Carlee Russell's Mom Confronts Journalist Outside Daughter's Court Hearing: Watch

A brief altercation occurred outside the courthouse where Carlee Russell was found guilty of reporting a false abduction. Russell and her family were being escorted to their car when they were confronted by self-described "gonzo journalist" Jonathan Lee Riches. As Riches asked questions about Russell lied and why she attempted to blame a white man, Russell's mother appeared to push Riches' phone out of the way. Riches immediately turned on her, repeatedly asking, "Mrs. Russell, why did you push my phone?"

However, while people online didn't excuse Russell, they weren't exactly on Riches' side. "The fact that he’s throwing “white man” in there….as if they haven’t been doing it since the beginning of time 🤌🏾," one person said. "The PERSON W/ THE PHONE TALKING was AGGRESSIVE! He might be a blogger with his lack of journalism etiquette!" another argued. Furthermore, people objected to both Riches and The Neighborhood Talk, who reposted the video, characterizing Russell's mother as "aggressive". "Wait not the caption saying she was aggressive. The mom wasn’t aggressive. Whew. The black woman being called aggressive," one person lamented.

Russell To Appeal Guilty Verdict

Russell was found guilty in municipal court earlier this week and could face up to a year in prison for what she did. However, the attorneys are now appealing the ruling, especially as they do not believe that jail time is in appropriate sentence. "We don't think jail time for a first-offender with a class A misdemeanor is reasonable because that just doesn't happen," attorney Richard Jaffe said.

However, there is precedent for a jail sentence. In 2016, Sherri Papini of California was given an 18-month jail sentence for faking her own kidnapping. That result in a three-week, multi-state search. In Russell's case, local police chief Nick Derzis said he was frustrated that Russell had only faced two misdemeanor charges. However, Derzis also acknowledged that the law did not allow for enhanced charges to be brought against Russell.

[via]