Page 77 - Cell Block News Today

>> i love a good ghost story. and anywhere i go that it looks like it has the potential, ill always ask, do you have any ghosts around? in new mexico they had a lot at the old prison. >> when we shot at the penitentiary of new mexico, major dean lopez took us to the old main. a now abandoned building that used to be the heart of the prison before it was replaced with a state-of-the-art facility. >> this is where most of the murders from the riot took place, was this cell block right here. >> thi...

Pipes going through their heads, you know. unimaginable things. you couldnt even think of, you know. >> one of the inmates came down from the dormitory areas. and he had on his belt, tied to his side, the human head of a black man. this individual proceeded to take this head and gripped this head by his hair and he went over to that young guard that was crying, and he ordered that guard to kiss that head. and the inmates recorded in cellblock four never had a prayer. >> cell block four was the p...

Of angola, death row is the most ominous. executions have been temporarily halted, awaiting a ruling by the supreme court. in the meantime, the cells have been filling up. >> how you doing? >> im blessed. >> good to see you today. this is my buddy. this is emanuel ortiz. you doing good in here? >> yes. >> are you getting used to this cell block, and it being -- >> well, these cells are larger than the ones we used to have over there. >> so you liking it better? >> its better. much better. >> it ...

>> a large team of correctional officers will search every square inch of their cells. first, all the inmates are removed. first for weapons, then taken out to the yard. >> step over here. >> all right. all right. >> these surprise raids are usually successful in finding weapons. but present a unique challenge for "lockup" crews. >> it is action. its real action. and the only thing that you have to be careful of you dont want to piss off the cell block. you kind of run the risk of alienating the...

Life. coming up -- >> its 13 windows over. >> valerie minacapeli communicates with her cell block in the next door. >> hes got his heart up. i love him. okay, heres the plan.

Okay, so why keep -- okay, but im simply saying if someone rode up on you and punched you in your nose you aint going to do [ bleep ]? you cant sit there and say you wouldnt, mr. wright. and if you would youre lying. if this man came up and punched you in your nose and you seen blood, you are going to sit there and say, well, let me call the police. you just stand right there. hell, no. youre not going to do that. you are going to go to somebodys ass. if they punch you in the nose and you see yo...

Testifying in court, it put me in the same situation, and the inmate population looked upon me the same as the guy i killed. so a couple years later, i end up coming to an sny yard, where im surrounded by the same type of people that are actually convicted of the crime that i thought the guy i killed actually committed. >> on brians own cell block, there are several sex offenders like this inmate, whose identity corcoran asked us to conceal. >> i was a minister on the streets and had been for 45...

Theres no such thing as crazy in prison. you know, i dont know, maybe you got to be crazy to work here, im not sure. we come here voluntarily every day. >> since the 2000 riot, the level of violence at pelican bay has dropped considerably, but numerous assaults still occur. when they do, the squad must respond like street detectives, carrying all the tools necessary to process the crime scene. when we last visited the prison, our cameras were rolling as one of these assaults occurred inside a ce...

Cell block, and it being -- >> well, these cells are larger than the ones we used to have over there. >> so you liking it better? >> its better. much better. >> it is better? >> yes. >> different. >> manuel ortiz, convicted of murdering his wife and her friend, has been on the row since 1996. >> if you dont exercise your mind or your body, you know, it starts to deteriorate. we try to use push-ups, you know, squats, things of that nature. because imagine 40 years in a cage, you know. it takes a ...

They get their haircut. then theyre photographed and fingerprinted. >> okay, starting with your right thumb, roll your fingers across the scanner. >> eaten. >> in an effort to avoid violent confrontations later, every inmate is evaluated and classified according to his history of violence outside and inside the penal system. >> enemies? >> none. >> gang banger? share a cell with another man, no problem? >> thats all right with me. >> okay, thank you. >> as long as were compatible. i dont want yo...