i remember like a wave coming over me, like adrenaline, oh, my god, i am losing control her here. >> the whole time this is happening are you think, please, tape recorder, be working. yes. >> a beautiful wife and mom, living a picture perfect life. >> are you pinching yourself, i got the great guy, i got the great job? >> i was like, life is good. >> she says there was a stranger in the house. her handsome husband, man she claims was becoming more and more violent. thought i'm going to die if i leave. i realized i'm going to die if i sta stay. >> then came day she would never

forget, a brutal attack in her own bedroom, an attack she taped. >> you're choking me. you're choking me! >> a wife who vowed to protect herself? >> i asked her, are you prepared to kill it? she said, yes, if i have to. >> was this really a woman afraid for her life. at trial, some would say that tape actually revealed something very different. >> he says, one of their role playing scenarios was a fake rape. >> any who listens to this tape is going to know that it's not role playing. >> was it possible the whole thing was a setup? >> did you formulate this plan to frame sean to avoid paying him money? >> i'm lester holt. this is ""dateline" behind closed doors." here's andrea kenning. >> it was a tuesday afternoon in carlsbad, california, just north of san diego. at the town beach, locals were

enjoying the rays and 35-year-old crystal harris was in her car on a lunch break. she had a mini cassette recorder with her. she pressed play and listened to what she says are the sounds of her own rape. >> you're choking me. you're choking me! >> you sounded so terrified on the tape. what was it like to relive that whole experience? >> horrified but also glad there's that evidence. >> that evidence would be the centerpiece of a story about a controversial subject. one that's not often discussed. >> it's just so uncomfortable, an uncomfortable subject. >> one that raises boundaries between a husband and wife. when does what happens behind closed doors cross the line and become a crime? >> it can happen to any. >> it cuts across all

socioeconomic levels. it cuts across every type of woman out there. >> crystal would face life and death decisions and tough questions about that tape. >> it just became "50 shad"50 sf gre grey"" as whether that was considered rape or not. >> even as she faced her alleged attacker in criminal court, her fight for justice would take her to the state capitol. >> it's morally wrong for a criminal to profit from his victim. >> into the limelight. >> it was like being victimized all over again. >> a surprisingly public journey for a very private woman. what really sets this story apart is who she'd say her rape is was. >> i will never in my whole life feel safe like i'm safe from him, ever. >> how she ended up here is a mystery, even to her. her days now darkened by fear

when once they were so sunny. crystal spent her childhood among the golden orchids of southern california. >> i had a free upbringing, always running around in those orange groves. we would just be playing all day. when you were hungry, you would just grab an orange. it was just free. >> but her mother, sharon, says crystal was serious beyond her years. >> that same headstrong person was there at 5 as was at 25. >> determined, smart, sociable. as she grew up, crystal's parents told her if she worked hard enough she could have it all. >> there was no question in my mind the world was mine, whatever i wanted i just had to work for it and i could have it. >> did you know what you wanted to be? >> it was about in 11th grade i decided i wanted to be a stockbroker. >> that's early. >> i know. >> crystal says she wanted a

traditional marriage, too, even more so because her own parents had divorced. >> it just made me think when i get married it will be forever. i will never do this to my kids. that was my view. >> that was a direct result from your parents splitting you were going to have the fairytale? >> yes. >> by age 20, all her plans were falling into place. she was finishing her college finance degree and waitressing on the side. that's when she met sean harris. >> i remember looking over at the bar and seeing him for the first time and going, oh, my gosh. i was like, wow, he is good looking. even just with that, just seeing him, i kind of got that mm-mmm in my stomach. >> butterflies? >> very much. >> they talked and crystal liked what she heard. >> the more i got to know him the more i liked him. he was so funny. i can remember days that i spent with him where i did nothing but laugh. laughed so hard that my stomach

hurt. >> sean had been in college on a baseball scholarship. he was a karate black belt and importantly for crystal, his parents were still married. >> what kind of romantic gestures did he do for you in the beginning, if any? >> he did silly things, like i really loved score candy bars. one night he just walked in, handed me an unfortunateenvelop two score candy bars like that. i loved little things like that. >> when sean met crystal's family, they approved. >> they were a good looking couple and fun to be around. >> they seemed to care about each other and seemed happy and seemed to have a lot of fun with each other. >> the wedding two years later, was a lavish affair. >> i love you. >> i love you, too. i have the most gorgeous bride. >> crystal, the perfect bride with the perfect man by her side. >> this is the beginning of a

lifeti lifetime. >> uh-huh. i love her. love her a lot. love her very much. >> you really look back on this, it seems, as a very happy time. you're smiling. >> i really do, because i was head over heels. i mean, i really was. >> it feels like we're talking about the love of your life. >> he was the love of my life. i --you know, to the end, i loved him. >> crystal harris was about to learn that her fairytale life was built on quicksand. her relationship with her husband changing so much she'd start to wonder who she was married to. >> this is the man that you thought was going to protect you and then it turns out that it's him that you need protection from? [ female announcer ] introducing new olay fresh effects'

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crystal harris seemed to have it all. she'd become a financial analyst at smith barney. she'd met and married her hand some and funny husband, sean, and they were about to move 72 a pretty home in a gated community. >> at any point are you pinching yourself? did it. i got the great guy, got the great job. i'm living in california in my new house? >> no. there was a lot of times i was like, life is good. life is good. >> but crystal's seemingly charmed life was about to unravel. >> this gate is designed to keep people out but you felt that your attacker, in your eyes, was living in your own house.

>> yeah. >> so this gate didn't do you any good? no. >> two years into their marriage, she and sean got into an argument in the car and crystal says out of the blue, things quickly escalated. >> we were yelling in the car. the next thing i knew, he like reached over and hit me. and it was like not a fist, it was like the back of his hand. and so i -- i was so shocked. >> crystal kicked sean out of the house and pressed charges. sean pleaded guilty to battery. when he completed anger management classes, crystal thought they could put the episode behind him. >> i thought, okay, good. he will get the help he needs. we can still have our marriage and maybe it will even be better. >> by 2001, crystal thought she and sean were ready to start a family. >> i will be mr. mom. that's the plan. keep ahead of all the other

kids. >> crystal would go back to her lucrative job in finance and sean would be the stay-at-home dad to their newborn son. their second child, another boy, would come two years later. >> hi. >> but the happy family portrait wouldn't last for long. crystal says she again became alarmed by sean's behavior. >> he had really gone down a mental hole that started when his father passed away. he stayed up all night playing this video game, all day sleeping, as much as he could and completely detached from us as a family. >> crystal says sean started being physical with her. several times she called police but charges were never filed. she says whenever she tried to discuss it with him, he'd take off in the car and drive around aimlessly for hours on end. when one night crystal hid his

car key, she says he attacked. >> he started to, like lead me around the house by the back of my neck, like grabs me like. he like kicked me, like get up. crystal called 911. but by the time police came to the house, sean had already left. and when he did come back, crystal says sean didn't offer an apology but an ultimatum. >> we sit down and he tells me that he's sick of me calling the police and that if i do that again or if i try to leave or whatever, that he's going to kill me. >> did you believe him? >> i did believe him. and so it changed everything. >> crystal felt trapped, helpless, in fear of the man she'd been married to for 11 years. and now believed had descended into a very dark place.

>> he would just say things like, give me a reason, you know. i'm looking for a reason to end everything. >> crystal says what kept her coming home was her kids. even though sean never threatened the boys, she still was concerned they might be in danger, too. then, one day, when they were all in the car, she say as fight broke out. >> he cut off my air to my windpipe and i couldn't breathe. so mean, just so cold, so didn't care. he knew the kids were in the car. >> in that moment, crystal says she decided to act. that night, she told sean she had to run an errand. >> instead, i went to the gun range, gun store. >> former marine and firearms expert, weldon mcdavid, was working that night. >> a customer walked in. i could tell something was wrong with her. i couldn't tell exactly what but i could read she was under some kind of stress. >> he was, yeah, can i help you?

i said, i need to buy a gun. it's not just for putting it away. my life is in danger. it's from my husband. he was like, oh. >> at that point, i asked her, are you prepared to kill him? because that is a very real possibility. if it's his life, your son's life or your life, then you have to make that decision. and after a few moments, she said, yes, if i have to. >> weldon sold her a gun, a .45 caliber pistol. but there was a 10 day waiting period before she could bring it home. 10 days before she'd have her weapon and could put her plan to leave sean in motion. >> i wasn't going to do anything until i had the gun in my hand. coming up. will all that careful planning be for nothing? crystal becomes terrified that her last night at home with sean may be her last night on earth. >> i thought, you know, i'm

going to die if i leave. i realized i'm going to die if

for months, crystal harris had felt powerless to leave the home she shared with her husband she says threatened her safety until she finally resolved to take action. felt proud of myself because i thought he is never going to expect me to have a gun. i'm doing something that's going to lead to my freedom. >> once she was armed, her plan was to take the kids, leave shawn and file for divorce. >> if he's the one who violates the restraining order which he would be doing for the sole reason of carrying out his threat to kill me, then i've got something for him. >> while she waited through the 10 day period before she could

get her gun, crystal decided it was time for plan b. >> that's when i got the idea of, he threatens to kill me all the time. it would be good to get these death threats on tape, if i can. i just had my old tape recorder, like a mini cassette recorder like from college days still and i found it. >> she says she hid the machine in a drawer of her changing area of their bedroom though she thought capturing anything on tape was a long shot at best. >> it's not easy when you're like in a fight with somebody. can you hold on one second? i will turn on my tape recorder. would you speak up? i thought if i have a chance, i'm going to. >> what she got was a chance to record a memory she says she wishes she could erase. the friday after her trip to the gun store, she came home after work and went into their bedroom to rest. >> like a minute later, shawn comes in and he wanted to have sex. i said, sorry, no, not going to

happen. and then he -- he said like something about us being marr d married. and i said, yes, but i don't feel like having sex. >> crystal says she reminded shawn the kids were upstairs and tried to diffuse the situation. shawn wouldn't let it go. >> he kept saying, this is not up for negotiations. i remember like a wave coming over me, like adrenaline, oh, my god, i'm losing control here. >> then she remembered her tape recorder in the dressing room drawer. >> so i thought, i've got to get that tape recorder on. i started telling him, i have to go to the bathroom. i have to go pee. please let me go to the bathroom. >> crystal says she punched the record button and tried to get away from shawn. >> i kept saying, no, no, stop, please, i don't want this at all. and when i protested, he immediately started choking me. i think he hit me first and then

he choked me. at one point he threatened to get a knife downstairs. >> what were you seeing in his eyes? >> rage. just pure intent. i was terrified because i really didn't want him to do what he was about to do. it hurts to lose control of your own body, to not be in control of what someone is doing to you. to have that person be your husband -- >> when it was all over, crystal says she was devastated and horrified. >> when i got up to go into the bathroom, i said, i can't believe you just raped your own wife. this is the man that you thought was going to protect you. and then it turns out that it's him that you need protection from. >> and showing a he needs had the tape recorder captured anything. hours later, she could sneak

away to check. >> i hid intere the closet and could tell there was something on there. thank god. >> why not drive to the police station and say, my husband raped me. >> in my mind, i just didn't trust the police to keep him incarcerated until wednesday. >> until you had your gun? >> yep. i didn't trust anybody except my gun. >> she knew she needed to learn how to shoot. the first chance she got, she returned to the gun range. >> she walked in and she was visibly shaken. i knew something had happened. >> oh, god, stop! plea please, shawn. >> she started playing a little portion of the audiotape from that night. >> you're choking me. you're choking me! >> i couldn't listen to it. less than 30 seconds after it started, i had her turn it off. it was just too much.

i really wanted to go and kill him. >> instead, weldon promised crystal, in a series of lessons that would stretch over a year, he'd teach her how to shoot well, even under stressful conditions. >> i had her doing exercises, jumping jacks, push-ups, and then ran back into the range, told her, grab the gun, shoot. she completely missed the target. and her reaction to that was, oh, my god, i'm going to die. >> weldon calmed her down and sent her back out to run some more. >> get back in, grab the gun, shoot. she grabs the gun, shoots, much better. >> weldon pushed crystal's heart rate to the limit. >> grab the gun, shoot. she grabs the gun, shoots and starts to fall apart breathing so hard. good. you hit the target. that's all i needed. >> you're prepared to kill him at this point if you have to. >> if i have to. if it's him or me, yes.

>> crystal had one more thing to do. tell everything to the family she'd hidden the truth from for so long. she went to her mother first. >> she said shawn raped me. and i kind of like a lot of people didn't know what that meant between a husband and a wife. you think you're walking down the street and a stranger rapes you, your husband doesn't rape you, so it was kind of li like -- it didn't compute. >> crystal's mother wouldn't be the only 2001 react that way, to question just what had occurred between crystal and shawn. but then crystal unloaded to her mother about everything. >> i hated the words i was hearing. it was not what any mother wants to hear, and more directly was how she looked. she looked broken that day. >> then, the final night arrived, the last night she

would need to spend in the house with shawn. it was one night too many. crystal says she had barely walked through the door when it started. >> he was gunning for me. this time it was the worst he ever choked me. >> could you breathe? >> no. i mean, i literally, i started blacking out. i was seeing like spots and blackness. i remember thinking like this is how laci peterson died. i don't remember why, i remember thinking that, this is how she died. he just choked her and then just dumped her body. i'm going to end up like her. >> at the last minute, shawn let go but then crystal says he began to force himself on her. >> he pushes me onto the go around. if i resisted he like would hit me up side the head from behind. >> was it more violent this time around? >> much more violent. it was a very violent act. >> you had no tape recorder this

time. you were all on your own. >> i didn't. i didn't, but -- but, you know, something changed for me that night, which was i thought, you know, i'm going to die if i leave. i had that rule in my head for so long, i realized, i'm going to die if i stay. >> the moment of truth had come for crystal. she was convinced her life depended on her escaping that night and that her only protection now was that audiotape. if she thought that tape would protect her, she'd soon learn she would have to defend it in ways she'd never expect in a court of law. coming up, could the tape that's supposed to prove crystal is an abused wife instead wind up sparking doubts about her story? >> i think any's reaction is how in the world was she able to get this on tape?

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it was a tuesday evening. crystal harris had just tucked her two children in bed for the night. she listened for the sounds of her husband, shawn, playing his video game upstairs and then sneaked into her walk-in closet to place a call. >> the phone rang and it's crystal. i thought, this can't be good. >> crystal told her mother her husband had raped her for the second time that week. >> she said, he did it again. said, you need to get out of there. she says, i can't. i can't get the boys out of bed without him knowing. and i said, well then you need to sneak out and call the police and watch the house. >> downstairs, crystal quietly disabled the front door chime. then, the moment of decision had

arrive arrived. with everyone in the house settled in was the coast clear for crystal to make her move. >> your boys are tucked in bed, you've turned off the sound on the alarm. your husband is on the computer? >> yes. >> is that your moment? >> yeah. i grabbed my purse and grabbed that tape recorder and i just walked out of the house. and that whole time, as i'm walking out, i'm just thinking, oh, my god, he's going to come after me, i'm going to have to be running in a second. >> are you just looking over your shoulder every second? >> every second. >> crystal hid and crouched down in the bushes and dialed 911. >> 91 within. what's your emergency? what's going on? >> my husband has threatened to kill me. he choked me and raped me. >> as squad cars sped to crystal's home, she warned the dispatcher shawn might try to escape if he heard them. >> there's an exit on the iii

floor. he'll probably try to run out that third floor. >> okay. >> in moments, officers arrived and surrounded the home. shawn harris was located upstairs and was quickly arrested. >> i would have loved to seen the look on his face at that moment in time. >> for crystal, one huge ordeal had ended and another was just beginning. >> oh, my god, it feels like you set off a bomb in your life because what had previously been a secret is about to just go up in flames. >> shawn harris was charged with three counts of sexual assault and was held in jail, unable to make bond. crystal had publicly made a controversial claim, that her own husband was guilty of raping her. judy taschner was the prosecutor on the case. >> wthis was extreme hi private extremely hurtful and embarrassing to be sharing that with the world, that your

husband did this to you? >> taschner says spousal rate is something much of often stays behind doors and a lot of people don't believe it can happen. >> a lot of people can't understand spousal rape? it doesn't make sense to them. how can a spouse rape the other spouse. how can that happen? >> we talk about stranger rape and domestic violence. not spousal rape. i think it should be talked about more. it's so uncomfortable. it's an uncomfortable subject. >> that's why the shawn harris case was so unusual. not only was crystal coming forward with a claim of spousal rape, she had taped the incident. >> right there, you know, this is highly unusual and something i had never heard of before. there's usually never any independent evidence this type of crime. >> if that 20 minute audiotape was evidentiary gold for the

prosecution, it could also raise some eyebrows in court. >> i think any's reaction when they first hear there is a tape of the rape, how in the world was she able to get this on tape? >> crystal says she was prepared to explain the tale of the tape in court but she wasn't ready for what happened a year and half after shawn's arrest. with the case still awaiting trial, crystal got a phone call that set her heart pounding and sent this mother on the run. >> i got the call he was being bailed out. i literally grabbed the boys out of school, i left work and i left town. >> where did you go? >> i went everywhere i could think of that he wouldn't think of. >> crystal's sister, summer, had been living with crystal at the time and decided to hold down the fort at the house while crystal went into hiding. summer, a former marine herself, kept on high alert day and

night. >> i actually had my dad's shotgun and wasn't sure if he broke in and saw a woman asleep in the bed if he would know it was me versus crystal. >> crystal couldn't stay way for long. after a few weeks she returned. she moved back into her home and had weldon mcdavid come over and conduct a security risk assessment of the premises. have years of training on that and imparted some of that knowledge to crystal and checked out the housetop and bottom and told her some defensible spaces. >> shawn never did come after crystal. when his day in court finally arrived, his defense launched a provocative attack. >> do you believe she made the whole thing up just so she wouldn't have to pay him money? >> make that two provocative attacks. shawn's defense also has a surprising explanation for crystal's harrowing tape. >> one of their role playing

scenarios was a fake rape. >> when "dateline" continues. everyone's hair breaks.

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she was flanked by friends and family supporting her. her sister, summer could tell she really needed it. >> i think the trial was really hard for crystal. oftentimeses she was shaking prior to going to court an just very -- that's the most unsettled i've seen her. >> crystal dreaded that her personal life would be put on public display and her accused taker might walk away free, in part, because he was her husband. the jurors were told right off the bat, this was a case about spousal rape. lisa was on that jury panel. >> what did you think when you heard spousal rape? >> i was thinking in my head, how do you prosecute spousal rape. rape, you can prosecute. within a marriage sex is some what regular and it would be difficult to make a case against your spouse. >> then, with local television cameras rolling, crystal harris took the stand to tell about the

violence and threats she says she endured from shawn. >> if did go to the police or if i did go to my family, that i would be dead before the police would arrive. >> she explained to the jury it was those death threats she hoped to capture on the tape recorder in her dressing room. what she says she got was a brutal sex attack. >> no. just a minute, please. shawn! >> you finally heard the tape, first reaction? >> first reaction, i was horrified. she was crying and saying no, don't do this, stop. she must have said stop 50 times. >> crystal next faced tough cross-examination from the defense and when shawn's attorney chipped away at crystal's testimony, it seemed to score points with the jurors. >> it was little things. there were a few incidences in my notes where i put question marks when something came up that was inconsistent with

something said earlier in the trial. >> and then shawn harris took the stand himself and gave his own surprising explanation for what was on the tape. he said the whole episode was not what it seemed like at all, that he and crystal engaged in sexual role play in their marriage. everything from tarzan and jane to james bond to rape. >> just another opportunity to yell and scream and get our adrenaline pumping during sex. >> who yells and screams? >> both of us. >> weston says that's how crystal was able to secretly tape what only sounded like her husband raping her. >> my client testified they were role playing. so one of their role playing scenarios was a fake rape. >> i've never even heard of rape role play. if i googled it, is that something that is a fetish of people? do other people do this?

>> well, my answer to that is that book out, the "50 shades of grey" isn't that what that is about, don't nearing? rape role playing in that world is not unusual. >> it was a lot for the jury to consider, that the chilling scene recorded on tape may all be just an act. >> don't do it like this, shawn! >> the jury wondered, why would crystal ever want to catch a rape scenario on tape? the defense had an answer. weston said because crystal was the family's bread winner she'd have to pay shawn money in a divorce and so she set a trap hoping to get him thrown in jail. >> do you believe she made the whole thing up so she didn't have to pay him money? >> it appeared the evidence showed this was a setup so this would occur.

>> have you ever admitted or acknowledged there was a rape role playing scenario? >> never. that is so inconsistent with who i am and what our marriage was. there was no role playing of any kind. it was insulting to have that accusation thrown out at the trial. but that's what rapists do, they lie. >> no jane and tarzan, no james bond, no stranger on the beach? >> nothing. nothing like that ever. >> in the trial, crystal also adamantly denied any role playing in her marriage and said she answered every question on the stand truthfully, to the best of her memory. >> one of the jurors said there were inconsistencies in your story. what's your reaction to that? >> i don't know what she's talking about. the truth is what the truth is. sometimes, you know, when somebody's lying, that's when the story's so perfect. >> crystal denied she had set

shawn up to get out of paying him in a divorce. >> did you do any of this? did you farm late this plan to basically frame shawn just to avoid paying him money? >> that is such a ridiculous notion when you look at the cost of legal fees and things like that. there were bad things happening in my life, crimes happening to me in my life that all i was going to try to do was document that. >> prosecutor judy taschner says that shawn's claim this was sexual role play is absurd, bottom line, no matter what crystal's intentions were in recording that tape, shawn still committed this crime. >> even if you want to be as critical as you can be with her, this is still a rape, no matter what. shawn harris is still raping his wife. is still forcing her to commit these acts against her will. >> but what would the jurors believe?

coming up, the verdict. >> what's going through your mind at that point? >> i was in sensed. >> but there was yet another shock in store for crystal. what would she do w

jurors in the case against shawn harris had listened for weeks to a tail of betrayal, brutality and broken bonds of trust. shawn harris was facing sex assault charges against his wife. crystal was accused by the defense of setting up her husband and that the rape caught on tape was nothing more than role play. now, in the deliberation room, juror lisa mitchell says they were having a hard time sorting it out.

>> what story did you believe? >> i guess bits and pieces of both. and a lot of neither. >> that's a lot of weight on your shoulders to weed through and trying to figure out who's telling the truth and who's not? >> yeah. that was really difficult for me because i knew that not just these two people but their entire families hinged upon our decision. >> the jury had three different sex crime charges against shawn to consider. three different forced sex acts allegedly capture on the audiotape tape and one that wasn't recorded. >> it got pretty heated in there and people were split. >> lisa did believe they had engaged in sexual role play in the peace but says what she heard on the tape doesn't sound like a fake rape. >> if she was acting, that would

be an oscar performance. i don't think she was acting and was someone in complete and total fear. >> but the sticking point was whether crystal's refusals applied to both sex acts for just the first one. >> the jury in struksstructionse were to look at each event completely independent of the other. that was difficult for me because all her protest stations against being raped were recorded in the first part of the rape. >> do you think there would have been that much debate if crystal had been dragged into an alley by a stranger and recorded the rape? >> no. i think it would have been more clear cut had it been a stranger or had it been anybody else, her boss, a friend, parent, sibling. i think the fact that it was her husband made it more difficult. >> after three days of intense deliberation inside the jury

room, the verdict. guilty of one charge, the first sex act caught on tape, but hung on the other two charges. >> we decided we couldn't decide but i didn't like that decision. >> for crystal, the verdict brought mixed emotions. >> what's going through your mind at that point? >> i was relieved. but at the same time, i was in sensed that they didn't find him guilty on all counts. it just -- i didn't see how that could be. >> if you were able to convict him on one, why not the other? it's all the same tape. >> because of the fact it had to be independent. my gut instinct was he was guilty on all three counts but i knew specifically that i was not supposed to go with the gut instinct, i was supposed to go with just the evidence that was presented. >> shawn harris was ordered to register as a sex offender and was sentenced to six years in

prison. shawn has declined "dateline"'s request for an interview but in court documents he denied ever raping crystal. with her husband convicted in criminal court, one road on crystal's long road to justice had come to an end. but crystal says her ongoing ordeal in divorce court has only added insult to injury. before shawn's conviction, crystal was ordered to pay him almost a thousand dollars a month in spousal support. after his conviction, she had to pay almost $50,000 in legal fees. crystal wasn't the obviousnly o be outrage. >> shy should have paid him a grand a month and pick up his attorneys' fees? >> the wife, the victim has to pay spousal support. >> when the judge told her the law allowed it, crystal vowed to change the law. >> if this hearing doesn't go well today, it's over and this bill dies. this is everything. >> crystal testified at california state capital in

support of a bill she helped write. >> it's morally wrong and outrageous for a criminal to profit from his victim. >> less than a year later, the bill was made into law. now, in california, victims who suffer felony sex assault at the hands of their spouses do not have to pay any financial awards to their attackers. >> i knew that that injustice could not stand and that i would see to it that that was the case. >> at a recent awards ceremony, crystal was honored for her efforts to pass the law and raise awareness about domestic violence in marriage. >> i never sought this path. no one wants to be the face of spousal rape. >> good for her for getting people to talk about it and for raising awareness about spousal rape. >> thank you. >> more awareness we can raise about it can be used to save someone in the future. >> when once crystal hid the

darkness in her life from everyone, now, she believes it's important to share her story, to help others who may still struggle in silence alone and afraid. >> has this made you a stronger person? >> yes. i mean, i -- i look at life through the lens of, you know, counting all my blesses and just trying to stay positive and trying to help others learn from what i went through. >> though she worries about the day, just a year from now, when shawn gets out of prison, crystal refuses to live her life in fear or close her heart to love. >> are you open to loving someone again? >> some day, i am. you know, i have no doubt that i will love someone again. i will be a wife again. i will look forward to that day but it's not today. i'm just not ready yet, not even clos close. >> that's all for now.

i'm lester holt. thanks for joining us. this sunday, breaking news on two fronts this this sunday, breaking news on two fronts this morning, the crash landing in san francisco and chaos on the streets of cairo as president morsi is pushed from power. >> he has a 214 at the san francisco tower. >> flight 214 crashes upon landing at san francisco international airport. we talked to the top investigator who arrived on the scene just hours ago. plus the unfolding crisis in egypt and deadly clashes on the streets and confusion who is in charge. the latest. plus, america's role now in the spotlight as president obama walk as fine line between promoting american values and protecting american interests. we'll hear from the chairman of the senate foreign relations

committee, new jersey democrat, robert menendez. and the fights back home. the obama administration decides to postpone a key part of the president's health care law. opponents say it's a key reason why it should be repealed. i talked to the congressman from idaho. >> from nbc news in washington, the world's longest running television, this is "meet the press" with david gregory. morn. we want to go to our developing story this morning. tom costello covers aviation for nbc news. he's got the latest on the tragic crash landing in san francisco that claimed the lives of two chinese citizens and sent 182 passengers to area hospitals. tom, as you have done some initial reporting, what is what they know tell us about what happened? >> reporter: this is asiana airlines flight 214 coming from

seoul in south korea, 10 1/2-hour flight into san francisco airport, and on approach at about 11:27 yesterday morning on runway 28 left, apparently by all accounts this plaenl came in a little low and a little slow according to eyewitnesses and literally the tail slammed into the sea barrier wall just before runway 28 left begins. the plane then slammed down onto the runway and skidded down the runway before then going into a grassy area. immediately the emergency chutes deployed. there was an evacuation of all 300-plus people on board this plane. unfortunately, as you reported, there were a couple of fatalities. the investigation is now going to focus on why this happened, of course. was it pilot error? was there a mechanical issue? was there some sort of an avionics issue? it is interesting that the president of asiana airlines this morning said he does not believe that there was an engine problem. now, the ntsb investigators have really not spent a whole lot of time in those engines y,