Law&Crime Sidebar - Top 6 Times a Victim's Loved One Tried to Attack Defendants in Court

Episode Date: December 26, 2023

When dealing with defendants accused of horrific crimes, it’s not surprising when they find themselves the targets of attempted violent attacks in the courtroom! The Law&Crime Network��s Jesse Weber is breaking down the top six times family members of loved ones tried to take out their anger on a defendant.HOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokePodcasting - Sam GoldbergVideo Editing - Michael DeiningerScript Writing & Producing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. I would ask you to, as part of this sentencing, to grant me five minutes in a lock room with this When you have defendants accused of horrific crimes, it's not surprising they find themselves the target of attempted violent attacks in court. We're breaking down the top six times family members or loved ones tried to take out their anger on a defendant. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Courrooms are serious places. You are dealing with just awful subject matter. You are dealing with someone's rights, their lives are on the line,

These are solemn places that command respect. We have to remember these courtrooms are also places where emotions can run really high. And sometimes those emotions can boil over into passionate and sometimes violent outbursts. And many times we see victims' family members or loved ones actually try to attack the defendants. And that is what we want to talk about. We want to get into some of those top moments from recent cases. We are going to begin with a name that you likely recognize, Lawrence Larry Nassar.

He is the former team doctor for the Women's National Gymnastics team and a physician at Michigan State University convicted for using his position to sexually assault hundreds of young athletes. Victims claim that Nassar was abusing girls as far back as the 90s, but he wasn't indicted until 2016. Some of those first allegations that led to charges were that Nassar had molested girls both at his home and at a clinic on the Michigan State University campus saying he pretended to be providing

medical treatment. In 2017 and 2018, Nassar pleaded guilty to multiple charges in multiple courts. On July 11th, 2017, he pleaded guilty to federal charges of possessing child pornography. He was sentenced to 60 years in federal prison that December. Then on January 24th, 2018, he was sentenced to an additional 40 to 175 years in Michigan State Prison after pleading guilty to seven counts of criminal sexual conduct. And on February 5th, 2018, he was sentenced to another 40 to 125 years in state prison after pleading guilty to an additional three counts of criminal sexual conduct in another county. And his state prison sentences run consecutively after he finishes his federal sentence. So it's basically life in prison without any real chance

of him getting out. But during one of Nassar's sentencings on February 2, 2018, tensions boiled over in that courtroom. Now, to give you a little bit more context here, more than 150 young women who were sexually abused by Nassar had given these very powerful victim impact statements describing how the abuse had changed their lives. When all the news broke over this scandal that a girl who had Larry Nassar as her doctor reported sexual misconduct, my mind immediately thought about the time when I was 13, just a kid, laying on a table at MSU and you put your unclothed hands

all over my rear and slipped your thumb into the most private area of my body Now this brings me to Randall Margraves He is the father of the young woman You just heard there He's also the father of two other daughters Who say that Nassar assaulted them as well

So he gets up in front of the judge And as you'll see He has a hard time holding back his anger literally. Judge, what a distraught, father, have a chance to say something. Go ahead, sir. No, we don't want to swear. We don't want to have profanity.

I can't imagine the anger and the anxiety and the feeling of wanting retribution. And if you need to say something to help you, I'm more than willing to let you say something. but in a courtroom we we try we don't use profanity but if you have some words that you would like to say I would like to give you the opportunity to say I would ask you to as part of this sentencing to grant me five minutes in a lock room this demon I have you do that I that is not how are no no sir I would you give me one minute you know that I can't do that that's not how I legal sister. Margraves was led from the courtroom and detained in a

holding cell waiting for a contempt of court proceeding. He was brought back in to learn the consequences, if any, that he would face. The court has to address the issue of a direct contempt involving one of the victim's parents, Mr. Randall Margrave. I don't know what it would be like to stand there as a father and know that three of your girls were injured physically and emotionally by somebody sitting in a courtroom. I can't fathom that. Angie, the Attorney General, did share with me that you heard things today on the record that you didn't know before. I can see that absolutely creating an anger and a rage so great that any parent would want to do physical harm. So I understand that.

But you have to understand that this is a courtroom, and this is where we carry out and enforce the rules of law. It is not acceptable that we combat assault with assault. There is no way that this court is going to issue any type of punishment, given the circumstances of this case. And I do, my heart does go out to you and your family because of what you've gone through. Amar Graves, he did apologize to the judge and to the court for the disturbance. But that was not the last time that Larry Nassar would face physical assault. No, he was actually attacked twice in prison, once at a federal prison in Tucson, Arizona, soon after he was released into general population.

And again, in July 2023, in a prison out in Florida, he has now been moved to a prison in Pennsylvania. Okay, next, we're in Louisville, Kentucky, where proceedings came to a screeching halt in October of 2022. Here's our defendant, Paul Wade. Police believe Wade shot two people to death at different locations in the same neighborhood, 26-year-old Edward Lamont Smith, and 24-year-old Alexis McCrary. Now, he's appearing in court to talk about whether his previous attorney will continue to

represent him or if he's going to need a public defender. Intentions are already high in that courtroom. Standing in for Rob Egerd on behalf of Paul Wade, this is a little bit different. Mr. Eggert is... Quiet in courtroom. Quiet in courtroom. No talking in the courtroom. Yes.

That's all. Go ahead. But Wade is courteous to the attorney at the lectern as well as the judge, but he reportedly cursed at family members as he walked out of that courtroom. And that is when everything goes insane. Okay. So if it's not here by November 1st, we're going to talk again about the public defender. Okay.

All right? Yes, ma'am. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Okay. I don't know. I don't know.

Hey! Are you? Are you? Are you? Are you? No! No! No!

Get out of the way. That's your child and get out of the mic. He's wrong, God. Help, help, help, help. Help, help. Come on, man. Come on my little, bro. He's wrong.

He's wrong, God. Help, help, help, help. He's wrong. Go! Help. You stay back. He's wrong. I know.

At least two people chased Wade into a hallway that connects the chambers to an exit. It's just crazy. You can see Wade comes so close to the judge, Judge Ann Haney, as she stayed on the bench yelling for help. Also, according to the judge, she had an eighth grader next to her who was shadowing her because she wants to be a judge. And all this happens? It's nuts. It's absolutely nuts. Now, Judge Haney eventually went down into the gallery to try to calm family members down.

And there were concerns that the brawl could spill back into the courtroom, so the judge had everyone leave and lock the doors. We'll lock that door. Now, lie. Judge. Please take her downstairs to the information right now. I'm coming. Don't go in the hallway, Judge. I'm not.

Go, Lana. Long in there. You could still hear some of the shouting from the hallway outside of court. Chill out. This is what we're supposed to. That's our problem. Shut up. Yeah, I.

In the end, four people were arrested. Manetra Kane, Joshua Smith, Isaiah Smith, Joshua Whetstone. They were hit with charges, including disorderly, conduct and obstructing operations. Apparently pepper spray had to be used by officers during this whole 20-minute affair. Now, these individuals are reportedly with the family of one of the victims, and this was the first time that they saw Wade in court. As for Wade, he didn't escape, and a high-risk team was ordered to be put in place for Wade's next court appearance. By the way, Judge Haney told local media, quote, never in my 18 years have I seen anything

like this, and she would go on to say that no one wins. Absolutely no one wins. Okay, next we're in Erie County, New York, where the man who shot and killed 10 black people at a grocery store was facing sentencing. This is Peyton Gendron. He was 18 when he walked into a Tops Friendly Market Store in Buffalo on May 14, 2022, and started shooting.

An investigator say this shooter, a self-described white supremacists, wanted to target black people. So he traveled from his home in Conklin, New York, to a predominantly black neighborhood in Buffalo. 13 people in total were shot, 11 of them black, two of them white, all 10 of the victims who died were black, awful case. And this shooter faced charges in federal and state court. He appeared in state court first, pleading not guilty to multiple counts of first-degree murder,

but on November 17, 2022, he agreed to plead guilty to all state charges. He was the first person in New York history to be charged with domestic terrorism motivated by hate. On February 15th, 2023, he is in court for his sentencing hearing in Erie County. And he listened to multiple victim impact statements. And that is when things exploded. Arbor Massey was delivering her impassioned statement to the court because her sister, 72-year-old Catherine Massey, was killed in the attack. And as she was speaking, a relative next to her suddenly lunges at the shooter.

Love our kids. We never go to know neighborhood. take people out. Go do it. Go. Let's go. Okay. Oh, me.

A boy. Yeah. As you saw there, multiple officers jump between the man and the shooter. quickly getting him out of the courtroom as all this was going down. Other officers restrained the family member, eventually taking him out of the room. Now, the judge temporarily paused the hearing, tried to restore order, and then things eventually resumed with the shooter back in court. Judge Susan Egan said, quote, I am sure you are all disturbed by the physicality we've seen

today. I understand the emotion and I understand the anger, but we cannot have that in the courtroom. She then proceeded to sentence this shooter to life in prison without parole. role for each of the 10 victims, and also 25 years for each of the victims he injured as well. The shooter did speak briefly, apologizing, and saying he had done a terrible thing and admitted, quote, I shot people because they were black. Pretty disgusting there. He told his defense attorney not to file an appeal of the sentence.

By the way, in terms of what's next for him, he's still facing prosecution on federal hate crimes charges, and while his attorneys have indicated that he would plead guilty if the death penalty was taken off the table. At the time of this recording, that decision has not yet been made. Now, as we continue to talk about these outrageous moments of victims, family members, and loved ones trying to attack defendants, let's move on to South Carolina. It's July 14th, 2022, and Lindy Lamont Jones is in the Orangeburg County Courthouse. He's there, shackled with his hands in front of him. You see, Jones confessed to the 2019 murder of 18-year-old Willie Antoine Fields, and he's there to be sentenced.

So the victim's mother, Angela Fields, was giving her victim impact statement from the first row of the gallery. And you're about to hear part of it. I say part of it, because at one point, her husband, Willie Clayfields, ran past the sheriff's deputy and punched Jones and takes him to the ground. They took away my own child. It's been so hard and three

Hey hey hey hey sir back off back off back off sir back up back up

bitch you throw out boy Remember, that is the victim's father. And I'll tell you what, here it is from another angle. And you're saying so hard. And three. And, hey, hey, sir, back off, back on, sir, back off. Back on.

Back off, sir. And you seemingly hear Jones, and you seemingly hear Jones screaming at field as a field as a female deputy dragged him away from the scene and out of the courtroom. Fields was charged with contempt of court and assault and battery. As for Jones, he was sentenced to 35 years in prison. Okay, so next, we're in Bear County, Texas, October 2023, and this man, 18-year-old Victor Rivas is in court for a preliminary hearing. You know, where the court decides if there's enough evidence to hold a defendant over for trial. Well, it is during this hearing when

Rivas is suddenly attacked by the family of the boy he's a accused of killing. In this absolutely chaotic video, you're going to see at least four people jump on Rivas in the courtroom throwing punches after the defendant allegedly made a gesture toward the family. You can see most people were just standing around in shock, not sure what to do. We're told the judge had to press the courtroom panic button when the chaos broke out. Deputies were eventually able to pull the victim's family members off of Rivas. Investigators say Rivas killed 15-year-old Ethan Soto.

San Antonio Police believed that Soto stole THC vape pens from Rivas and killed him in revenge. It was announced that two adults and two juveniles were taken into custody for the attack in open court and that they would be charged with assault and disrupting court proceedings. Also, in the video, you can see other inmates, also in their orange jumpsuits, sitting together on one side of the room. And as deputies were trying to get members of the victim's family out of the courtroom, the inmates were all let out as well, but much more calmly as more deputies rushed in. But by the way, it was reported that as deputies were rushing into deal with this fight,

an inmate was left unattended in a holding area and was able to just, stroll right out of the courthouse. The sheriff's office did announce that they were able to catch the inmate. Another courtroom brawl broke out in Houston, Texas at what was supposed to be a sentencing hearing. 19-year-old Frank DeLeon Jr. was convicted of killing his former girlfriend, 16-year-old Diamond Alvarez, in January of 2022. He shot her 22 times while she was walking a dog in the park. By the way, law enforcement was able to tie him to the crime because a text message revealed that he had lured her to the scene of her death.

Dalyone ended up agreeing to a deal, plead guilty to the murder, and in exchange, receive a 45-year prison sentence. But now you fast forward to sentencing on October 17, 2020, and this video was shot through a window of the courtroom, so there's no audio, but we can see what happens. Alvarez's mother, Anna Machado, gave her victim impact statement on the witness stand, calling the defendant a monster, and even seemed to blame his mother for how she raised him. Well, when Machado steps down from the stand, she starts walking. walking toward the defense table, but a deputy manages to intercept her.

But then, a man identified as Alvarez's uncle, Gerardo Machado, lunges toward De Leon. Now, bailiffs intercept him to, and they're able to attack him to the ground. But then Anna Machado tries to rush to his defense and is blocked by De Leon's mother. Then you have a woman in a red shirt running towards De Leon's mom, but is pulled to the ground. It is absolute pandemonium. bailiffs are finally able to pull everyone apart and get them out of the courtroom. Gerardo Machado, Machado, the victim's uncle, is now charged with the misdemeanor offense

of interfering with the duties of a public servant. Anna Machado later told local media that she was sorry for the chaos saying, quote, I just want to move forward. Whatever happened, it was wrong of us, and I apologize for that, apologize to the judge, apologize to them. You got to get this. Remember when I told you what happened in Rivas, the same thing happened here. while the courtroom descended into chaos.

Another inmate who was in the same courthouse, but in a different courtroom, he managed to get out of his leg shackles and go on the run. Yeah, deputies who were watching him, they were responding to the panic button being pressed in the daily-owned courtroom, and that's when 32-year-old Michael Devon Combs apparently took advantage of the distraction. Combs faces charges related to domestic violence. Now, luckily, he was found days later at a motel and re-arrested,

this time facing an additional felony escape charge. As for De Leon, he was sentenced to 45 years in prison, waived his right to an appeal, and he will be eligible for parole in 22 years. So there you have it, some pretty explosive moments to say the least. Let me just say this, though, that while none of this is okay and it is illegal to attack or attempt to attack these criminal defendants, it is also completely understandable, given what these families have lost and what they've suffered. that's all we have for you here on sidebar everybody thank you so much for joining us as always

please subscribe on apple podcast spotify youtube wherever you get your podcast i'm jesse weber speak to you next time would you like him app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.