Let's get into it.

0:53 If you're not familiar with Selma Blair, she's 54, and you know her from movies like Cruel Intentions and Legally Blonde. In 2018, she announced publicly that she has multiple sclerosis, an autoimmune disease that attacks the nervous system. She's spoken about it openly ever since, including in a documentary about her life with the disease, and she's become one of the most visible advocates for people living with MS. On Sunday, October 11th, she boarded Delta Flight 938 from Los Angeles to New York. Here's what officials and sources have said happened. According to law enforcement sources who spoke to CBS News, Blair tried to open one of the cabin doors during the flight, and the crew had to restrain her for the rest of the trip. A law enforcement official told CNN she allegedly bit one flight attendant and left another with cuts. Two flight attendants reported injuries, according to the Port Authority police, and one was taken to the hospital.

1:51 Air traffic dispatch audio obtained by CNN mentioned a bloody nose and bite marks, without saying who was hurt, and said the passenger may have hit her head on the bulkhead. Delta says the flight actually arrived ahead of schedule. Police boarded the plane at the gate at around 11 p.m. and took Blair into custody. Because she needed to be evaluated, she was taken by ambulance to Jamaica Hospital in Queens. And that's where the charges she was arraigned on actually come from. According to the criminal complaint, while she was being restrained on a stretcher, she freed one of her legs and repeatedly kicked a Port Authority officer. At the hospital, she allegedly kicked a nurse in the chest. Prosecutors say both were hurt. That distinction matters, so I want to be clear about it. The two charges in Queens, both second-degree assault, which is a felony in New York, are about what happened after she left the plane, the officer and the nurse. The prosecutor said so in court. What happened in the air is a separate federal matter because crimes on board an airplane fall under federal jurisdiction.

2:54 The FBI has. Issued Blair a notice charging her with assault in connection with the flight, according to a federal official who spoke to the Associated Press. The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating. On Monday evening, Blair appeared in Queens Criminal Court. She pleaded not guilty. Bail was set at $ 20, 000 cash or a $ 60, 000 bond, and she was released. Then her lawyer, Sean Barnes, laid out the defense. According to pool video of the hearing, he told the judge, quote, We do not believe, Your Honor, that this is an intentional assault. He said she had just come off long, exhausting days working on a set. He said she had missed several doses of a medication that controls severe neurological symptoms. He said she fell and hit her head during the flight.

3:39 And he revealed something new, that in addition to MS, she has been diagnosed with Parkinsonism, a group of nervous system conditions that can cause tremors, stiffness, and involuntary movement. A representative for Blair told TMZ that she experienced a medical emergency that led to the alleged conduct. Now, here's why that. Defense isn't just sympathy. it goes straight to the legal question. In New York, this kind of second degree assault charge involving a police officer or a nurse generally requires prosecutors to prove two things, that the person caused a physical injury and that they did it intending to stop that officer or nurse from doing their job. Intent is built into the charge. So if Blair's lawyers can show that she was so confused or disoriented from her illness, a missed medication, a head injury, or all three, that she couldn't form that intent, it's not a matter of the jury feeling bad for her. It's a missing element of the crime. The charge carries up to seven years in prison if she's convicted. Let me give you the prosecution side because it's serious. A police officer and a nurse went to work on Sunday night to take care of someone in crisis, and both of them say they were hurt doing it. Two flight attendants were injured on the plane.

4:53 And if the allegation about the cabin door is true, that put every person on that flight at risk. Prosecutors don't have to prove she was thinking clearly about consequences. They have to prove intent to interfere. And they'll argue that kicking someone repeatedly while they're trying to restrain you is evidence of exactly that. Illness can explain a lot. It doesn't automatically erase responsibility. And there's one more piece of public record you're going to hear about, so I'll put it in context. In 2016, Blair was taken off another Delta flight on a stretcher after an episode on board. She apologized publicly at the time and said she had mixed alcohol with medication. That was 10 years ago before her MS diagnosis was public, and nothing about it is evidence of what happened on Sunday.

5:41 But prosecutors and the public will both remember it. So here's where I land. I think the most honest answer right now is that no one outside that courtroom knows what was happening in Selma Blair's body and brain on Sunday night, and that includes me. Her lawyers have made a claim. To make it stick, they'll need medical records, doctors, and evidence about that medication and that fall. Prosecutors will need to show she knew what she was doing. That's exactly how it should work. What I'd ask is that we resist both easy stories, the one where a celebrity is using her illness as an excuse, and the one where a sick woman is being punished for being sick. Real life and real law usually sit in between. We saw that last week in Kansas, with a woman who believed her mother was the devil.

6:30 We'll see it again here. And in the middle of all the headlines about a famous actress, please don't forget the four people who were hurt. Two flight attendants, a police officer, and a nurse. We don't know their names, and they deserve their privacy. But every one of them was doing their job taking care of other people when this happened. They're part of this story too. When we come back, Tyreek Hill. Takes the stand and says he's ashamed. Last week, we told you about the civil trial in Miami where Lakita Vaccaro, the estranged wife of NFL star Tyreek Hill, is suing him for assault and battery as part of their divorce.

7:18 She testified that he. Abused her repeatedly during their 18-month marriage. Hill denies it and he has never been criminally charged. Late last week, Hill took the stand himself and his testimony was striking because he admitted some things. And flatly denied others. Here's what he admitted. Jurors have seen videos recorded inside the couple's home, and Hill acknowledged the way he spoke to his wife in them. Under cross-examination, Court TV reports he said, quote, I'm not. Proud of that. I'm ashamed. He said the language was terrible, that he wished he had been better, and that he would never speak to his co-parent that way again. He said he had already admitted to verbally abusing his wife and was sorry for it and seemed frustrated that he was being asked again.

8:04 He also admitted he hadn't been a good husband, putting it in football terms. After watching the film, he said there were a lot of areas he could improve. Here's what he denied. Ever physically hurting her. Vaquero's lawyers say he once threw her through a wall in their home. Hill admitted that he made a hole in the wall, but said it happened when the two of them were struggling and he was trying to get away from her, and that a door hit the wall. That led to one of the more memorable exchanges of the trial. Vaccaro's attorney, Jared Whaley, asked Hill whether he was an NFL superstar. Hill said he wasn't. Whaley pointed out that Hill has beaten some of the best defensive backs in the league and asked how he could evade them but couldn't evade his wife without putting her through a wall. Hill answered that it wasn't that kind of moment, that you have to warm up for that, and that he's 33 with back pain. His own lawyer, Christy Bright, used his size as part of the defense. Hill testified that at 195 pounds, he's the smallest man on every football team he's played on.

9:11 Asked whether it was believable that he'd wrestled with Vaccaro for the 30 minutes she described in one incident, he said it wasn't believable at all, and that he would never harm his wife. Hill also testified about the couple's finances, saying he looked the other way when, he alleges, his wife spent far more than her allowance on a family credit card. That's his allegation, and Vaccaro hasn't been found to have. Done anything wrong. So where does that leave the jury? With a man who admits to verbal abuse but denies physical abuse, a woman who says it was both, very few photographs, police officers who, according to the defense, found no marks, and video that shows ugly words but, according to the defense, no violence. It's a civil case, so the standard is lower than in a criminal trial. The jury only has to find it more likely than not that the abuse happened.

10:05 Here's my take. Verbal abuse is abuse. Hill admitted to it, under oath, and that's real. But it's not the claim in this lawsuit, which is about physical assault. The jury has to keep those two things separate, and so should we. Meanwhile, Hill remains a free agent, and the NFL is conducting its own investigation. A verdict in Miami could come soon. When we come back, the Russell Brand jury is sworn in, and the judge has a warning about podcasts. In London on Tuesday, the jury in Russell Brand's trial was sworn in. Brand, who is 51, faces seven charges, three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of indecent assault, involving six women between 1999 and 2009. He is pleaded not guilty to all of them, and he denies all of the allegations.

11:09 Sky News reports that on Monday, the judge, Mr. Justice Benethen, brought in 50 potential jurors and asked whether they had seen the Channel 4 documentary or read the Sunday Times investigation about Brand from 2023. Anyone who said yes was sent home. On Tuesday, 13 were sworn in, 12 jurors and one alternate, in case someone can't finish the trial. And then the judge gave them a warning, I want to pass on to you, because it's about shows like this one. He told the jurors that researching the case or even looking for it on social media is a criminal offense in England and could put them in the dock themselves. And according to Sky, he specifically mentioned the number of podcasts covering this trial and told them not to go looking for any of them. That's the environment we're working in. It's why, every day, you'll hear me tell you what was said in the courtroom, remind you that Brand denies the charges, and keep my own opinions to myself until there's a verdict. The judge's warning is a good reminder that the people on that jury are supposed to decide this case on the evidence in front of them and nothing else. As Brand arrived at court on Tuesday, a Sky News reporter asked him how he was feeling. He answered, blessed, thank you very much.

12:28 The trial is now expected to last six to eight weeks, rather than the 10 that had been estimated, which would put a verdict around mid-December. Court sits Monday through Friday, 10 to 4, and the prosecution's opening statement is expected this morning in London. We'll bring you what was said. Once more, Russell Brand denies all charges. That's the show for this Wednesday. Question for the Spotify crowd. If someone hurts another person during a genuine medical crisis, should that ever be a crime? Where would you draw the line? If you're listening on Spotify, drop a comment. If you know someone who follows celebrity cases, send them this episode.

13:09 That's how the show grows. And on Apple Podcasts, tap listen uninterrupted at the top of your screen. $ 5 a month, no ads. This show plus thousands of Calaroga Media shows. And the first 30 days are free. To everyone who already subscribes, thank you. Tomorrow is our special episode, the whole Krista Pike story from Knoxville in 1995 to the execution Tennessee couldn't finish. One case, start to finish. And tomorrow afternoon, Brian Koberger's lawyers ask Judge Stephen Hippler to step aside. We'll have that on Friday, along with the latest from the Russell Brand trial. I'm Garrett Fisher.

13:50 Do better. This episode of Daily Crime and Justice is produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and is intended for news and commentary purposes only. It is not legal advice. Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. Selma Blair has pleaded not guilty to the state charges against her, and no federal charges have been resolved. Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies all of the allegations against him. Tyreek Hill has not been charged with any crime. The claims against him are allegations in a civil lawsuit that he denies. On Selma Blair, accounts of what happened on the flight come from law enforcement sources speaking anonymously to CBS News, CNN, and the Associated Press from Port Authority Police Statement's and from air traffic dispatch audio and have not been tested in court. Details of the state charges come from the criminal complaint as reported by news outlets.

14:54 Information about her medical conditions comes from statements by her attorney in court and her own public statements. Our description of New York assault law is a general summary and not legal advice. On Tyreek Hill, testimony is as reported by Court TV. Hill's testimony about his wife's spending is his allegation and has not been found to be true. On Russell Brand, courtroom details. Are as reported by Sky News. Under the Sexual Offenses Amendment Act 1992, complainants in sexual offense cases in the United Kingdom are entitled to lifelong anonymity. If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, the National Domestic Violence Hotline is available at 1-800-799-7233. If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence, you can call RAINN at 800-656-4673.

15:46 In England and Wales, you can reach Rape Crisis at 0808 500 2222.