A jury in Vermont acquitted a woman of attempted second-degree murder charges last month after she was caught on camera attacking a police officer with a knife, Times Argus reports.

Jennifer Berube and her husband John MacLean 111 were arrested and jailed Dec. 27, 2012, on charges of possessing a stolen credit card. Soon, however, Berube’s charges escalated after she attacked Rutland City Police Officer Damon Nguyen in the police station.

The shocking video from the attack clearly shows Berube coming up behind Nguyen, who is sitting at a desk in the booking area, and pulling a knife across his throat. The two struggle following the attack before two other police officers come to Nguyen’s assistance. The officer was said to have suffered a cut near his jugular vein in the attack.

Berube, a former RN, who became addicted to heroine, said she just wanted to scare the cop into giving her the keys to a cell, where she believed she could hear her husband trying to hang himself.

I thought if I just showed him the knife and scared him he would give me the keys,” she said. “It didn’t make much sense, but I wasn’t thinking rationally at the time.”

How did the jury come to its astounding conclusion? Apparently, Berube had a great defense, which allowed her to testify details of her drug-filled past, complete with near brainwashing on the part of MacLean, who met his future wife in an unsuccessful stint at a drug rehab clinic.

I’ve done a lot of terrible things because of my addiction, but in my life I’ve never tried to harm anyone and that includes Officer Nguyen,” she testified.