[dramatic music]
♪ ♪
- Hi, everyone, I'm dan abrams, and this is "courtcam."
- I'm ready to take your plea.
[group shouting]
- Don't rush.
- [bleep] you!
- I'm killing all you [bleep].
- I hope you die in prison as well.
♪ ♪
- Colorado seems like a pretty good place
To get mile-high on medicinal marijuana.
But if you're trying to bring your bud
Into a denver courthouse, that's a different story.
♪ ♪
We kick things off at the lindsey-flanigan
Courthouse in denver.
♪ ♪
The man in the white shirt
Is in possession of medical marijuana containers
And wants to bring them into the courthouse.
This is legal in the mile high city
As long as you have a valid medical marijuana card.
But when the man can't produce his card, he's asked to leave.
At first he refuses but eventually gives in
And is escorted toward the door.
♪ ♪
That's when the entire situation
Gets turned upside down.
♪ ♪
After grabbing the last of his belongings,
The man's escorted away by two deputies.
♪ ♪
According to the police report, he then stopped
And raised a closed fist
Before continuing toward the exit.
But before he makes it there
This deputy grabs the man around the neck, lifts him up,
And slams him face-first into the floor.
Additional deputies rush in and surround the subject.
He's then pulled to his feet and dragged away.
♪ ♪
The incident was later reviewed
By the denver department of public safety,
Who determined the deputy's use of force
Was inappropriate.
He was fired.
The victim claimed he suffered a concussion
And later filed a civil lawsuit against the deputy.
The suit was still pending
When this program was produced.
♪ ♪
- I'm sitting there, and I'm--I'm seeing it all,
And I would convict myself.
- Next, we head to phoenix, arizona,
For the sentencing of elizabeth johnson.
She's been convicted of unlawful imprisonment
In the disappearance of her eight-month-old baby, gabriel.
♪ ♪
Johnson was in a custody battle with the boy's father,
Logan mcqueary
When she decided to leave town along with gabriel.
When she made contact with mcqueary a few weeks later,
He recorded the conversation.
He heard some horrifying news.
- Johnson would later claim the story was untrue
And gabriel was alive and well.
Johnson told authorities
She'd gave gabriel to a couple she met in san antonio
But didn't know their names.
Police investigated
But couldn't confirm that that couple existed.
Because police couldn't find gabriel,
Johnson was only later convicted
Of unlawful imprisonment and custodial interference.
Today she stands before judge joseph kramer for sentencing.
The maximum she can receive is 9 1/2 years in prison.
Before announcing his decision,
The judge dispels any ideas
Johnson may have about her future.
- And I know, ms. Johnson, you were hoping today
To walk out of here a free person,
But you're not gonna walk out of this courtroom
A free woman today. You're not.
- The 26-year-old silently mouths, "I know."
When given a chance to speak,
Johnson does not ask for leniency.
- I was selfish; I had no right
To make that decision by myself.
And you know what? I--
There's not much I can say for myself.
I know I was wrong regardless of my story.
It doesn't matter, because at the end of the day,
Gabriel is still missing, and it's my fault.
- Johnson then offers her opinion,
On the appropriate length of her sentence.
- What I have done is, you know, unconscionable.
What I have done is just--it's unbelievable.
And I would convict myself, you know.
I'm watching everything, and it is--it is horrible.
- But judge joseph kramer shows johnson some mercy
Due to her lack of criminal record
And troubled upbringing by sentencing her
To adjust over five years in prison.
And since she's already served three years
While awaiting trial,
That meant she got to go home in just over two.
After serving her time, johnson remarried
And is currently living in new mexico.
Meanwhile, the san antonio couple johnson
Claims she gave the baby to have not been found
And the whereabouts of baby gabriel remain a mystery.
♪ ♪
Next, we head to muskogee, oklahoma.
It's 1:45 p.M.
Cory rone has just been ordered into custody.
He's been charged with possession of a firearm
After a felony conviction as well as resisting arrest.
Rone has a lengthy rap sheet
With previous convictions of gun possession,
Illegal drugs, and escaping from prison.
He's in the third floor courtroom,
Which based on this footage does not appear to have much
In the way of courtroom security.
Rone is speaking to his attorney
When he apparently decides it's time to go.
- Rone makes a run for it.
At least three court employees are in pursuit.
♪ ♪
He heads for the stairs...
♪ ♪
And reaches the first floor,
Where he takes off past an empty security desk.
♪ ♪
With the courthouse exit in his sights,
There's just one deputy standing between him
And this street.
But rone, whose 6'3" and 215 pounds,
Shows no sign of slowing down.
Rone takes the deputy with him right into the metal detector.
♪ ♪
Rone makes it to the parking lot and escapes.
A warrant is immediately issued for his arrest,
But a few days later, he turns himself in.
He's charged with escape and assault against the deputy.
His case is currently pending.
As for the officer,
He suffered a gash to his face that required stitches
But was released from the hospital
And made a full recovery.
- For our next story, we need to warn you.
It contains images that may be disturbing for some viewers.
- A crime of just pure evil overkill.
- We are in knoxville, tennessee,
For the trial of 32-year-old joel guy jr.
He's charged with two counts of first-degree murder
In the vicious killing
And dismemberment of his own parents,
Joel guy sr and his wife, lisa.
It was the Monday after thanksgiving weekend.
Lisa guy had not shown up for work,
And her employer made a call to police.
- When officers arrived, they discovered a grisly scene.
- Hello, sheriff's office.
Police. Sheriff's office.
♪ ♪
Knox county sheriff's office.
We're here to check your [inaudible].
♪ ♪
- Inside police found the remains of joel and lisa,
Who were both stabbed over 30 times and dismembered.
♪ ♪
Their son, joel, jr., was the first and only suspect.
He'd spent thanksgiving with his parents,
Made charges to his father's credit card after the murders.
His parents had been supporting the 28-year-old
For years and recently told guy
They were cutting him off financially.
Police believed guy was angry, hoped to cash in
On his parents' life insurance policy.
He was charged with first-degree
Premeditated murder and abuse of two corpses.
He pled not guilty.
At trial, the prosecutor described
The viciousness of the attacks
And guy's attempt to eliminate the evidence
All while guy listened to the graphic description
Of the crime scene.
- He covered them with the corrosive substance
And left them there to liquefy
Into some sort of diabolical stew
Of human remains.
- The jury was shown surveillance footage
Of the defendant with a hand wound
Buying products apparently to help dispose of the bodies.
- She paid for the tubs
That she and her husband disintegrated in.
♪ ♪
- And perhaps most incriminating
Was guy's notebook,
Which contained written excerpts outlining his plan,
Including one that read,
"get plastic sheeting for disposal process,"
And, "money, all mine, $500,000."
♪ ♪
After hearing all the testimony
And reviewing the evidence,
The jury returned with a unanimous verdict.
♪ ♪
- We the jury find the defendant,
Joel michael guy, guilty of first-degree,
Premeditated murder of joel guy sr.
- Count number two, please?
- We, the jury find the defendant joel michael guy
Guilty of first-degree
Premeditated murder of lisa guy.
- Before sentencing, family members
Gave impact statements about the victims
And the nightmare they were forced to live through.
- The next day after we buried joel and lisa, my mother died.
She truly died of a broken heart.
The impact of this crime is notorious.
We will never ever be the same.
- I am joel and lisa's daughter.
You'll never know what it is like
To have to tell your chil--your--your children,
That their grandparents have been chopped up
And put in acid.
- The last person to speak was the judge, steve sword.
- Guy was sentenced to two life sentences,
Plus four additional years for his treatment of the remains.
He won't be eligible for parole until the year 2071.
He'd be 83 years old.
- [indistinct], william dennis.
- For our next story, we head to kauai county, hawaii.
The defendant is william dennis,
Who's in court without a lawyer
To face the charge of driving with a suspended license.
- Good morning.
- All eyes are on dennis as he approaches.
Clad in a blue robe and a headpiece,
He immediately addresses the court.
- Well, my knowledge of the facts is with this claim
Of the standing with this microphone...
- Sir?
- Of the documentation... - Sir?
- With the situation-- - sir!
- Of the... - Sir.
- By his peaceful-hyphen volition.
- Dennis has been rambling for more than ten seconds now,
But the judge allows him to continue.
- Sir, unless you stand there,
You're not being recorded anyway, so...
- For the claimant's knowledge of the fact is
With the voidance of the boxes and plains
With this closed-hyphen area-hyphen court
Hyphen-room by the unity-hyphen consciousness.
- Dennis obviously as a thing for hyphens.
So the judge attempts to get things back on track
With a simple question.
- Okay, what's your name?
- Well, my knowledge of my peaceful-hyphen volition
Is with the voidance of the perjury
With this participation of correct-hyphen
Sentence-hyphen structure-hyphen
Communication-hyphen passe-hyphen
Syntax-hyphen correct.
- If you're counting at home, that is seven hyphens
In just that answer alone.
Thankfully the judge steps in.
- Okay, well, we have a lot of folks waiting here,
And I would hope that you would be courteous
To the other human beings
That are in the courtroom today
Waiting their turn to be heard.
What do other human beings call you?
- Well, my knowledge of the facts...
- Perhaps hoping to avoid an extended answer,
The prosecutor chimes in.
- Your honor, the... - Okay.
- He is known to the state already as
- William m. Dennis.
- Yes, as mr. Dennis.
- The court-- the court will find
That I've known him from prior occasions.
- This is gonna be dismissed with prejudice.
However, in order for his driver's license
To be reinstated, there are reinstatement requirements
That he must fulfill at the-- at licensing.
- Okay, mr. Dennis,
First of all, I'll grant the motion.
It will be dismissed with prejudice.
- Okay, thank you.
- "dismissed with prejudice" means the case
Is permanently over, done, finished.
- Mr. Dennis, I believe the state is being very patient
And tolerant with you.
You are free to go.
- Thank you, mr. Dennis.
- It seems everyone wants this case over,
That is except for the defendant.
- Well, my knowledge of my peaceful-hyphen volition
Is with this calling of the cooperation...
- Sir. - With the human...
- Sir. - Hyphen-beings
Of this court-hyphen room.
- You're being disrespectful. - With the creation of--
- Dennis can't quite see the gift
He's been given and throws out a few more hyphens.
- Mind-hyphen, body-hyphen,
Healing and organic-hyphen food-hyphen growing.
- Sir.
- With the free of the... - Sir, please, please have
A seat at the front.
Please...
- It takes some assistance from the bailiff for dennis
To get the message.
But on his way back to the gallery
He gets a few more hyphens in just for good measure.
- Male-hyphen liver by the correct-hyphen
Sentence-hyphen structure-hyphen
Communication-hyphen passe-hyphen
Syntax-hyphen correct.
- Sir, please have a seat in the front row.
♪ ♪
- Do you remember cutting the victim's throat?
- No, no, sir.
- Next, we head to idaho falls, idaho.
The defendant is brian dripps, who is in court for plea deal
In the rape and murder of angie dodge,
Which occurred over 23 years ago.
So what took so long?
At the time, another suspect, christopher tapp,
Confessed to the crime
After intensive and coercive questioning by police.
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Tapp pleaded not guilty but was convicted
And sentenced to life in prison.
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For years, tapp insisted he was innocent.
Then in 2019, a dna sample taken from dripps
Matched the killer.
Dripps was arrested and charged with the crime.
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- All right.
- Now at age 55,
Dripps finally appears before judge.
- If you'll please stand and raise your hand,
My clerk will put you under oath.
- To avoid the death penalty,
Dripps pleads guilty to both crimes.
- Have you had a full chance to review the plea agreement?
- Yes, I have.
- Count one asset out and the information
Is a charge of murder in the first degree.
How do you plead?
- Guilty.
- All right, tell me what you did
Which makes you guilty of this charge.
- And do you remember cutting the victim's throat?
- No, no, sir.
- Do you deny that that occurred?
- I don't deny it.
I mean, I can't remember it, though.
- Next, it was the rape charge.
- Count two is a charge of rape.
How do you plead to count two?
- Guilty.
- Dripps is later sentenced
To 20-years-to-life in a state prison.
♪ ♪
As for christopher tapp,
Who lost nearly 20 years of his life
For someone else's crime, he's exonerated.
- Yes, your honor.
- I'm thankful that I've been
This second chance of life.
I've wasted 20 years of my life for something
That I never did, but again, you know,
I also grew up in these 20 years.
- There's clear and convincing evidence the defendant
Was convicted of a crime for which he did not commit.
- Tapp was released from prison with his good name
Finally clean.
[cheers and applause]
♪ ♪
That's it for this edition of "courtcam."
I'm dan abrams.
Thanks for watching.
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