are you high on marijuana? >> no. >> when was the last time you smoked? >> i don't know. >> what do you mean you don't know? >> i don't know. >> i got to try to do better, not just for me but for my family. i don't want them to see me in a place like this any more. >> i seem to fall back in the same thing. criminal recklessness, assault with a deadly weapon. >> how did you end up doing armed robbery? >> walking out of a liquor store. >> i was swearing at her, cussing at her. told her she has a certain amount of seconds to open the cash register or i'm going to shoot her.

>> hey, i ain't going to lie, this is the hardest 30 days i ever did. this is, i don't know why, but it's just been driving me nuts. i don't know. >> because you're used to having a little more freedom than what you have here. >> i think when i went to like the adult thing and then came back here, it was like i feel like i am being strangled. it's just, i don't know, i don't know what it is. time ain't going by like it used to.

>> how's it going? >> this 18-year-old is a regular in the juvenile justice system. over the past four years, he spent a total of 266 days here in lake county juvenile. and more recently another 16 months at a residential placement facility in nevada. when he didn't return to his placement in nevada after a weekend home pass, he was picked up on a bench warrant. >> one of my boys was shot, had to take him to the hospital, ran my name at the hospital, i had the warrant for running from placement. >> though he's now 18 and technically an adult, he has to

face the juvenile court one final time. >> when i think about sitting here in juvenile, i'm 18, as soon as i get out of here, i'm on my own, like a lot of younger kids go home to mommy and daddy, i'm not going back home. i am going back to the streets, ain't telling no fairy tale. >> he began looking for guidance on the streets before he was even a teenager. >> my dad was in car certificate ated. my mom was in cars rated when i was eight or nine. i was hanging out with older people, 17 and 18 years old, smoking weed, robbing, doing whatever i had to put food in my stomach. food in the stomach of my sister. >> with over a decade of experience shooting inside the criminal justice system, msnbc producers know that when things get loud in lockup, you can bet there's something serious going

on behind the noise. this time, however, it's just a few kids blowing off some steam. repeat offenders and known troublemakers are sometimes placed in the charlie delta wing. here staff can keep a closer eye on kids who have a tendency to lash out. >> when it gets loud, it just gets loud. you can't really stop it. i mean, you go down there, ask them nicely, but in the end it is up to them whether they want to shutup or not. >> it wasn't me. >> those four walls, they get to you. you can beat on the doors and walls, in the end, they're always going to win, no matter

what you do, how hard you scream and cry doesn't matter. >> ricky is a frustrating case because for his minimal of education as he completed, he is really a very intelligent young man. >> the veteran residential supervisor has spent 22 years working with kids at lake county juvenile. she says juveniles like ricky are especially perplexing. >> he has a lot of talent and a lot of potential. he's a very personable young man. yet he is game through and through. >> the sad thing, ricky, you are no dummy, by any means of the word, you are no dummy. you can't stay in one place long enough. i think ricky is just destined to be part of the game. i am quite sure he has game now, he likes giving orders to the

foot soldiers and so forth and so on. >> how long you been playing? how old were you when you started? >> 11. >> 11. >> i'll never be ashamed of nothing i've done. i was put in the situation, i made the best out of a situation as a young kid. i mean, what else can i -- i can't get a job. i was 14 years old, can't get no job. i did what i had to do. >> i think it is unfortunate. there's still that small portion of him that would like to live on the right side of the law as opposed to the wrong side of the law. >> i look at it now, like wow. i look at pictures and stuff, see how skinny i was, just like wow, that was me and i was hanging out with the bigger, older cats doing all the stuff that adults do, not saying every adult does it, but doing all the stuff that, the street scene, and i was so little. i'm surprised i made it through,

realizing the advantage people had over me. >> how old were you when you first came to us, 12? >> 14. >> is that when you did the robbery? not trying to incriminate you, how did you end up doing the armed robbery? who came up with that? >> me. i was walking by the liquor store, you know, pockets was empty. i went in, got my stuff, had a buddy and ran in there. >> at 14 years old. >> yeah. >> i told her she has a certain amount of seconds to open the cash register or i'm going to shoot her. i probably would have shot her easy, very easy. that's just the way i thought. i didn't care about myself, i didn't care about no one else. >> you think you have the ability to give the street up? >> yeah. >> aren't you tired of living here? >> yeah, i do. tell you the truth, sometimes i get sick of it. >> wow. miracles do happen. you've never been that hard hearted. that's the thing. you're not a hard hearted kid.

>> ricky is just one of the hundreds of thousands of kids nationally that find themselves behind bars. the ones that wind up here in the indiana juvenile justice system have a better chance than some others. not all states look at juvenile populations with an eye on rehabilitation. >> that's what's beautiful about the juvenile code in the state of indiana. we have, my gosh, an arsenal of things and services we can provide to children and families to really mend all their issues, and you just keep trying. >> but there is a limit to what the courts can do when a juvenile continually reappears at intake, seemingly worse off than the time before. >> michael shane. you look a little different. got your haircut. where's your glasses. >> don't have them. >> i would never recognize you. you're in trouble again. when you see somebody so young and innocent in one picture, then it looks like they lived 20 different lives in such a short

time, that's where we ask questions about the family life, health problems, drugs. are you high? when was the last time you smoked? >> i don't know. >> what do you mean you don't know? >> i don't know. >> yesterday? >> no. >> today? >> no. >> last week? >> for some reason, i'm not believing you. >> on a september afternoon when most teenagers are settling into their new school year, 17-year-old michael is back in juvenile for the third time on suspicion of burglary. the same charge for which he is already on probation. >> i'm sober. >> you're sober? there's a difference between being sober and being high. every child has a story. we all have a story in our life. if you can get pieces and bits, it is like a big puzzle. >> does your mother know you're here? >> yeah. >> where did they arrest you at? >> in my house. >> by the time they get arrested

by the police, you know, they give us a little piece of the puzzle. >> i can't ask you if you did this or not by law, i can't. i'm just going to ask you questions about your school, if you do drugs, your family life. >> then we can try through questioning to get a bigger piece of the puzzle. i mean, what's going on with you? just running with the wrong crowd? >> i don't know. >> not every kid that comes through here is cooperative. >> i can tell you look a little ticked right now. i mean, just your facial expression. only really truly that child really knows how they're feeling. we can guess, we can try through questioning and watching their nonverbal, how they hold their head up, how they answer the questions. really only they know really how they feel. >> you're not angry about being here? >> i am angry, no one wants to get arrested. >> you know you're on probation, right? >> it allows us to peek inside

so we can give information to the next person, because once the child leaves us, there's probably going to be five different people that are going to be attached to this case at least, and the judge depends on the intake department to make sure we're reporting accurately. we're responsible for that. >> i'm not a bad kid, just make dumb decisions. it's just that i don't want to be here, you know. i want to go home. it's not a nice place to be here, not supposed to be a nice place. >> court finds you a threat, you will stay locked up like a lot of people we talked with in the last couple days. >> in illinois at age 17, you're considered an adult, is that right? >> yes, ma'am. >> you were three months in cook county jail. >> yes, ma'am. >> how did that work for you? >> it wasn't nice. i woke up. >> welcome to adulthood. 4g-- the next evolution in wireless technology.

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you know you're on probation. >> yes. >> he is back in detention a third time on suspicion of burglary. >> they have you on formal probation for burglary for the same thing you're being charged with today. do you understand that? >> yeah. >> this doesn't look good. do you realize that? i mean, you're looking at me kind of hard, and i get that. just your eyes. you're looking at me hard like you don't even want me to talk any more. >> no, it's all right. >> it's all right. >> i think they come after me because of my past history. it is easier for them to point a finger at someone that's done something like this before. you can't blame them. i put myself in a situation, but it does kind of suck.

>> michael is on the brink of his 18th birthday. approaching adulthood is a dangerous place to be for a juvenile repeat offender. >> i would ask the court allow this young man one more opportunity. he understands next time he is in trouble he will be in adult court. >> person turns 18, there's not in the juvenile court system not a lot of choice toss make. everyone is looking at a little window to work with them, it is not long enough to effectuate a change. >> if he sits here three or four months, i don't know what that will do for him. >> rehabilitation programs can take a year or more to complete. that option appears off the table for michael. >> when you're 17 and three-quarters, there's not a lot of resources out there, and probably not a lot of people that want to take a chance on you for that short period of time. >> when you were arrested in february of '08 for burglary, they gave you 90 days. 80 days are stayed and you did a

remaining ten days here, and you got released, which means if you get into any more trouble, it is up to your magistrate to decide what they're going to do with you. if they don't take advantage prior to turning 18 to the services that this court offers, they're screwed. and i know that sounds very cold, you know, but realistically, that's the way it is. they will only be a number. the adult system will not coddle. you won't be held by the hand to make sure you do your substance abuse program, do your family counseling or take your medication. all of that, you know, is done and over. >> this is my second chance, you know, for me to do right. and if i don't, you know, that's a felony, and that's going to stay with me the rest of my life. so i got to try to do better. not just for me, but for like my family. i don't want them to see me in a place like this any more. i told myself i didn't want to

come back the first time. and here i am again. >> detainee ricky pizano is also facing going to prison. his previous placement ended with him placed in a long term rehabilitation program in nevada. since then, he ran away from placement, turned 18, and did time in adult prison. now he's once again back facing the music for running away. >> how much longer did you have before you would have completed it? >> like four months. >> that's it? >> i was already there for like 17. >> at that point, four months was a drop in the bucket, dude. >> i was only out for a month. after a month, i caught a pistol charge in chicago, got sentenced to illinois department of

corrections, been on parole since then. juvenile, yeah, it is a little better than adult, but when you get to adult, it's nasty. if you don't like rats and roaches, stay away. >> i got a anger issue. way to channel the anger. >> and you have a control issue. you want control. but that's all the game. the rankings and you have grown up. you got a little ranking now, don't you? >> i don't know. i can't speak upon that. >> i just don't know if he'll ever make it. i think it is unfortunate. i think he's got a lot of potential. i think he could really achieve anything he chose to if he applied himself in a positive way. >> actually the night before i came in here, i got shot. i almost lost my life. pulled into a gas station, had some buddies in the car. as i was pulling out of the gas station, they shot at us. one of my boys, he got shot and i had to take him to the hospital, they ran my name at

the hospital, still had the warrant from under placement. >> he has been locked up more than a month this time. at his court hearing tomorrow, he will learn his fate in the juvenile system. even though he is 18, the judge can still keep him detained for not completing juvenile placement, or she could wave him across the street to the lake county adult jail. >> i have already been to adult prison. been there, seen it at 17 years old, with people in lockup, 15, down for murder, all that stuff. i been there, i seen what it is like. i don't want to be like that. >> tomorrow is going to be a very interesting day because i really -- this is one that i really can't even tell you that i have a gut feeling for. it's going to be interesting because the judge is going to be a little limited in what she's going to be able to do with him. so frankly, i really don't know. i'm kind of anxious to see it myself. >> rock and roll. >> you can get out. >> i am 18, have a goal set for

myself, goals i was trying to achieve when i was out there. this put a big pause on it. i hope the judge sees that. >> has to be my last summer. i am tired of this. been tired of it a long time. it is like letting myself slip back into the same thing. vermeer? dutch painter? only painted, like, 34 paintings? oh what an odd name. you've got like five of them in your hallway. those were actually in the attic when we moved in. we just both really love the color yellow. uh... [ host ] you guys are a lot of fun. yeah. [ male announcer ] the audi a8. named best large luxury sedan. new car? pretty cool. ♪ at aviva, we wonder why other life insurance companies

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you guys can stand up. >> 17-year-old michael is on his way to court where the judge has to consider his past offenses to decide whether he should be released or stay behind bars. >> they said that it's not looking good for me, that i might have to serve an eight day. >> weren't you here that long ago? >> back in march. >> what are you doing back visiting? you missed us? huh? >> no, not that much. >> are you on probation? >> yeah, i'm on probation. >> so what's going to happen? >> i don't know. >> man, you guys got to start

thinking. >> it is nerve wracking, talking to the judge. you plan stuff right before you go, think of everything you're going to say. when you're there, doesn't come out the way you thought it was. its nerve wracking. really nerve wracking. >> at the lake county juvenile detention center, kids that are almost 18 are walking a tight rope within the juvenile justice system. >> it is a serious matter for this court to decide that it's going to invest itself in a child, and i don't see that there's going to be a lot of bang for our buck to be perfectly honest. >> the closer a kid is to 18, the less the judge has at her fingertips to change a juvenile that continues to re-offend. for some, the next stop is across the street, adult jail. >> i let them know, it will be rough over there. still, they see it, reality hits, they go through the doors,

look up there, and new meaning. that's when it finally kicks in. >> i would tell them you ain't been to the stuff i been through. prison is a lot different than this. you don't got dos around, you are locked in a cage with 100 other criminals, rapists, murderers. >> i know what i have to deal with. i know what could happen inside. it's nothing that you can be afraid of, can't live scared, you know what i'm saying, you got to be cautious, you know what i'm saying, not to mess up, not let things like that happen. >> like ricky and michael, miguel is nearing his 18th birthday. they all are at the end of the road in the juvenile system. the only thing common about miguel is his juvenile record. >> criminal recklessness, assault with a deadly weapon, possessing marijuana. >> he's probably been here at least i say about six or seven

times. >> got no permanent. >> every time he has come, he comes with heavy charges. >> criminal mischief, another criminal recklessness in there somewhere. >> once he gets here, he's a whole different individual. he is focused, getting visitation, reading books, and then what i like about him, he shares his books. so he tries to help the other guys that's in the hall way that he sees is going down the wrong path. >> i been going to cutler since i was 16. second time i was locked up, i was there about 15 months. i got my ged there, took the act test, did well. they send my transcripts out, i got accepted at duke. >> that's one thing i can say. the kid haept been here for missing school or anything like that. i think he makes as, bs, he is really focused, and he sees a future, but he'll tell me, it is just where i'm from.

where i'm from, people not used to being successful. two weeks after he gets released, he's right back in the jungle, he changes. >> something i should have thought better of. now i can do good in school, it is just i can't be free long enough to finish a semester or just complete a class. >> it's the unusual or maybe never case that someone would go out and start committing crimes and have this great school record, but it is pretty hard to be good if you already have a bend toward getting into trouble, or all your friends are the type getting into trouble. and so it just becomes a way of life. in some neighborhoods, it's almost like do unto others before they do it to you. >> i am going to get my degree, probably go further than that, try to get a master's. my mom got a master's, going for her doctorate. you know, got to do something

like that. my parents are beautiful people, you know what i'm saying? you meet my parents, you would never think i would be going through stuff i go through. it is not on them, you know what i'm saying. my mother has been there for me. my dad, gets tired. it was like if you get locked up again, don't expect me to come see you. i can't do it. can't see me in a place like this. my parents love me, always been there for me. never turn their back on me, nothing like that. >> you can't live someone's life for them. you can only give them the tools to live their life in a different way, hopefully a better way. it is frustrating when they don't take advantage of what we provided to them. >> has to be something. i am tired of this. i been tired of thiseni a long time. >> it can be frustrating, when you put in a lot of hard work to a kid, and he or she is about to do 20, 25 years in prison. it becomes frustrating.

>> when you think about it, say you can't gangster all your life, that's not going to get you no where, you have to grow up one day. you need it to get a job. going to be a lot harder to get a job. i'm not somebody that's going to fail. once i set my mind to do something, it's going to get done. >> ready to hit it? rock and roll. >> need to get out. that's all i need to do. >> today, 18-year-old ricky hopes he will leave the juvenile justice system behind. after spending the previous month locked up at lcjc, and the last four in and out of detention, placement, and prison, he hopes for a new beginning. >> i'm 18. i have a goal set for myself, goals i was trying to achieve when i was out there, and this just put a big pause on it. i hope the judge sees that, let's me get out. >> the stakes are high this time for ricky to get out. he's on track to get his ged in just a few months.

he needs that piece of paper to take advantage of the welding trade he learned at his last placement facility. >> if he can come out of placement and he has a trade, if any of the kids have a trade, then it makes them marketable, means they can survive and support themselves without having to turn to a life of crime to do that. >> you know, i really do believe there's a big part of rick that would like to turn the tide, would like to continue on with the welding, he will minimally get the ged, if not the high school diploma. would like to live on the right side of the law. but the flip side to that is that's a lot of work. >> anyone going to be here for you? >> i don't know. i don't think so. >> so you know, it's a lot easier to go out there, sell a few drugs if you don't get caught, make big money as

opposed to go welding, put on all that hot gear, put in eight hours a day, 40 hours a week, whatever is required. i think a lot of it will probably depend on the influences he comes across, if he ends up with a girlfriend that's a positive influence, that could be -- that might be the turning point, too, one never knows. i don't know if he can do it. >> he said maybe 30 days, 60 days. i was like i don't want out. >> it is an uphill battle to show if you get out you won't engage in the same behavior. a lot of it us how you come across. we're centurylink... a new kind of broadband company committed to providing honest, personal service

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heavy snow brought down power lines. 1.5 million are without power. a taliban suicide bomber slammed into a nato convoy in the afghan capital killing 12 americans. it is the deadliest on the forces in kabul since the war began. now back to "lock up." up." i have four shackles ready. i need 13 pairs. >> it is monday morning at lake county juvenile. court is back in session. the kids are shackled and walk from the detention center to the adjacent court building, where they nervously sit and await their turn to see the judge. >> come here. >> both 17-year-old michael and 18-year-old ricky have been at lake county detention center many times. as they await yet another hearing in front of the judge, they're placed in the holding

cell area where they prepare for their time in court. >> the juvenile detention center is just that, a place where we hold kids until we essentially figure out what to do next. what kind of services will be in the best interest of the kid and the community. >> kevin elkins has been his probation officer for years. >> he spoke to you recently? >> yeah. >> did he have any idea what might occur? >> he said maybe 30 days, maybe 60 days. i was like i don't want either. i want out. >> i talked to him since he has been back here. still has, you know -- he wants to get the ged, going into welding, that was his row -- vocation at the placement facility. he has a chance to turn his life around until he gets too deep in the adult system. >> i have to have my ged by

june. i can't do 60 days and have the ged by june, not going to be able to get in iron workers union. >> ricky is a bright kid, not the typical family life. i know his parents weren't the best parents, but his grandmother has done everything she can do for him. >> every time i rest my head under her roof, it is another day i got to live where i was away from the stuff that was getting me in trouble. >> he doesn't need to be on the street, trying to make money to survive. if he chooses to, i'm sure she'll provide him what he needs to be successful. >> i realize she's the one that cares about me. i still have my mindset, like i'm trying to do things on my own. like i rarely ever let people help me. >> ricardo is a kid that he's got everything in place for him. time for him to move on in his life. >> i ain't going to lie. this is the hardest 30 days i ever did.

this is, i don't know why, but it's been driving me nuts. >> i'm sure the court wants to help him. the ultimate goal is to make him productive in society, but i just don't know, given his age and all the opportunities that have been given to him, i really don't -- the judge is faced with a tough decision. i don't envy her. >> feel like i'm being strangled. this is a setup. i don't know, i don't know what it is. it is like timing. >>

pend, or whether you go home with your mother, the things that weigh in, are you a threat to yourself or the public, whether or not you're likely to return to future court hearings. if the court finds you're a threat or you are not going to return, you stay locked up. what do you think should happen? >> i should be released on house arrest. i have a job i'm working on. >> many times the kids want to say this is what i want. as the lawyer you try for that result, but you know at the end of the day that's not the right outcome because ultimately if you return a child, place a child back into the environment that led the child into the system to begin with, you're fostering the problem, not addressing the root problem. >> michael is held for alleged involvement in a recent burglary. because of his past history and

refusal to answer police questions, he was hauled into juvenile on suspicion of involvement. >> you know nothing about the burglary? >> i know nothing. >> don't know who did it or anything like that? >> no. >> certainly what complicates the picture is if this were the first time you had ever been involved with the system, yeah, it would be a lot easier to say it is a misunderstanding, no way in the world this could have happened to you, but we can use that argument, given the fact you're on probation for burglary. >> i was doing good before, everything with my job, getting ready to go back to school. i hope they take that into consideration. >> we have to let the judge know that. make it so she does take it into consideration, okay? all right. hang tight for a little bit. >> he's 18. he has no education. unless he gets his life together very quickly, that he's headed for a very bleak future.

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what time do we go to court? >> five or ten minutes hopefully. >> ricky pizano has been in and out of the juvenile justice system his entire teen life. now he is back in lcjc for running away from the treatment facility he was sent to last time he was here. ricky knows he has reached the end of the line. having recently turned 18, juvenile rehabilitation services are no longer an option. the question is should he be set free, sent to juvenile prison, or waved to the adult justice

system. >> i'm 18. i've got goals set for myself, goals i was trying to achieve when i was out there. this put a big pause on it. i hope the judge sees that, let's me get out. >> when a person turns 18, there's not a lot of choices for us to make to plug them into services, because everyone is looking oh, we have this window of time to work with them, it is not long enough to effectuate a change. >> whatever i do, i accept the consequences fully, did i it for a reason, and that's just it. don't do it if you don't want to accept the consequences. >> this is the matter of ricardo pizano iii. do you admit or deny the allegations? >> would you like to elicit what happened, why he failed to return? >> were you given a home pass to come back from nevada to visit your family here in crown point, indiana? >> yes. >> you were scheduled to return to nevada. why didn't you go back?

what was it that made you make the poor choice to not return? >> i was already there 16 months. it is only a seven or eight month program. it was my fault i was there for 16 months. i was messing up when i first got there. i did complete every aspect of the program, sports, vocation, school. i completed everything. i asked when i was going to get released, i was told september 1st. i felt like that's september 1st, that was another four months away. i was like i have already been here double the time you're supposed to be here, that's why i ran. >> so why is it that the program turned out to be double for you? >> because i wasn't working my program, your honor. i had an anger issue and i couldn't control my anger. couldn't control things that i was doing. i was snapping off, sometimes i wasn't taking my medication, and it just caused a real problem for me. >> so you made the decision then

that you weren't going to go back because you wanted to get out sooner. >> yes, your honor. >> but you accomplished some things while you were at silver state, did you not? >> yes. >> what did you accomplish? >> highest in the welding class because i was there 16 months. i was there more than any of the other kids. >> so you learned something while you were in placement. >> yes, i did. >> you said you were out, after you didn't go back in may of 2008 to quote, you caught a charge, in illinois. >> yes, i did. >> what does that mean you caught a charge? >> i committed another crime. >> what was that crime? >> unlawful use of a weapon. >> what kind of weapon? >> it was a handgun. >> so you were charged as an adult. >> as an adult. >> in illinois, at age 17, you're considered an adult, is that right? >> yes, ma'am. >> so you were there and you were three months in cook county jail. >> yes, ma'am. >> how did that work for you. >> it wasn't nice. i woke up. >> welcome to adulthood, right? >> yeah. >> did you learn anything from that experience? >> yes, i did.

>> what did you learn? >> i don't ever want to go back to prison again. >> so what are you going to do to make sure that doesn't happen? >> hopefully if i do get released today, take my ged, go do the interview with iron workers union. if i get the job with iron workers union, save up my money and do what i have to do to do what every other person does, works every day, start a family. >> is that a possibility? >> yes, it is. >> mr. elkins, i read your report. the recommendation is that he be given credit for time he served, and that he be released today. are you in agreement with the recommendation from the probation officer? >> judge, it bothers me that this young man is sitting here today. he has had numerous services offered to him by this court. he's 18. he has no education. he has an adult record in another state. he has a serious juvenile

record, and unless he gets his life together very quickly, i know after being a prosecutor 25 years, he is headed for a very bleak future. it but because there are no further service that's we can provide him. i'm in agreement with probation's recommendation. >> i'm in agreement of probation's recommendation. he did'walk away from the programs without getting anything out of them. i think he is sincere in wanting to improve himself. i also think that the stay in the cook county jail really was ideal and eye opening experience. i kept telling him, rick, if you keep going the way you're going, i'm going to see you across the street over a in criminal division. i don't think he got it.

and i think he gets it now, now that he's had a taste of cook county. strange sitting -- i got on this case three years ago, it will be four. and it's strange sitting next to him right now because he's taller than i am and when the case started out, he is taller and bigger than i am. when the case started out, i had to look to him. while it hasn't been the greatest success in terms of the services that were provided, i think he did get something out of it. i think since he has been supported by this community, i believe that there is a good chance he will not reoffend and will live a productive life and not find himself across the street. . >> there's a lot of bumps in the road of life. hopefully you'll get over those bumps. we're not going to be here to hold your hand anymore. that's .

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so i think he's sincere in wanting to turn himself around. i also think that the stay in the cook county jail -- >> repeat offender may or may not continue to live a life of crime, but what is certain is that he will never appear in juvenile court again. ricky is now 18 years old and an adult in the eyes of the law. therefore, the judge is out of options when it comes to rehabilitation. she could let him go if she feels he is not a threat to himself or the community. she could send him off to juvenile prison or she might waive him to the adult justice system. >> thank you. i think that listening to your description of him sitting next you to and him being bigger than you really strikes a cord with me and that it's really sad. here's a young man who has sort of grown up in our system by some people's opinions it might

be that he has failed because he left the program before he was supposed to. but that isn't going to make me give up on children. and that's up until a few weeks ago is what he was was a child. and just because you reached that magical age does not make you an adult. it's what you do after that with your life that makes you a grown-up and a man and an adult. there's a lot of bumps in the road of life. and hopefully you'll get over those bumps because we're not going to be here to hold your hand anymore. you're going to have to do that by yourself. so good luck to you. i hope that you get your life turned around. and this will be the last time we see you in this court. all right. good afternoon. this hearing is adjourned. >> turning 18 could have meant a trip to the adult prison system. instead, the judge decides ricky should begin his adult life with a fresh start. >> thank you god. >> i got so nervous when they

put me on the stand. i got nervous. i got so nervous. as soon as my lawyer read off the report that my probation officer said he recommends i get released, i was like wow. because me and my probation officer wasn't -- we wasn't like this. we wasn't like that. >> you just won the lottery, dude. >> yeah. yes. >> i don't want you doing something stupid. >> you're not going to. i promise you won't. i got a girl. i got a good girl. i'll be fine. >> after spending four years in and out of detention in the last 34 days locked up, 18-year-old ricky is finally free of the juvenile justice system. >> a new start on life, ricky? >> yep. that's the first time -- that's the first time in the court system that is good. >> i could have given him more time in our detention center. i think that taxpayers have

spent enough money. and he's already being supervised by another system. he's on parole. so hopefully that will give him some, you know, supervision to the extent that he won't go out and reoffend. we can't save everybody. i know that. but you know what? i'm going to keep trying. >> i'm free even though it's a cruddy day. i don't care. i'm so happy, you don't even understand. spent four birthdays locked up, 16, 17, 18. next year i'm going to be at the crib on my birthday. >> actually getting released from somewhere. >> just goes to show you, you can't sell people short. you never know what's going to happen. you didn't expect most of what had occurred. see, just goes to show you.

>> thank you. let me have that. good luck. take care. thank you. >> i certainly hope that he's learned from his mistakes. i hope that we gave him something, some tool, some resource within himself to pull from to get his life back on track. and i hope that he makes it.