Defendant REFUSES To Take Responsibility — Judge Raquel West GOES OFF

Added: 2026-05-23

[00:00:01][music] >> Oh, Ms. Johnny, I'm going to ask you again, and I know we probably went through this before. First of all, you're Kirsten Johnny? Yes.

[00:00:13]And Ms. Johnny, I want to make sure cuz in that previously you said you didn't do it, you were forced to do it because of your financial you're forced to plea because of your financial situation that it wasn't fair. And so, tell me what your position is now.

[00:00:30]Um I never really said I didn't do it. I said it was an accident.

[00:00:35]Okay. Um I still feel the same way a little bit. All right.

[00:00:40]>> going to say I do feel the same way.

[00:00:41]Now, I understand, but you don't you're not disagreeing that you didn't I said it was an accident. Somebody grabbed me by your foot. That's like somebody actually hit you in the back of your head. You going to have something.

[00:00:50]That's normal. What right? Because you were not complying with what they told you to do to get out of the car, correct? I was pulled over because I was in the car. I stayed in the area. I was pulled over because of the car.

[00:01:03]>> Don't talk yourself out of this again.

[00:01:06]Cuz if you want to talk yourself out of it, we'll put it on the trial docket and we'll get it done in a few weeks and let a jury decide. I'm not trying I'm I'm trying I'm Aunt look at me. I'm actually trying to help you right now.

[00:01:18]>> [snorts] >> Okay?

[00:01:20]If you had complied and just done what he asked you to from the very beginning of that stop, none of this would have happened. Do you agree or disagree with that?

[00:01:34]Yes.

[00:01:35]Yes, what? Yeah. No, do you agree Listen to the question. Do you agree with that statement, or do you disagree with that statement?

[00:01:45]I don't know why. I I don't >> You don't like it, do you? You don't think you think he should have done that. It It's not that. I feel like we was pulled over for no reason. If you follow us It doesn't matter if you were pulled over for no Listen to me. This is why we're hearing stuff all over in the news. It didn't matter what you think.

[00:02:03]If a cop pulls you over, then take the ticket for not wearing your seatbelt. This is all over not wearing your seatbelt. And here you are in felony court and you're still not taking responsibility for the fact that he said, "Hey, ma'am, do this." And you said, "I don't think you should have pulled me over, so I'm going to do whatever I want to do. And I'm going to put lodge my foot against the door and I'm not going to get out. I'm going to make you drag me out of my car and then I'm going to kick you cuz you shouldn't have pulled me over in the first place." When all you had to do was get your ticket, go to JP court and try to fight it there legally.

[00:02:38]But here you are in felony court for a second-degree [clears throat] felony instead.

[00:02:43]So, do you want to try to tell that story to a jury? Or do you want to accept some responsibility today?

[00:02:51]I don't feel like going to trial. You don't feel like going to trial. Well, the other There's two parts to that question.

[00:02:57]Do you feel like accepting responsibility? Yes, sir.

[00:03:01]Do you think it would be a better idea next time you're pulled over to comply and just do what they ask you to? Yes.

[00:03:09]And you're on it just for the record. A woman argued with a judge after a simple seatbelt stop turned into a felony case.

[00:03:15]The judge warned her that refusing police commands changed her life forever. And now one probation mistake could send her to prison for 20 years.

[00:03:22]The Gavel Flow. Like and subscribe for more courtroom drama.

[00:03:25]I've already um Miss Johnny did review the video with me in my office, so she is aware of what all transpired. She saw it. Um And do you have any reason to believe she shouldn't be pleading to this from what you saw?

[00:03:41]I do not.

[00:03:43]So, I mean you even saw how you acted.

[00:03:51]I promise it It's probably a good idea.

[00:03:55]All right.

[00:03:58]I'm going to find that you previously entered your plea of guilty freely and voluntarily. Going to find sufficient evidence to find you guilty. I'm going to follow the agreement that you made with the district attorney. I hope you prove me wrong on this because I really have some concerns that you're going to be able to be successful because you're not taking responsibility and you're not wanting to follow directions and things like that. And you're about to have 4 years of having to follow directions on probation.

[00:04:25]So, I'm going to defer all proceedings for 4 years. You're ordered to pay a $500 fine. You're ordered to follow all of the rules and conditions of probation.

[00:04:33]If you do that, this is a great opportunity today because you are not a convicted felon. You don't have the conviction on your record. And if you successfully complete it, follow all of the rules, you will never have a felony conviction. At the end of your probation, the case will actually be dismissed.

[00:04:49]The other side of that, though, and this is really important for you to understand because we've had this conversation now so many times, I'm not likely to forget you. And you can ask anybody. Miss Holmes has known me for a long time. It's not usually good when I remember people, right? So, if you violate your probation, you'll get brought back into court. You could be found guilty, which means you become a convicted felon and I can sentence you to prison anywhere in the range of punishment, which is up to 20 years in prison for this. Do you understand? I do. All right. I'm handing you the trial court certification that shows this was an agreement that I followed. So, you've waived your right to appeal. You need to have a seat here in the courtroom.

[00:05:27]Probation will go over your paperwork as soon as they're ready.

[00:05:30]>> Okay. You said that if I'm not considered a convicted felon, but I was told that even though you say that, it's still going to be on my record.

[00:05:36]>> So, the arrest is on your record. The arrest will always be on your record.

[00:05:40]But you So, if you're asked a question on a um like on a uh, filling out an application for a job or something, if it says, "Are you convicted Have you been convicted of a felony?" The answer's no. But, if it says, "Have you ever been charged with a felony or are you on probation for a felony?" you are going to have to say yes to that. Uh, but the conviction part is still better than nothing, not having that conviction, right?

[00:06:07]>> Yes. Okay, have a seat in the courtroom.

[00:06:09]Um, Case two.

[00:06:16]Well, I I need the We need it today because if I'm going to sentence her or the case gets closed, you won't be able to get it.

[00:06:22]>> I'll get you a copy of it, too. I'm going to see if I can get it from my computer, which is next door.

[00:06:27]Okay, either way, yeah, just do it before she does the judgment because once that happens, I think the portal closes.

[00:06:33]All right, ma'am, you're Michelle Johnston.

[00:06:35]And Mr. Um, West, will your client waive the formal reading of the indictment?

[00:06:41]>> She will, your honor.

[00:06:45]And so, we're going forward today with sentencing and everything? Uh, yes, your honor. We're going forward. Uh, we're asking the court to give her credit for the time that she's served, 15 months on the federal sentence, which, uh, was the time that she served was very pertinent to this case. In fact, at this time, I'd offer her state sentence to be concurrent with the one two No. Make it two, not two, please.

[00:07:09]It which is, uh, >> [laughter] >> information related to her, uh, federal sentence. Federal sentence. Uh, for the record, she was indicted in the federal case in October of 2023, and then this case came along.

[00:07:22]Uh, so, well, October, she was played and sentenced in the federal case in October of 2024, and this case had been pending, uh, having been indicted in December of 2023.

[00:07:35]So, she started Does that have Any objection to that? No objection. No.

[00:07:41]So, >> [clears throat] >> that sentence there was for a 15-month sentence. Yes, ma'am.

[00:07:54]And so, it's y'all's intention that I give her that entire 15 months and that she not be required to go do any Yes, ma'am. Tiana of the party. That's what we want to know, yes.

[00:08:04]>> [clears throat] >> I guess the issue becomes on these because it was a federal sentence that she has not technically been to and received a number from TDC, which is required in this case. And so, I don't but you don't have one on this case. Mhm. I but when um Jefferson County came and picked me up from phones and brought me to 69 and I was over there overnight until I got the ball in the next day. So, they they gave me a number.

[00:08:40]Uh that's your number.

[00:08:41]>> Yes, but so you have a Oh, she has a TRN.

[00:08:44]But she doesn't have a TDC. Like Yeah, but I've never been to TDC.

[00:08:50]I don't think I can just give credit and her not go through. I can give her the credit, but she's going to have to go in and get a TDC number.

[00:08:59]It's my understanding. So, let's do this. Obviously, if you have credit We're not going to make you go anywhere today. So, She's working today. I under- I understand what y'all are trying to do and I'm not in disagreement with that, but legally I have to make sure that we do it in the right way because if you don't have a TDC number, I don't think we can do it that way. The only thing that we can do on a state jail felony, if you want to give her Why don't y'all just do a 1244?

[00:09:26]>> I'm on that. I'm okay with it.

[00:09:27]That clears it all up. I I I obviously don't have a problem with that, your honor. Because then she need She has a TDC number. She's doing her jail our time in our county jail. That's her enough credit for that.

[00:09:36]>> I'm looking at y'all like y'all are going to help me get through this.

[00:09:39]>> [laughter] >> I know. I'm okay with I'm okay with I think that makes it cleaner because she doesn't necessarily I'm okay with that, Judge. Yes.

[00:09:50]I mean, it's the same result. Everybody wants credit.

[00:09:52]>> Right. He's still getting the conviction.

[00:09:54]>> But it's still a state jail felony conviction, so she still needs a state jail. I'm thinking all this through cuz she still needs a state If If maybe I'm okay with proceeding on this and boo uh That honestly makes it the most clean.

[00:10:06]Just do Miss Minute Jail sentence or 12 months. Give her credit for the year.

[00:10:10]That helps. I think that makes it So we can get on down the road, Judge. That's fine.

[00:10:14]>> Okay. I appreciate that, Mr. Coleman.

[00:10:16]So let's Let me Hold on a second. Let me get this indictment and we're going to go through all I'm going to recall everything that I just did. We're going to kind of start over a little bit.

[00:10:27]Um you're good. This makes it where you're going home and it's all taken care of.

[00:10:32]So [laughter] what I got to do is there's some legalities that we we have problems with. That's what That's what we've all wanted. When you get sentenced to state jail or TDC, you have to have a state jail or TDC number. You got to kind of go through that process and then get right back out, but it's not necessarily a quick process always. So this is going to be With everyone's permission, can I make the modifications on the agreed punishment recommendations as well as the admonishments as to what we're doing?

[00:11:02]>> Judge. No objection from my client. So I'm going to change this.

[00:11:08]>> [clears throat] [clears throat] >> If I could figure it out.

[00:11:49]>> Okay, so let's go back and in 23 DCCR 2260, the state has elected to proceed on the lesser included offense of a class A misdemeanor theft from November 14th 2020 and how do you plead to that charge?

[00:12:05]Guilty.

[00:12:06]Are you pleading guilty freely and voluntarily?

[00:12:08]>> Yes. And because you did what they charged you with?

[00:12:12]Yes.

[00:12:13]I have here on the computer some documents that have your signature on them that the state's marked as exhibit number one. Before you signed these, did you go over them with Mr. West?

[00:12:22]>> Yes. Do you fully understand them?

[00:12:24]>> Yes. And do you understand if I follow the agreement that you've made with the district attorney that you will be waiving or giving up any right to appeal?

[00:12:31]>> Yes.

[00:12:31]Um, and what we've all worked through here is that the punishment would be for a 12-month term in the Jefferson County jail. You will receive credit on that sentence for all of that time because you were in custody in um From May. Hold on.

[00:12:48]Cause number No, that's not it. That's it.

[00:12:52]>> 24-CR-325.

[00:12:56]Thank you, Mr. Coleman. And that was a 15-month sentence in the federal system and so I am giving you credit for all 12 months um on this sentence. Is that everyone's understanding? Yes, sir. Yes, please. State tenders number one. No objection. It's admitted. Also, I'm going to admit number two without objection.

[00:13:15]>> also. All right. Um, is there any evidence that Ms. Johnson is not competent?

[00:13:19]>> not. No doubt. All right, ma'am. I'm going to find that you entered your plea of guilty freely and voluntarily. Find that you're mentally competent and you understand the nature and the consequences of your plea. I find sufficient evidence to find you guilty and at this time find you guilty of the class A misdemeanor of theft, sentence you in accordance with your agreement to a term of 12 months in the Jefferson County Jail. Again, you receive credit on that sentence for all of the time that you were in custody on that federal case. I'm going to hand you the trial court certification that shows this was an agreement that I followed and so you waived your right to appeal.

[00:13:52]Should be printing.

[00:13:55]Here's uh states. Who gets that? Do they get states too? Check. Oh.

[00:14:04]You get that.

[00:14:06]You get that. Okay. Thank you, ma'am.

[00:14:09]You're free to go. Thank you.

[00:14:10]>> [clears throat] >> What started as a routine traffic stop for a seatbelt violation quickly exploded into a felony case that left the entire courtroom tense. The judge confronted the defendant for refusing to obey police commands, telling her that if she had simply complied, none of this would have happened. The woman argued she felt the stop was unfair, but the judge wasn't buying it. The courtroom became silent as the judge warned her that she was lucky to avoid prison and was being given one final opportunity through probation. Then came the powerful moment when the judge looked directly at her and said, "It's usually not good when I remember people." Now, one mistake has left her walking a thin line between freedom and up to 20 years behind bars if she fails probation. Now, do you think the judge was too harsh or was this the wake-up call she needed?

[00:14:51]The Gavel Flow. Like, comment and subscribe for more real courtroom drama.

[00:14:56]>> [music] [music]