01x25 - Family In Crisis (Part 1)

[bunniefuu]

-You went on a trip to Florida?
-Yes, we did.

These two come into the room,
belligerent, drunk, yellin' at me,

foamin' at the mouth,
tried to fight me in the room.

Did you have anything to drink?

We had a glass of wine.

-Or maybe two?
-Maybe two.

[laughs]
That's-that's hysterical.

[Narrator]
This is Judy Justice.

[♪ dramatic music]

[Narrator] Ericka Andrews
and her cousin, Shakeena Hardrick,

are suing former friends
Crystal Young and her daughters

for as*ault, vandalism,
and harassment.

[Kevin] Court, come to order.
All rise.

[Judy] Be seated, please.

-Good morning, Judge.
-Good morning.

Case 10-39, Andrews, Hardwick
versus Young, Thompson.

Can I have just the moms, please?

And daughters can have a seat.

So, let me tell you that
before this, I read the case.

I read both of your cases, your complaint
and your answer, your counterclaim.

And before I came in today,

my security detail
said to me that this was

what they call here
a high-security case,

because there's lots of bad feeling
between your two families.

So, let's agree to do this today.

-[Judy] All right?
-All right.

It's my job to try to make it better.

And I take that job very seriously.

So, let's try to keep
the level of discourse civil

because there was a time
when, according to what I read,

that you were all good friends. Right?

Yes, Your Honor.

And that's much better
than being enemies.

Yes.

Better for your blood
pressure... [laughs] ...right?

-Better for your peace of mind.
-Yes.

[Judy] The world is
in a state of panic and fear.

So, we don't need to contribute
any further angst.

So, let's see
if we can make it better.

According to what I read, you two women
have been friends for 20 years.

-[Crystal] Yes.
-We have.

[Judy] So that you were actually kids
when you started to be friends.

How old are you?

I'm 24.

Twenty-eight.

-[Shakeena] Twenty-nine.
-[Judy] Okay.

[Judy] And your girls,
these are your daughters?

No, this is my cousin.

-[Judy] Cousin.
-Those are my daughters.

-[Judy] Daughters.
-[Crystal] Yeah.

[Judy] They were little
and all sort of got along.

You went on a trip to Florida
as a family, both of you.

-Yes.
-[Judy] And your cousin?

-[Ericka] Yes.
-[Judy] And your daughters?

-[Crystal] Yes.
-I don't know what happened in Florida.

And I don't know whether it's
gonna make it better or worse,

but I have to have
some sort of background.

If you went on a trip to Florida together,

and you live, according to
your papers, in Philadelphia?

Yes.

When did you go on the trip to Florida?

We went on a trip
for Florida for Christmas.

We left December the 23rd.

And was it just this group that went?

No, it was actually a group of 21 of us.

I had a party of 17 on my own.

[Judy] And how many people
were in your party?

Myself and my four daughters.

[Judy] Did you all stay
at the same hotel?

-[Ericka] Yes, we did.
-[Crystal] Just not in the same building.

-[Judy] But in the same hotel?
-[Crystal] Yes.

[Judy] You want to start telling me
about the incident in Florida

that started this negativity going?

I was the one to ask everybody

did they want Shakeena
to pay off one card,

then everybody pay in separately.

We all was in agreement of saying yes.

Everybody agreed to put it
on one credit card...

uncross your hands because... better.

So, it was agreed to put it
on your cousin's credit card.

-Yes.
-[Judy] And everybody would pay...

...for their share.
Okay, go ahead.

Okay. So, that night,
I collect everyone's money.

That night, we were all in my apartment

'cause they lived in another building.

We all was agreeing to pay
Shakeena the $26 per person.

And what did that cover?

It cover, we did aquarium
and a museum.

Okay.
And that was just the tickets?

That was just for the tickets, yes.

[Judy] Okay, great.

So, that was just tickets
for those two functions.

And that was that day
or the next day?

That-that was on December the 26th.

Okay, so you were in,
and there were no incidents

between December 23rd
and December 26th?

Uh, no.

So, everything was,
was everything fine between

the 23rd and the 26th?

-No, ma'am. It was not.
-[Judy] Okay.

So, you think that difficulty
started before the 26th?

Actually, the difficulty started
once we arrived.

It was a shift in Mrs. Andrews'
demeanor and attitude.

At the airport, we were sisters.

We took pictures.
We were sisters.

It was a-a warm greeting.
Once we arrived in Florida,

her whole demeanor changed,
her whole everything changed.

The first day we arrived, I wanted
to take her son, Jalen, out to the pool.

She told me no, Jalen couldn't go.

Before, prior before that,
she already took Jalen away from me.

We were, you know,
we've been dealing with,

we raised our kids together.

We have a long history
in raising our kids together.

Uh, once we got there,
Miss Andrews and her party,

everyone that she invited in her party,

you know, it was just...
the whole demeanor just changed.

Her whole demeanor changed.
She started treating me nasty.

[Judy] Just a second.

But that was so unlike her,
according to what you tell me.

Yeah, it's deeper than that,
than just this trip.

[Judy] Okay. Did you think that
there was any jealousy?

From the way I feel,
I'm going to be honest,

I've always felt like she had
some jealousy towards me.

[Judy] But managed
to keep it in check?

No, ma'am.
I felt like she was my friend.

I felt like we were family
more than just friends, but family.

So... and sometimes,
family gets annoyed with family.

[Crystal] What I mean is,
I-I'm just saying,

it can go both ways
between the both of us.

Okay. So I mean, the case is,

each one of you is claiming as*ault
by the other and your kids,

and vandalism of your property
and harassment.

I have that from both of you.

-That's what the case is about.
-[Crystal] Yeah.

And I'm trying to get to
what happened.

So, you got a sense that
she changed in her attitude

from the time you left the airport

until the time you landed in Florida,

there was something wrong.

You knew that you
didn't do anything wrong.

Yes.

Did something happen,
Miss Andrews,

on the flight or at the airport,
that rubbed you the wrong way?

No, Your Honor.
We had a wonderful flight.

I have pictures
that we enjoyed ourselves.

I cooked Christmas dinner
for everyone.

Everyone came to my condo.

These young ladies
was at my condo every day.

I had no idea that nothing was wrong.

Okay. And, you know,

you had this large group
of 17 together.

Was that emotionally draining,

having to run herd on 17 people?

No, because everyone
was, they were grown,

with their own children
or grandchildren.

So, I didn't see anything
out of the ordinary.

Everybody was there
with their children.

Okay, so you didn't have
any negative feelings at that time

-towards the defendant.
-Not at all.

[Judy] And do you remember
the incident she's talking about

when she wanted to take
your son to the pool?

Well, that was actually
before the 26th,

and at that time, someone
who went on a trip was,

that was at my party,
had an accident

with their grandchild with the pool.

So, at that time,
we were already waiting

to resolve the issue
about a little person

having an incident
in the pool with us.

So, at that time, we wasn't
not into going out or anything.

There wasn't no attitude.
I just said he couldn't go.

[Judy] Okay.

[♪ dramatic music]

These two come into the room.

I couldn't understand
nothing she was saying.

She was belligerent, drunk,

yellin' at me, foamin' at the mouth,

and she tried to fight me in the room.

So, now I'm seeing
that something not good

happened in Florida.

[♪ dramatic music]

[♪ dramatic music]

[Narrator] Ericka Andrews
and her cousin

Shakeena Hardrick
claim their former friends,

Crystal Young and her daughters,

assaulted them
and vandalized their property.

The defendants
are countersuing for as*ault

and property damage.

So, somebody in your party

had a little child who had
an accident in the pool?

Yeah, she almost drowned
in the pool, so, you know,

we just stayed in the room
until we heard how the baby

was going to do before we
started going out on activities.

Mind you, which that was
the first day we got there.

So, what Crys...
what's Young just talking about,

that was a... during that time,
we just said no,

we put all the kids in one room
with my children,

and we went to the hospital.
That's how that went.

Can I please speak on that?

We arrived on the 23rd.

The 23rd, once we arrived,

we all were checked in the resort.

After we all got settled in,

I went over to Miss Andrews' room,
which is on the 23rd.

The baby actually
had the accident on the 24th,

the very next day.

This particular day I'm talking
about was the day we arrived.

When I went over there and asked
her, "Oh, no, Jalen has homework.

My son has to this, he has to do that,"

and this was her words exactly.

Normally when we arrive on vacation,

we normally rest the first day.

I said okay, I left.

I went back to my room,

my youngest daughter, which is 10,

and my other daughter,
my third daughter,

which she thought not to mention,
we all went down to the pool.

The next day, this is when this incident

that she's saying that happened
which was on the 24th, with the baby.

[Judy] Okay, so,
something was brewing.

At least from your end,
something was brewing.

Did anything more definitive
happen during this vacation?

It was the way how she was
talking to me, talking down to me,

like I guess I was
one of her kids or anything,

one of her children or something.

You know, uh, uh, I'm very respectful.

Because she gets around
a lot of people,

Ms. Andrews likes to showboat
and show off

and talk to people any kind of way,
talk down to you,

think that she's your boss,
she likes to run everything.

But she cannot run me.

If I paid my money to go on the trip,
I'm gonna do exactly what I want to do.

She's not going to tell me,
that she's not my leader.

-I'm a woman just like she is.
-[Judy] Got it.

So, aside from attitude problem,

there wasn't an overt argument?

It's been plenty of arguments,
but I've just been stayin' my distance.

But nothing like what I'm
hearing about when you came home?

Each day, it was something else
brewing more and more.

So, each day, you were getting
more and more annoyed.

No, I wasn't annoyed.
She was annoyed.

I just said I was gonna stay my distance
'cause I came to have a good time.

[Judy] You felt it was the plaintiff

whose actions were
getting more dominating?

Yes.

[Judy]
But you kept going to her room?

[Crystal] No.

[Judy]
Did you have meals together?

Only time we had a meal together,

I came over was
on that Christmas Day,

she asked me to make
the macaroni and tuna salad.

I offered to make something else.

She said, "No, just make macaroni
and tuna. We're doing the dinner,"

'cause it was a lot of other people
involved in the dinner.

I came over, we all came over
to have the Christmas dinner.

The feeling was not very comfortable,

was not like... I just ate and left.

[Judy] Now, you
came back from vacation,

and I want you to get
to December the 30th,

which is what the first incident here
we're talking about,

which is when that occurred.

I left the trip on December the 28th.

-[Judy] Was that a planned departure date?
-[Crystal] No.

[Judy] What was your planned
departure date?

Originally, I was gonna
leave on the 27th,

but my daughter and niece
arrived on the 27th,

so I said I'll give it one
more night, and stay with her.

I was going back because
I had to go back to work.

And when did you leave?

I left December the 30th.

-So, you were home a couple of days...
-Yes.

...before plaintiff got home.

I want you to tell me in your words,

but I want it to be
this level of discourse.

You know what I'm talking about?

-Yeah.
-[Judy] Not angry.

-Yes.
-'Cause life's too short.

You both seem like nice people.
Life's too short.

It's ridiculous to have
this kind of behavior

that I'm reading about
from nice people with nice families.

They plan vacations together.
Someone should keep it down.

Tell me what happened
on December the 30th.

The December the 30th, we,
they were already arrived.

So, everybody was home before me
and my children arrived home.

We didn't get home
till about five o'clock that evening.

We got out of our lift,
and we went into my home.

We shut the door.

I never seen none of these
people outside or anything.

Like if they were waiting
for me and my children

to go into the house.

We went into the house,
we shut our door.

Maybe about three minutes later,
I hear this banging on my door,

which it was Inisa Thomas-Young.

She was the one
banging on my door.

I looked out the door.

All of them were standing
around with a group of people.

Stand up. You're Inisa?

Yes, I'm Inisa.

Inisa, tell me who you
were with on December 30th?

December 30th,
um, I was at my two sisters'.

Um, my mom...

I wasn't there. I was at home.

Oh, yeah, she was.

[Judy] And what were you
going to the plaintiff's house for?

I wasn't going to her house.

I went home to my sister's house.

They was already waiting for me.

[Judy] And then what happened?

They were outside
when I pulled up,

and they started, Shakeena,
she was talking trash.

It was her
and her younger daughter.

They were talking trash
while I was...

-[Judy] Shh-shh.
-I'm sorry.

While I understand vaguely
what that means,

I would like you to tell me
what was said, not "talking trash."

What was said?

You come home
and you see this young lady here,

and who was she there with?

[Inisa] It was a bunch of 'em.

Like, it was a lot of people
from the trip.

[Judy] Okay. And your neighbors.

So, there were people there
from the trip,

and describe
what they were saying.

-I don't understand.
-If I can go back because I didn't ge...

I didn't come on the trip on the 23rd,
I came the 27th.

[Judy] I know that.

And when I came,
it was a lot of tension between,

like they would just,
I came in the room.

I came into her room,
and I spoke to everybody

and like I felt the energy

that people really
didn't want to speak to me,

but I didn't pay it no mind.

So, December 29th,

the last night before
the flight went out,

we went,
me and my younger sister,

we went to a mutual friend's
room to play some cards.

And we was playing spades,
and we needed one more player.

So, I actually went
to her daughter's room

to see if her daughter
wanted to come be my partner.

And she was actually packing up

to get ready to go back to Philly.

That's when she came in the room,

and she was mad about the comps
that the hotel gave her

in regards to the little girl, Joanna,

she felt that she should have
got more than a gift card,

and she was talking about it,
and then that's what she said,

"Inisa, I want to ask you something,"

about the argument that aspired
between Tache and her.

Okay. I didn't know
about that argument.

And before
she even asked me a question,

I said, "I wasn't there,
but from what I heard, you know,

she shouldn't have said
what she say

because like that's rude, basically."

And everyone in the room agreed
with me except for her,

she yelling, she was
talking about my mom,

she was just throwing,
like, little shots,

and I already knew
where it was coming from.

So, her daughter was packing,
she couldn't go play cards with me.

So, I, we just left.
Me and my younger sister, we left,

and we went to the mutual party's room
to go finish playing cards.

So, like an hour go past,

she calls the mutual party phone.
"Don't let them little girls

be upstairs talking trash about me,"
duh duh duh duh.

I'm like, "What are you
talking about?"

And then, two hours later,
it's like two o'clock in the morning.

Like, we drinking, we, everybody
hanging out, having a good time.

These two come into the room.

I couldn't understand
nothing she was sayin'.

And she was belligerent, drunk,

yellin' at me, foamin' at the mouth.

Shakeena, she gonna say,

"Oh, I'm here because I heard
she had my name in her mouth,

she had my name in her mouth."

And I'm confused, and I'm just like,

Where is this all this even coming from?

And she tried to fight me in the room.

Security had to come.

Okay. So, now I'm seeing that something
not good happened in Florida.

[♪ dramatic music]

Shakeena and Ericka
comin' out snapping with me.

"Where's Tache at?
She better have my... money."

They just, like, looking at Inisa,
so, yeah, I'm confused

'cause like I said, we are like family.

I'm like, I hope they ain't
doing this over $26.

Like, you cannot be serious.

[♪ dramatic music]

[Narrator] After being friends
and neighbors for years,

Ericka Andrews and her cousin
Shakeena Hardrick

have accused Crystal Young
and her daughters

of assaulting them
and vandalizing their property.

So, now, I'm seeing that something
not good happened in Florida,

because now there's a fight in Florida,

almost the last day that you're leaving.

It's actually the second one.

Like it's probably like...

[Judy] Second fight.

Did they all occur in the evening?

This was like
two o'clock in the morning.

[Judy] Morning, okay.

Everybody have a glass of wine or two,
or a beer or something?

I'm not saying anybody was drunk.

I'm just saying,
did everybody who was around

have something to drink?

Nothing.

Are you saying you didn't
have anything to drink?

No, I was not, mm-mm.
I was in my room asleep.

-[Judy] You were sleeping.
-Mm-hmm.

You've got an attitude.

[laughter]

Did you have anything to drink?

Yeah, me and her mother
and my-my, the other,

another party that was
at the trip with us.

We were coming from Applebee's.

Okay, so you'd had something to drink?

Yeah, we had dinner and we had
a-a glass of wine at the Applebee's.

-[Judy] Or maybe two?
-Maybe two.

[Judy] Okay.

[laughter]

[Judy] You know what happens
with one or maybe two,

inhibitions kind of go out the window.

What about your team?

I had left on the 28th.

This happened on the 29th.

So, you weren't there?
Had you had anything to drink?

I was drinking with a party downstairs.

Okay, so the answer is yes.

-Yes.
-That's always a bad thing.

You left...?

I left on the 30th, but when
that incident took place,

I was not there 'cause
we had my younger sister, she's 10.

I couldn't leave her in a room
unsupervised,

so I stayed with her that night.

-[Judy] And no alcohol?
-No alcohol.

I was sleeping in the room
with my 10-year-old sister.

Okay, so on the 30th,
now you're back.

Go ahead. Pick it up from there.

Your Honor, it's like so much
missed out at the beginning

because this young lady was sent
down here to start with Shakeena

because the argument started
with Tache, and she came there.

So, she came
at the last day of the trip.

That's why she stayed
an extra day 'cause she came.

So, that part right there,

they just totally
made that whole thing up.

But why don't you stand
up and let... have a seat.

Why don't you stand up
and let me try to sort out

what it was that started this
argument between the two of you?

So, you want me to speak?

-[Judy] Yes.
-Okay, so, um, with...

the incident took place
between me and Shakeena...

honestly, I'm keeping eyes with you

was instigated
because of Ericka, honestly.

It was a small incident.

Shh, just tell me what happened.

Okay, so, all right, like I said,
the incident with the child,

it was a drownin',
and, you know, the party...

You have to talk very slowly.

Okay, I talk fast.

So, um, it was an incident
with the child was a drownin'.

-So, everybody...
-[Judy] There was an incident.

I didn't understand that.

It was an incident with a child,
which was a drowning,

and, um, when that took place,
nobody didn't really do nothing.

Everybody on the trip was dealing it out.

Once the little girl
got to the hospital,

that was like around Christmas Day,

that's when everybody,
um, we had like a dinner,

um, at Ericka's house.

So, they took it upon their selves.
They didn't tell us.

Ericka is very controlling, very bossy.

She took it behind herself,
mind you, on the Groupon app,

I have Groupon in my phone.

I could have paid
$26 for my own ticket.

She just did it behind.
So, say I booked this, whatever,

everybody give Shakeena her money.

So, I said,
"I'm, I have cash in my room,

I'm just gonna give her
the cash in the morning."

So, I-I had the cash in my hand,

and I just see Shakeena and Ericka
coming out, snapping on me.

"Where is Tache at?

She better have my... money,"
blasé blasé blasé.

They just like literally
like raising hell, so yeah,

I'm confused 'cause like I said,
we are like family.

I'm like, I hope they ain't
doing this over $26.

Like, you cannot be serious.

So, you know what I'm talking about?
And, like...

You be tryin' to call, say we're petty,
we didn't send it through?

But who's the petty ones
that dragged this on for $26?

Let's keep that real.

Who-who-who really...
you draggin' us to court?

Who really look bad?

Shh, is that what she said
that was nasty about you?

Yeah, but they have my... money,
they not playin' with me.

Got it, sit down.
Got it. Sit down.

-[Tache] Okay.
-Your Honor...

[Judy] Did you say?

No, I did not say that.

[Judy] What did you say?

I didn't really say anything.

What she thought I said,
what she heard I said...

as I was coming out
of my hotel room,

Ericka was not with me.

I was walking with my aunt

who was on a trip with us,
and my son, Samir.

And she thought she heard me say,

"Well, how are they at the bus?"

'Cause we had got transportation
to take us to the events.

She thought that she heard me say,

"How they at the bus before us,

and they didn't even
give me my money yet?"

So, when I came downstairs, when I
finally got down to the ground floor

where they were standing at
in front of the bus,

Tache was like, "Oh, Shakeena,

you said Tache didn't
give you my money.

I never liked you anyway, I..."

She called me a...
[dipped audio]

"I've been wanting
to beat you up for years."

Mind you, me and her
used to be best friends.

We stopped being best friends
eight years ago

when I got pregnant with my son,

because Tache was high drama then,
always in drama.

And once I got pregnant with my son,

I just had to change my life around

so I couldn't be out in the street
doing those types of things.

So, she's always been high drama,

and I always felt like we had tension

from the moment we stopped
being friends eight years ago.

Even though we kept it civil,

there was never no exchange of words

when we seen each other,
but I always felt like

she had an underlying
tension for me.

But I always kept
a respectful relationship

between her mom and her sisters.

So, it shocked me
when Inisa came down on the 29th,

and she came down stirring drama.

Now, mind you,
I'm in my room asleep,

but she was in my cousin's room
that was adjacent to us,

saying how I don't have no job

and why I'm being petty over $26,

and I better keep the same energy
when I get back to Philly

because it's going to be
a one-on-one fight

between me and her sister.

-Even prior to that...
-[Judy] Shhh, got it.

I got it. Sit.

Sit.

No attitude.

No attitude.

Take a huge breath.

So, your son is about 8?

Yes, he will be 8 in April.

Does he ever give you attitude?

Oh, yes. He's a Taurus, like me.

[laughs]

Okay, it may be cute when he's 8.

When he's 14, you're not gonna like it.

-I know it.
-[laughter]

And I'm sorry, Your Honor. It's just like
a lot of emotion through this whole thing.

I got it.

[Narrator] To be continued.

[♪ dramatic music]

Want justice?



[♪ dramatic music]

[♪ music ends]