01x115 - ATV Crash/Relationship Phone Slam

[bunniefuu]

You had a bad accident.

You were hospitalized, pretty serious.

Yeah. I was driving,
and the brakes didn't work.

It was a hit-and-run.
It was a hit-and-run.

- He admitted it.
- I don't need help.

[announcer]
This is Judy Justice.

[♪ theme music playing]

[announcer] Donald Luczak is suing
his neighbor, Manuel Sanchez Villarreal,

for boat and trailer damages
caused by Manuel's ATV.

[Kevin] Court come to order.
All rise.

[Judge Judy]
Be seated, please.

Case number 1052.

Luczak versus Sanchez Villarreal.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

Mr. Luczak.

- Good morning, Your Honor.
- Good morning.

- You're neighbors.
- Pretty close.

- Who do you live with, sir?
- I'm by myself.

And, Mr. Villarreal,
who lives with you?

My family.

- Who's in your family?
- Wife and three daughters.

And this young man,
I assume, is the nephew.

[Manuel] Yeah.
He's my nephew right here.

[Judge Judy]
Does he live with you occasionally?

Yeah. Like, two houses down.

So he lives in the neighborhood,
but not with you?

Yeah. No.

This is what this case is about.

- You have a boat?
- Yes.

And in September of last year,

according to you, you were getting
the boat ready to go in the water?

Labor Day, yes.

What kind of boat is it?

It's a ski boat.

- May I see it? Do you have a photo?
- Sure.

Oh. One of those pretty fast,
very loud boats.

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy laughs]

- Very pretty.
- Thank you.

When you were getting ready
to put the boat in the water,

according to your complaint, you noticed
that there was substantial damage

- on the side of the boat?
- Yes.

Do you have a picture of the damage?

[Donald] Yes, I do.

[Judge Judy]
Yeah, that's a lot of damage.

Is this rubber from a tire,
or is that the underpaint?

That is what I guess to be
the rubber handle grip.

No, no, no.
Don't tell me what you guess it to be.

- It's a rubber stripe...strip. Yeah.
- It's a rubber...

- It's a rubber strip.
- Not normally there.

Can you tell me
what this is a picture of, sir?

It's a picture of a trailer fender

and what they call
a step on the side of the trailer.

So was that broken off?

Yes. That was part of the accident.

It was hit right there,
but I think there's a piece

that was attached later just to hold it up

and off,
in case I had to move the trailer.

- It had been welded on.
- Okay.

So when you bought it,
it had been welded on.

- Yes.
- Okay.

And because it has just been
welded on at that spot,

following whatever accident it was,
it fell down.

- Exactly.
- Okay. Got it.

And it is your belief,

because you didn't see what caused
the accident according to your complaint,

that the defendant is responsible
for the damage to your boat.

Yes. But he admitted it.

He or his nephew admitted it?

- He did.
- The defendant.

- The defendant.
- Okay.

So there were no witnesses
to this incident?

- Correct. It was a hit-and-run.
- I don't need help.

There were no witnesses to this incident?

Correct. Correct.

Okay. So you go out in September.

Remember what date it was in September
when you first saw the damage?

I discovered it on August 23rd, actually.

Was the boat covered with a tarp,
or was it uncovered?

It, it was covered with a boat cover,
a canvas boat cover,

and then a sheet of white plastic on it.

And this tire mark went through that?

Yes.

Was the cover ripped in any way?

- Yes.
- You don't have a picture of that?

It would probably be in those photos.

So the accident was severe enough
for both covers to be damaged.

[Donald] Yes. Yes.

There was a black stripe
just like the one you showed me

on the boat on the white piece of plastic

that was covering up the actual
boat cover, and the boat cover was torn.

[Judge Judy]
I see the cover, but it's pulled back.

- Yes.
- But it had a hole in it.

Oh, okay.

Okay. So what did you do?

Initially, I had no idea
what had happened.

And being that
it's on a very short, dead-end street,

there's not a lot of traffic on it.

But I couldn't forget

the children
that would ride back and forth

on that street because there's no traffic
'cause it's a dead-end street.

And so I looked at the damages,

and I thought,
"Yeah, I bet it's those kids,"

'cause he's only a few doors down.

And when I was driving past and looked,

and the ATV was there,
and the wheel was off.

Okay. So there was an ATV
that belongs to you, is that right?

- Yes.
- Who drives the ATV?

My nephew right here, Guillermo.

- [Judge Judy] Only him?
- [Manuel] Yes.

[Judge Judy]
How old are your daughters?

The older one is 9, 7, and 6...
I mean 5, sorry.

Do you ever see
the little girls on the ATV?

Those are the only ones I saw,
Your Honor.

I never saw the nephew.

I only saw the little girls.

And they were cute little girls,
and I was concerned

because they didn't have any helmets

or any protection,
and they were riding this big ATV.

How many times had you seen
the two little girls riding in the ATV?

A half a dozen times.

You gotta watch out for that,
Mr. Villarreal.

- Yeah, but...
- You understand?

- Yeah, I...
- You don't have to answer me.

Okay.

What your neighbor says

is that your two girls,

nine and seven,
probably when you're not looking,

hopefully when you're not looking,
they take out the ATV.

- Okay.
- Or did.

He said he saw it.

There would be no reason for him

to tell me that
he saw the two little girls

because he doesn't claim that
the two little girls caused the damage.

But he said he's seen them riding it,
which is problematic.

- You understand that?
- Uh, yes.

Okay.

Okay. So now you're thinking these
two little girls were riding their ATV.

And there it is sitting there.

It's got a wheel off.

When you saw it previously,

how soon within the previous
six months did you see the girls riding?

No. We're, we're talking weeks.

- Weeks?
- Yeah.

- Okay.
- I saw them riding it.

They weren't riding it.
I saw the damage.

- I saw the ATV with the wheel off.
- Okay.

And so you sort of
put two and two together?

- Exactly.
- Got it.

And then what did you do?

[Donald] I called the sheriff,

and the sheriff went over
and knocked on his door.

[Judge Judy]
Tell me what happened.

- Basically, he admitted...
- No. I don't wanna hear basically.

I wanna hear, "Knocked at the door.

Mr. Villarreal came to the door."

Uh, I can't quite give you that detail,

Your Honor,
because I stayed in the police car.

Well, then you can't tell me
what was said, sir.

- If you haven't...
- Well, he did come down to the boat...

after that,
and I was with him at the boat.

Okay. So after the sheriff
came out and spoke to him...

- Yes.
- ...Mr. Villarreal came to your home?

Came to the boat,
the scene of the accident, with...

Okay.
Well, the boat is on your property.

It's on the street
in front of my house kind of thing.

So he came to the street
where your boat was parked.

- Exactly.
- And that was the same day

- that the sheriff was there?
- That was the same day that I...

- Had the sheriff?
- Yes. Exactly.

Okay. Tell me about the conversation
that you had with Mr. Villarreal.

[Donald] We started just looking
at the damages and...

- Was the sheriff with you?
- Yes. The sheriff was there.

Okay. Was there sheriff there, sir?

- Actually, it's the highway patrol...
- Shh, shh, shh.

Sorry.

Was there law enforcement there?

- Police, yeah.
- One officer?

Just one officer, yeah.

And you and the plaintiff

- went over to look at his boat?
- Mm-hmm.

Do you remember
what the officer said to you at the boat?

Well, I don't really remember.

Okay. You don't remember.

- Yeah.
- Do you remember?

I just remember
he admitted that his nephew

had done it,
and it wasn't the little girls.

But he took responsibility for it
at that time.

You don't remember exactly what he said?

- Not the exact wording, Your Honor.
- Okay.

[♪ dramatic music plays]

It's really very lucky,
'cause if the brakes don't work,

instead of this being
just an inanimate object like a boat,

it could have been your 9-year-old...

- Yeah.
- ...that it didn't stop for.

So you're really very lucky.

[announcer]
And later today.

That's when she came in my house
with her foot between my front door.

- [Judge Judy] And?
- We did get a little physical.

And... about to call the police,
but she broke my phone.

[Judge Judy]
How did she break your phone?

[♪ theme music playing]

[announcer] Donald Luczak claims
his neighbor, Manuel Sanchez Villarreal,

is responsible for boat damages

after Manuel's nephew crashed his ATV.

- Did the police prepare a report?
- [Donald] No.

And they did so at my request

because of the fact that he informed me

that if he had taken a report,

he would have to arrest the defendant
for child endangerment.

[Judge Judy]
Tell me your first name.

Guillermo.

- You had a bad accident.
- Mm-hmm.

- Not... "uh-huh" is not an answer here.
- Yeah.

Do you remember
the date of your accident?

- August 15th.
- You were hospitalized.

- Pretty serious.
- Yeah.

I cracked my head open,
and I got a little concussion.

Where did that happen?

Next to the boat on the road.

How long had you been
driving the ATV that day?

Like, an hour.

[Judge Judy]
How did the accident happen?

Uh, there were cones next to the boat.

- Cones?
- [Manuel] Like orange cones.

- Orange cones?
- [Guillermo] Yeah.

There was like, uh, four of them.

- [Judge Judy] Around the boat?
- Like... Yeah.

And I was driving,

and the ATV didn't brake or didn't turn,

'cause recently
there was a problem with the ATV.

What was the problem with the ATV?

Uh, the brakes didn't work.

That's not a little problem.

That's a big problem
if the brakes don't work.

- Mm-hmm.
- How long had it been

that the brakes didn't work?

I think the first three days.

And then my uncle went to go fix it
with the guy that he bought it from.

And the guy said that it was all right.

And after that, I went to drive it

'cause it was already fixed,

and the brakes still,
still didn't work but I didn't know.

Did you pass out?

Were you aware of what happened
to you after the accident?

The ATV flipped
once I crashed into the cones.

Well, you crashed into the cones
and then crashed into the boat.

No... well, I don't know 'cause...

You don't know
because you were injured?

I fell...I fell down.

Were you taken by ambulance?

[Guillermo]
No. My parents took me.

[Judge Judy]
How did you get to your parents?

My dad, he was outside when I fell,

and he went running to me.

So he was close enough to you
to see what happened...

- [Guillermo] Yeah.
- ...or to hear the accident?

Mm-hmm.

He took you to the hospital?

Yeah. Uh, my dad and my mom.

How long did you spend in the hospital?

Just, like, a half a day.

[Judge Judy]
Is that how the wheel fell off the ATV?

Yeah. The quad flipped once I hit
the cones and the wheel came off,

so then I didn't know
where the wheel went.

Easy.

May I see the bill for repairs, please?

Mr. Villarreal,
who did you buy this ATV from?

Some guy from Victorville.

- How much did you pay for it?
- Two thousand.

When you took it back to them

because you said something's wrong
with the brakes,

did they do any work on the brakes

or did they just say the brakes were okay?

Well, yeah, he's supposed
to be working the brakes.

And then the second day when I got home,

he started using, and then that...

you know, that started the damage again.

And then I call the guy again
and take it to him,

and then I say, "You know,
I need my, my money back."

The guy said,
"No. I can fix it again for you."

He fixed it,
and then when I bring it home again,

he started using again,

and that's when
the, uh, the accident happened.

Is this a store that you bought it from
or a private person?

To be honest,
it's a guy from Facebook.

I saw the page on Facebook,
and then he's got, like, a dealer.

- Oh.
- Yeah.

- He's a dealer?
- Yeah.

Supposedly, he's got a lot
of motorcycles for sale. I mean...

Well, when you went there
to pick up the ATV,

is it a store, a lot?

No. It's a normal house.

- Okay.
- He's got...

- [Judge Judy] Okay.
- ...you know, the motors outside.

- Mr. Villarreal.
- Yes?

You're very fortunate that he wasn't

more seriously hurt than he already was.

This is your responsibility.

Not only did your ATV cause the damage,

but it's even more serious
'cause you were aware

that there was something wrong.

And if you had taken it in twice
for brakes before I...

- How old are you?
- Fourteen.

Before I would let
a 14-year-old ride this thing,

I would put on a helmet
and take it out myself

and says, "Gee, you know,
I've taken it back twice already.

Let me see if it's okay."

You wanted your money back.

I mean, it's really very lucky
'cause if the brakes don't work,

instead of this being
just an inanimate object like a boat,

it could have been your 9-year-old...

- Yeah.
- ...that it didn't stop for.

So you're really very lucky.

Judgment for the plaintiff
in the amount of 3,365.

Thank you very much.
We're finished.

- Thank you.
- [Kevin] Court is adjourned.

Well, it was a week before Labor Day.

I was just getting my boat ready to go,

and then one day
there was a bunch of damage to it.

I mean, if she say I'm wrong,
I'm, I'm guilty.

They said,
"Oh, okay. We'll pay for it.

No problem. We did it."

And then, you know, they didn't pay.

He's got a...you know,
kind of pain...head pain.

And then, uh, he went to the hospital.

Well, my concern was the two little girls

that rode with no helmets,
no protection, and no supervision.

No, I take it back, yeah.

And it's...you know,
even on a quiet street,

you can't do that on the street,
and that's what they did.

If my memory is correct, you had ATVs.

We used to, but, uh, we couldn't ride them

unless there was a parent outside,

the helmet, the neck brace,
sometimes kneepads,

only in the backyard
where they could see us.

So it was surprising to hear that
he allowed his 14-year-old nephew

to drive it seemingly out of view
and with no supervision,

especially without a helmet.

And with no helmet.

And what I found interesting,
which was also troubling,

that he had a 9-year-old
and with a 7-year-old, no question,

were driving around
in something dangerous, you know?

Life has its own built-in dangers
that you can't expect.

And I think that the lesson
is there for every parent,

that you really have to be vigilant

and just use your common sense,

that you don't let a child be involved
with a huge piece of equipment

without supervision
and certainly without protection.

Good lesson.

Case 1094.

Bethea versus Hayes.

All parties, please step forward.

[announcer] Damiyale Bethea
is suing her former girlfriend,

Jasmine Hayes,
for cellphone damages and an as*ault.

Ms. Bethea,
the case is really a simple one.

- Mm-hmm.
- You and Ms. Hayes

dated for a period of time.

Then your relationship ended
at some point.

According to you,
you got together for a brief day.

- Mm-hmm.
- [Judge Judy] And during that day,

- an argument ensued.
- Mm-hmm.

And during the course of that argument,

according to you,
Ms. Hayes assaulted you.

You were not seriously injured.

But what you're really suing for
is for a phone that was broken...

- [Damiyale] Mm-hmm. Yes.
- ...during the incident.

And it is your claim
that Ms. Hayes broke the phone.

So your lawsuit seeks
the replacement of your phone?

- [Damiyale] Yeah.
- Is that the phone?

Well, I had this at the replacement.

- Oh, that's the replacement?
- Mm-hmm.

So the phone was broken?

- Yes. I had to get a replacement.
- Okay.

[♪ dramatic music]

[Jasmine] So when
she was throwing punches at me,

I was in disbelief that she was hurting me
that way, like physical fight,

and I defend myself
towards the end of the fight.

And then I just know
that she didn't care about the fight.

She just wanted the phone to be fixed.

Okay.

[♪ theme music playing]

[announcer] Damiyale Bethea
claims her former girlfriend,

Jasmine Hayes,
owes for cellphone damages.

Damiyale also claims
she was assaulted by Jasmine.

Tell me on what date
this incident took place?

August the 19th.

And how long had it been
since you and Ms. Hayes

were no longer in a relationship?

Hmm, since 2019.

What happened on August 19th
that brought the two of you together?

She came to my house.

And I was, um...

- Unannounced?
- Well, I didn't know she was coming.

I was about to go to Sam's,
and she just came.

- She just showed up?
- Yeah.

- So, unannounced?
- Yeah.

[Judge Judy] She didn't
call you first or text you first?

Well, she didn't tell me she was coming.
We was texting.

And I said, "Okay, well,
enjoy your, your rest of your day."

[Judge Judy] Okay. So you were
texting that day on August 19th?

- Mm-hmm. Yes. Yes.
- Okay.

How long had it been
since you'd seen each other?

- About a month.
- But on the 19th...

you did have communications via text.

I assume somebody
has those text messages.

- I guess she does. I don't have them.
- Do you?

- Yes.
- Yeah?

I have some messages.

I don't know if it's from that day,
but I have messages.

August 19th. It's the only one...
take your hands out of your pockets.

It's the only ones
I'm concerned about, August 19th.

Okay. So, she comes over,
and you're on your way to Sam's Club?

Mm-hmm.

Can you walk there
or do you have to drive there?

Well, I drove,
and I told her she can ride with me,

but she followed me in her car.

Question, Ms. Hayes.
Was there any reason

that you came over
to see Ms. Bethea that day?

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] Yes?

And what was the reason?

To hang out with her and see her
because it was like a month.

- Now, she was going to Sam's Club.
- Yes.

- You followed her in your car?
- No.

- You went with her in her car?
- No.

[Judge Judy]
You didn't go with her at all?

You don't know anything
about Sam's Club?

Oh, yeah, we did go to Sam's Club.

Yeah, I just remembered.

It's 'cause I'm, I'm really busy,

so I don't really keep up
with all that stuff. I don't remember.

But I remember now we went to Sam's Club,

and I bought some green tea and water,

and she bought whatever she bought.

[Judge Judy] When was
the last time you saw Ms. Bethea?

[Jasmine] That day.

- You have a police report?
- Yes, I do.

[Judge Judy]
I'd like to take a look at it.

Did you get a restraining order?

No, I have never... I didn't get it.

- You didn't feel as if you needed it?
- No.

'Cause she didn't come around after
August the 19th, so I didn't get one.

[Judge Judy] Tell me
what happened on August 19th.

[Damiyale] Well, she came to my house.
We went to Sam's.

And she followed me to Sam's.
We got the water,

and I told her in the parking lot
that this is it.

Like, I don't wanna be with her,
'cause when I'm around her,

I have a bad energy around her.

So I told her, "This is it."

That's when she followed me
to my apartment

and told me she wanted to get
something out of her trunk to give me.

And that's what she did. She gave me
something out of the trunk and then she...

- What did she give you?
- A piece of paper, like coupons...

and like a paper with like
a little love thing on there.

[Judge Judy] Were you outside?

- Yeah. I was outside my house then.
- And what happened?

And from there, I guess,
we, we started talking outside,

and I told her,
"Well, you can go home now."

And that's when she came in my house
with her foot between my front door.

And?

Well, of course, I protected
myself 'cause she came in,

so we did get a little physical.

And at the end of that physical,

I was about to call the police,
but she broke my phone.

- How did she break your phone?
- She smashed it on the table.

Did you get into a fight
about you holding the phone

and looking at your phone
while you were talking?

She said I'm always in my phone.

Ms. Hayes indicates in her answer.

- I'm just not excusing...
- Mm-hmm.

- ...any of the conduct that I'm hearing.
- Okay.

She says that you got into an argument

and that you were looking at your phone,

and she had a conversation
with you that went something like,

"You should put down your phone
when you're talking to me..."

- [Damiyale] Yeah.
- "...because our relationship

- is worth something trying to save."
- Yes.

- Did she say that to you?
- She said...yeah, she did.

Is that when she grabbed the phone?

She grabbed it and slammed it
on the table at that point.

[Judge Judy] Okay.

The phone, that's all I'm interested in.

- Tell me about the phone.
- I don't know.

It... I know, but it happened
during the... midst of the fight,

when she was throwing punches at me.

I was in disbelief that she was hurting me
that way, like physical fight,

and, uh, her phone end up breaking
during the middle of the fight.

And I defended myself probably
like towards the end of the fight.

And then I just noticed she started
complaining about her phone.

Like, after she said, "You wanna
[indistinct] something like that."

It's like very confusing to me.

And then I just noticed
she didn't care about the fight.

She just wanted the phone to be fixed.

- So...
- Okay.

That's what you wanted to hear,
about the phone.

- What kind of phone did you have?
- A iPhone 11.

Do you have a receipt for it?

- Mm-hmm.
- Okay. May I see it?

And this is just the,
the money that I had to pay

the deduction to get the phone.

Two hundred and twenty-nine dollars?

Mm-hmm.
I had to pay to get the phone.

Judgment for the plaintiff, $229.

We're finished. Thank you very much.

- [Kevin] Court is adjourned.
- What?

Um, well, I, I think she...
I need the girl to pay for my phone

that she broke 'cause she's
always destroying stuff.

It is what it is. She... I guess
she gets her $200 or $29 extra.

I don't know.

Everything she destroys.

Every time we get into it,
she has to destroy something.

What I'm thinking is
you're trying to take money

for a fault that...like,
that's your responsibility.

Why should I baby you
and give you money for your phone?

She's negative.
And me being around her,

I always get angry
because it's always something.

She's, uh, controlling.

To be honest,
I don't know about the future.

Just focus on me.

I think I'm just done with females.

Period.

If she wants to be my friend,
I mean, I, I could forgive her.

I don't have a problem with that.

I'm ready for positivity, most definitely.

The interesting thing about that case
is when you peel back the onion,

what it was really about is something
that I'm sure that you've experienced.

I know you've experienced it.
You'll tell me.

But sometimes if I'm trying
to have a conversation with somebody,

either with your grandfather...

- [Sarah] Mm-hmm.
- ...or a child...

- Mm-hmm.
- ...or a grandchild,

and they're engaged in their telephone

and look at you and say,
"I can still hear you."

But what you're saying
is coming from your heart,

and they're looking at the phone,
there's a frustration in that, right?

Yeah. A hundred percent.

- I know it's happened to you.
- Mm-hmm.

You have a phrase.

My, my best line is, "When you're done

and ready to engage, you let me know."

- That's my line.
- That's...right.

And I suppose that that's good.

You know, I try to explain,

it's almost like taking out a newspaper
and reading a newspaper

while someone is trying to have
an important conversation with you...

- Mm-hmm.
- ...and you say, "I can hear you."

Yeah.

But, you know,
they're engaged in something else.

Anyway, that sounds to me as if...

what was the cause of her frustration.

- Mm-hmm.
- Too bad.

- Understandable.
- Yeah.

But still, you never put your hands
on someone else's body.

And who says that?

- My mother.
- Yeah.

- Number one rule.
- [Judge Judy] Yeah.

[announcer]
Want justice?



[♪ theme music playing]