[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Hi, everyone, I'm dan abrams, and this is "courtcam."
- You ready to take the plea?
[group shouting]
- [bleep] you!
- I'll kill all you [bleep], [bleep]!
- I hope you die in prison as well.
♪ ♪
- First up, we're at the oklahoma county courthouse
In oklahoma city.
[suspenseful music]
The man seen here in the brown jacket
About to enter the courtroom
Is david knight.
♪ ♪
The 30-year-old's in court today
For a hearing regarding drug possession charges.
But he's unaware
There's also an outstanding warrant
For his arrest.
So before deputies can take him into custody,
Knight slips out of the courtroom.
♪ ♪
His exit is perfectly timed--
Hitting the elevator just as the doors are opening.
♪ ♪
[elevator dings]
♪ ♪
On the ground floor,
Knight steps out of the elevator,
Gets his bearings, then...
♪ ♪
Makes a break for it.
[music intensifies]
It looks like he might slip out under the radar.
♪ ♪
But now comes the toughest part--
Getting past the last security checkpoint
And this deputy.
♪ ♪
With the officer on his heels,
Knight bursts through the exit and out onto the street.
♪ ♪
It's a flat-out footrace for freedom.
♪ ♪
And the winner is... The deputy, who,
Just out of the camera's view, catches knight
And brings him down with a tackle
In front of some curious bystanders.
♪ ♪
He was taken into custody
And charged with obstructing an officer.
He'd later plead guilty
And was given a one-year suspended sentence--
Meaning jail time is deferred
As long as he abides by
The conditions of his probation.
♪ ♪
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
Next, we're in pontiac, michigan,
For the sentencing of breianna smart.
♪ ♪
The 22-year-old was convicted
Of fleeing and eluding police,
Resisting and obstructing a police officer
Causing injury,
Assault with a deadly weapon,
And driving with a suspended license
After she fled a traffic stop.
♪ ♪
Now before judge hala jarbou hands down a sentence,
She offers smart a chance to address the court.
- Yes, you-- no, let's back up.
You did.
'cause your actions were all deliberate, okay?
[emotional music]
This isn't a time to make excuses
Or to justify anything you did.
You need to own it.
- What smart must own up to is this:
[police radio chatter]
She's driving the vehicle making a left turn here.
Behind her, an auburn hills police officer
Runs her plate and discovers
Smart is the registered driver of the vehicle.
And that she has a suspended license.
After pulling the car over, he confirms
That smart is behind the wheel.
- Why?
♪ ♪
- Smart refuses the officer's order--
Put down her cell phone--
And continues talking to the person
On the other end.
♪ ♪
- After resisting being handcuffed,
Smart pushes her way back into the vehicle.
The officer then tries to pull her from the car.
And smart attempts to drive off.
- [muffled yell]
[police radio static]
[dramatic music]
With the officer still holding onto her arm,
Smart throws the car in reverse
And hits the gas.
Her open door slams into the officer...
♪ ♪
Pushing him backwards,
Nearly crushing him
Between it and the front of his cruiser.
Luckily for the officer...
♪ ♪
Smart's car was brought to a stop
When it slams into his car
Before he gets pinched in-between.
♪ ♪
Smart fled the scene
And was arrested later that night.
♪ ♪
The officer was treated
For minor injuries at the hospital
And released.
♪ ♪
Now at sentencing, it's clear
Judge jarbou has little patience
For smart's disregard for the law.
- What you did was deliberate.
You not only rammed into that officer,
You rammed into his vehicle, and then you took off.
The only thing that you were concerned about was yourself.
And getting out of that situation.
This is my first time in trouble.
And I understand that I made a bad choice.
[crying] I do understand my--and I do.
I just wanna go home to my kids.
I just wanna be a good mother to my kids.
Not only did you endanger his life--
♪ ♪
- The 22-year-old is facing several charges
For an incident where she fled the scene of a traffic stop.
Now standing before judge hala jarbou,
She just finished making her final plea
And awaits her sentence.
- You need to grow up.
So you have two young kids,
But you are still acting like you're that age.
The only reason
That you are not gonna go to prison today
Is because you don't have a criminal history.
But you're gonna stay in the oakland county jail.
And there are gonna be a slew of conditions.
♪ ♪
You're sent to two years' probation,
365 days jail,
56 days credit.
♪ ♪
- Typically, sentences of under a year
Are served at a county jail rather than state prison.
♪ ♪
Smart is also ordered to complete
100 hours of community service,
Accept mental health treatment,
And attend an anger management
Program.
Judge jarbou also makes it clear
That smart's behavior will be under the microscope
Every day moving forward.
- I'm promising you this today:
If you come back on the slightest violation--
Whatever that is--
If that means that probation department
Tells you to show up at 8:30 and you show up at 8:45,
You are going to the department of corrections.
You will go to prison. Do you understand that?
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Next, we're in fort lauderdale, florida,
For a bond hearing.
28-year-old tyra vanzant
Is facing a long list of charges
Including grand theft and resisting arrest
After she was caught stealing
More than $400 in jewelry and purses
From a department store.
♪ ♪
- Hello, ma'am. - Hi, how are you doing, sir?
- Today, judge john hurley
Will decide if she's eligible for bond.
But as vanzant waits for the hearing to start,
She begins pleading her case
To a higher court.
- Unfortunately for vanzant,
The "ultimate judge"
Is not presiding over this hearing.
Instead, it's judge hurley,
Who seems caught off guard by the defendant's prayers.
- Before judge hurley dives into vanzant's charges,
Questions about her professional life
Take center stage.
- Pure platinum might be considered
A place of "heavenly bodies,"
Just not in the biblical sense.
♪ ♪
By the way,
I don't know anything about where you work.
I just--what people say in here,
I--I don't know anything about anything like that.
- As judge hurley continues to read more details
About the severity of vanzant's crimes,
The tone of the hearing begins to sour.
- Wow.
They had to tase the defendant to bring her down.
She wouldn't stop.
- A closer look at vanzant's recent criminal history
Also reveals this isn't her first time
Facing very serious charges.
- You've been arrested eight times
In the matter of a couple years.
I don't know. - Yes, sir.
- It's like every time you go out your front door,
You know, you're getting arrested.
So she gets arrested-- you said in June?
She got arrested in June
For obstruction, for cannabis and cocaine.
And now she has to get tasered
In a--what, a walmart? - [bleep]
- And she wants me to let her out
And have a second chance.
Huh, interesting. - Please.
I'm asking you for a second chance, sir.
Please, so I can get my life together.
- I wonder what you told the judge
After the first, the second, the third arrest,
The fourth arrest, the fifth-- - [sighs]
Please, I'm in-- listen, I'm in a ch--
I'm in a christian unit program here, sir.
And I've come to found god.
And I'm really changing my life.
And I just want a chance
To be able to go to a rehab, sir.
- Right.
- Please have mercy on me, judge.
[emotional music]
- After a brief pause,
Judge hurley makes his ruling.
♪ ♪
Thank you. - Oh, my god.
[crying]
- Tyra vanzant later pleaded "no contest"
To grand theft in the third-degree,
Resisting arrest without violence,
Possession of an unlawfully issued driver's license,
And criminal use of personal id information.
She was sentenced to 180 days in jail
And three years' probation.
- Oh, my god.
[cries]
- We now head to stillwater, oklahoma,
For a lesser-known aspect of the legal system
That we rarely touch here on "courtcam."
The potentially dangerous business of bail bonds.
Seated behind the desk of signature bail bonds
Is owner 41-year-old chasity carey.
♪ ♪
A week earlier, she was hired by this man,
Brandon williams.
Carey paid his $35,000 bond
So he could be released while waiting to return to court
To face charges of second-degree burglary,
And possession of marijuana.
The third person in the office
Is chasity carey's 19-year-old son,
And the butt of williams' jokes.
- [laughs]
- No. - No, I don't. I'm joking.
- But this is no laughing matter.
Williams is unaware that carey and her son
Are planning to revoke his bond
And take him into custody after they learned
He was planning on leaving the state
For a trip to florida
To attend his mother's funeral.
- [indistinct speech]
- Williams quickly realizes
Carey isn't playing around.
[gunshot]
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- After williams is blocked from leaving through the door,
- He tries climbing out a window just off camera
And onto a balcony below.
That's when carey grabs a loaded handgun
From her desk and fires a single shot--
Striking williams in the lower back.
[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- On the phone, carey reaches 911.
- Police and paramedics arrive shortly after.
But williams is pronounced dead at the scene.
[dramatic music]
In the police interviews that followed,
Carey claimed she was acting in self-defense--
That williams had attempted to take the gun away from her
Right before she pulled the trigger.
The video, however, appeared to tell
A different story.
Carey was later arrested
And charged with first-degree murder.
♪ ♪
Cameras were not allowed in the courtroom
During the four-day murder trial,
But the surveillance video
Would be a key piece of evidence
For both the prosecution and the defense.
The state argued carey was not acting in self-defense
Because the video showed williams
Trying to get away from her
When she shot him in the back.
The defense, however, said...
And what that means is
To convict carey of first-degree murder,
Jurors would need to believe
That she deliberately intended to kill williams.
Ultimately, the jurors decided
The state's case did not meet that burden of proof.
Carey was found not guilty of first-degree murder.
The victim's ex-wife has since filed a civil lawsuit
Against carey.
♪ ♪
- Your honor, we have mr. Casavant.
- Next, we're in fort lauderdale, florida,
For a video bond hearing.
The defendant, 24-year-old francisco casavant,
Was arrested after a homeowner's security camera
Captured him doing more than just trespassing.
- He was found in the front yard
Of a woman's house, caught on video masturbating.
♪ ♪
- Here's casavant,
Who lives just two blocks away,
Prowling the yard for nearly two hours--
Exposed.
And looking into windows of the home,
Including one which the homeowner said
Gave him a direct view
Of her 7-year-old daughter inside.
♪ ♪
After police were called,
Casavant was found hiding in a nearby shed
And arrested.
He was charged with
An unnatural or lascivious act,
Resisting an officer without violence,
And burglary of an unoccupied dwelling
For removing a landscaping paver from the yard
That he was using to stand on.
♪ ♪
- All right, good morning, mr. Casavant.
- Now at his bond hearing.
Judge tabitha blackmon learns this isn't the first time
He's been arrested for this type of crime.
- Mr. Casavant has a lengthy history
Of indecent exposure cases
Starting back with 2017 cases.
He actually has one, two,
Three, four,
Five priors for indecent exposure.
- As it turns out,
At the time of the incident in question,
Casavant was still on probation
And awaiting trial for another case.
He was also supposed to be wearing
A gps ankle monitor.
- Mr. Casavant was not released from custody
Until February 25th of this year.
At which time, by March 17th,
He cut off that electronic monitor
And a pre-trial warrant was issued.
After that monitor was cut off,
He clearly went out and committed this offense.
Based on his lengthy history
Of indecent exposure offenses very similar to this case,
The escalating pattern of behavior,
The state would be asking that you continue to hold him
No bond on those no bond holds.
- The judge agrees.
- At this time, the court is maintaining
The no bond holds.
Sir, you're ordered to have no contact
With the alleged victim, direct or indirect,
And not to return to her listed property.
- But as judge blackmon lays out pretrial conditions,
Casavant seems disinterested
And can be seen talking to someone off camera.
- [indistinct speech]
- Mr. Casavant, are you listening to me?
- What did I just say?
♪ ♪
- Looks like casavant is once again
Caught with his pants down.
- Okay, so I'm gonna do it again, sir.
If you don't listen to my release conditions,
I could change them because you're not listening.
♪ ♪
- Francisco casavant was being held without bond
Until his next court hearing.
Joining me now is janel drayton,
The homeowner who captured casavant's crime
On her home security camera.
Janel, thanks so much for joining us.
Appreciate it.
- No problem.
- How'd you first notice that he was there
Just outside your home?
- I found out when my son--
Who'd gone out to take the trash out--
He noticed that one of the pavers
That's in our backyard
That we use as a step was missing.
And I initially thought
Maybe some kids playing around took it.
Or, uh, you know,
Somebody just being absent-minded
Came by and moved it.
- What was your reaction when you first saw him
On the home security camera?
- [sighs] just chills.
I was afraid.
Uh...
[emotional music]
[chuckles uncomfortably]
It's difficult to put my feelings into words.
But...
I think...
The best way that I could put it
Is I was-- I was scared.
- That must have been pretty upsetting.
- Yeah, I've moved since that incident
Because it's--it's--
It's really-- it was scary.
I don't think
I've ever been through a situation like that before.
But I-- I have relocated since then
Just because of the vulnerability
Of that area.
- Well, janel, I am so glad to hear
That you and your family
Are happy and safe in your new home.
And thanks so much
For taking the time to speak with us.
We appreciate it.
- You're welcome.
- That's it for this edition of "courtcam."
I'm dan abrams.
Thanks for watching.