Page 14 - Convict Code News Today

Inmates are one that would tell in a minute. theyre rats. im a straight convict. im not an inmate. >> robert spears was your typical convict. he had done a lot of time. he had lived very distinctly by the convict code and he was very accepting of his situation. he didnt complain. he didnt blame anybody. he was a tough guy. >> when i came to prison, i was a kid. i had to do what i had to do to survive and im not proud of the things sometimes that i had to do. some people has to be hurt, ive been ...

They think that badge gives them power, that badge is only an illusion of power. that power can be stripped and taken away in a moments notice. >> and you help them see? >> no, allegedly. >> yes, alejandro was playing a cat and mouse game, absolutely. part of it it could have been the convict code not to reveal too much information, and part of it could very have been the fact that he was kind of delighted to be out of his cell and able to have this exchange and kind of get people going. >> but ...

On-camera interview. theres a convict code that many of these guys have to live by. and part of that code is to not reveal too much information. the most challenging part of interviewing alejandro steele was when i started asking him about his most visible crime. >> that crime occurred while steele was serving his original sentence and got him an additional 23 years. it was an assault that he carried out literally in front of a jury of his peers. >> i saw basically the whites of his eyes and i s...

Switched when it became an on-camera interview. theres a convict code that many of these guys have to live by. and part of that code is to not reveal too much information. the most challenging part of interviewing alejandro steele was when i started asking him about his most visible crime. >> that crime occurred while steele was serving his original sentence and got him an additional 23 years. it was an assault that he carried out literally in front of a jury of his peers. >> i saw basically the...

Inman got the message in no uncertain terms. >> apparently another inmate or two went into his cell and put some knots on his head and said dont be giving us anymore heat over here. we seen inman a day or two later, of course, he wont tell what happened or what it was over or anything like that, because thats a convict code. but we know what it was over. i got enough people out there telling me what it was over. >> and now things are about to heat up even more for inman as the prison disciplinar...

Inman got the message in no uncertain terms. >> apparently another inmate or two went into his cell and put some knots on his head and said dont be giving us anymore heat over here. we seen inman a day or two later, of course, he wont tell what happened or what it was over or anything like that, because thats a convict code. but we know what it was over. i got enough people out there telling me what it was over. >> and now things are about to heat up even more for inman as the prison disciplinar...

Shoes. >> two weeks after his brutal stabbing, ellerman has returned to general population. >> i was stabbed ten times. i think i won the fight, he won the war. >> stafford received a year in the hole despite ellermans refusal to cooperate with the investigation. its all part of the convict code. >> im a convict. you dont tell nothing. thats just the way it is. i mean ive got to live here the rest of my life. i dont want anybody thinking that im weak, that im going to talk, that im going to say ...

With inmates, they made it clear, if another inmate attacks me, they will not come to my aid. thats against the convict code. other prisons inmates told me they will protect me. ive even been told they are watching me to make sure nobody hurts me. >> in certain high security housing units, lockup field teams are required by the prison to wear stab proof vests before entering. >> the first time i put on a stab vest was in indiana at wabash valley and it was an uneasy feeling knowing i needed to w...

Here he kind of was bragging about that incident and how he came forward and gave us the information, and vazquez said, well, youre a snitch. started from there. and escalated. >> vasquez says he was honoring the long-standing convict code which says snitches should be punished. >> technically it is snitching. he kept calling me a bitch. we start, you know, had lunch and i was like, you a bitch, man. [ bleep ], the detectives. >> that was the right thing for me to do, was to tell them. if anybod...

Ive never felt in danger because of the bond that i feel like we have with these inmates and understanding of why were there and what were there to achieve. having said that though, im not naive. there is always the possibility that something could happen. >> were told we have to prepare for that. but we always have staff around us and the case of doing a one on one interview, i tend to get fairly close to the person im interviewing because its how i can engage and have communication. and ive al...