be crushed. due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. an inmate finds himself at the center of more than one battle. >> again, i didn't start it, but i finished it, as i always do. >> and he traces his problems back to the real-life nightmare that haunts his family. >> the story you see like in the michael meyers movie. >> some lady was like, honey, is that your blood?

is that your blood? i'm looking at my hands like, no, it's hers. it's hers. >> a young new arrival faces a sentence of reckless homicide. >> i'm putting my life in the hands of a public defender. >> another inmate fears that he doesn't have the proper defense that could put him away for life. >> i was charged with simple assault, brought over here, booked in the facility. southern charm and a rich sense of history make downtown charleston, south carolina, a top tourist draw.

ten miles away, however, is a very different setting. the sheriff al cannon detention center serves as charleston's county jail. most of the 1,300 men and women incarcerated here are only charged with crimes and are awaiting trial and resolution of the cases, including david ratliff jr. in the disciplinary segregation unit. >> i had a little altercation -- actually a big altercation with a few amigos yesterday. apparently i used to date one of his girlfriends. it's a small world. this is charleston. you know, everybody knows everybody around here.

i didn't start it. i finished it. you have to fight in here if someone calls you out. come on. >> staff reviews surveillance footage which shows ratliff did not throw the first punch. >> this is ratliff hanging around the pillar a couple of times. officer breaks it up. >> seconds later, another fight breaks out. a different camera angle shows ratliff joining the fight, which quickly escalates. >> this is where all six get involved. >> the punishment will be the same for all combatants, extend ed stays in disciplinary segregation where tale lose most of their privileges and possessions. >> we're going to talk. we're going to talk. all right. we give you 30 days. listen. >> come on, man. >> it seemed like the officer pulled you away, and then you ran back.

if you hadn't ran back, you probably wouldn't have got 30 days. okay? >> well -- >> all right. >> damn! >> this is ratliff's third stay in segregation during the three months he has been in jail on two unrelated charges. the first is for fleeing the scene of a single car accident that left his passenger with injuries, including brain damage. while on the run, he was also charged with criminal sexual conduct for an alleged relationship he had with an underage girl. he has pled not guilty to both and is awaiting trial. >> got into some trouble, hung out with the wrong people. got into drugs. >> ratliff has had numerous prior stays, convictions including assault, trespassing and drug possession. but the name david ratliff is known in the jail and in the city of charleston for other reasons. it's a name he shares with his father.

>> that is my father. this was taken probably about a year before everything happened. >> three years earlier, david ratliff sr. made headlines after a terrifying spree of violence ended in the devastation of his family. >> it was all a nightmare. story you see in like a michael meyers movie. he was having a mental breakdown and i just -- i heard it in his voice. and the things he was saying. he felt that everyone was against him. and he shot and killed my grandma. my grandpa said that he also tried to pull the trigger on him as well, but the gun jammed. well, it doesn't stop there. he actually went on the run for a few days and no one knew where he was. people thought he fled to florida. we were in protective custody. we got escorted to my mom's house.

we had cops outside. the police escorted us back there and said it was safe to go in. they overlooked him in the attic. i was downstairs, along with the rest of my family that was there for my grandma's funeral. and he waited for his moment. he shot my mom in the neck through the attic vent. my mom was rushed to the hospital. he missed by just this much. they couldn't operate, take the bullet out because it was so close to her spine. till this day the bullet is still in her neck, three years later. and after he did that, he turned the gun on himself. >> david ratliff sr. began his spree of violence shortly after his release from the same jail in which his son is now incarcerated. he had served 119 days for threatening and abusing his wife. family members say he had never been violent until about a year earlier when depression, alcohol, and drugs sent him over the edge.

>> he was a great father growing up. i loved him. he was my hero. i don't know any other dad that was better than he was. i really don't. he would get home from work every day and throw the ball with me. teach me right from wrong. spank me when i was bad. i love him for it. despite what he did. i do. coming up -- >> just came and sucker punched me and i hit his again [ bleep ]. >> exchanging blows and somebody got punched. >> a single punch leads to devastating consequences.

.. ..

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like many jails throughout the nation, the cannon detention center is named after a man believed to have stellar accomplishments. al cannon is not only alive and well, he's still the sheriff and has been for more than a quarter of a century. >> how are you doing? all right. >> i actually don't spend a whole lot of time over here. part of my management philosophy is you have to trust your people. i think they appreciate the fact that i have enough confidence in them that i'm not breathing down their back. >> al cannon began his career as a patrol officer in 1971 and was elected sheriff in 1988. he fought for and helped design three expansions to the jail, the largest consisted of two new buildings that opened in 2010, which more than doubled inmate capacity to 1,900.

they were designed with better security systems and open bay housing units that provided more freedom of movement. >> we insisted that people who worked in the detention facility have an opportunity to provide input into the design. that also helped the morale, which after having been so overcrowded for so many years, was pretty low. >> shortly before the new buildings were opened the county council voted to dedicate the entire facility to sheriff cannon, stating over his long years of service he molded the sheriff's office into a premiere agency. >> maximum security inmates are still housed at the older section of the veil where they're still confined to cells for the majority of the day.

>> for the most part if i'm not sleeping or working out, writing something, reading something and thinking, a whole lot of thinking. ♪ ♪ what good is a heart when you don't have the brain what good is a lion when the lion tame ♪ ♪ listen the time has come they've got to set us free ♪ >> adrian smalls is no stranger to the jail. with a fiance and four children to take care of, he's focused on his case and staying out of trouble with other inmates. >> i don't partake in gambling, card playing, any that have stuff. i'm gambling right now, with my

life. that's the biggest bet i ever made. >> his gamble is whether to go to trial or accept a plea deal. >> try not to do 10, 15, 20 years for punching somebody. >> small says he was gambling 18 months earlier when he was arrested on this latest charge. he and his alleged victim were shooting pool the a bar. he suddenly feared for his safety so he made a preemptive strike. >> i don't like to call it a fight. a fight is exchanging blows and somebody got punched. this just happened to have been a situation gone totally wrong. >> prosecutors say his punch fractured the man's skull, leaving him in a coma with permanent brain damage. >> i'm truly remorseful for what happened. my life has changed because i'm away from my family but i'm healthy. i mean, this guy is in a coma, brain damaged. so, i mean, i can't sit here and

just cry about it because his life is forever changed. >> smalls has had numerous prior arrests and convictions on charges, including assault, criminal domestic violence and possession with intent to distribute. now he is charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. though he has admitted to punching his victim, he has pled not guilty. >> i'm here, not trying to plead my innocence. i'm just looking for leniency. i don't like being in here. a simple assault turned into worst case scenario. now i'm fighting for my life. >> while one instant forever changed his victim's life as well as his own, smalls is hardly alone. geraldo johnson has just been charged and booked into the jail. ten days earlier, he was a driver in a terrible car crash that took the life of his passenger. >> death happens every day but i watched my girlfriend of a year die in front of me.

i had blood all over my hands. some lady was like, honey, is that your blood, is that your blood? i'm looking at my hands like, no, it's hers. it's hers. >> johnson has been charged with reckless homicide. police say he was driving too fast for conditions and veered across the road and crashed into a row of trees. his 17-year-old girlfriend was ejected from the car. by the time help arrived it was too late. >> they started doing cpr on her. i was giving her the breath. spitting blood out of my mouth, giving her the breath. and i asked, is she still there? and nobody wanted to talk to me. so much planned. so much we wanted to do. in june or july, we were supposed to move out with each other. we had our budget written down. how much the apartment was going to cost. the cable, the electric, the water. after everything that happened, i went to the house. we had a safe. i opened the safe and looked at

everything and it was just like, this isn't going to happen anymore. >> johnson will soon enter a plea and go to a bond hearing to learn if he can return home as his case proceeds. >> am i going to be here for a month? am i going to be here for a year? just trying to keep hope. there's nothing i can do about it. coming up, geraldo johnson faces the judge. >> you're charged with reckless homicide. >> but has support from home. a victim of violent crime shares her story with inmates. >> he held a knife to my throat that night.

♪ at the sheriff al cannon detention center, hearings are conducted through a video conferencing system. today, geraldo johnson, who has now entered a not guilty plea to

reckless homicide will learn if he will be granted bail and if so, how much amount. >> the judge will put a bond on him or he may get a pr, which is basically a get out of jail free card and then he'll go home. >> johnson was arrested a day earlier, due to a car crash that killed his girlfriend. >> yeah, i've cried but i haven't broke down again. i'm kind of sort of hoping i do and hoping i don't. once i do, it's going to hit me like a mack truck. >> outside the courthouse, a crowd of friends and family gathers to support johnson, including his grandmother and his mother. >> i'm a juvenile corrections officer. i deal with young people all the time. but i definitely understand how important family support is and support of friends because sometimes that can make a world of difference. >> geraldo johnson?

>> sir, you are geraldo johnson jr.? >> yes, ma'am. >> you're charged with reckless homicide. there are people here in court on your behalf. ladies, is there anything you would lick to say? >> i'm his grandmother. >> yes, ma'am. >> this is a very unfortunate accident. two lives have been destroyed and he's a good child. he's an athlete. doesn't drink. he doesn't smoke. he has massive support, friends, family, church. just about everybody in this room is here for him, to support him. >> i can't ignore the seriousness of the charge. the bond is $50,000 on reckless homicide. we are finished, sir. thank you. you may leave the room. thank you. >> for $50,000 bond, johnson

would need to post $5,000 to be released while he awaits trial. the remainder can be posted by a bail bondsman. >> me and my mother, my grandmother, the three of us, there's not much money to go around. so it's like now i'm just sitting here. and i'm going to be sitting here for a while. >> while johnson faces an uncertain future, another group of inmates, due to be released soon, are in a program designed to help them not return. amy bartch is the founder of turning leaf. >> why do you think the rate at which violent crime survivors experience ptsd is much higher? >> it's based on an idea known as restorative justice. >> it's a concept that says punishment alone doesn't get most people to change their behavior. there's got to be a different way in which we as a society can get people to change their behavior without using incarceration as our only tool.

>> what are the other emotional impacts on vilt crime of a victim? depression. what else? >> one component of the week's long program is inviting victims of violent crime to share their story. >> what we're going to do now is transition, give the floor to missy. >> while these inmates are not convicted of violent crimes, the goal is to make sure they never escalate, as was the case with missy's husband. >> when i say he was an alcoholic addict, he was super probably 95% of our relationship. and that 5% of the time that he chose to be an addict, he really went all out. >> missy says when her husband's construction business slowed down, his drug and alcohol abuse got so bad that she wanted to leave him. >> when i told him we were going to have to split, he left and he went out for a couple of hours. and he came home, completely wasted, worse than i've ever seen him in my life.

that night, he was the devil. i can see evil in his eyes. i mean, i was -- that night, i was scared. i had never feared him ever before. but that night, i was worried. he held a knife to my throat that night. >> he was eventually convicted of assault and served 3 1/2 months in this very jail. >> while he was incarcerated his mother died. they refused to let him go to her service. and i think that was the beginning of his real hate for life and for me. >> when he was released from jail, missy's husband, david ratliff sr. murdered missy's mother. three days later, while on the run from authorities, he hid in the attic of his family's home and shot missy through a vent. >> i was setting at the kitchen table and my house lit up like a flash of lightning. i've never heard a gunshot before. i didn't even know what it was. i heard my brothers screaming,

he's in the house. he's shooting! he's shooting. i still didn't know that this was a gun that i was hearing. i didn't know that i had been shot. and my father came, grabbed me. we heard another shot. that shot was david killing himself. >> the tragedy sent missy's son, david ratliff jr. who, at the time was 21, on a downward spiral. >> 21-year-old man. how did you deal with that? >> not the right way. i started -- my drug use took a whole other level. i started shooting heroin, shooting whatever i could. i mean, that was it. i was numbing myself to complete numbness. kept coming to jail. kept getting other chances. >> what is your relationship

with your mom now? >> after everything everything that happened, it was crappy. i blamed her for a lot of -- a lot of it. i blamed her. i blamed her parents. i felt like everyone just came down on my dad too hard. and i still feel that way a little bit. >> i get a lot of the blame. and, of course, i understand it. and i take it. and i accept it. and it's okay. i'm a mom. that's what i do. i know that what his father did is not my fault. i love my son. he's my heart. and i'll never give up on him. although i have practiced tough love. i'm not a pattern that looks the other way and pretends he does no wrong. >> missy says that david has written her several angry letters. so for now she has decided to stop writing back or visiting. >> tough love, you think? >> sure. however long she's going to use

that excuse. tough love. what, she can't talk to me? she can't write me back? whatever. >> i love him and support him, no matter what he does. but i'm not going to enable him. he keeps making bad choices and that's why he keeps ending up here, because he has a drug problem, which i don't think he'll admit to that, even so. he thinks it's more recreational, that i'm his mother and i've been around it long enough. >> how are you making a different path than your dad? >> as of right now, i'm not. following in the same footsteps as him. but i don't ever see myself doing something crazy like he did. i just don't have it in me. but i'm sure he said the same thing. coming up -- >> you come in this jail and talk to 150 other guys who have the same lawyer. >> adrian smalls voices serious

concerns about public defenders. and they agree with him. >> i can't say that their concerns are not perfectly legitimate.

due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. >> in charleston, south carolina, 27,000 men and women a year are booked into the sheriff al cannon detention center.

>> being booked in that? bond hearing set up and classification. >> the majority of those booked return to the streets within 24 hours. either on bond or a promise to return for later court hearing. but all are photographed, fingerprinted and processed into the system. it's usually a routine procedure except when arrestees are intoxicated, high or agitated. one two years earlier was very unusual. it was for the man the jail is named after, sheriff al cannon. >> i'm a police officer first and foremost. i don't just sit behind a desk. one morning on the way in to

work, i was nearly rammed by an individual. my initial assessment was that this was a reckless kind of action that indicated to me that there was something going on with this driver. so i hit my blue lights and siren. and that began a pursuit that lasted for about 35 minutes. the last ten minutes or so was in the middle of the national forest. and he wrecked. >> the multi-car pursuit, which reached speeds of 120 miles per hour ended with the apprehension of the suspect. >> i go over to the back door where this kid is sitting and i said what the "f" is wrong with you? you could have killed i don't know how many people. he said nothing wrong with me, man. and when he did, i slapped him. >> cannon says he quickly realized he had crossed the line. >> i needed to make the public

aware of what i had done. and as a result of that, i was charged with third-degree simple assault. i was brought over here and booked into the facility. >> cannon qualified for pretrial intervention, a diversionary program for first-time offenders in south carolina. after completing the court ordered counseling program and 30 hours of community service, his charge was dismissed. >> i picked up trash along the road. i certainly have a greater appreciation for the trash and littering problem. it was an unfortunate incident that was not what we expect of the sheriff's office, certainly not what i expect from myself. i did accept responsibility for it and dealt with the system and the process the way it's supposed to be dealt. >> adrian smalls is familiar with the intake process, awaiting trial after punching a

man during a pool game. the victim was left in a coma. he suffered brain damage. >> i always expect the best but prepare for the worse. that is my reality. i could end up in prison. >> he faces up to 20 years if found guilty. he admits to injuring the man and has pled not guilty in hopes of reaching a plea deal for a shorter sentence, but says the odds are stacked against him because he is represented by a public defender. >> i'm putting myself in the hands of a public pretender. my reputation is, i feel, minimum. very minimum. i come am this jail and talk to 150 guys that have the same lawyer. how much time does she even have to put in on my case or, for that matter, anyone else's? >> i talk to clients who are extremely frustrated and i can't say that their concerns are not perfectly legitimate. they are. >> attorney ashley pennington oversees the public defender's office for charleston and one

other county in south carolina. >> it's symptomatic of an overall, grossly underfunded legal system. >> how are you? >> when you have 700 people in jail and 20 lawyers to deal with that 700, the odds are stacked against you. what's going on is that the lawyers are in court all the time. as a result, the ability to get over and actually have that face time is just very scant. >> this is something that you're going to have to do yourself. >> 150, 160 is about average for our office. many times, the smaller charges take just as much time as the larger charges. that's very difficult, trying to balance all of their needs. >> the personal contact with an attorney is less important than it was 20 years ago. >> sheriff cannon, an attorney himself, says public defenders have access to their clients through phone and video conference and their long hours

in court is actually a benefit. >> public defenders actually, in many respects, have an advantage over other paid attorneys because they are in more -- in court more. they're in a better position to weigh the relative case that is a prosecutor has. this is an argument that is rarely made. >> they are really here because, you know, they -- they're here because they're trapped and don't know a way out. >> adrian small says the problem with overworked public defenders leads to prolonged jail stays like his, of 18 months now, and plea deals taken out of desperation. >> i see the same situation over and over again. you've been here in ten months and they tell you you've got a trial coming up. if you lose you're going to get 30 years in prison. are you going to take this ten that we're offering you? because he has no legal defense and -- it's just sad to watch. some people don't have the means

to buy lawyers, bond out. if you don't have it, you don't have it. >> geraldo onfears a long jail stay, if not a prison term, to be in his future as well. he is charged with reckless homicide due to the death of his girlfriend that was in a car he lost control of. with a bond of $50,000, he needs $5,000 to leave jail. >> everything in my room, just sell it. just sell it. >> mr. johnson? you can have your phone call. >> johnson asked permission to speak to his mother on the phone for an update. >> thank you. >> hello. so what's the plan? so i'm getting out today? thank you, mom. thank you. i love you, too.

really good to hear. my mom basically my backbone. regardless of how she's feeling, she get it is done. i don't know how many times my mother has pulled out miracles. >> yes, ma'am? >> yes, sir, i'm coming to pick up my son, geraldo johnson jr. >> the bond is heavy. prior to even coming to court this morning, i prayed. i stayed in constant contact with a lot of friends and family. a lot of people have been praying for us. i knew as long as he got a bond it was going to be okay and that's spal what it is. >> all right, man. take it easy now. >> i couldn't put a band-aid on it. i couldn't kiss it and make it better and make it go away. it's been a difficult process on myself and my entire family. >> hi, baby.

>> come on now, randy, let somebody else get some. come on. coming up, david ratliff gets out of segregation for a bit. >> walker, daniel, i'm back! my credit score for free, right? and then you're gonna ask me for my credit card so you can charge me on the down low two weeks later. look, credit karma - oh, are you talking to websites again? it's sayin' 'free credit score.' credit karma? yeah, it's actually free. look, you don't have to put in your credit card information.

credit karma. really free credit scores. really. free. fist bump.

david ratliff has just completed his 30 days of segregation for fighting. at least now he can walk it without handcuffs and shackles. >> feels good. it sure does. still jail, though, you know. so, it still sucks, but it's better than being just in jail and jail in jail.

>> ratliff will be allowed much more time out of his cell and have other privileges restored. >> ready to eat some food, some cantene. shave. looking pretty rough. >> i actually just got a mirror i could see myself in. i look bad. >> ratliff is now in the same unit as adrian smalls, who has been writing spoken word pieces while awaiting trial. >> stand up and rise to pa power. this is our year, our month, new day and the time is ours. we must all crawl before we walk and also think before we speak. because the blood of our black brothers mixed with the of our black mothers have cried our very own red sea. >> smalls hopes to reach a plea deal as a result of a punch that left a man with brain damage and in a coma. >> i call it my lab.

i sit and write my mind. write what i think. before you strap on your combat boots and pick up your gun to shoot remember this lesson i'm trying to teach must go forward if my message is ever going to get through. you could easily learn about guns, drugs, murder and sex if that was anything that was ever taught to you. but now that you're grown think of the consequences before not after you shoot. a lot of my writings come from after i read books like this. anybody can tell you anything. unless you dig into that subject for yourself, you always have a judgmental aspect on it. america has the nerve to spend billions of dollars on wars in afghanistan and iraq when, in fact, the real war is right here in america and blacks are under attack. so many dead bodies are being stacked in these new modern day plantations, prisons, are overpacked. the price of a good education is being jacked. written for the people. my people. by yours truly, adrian smalls.

>> suddenly, an emergency call is issued for officers to respond to a fight in smalls' unit. after two inmates exchanged words, one threw his food tray at the other, triggering a brawl. following jail protocol, unit officers wait for the jail special operations crew or soc, to arrive. >> the unit officer, they're supposed to step back and clear the area. get everybody back to their cells. let the two combatants continue. only time we'll step in is if one of the combatants has a huge edge and the other is in danger. >> a soc officer arrives and orders them to stop fighting. one inmate tries to comply. the other continues to fight. soc officers move one of the men out of the unit. having just been released from segregation, david ratliff is now on his way back.

[ bleep ]. >> what happened, man? >> i beat this dude's ass on the street because he was beating on this girl at the bar. he just came over and sucker punched me and i beat his ass again. that's what [ bleep ] happened. i can't go nowhere, bro. god just [ bleep ] got out of this today. >> got out of here today? >> yeah, i just went into the unit an hour ago. [ bleep ] >> did you see any of it? >> no. i was in the room. i had a whole blind spot. i can't really see too good. >> got you. >> i know what happened, though. one dude screaming, i just come out of lockup. well, your ass going back. >> i beat him pretty bad on the street. i guess he saw me when i came in today. came in my room at dinner, sucker punched me. the door was open.

we kind of broke up and then i knew i was going to one anyway so i went back at him. again, i didn't start it. but i finished it, as i always do. >> the other inmate involved in the fight is kevin russell. >> have a seat in that gray chair. >> both men are taken to the infirmary for examination. >> how are you feeling, man? are you all right? talk it over, man. you don't hit me. >> obviously you heard him say that about hitting the girl. any truth to that, city se making up stuff? >> no. me and my old lady got in a scuffle. i held her back from hitting me and that's what that's all about. >> after the investigation and another hearing, ratliff and russell both get 30 days in segregation. >> it will be 80 days i've done in this whole entire trip, more than half my time i've been

here. >> do you see a pattern developing here, david? >> i got an anger problem, i guess. each fight i have been in, i have not started it. >> walker, daniel, i'm back! >> as ratliff begins his next 30

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msnbc takes you behind the walls of the most notorious prisons into a world of chaos and danger. now the scenes you've never seen. "lockup raw." >> even though sex is one of the most basic of human desires, behind bars, it's prohibited. but that hasn't stopped one of the most memorable inmates to ever appear on "lockup" from getting his needs met. >> here you go, man. >> when we met keith "precious"