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 saw him coming at me. i didn't see his hands, but he moved relatively quickly on me and i feel -- i feel a punch in my chest. >> in 2001, steele was in court acting as his own attorney for allegedly throwing urine on a correctional officer. during a lunch break, steele extracted a plastic shank from his anal cavity. when he returned to the courtroom, he attacked chief deputy district attorney a.j. salazar. >> i remember i was wearing a white shirt, my tie was off to the side, and i looked and there was a hole in my shirt and i was bleeding.