tv Lockup Savannah Extended Stay MSNBC August 22, 2015 6:00pm-7:01pm PDT
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women to the hiv virus, another inmate must be housed in segregation for his own protection. >> i realize they basically put me out to be a monster. >> it don't matter what you do, are going to get you. >> i've been in over 1,000 fights. >> after years of violence behind bars, one of the jail's most infamous inmates continues to pose a threat. >> established in 1733, savannah, georgia was a strategic port during the american revolution and the civil war. its history is kept alive
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through memorials and the preservation of landmarks, such as fort polaski, the site of an early union victory in the civil war, and the fort's cannons are still fired during weekly demonstrations. but on the opposite side of town is a modern day fortress that few visit by choice. most of the 1500 inmates inside the chatham county detention center are only charged with crimes and are awaiting trial at the resolution of their cases. >> ain't got to worry about me coming back in no more. >> most spend their time among other inmates in one of the jail's general population units. but those who break the rules inside the jail end up in unit 2 b, the jail's disciplinary segregation unit. >> it's for your disciplinary action. doesn't matter about your case or anything. you screw up in this jail, you end up in 2 delta. >> inmates in this high security
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unit spend 23 hours a day inside their cells, and lose their phone and visitation privileges. jail gives them an hour of what they call recreation but the inmates are limited in the exercise they can do. >> they're shackled up, handcuffed, and go outside into what's called the cage. and they're allowed one person in the cage. >> they are handcuffed with a lock box which fits on top of the cuffs so they can't strike when they're handcuffed in this position. >> lavar is serving 20 days in lockdown for refusing orders to return to his cell and cursing out officers. >> you can't even scratch your head. you can't even put your hands on your face like you want to. if i want to say oh, my god i can't even do that because i'm like this. you see what i'm saying? this is h-e-l-l, man. really. it's like -- it's nothing i would wish on my worst enemies. it's all bad. there's nothing good about this. >> it's unfortunate they have to be there. it's unfortunate that they have
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to be handcuffed and chained and two officers with them at all times. but that's the choices and the decisions that they made. not us. >> while some disciplinary inmates will return to general population, others cannot. these inmates end up next door in the jail's administrative segregation unit, which is considered extended segregation. though these inmates have a few more privileges, most are considered too dangerous for general population. one of the jail's most infamous inmates here is eric kelly. kelly has already spent more than 22 years in prison for convictions including armed robbery, aggravated assault, and making terroristic threats. he is currently charged with possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, to which he has pled not guilty. >> you need to stay out of trouble, don't go to jail. 'cause you go to jail, you're going to meet that guy like me.
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>> kelly has been housed in adseg for more than a year. but his stay in the jail began in general population. he was caught with a broken broom handle, which was considered a potential weapon and was given 15 days in disciplinary lockdown. after his return to general population, he threw a food tray at an officer and then encouraged other inmates to follow suit. >> after that, inmate kelly was placed on administrative segregation, and he has remained there according to classification and according to the officers inmate kelly is disruptive and there is almost always a case for violence, whether it's against him or from him. so they have deemed it necessary to keep him in administrative segregation. >> you never know what's going to come out of him from day-to-day. some days he'll be mild to moderate. next day he wakes up and he's just in a fighting mood. >> i've been in over 1,000
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fights. just over 1,000. >> kelly says that his tendencies toward violence were born out of his experiences in prison. >> i got burned. made a little mark right here where i got burned. hot baby oil. i've been stabbed, been cut. it just makes you more meaner, madder, crazier. when they get crazy you got to get crazier. >> inmates who know kelly's reputation for violence refer to him by his ominous nickname. >> i call him dark side. he really do got that dark side in him. >> he's known inside and outside the jail. >> for what? >> being crazy. >> when i get mad i don't think. i don't think. i just see black. that's why a lot of you call me dark side. you know what i'm saying? >> you mess with kelly, mess with dark side, the dark side part will come out of me. you might play the game by the
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rules when it comes to dark side, ain't no rules. ain't no limits to what he's capable of doing or what he would do. >> best thing not to do is get on his bad side. because he tends to get real ruthless. >> kelly says that dark side is a persona he created after one of his fights in prison. >> i beat a guy so bad, i took his blood. you know what i'm saying? and just [ inaudible ] you know what i'm saying? i said dark side! and it went from there, man. it went from there. dark side became well-known. i was like a living legend, dark side respects everybody unless everybody violates or disrespects dark side. that's when dark side gets crazy. >> kelly says when others cross him he will hurt them and humiliate them as well. we warn you his description is disturbing. >> total disrespect them. i might put my foot, kick them
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in the butt hole. you know what i'm saying? when i knock them out i take my thing and put it up the butt in front of everybody. don't mess with me, you know? the reason why i violate them after i get in physical contact with them because i learned it in prison from a 25-year vet. i seen an old convict when he knocked the guy out, he took a finger stuck in the booty hole. man stick your finger in your booty hole ain't going to kill him, leave him alone. that's who i learned from. >> just be aware of him. if you get on his bad side he'll disgrace you, it don't matter what you do he's going to get you. >> i ain't going to play with nobody. that's why they call me dark side. i ain't going to play with dark side. you know what i'm saying? it's all survival. it's all survival. >> coming up -- >> they put me here for my own
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at the chatham county detention center in savannah, georgia, the most violent and troublesome inmates are housed in the administrative segregation units also known as adseg. >> this will make you cry for your mother, man. >> but not every inmate in adseg has a history of violence or misbehavior. >> we have a lot of high profile cases here where inmates have to be put in admin seg. many of our inmates are fairly famous figures on our local news
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stations. so because of that they may be celebrities in this jail or they may be enemies to everyone. they end up in admin seg for their protection. >> one of those high-profile inmates is antonio bacon. he's been housed in administrative segregation since he arrived 13 months earlier. >> i never been in jail, never been arrested before. in admin seg, you're around people with the most violent crimes every day. they say they're putting me here for my good, for my own safety. but yet you surround me around the most dangerous people in the city. >> you see fights, people curse each other out, i'm going to kill you, all that kind of stuff. and it's stuff like, wow, wow. this is what i'm around. >> bacon has been charged with one count of statutory rape and
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six counts of reckless conduct by a hiv-infected person. authorities say he had sexual relations with six partners, one of whom was only 15, without disclosing he was hiv positive. he denies the sexual relationship with the minor although he does admit to having consensual sex with the five other women. >> you didn't tell them you tested positive with hiv? >> i never say anything. it's hard. it's something you don't just come out, blurt out. i made a mistake. that was my fault. i'm paying for my mistake, you know? >> while bacon calls it a mistake, he also says there was no need to disclose his hiv status because he believes he's been cured of the disease. >> when i found out i had hiv i went through this depression, i broke down. man, my life is over. then i located this guy.
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he's an herbalist. he told me, i can cure hiv. and i took the supplements, and after about a good couple of months, started feeling different. like my breathing was picking back up like normal. i was not fatigued. i wasn't sleeping all the time anymore. and i felt better. >> bacon says the jail provides him with medication but he does not take it. >> i always take the medicine but i don't never take it, take it. sometimes i might flush it. seldomly do i take it. you don't know what that medicine may contain. you don't want a chance of somebody saying, this will help you, and taking it constantly every day and you putting things you don't even need in your body. >> after bacon's arrest, prosecutors spoke to local news media to warn other potential victims. >> district attorney meg heath kicked off a press conference thursday afternoon about the indictment of antonio bacon jr. >> we have concerns that we've got people who have had relations and have not been tested and concerns -- i think it's a public safety concern.
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if anyone has had relations with mr. bacon, please contact our office and also seek medical treatment. >> what happens when your story's on the news and you walk in these doors? >> well -- when i first came to jail, the newspaper came out with my face on it. and it's like, wow. a guy came in my door. he's like, this you? that's when i realized it's basically putting me out to be a monster. they labeled me a hazard to public safety, something like that. i'm like, wow, what? a hazard to public safety? it hurts. it makes you get emotional. aye cried several nights, sitting on the bed, wishing i could let somebody hear my voice, you know? >> bacon says he is also concerned about his statutory rape charge. if found guilty, he would be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life. >> i don't want to register as a sex offender the rest of my life. i have a lot of family members, young brothers and young sisters. being a sex offender, that's a kind of conflict with my life.
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>> if he is convicted on all charges, bacon could face 80 years in prison. >> i do think about the what-ifs, everything, every situation. i do think about how, if i do get found guilty, how prison will be. first thing in my mind that pops up is the stuff i see on tv, you know? somebody might stab me, somebody might try to kill me, based on what they heard. >> fellow ad seg inmate eric kelly has spent more than 22 years in prison and says he knows what sort of reception bacon would find there if convicted of his charges. >> them guys going to move his butt, you know what i'm saying? the only person seeing is god, you know what i'm saying? >> that's the same guy who stick his finger up another man's butthole? i tend not to argue with anybody. stay in my own lane. try to make this whole time go faster, man. >> they come in here, when they talk about them charges, what they're locked up for, they don't show no accountability, most. >> kelly says his time in prison
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hardened his outlook and he built a reputation for ruthlessness that earned him the nickname darkside. >> when i first got to prison, it was right off the gate, fights and violence. ♪ it's hard the yard the yard the yard ♪ >> kelly says it was during that time he turned to his own brand of poetry to express his thoughts. ♪ hard on the yard the yard the yard ♪ >> it's called "hard on the yard." i wrote "hard on the yard" ten years ago.
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i was in my young, still stupid, wild, crazy ways, doing crazy things, you know? ♪ it's hard on the yard the yard the yard ♪ >> looks like you got emotional at the end, what was that about? >> it remind me, know what i'm saying, being locked up, know what i'm saying? not listening to my mom, my dad. this ain't nothing to brag about, talk about. i did what i did, you know. you know -- i wouldn't be here, if i had listened ten years ago. you know? i wouldn't be here now. you know? >> kelly is allowed outside his cell one hour a day, which he spends in shackles and chains on a barren rec yard. >> yeah, this right here -- >> he says he relishes any amount of time that he gets to spend outside of his cell. >> man, look at that. don't want to go back in. want to stay out here.
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don't want to go back in. you go back in, feel like it's closing in on you. tired of seeing any walls, man. i'm tired. >> kelly says that while he survived 22 years in prison, the past year and a half spent in ad seg has changed his attitude. >> this is going on 17 months right here. don't bother me. 23 hours a day sitting here, reading my bible, you know. looking at myself in the mirror. breaking point. breaking point. >> for kelly, this breaking point means leaving his darkside persona in the past. >> that dark side, i been trying to get rid of it. they won't let it die, they won't let it die. i got to prove to my family i've changed. i've got to prove to myself that i've changed. i got to let god in, too. coming up -- >> you all abuse your authority! >> eric kelly's plan to change hits a snag.
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but first -- >> i wasn't thinking right, i wasn't thinking straight, i wasn't thinking properly. that's when i accidentally hit the fellow. >> after running a man down with his car, a new inmate tries to adapt to life behind bars. >> me not knowing what to do in the heat of the passion got me sitting here today.
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many of the 1,500 inmates at the chatham county detention center in savannah, georgia, arrive at the jail fresh from an arrest on the streets. >> look at the camera. >> rhett manning enters having just returned from court. a judge sentenced him to five years in prison and another 15 on probation after he pled guilty to voluntary manslaughter for striking and killing a 60-year-old man with his car. >> stand up. i'll have you come pack to cell number 8. >> during the investigation, manning was on house arrest. he will remain in jail until his transfer to prison. manning says he's only been in jail once before, an overnight stay after he was charged with
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driving without a license, for which he eventually paid a fine. >> i'm in an environment that i'm not used to, that i have to cope with. it hurts just to think about it. because you just [ bleep ]. i mean, i don't know. first time in this kind of situation. you know, i've been in the free world my whole life. >> kind of nervous. because -- i mean, i'm not fit for this life. because i never been through the life. i just had to own up to my responsibilities and be a man. >> the incident that led to manning's conviction occurred two years earlier when he went to court to pay some parking tickets. manning says that as he left the courthouse, still holding several hundred dollars in his pocket, he was approached by a man asking for directions. moments later, the second man
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approached him begging for some money for food. >> the other guy was talking to me, distracting me, for just enough time for him to pick pocket me. and as i'm getting back in my car, i notice my money was gone. and my mind went frantic. me not knowing what to do in the heat of the passion got me sitting here today. >> manning says the men split up. so he got into his car and pursued one of them. >> i wasn't thinking right, i wasn't thinking straight, wasn't thinking properly. my whole idea was just to stay in sight of that one guy and call the police and just basically give them some kind of vicinity of the area we are in and i'm chasing the guy that just robbed me. that's when i accidentally hit the fellow. >> manning insists he never intended to run the man down. but police and witness reports say that when he struck his victim manning had crossed the median and was driving in the oncoming lane of traffic and that his victim was running away
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from his car at the time. manning says he crossed the median in an attempt to keep the man in sight and then lost control when he tried to avoid hitting another vehicle. >> i was actually going the wrong way. they used that to say i intentionally murdered somebody. i was indicted on felony murder, malice murder, and aggravated assault. i didn't want to take the chance in front of a jury. when you see those charges? when they come with a lesser charge like that? i took it. >> manning says that by accepting a plea of voluntary manslaughter he feels he is holding himself accountable for his role in the incident. >> i have to accept responsibility for my wrong actions, you know? i'm very remorseful about it. but, you know -- it was an accident. >> but this isn't the only current charge on manning's record. while manning was on house arrest before taking his plea deal in this case, he was charged with simple battery after an alleged fight with his girlfriend. he has pled not guilty. >> all of this stuff started
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caving in on me and i just woke up one day and just looked at it and lost it. >> you hit her? >> yeah. i pushed her. i pushed her and she fell. and she called the police. >> have you had a problem with anger in your life? >> i have had a problem with anger before. you know, coming up as a child, in my teenage years, you know. then you go a long time without doing nothing, you think you're not angry because you feel like you grew out of that. until you are provoked. and then it comes out of you. you never know. >> manning says the man who allegedly pick pocketed him provoked that anger. >> the one thing i would change in this situation, i would have took the value off of my money and just let him go. just -- just defuse the situation right there and not been angry at all. i wish i could have took some of the anger out of my heart right there in that parking lot. and not let it get that far. i was just praying for the family.
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their pain is in my heart. know what i mean? there's nowhere to take that out of me. it's hard living with somebody's blood on your hands every day. every time you wake up or every time you go to sleep you have to realize that you have a man's blood on your hands. coming up -- >> nervous feel. te terrifying, man, very terrifying. >> antonio bacon's trial reaches a conclusion. and -- >> they wrong, man, they wrong -- >> an argument with an officer threatens to bring out eric kelly's dark side. and once you find your card, you can switch it right on again. hey...you're back! [touch tone] freeze it, only from discover. get it at discover.com. she's a high school teacher and a stage
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i'm page hopkins with the hour's top stories. wildfires continue to rage across the west. firefighters battling blazes in six different states in washington state one group of fires has now grown by more than 100 square miles. three firefighters were killed there on wednesday. at least seven people were killed after military jet crashed during an air show in
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england. the hawker hunter fire jet hit several vehicles on a busy road as it crashed. 14 people were also treated for minor injuries. now we take you back to "lockup." due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. at the chatham county detention center in savannah, georgia, antonio bacon was booked on charges of statutory rape misconduct of of in sexual
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relations after he allegedly had sex with several women, one of them a minor without disclosing to them that he was hiv positive. his trial has now concluded. the results for bacon were mixed. he was found guilty on four of his six reckless conduct charges but he was found not guilty on the charge of statutory rape. bacon says he is at least relieved to have been cleared of having had sex with a minor. >> i was glad i beat that charge. i won't have to register as a sex offender for the rest of my life. that's a tough thing to deal with when you've got little brothers and sisters. anything like that dealing with kids, that means you wouldn't be able to be around them. >> bacon is due back in court for sentencing in a few days. a judge could give him as much as 40 years in prison on his four convictions. bacon has asked the judge to grant him status under first offender act, a law that allows first time felons to have convictions wiped from the record so long as they complete sentences without incident. bacon hopes that the judge will grant him first offender status and then set free for time served. allowing him to go home with a
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clean record. >> i'm hoping to get time served, probation for the rest of the time, first offender, something like that. it's a scary thing, you know. not knowing which side the judge is leaning. not knowing which way it's going to play out. it's always scary. i've just to get some nerves of steel. because -- it's terrifying, man. very terrifying. i'm just hoping everything works out in my favor. >> while bacon will soon learn his fate, eric kelly is still waiting for his day in court. he's been in jail awaiting trial for the past 18 months, in part because he chose to replace his public defender. for most of that time, he's been housed in the jail's administrative segregation unit. as kelly watches tv during his daily hour outside of his cell, he talks to one of his neighbors who did not wish to be on camera through his cell door. the two men discuss an incident earlier in the day involving officer stevenson and another inmate. although kelly says he did not witness it, he accuses officer stevenson of using excessive force while escorting the inmate back to his cell. >> you shouldn't do that man
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like that, man. that's playing too much. that's playing too much, man. >> officer stevenson says the inmate refused to return to his cell at the end of rec time. he denies doing anything wrong. >> i told the inmate he needed to get back to his room, he wouldn't. i went downstairs and put him in the escort hold, was bringing him up the steps. he decided he was going to hold on to the railing. so i drug him up the steps. >> what's the escort hold? >> grab them by the back of the arm with one hand and the wrist. mr. kelly, he's in a room where he couldn't have physically seen what i was doing to the inmate. but mr. kelly was saying i was playing too much. >> ain't got time to play with you, man. you don't do that, man. easy time, it's a snap, man -- >> don't snap on me. >> don't play with guys like that. >> what channel are you on? >> channel 6. >> at the end of kelly's recreation time the issue comes up again when kelly believes that officer stevenson and witham are returning him to his cell before his hour is up. >> we ran that tape, we ran that video, you would see i came out
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at 5:30. he's taking 15 minutes from me, know what i'm saying? because i told him about jacking that guy up, i told him about jacking that guy up. now he's going to take my mind, take my time. you're damn wrong, man. you're damn wrong. you rewind that tape, i guarantee you see 5:30. i guarantee you'll see 5:30. yeah, yeah, but you ain't going to rewind it. you're just saying that. >> i identified to mr. kelly that his recreation time was over with. he was like, no, that's wrong, man, i came out at 5:30. and i didn't recall exactly when i took him out. >> you're taking my time, man. seriously, man. y'all are wrong, you're dead wrong. >> i'm going to check the camera right now. >> check the camera. >> all right. >> i came out at 5:30. took 15 minutes away because he got mad at me because i told him, don't jack up that guy like
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that, know what i'm saying? he got mad about that. >> i went out to the hub to verify it on the camera, to see who was correct, whether he was correct or i was correct. i wrote down the wrong time. it was 5:23. so i owed him 7 1/2 minutes. >> 23 minutes after the hour is when i brought you out according to the clock on the computer. i put you up at a quarter after. >> you wrong, i say 5:30. >> no. >> i say 5:30. >> no. >> you can't even see, what are you talking about? >> i had on glasses, thank you. yeah. had on my glasses. >> you want that seven minutes or do you want -- >> moments later, the conversation grows heated. >> who's playing games? >> huh? >> who's playing games? >> man, you're playing games, man. >> i'm going to play a game, go
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sit down in my chair and not let you out at all. i don't need a lecture from you. you're beyond the door, not me. >> doesn't make no difference. you get mad we tell you the truth. >> as officer stevenson steps away from the situation, kelly's temper flares at officer witham. >> i'm telling you, don't play with me! you're not supposed to play with inmates like that! the way he jacked up that man in 47 earlier today, jacking this man up like this, he not supposed to abuse his authority like that! that's unnecessary use of force, man! >> all right. >> i know i came out at 5:30! he told me i got seven minutes left! do i want my time? i say yeah, i want all my time. >> okay. i understand. that's part of the problem. he's not going to sit here and offer you the time and have you lecture him on what he's playing. >> when an officer tells him
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something to do, even if an officer is wrong, inmates don't need to abide by what an officer says until it can be resolved in a correct way. >> i didn't do nothing wrong! >> okay, relax. >> y'all abusing authority by taking 15 minutes away from me. my time was not up! y'all abuse your authority! you understand? you want to take me back to the old days! >> he started to get really upset. the idea was just to get him calmed down -- >> do me a favor. you're yelling at the situation, i understand that. do me a favor, rest your nerves. let me get to the bottom of it and let us finish this up, all right? >> yeah, i understand that. >> okay. >> it make my blood boil, man, you know what i'm saying? because you were wrong. >> i wasn't going to be lectured by an inmate so i decided to not, because of his actions, not let him back out for the seven minutes that i owed him. he's very agitated. and to let him out in an agitated state like that, it's too dangerous for us. and because of his disorderly conduct, he won't come out
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tomorrow also. >> it's hard when you try to do the right thing, when you know you're doing the right thing, here somebody harasses you, provoking you. an officer who won't be professional. it's wrong. >> you think punishing him and taking away his hour tomorrow is going to make the matter worse? >> he's definitely going to be agitated by the situation but that's the nature of being in admin segregation. >> they black the hour out naturally and you and i both would too. if we act up and don't behave and you take my hour away i'm going to sit there and think about that very hard and i'm probably improve my behavior. >> what are you going to do today? you're obviously upset. what are you going to do now? >> i'm going to sit back and put it on lyrics. put it in a song. add another "hard on the yard 2." that's the only way i can express my feelings out, put it in music. i can't put my hands on them, they're going to charge me up. you know? it's hard on the yard, man. it's hard. >> you think he's in a better place after the conversation
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that you had with him? >> he's in a better place. not necessarily because of the conversation i had with him but he was able to throw that proverbial stuff against the wall. doesn't matter what wall it was, i was the wall that took it. understand it's not personal, it's just because i'm wearing the badge today. if it wasn't me, it would be you, it would be somebody else. now he's sitting down, he's quiet. you probably won't hear anything from him for the rest of the night. coming up -- >> i saw punches being thrown, i saw feet being kicked. >> a fight breaks out in rhett manning's housing unit. and -- >> snap of a finger you could end up in a place like this and never get out again. >> manning uses a personal camera to reflect on his crime. >> this is my only way of showing that i'm sorry. oh, how convenient. hey. crab cakes, what are you looking at?
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at the chatham county detention center in savannah, georgia, a storm brings rain. with it a welcome change of pace for eric kelly. >> it's raining outside today. and i like to look at the puddles through the window. i be trying to see which bubble going to make it to the drain without getting blowed up. oh, there it go. going to make it. that one made it. another one made it. it relax me, calm me down, you know? i get bored, really nothing else to do. it take me out of the jail, it take me out of this cell. i can't hear nothing, i can't hear no inmates, no officer, no tvs, nothing. i just stay focused on the bubbles, you know? it can feel peaceful, make it peaceful. >> but in one of the general population units, it's anything but peaceful.
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as three inmates slug it out. the officer on duty attempts to separate the combatants. the inmates fail to obey his order. he calls for backup. deputy byrd and sergeant milton arrive to break up the fight. sergeant milton has a taser at the ready. but today he will not need to use it. >> let him go, let him go! >> let him go, let him go, let him go. >> found the three were engaged in fighting in the corner. as the other officers were trying to get everybody in lock down, i went to try to disengage each person from fighting. i gave verbal commands, they did not comply. so i jumped on it and separated them. >> we tried to ascertain from them what happened. of course nobody tells it, go by the jailhouse code, nobody told. i talked to two of the guys but they said, i have nothing to say.
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right now they've been taken to isolation lockdown until we can do our investigation. >> but manning, who's been in the jail three weeks, witnessed the fight. he says it's part of adjusting to life as an inmate. >> we're getting our trays. the door opens, all you see is a couple of guys coming out of the room fighting. i saw punches being thrown, i saw feet being kicked. don't know what's going on, you don't know why fights break out. but you just have the sense of things don't be right. so you just stay out of people's business. i was scared because you don't know what can happen behind. it might be you watching one fight and somebody that don't like you might come up and fight you. while the officer's busy. only take 30 seconds to get hurt. >> this kind of sudden outburst of violence is something manning will have to get used to for at least the next five years.
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he recently accepted a plea deal of voluntary manslaughter for striking and killing a man with his car. manning alleges that his victim had just pick pocketed him and in pursuing him he accidentally ran him down. the jail allowed us to give manning a camera so that he could record his thoughts on beginning his sentence. >> well, here i am. sitting here in my cell. don't have much. this is all i possess right now. it's a place where you really don't want to be. you know, i realize i'm in a bad spot in my life right now because i don't -- i don't enjoy jail. i'm not enjoying this time at all. it's so easy to get here. at the snap of a finger you could end up in a place like this and never get out again. and -- and it's hard to deal with that kind of situation. no matter how easy it may look, you may see a person smiling.
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smile just to cover up the tears. you know, i would like to take a little bit of time and let the family know how i'm really feeling about it. you know, their lost loved one. i wake up. i seen something that i can't change. this is my only way of showing that i'm sorry. and i apologize. and i mean i wish i could take it back. if i could replace his life with mine, i would. >> manning is awaiting a transfer to prison to begin his five-year sentence. but it could cost him more than just his freedom. a felony conviction on his record will revoke the security
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clearance that he would need to resume work as a crane operator at the docks after his release. >> i lose a whole career. it sounds selfish but i'm not trying to be selfish. i'm trying to save my life, my kids' life. that's my life, my kids. . >> like antonio, manning has also asked the judge to grant him status. >> i'm really fighting for this. i've worked my whole life. i just want the judge to look at me for who i am, don't look at me as a crime or at a case number. don't look at me as a case number, look at me as a person. i feel like i deserve at least a chance. coming up -- >> right off the sentencing, i was shocked at first. >> antonio is sentenced and not everyone is pleased. >> i don't think that's right. that ain't enough time, no way.
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at the chatham county dimension cent detention center in savannah, georgia, brett manning admitted to voluntary manslaughter for hitting a man with his car. he pleaded for the judge to give him a first offender status. now manning has returned from court where a judge has given given him his answer. >> good news, bad news or no news? >> pretty good news and just got to figure the rest of it out. >> that's good, that's good. >> basically the judge granted me the first offender. that means when i've depletcomp
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the sentence, i won't be considered a convicted felon. that's important to me because i have a job that requires no felonies. i have children to support, family to support and basically supporting myself. there's life after jail. that's all i'm trying -- i want to keep a little bit of life after all this experience i got going on. >> while manning's judge granted him first offender status, antonio bacon is not as fortunate. he's just returned from sentencing after having been recently convicted on four counts of reckless conduct. bacon was hopeful the judge would grant him first offender status and sentence him to time served. >> the judge denied my first offender. that's the part that made my knees buckle. i kind of felt like my whole future was over. >> the judge then sentenced bacon to four years in prison and 16 on probation. >> the judge read off the
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sentence, i was shocked at first. i was like, wow. my first time ever being in trouble and it's just, wow. he really threw half the book at me, not the whole book but half of it at me. it's not at all what i expected to get. but got to roll with the cards -- roll with the hand i've been dealt, make the best of it. >> bacon says the repercussions of the judge's decision to deny him first offender status will stay with him long after he's released from prison. >> if i come to a corporate interview or put in an application and that question says, are you a convicted felon and i check that box, yes, and you decide, well, i want to see what he was convicted of and i tell you, the first thing is going to be, nothing. people that aren't convicted felons, doors of opportunity open for them. i have a lot of doors that just closed in my face. >> but bacon's fellow inmate says bacon got off too easy.
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>> i don't think that's right. should have got more than that. that ain't enough time, no way. for what he did, no way. should have got at least 40. >> eric kelly was real, you still did it, i think you did it, i don't like you. i was like, i never said more than two words to the man. people like that, you can't do anything about it. until you get to sit down and get to know me, how can you judge me? >> i told him, i said, yeah, remember you came back the first time when they dropped the statutory rape, i said, you're going to prison this time. now what are you going to do? >> kelly, who previously served 22 years in prison says he knows what awaits bacon but he also says contrary to what many might expect, he wishes him no harm. >> when them inmates what he's up there for, they're going to come see about it. yeah.
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i hope they don't kill him. i don't wish him no death. but not now, i ain't wishing death on nobody. >> kelly says he's been trying to change his violent behavior and has taken his lead from a radio station he's been listening to lately. >> it was a christian station. and the preacher said, who are you to judge another human being? god is their judge. after i heard that on the radio, i said, i'm going to let it go. every time i do feel that urge to hate him, i say in my mind, lord forgive me. i read my bible. this is what i represent now. i represent the lord jesus christ now. i don't want to go to hell. i don't want to go to hell. it's hot down there, man. hell ain't for me, man.
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due to mature subject matter, viewer discretion is advised. >> the verdict is as follows -- >> an inmate faces a life sentence for the brutal murder of his wife. >> it's hard to believe it, this this is all happening. >> all my tattoos, it's not a matter of how or when. you will get caught. >> another
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