[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- 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]
♪ ♪
- This is not TV court. This is for real.
♪ ♪
- First up, we head to Wichita, Kansas,
for a sentencing.
19-year-old Te'Bryis Robinson has pled no contest
to second-degree murder,
attempted second-degree murder,
and aggravated battery.
Three years earlier, Robinson was in a mall when,
according to police reports, a fight broke out
between two groups of teens.
That's when police say Robinson,
who was 16 at the time,
and not associated with either group,
took out a gun and began shooting,
hitting 14-year-old TrenJ'vious Hutton
in the chest, killing him.
With help from eyewitnesses, police identified
Robinson as the shooter.
He was soon arrested.
He was initially charged with first-degree murder
and criminal use of a weapon and, if found guilty,
was facing a possible life sentence.
But Robinson, who was charged as an adult,
took a deal from the state where, in exchange
for pleading no contest to the lesser charges,
he would receive a sentence of anywhere
from 10 to 25 years in prison.
Today, he appears in a packed courtroom
before Judge Jeffrey Goering to hear his sentence.
But first, the victim's mother, Jeanette Dees,
delivers an emotional victim impact statement.
- When she finishes and returns to her seat,
words are exchanged between the two families.
- While a deputy tries to maintain order,
the judge asks two of the victim's family members
to leave the courtroom.
- Just as things appear to be calming down, this happens.
- Hey, hey, hey, hey!
[shouting]
Stop! Stop!
- Hey!
- After this man from the victim's side of the gallery
punches a guy from the defendant's side,
the courtroom erupts into chaos.
[shouting]
♪ ♪
Another man from the victim's side throws a few punches...
- Stop!
- While several deputies try to break things up.
♪ ♪
- Stop!
Come on.
- Back up.
- This mother and her baby
even get mixed up in the scrum.
- Stop!
Come on.
- Back up.
[shouting]
- While mother and child manage to escape uninjured,
deputies continue trying to break up the fight.
[shouting]
♪ ♪
The victim's mother even gets involved briefly...
♪ ♪
Before deputies escort her away.
♪ ♪
After several members of the gallery
are removed from the courtroom,
Judge Goering calls for a brief recess.
When they reconvened, the judge sentenced Robinson
to 21 years and three months in prison.
He will not be eligible for parole.
As for the people involved in the courtroom brawl,
The county sheriff's office has charged
five adults and one juvenile with disorderly conduct.
The defendants have yet to enter pleas,
and their sentences are pending.
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Next, we go to Adrian, Michigan,
for a pretrial conference.
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60-year-old Gregory Johnson has been charged
with felony failure to pay child support.
Four years earlier, Johnson, who was over $10,000 behind
in payments, was arrested for the charge, pled not guilty,
and released on $3,000 bond.
If found guilty at trial, Johnson's facing
a potential maximum sentence of four years in prison.
But the state is offering him a deal where,
in exchange for pleading guilty to a misdemeanor
version of the charge, Johnson's sentence
would be delayed for 11 months.
During that time, if he can pay down
what he owes to $8,000, his charge will be lowered
to misdemeanor disorderly conduct.
Today, Johnson appears remotely
before Judge Michael Olsaver to enter his plea.
He's represented by public defender Rhonda Underwood.
The prosecutor is Sarah Brenner.
- We can't--we can't see you anymore, Mr. Johnson.
♪ ♪
There you are.
- Mr. Johnson, is it your intention
to plead guilty today to count one,
failing to pay child support?
♪ ♪
- Yes, I accept the plea.
- Is it your intention to plead guilty today?
- [sighs] Yes, I accept the plea.
- If a guilty plea is accepted, there will be no trial.
That means you're giving up the rights that you
would have had at trial.
You do have the right to a spee--
- [laughs]
♪ ♪
- Mr. Johnson, if you're going to interrupt me,
I'm going to hold you in contempt.
- I'm sorry.
- This is not a funny matter.
♪ ♪
How do you wish to plead to the charge
that you did commit the offense of failing
to pay child support?
- I accept the plea.
♪ ♪
- If you want to plead guilty, you need to say guilty.
♪ ♪
- Do you want me to say guilty?
Okay, fine.
♪ ♪
- Mr. Johnson-- - It's not a guilty plea--
so if that's--if that's all you're going to say,
Mr. Johnson, then I'm going to continue your not guilty plea,
and we'll proceed to trial on January 25th.
- No, I want the deal.
- Then you need to admit what you did.
- Mr. Johnson.
- Mr. Johnson, did you pay that child support or not?
If you did not, then you need to say--
- I was unable.
No, I did not, okay?
♪ ♪
- So is that a guilty?
♪ ♪
- We're not--we're not going further with this.
The record is already not satisfactory.
- I'm guilty of the circumstances
that set this thing.
- Mr.--Mr. Johnson, please do not interrupt me.
- Judge Olsaver seems to have run out of patience
with the defendant.
- I do not believe that the record created in this case
today, to this point, would appropriately allow me
to accept a guilty plea.
Mr. Johnson has not indicated--
- Yes, guilty.
- Mr. Johnson has not indicated a clear intent
to plead guilty and admit to the facts that would support
a guilty plea in this case.
Trial is scheduled for January 25th at 9:00 a.m.
- Guilty, I plead guilty.
- I've made my decision for today.
If--
- I plead guilty today.
- Mr. Johnson, you interrupt me one more time,
I'm going to hold you in contempt
and sentence you to 30 days in the Lenawee County jail.
I am done.
This hearing is concluded.
Please log out.
- A week later, Johnson pled guilty
and was allowed to continue his payments.
And a year after that, Johnson passed away.
The case is now closed.
- Next, we're in Houston, Texas,
for a bond violation hearing.
♪ ♪
29-year-old Emily Paige Warzybok
has been charged with theft.
Three months earlier, police say Warzybok, a single mother,
stole a sweater valued at less than $100
from a department store.
She was arrested and released on a $100 bond,
but after Warzybok failed to appear in court three times,
the bond was increased to $7,503.
Then, after failing to appear a fourth time,
the bond was revoked and she was arrested.
Today, Warzybok appears before Judge David Fleischer
to discuss next steps in her case.
She's represented by attorney Sean Darvishi.
- Ms. Warzybok. - Yes, sir.
- Good morning.
How's jail?
- [chuckles] Right.
It's supposed to.
It's not supposed to be fun. - Yeah.
- Problem is, is every time we give you a bond,
you have, like, little wings.
You take flight.
- I don't take flight.
It's just--okay, so--
- Okay, you don't-- technically, you don't show up.
- To be real with you, my transmission on my car
literally did break down last time.
- Take a bus. Phone a friend.
- But where I live, it didn't have a bus route.
But I do have Uber already in, ready,
already scheduled, so there's no chance
that I'm missing bond.
- You fool me once, shame on you.
Fool me twice, shame on me.
Fool me thrice, what is it?
You've taken off on me three different times,
and you want me to give you a fourth bond, really?
The last time I let you out, we had the same conversation
we're having now.
- I don't believe it.
You've sold me the snake oil before.
- Instead of sending Warzybok straight to jail,
Judge Fleischer suggests an alternative solution.
- What I would like to do, perhaps, do a T-RAS.
Let's see what they say, and we'll go from there.
They may say, okay, let's get her to do outpatient treatment.
They may say, let's get her to do inpatient treatment.
They may say, she needs no treatment.
- Can I take the conviction?
I know, I understand what I'm looking at.
- I don't want to say that.
- I understand what I'm looking at.
- You need to talk with Sean about that.
- It seems Warzybok would rather plead guilty
and serve jail time
than consider the judge's offer.
- Please, Judge, please.
I know what I'm looking at.
I'm comfortable with that charge on there.
I know it looks bad, I do.
- Okay, so let's do this.
Let's do a deferred, where it stays off your record.
- I want it on my record, though.
I want that on my record, and I want to take that on.
I do. I really do.
No, I do.
I do. I want to--
- Nice talking.
Let me know what you want to do, Sean.
- After speaking with her attorney,
Warzybok decides to accept the deal
previously offered to her by the state.
- The agreement that you worked is, nine days in jail,
credit for the seven days that you've done,
but this is going to trail you for the rest of your life.
Once you plead guilty, you can never take it off.
Are you sure you want to do this?
- I'm positive.
♪ ♪
How do you plead to the offense, guilty or not guilty?
- Guilty. - I'm going to find you guilty.
- Warzybok served two more days in jail and was released.
The theft conviction remains on her record,
and the case is now closed.
- Next, we go to Detroit, Michigan,
for a bond violation hearing.
♪ ♪
28-year-old Akil Jones has been charged
with assault with a dangerous weapon and domestic violence.
Two weeks earlier, police say Jones got into an altercation
with his girlfriend and was arrested,
pled not guilty, and released on $10,000 bond.
As part of his bond conditions,
Jones was ordered to have no contact
with the alleged victim, to wear a GPS tether,
and be placed on house arrest,
with the court allowing exceptions for court visits,
medical appointments, and for the defendant
to care for his ailing mother.
But when a reading from his tether
placed him at a liquor store,
he was taken back into custody.
Today, Jones appears from jail before Judge Kenneth King
to hear if his bond will be revoked.
He's represented by attorney Sarah Krause.
- Ms. Krause, is he pleading guilty to the violation?
- He would like to offer a plea of guilty
with an explanation, Judge.
He is allowed out of house arrest.
He has an ill mother who, he acts as her caregiver.
She is in the process of moving right now.
- I'm sorry, does his ill mother
live at the liquor store?
- It was a CVS.
A liquor store is connected to it on the other side.
- Jones is claiming that the liquor store in question
is attached to the pharmacy,
where he was buying medical supplies for his mother.
But Judge King doesn't seem to be buying it.
- What he doesn't understand is that the tether
was not a right.
It was a privilege.
- I do understand that.
Your Honor--
- Mr. Jones, I would advise you not to speak at this time,
but if you choose otherwise, that's up to you.
- Yes, I choose otherwise, because it's a lot of things
you don't understand.
Judge, this is not a case of me going to the liquor store
and just staying out and going and hanging and riding around.
That's not what this was.
This was me helping my mother out.
That's the God honest truth.
♪ ♪
I'm asking for leniency
because she really do need my help.
I'm the only one that she has right now.
- Ms. Krause, can you give me
Mom's phone number, if you have it?
♪ ♪
- Judge, I do not have it right now.
- We'll put you in a breakout room, let him give it to you,
and then you can send it to me, okay?
- When Jones and his attorney return from the breakout room,
Judge King calls the defendant's mother
to verify her son's story.
And after just a few minutes, the judge seems to have
what he's looking for.
- So, Mr. Jones, there's a couple of things
you need to know about me.
One is that I'm far from stupid,
and two, I don't like to be lied to.
So it's very important that
you be completely honest with me right now.
When you got to your mother's, where did you go?
- I went to a CVS.
- I walked with my little sister.
♪ ♪
- I just got off the phone with your mother.
♪ ♪
So let's try it again.
How did you get where you were going?
- Oh, a--yeah, a friend-- a friend had a--
okay, I remember now, okay.
♪ ♪
So, Ms. Krause, I cannot trust this man.
♪ ♪
- Hey, what did I do to you, man?
♪ ♪
- First of all, I'm not your man.
- No, you're not my man, obviously.
But I'm saying, what did I do to you,
because I went to a liquor store,
and I forgot that I went there?
♪ ♪
$25,000?
- Is that not enough? You want to try 50,000?
- Do your thing, my partner.
You already did the worst.
You can't--
- 50,000, 50,000 cash.
- Do 100,000.
Do 100,000. - Okay.
That's even better, 100,000 cash surety.
♪ ♪
He's all set.
Bye, bye.
♪ ♪
- A month later, a different judge lowered Jones's bond
to $50,000, and he was released with the condition
that he wear a GPS tether.
He later pled guilty to domestic violence,
and the assault charge was dismissed.
His sentence is pending.
- Next, we head to Newaygo, Michigan,
for a collections hearing.
56-year-old Charles McCuaig has pled guilty
to disturbing the peace.
Three years earlier, McCuaig was arrested and charged
with two counts of resisting or obstructing an officer
and disturbing the peace
when he got into a physical confrontation
with two officers at his home.
He was released on a $750 cash bond
and later accepted a deal where,
in exchange for his guilty plea,
the resisting or obstructing charges were dropped.
McCuaig was sentenced to five days in jail
with credit for five days time served
and ordered to pay over $1,000 in court costs and fines.
But when he failed to pay,
he was ordered back into court.
Today, McCuaig appears without an attorney
before Judge Robert Springstead
to discuss next steps in his case.
- Mr. McCuaig, we called you into court to talk about--
- To get some of these financial assessments paid.
- We're not here to relitigate the case.
♪ ♪
- So you indicated that you're on disability.
- Okay, how much is your disability allowance?
- Do you have other expenses that you're responsible for?
- So are you willing to share
any other additional information?
- About your monthly expenses, sir?
- The defendant asks his 89-year-old mother,
whom he lives with, to help explain
his finances to the judge.
- Sir, stop. I'm talking to her.
You asked me to talk to her, so I'm talking to her.
All right, he indicated that his disability is about
$600 a month. Is that right?
- Yes. - Okay.
He indicates that he pays about half the house payment,
which is about $250 a month.
Is that about right? - Yeah.
- All right, so here's what we're going to do, Mr. McCuaig.
I am not going to hold you in contempt of court today.
I'm going to put you on a payment plan.
And if you do not make the payment plan,
then you're going to give the court no option
but to hold you in contempt of court.
I'm going to order that you pay $5 a month.
As long as you pay $5 a month, you'll never hear
another word from the court.
♪ ♪
- Well, they're going to hear from me in federal court.
Thanks for extending this two years.
- All right.
So $5 a month going forward,
and you won't hear from us again.
That's all for today.
- If McCuaig misses any
payments and the judge holds
him in contempt, he could be
sentenced to up to
93 days in jail.
That's it for this edition of "Court Cam."
I'm Dan Abrams. Thanks for watching.
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