1x1 - Court Cam (#101)

[NateTheGr45]

DISCLAIMER: The following program shows the proceedings and hearings from courtrooms around the country. Not all outcomes are known or final. All parties are presumed innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law. Due to the potential intensity of some events, viewer discretion is advised.

- Hi, everyone, I'm Dan Abrams, and this is "Court Cam."

[dramatic music]

- We, the jury, find the defendant...

- [screaming]

- [indistinct yelling]

- Man, don't touch me like that! [bleep]!

- [indistinct]

- We kick things off in Utah

at the Fourth Judicial District Court

in Spanish Fork.

A judge is presiding over arraignments.

This is when a defendant appears in court

to hear the charges against them

and plead guilty or not guilty.

Off to the side,

35-year-old Christopher Clay Rudd

is awaiting his turn.

Rudd's in court for failing to follow through

on court-ordered drug treatment.

He's restrained with handcuffs

but has no shackles on his legs.

The courtroom has a bailiff and several officers.

A lawyer heads over to speak with the bailiff...

[dramatic musical sting]

And then exits the court with two officers.

At the same time,

another officer heads out of the courtroom.

A woman from the gallery has walked up

and is now speaking to the bailiff.

None of this goes unnoticed.

A warning here. What you are about to see

is disturbing.

[dramatic music]

Rudd just fell 18 feet onto a solid marble floor--

the equivalent of jumping head first

out a second story window--in handcuffs.

Take a look from the security camera in the front lobby.

This bailiff instinctively tries to catch the defendant,

just missing him.

Imagine trying to catch a 160-pound sack

dropped from an 18 foot height.

That could be deadly.

Rudd is bleeding from his head

but seems responsive.

Back in the courtroom,

the judge keeps everything under control.

Paramedics arrive minutes later

and rush him to a nearby hospital.

He has a broken leg and pelvis and a fractured skull.

For this escape attempt, Christopher Clay Rudd

is sentenced to 36 months probation.

Joining me now is the bailiff

that you saw there on that video trying to catch him.

Patrick Nielson, thanks very much for coming in.

We appreciate it.

- Thanks for having me.

- So take us back to that split second.

You're looking up, and you're thinking what?

- [laughs] Holy crap.

So initially, I didn't see that it was an inmate.

I thought it was a kid.

We have a lotta kids that play on that corridor,

and so I was trying to help maybe catch a kid.

- But you knew it was a person.

- Yes.

- And what did he say to you

when he fell and he's lying there right next to you?

- So initially, he wanted to get up.

You saw in the clip, my knee was actually

on his shoulder. He wanted to stand up.

I put my knee on his shoulder to keep him down.

- 'Cause at this point, you realize he's an inmate.

- Yeah, yeah. And--and he was hurt.

And so he's complaining about the pain,

and then I asked him, I said, you know,

"Why did you do that? What the hell?"

And he goes, "I'm just--I'm sick of this.

"I can't deal with this anymore.

I'm a disappointment to my family."

- Do you think, if you actually had gotten under him,

that you would have been injured?

- Yes. So my sergeant actually showed up,

and the first thing that he said is, "Good job.

But don't do that again. I don't need you hurt."

- Yeah.

- So, yeah.

Potentially, I could have been hurt myself.

- It is possible that you saved his life, though,

because he actually fell on your boot.

- Yeah, as we were reviewing the camera footage

after it, we stopped it at just the right

point of impact, and his head actually

was over the top of my boot.

Definitely shocking.

- Patrick Nielson, thank you very much for taking the time.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you.

NEXT CASE

- Sir, I'm giving you 175 years,

which is 2,100 months.

I've just signed your death warrant.

- This man is former USA gymnastics doctor

and convicted serial p*d*p*ile Larry Nassar,

once a world-renown sports physician

who treated elite female Olympic athletes

and hundreds of hopeful young gymnasts.

He's now a disgraced former doctor

who'll spend the rest of his life behind bars

for the s*x*al a*u*e of countless young women.

- As much as it was my honor and privilege

to hear the sister survivors,

it is my honor and privilege to sentence you.

- As part of Nassar's plea deal,

survivors of the a*u*e

are allowed to give a victim impact statement.

- I would like to say something to my a*u*er,

Larry Nassar.

You took advantage of my innocence and trust.

- You broke and shattered a lot of girls.

- And I cannot sleep because of what you have done.

- More than 150 women over a two-week period accuse him

of a*u*i*g his position of power to m*l*st them.

- And I said, "Chelsea, I was right there in the room,"

and she goes, "You couldn't see what was going on, Mom."

And she said, "He hurt me."

She took her own life

because she couldn't deal with the pain anymore.

She was 23 years old.

- This is Randall Margraves.

Three of his daughters are among the survivors.

Two of them speak in court with their family nearby.

- I really feel that my entire family

has gone to hell and back these last few months

because of what Larry Nassar did to both of my sisters and I

years ago.

- Nothing can ever be done

to undo what you did to my sisters and me

and my friends.

But you thought that since you're a doctor

that you would never have to pay the price

and that you could just do the things you did

because of your position.

Honestly, you're a poison to this earth.

- And now, their father has a request.

- Judge, would a distraught father

have a chance to say something?

- Go ahead, sir.

- You son of a b*t*h.

- No, we--we don't wanna swear.

- I want to ask you to, as part of the sentencing,

to grant me five minutes in a locked room with this demon.

- I have a--

- Would you do that?

- That is not our--

- Yes or no?

- No, sir, I can't do that.

- Would you give me one minute?

[tense music]

- You know that I can't do that.

That's not how the legal syst--

- Well, I [indistinct]--

- Dad!

- We're back with the sentencing of Larry Nassar.

After two of his daughters speak about the impact

of Nassar's a*u*e on them...

- Nothing can ever be done to undo what you did

to my sisters and me.

- Randall Margraves requests a favor of the judge.

- I want to ask you to, as part of the sentencing,

to grant me five minutes in a locked room with this demon.

[tense music]

- I have a--

- Would you do that?

- That is not our--

- Yes or no?

- No, sir, I can't do that.

- Would you give me one minute?

[tense music]

- You know that I can't do that.

That's not how our legal syst--

- Well, I [indistinct]--

- Dad!

- Stay down. Stay down!

- [indistinct] that son of a b*t*h!

[overlapping shouting]

- I want that son of a b*t*h!

- Put your hands behind your back.

- Give me one minute with that b*stard. One minute.

- Relax, sir.

- Relax.

- Take it easy, buddy.

- Just relax.

- Sit up. Turn on your side. Now sit up.

- Where is he?

- Up.

- One, two, three--up.

- What if this happened to you guys?

- I understand Mr. Margrave's frustration,

but he cannot behave like this.

- You--

- You cannot behave like this. This is letting him...

-- LATER THAT DAY --

- I could give you a jail sentence.

I could fine you up to $7,500.

I don't want to do that.

The attorney general did share with me

that you heard things today on the record

that you didn't know before.

I can see that absolutely creating

an anger and a rage so great

that any parent would want to do physical harm.

So I understand that.

- No charges were filed against Randall Margraves.

Nassar's sent to federal prison in Arizona

to serve out his sentence

but was transferred to a maximum security prison

after he was attacked when released to general population.

NEXT CASE

- We go now to the Kent County Courthouse

in Grand Rapids, Michigan

and the sentencing of Elis Nelson Ortiz-Nieves

for the m*r*e* of his girlfriend's

four-year-old son, Giovanni Mejias.

- You had put cigarettes out

on this poor little child.

There was evidence of that from the pictures.

The bruises--some of the bruises were in the shape

of a belt buckle--

- Man, I ain't gonna let you--

I ain't gonna let you sit here and say this [...]

that crazy s*i* about me, man.

No, man, 'cause he--

- Just let him talk.

- He's saying s*i* he don't even know, man.

- Sir.

- During the trial, the prosecution claimed

the d*a*h was non-accidental

and most likely the result of a*u*e.

- The degree and the location and the number of injuries

was remarkable.

In my opinion, this injury is inflicted with

blunt force from an adult individual.

- The defense countered the injuries

could have been caused by the boy's older brother,

even bringing the boy's mother, Sonja Hernandez,

to the stand to describe how her older son

would bully the younger one.

- Sock him, push him.

He was just mean to him.

- Did you have a witness

watch him physically discipline the kids?

- Never.

- But, the jury didn't buy it.

- Belt buckle...

- Man, I ain't gonna let you--

I ain't gonna let you sit here and say [...]

that crazy s*i* about me, man.

- Just let him talk.

- No, man, 'cause he--

- Just let him talk.

- He's saying s*i*

he don't even know, man.

- Shh!

- Sir, the testimony showed

that you put this child and another child

in a--

- Stop it!

- [indistinct murmuring]

- In a shower...

- [murmuring]

- With ice-cold water.

Anybody says anything bad here, arrest them.

- woman: Stop it!

[officer murmuring]

Stop it, please!

[woman sobbing]

[intense musical buildup]

-- MINUTES LATER, ORTIZ-NIEVES CALMS DOWN AND IS ALLOWED TO RE-ENTER THE COURTROOM FOR SENTENCING.

- This is a four-year-old child that was victimized.

There is no question in my mind, sir,

that you did this.

You are the lowest form of human life

that I've been able to observe or see.

You are a monster and, quite frankly,

you are evil.

- He's sentenced to life in prison without parole,

still maintaining his innocence.

Then six months later, a bombshell.

- Um, my first charge is perjury.

I lied under oath for a man

who I thought loved and cared for me.

- After an investigation,

Sonja Hernandez is charged with second-degree child a*u*e

and lying on the stand for Ortiz-Nieves.

- Failure to protect my children

and blaming a sibling on a sibling.

Your Honor, signing my rights off

was the hardest and most difficult decision

I had to make.

And I have to live with the fact

that I failed my children.

Your Honor, what you decide to give me

is nothing compared to what I have been through.

I wanted to apologize to my family.

- She's sentenced to 57 months to 10 years behind bars.

- Thank you, Your Honor.

-- NEXT CASE --

- It's 11:07 a.m. in the Lorain Municipal Court

in Lorain, Ohio.

The court's empty after a busy morning,

and a security's officer making his usual rounds.

He comes across something unusual--

a small bag filled with some kind of powder.

He's not entirely sure what it is,

so he has it tested.

It turns out to be c*c*i*e.

So the court rewinds the tape...

to 9:34 a.m.

just before the bag appears on the floor.

[suspenseful music]

And this man steps up to the gate.

Watch closely as he moves his hat.

One more time.

A warrant's immediately issued for Lamar Reed's arrest.

Reed was in court on two traffic violations--

Driving Under A Suspended License, and Speeding.

He now faces a 5th degree felony charge

and a max of a year in prison.

-- NEXT CASE --

Okay, now let's head to the Wadsworth Municipal Courthouse

in Ohio.

- Judge, Jeremy Vance.

- Judge Stephen McIlvaine is sentencing

29-year-old Jeremy Vance

for receiving stolen property.

During his sentencing, Vance is not handcuffed,

and there's no armed bailiff in the courtroom

during his hearing.

- I'm really

relieved to

you know, try to get this all behind me.

- What I'm gonna do is,

I'm going to give you 90 days in jail.

- Vance is now supposed to return to a holding cell,

but he decides to go another route.

- No, we got to go in--

Sir! Come on!

Hey!

Ah, you gotta be kidding me. Call the police.

He's gone.

- Yeah. Call the police.

- I am.

- It might seem like the bailiff

is acting a little casually here

considering the circumstances,

but the court knows everything about Vance

due to his criminal record--his address, his phone number,

who he hangs out with--everything.

And within an hour, he's apprehended near his home

and returned to custody

with an additional six months of prison time

added to his sentence.

And there may be another reason

they decided not to immediately pursue Vance

having to do with a similar event

that happened in the same courtroom

just six months earlier...

- I'm sorry for you know acting immature on the road.

I understand that you know, being on the road

you do have other people's lives in your hands

and you know, I should have thought about that.

- When defendant Cyrus Matthews

was there on misdemeanor charges

stemming from a road rage case.

- Is there like anyway we can reverse this jail time?

- Well, you're going to have to go to jail today.

If you need to get out to attend a hearing

we can consider furloughs.

OK. But right now, you're going to go to jail right now.

- You have to go to--

- I'm not ready.

I'm not ready.

- Whoa, whoa, hey, hey, hey!

- You can't just leave.

- Call the police.

Have him charged with escape--

felony escape if he doesn't get back in this court.

- Mr. Matthews!

[tense music]

- Matthews' girlfriend follows him out.

There seems to be a moment of hesitation here

on Matthew's part.

We now know it's the bailiff trying to reason with him,

explaining that his escape will lead to felony charges.

To no avail.

Now the Wadsworth Police take over.

[dramatic music]

- He was sentenced to jail and took off.

- Matthews is way ahead,

reaching speeds of up to 90 miles an hour.

[siren wailing]

- We're back in Wadsworth, Ohio,

where defendant Cyrus Matthews

has just run out of court,

gotten into his car with his girlfriend,

and fled.

Now police are in pursuit.

[siren wailing]

Officer James Walser's receiving updates.

- I just saw him turn north onto Lyman from Maple.

He was in an older, gray, four-door vehicle.

[dramatic music]

- 20-A, he's running red lights at Hartman.

Passing on the right at Williams Reserve.

His speed's 90.

Trying to catch up.

Wadsworth, I think we're going to have a Code 2.

[siren wailing]

We're going to have a Code 2 at Akron and 76.

- Matthews has crashed into a white SUV

seen just off the road there.

- Where's he at?

- Here.

- That's Matthew's car there.

- All right, we're gonna have multiple vehicles,

airbag deployment.

Ma'am, are you okay?

- I'm checking my baby--

- Okay.

- The passengers are a couple

and their infant child.

- He's okay, all right. We got squads coming.

- Thankfully, they have non-life threatening injuries.

- Ashley, help them get out! Help them get out.

He's up here.

- Officer Walser hustles over

toward Matthew's car across the road.

- Oh, my God. Please help!

- Breathe in and out, breathe in and out.

- I can't feel my legs!

- Breathe in and out.

- I can't breathe/

- Walser, I'm gonna need

multiple squads.

- I-I need help, sir.

- Okay.

- I don't know why I did this.

- Okay.

- Oh, my God!

Ohhhhh! Help!

- You can hear that Matthews realizes

he's made a truly horrible decision.

[commotion]

- What was goin' on? Why were you taking off?

- Because they were trying to lock me up for 90 days

and I have a whole life.

- So what happened?

- I tried to run like a f*c*i*g idiot.

- Why?

- [wailing]

I don't know.

- Matthews and his girlfriend are extracted

by the Wadsworth Police Department

and taken to the hospital.

Matthews is charged with aggravated felonious as*ault

for injuring his girlfriend

and the occupants of the other vehicle.

He's sentenced to 425 days in jail.

His girlfriend is not charged.

Joining me now is the bailiff

that you saw there on that video, Sharon Ray.

Thank you very much for joining us.

We appreciate it.

- Thank you.

- What were you saying to him

to try to get him not to leave?

- Dan, what we were trying to say

is just don't make a permanent decision

based on temporary circumstances.

And I told him if he went back into the courtroom,

it was gonna be okay,

but a felony follows you for life,

and that's gonna dramatically change your life.

- For a second there, it looked like

you'd convince him to go back to the courtroom.

- I thought I had him. I thought I had him.

But the girlfriend came out of the courtroom,

and when she did he said, "Come on, let's go,"

and she followed him.

And I remember saying to her "If you care for him at all,

you'll get him back in there."

And they didn't stop.

They ran for the car and took off.

- Why was it such a bad idea for him to run?

- Because he would have gone to jail for 60 days

and because of what he did, he ended up

being convicted of aggravated felonious as*ault

and he went to jail for 425 days.

- He probably wishes that he had listened to you.

- I think he does--I wish he'd listened to me too.

- Was his girlfriend injured?

- She was injured. She was in the car with him.

I believe they did use the Jaws of Life to get her out

and she did have some surgeries.

And I have not kept up on where she is now

or what she's doing.

- You don't--

- Or if she's still--

- I was just gonna ask you--do you know if

they're still together?

- I do not, I do not.

I'm sure it put a dent in their relationship.

- Sharon Ray, thank you so much for coming.

We appreciate it.

That's it for this edition of "Court Cam."

Thanks for watching. See ya next time.

[dramatic music]