Brian Earl Taylor was in trouble.
He had more than one warrant against him and was on parole when he was arrested yet again.
Caught red-handed with a hostage and a gun, he now faced up to 17 years in jail.
But he had a plan that he thought could help.
To the tune of Adele’s “Hello,” Taylor broke into soulful song, apologizing to the
judge, his mom, and the victim of the crime.
Unfortunately, it didn’t make much of an impression; the judge, at one point or another,
had probably heard it all.
We will discuss what some of these stranger things could be in this episode of The Infographics
Show, Craziest Things That Have Happened in Courtrooms.
For being only 21, Taylor had quite the rap sheet before his November 9th arrest.
Apparently, as far as he was concerned, it wasn’t long enough.
On that fateful November day, he found a 23-year-old male who he accosted at gunpoint, forced into
a vehicle, and took to an apartment to rob.
Unfortunately for Taylor, police intercepted him during this plan, resulting in his arrest
and a subsequent trial, conviction, and last but not least, sentence.
It was during the sentencing portion of his case that things got strange.
Most defendants make statements at this time trying to minimize the punishment they will
receive.
Whether it’s an expression of remorse, an insistence of innocence, or the assurance
of how the defendant has or will change, these are all commonly seen and quite normal for
those awaiting their fate.
Singing these, on the other hand, is not.
In a collared navy-blue shirt, gesturing while cuffed and with eyes often closed, Taylor
crooned his message, loud and clear.
Starting with a “Hello there, your honor” he went on to sing: “I want to say I’m
sorry for the things I’ve done and I’ll try to be stronger in this life I chose, but
I want you to know --- that door, I closed.”
He then apologized to all involved many, many, one might even say too many, times.
Taylor covered all his bases with a “Your honor I’m sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.”
And a “To my mother, I’m sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.”
And, then a “to the victim, I’m sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.”
Followed by another “Yes, your honor, I’m sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry” for good measure.
That is a total of seventeen more sorry’s in the form of a song, while a nearby lawyer
struggled not to laugh.
Perhaps it was his lack of vocabulary or that the judge had already made up her mind, but
Taylor was handed the full 17 years as punishment, or about a year per sorry sung.
While this may or may not have been merely coincidence, her message was clear: It was
too late to ‘pologize, too late.
While Taylor’s singing was crazy, it only gets crazier from here.
And, while singing did not help, it may not have necessarily worked against him, either.
The same could not be said for Nicholas Roper, however.
Roper had been arrested due to disorderly conduct, and by the day of his trial, his
behavior had not improved.
He stripped naked in a police van on route to court and then refused to enter the room
once there.
Finally brought inside, he would not plead innocent or guilty or state whether or not
he wanted bail, but simply sang “Born Free.”
Sadly for Roper, although born free, he would not remain so and was remanded into custody.
However, the good news was once inside, if he had the inclination to once again strip
down to his birthday suit, no one would likely care.
Although, for obvious reasons, it would be in his best interests to resist.
Roper’s story is still far from as crazy as crazy can get.
When someone gets unruly, for example, the last thing you would expect is for a judge
to use tape.
However, Franklyn Williams, a 32-year-old convict, like Taylor, was less than cooperative
in court.
At his sentencing, he refused to stop interrupting although asked to quiet down more than once.
While those presiding over the cases of Taylor and Roper showed tolerance and restraint,
Cuyahoga County Judge John Russo was less accommodating.
After repeating himself again and again, he’d had enough.
On his order, multiple deputies surrounded Williams and applied a piece of duct tape
that not only covered his mouth but wrapped around his face.
Still determined to talk, the convict was heard to mumble “It is what it is” from
behind the tape.
The incident was caught on camera, and thus The American Civil Liberties Union in Ohio
was quick to complain about loss of dignity and so on and so forth.
However, right or wrong, William’s sentencing had continued.
Convictions for kidnapping, robbery, theft, misuse of credit cards, and weapon possession,
with a side of bad attitude had earned him 24 years behind bars.
But our next story involves behavior even crazier than this.
Because, while Judge Russo may not have had the most patience in the world, Judge Murphy
had far less than this.
Perhaps it was because it was summertime in Florida and a hot, muggy day, or that during
his time at the bench he had heard one bad song or mouthy speech too many, but on a Monday
at court he quite literally lost his mind.
On this day it was a war of words between him and assistant public defender Andrew Weinstock.
Weinstock, acting on behalf of his client, stood up to Murphy and refused to waive his
client’s rights at trial.
This did not go over well.
Murphy challenged Weinstock to a throwdown out back.
Then both men left court.
What transpired next, while not on camera, was broadcast via audio.
Out of sight, the judge screamed a challenge and then there was a thud followed by yet
another until a sheriff deputy intervened.
While guessing what took place is not exactly difficult to do, Weinstock would later testify
that he was grabbed and hit by Murphy.
After the fight was when things got even stranger.
The judge reentered the courtroom where he was met with a round of applause and sat down,
winded, explaining that he was old.
Then, court proceedings continued, as if nothing out of the ordinary had taken place.
Weinstock unsurprisingly failed to reappear.
This did all eventually catch up with Murphy, however, whose actions got the attention of
the Florida Supreme Court.
It removed him from his bench claiming he was both a spectacle and embarrassment to
the state’s judicial system.
Believe it or not, our next story is crazier still.
As the courtroom is obviously a place of tension, 23-year-old Darius Dabney may have simply
been trying to find his inner calm by smoking a blunt or two outside.
While his mood may have improved, his odor did not.
The judge smelled marijuana and demanded to know who had it, threatening to bring in the
dogs to sniff it out.
Cornered, Dabney confessed.
However, while he admitted to smoking, he insisted none was left.
This was untrue, as the judge soon found out.
Unable to provide his name and quite obviously high he was immediately held in contempt.
The judge rather thoughtfully told him he would be stripped for processing and any drugs
found then would result in a felony.
Handing them over beforehand would not.
Dabney then produced not one, but two bags of weed from his underwear.
Asked why he would bring these to court, he explained that he had forgotten them in the
car as if that somehow answered the question.
Likely, it would take some time for Darius to understand just how serious his situation
had almost become.
As it was, his lawyer thanked the judge on his behalf, mentioning that although “he
might not realize it, [Darius ] appreciate[d] [her] giving him the opportunity to get rid
of [the drugs].”
Dabney was not the smartest to bring weed, but you won’t believe the things those in
these next stories did.
In fact, in the case of 39-year-old Lemar Reed, possession of a different kind of substance
got him slapped with a felony he never saw coming.
Reed was at court on April 20th of 2017, waiting to discuss a traffic violation.
As he stood, he held his baseball cap at his side.
He briefly turned it over to shuffle with some paperwork and out fell a tiny white bag.
As can be seen on the security footage, despite an officer standing nearby and several others
around, none were the wiser.
Since he left court without reclaiming the bag, Reed appeared oblivious as well.
However, around an hour later, the bag was discovered.
Its contents were tested and identified as cocaine.
Authorities then traced back through the footage to find the owner of the substance.
Reed, who entered court thinking the worst outcome would be a fine was issued a warrant
for his arrest.
As the judge would later say, it was not a good day for Lemar Reed.
Now, what’s crazier than bringing drugs to court?
Well, while Reed was busted inside of the courtroom in his absence, attorney Charles
Ramsay was arrested within one while very much present.
In fact, he was representing a client on trial for murder at the time.
During the case Ramsay had already been drawing attention to himself with a strange opening
statement, mentions of inadmissible evidence, and irrelevant questions as well as needing
moments to, as he put it, calm down.
His arrest, however, was based on the fact that cocaine had been found on a table he
had used on a break which led to the seizure of 5 grams from his belongings.
Yes, an attorney had brought drugs to his job and snorted them on recess at trial.
The scandal bought his client some time, but Ramsay was charged with multiple felonies
and his time as a free man was over.
Not sure it can get crazier than this?
Let’s find out what happens to those who try to run.
After all, while many in court seemingly accept their fate, there are some who are a little
less stoic.
Tanner Jacobson and Kodey Howard in a courtroom in Chehallis, Washington are two such men.
As the two fled Judge Buzzard’s courtroom in cuffs, the judge, pausing to remove his
robe, took off in hot pursuit.
He caught Howard in the stairwell while Jacobson was nabbed soon after from the streets.
While the judge had cause to celebrate his speed, Howard certainly did not.
He and Jacobson were given a charge for escape in addition to their others.
Unfortunately for Christopher Clay Rudd, his presiding judge in Salt Lake Utah was not
so quick to snatch him.
Fleeing the courtroom, he either fell or dove over the second-floor railing to go crashing
to the ground below.
At that point, with a broken leg and pelvis and a fractured skull, his attempt at escape,
if that was his intent, was over.
Bradley Tout, on the other hand, while jumping over a dock and crashing into walls, sustained
less serious injuries, evading three guards as well as two others.
Incredibly, he wasn’t caught; it took him turning himself in before he began the punishment
for his crime.
Believe it or not, Isiah J. Jarrett successfully fled court as well after a failed drug test
and while in the process of entering custody.
He even pulled the fire alarm as he left, forcing a building evacuation and large-scale
distraction.
However, a smooth as his moves seemed he really wasn’t so clever after all.
After escaping court, he went home, where he was obviously found rather quickly.
Here are some stories even crazier than those just told.
Because, while some attempt to flee, others choose a different, more aggressive, approach.
Siale Angilau, for example, was not the type to run.
The confirmed member of a gang, he seemed deceptively calm as he rose from his chair
at the defendant’s table during trial.
Then, in a flash he grabbed his lawyer’s pen and ran to the witness stand, stabbing
at the man who sat there.
A U.S. Marshal, to the horror of those present, fatally shot Angilau and he died.
Unfortunately, judges are far from safe in the courtroom either; one was punched multiple
times, in the nose, eye, and head after denying an emergency injunction.
Melissa Hardwick, who had appeared at court due to a charge of domestic violence, removed
all doubt to her guilt after rushing the judge in her case.
Of course, violence such as this, or worse, is nothing new.
Charles Manson, on trial in 1970 for murder, had a violent outburst of his own.
After talking back to the judge, the judge threatened to have him removed.
In response, Manson crouched on his table and sprang at him while holding a pencil in
his hand.
Fortunately, a quick-acting sheriff knocked him down while two other deputies piled on
top.
He was then escorted from the room.
Crazier than court-based hate are the stories to come.
Because, while violence may take place in court, there are also acts based on love.
Though, as far as one Russian man is concerned, the sentiment seems a bit one-sided.
This man was attending the sentencing of his then-girlfriend turned fiancé for allegedly
stabbing him as many as thirteen times.
The only reason he didn’t die was because he fled and got some medical attention.
The accused admitted guilt, but claimed that she had no desire for him to die, and that
she had simply drunk too much.
Looking at up to six months in jail, her sentencing was postponed when her boyfriend and victim
of the crime proposed to her right there in court.
While the near-murder of a Russian lover may or may not have been intentional, there is
no doubt that Ted Bundy deliberately murdered many in cold blood.
However, even his trial found a moment or two for love.
When Bundy, representing himself, questioned Carole Boone about his character, she smiled
and described him as kind.
Bundy, known to be a charmer when not a killer, had apparently laid it on thick.
Bundy then asked her if she wanted to marry him and she, for some reason or other, said
yes.
Despite the insistence of authorities that this would not be possible, he found a way
and soon they were man and wife.
Bundy had a daughter while on death row and was executed when she was still a child.
Now, we will share the very craziest stories of all when some who are convicted take their
own lives.
In the case of Slobodan Praljak, the UN judges had made what he considered the wrong decision.
He would serve the 20 years he had been previously sentenced to as punishment for his role in
the Balkans Conflict of the ‘90s.
Hearing this, he yelled that he was not a criminal and would not accept their verdict.
He then, in front of the court, took out a bottle of poison.
After drinking it he later fell ill and died.
Michael Marin, a past trader on Wall Street, similarly could not live with his conviction.
Found guilty of torching his millions of dollar home he could no longer afford, he was shown
on camera to cover his head with his hands.
He then placed something in his mouth and drank from a bottle.
Not long after, he collapsed and died.
The cause of death was cyanide.
Steve Parsons, while family, friends, and the rest of the court looked on, died from
the same poison after a guilty verdict of his own.
He began to convulse and passed away in view of all those present.
Many avoid jury duty for several reasons, due to financial hardship, scheduling conflicts,
and the belief it will be long, drawn out, and boring.
Clearly, although what takes place in a courtroom can be indisputably dull, there are many instances
when things can get downright crazy.
What is the craziest thing you have ever seen or heard in court?
Also, be sure to check out our other video called Bizarre Things That Happen on Dark
Web!
Thanks for watching, and, as always, don’t forget to like, share, and subscribe.
See you next time!