[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, hey!
- This is not TV court. This is for real.
♪ ♪
- First up, we're in Bay City, Michigan,
for a sentencing hearing.
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21-year-old Madison Shye has pled no contest
to assault with a dangerous weapon.
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A year earlier, while driving,
Shye got into an altercation with a pedestrian,
hitting the woman with her car.
The victim was not seriously injured in the incident
and has made a full recovery.
♪ ♪
Shye was arrested and released on $1,250 bond.
If found guilty, she could have been facing
up to four years in prison,
but Shye took a deal, pleading no contest,
and today, she appears with her attorney
before Judge Joseph Sheeran to hear her sentence.
After the judge sentences Shye to a year in jail,
this court security officer
prepares to remand her into custody.
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But Shye has no intention of sticking around.
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Shye bolts for the exit...
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And the officer gives chase.
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She makes it past the gallery, and then...
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That's Shye's girlfriend,
who seems to be blocking the security officer.
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And then appears to trip him.
Meanwhile, the judge hits an emergency lock button
for the courtroom doors.
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He's too late.
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Shye makes it out to the hallway
and shows no sign of slowing down.
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As she turns toward the exit,
two more officers in this security area take notice.
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One of the officers pursues Shye out the door,
grabs her by the sweatshirt,
and then they hit this brick pillar.
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Shye tries to pull away,
but a second officer arrives.
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The two pull Shye to the ground
and struggle to place her in cuffs.
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Then, seconds later,
Shye's girlfriend exits the building
and approaches the officers.
But a third officer arrives
and motions for her to step back.
♪ ♪
The first two officers drag Shye, who is now cuffed,
back into the courthouse.
And they escort her straight back to the courtroom,
where Judge Sheeran finds her in contempt of court
and sentences her to an additional
93 days in jail.
No charges were brought against Shye's girlfriend.
♪ ♪
Next, we head to Houston, Texas,
for a bond review hearing.
19-year-old Latron Ulloa has been charged with theft.
♪ ♪
A month and a half earlier,
Ulloa allegedly stole some clothes
and other items from a big box store.
He was arrested and released on $100 bond.
As part of his bond agreement, the judge ordered Ulloa
to sign up for high school equivalency classes
to work towards earning his GED.
♪ ♪
Today, Ulloa appears before Judge David Fleischer
to discuss his bond status.
He's represented by attorney John Dixon.
- Tell me what you got for me.
- I want proof.
I will not take your word for it.
♪ ♪
- He didn't sign up.
- He goes with you.
- I signed up, sir. - Come on, this way.
- Show--where's this-- where is it?
- I--I sent--I got the picture.
I got the information, and then I filled it out.
- Filling out something is not enough.
You have to press Send, and you have to get a date,
and then get a proof of confirmation
that you actually have your name on a class.
That's what--
- The class doesn't open until July.
- Yes, the classes are open.
Did you sign up the class, and are you actively enrolled?
♪ ♪
Don't send him down.
- Instead of revoking his bond,
the judge gives Ulloa 14 days
to prove he's signed up for classes.
Two weeks later, the defendant and his lawyer
return to court.
- The only thing I asked you to do
was sign up for a GED program.
Did you do that?
- Yes, sir.
- You got it?
- That's great.
I'm proud of you.
You cannot go through life, at the minimum,
without a high school diploma.
You will get nowhere.
- I expect you to fulfill this.
I'm gonna reset this case for two weeks,
and I wanna see that you have attended this thing
faithfully, like you're supposed to.
If you do, things will go well between us.
That's all I'm asking you to do, is make me proud.
Just show up.
- Yes, sir. - Get it done.
All right? - Yes, sir.
Okay.
And thank you so much, Mr. D. That's great.
Good job.
♪ ♪
- Two weeks later, Ulloa returned to court
with proof that he'd begun attending classes
in a GED program.
His case was dismissed.
♪ ♪
- Next, we go to White Cloud, Michigan,
for a bond hearing.
♪ ♪
33-year-old Consuelo Kempher
has been charged with failing to pay child support.
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According to the state,
Kempher's in arrears on two cases
for a total of $3,000
after not making a child support payment
in four years.
She's being held in jail on two $500 bonds.
Today, she appears before Referee Michael Paige
two discuss next steps in the case.
- Ma'am, um, I'm the referee of the court
assigned to handle these matters.
At the conclusion of this hearing,
I'll make a recommendation that'll become a court order.
You do have the right to have a lawyer.
If you wish, you can hire one,
or I can hire one for you,
or you can proceed without and represent yourself.
Do you know what you'd like to do?
- No, no it's fine to not have a lawyer.
- Okay.
- The last time I was in here, my mom was severely sick.
Since then, she has passed away.
I just missed her burial last Saturday.
I have a job with Native American Amusement
in Battle Creek waiting for me.
I can have my boss
send you guys my whole paycheck
if I'm able to get let off.
'Cause my fiancé's already arranged for me
a ride back to Battle Creek.
He can't pay my bonds now.
- How much could he pay?
- He's not gonna be able to pay any of it
because he has to pay to get me a ride back there.
I can pay you guys 150 within a week.
- Ma'am, your bond is $1,000 total,
and you haven't made a payment in four years.
♪ ♪
Where have you been working the last four years?
- I haven't been working
because I've had issues with my health.
- Well, that's unfortunate,
but you have a child support order
to pay out arrears, and you've not paid it.
It's not like you haven't paid it in four months;
we're talking four years.
You can't tell me that in four years--
- I understand that. I completely understand that.
- To make one payment.
You haven't paid anything.
- I am--like I said, my job's lined up,
it's just waiting for me to get there.
It's a year-round job.
It's not like the carnival's there,
and then they're gone, and then it's done.
[pounds table] It's a year-round job.
I can travel with the carnival.
♪ ♪
- Okay. - And I will make sure
the payments are made.
- Then why haven't you made an effort
to find a job, though, in the last four years
to be able to make payments?
You've had some jobs that you had talked about
previous times when we had child support hearings.
What happened to those? - Those fell through.
But I'm wiling to take my whole check
from Native American Amusements
and send it to you guys
if I'm able to be released today.
- After hearing her out,
the referee decides to give Kempher a small break.
- I'll lower the bond so you only
have to pay 500 instead of 1,000.
So 45 days on each case would be imposed
with a $250 bond.
You'll either serve 45 days,
or if 250 is paid on each case, then you can be released.
- Can I please get out today?
My mom just got buried yesterday.
- Well, that's unfortunate, but--
- And I have a job lined up and everything.
You can object to my recommendation
and have the hearing with the judge if you wish,
or you can accept it.
Do you know what you'd like to do?
- [sobs]
There's no way that you can just let me out?
- Uh, Miss Heaven, she has answered the question.
I guess it'll be a hearing with the judge.
- Okay.
- [sobbing]
♪ ♪
- Kempher failed to pay her bond,
so she served 45 days in jail.
She still owes $500 in court fines,
and she's currently in custody in another county
on an unrelated charge.
Kempher's also still in arrears
for over $3,000 in child support payments.
♪ ♪
- Next, we go to Green Bay, Wisconsin,
for a sentencing hearing.
40-year-old Joshua Scolman has been convicted
of first-degree intentional homicide
and attempted first-degree intentional homicide.
Scolman was already in prison
serving a 51-year sentence for killing three people
in a 2006 drunk driving crash
when, 16 years into that sentence,
he stabbed 25-year-old inmate
Timothy Nabors Jr. in the stomach
using a handmade knife
that was inscribed with a swastika.
Scolman then chased after and attacked
26-year-old inmate Lamonte Washington
before corrections officers managed to subdue him
with pepper spray.
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Nabors was taken to a hospital
but died from his injuries six days later.
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Washington suffered only minor injuries
and made a full recovery.
Scolman didn't know either of the two victims
and later wrote to a fellow inmate
that he only attacked the men
because they were Black.
He was charged and pled not guilty
by reason of insanity,
but following a competency hearing,
he was deemed competent to stand trial,
and after a four-day trial,
a jury found him guilty on both charges.
Today, Scolman appears before Judge Donald Zuidmulder
to hear his sentence.
But first, family members of Tim Nabors
deliver victim impact statements,
beginning with his father, Tim Nabors Sr.
- I knew I would get an opportunity
to look at you, to tell you
you killed somebody that meant a lot--
♪ ♪
- When the defendant smiles during his statement,
Nabors takes exception.
- I don't give a [bleep] about you.
You laugh-- - Just a second, sir.
Just a second. - [bleep].
- I can't allow this.
- Coward-ass mother[bleep].
- That's gonna have to be-- sir--
- Talk to him. - You listen to me.
You have a right to address me, but you may not
disrupt or cause a dangerous situation in my courtroom,
which you just did.
So--
- Okay, Your Honor.
I apologize.
- You interrupt me one more time and you're out of here.
You let me finish.
Otherwise, I'm gonna have to have you
ejected from my courtroom.
- Judge Zuidmulder then briefly leaves the courtroom
before returning a short while later.
- Go right ahead.
- You put my family and my people through an immense pain
that we'll never get over.
If this happened on the streets,
I would have done nothing but hunted you down,
and I would be on trial for my life myself.
And that's all I gotta say.
- When he's finished, the defendant
is given a chance to speak.
- I'm a weapon that I was meant to be.
I've been fashioned this way for my entire life.
I simply do what I am meant to do.
A weapon does not ask questions.
It does not feel remorse.
I don't even know what that is.
I don't care.
What do I care?
- Scolman's words get a reaction from Nabors' family.
- [bleep] - They are not human beings.
- You punk-ass [bleep]! - They are not human beings.
They do not have souls.
They are not from this world.
- The judge leaves the courtroom a second time.
His deputies step in to restore order.
- All rise.
- When things calm down, Judge Zuidmulder returns
and delivers the final word.
- We, as a specie, have this terrible, terrible dark side,
where some of us believe that anybody
who is different than us
or disagrees with us must be exterminated.
Do I need to recite, historically,
the horrible crimes that have been done
in the name of "I am a weapon"
and "I am a purifier"?
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It just causes--it causes one to pause and almost lose--
lose their breath.
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So considering the protection of the public, on count one,
it's the sentence of the court of the judgment of law
that you be confined in the Wisconsin state prison
for the rest of your natural life.
And that sentence is consecutive to any sentence
you're now serving.
- When Scolman's finished serving his original
51-year sentence, he'll begin his life sentence
for the murder of Timothy Nabors
and the attempted murder of Lamonte Washington.
He'll have no chance of parole.
♪ ♪
- Next, we go to Detroit, Michigan,
for a probation review hearing.
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42-year-old Taquela Bates has been convicted
of criminal trespass.
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Three and a half years earlier, Bates was arrested
after being spotted at a Michigan casino.
She'd recently added herself to Michigan's
Voluntary Disassociated Persons List,
a program for admitted problem gamblers
who pledge to not visit casinos.
If participants do and they're caught,
they're immediately subject to arrest.
Bates pled guilty to the charge and was sentenced
to 12 months' probation.
As part of her sentence, she was ordered to pay a fine,
seek gambling counseling, and join Gamblers Anonymous.
But after Bates missed a court date
and failed to join Gamblers Anonymous,
she was ordered before the court.
Today, she appears before Judge E. Lynise Bryant
to discuss next steps in the case.
Bates is represented by public defender Janice Stevenson.
- Today is a day set for review,
and I do have a report from probation, which is not good.
Now, that's your problem.
It's not helping you, so you probably
just wanna not respond.
♪ ♪
- Bates's microphone has been muted,
and she doesn't seem happy about it.
- Probably part of the problem is,
she might have had the same attitude then that she got now.
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Stop talking, ma'am.
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I know the difference.
Your eyes turning to the side, your head turning to the side,
your head is what-- you're continuing
to talk when I'm talking, which is not gonna be--
work out good for you.
♪ ♪
Let's just do this. All right.
You talked to Ms. Bates in a breakout room
about her non-attitude and the fact
that her body language says she has attitude.
She got them sunglasses on top of her head,
which I first didn't tell her to take off.
She looking up in the sky.
I'll send her to a breakout room,
which she may not be able to see
'cause her eyes up in the ceiling.
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And then I'm gonna take a break.
Okay?
- After a brief discussion,
Bates and her attorney return to the call.
- Ms. Stevenson?
- Ms. Bates has had a lot of issues
going on, Your Honor, which are kind of personal in nature.
So I was hoping-- - Me too.
I got a lot of personal issues going on.
- Me too. Me too.
And I-- - I mean, just a lot--a lot.
I mean, a lot.
It's just overwhelming at times.
Okay.
- She understands that you have not created
the situations that she has to deal with.
I just want the court to give Ms. Bates
the opportunity to continue toward compliance, Your Honor.
- Today wouldn't have even been an issue
if Ms. Bates had come on here respectful.
Ma'am, put your hand down.
Put your hand down. It's my turn.
We're not in school.
Then, when I pointed out that Ms. Bates had an attitude--
because I know attitude when I see it,
because I know what it mean when you're looking up
in the ceiling like this--
♪ ♪
Because I know what attitude means.
Because I know how to roll my eyes
and smack my lips with the best of them.
♪ ♪
At the end of the day, she put her name on the list
and consented to being treated as a criminal,
and she violated that list.
I didn't do that.
- Ultimately, Judge Bryant decides to give Bates a break.
- And Ms. Bates still has until October of this year
to come into compliance with the probation.
So we're gonna continue the probation to its conclusion.
- Later, Bates was a no-show
for a scheduled court appearance,
and a warrant was issued for her arrest.
That's it for this edition of "Court Cam."
I'm Dan Abrams.
Thanks for watching.
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