[dramatic music]
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- Hi, everyone, I'm Dan Abrams, and this is "Court Cam."
- You should be ashamed of yourself.
- I want dude off my case. [spits]
♪ ♪
- Got a runner.
[people yelling]
- Get out!
- This is not TV court. This is for real.
♪ ♪
- First up, we head to Las Vegas, Nevada,
for a preliminary hearing.
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59-year-old Yousuf Azami has been
charged with sexual assault, lewdness, and kidnapping.
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Four months earlier, police say Azami
met an underage girl in the parking lot
of a marijuana dispensary.
He then allegedly took the girl to his apartment
and sexually assaulted her.
The girl was eventually able to escape,
grabbing a piece of Azami's clothing as she fled.
She soon arrived at a casino where
she flagged down a stranger who notified police.
Azami was quickly arrested and released on $5,000 bond.
He pled not guilty.
Today, Azami's scheduled to appear
before Judge Melissa Stratton for his preliminary hearing.
Before things begin, Azami can be seen sitting
by himself in the hallway.
About 20 feet away, a man seems
to be watching the defendant.
When Azami gets up and walks down the hall,
the man follows.
And when the man catches up to Azami, he does this.
♪ ♪
The man who threw the punch is 57-year-old
Glenn Cromwell Jr., who's associated with the alleged
underage victim.
Without warning, Cromwell lands a powerful punch,
sending Azami to the ground.
♪ ♪
As witnesses rush over, Cromwell continues
punching and kicking Azami.
Several people, including a court deputy,
intervene and pull Cromwell away.
Azami was taken to a nearby hospital
but suffered no major injuries in the attack.
♪ ♪
Cromwell was charged with battery
and released on his own recognizance.
His case is pending.
As for Azami, the judge adjourned
his hearing to a later date.
His case is also pending.
If found guilty on all charges, Azami could be
sentenced to life in prison.
♪ ♪
Next we're in Centreville, Michigan,
for a motion hearing.
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35-year-old Carrie Haney is being
sued by Riverside Townhouse
for $3,903.61 in back rent.
♪ ♪
The mother of four claims the rent
should have been paid by Keystone Place,
a local charity.
When that didn't happen, Haney filed for support
from the state's CERA program.
Today, Haney appears without an attorney
before Judge Jeffrey Middleton.
The judge had previously ruled in favor of the plaintiff
and gave Haney 30 days to pay up.
When she didn't, Haney filed a motion
requesting temporary relief from judgment
and a stay of proceedings.
Things get off to a bumpy start.
- Are you Carrie Haney?
- Yes.
- All right.
You've come in as Grinch 74.
That means there were 73 Grinches before you.
- [laughs]
- When you come into court, you might want to consider
what you come in named as.
- After Haney switches her screen name,
the judge checks in with Lorri Cousino,
the property's manager, who's represented
by attorney Somchit Hart.
- Miss Cousino?
- Yes.
- Has Riverside received any money from Keystone?
- No.
- My CERA application is still processing, it says.
- According to whom?
- On my-- when I go and check the status of it.
- All right.
Miss Hart, what's your position here?
- Your Honor, we would object to any additional time
given to Miss Haney.
It's been more than 30 days.
We ask for the judgment to stand, Your Honor.
- Miss Haney?
- Yes?
- They want you to move today.
They're ready to do an eviction tomorrow.
And they're asking that I don't grant your stay.
♪ ♪
For one thing, I don't have any proof that your CERA
application is in process.
- It's still processing.
I can't do anything about it.
- You're saying, well, someone else
is supposed to pay my rent.
Well, they haven't paid it.
- I'm not saying someone else.
I'm saying the application that I applied for.
I can't push it through any further.
I can't jump to the government and make them push it through.
- Yeah. - I can't.
This is bull.
- Miss Hart, are you willing to give 10 days?
- Your Honor, that's not amenable to the complex.
She's, as you can see, very combative.
We would just want--
- The one-- the one time!
I've been on these calls for freaking four different times
and I've been fine, because I'm tired!
I'm tired of it!
They've been picking and picking at me!
- Calm down.
This wasn't my idea, but you're not paying your rent.
You're asking the government to pay your rent.
The government hasn't paid it.
- I have tried and tried and tried.
I've applied for stuff.
I've filled stuff out on the computer.
- All right.
- I've gone through everything they told me to go through.
- Well, they didn't pay your rent.
- All right, this is going to be very unpleasant.
- Judge Middleton is prepared to make his ruling.
- Your motion for ex parte order to stay
the eviction is denied.
♪ ♪
I've signed the writ of eviction.
They're not even willing to give you any additional time.
They want you to go and they want you to go immediately.
- The eviction order was granted,
and Haney and her four children
moved to a new property.
But according to court records,
she still owes Riverside Townhouses for the back rent.
♪ ♪
- Next we head to Jonesboro, Georgia, for a plea hearing.
♪ ♪
26-year-old Todreeka Gipson has been charged
with battery, simple battery, battery family violence,
and other charges.
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Over two years earlier, police say
Gipson got into an altercation with Michael Bryant,
her live-in boyfriend and the father
of their three children.
Gipson allegedly scratched Michael's face
and threw a number of items at him,
including kitchen utensils and an alcoholic beverage can.
She was arrested and released on $8,000 bond.
And in an unrelated incident a year later, she
was charged with speeding and driving
with a suspended license.
Today, Gipson appears before Judge Tammi Long Hayward
to enter her pleas.
- It doesn't appear that you have an attorney,
but I'm gonna tell you each one of these charges
carries 12 months to serve.
And I could run them consecutively,
meaning you could get more than 12 months to serve.
Do you wish to have an attorney represent you?
- Yes.
- So Ms. Gipson, at the appropriate time,
we'll put you in a breakout room with Mr. White.
And he'll speak to you about your charges.
- Ma'am.
- Yes, Ms. Gipson?
- Can I just go ahead and plead to my case,
instead of waiting on the lawyer?
- That would make no sense.
First of all, you're looking at multiple years.
So if you wanna spend four or five years in jail,
that's up to you, but I don't think
it's recommended to do that without the advice
of an attorney.
- After meeting with her lawyer in a breakout room,
Gipson pleads guilty to two of the battery charges
while three others are dropped,
and she's ordered not to have
contact with the victim.
She also pleads no contest to several traffic violations.
Then, as Judge Hayward begins to sentence Gipson--
- Your Honor? - Yes?
- I do apologize.
I just saw this message.
But the victim, Mr. Bryant, I believe, is on.
- The victim, Michael Bryant, joins the call.
- Yes, sir.
Tell me what you got that you want me to know.
- Well, she's my child's mother,
and I would have to have some form of contact with her.
- Sir, let me disabuse you of that.
If y'all haven't had these children in marriage or if you
weren't married soon after the birth of the children
and if you haven't gone to Superior Court
and legitimized the children, no, you do not, in fact,
have to have contact.
The only contact you're required
to have under those circumstances
is you can pay child support.
♪ ♪
- Well, being a Black man and raising a Black son, I would--
- Well, being a Black man raising a Black son you should
have married the mother or you should go
to court and get the child-- and get
the child to be legally yours.
So until such time as that child is legally yours,
I don't have to consider any of this.
- So you would rather see young Black men start to grow
up with father-- fatherless?
- No. what I would rather see is young Black men do it
the right way, either have a good relationship with the mama
and marry the mama and be in the home
and take care of their children,
or go be legally bound to their children through the courts
if they can't live with the mama
and make sure that if something should happen to them,
then their children are taken care of
and provided for under whatever is legally available to them
because their parent did the right thing.
So what you're not gonna do, sir-- uh-uh.
What you're not gonna do is come
in here telling me about what a Black man needs to be.
I've been Black a long time, Sir.
I know I'm older than you and your baby mama.
Probably put your ages together, I'm that age.
So let me tell you something.
When you wanna do something the right way, do it the right way.
But what you're not gonna do is play
on my sympathy, talk about, you don't want
a Black man to raise his son?
If you wanted to raise your son the right way,
you should have done it the right way from the beginning.
You out here having three kids with this woman,
and then y'all can't even get along
enough to raise the child.
So what you ain't gonna do, sir, is
bring that foolishness to me.
♪ ♪
- Bryant tries to respond, but he's muted.
And shortly after, he leaves the call.
Judge Hayward returns to Gipson,
and based on the plea deal,
sentences her to two days
in jail, a year of probation,
plus 110 hours of community
service, a fine of $2,891.25,
a driver improvement course,
and a family violence
intervention program.
- Now, Ms. Gipson, let this be the last time
we meet like this, OK?
- It will. Yes, ma'am.
Thank you. - All right.
♪ ♪
- Next, we head to Walterboro, South Carolina, for a verdict.
♪ ♪
53-year-old Rita Pangalangan and her boyfriend,
45-year-old Larry King, have been charged with murder
and committing great bodily harm.
♪ ♪
Four years earlier, police say Pangalangan, a schoolteacher,
brought her 13-year-old daughter,
Cristina, to King's house.
While the couple spent time making out on the porch,
later smoking meth and having sex inside,
Cristina, who suffered from cerebral palsy
and was unable to communicate verbally,
was left in Pangalangan's car for four hours.
It was August, and according to police reports,
temperatures inside the car reached 135 degrees
before they realized they'd locked Cristina and the
keys inside.
♪ ♪
An hour later, having finally retrieved a spare key,
they were able to open the car and pull Cristina out.
Paramedics then arrived, but it was too late.
Cristina had suffered severe hyperthermia
and was pronounced dead at the scene.
♪ ♪
Pangalangan and King were arrested,
charged, and later released on bonds of $100,000 and $50,000.
♪ ♪
Both pled not guilty.
♪ ♪
The case went to trial, and after four days,
both sides came to rest.
Today, after deliberating for just three hours,
the jury is ready to deliver a verdict.
♪ ♪
- In the case against Larry King,
the jury reaches the same verdict.
Guilty.
♪ ♪
Later that day at sentencing, Pangalangan's older
daughter, Elizabeth Clyde,
asks Judge Clifton Newman for leniency.
- She loved Cristina so much.
She made bad mistakes.
She got up-- she hung out with people she shouldn't have hung
out with, but that mistake should not
define the rest of her life.
We've already lost our sister.
Please don't take our mom away.
So we're just asking for mercy and understanding
and compassion for my mom, please.
♪ ♪
- Thank you.
- When she's finished, Pangalangan's husband,
Anthony Leisure, whom she married while free on bond,
delivers a statement to the court.
- Rita has been an inspiration to me,
and I pray that you give her leniency
and allow her to come home.
You know--
- When a person is convicted of murder,
there's a minimum sentence.
- Will you please allow--
- The minimum sentence--
- --the minimum sentence, sir.
- --is 30 years.
- Yes, sir.
I ask the court for leniency.
- Next to speak is Pangalangan.
- When she's finished, the judge
has a statement of his own.
- On top of her murder sentence,
Pangalangan was given 20 years for committing
great bodily harm.
That sentence will be served concurrently.
As for King, he was sentenced to 32 years in prison.
Neither is eligible for parole.
♪ ♪
- Next we're in Cheboygan, Michigan, for an arraignment.
♪ ♪
48-year-old Trevor MacLeod has been charged
with resisting conservation officers
and operating a boat while intoxicated.
♪ ♪
Three months earlier, police approached
MacLeod after spotting an expired registration
sticker on his boat.
That's when they say MacLeod stumbled onto the dock
and his speech was slurred.
When officers asked if he'd been drinking,
MacLeod admitted consuming four or five beers in a couple
of shots of whiskey.
He refused to take a breathalyzer test.
And after he resisted arrest, MacLeod was taken into custody
and officially charged.
Today, he appears without an attorney
before Judge Aaron Gauthier
to discuss next steps in the case.
Because it's his second resisting offense,
MacLeod is facing a maximum sentence
of three years in prison.
- So do you understand your right to a lawyer,
including a court appointed lawyer?
- I understand that. - OK.
Do you understand the maximum penalty
for the charges against you?
- That's fine.
Do you understand the-- do you understand the maximum penalty
that I just explained to you?
- What is it that you don't understand?
Do you not understand how long three years is
or how much the fine is that I've articulated?
Can you tell me what is--
- That's not what I'm asking you right now.
- MacLeod seems to be using an argument often employed
by so-called sovereign citizens, challenging
the jurisdiction of a court.
- OK, so you want me to explain to you why I have jurisdiction?
- This court has subject matter jurisdiction over crimes
punishable by more than a year under the Michigan
Constitution of 1963.
That is the underlying law of our sovereign state
of Michigan.
- I did address it and I denied your objection.
I have explained--
- Your objection is noted.
- Mr. MacLeod, stop.
Stop, Mr. MacLeod.
If you don't understand it, I'm going to revoke your right
to represent yourself and have an attorney represent
you because I can't establish that you
know what you're doing.
So do you know the maximum penalty that you would face?
- That's not how it works.
Are you refusing to answer my question?
- Then answer it.
♪ ♪
Mr. MacLeod, two things are gonna happen.
You're gonna answer my question or you're
going to jail for summary contempt
for not complying with the court's requests.
♪ ♪
- Mr. MacLeod, your sentence is one day in jail.
We'll reconvene tomorrow and get your notice.
- Two weeks after serving his day in jail for contempt,
MacLeod returned to court where Judge Gauthier asked
him the same question again.
- Mr. MacLeod, do you understand
the maximum possible sentences for those charges?
- Can I say something for the record?
- No. I'm asking you a question.
Do you understand the maximum penalty that they're charging?
- [indistinct]
- OK.
- The judge entered a not guilty plea on MacLeod's
behalf and his case is pending.
That's it for this edition of "Court Cam."
I'm Dan Abrams.
Thanks for watching.
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