[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]
- Hey! - Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa!
- This is not TV court. This is for real.
♪ ♪
- First up, we go to Skowhegan, Maine,
for a sentencing hearing.
[tense music]
20-year-old Jason Servil has pled guilty to intentional
murder and aggravated assault.
Two years earlier, according to court records,
Servil was in a brief romantic relationship
with 20-year-old Alice Abbott.
When Alice ended the relationship and Servil
learned through social media that she was
hanging out with another man, Servil snapped.
Police say he attacked Alice and her friend Nick Rice
inside a camper on her family's property.
After Servil attacked Nick, he stabbed Alice 99 times,
killing her before fleeing the scene.
Nick made a full recovery and was able to call police.
Servil was arrested the next day.
Servil initially maintained his innocence,
but ultimately changed his plea to guilty.
Today, he appears before Judge Robert Mullen, who just
sentenced him to 45 years in prison
when, suddenly, chaos erupts in the courtroom.
[all shouting]
- He deserves to die.
He deserves to die.
He deserves--
- That's Clifford Warren, the victim's 34-year-old brother,
attempting to lunge at Servil.
[all shouting]
- Within seconds, he's restrained by a court
marshal, a county corrections officer,
and a state police officer.
[all shouting]
- He deserves to die.
♪ ♪
- That's Warren's wife, Kristen--
- [shouting indistinctly]
- --who's just been thrown to the ground.
- He deserves to die.
- And while officers struggle with Warren--
- He deserves to die.
- --the victim's mother begins screaming at the defendant.
[bleep].
- A county corrections officer then removes his taser
from its holster as officers continue
to struggle with Warren.
- [shouting indistinctly]
- The officers eventually manage
to place Warren in cuffs, and he's
removed from the courtroom.
He was charged with assault and issued a summons.
His case is pending.
As for Servil, in addition to his 45-year prison sentence
for the murder of Alice Abbott, the judge
also gave him 10 years for the assault on Nick Rice.
Those sentences will run concurrently.
He'll be eligible for parole in the year 2061,
when he'd be 58 years old.
♪ ♪
Next, we're in El Dorado, Kansas, for a plea hearing.
♪ ♪
25-year-old Taran Janet Brown has been charged
with possession of cocaine, marijuana,
and drug paraphernalia.
Three months earlier, Brown was arrested
and released on $4,000 bond.
Today, she appears before Judge David Ricke to discuss
next steps in her case.
But things get off to a rocky start after Brown signs
in late for a hearing she was supposed to attend in person.
- Ms. Brown, I want to address this first.
Not only were you late, the court's docket notes indicate
that when you appeared back on April the 8th,
you were ordered specifically to appear at the judicial
center for this hearing.
How come you're not there?
- Um, I didn't have a ride, and I
tried to call them and let them know
that I did not have a ride.
- That's not an excuse in the view of the court.
- How would--
- As a privilege of bond, you're
allowed to go to the community, but you
have to show up for court, not only
when the court tells you to show up,
but also where the court tells you to show up.
- The judge checks in with defense attorney Joseph Favre
and prosecutor Brett Sweeney.
- What are your client's intentions
here today, Mr. Favre?
- Judge, she intends on waiving her right
to an evidentiary preliminary hearing
and then proceeding with a felony plea.
- Where are you at right now, Ms. Brown?
- I just got back to my house because I just got off of work.
- You're in a car, obviously, right?
- Yeah.
This is my homegirl's car that just picked
me up from work to bring me home
real quick so I could do this.
I haven't even went to go pick up my kids yet.
- Well, I hope you're not too inconvenienced
by court, Ms. Brown.
- Judge Ricke continues with the hearing.
- It's my understanding that you intend to enter a felony
plea today, Ms. Brown?
- Yes, I do.
- Mr. Favre, what would she be pleading to?
- Judge, count one of possession of cocaine.
She'll be pleading to that.
The state will dismiss counts two and three.
- Is that consistent with your understanding, Mr. Sweeney?
- It is, Your Honor.
- Is it consistent with your understanding, Ms. Brown?
- Yes, it is.
- I lost video.
- It appears Brown is having technical difficulties.
- You got to turn your video back on, Taran.
♪ ♪
Judge, she just messaged me and said that her phone was low
on power and apparently died.
And then I told her that she needs to get it on a charger,
and she has not-- have not heard back from her.
So that's it.
- With no sign of the defendant,
Judge Ricke makes his ruling.
- The court is gonna order at this time bond forfeiture
and a bench warrant issued for the arrest
of Taran Janet Brown.
She defied the court's order, decided
to appear on her own Zoom in her homegirl's car or whatever,
and fumbled around with faulty technology that
did not allow her to adequately participate
in this court proceeding.
I regret that time has been wasted.
And I don't blame you for this, Mr. Favre.
I do appreciate your attempts to try
to get her on the meeting in her homegirl's car
Zoom, whatever.
But obviously, that didn't work.
And I think we've all waited long enough.
So bond forfeiture, bench warrant, no-bond hold.
- Brown is yet to appear in court.
A warrant remains active for her arrest.
If found guilty on all charges, Brown could be
sentenced to anywhere from probation
to 9 1/2 years in prison.
Her case is pending.
- Next, we're in Painesville, Ohio,
for a sentencing hearing.
♪ ♪
43-year-old Emily Smart has pled guilty to aggravated
possession of drugs.
A year and a half earlier, Smart was given a deferred
sentence, put on probation,
and released on a $25,000 bond with several conditions,
including that she undergo regular drug testing.
After one of her tests came back
positive for methamphetamine, Smart's bond was revoked.
And she was ordered to return to court for sentencing.
When she failed to appear, a warrant
was issued for her arrest.
Nine months later, Smart was arrested
at a Cleveland health clinic.
And today, she appears before Judge John O'Donnell
to hear her sentence.
Smart's represented by attorney Antonio Nicholson.
The prosecutor is Alexander Hurd.
- All right.
Ms. Smart, what do you want to tell me?
I made a poor decision, and I panicked.
I didn't know what to do.
And I left.
- So what drugs have you been doing in the last year?
- Where are you getting the meth from?
- A drug dealer.
- OK.
Who are you getting the meth from?
- Who? - Who?
- A drug dealer.
- OK, who?
- Oh, you want a name?
- Yeah, I want a name.
- Oh, I just--
I don't know his actual name.
- And where do you meet the drug dealer to get your meth?
- I go there.
- Where?
- To his house. - Where?
- In Cleveland.
- What street?
♪ ♪
See, we have all afternoon and into the evening to do
this if you want to do it.
- No, I'm just trying to remember.
- After a quick conference with her attorney,
Smart finally gives up the goods.
- I go to [bleep].
- [bleep].
Now, why didn't you just tell me that when I asked you?
Why do you go through this tortured process?
- Why you give a [bleep] about anybody else when you
can't take care of yourself!
♪ ♪
- Because my daughter is sitting in the courtroom.
- So what.
She doesn't know you're a drug addict?
- I always told her don't tell on people.
- You always told her what?
- Don't tell on people.
- Judge O'Donnell appears baffled by Smart's response.
- So you're more concerned about not telling on people
than you are your own fate?
- No.
- Yes, because you just said you
don't want to tell on people.
- No, I said because my daughter is in the courtroom,
and I didn't want her to look at me like--
- Like what?
- --I'm a snitch, I don't know.
♪ ♪
- Oh, [bleep].
You got to be kidding me.
That's your concern?
- My concern today is getting a better
relationship with my children.
- How can you have any relationship with your children
if you're running around getting
high on meth and ecstasy and whatever else you're taking?
How is that possible?
- It's not.
- Then your concern should be--
- --on not taking that stuff and getting your act together.
That should be your concern.
- The judge moves on and announces his decision.
- I'm gonna place you on community
control for four years.
You're gonna serve 79 days in the Lake County Jail
with credit for 19.
You're to have no drugs or alcohol and be screened.
But unless you have a radical change of attitude,
I don't think you're going to make it.
So if you don't, then when you come back,
then you'll go to prison for 12 months.
♪ ♪
- In addition to the four years' probation
and 60 remaining days in jail, the last 30 days
of Smart's sentence will be served
in a drug treatment center.
- Next, we head to Olympia, Washington,
for a traffic violation hearing.
30-year-old Aiesha Steward has been charged with speeding.
♪ ♪
A month earlier, Steward was clocked
going 83 miles an hour in a 60-mile-an-hour speed zone.
♪ ♪
Today, she appears before Judge Kalo Wilcox
to challenge the ticket.
- OK, so this is all about a speeding ticket
from January 28th it's alleged.
And you asked for a contested hearing.
Just so you know, you qualify for a deferral.
A deferral would allow the court
to dismiss that speeding ticket altogether in six months.
It would require a $150 fee and good driving for six months.
If that's of interest to you,
we can grant that,
because it looks like you qualify for that.
- Yeah, I don't think I was speeding.
- So you want to go through a contested hearing instead.
- Yeah, so my car was in self-drive.
It was in auto self-drive.
♪ ♪
So I was just rolling with the car.
- You were the driver?
- Yeah, I was the driver, but when
it's in self-drive, like, my foot's not
on the gas or anything.
- How does that absolve you of responsibility
for the speed of the vehicle?
- Because my foot wasn't on the gas.
I wasn't controlling the speed.
I had literally put my car in self-drive
because I was driving from work and I was tired.
- The judge doesn't seem to be buying Steward's excuse.
- Yeah, you're totally responsible for that.
You are completely and utterly responsible for the speed
of that vehicle, whether it's in self-drive
or handicapped mode or--
yeah, that's up to you.
You have to pay attention, and I don't see
that as a defense in any way.
You're the one who's responsible for how
fast that vehicle was going.
That make sense?
- But I thought--
- But you thought what?
- I thought that the car was gonna adjust
to the speed on its own.
That was the whole point of me putting it in self-drive.
- So you thought that it would somehow understand what
the speed was in that range and then slow
down to the correct speed?
- Yeah.
- You can appeal my decision.
But, you know, the deferral would
allow you to get a dismissal in six months
if you wanted to do a deferral.
You only get one of those every seven years.
You have to have good driving from after you enter
the deferral, pay the $150.
It's more expensive, but sometimes
it's worth it to folks.
So that's one way to get it off your record.
- That's the way.
[chuckles]
- OK. All right.
Just call, and the clerks will help you through it.
It's $150.
- OK.
- And you have time to pay that if you need it.
- OK.
Thank you, Miss.
- All right.
So long.
- Steward paid the $150 for the deferral.
And if she keeps her driving record clean for six months,
the violation will be removed from her record.
- Next, we go to Centreville, Michigan,
for a sentencing hearing.
40-year-old Danielle Walker has pled guilty
to driving while intoxicated.
Two months earlier, police say Walker, a single mother of two
with previous DWI offenses, left a local bar,
got in her car, and sped past two state troopers.
She then veered off the road, nearly hitting a tree,
before swerving back onto the road.
The troopers pulled her over.
And after Walker failed a number field sobriety
tests and refused to take a breathalyzer,
she was arrested and charged.
Later, troopers conducted a blood alcohol test,
and Walker's level came back at 0.235, nearly three times
the legal limit.
Today, Walker appears with her attorney, Ross Truckey,
to hear her sentence.
But when Judge Jeffrey Middleton notices her attire,
he is not pleased.
- I'm disappointed you showed up
looking like you're ready to mow the lawn or something.
You dressed very casually for a court proceeding
in short shorts and a T-shirt.
And it's like you're not giving this
the gravity that it deserves.
So, Ross, let's start with you.
- Thank you, Your Honor.
Ms. Walker, she came through here, worked the program.
I think she was a fairly successful
sobriety court attendee.
And since then, a relapse happened.
I would ask the court to recognize that Ms. Walker is
a person that has the will to succeed
and the drive to succeed and needs a little bit more
than the average bear.
♪ ♪
- Well, that's why I've been troubled about this.
She quit drinking, and she wrote me a wonderful letter
expressing how she was doing.
And I shared it with the people in sobriety court.
But she went out in flames on this night.
So she needs something extra, but I don't know what to do.
- If jail time is instituted, if the possibility
of scheduled jail time could exist
as she is the primary caregiver for her children--
- Which is always the question.
What did you think was gonna happen today?
This is the sentencing day.
Have you made any provision for your kids
if you have to go to jail?
- Yeah, I've thought about it.
♪ ♪
- All right.
What do you think I should do?
- I don't know.
- Well, you don't want probation.
- No, I didn't say that.
- Well, all right.
You don't want sobriety court.
- I can't afford sobriety court.
- It's a--
- However, if it's going to
lessen my jail,
is that a possibility?
- That's not a good enough reason.
Everybody wants to do sobriety court because they
don't want to go to jail.
So, no, that's not a very enthusiastic--
- That's not what I meant.
- --endorsement.
- That's not what I meant, because jail
is going to take money out of my bills and my kids.
- Well, somehow you put that on me.
That's not my fault.
- No, no, no.
- I mean, you screwed up royally.
And there's a consequence.
- Judge Middleton sentences Walker to 60 days in jail
plus two years of probation.
- You're going to jail tomorrow for 60 days.
I'm gonna give you the day to get your situation straightened
out with your kids.
- Walker is not happy with her sentence.
- Are you kidding me?
I mean, what did you think was gonna happen?
- I didn't think--
- You don't have an answer.
"My life's a mess.
"My kids are at risk.
"I nearly killed myself and a couple
"of state police troopers.
"I was a total horse's ass to the police and the hospital
staff, and I said I'm sorry."
Well, that ain't good enough.
♪ ♪
So, yeah, you're going to jail tomorrow at 7:00.
♪ ♪
You're good to go.
♪ ♪
- Walker failed to report to jail,
and the judge issued a bench warrant for her arrest.
That's it for this edition of "Court Cam."
I'm Dan Abrams.
Thanks for watching.