Original subtitles

Courthouses are supposed to be places

of calm and dignity,

where order is maintained and justice is served.

But often when stakes and emotions are at their highest,

cool heads don't always prevail.

Coming up...

...a belligerent defendant threatens a judge's life...

...and a scandalous affair

between a tutor and her teenage student

plays out in court.

He forced me to have sex with him.

All the jaw-dropping moments...

He runs out of the courtroom,

does an electric slide over the banister.

Plus insights from our team

of crime and legal experts...

There's one great way to increase your sentence --

that's to curse at the judge.

...on "chaos in court."

In a ground rapids, Michigan, courtroom,

a forbidden and salacious affair

has led to criminal charges.

Rendel Abigail Simon is 35 years old.

She is a former tutor from catholic central high school.

Miss Simon is on trial for an alleged affair

with a 15-year-old that she used to tutor.

After an 11-day trial,

the defendant anxiously awaits the verdict.

Right behind the defendant is her mother,

other family members, and they are so tense.

They -- they are not sure what's gonna happen here.

They're hoping for the best, but it could be the worst.

Two years earlier, in the fall of 2012, Simon,

then 33, was assigned to help a 15-year-old star athlete get

his grades up.

Abigail Simon began tutoring this young man.

He was applying to colleges, looking for scholarships.

She was a very attractive young woman,

and he was a young guy, and...

Things started to develop.

In spring of 2013,

seems like mom found on her son's phone

some racy photos of Ms. Simon in lingerie,

also some -- some texts that were totally inappropriate.

The boy's mother discovers thousands of

lurid messages between

Simon and her son over a three-month period.

She was appalled, and she immediately brought

the phone to the attention of the catholic

central authorities,

and they did the right thing.

School officials immediately contact

the grand rapids police department.

They send a detective to question the boy first.

So at first, he lied.

He flat-out lied and said there was no relationship.

But, of course, the phone showed that they had

a relationship.

Then he told them that well, he was the aggressor.

He was the person responsible, and she was an innocent victim.

He was truly in love with his tutor,

and he was protecting.

No matter how this -- this young man felt,

the bottom line is, it is illegal for a woman of her age

to have sex with a minor.

That's it.

The police then confront

Abigail Simon with the text messages.

Ladies and gentlemen, she is a tutor

at a catholic high school,

and when asked by detectives if she had sexual relations

with this minor child,

she said, "I don't know what your definition of sex is."

Dawson: So the police do not buy her story at all.

She's arrested, and she is charged

with multiple counts of criminal sexual misconduct.

Assistant prosecutor Helen brinkman

is assigned to the case and faces

the unusual scenario where the aggressor is a woman.

It is difficult, I think,

especially for males to see males as a victim.

After a five-month investigation, the prosecution

decides to offer a generous deal to Simon

in lieu of going to trial,

something that would spare both herself and the teen

public scrutiny.

Abigail Simon is offered a plea deal

that puts her in prison for one year.

She could do decades if she goes to trial and loses,

but for some reason, she feels motivated

to -- to roll the dice.

Abigail's background is that her family is

full of attorneys,

and they hire a very solid defense team.

Those who feel they're bigger than the system will

oftentimes deny that plea and take their chances at court.

A year and a half later,

on November 12, 2014, Abigail Simon goes to trial.

The prosecution's key evidence,

the graphic text messages, are laid out for all to see.

Assistant prosecutor brinkman

questions the victim, who is now 17 years old.

Whereas when he is initially spoken to by law enforcement,

he describes himself as the aggressor.

When he takes the stand,

he gives a very different version of events.

So...

Um...

Some of these requests from her,

he had no idea what she was talking about.

He had never done these things before,

and he was a little confused.

After more than a week of testimony and evidence,

it's Abigail Simon's turn

to speak in her own defense.

Why did you tell detective lowry that you didn't have sex?

Because I didn't.

Can you elaborate to the jury what that means?

I didn't engage in sex with him.

Well, what happened?

He forced me to have sex with him.

- Was it against your will? -Yes.

So first she takes this young boy

and seduces him and has sex with him, underage.

And then she turns around

and makes him a rapist

in front of the jury and the court and on national TV.

You can't point to one time where you said no, can you?

-In any... -Those texts kept him at bay.

Those texts kept him away from me.

They kept me from getting assaulted that night.

Everything that happened, I was doing to appease him,

because if I didn't, then he would be violent.

He would hurt me.

So he raped me and then kept me as a prisoner,

and that's why these text messages sounds so salacious.

I had to do that to appease him.

So for her to play the victim and expect US to assume, believe

that somehow she was raped by this young man is offensive,

to me.

I dubbed this case the theater of the absurd.

It's like trying a case in

opposite world, bizarro land.

I mean, everything was completely opposite of what

they were proposing.

He was told it doesn't matter.

He was told it wasn't his fault.

He was told he was never gonna get in trouble.

Like, I don't get -- I really don't get it.

Whitmore: These crocodile tears --

are they consistent with someone who feels

they're going to spend the next 10 years in jail,

and it's that fear?

Or is it the sadness that she is actually a rape victim?

Simon's testimony on the stand has some

convinced that she truly could be the victim.

Dorsey: Well, we know that you just need to convince

one juror, right?

Reasonable doubt is something that can be easily accomplished

if you can convince one juror,

and I believe that Abigail thought that she could do

just that.

After 11 days, the case goes to the jury,

and while evidence seems stacked against Simon,

deliberations go on for nine hours.

I worried about, you know, a pretty young tutor,

crying on the stand and saying

she's the victim -- that's gonna get to people.

It really is.

On November 26, 2014,

the jury finally has a verdict.

Now in the courtroom, there's a calm before the storm.

Dawson: Her family's behind her.

They're hugging, they're embracing.

Everyone's ready. It's tense.

Will the teacher be found guilty of

having illegal contact

and criminal sexual conduct with a 15-year-old boy?

You can tell that it's still kind of up in the air.

In this case, I don't think

anybody has a clue what's gonna happen.

On the charge of criminal sexual conduct,

first degree,

we find -- we the jury, find the defendant,

Abigail Simon, guilty.

No!

My god!

My god!

Did they finally realize that their sister,

their daughter, had lied to them?

And at the time of the verdict,

when the verdict came in, for that type of reaction,

particularly from her mother?

Abigail Simon, guilty.

No! My god!

There are no words. I was repulsed by it.

I was disgusted by it.

Judge: As to count four?

Wo on the charge of criminal sexual conduct...

I couldn't, in any way, justify that reaction.

I think the family reacted the way

any family member would be expected to react.

No one wants to think the worst of their child,

no matter the age.

Simon's defense might have worked if

it hadn't been for the text messages.

Abigail Simon was shocked.

Abigail Simon's family was shocked,

but you know who wasn't shocked

and who felt that this was justice?

That child's mother.

Abby was offered plea bargains to avoid a trial,

but instead decided to make up this incredible story.

She decided she was to be the victim.

During sentencing two months later,

there's more drama in the courtroom.

Abigail Simon collapses twice and throws

herself on the mercy of the court.

Abigail Simon takes the Liberty to, again,

show absolutely no remorse

for what occurred with this 15-year-old child.

It felt like I was drowning,

and I'm so sorry that I wasn't strong enough to get

away from him and save both of US from all of this.

Even after the verdict, even as she's giving

her impact statement,

she was still blaming the victim.

From the judge's perspective,

if you're not accepting guilt,

you're not accepting your actions,

and so why should I be lenient on what I give you for

a sentence?

She is very immature, and that is

exactly the nature of this kind of crime.

What other 33-year-old woman has sex with

a 15-year-old except someone that is so insecure?

Abigail Simon is sentenced

to 8 to 25 years in prison.

Rendel she will be required to serve,

at the minimum, eight years incarceration.

She also will have to register as a sex offender,

where she will be permanently on a registry and have to wear

an ankle monitor for the rest of her life.

Dawson: That ankle bracelet for the rest of her life --

that is really extreme, but it depends on the jurisdiction in

which the crime was committed, and, unfortunately,

where she lives, that is an appropriate sentence.

Though the boy was never named or photographed

during the trial,

his identity was common knowledge in grand rapids.

The thing that makes me the most upset is

this kid had everything going for him, everything.

And he lost it all.

Everybody at school knew, and he was not

getting scholarships now.

A teacher having a sexual relationship with

their student -- it's not the fantasy

it's cracked up to be,

especially in the age of...

Digital information.

Abigail Simon thought she was going to walk

out of court that day,

and she denied the one-year plea deal

because she couldn't see herself

spending one year in prison.

Wo Simon, guilty.

My god! My god.

Coming up, a family's heartbreak

after a young father snaps.

He was not telling the truth

about what had happened to his 11-week-old child.

At the Gibson county courthouse

in Princeton, Indiana,

23-year-old kwin boes has just been sentenced

for a tragic killing.

He is a 23-year-old fast food worker.

Kwin boes has a criminal history,

but it's mostly consisted of petty crimes.

Rendel kwin is a new father.

He and his girlfriend, jayme hartley, have just had

a baby named Parker hartley,

and Parker is 11 weeks old.

The morning of may 3, 2018,

kwin has just finished a night shift.

Jayme has two children from another relationship.

On this particular day, kwin comes home from work,

but jayme has to take the children to school, so she

does that while he stays home with the 11-week-old child.

20 minutes after she leaves the home,

kwin boes calls her in a panic.

He is crying.

He is screaming. He is scared.

He is stating that the child was non-responsive.

Kwin tells jayme that he put little Parker down for

a nap on a pillow,

and when he came back to check on the baby, he was crying

and had rolled off onto the floor.

Little Parker is rushed to the hospital,

and for three days, he survives,

but ultimately, he passes.

And the cause of death made it clear that kwin boes was not

telling the truth about what

had happened to his 11-week-old child.

The autopsy evidence --

severe hemorrhaging of the brain,

bruising to the eyes,

ligature of the neck, and bruising on the inner thigh.

This baby suffered some pretty horrific, aggressive wounds.

Dorsey: What could happen that would make anyone

attack, strangle,

and cause those kinds of injuries to a helpless,

defenseless three-month-old child?

I would imagine that the baby was doing what, you know,

three-month-old babies do, which is cry incessantly.

I would just have to assume

that he snapped.

Kwin boes is charged with aggravated battery

and failure to take care of a dependent child.

These charges -- he's looking at up to

40 years in prison -- prior to trial,

they offer a deal to kwin.

They call it a charge bargain there, which is basically

a plea deal, and they're saying to him, "hey,

"take this deal, and you'll get 25,

but you'll serve at least 17."

So kwin takes the deal.

Families never want to hear about a plea deal unless that

plea deal is to the maximum charge

with the maximum jail time.

So whenever you're looking at a situation where somebody may

deal their way to a lesser jail time,

the family will not be satisfied.

And, in fact, it's not even about satisfaction.

It's about the family's heart being ripped out.

On July 3, 2019,

kwin boes receives his sentence at the courthouse.

When this defendant steps out into the hallway,

again, looking kind of beat, like a dog,

he's resigned to his fate.

He shuffles along, and he doesn't get

more than a couple of steps before...

Boom!

Out of nowhere, pow, he gets hit right in the kisser.

It's kind of like a Superman punch.

He goes flying through the air

and just sucker punches him, takes him out.

Rendel Matt hartley was the uncle

of little Parker, and he had been so enraged by

what kwin boes had done to this little baby boy,

he felt he couldn't control himself.

The uncle, Matt hartley, he's taken to the ground.

He's handcuffed.

Court security detain the uncle

and bring him out of the area and arrest him.

Normally, after a plea in which the plea was accepted,

the defendant goes out back and is always separated from

the victim and the victim's family.

Bove: They should have security in front of the defendant

and behind the defendant,

as well as areas where the public

cannot get at the defendant.

So that's where the problem lies,

and that's why we had this chaos in the court.

Ultimately, the uncle had his own problems now.

He's charged with contempt. He's charged with battery.

The judge sentences Matt hartley

to 179 days in jail.

Rendel hartley eventually apologized,

expressed remorse for his behavior, and indicated that it

didn't solve anything and that

his actions would not bring back baby Parker.

But the one person hartley won't apologize to

is kwin boes,

now serving 19 years with the Indiana department

of corrections.

Whitmore: I think most people would understand that

the uncle's behavior and actions were justified based

on the fact that his little nephew Parker is now dead at

the hands of boes.

People will have outbursts.

People are gonna respond emotionally.

And so I understand why the judge

gave the uncle 179 days in county jail.

You have to set a standard and expectations in your courtroom.

In Cleveland, Ohio, 42-year-old David chislton is

about to learn his fate at the cuyahoga county courthouse.

He's awaiting sentencing in court after pleading guilty

to aggravated arson,

felonious assault, and domestic violence charges.

It all begins on April 10, 2017,

when chislton's girlfriend accuses him of

molesting her 15-year-old daughter.

So the young daughter disclosed to the mother

that Mr. Chislton was touching her inappropriately.

The mother confronted chislton and then called the police.

While the lights and sirens were coming down the road,

chislton allegedly pistol-whipped both of them.

When the police arrived, he had barricaded himself

inside the apartment with a gun.

His girlfriend escapes, but a SWAT team

has to force chislton out of the apartment.

And as the SWAT team attempted to get him out,

he set a fire

inside of the apartment, causing damage to

over 20 units inside of his building.

Public defender Aaron brockler

is assigned to defend chislton.

He qualified for free council, so that's how I got on the case.

He had an extensive criminal history that

he had all these repeat violent offenses.

Chislton also faces a long list of charges,

including rape,

corruption of a minor, and individual arson charges

for each apartment destroyed.

Dorsey: As a result of those numerous charges,

he was facing significant prison time.

I understand exactly why the defendant is concerned,

because any time you go to prison, and you've been accused

or convicted of being a sexual abuser of a child,

you run the very real risk of being a victim yourself in jail

of either being assaulted,

possibly being raped, and/or being killed,

brockler says he negotiates a plea deal

that could lead to a sentence of anywhere from 9 to 100 years.

Repeat violent offender specifications

add 10 to 25 each of those counts.

Then you have the felonious assaults and arsons,

so everything just stacks up.

With the volume of charges that he was facing,

he knew that there was -- you know, prison time

was a virtual certainty, so what we constructed was

a range of felonious assaults and arsons,

and with a floor of nine years, I told him,

"I'll ask for the minimum,

"they'll ask for the maximum, and it will probably come out

right in the middle."

When you tell a defendant that

the range starts at nine years,

the rest is "wah wah wah wah wah wah wah."

They don't hear anything.

Nine -- that's all they hear, and that's all they want

to hear -- the chances of him actually

getting nine years is basically zero.

As chislton stands next to

his attorney, Aaron brockler,

awaiting sentencing, the deputies are wearing body cams.

To have an officer wearing

a body camera in the courtroom is unusual.

Usually you see that more with cops that are on the street.

Dawson: These deputies are in charge of bringing up

the defendants from jail,

so they need to have the record of what happened from

the moment they began to interact with the defendant

who's in custody all the way until he gets into

the courtroom.

And this defendant knows what the judge decides is

going to change the course of his life forever.

Whitmore: And you can just sense the tension in

his body that something was about to happen.

42-year-old David chislton has taken a plea deal

and is about to be sentenced for felonious assault

and arson.

He's standing at the podium with his defense attorney.

He's handcuffed in front, and he is handed down

his sentence.

Chislton hopes for the minimum sentence

of nine years that his attorney requested.

But as the judge instead handsome a sentence of

47 years, the body camera audio hasn't kicked in yet.

Chislton hears the judge's sentence, and it takes a beat

to sink in.

He gives his attorney a double-handed

ax chop to the head.

When the deputy lunges towards chislton,

the motion activates the audio on the body camera.

Some deputies' audio doesn't tap in until they press

a button or they make certain movements.

And this officer with the body cam

and many others charge to take over the defendant.

There's a big pile on -- in the middle of the courtroom.

The deputy talking to David is a way of kind of

de-escalating -- I feel like the guard is kind of

letting him know, dude,

I understand, you're going to prison for a long time,

and you're not happy,

but I need you to knock this off.

Bove: The court security

then starts giving the defendant orders

that they were going to

uncuff him from the front and place

his hands and cuff him from behind.

The defendant, surprisingly, complies to their orders.

Meanwhile, Aaron brockler is just

coming to on the courtroom floor.

I just, you know, got sucker punched.

It just totally caught me by surprise.

I kinda just remember, you know,

regaining consciousness underneath the trial table.

Brockler: Thank you, yeah.

Security: Are you sure?

Brockler: I had a broken nose and a concussion.

When I fell, I hurt my knee and my hip.

A man that needed SWAT to take him into custody

would have absolutely needed a deputy closer to him

during his sentencing.

Chislton is hauled off to jail.

Brockler believes the defendant should

also have been better restrained.

Typical procedure was that they have to

be either restrained in the back or there --

there's gotta be a waist shackle connecting them to the front.

If you have a violent offender in the courtroom,

you want his handcuffs to the back.

But, in this case, the deputy decided to cuff him in

the front -- obviously, that was not the best call,

because that created the opportunity for Mr. Chislton

to sucker punch his attorney.

Fortunately, there were enough deputies in

the courtroom to squash this little riot.

Chislton later admits he punched brockler

because he was upset about his sentence,

but he never apologizes to him.

It's normal that attorneys get blamed.

In fact, attorneys get blamed for

everything that doesn't go right in court.

This whole incident was sad all the way around,

because I had a great relationship with the client,

did everything he asked me to do.

Dawson: So ultimately, for attacking his attorney,

he's charged with felonious assault.

Chislton's new court-appointed attorney

manages to get him acquitted

because the injuries to brockler are not serious.

The way the whole thing went down

is not good for criminal defense attorneys.

You know, when you don't get your way,

you just attack your attorney, it's -- and it's no big deal.

Dawson: So though we can blame attorneys all day long,

you still can't punch 'em when you're in the courtroom.

36-year-old Alan mccarty Jr. is

entering the courtroom of judge Matt foxman.

He's on trial for the serious

charge of threatening a public official.

If found guilty, he faces up to 40 years in prison.

Mccarty is in court today because of

the threats he made to another judge,

a judge named stasia Warren.

In late 2017, judge stasia Warren

presided over a child custody hearing

involving Alan mccarty in family court.

Mr. Mccarty was denied custody

and became furious with judge Warren.

Judge Warren had presided over many of

mr mccarty's hearings for the custody battle.

Judge Warren never took custody away from

Mr. Mccarty, because he never had custody.

Alan mccarty has a criminal record that spans

over three states,

including charges of domestic violence, kidnapping,

indecent exposure,

cocaine possession, and disorderly conduct.

He was in judge Warren's court for threatening

his children and violating a no contact order.

Rendel Alan mccarty Jr. is very unhappy

with judge stasia Warren.

For whatever reason, he blames her,

and he's furious with her.

On September 29, 2017,

mccarty calls 911 and threatens judge Warren.

He is going to commit a crime.

And he tells the dispatcher to

get this judge out into the parking lot

so he can execute her.

He's belligerent. He's cursing.

He's, not making sense at all.

Someone who does this is just out of their mind.

Do they really think that they're gonna present the judge

to him so he can follow through with his wishes?

Mccarty hangs up, but soon, another dispatcher

gets a call and then another.

He called 911 not once, twice, three times,

but four times.

In the 911 tape,

Mr. Mccarty never stated his name,

so they had to do some investigation to try to find

who was threatening the life of judge Warren.

Whitmore: Eventually, they were able to locate him,

track him down, and charge him for threatening

a public official.

He was placed in jail with no bond

and was there for 12 months before his trial.

This is typical with people that

have shown their ability to threaten witnesses.

So in 2018, the trial begins,

and it's not in front of judge Warren.

Obviously, judge Warren was the victim in the case.

Instead, it's in front of a new judge.

And Mr. Mccarty isn't happy with judge foxman either.

Fox all right, raise your right hand.

I'm gonna swear you in.

-I'm not under oath! - And flipping

the bird is just a warning sign.

Mccarty is about to take his threats to another level.

You wanna take my kids from me

and act like that? You and that.

36-year-old Alan mccarty is

on trial for threatening a public official.

He made multiple 911 calls in 2017 saying he wanted to kill

a female judge that he mistakenly believes

took his children away from him.

-I'm not under oath. -Fox all right,

raise your right hand, let US swear you in.

-Do you solemnly swear... -I'm not under oath.

In court, mccarty refuses to wear a suit

and tie or to cooperate with his court-appointed attorney.

So he remains in his orange jumpsuit in full shackles.

Security had to make sure that they were

prepared for anything that was going to happen.

Brought your dress today you little.

You wanna take my kids from me

and act like that?

You and that.

Alan mccarty Jr is upset with the legal system -- in his mind,

he believes that basically every judge is his enemy,

and he continues to think that

judges are trying to ruin his life,

take away custody of his children, and just cause him

a world of trouble.

Do you want to be here or not?

No, I don't -- this is all being done unconstitutionally,

unrightfully.

You ain't allowing my evidence.

You ain't allowing my people.

Fox we haven't started the trial yet.

It doesn't matter!

You still denying. -Fox denying what?

Mccarty, like a lot of defendants in jumpsuits,

is quite the legal scholar.

He says that what's happening is unconstitutional,

his attorney's screwing things up,

the judge is messing things up.

Everybody is against Mr. Mccarty.

Every right I supposedly have, you've violated.

Can I get some water, please?

I got a lot more cussin' to do,

and I need my throat wet right now.

Judge foxman handled the situation as best as

he could -- he had a sense of calm, even though mccarty was

very irate.

He actually maintained a sort of control and demeanor of,

I've heard it, I've been down this road before.

Mccarty, in court this day,

has already threatened to kill one judge.

Now he's in front of another judge.

Lots of deputies handy, because this guy is dangerous.

Whitmore: It comes to a point that the judge had

no other choice but to remove mccarty from the courtroom.

Take all my paperwork so I can't

show these people.

Dawson: The judge had him taken to a holding cell

where he could be heard, but he couldn't be seen,

and the judge was probably hoping that would give him

the opportunity to calm down, but it didn't.

Mccarty is placed behind this two-way mirror,

but the room is not soundproofed.

Mute is not one of the settings on this guy.

Mccarty: You chose to do this, sir!

He's still so loud you can hear him through the glass in

the observation room, still disrupting this hearing.

But he's chosen...

Whitmore: Imagine what the jurors were thinking.

I know innocent until proven guilty,

but when you hear and see the behavior of such,

it's really difficult,

I would think, to keep an unbiased opinion.

After closing arguments,

the jury deliberates for just 30 minutes

before convicting Alan mccarty for threats against

a public official.

Judge foxman sentences him to 20 years

for his threats against judge Warren.

Dawson: That judge got his point across and had the last word.

In Spanish fork, Utah, 35-year-old

Christopher Clay rudd is waiting

his turn at an arraignment hearing.

Christopher Clay rudd is having a bad day,

because he failed to appear to his court-ordered

treatment program.

Rudd already has a long history of addiction,

as well as a record for petty crimes,

including theft, weapons possession,

and various drug-related charges.

Rudd is sitting here in the jury box.

How court is typically set up for a hearing such as this is

that there are many defendants in the court,

and it's -- you take your turn.

The first case is up, second case is up.

There may be several defendants at a time

waiting in the jury box to go in front of the judge.

At one point, an officer sitting behind

rudd gets up and exits the courtroom.

Whitmore: Mr. Rudd was kind of looking around,

looking and watching people's actions and movements,

doors opening, doors closing.

In his mind, he's thinking, all right, I'm in trouble.

I didn't do what the judge asked me to do.

Maybe this is not the best place for me to be.

He looks left,

he looks right, and he takes his chance.

Christopher jumps up, bolts, runs out of the courtroom.

Whitmore: You have the camera view from the second floor,

and you see this railing, and you see these stairs.

It was disaster waiting to happen.

Christopher Clay rudd is waiting to be arraigned for

failing to appear at his court- ordered drug treatment program.

But after thinking about his situation for a few minutes,

he decides there are other places he'd rather be.

He runs out of the courtroom, through the doors,

into the hallway, does an electric slide

over the banister.

Eighteen feet below,

bailiffs are Manning the security check.

Patrick nielson is one of the bailiffs down in

the lobby who's handling security for people

coming into the courthouse.

Little did he know that it was going to be raining convicts.

Maybe he thought he was gonna do a quick

flip to the next floor and run out the door.

But instead, it's a fall all the way to the bottom floor.

Nielson makes a dash for rudd,

thinking at first it's a child.

Officer nielson had quick reflexes

and tried to soften the blow

and then realized it wasn't a child at all,

but a defendant trying to escape the courthouse.

He didn't die, but he sustained some significant

injuries when he went over

the banister -- because he's handcuffed in the front,

he wasn't able to break his fall.

Christopher rudd suffers a fractured skull.

He also breaks his leg and pelvis.

Defendant rudd is lucky to be alive, falling face-first

18 feet, landing on a hard floor.

It was -- it was disaster waiting to happen.

He's lucky he only broke a few bones.

As it turns out,

the defendant hits his head on the bailiff's shoe,

and he literally saved this guy's life.

The deputies were heroes that day.

I think it says a lot about

the man who was trying to save this person,

um, that he didn't know.

He didn't know if it was a baby.

He didn't know if it was an adult.

But what he did instinctually was to try to save the life of

someone that was falling from two stories up.

As a result of this really failed escape attempt,

Mr. Rudd gets 36 months probation, which is a gift,

because had it not been for that shoe,

the penalty would have been death.

49-year-old Arthur booth

is in court facing judge mindy glazer

for his bond hearing on a whole host of charges.

Hi, mr booth.

-How are you? -How are you doing, ma'am?

Normally, what happens at bond hearings,

it's really your first hearing after you're charged.

It's basically the judge's opportunity to decide

if he or she is gonna let you out of jail.

And technically, how much is it gonna

cost for you to get out of jail?

You have actually three arrest affidavits -- reckless driving,

damage to property,

leaving the scene of a crash with serious injury.

With no serious injury.

I'm sorry, no serious injury.

Okay?

Occupied burglary, grand theft,

criminal mischief, and resisting an officer

without violence.

Rendel Arthur booth had been in

and out of trouble his entire adult life.

After dropping out of high school,

booth gets caught up in a vicious cycle of drug use,

a gambling addiction, and incarceration.

Dawson: He's standing there. His head is down.

He looks up once or twice,

has a very angry look on his face.

Negative about the legal system

and the judge and the justice system.

And that's expected, because he's been here before.

Mr. Booth, I have a question for you.

Yes, ma'am.

Did you go to nautilus for middle school?

My goodness.

Dawson: Mr. Booth looks up,

and all of a sudden, that scowl that was on

his face turns into a smile

as he recognizes the judge as

somebody he went to school with.

My goodness.

My goodness.

All he can say was, my goodness.

So overwhelmed with emotion, so overwhelmed with

really being confronted with the fact that he wasn't

always like this, and it moved him to tears.

My goodness.

What the judge does is probably the most

heartwarming thing I have ever seen in the courtroom.

And what we hear next just hits your soul.

This was the nicest kid in middle school.

My goodness.

He was the best kid in middle school.

I used to play football with him, all the kids.

He was a young man of so much talent, smarts, and potential.

Arthur booth used to be quite the student -- in sciences,

in math, he taught himself Spanish, you know,

he wanted to be a neurosurgeon,

but somewhere along the way, he got on the wrong path,

and he never finished school, he got involved with drugs,

ended up stealing to support that habit

and a gambling habit.

And once he went down that path, he just never recovered.

And look what has happened. I am so sorry.

My goodness.

Rendel on the one hand, it's beautiful in a sense

to see judge mindy glazer treat him with

such respect and talk to him and remind him of

what he could have been,

but there's something so sad when we see him realizing that

he never achieved what he could have --

what he could have achieved and what he could have become.

I'm sorry to see you there -- I always wondered what happened

to you, sir.

He realized perhaps they were

on the same path in middle school.

His path veered strictly right,

and she kept going.

She is now a judge.

He is, unfortunately, a 2-, 3-time criminal.

Mr. Booth, I hope you are able to change your ways.

Dawson: He was embarrassed, embarrassed about

his state in life,

embarrassed about the problems that obviously she can see on

that piece of paper, and embarrassed to be there.

And that's obvious.

What's sad is how old we've become.

Despite the emotional reunion,

judge glazer has a job to do and sets booth's bond

at $24,000.

Good luck to you, sir. I hope you are able to...

Come out of this okay and just lead a lawful life.

So maybe, you know, being embarrassed in front of

a classmate 30 years later was his rock bottom.

Booth: My goodness. You really? You?

My goodness.

Dorsey: Certainly, spending time in jail over

and over again wasn't sufficient enough

to get Arthur to change his ways.

I hope and believe that this encounter will be

very impactful

and meaningful in getting him back on the road to recovery.

This story was really heart-wrenching.

It was really heartwarming all at the same time.

My goodness!