impression as we discovered at the kern valley state prison in california. >> i don't remember being shot. i don't even know if i got shot. >> we often talk to the corrections officers about the nonlethal weapons they use, but it is not often that we end up actually seeing what those weapons do, and such was the case with george johns. this was something that happened just the night before. we were lucky to talk to him. >> during our shoot at kern valley, inmate george johns serving eight years for being involved in a high speed chase while on parole, started a fight in the cafeteria and was hit in the head by a wooden block. we met him the following morning. >> tell me the story. tell me what happened. >> well, i had a personal problem and i ran over to handle it, but i didn't make it. i was in the chow hall eating and i got irritated and decided i didn't like this guy and fight

>> during our shoot at kern valley, inmate george johns, serving eight years for being involved in a high-speed chase while on parole, started a fight in the cafeteria and was hit in the head by a wooden block. we met him the following morning. >> tell me the story. tell me what happened. >> well, i had a personal problem, and i ran over to handle it, but i didn't make it. i was in the chow hall eating, and i got irritated and decided i didn't like this guy, so i'd fight him. that's it. >> next thing you remember? >> they were dragging me out, telling me i got hit in the head with a block. >> can we see your head? >> the shooting left johns with seven staples in his head and a wound still caked with dry blood. he says the scar running toward the back of his head was the result of getting run over when he was younger. >> so you knew the other guy that you got into the fight with? >> yeah, kind of, sort of. apparently i didn't like him. >> i was eating my dinner, baked potato and gravy at the table right at the corner of the chow hall, and the guy was running, and didn't see him, and h

. >>> on the first day of production at california's kern valley state prison our  producers set outeal with the monotony of being locked in their cells 23 hour as day. they pass reading materials and other items to each other through a process called >> go ahead. take off. >> though fishing is against prison rules, inmate, tracy washington, was willing to demonstrate how to make a fishing line. >> you get the string made out of the waistband of our boxer. we take the string apart and then we put a little piece of plastic as a weight and we slide it across the floor like this. they might come in here and take my line now that they know i've got it. but i'll make another one. >> shoot it out. >> but our producer was about to find out that there was a far more dramatic story surrounding inmate, washington. >> i was on suicide watch last week and i just came back last week. >> why? what happened? >> they was trying to send me somewhere i didn't want to be. >> so what did you do? >> i cut my wrist with a razor blade. >> washington went on to explain that he cut his wrist to prevent the p

. >> aaron yost was 11 years into his latest sentence when we met him at kern valley state prison in california. he says his problems stem from a near life-long abuse of drugs. >> i grew up with drugs. my parents were quote/unquote hippies. both my parents dropped acid. my mom's dead now from a drug overdose. when i was 9 years old, i was rolling joints for mom and dad. >> yost's life is now largely confined to this cell, which he shares with another inmate. >> i'm not comfortable with this. i don't like men, i like women, you know? and this, to me, it's disgusting. i'm still irritated. if i wake up in the morning, i'm agitated because i have to live with another man. >> now, the closest yost comes to female companionship is through his tattoos. some of which are too graphic to show on television. >> that's what i dream about, that's all i got. you know? >> i remember when we met aaron, the man was tattooed, incredibly inked. if one word describes him, it's intense, just full of energy. and i remember when my producer asked him, what's the daily routine? he just started right in on t

. >> we met officer epperson at the kern valley state prison in california. armed only with pepper spray and a baton, he's the lone officer responsible for supervising the inmate kitchen staff. >> i have six, seven inmates back here now. i've got one sitting on the line. granted, i got four, five cops outside that door. that door's locked. there's only one dude out there with the key. you have to trust them to a certain extent. they have no reason to assault me. unless they're totally pissed off or i disrespect them. >> among the inmates epperson places his trust in is the number two cook, carter hill. >> tell me what your sentence is. >> murder. >> you're here for murder? what's your sentence? >> 51 to life. >> you know, it's interesting. sometimes there's this dynamic in prison when you're interviewing somebody, if there's a corrections officer and an inmate together, they'll pretty much watch their ps and qs. they'll tell you into the camera what the other guy wants to hear. but when we met carter hill, we got some real brutal honesty that day in the kitch

. >> we met earl hymer at california's kern valley state prison. >> i have a 37-year sentence.ts on a minor, 14 years old. >> this was on hymer's first time in prison. nor his first sex offense. >> my wife deemed it necessary that i be arrested for attempted rape of your wife, as weird as that sounds. you come home drunk and try and take it, and she doesn't want it. that's still a criminal offense. >> hymer lives in the prison's protective custody wing. ironically during his first prison term, he was one of the inmates who targeted sex offenders. >> you know, i've participated in helping hunt for child molesters, you know. well, this guy he's a child molester and this is a child molester, and you catch him out in the yard and you go through his stuff and read his paperwork and see what he's really here for, you know? then, yes, he is, or, no, he's not. >> then what? >> well, generally somebody will catch him in a day room or tv room or whatever and punch him in the mouth, tell him to roll it up now. and if he blinks twice or hesitates just a little bit, like i was saying a minu