01x118 - Tickets and Titles Between Friends; Star-Studded Keytar Crisis

[bunniefuu]

You're an actor?

Absolutely.

What were you worried about
evading the police for?

Think before you answer me.

I don't know at all
what you're talking about.

I got in a fight.

Love it when a game plan comes together.

You're not a very good actor.

[announcer] This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Josh Deangelis
is suing his former friend,

Frederick Mariano, for the cost of a car,

parking tickets,
and a red light violation.

[Kevin] Court come to order. All rise.

[Judge Judy] Have a seat, please.

- Hello, Judge.
- How are you?

Case number 1169,
Deangelis versus Mariano.

- [Judge Judy] Thank you.
- [Kevin] You're welcome.

[Judge Judy] I'm gonna get
a little background on the two of you

who used to be friends.

- Who's that?
- My witness.

We'll see.

What do you do for a living,
Mr. Deangelis?

I'm a photographer
and a lighting assistant.

- Here in LA?
- Yup.

[Judge Judy] And you, Mr. Mariano?

I do sales consulting
for a carpet company.

How long have the two of you been friends?

We were friends for about a year.

Since about like August 2020?

[Judge Judy]
Where did you meet each other?

[Josh] He was an employee

and a friend of my former studio partner,

and I met him through him.

There came a time
when you had a car that was for sale.

- Correct.
- What kind of a car?

It's a 2007 Honda Fit.

[Judge Judy] Where did you purchase it?

I had purchased it December 2018
from a friend.

- Friend's name?
- John Carlo.

- How much did you pay for it?
- Around $3,000.

- Around?
- [Josh] Yes.

Yes, around.

No.

Uh, $3,000.

[Judge Judy] Who has the title to the car?

Frederick does.

[Judge Judy] That would be you?

I do not have the title.

The title was in the car
when it was impounded.

Uh, that's so interesting.

So you bought this car from John Carlo

for $3,000

and you sold the car to the defendant?

- [Josh] Correct.
- [Judge Judy] For how much?

[Josh] Two thousand five hundred dollars.

[Judge Judy] In what month and year

did you sell him the car for $2,500?

May of 2021, but...

That would be June of 2021, actually.

- Don't interfere.
- [Josh] I have...

Don't, don't interfere.

[Josh] I have a text message that says

he was saying that the car ran great

and then agreed the installment amounts,

May 15th, 2021, 3:29 PM.

May I see that, Kevin, please?

Okay. Everything is good.

Everything is fine. Everything is happy.

You like the way the car was running.

Mr. Deangelis says to you

on May 18th, "All sounds good.

Let's get the title handled
as soon as you can."

That was on May 18th.

I don't think it was.

I don't give a rat's behind
what you think.

That's when it was.

On May 15th, "I was just calling
to say the car ran great.

I get my car tips
from the last two nights."

What does that mean?

I don't ever remember
sending those messages.

[Judge Judy] Oh, well, then maybe
you should go to a neurologist.

"I was just calling to say
the car ran great.

I get my car tips
from the last two nights."

What does he mean by that, sir?
Do you know?

It was some sort of employment
that he had.

Something...he was just trying to make
a false promise to pay me.

"And I believe I should be
about $400 to $600

so I can pay you then. Is that all right?"

"Yeah, bro. Of course. Glad to hear it.
Just let me know."

"Absolutely, man. Thanks."

"You got it," with a heart.

"Hey, I was paid."

This is on May 18th.

"I'm just waiting for the money
to come through on PayPal.

It says pending,
but I'll have a few hundred for you

and then a couple more next week.

I'd like to try to give you two a week

- so I'll be more like six a month."
- Correct.

[Judge Judy] And you say to him,
"All good, dude.

Let's get the title handled as soon
as you can."

What happened at Target?

- What happened to what?
- Target!

What happened at Target?

[Judge Judy] Yeah.
What happened at Target?

Think before you answer me.

Think! What happened at Target?

How does that pertain to the case?

What happened at Target?

I got in a fight.

Love it when a game plan comes together.

You got in a fight with whom?

I had somebody try and jump me.

Close your mouth.

Was there a warrant for your arrest
from the incident at Target?

No.

[Judge Judy] What were you worried
about evading the police for?

I...I don't know at all
what you're talking about.

Well, how did you think
I knew about Target?

Evading the police?

[Judge Judy] How do you think
that I knew about Target?

Do you think that I'm a soothsayer?

That I have behind here a crystal ball?

- Probably not.
- [Judge Judy] Probably not?

[chuckles] It's because you're not a smart
as you think you are.

[Frederick] I was not worried
about evading the police ever.

[Judge Judy] Well, that's what you said.

You said, "I just wanted
something more secure.

I'd like not to have to worry about
evading the police every night and no..."

- Oh, okay.
- [Judge Judy] "...and no money worries."

I was working in an underground bar.

[Judge Judy] "So I'd like not to have
to worry about evading the police."

[Frederick] Yeah. I thought
you meant in interest to Target.

[Judge Judy] Okay.
Well, what kind of job at Milk?

[Frederick] A equipment job.

Just organizing things

and getting trucks ready
to go out and go into film.

[Judge Judy] Okay.

And the problem that you had
with the job at Milk was

passing the background check
because of the incident at Target?

- Absolutely.
- [Judge Judy] Absolutely.

Does that refresh your recollection
about these things

that you don't have any recollection
about writing?

Didn't he...

I'm like... [laughs]

and I thought
that this was gonna be an in-and-out.

A one-and-done.

Didn't he say he didn't have any idea
what I was referring to?

- He didn't...
- He did.

Something about, "I don't know what
you're referring to, I never wrote that,"?

That's what I thought he said.

You said, "What were you worried
about evading the police for?"

He says "I don't know at all
what you're talking about."

[Judge Judy] Okay.
So, took the car on the 15th of May.

He told you on the 18th of May
to please change the title.

You didn't change the title
and you didn't give him any money

even though you said "I'm having money
come in now from this job."

It wasn't until looks like June 9th

that you sent him $400 from Wells Fargo.

That was after you landed in Miami.

You did go to Miami, right?

I did, for two days.

You did? And where do you live regularly?

- Los Angeles.
- And how did you get to Miami?

Work.

What do you mean work?

Work paid for it.

[Judge Judy] What kind of work.

An acting job.

Oh.

You're an actor?

Is that what you do? Is that what you...

It's not what pays the bills.

Well, what job was it in Florida

that you were doing acting?

It's just a small, short film part.

- [Judge Judy] How long were you there?
- [Frederick] Two days.

[Judge Judy] Well, was that
the only time you went out of town?

No. I went out of town

after I had gave Josh a call
and tried to give the car back...

- [Judge Judy] No, no, no.
- ...I went out of town.

I went out of town from the 20...

let me see.

- [Judge Judy] You were in...
- July 21st to August 12th.

Where did you go?

[Frederick] First, I went to Hawaii,

and then I went to Spain,

and then I went to Chicago.

How'd you get all those places?

I had money saved up.

[Judge Judy] I hope this isn't an audition
'cause you're not a very good actor.

- Show me...
- [Frederick] I do not have that.

Listen, show me...

- I don't have that.
- [Judge Judy] ...an email,

show me a text where it says,

- "I tried to register the car..."
- And regardless I...

[Judge Judy] I'm speaking!
Don't speak when I speak.

[announcer] And later today...

[Judge Judy] I wanna see what you removed

in order to put your piece in.

Can you take your piece out?

No. It's very hard. You could rip it out.

[Judge Judy] There are a lot of things
that are very hard but doable.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Josh Deangelis

claims his former friend,
Frederick Mariano,

owes for the cost of a car
and multiple parking tickets.

[Judge Judy] Now, you got a lot of
tickets.

[Frederick]
I didn't get all of those tickets.

- I got three of those tickets.
- Five, Your Honor.

It would only take seven tickets...

[Judge Judy] Why didn't you transfer

the title to your name?

Because I couldn't transfer
the title to my name,

because you can't transfer the title
in the State of California

- when there's tickets on the car.
- Incorrect, Your Honor.

[Judge Judy] Show...just a second.

Show me that you made an attempt

to go to the Department of Motor Vehicles

to transfer the title to your name

and it was declined
because there were...show me...

- I do not have that.
- [Judge Judy] Listen, show me...

- I don't have that.
- [Judge Judy] ...an email,

show me a text where it says
I tried to register the car...

- [Frederick] And regardless I...
- I'm speaking!

Don't speak when I speak.

Show me an email or a text where you say

I tried to register the car.

He asked you on May 18th.

You went to Hawaii.
You went to Spain. You went to Miami.

You went to...show me,

after May 18th,

when he said
"Please get the car out of my name,"

show me where you said to him,

"Listen, man, I tried to get the car
out of your name.

I couldn't because I couldn't register
'cause it had tickets."

- I don't have that.
- Of course, you don't have that.

And you have a payment to him of $400,

which is the only payment
that you made to him.

Of $400.

And that was on the 9th.

So between the 18th and the 9th,

you clearly didn't try to register the car

because you wouldn't have made
a payment of $400

if you tried to register the car, right?

That's either a yes or a no.

Witness?

How much were the tickets?

[Josh] Six hundred and twenty-three
for parking tickets

and four hundred and ninety
for running a red light.

And how much were your tickets
that you accumulated?

[Judge Judy] Don't...just a sec.
Don't speak to him.

- Did you pay the tickets?
- [Josh] No, Your Honor.

[Judge Judy] Why not?

I didn't pay the tickets

because I hadn't received anything

from him whether it be...

Oh, well, when you pay the tickets,
you come back.

Right now, the car was auctioned off

because you parked it
in front of a red zone?

- Yeah.
- [Judge Judy] But he...I know he owes you

$2,100 for the car.

And for the red light ticket as well.

No. You didn't pay it.

[Josh] I didn't pay it
because they told me,

if I paid it, it would be a strike
on my record.

So I...

[Judge Judy] Well, then dispute it
and say it was he who was driving the car.

You'll go to traffic court.

So I signed a non-liability affidavit
on the reverse side

of that red light ticket
and sent it off in his name.

They said they couldn't process it

because I didn't have
his license number...

[Judge Judy] That's...

...and something else
on his information, birth date.

- You have your wallet?
- [Frederick] I do.

Take out your wallet.

You got a pencil?

[Josh] I have a notepad.

[Judge Judy] He is going to read to you
his license number

and Kevin is going to verify it.

Y as in you...

Yes.

[Judge Judy] So you dispute that one.
Got it?

Okay. And regarding the parking tickets.

I'm not dealing
with the parking tickets, sir.

They weren't paid.

Twenty-one hundred dollars
is what he owes you

for the balance of the car.

We're done here. Thank you very much.

- Bye.
- [Kevin] Court is adjourned.

[Judge Judy] Bye.

I'd stay with a fulltime job, sir.

The car was sold to me
with parking tickets already on it.

The truth is it had about seven on it.

I trusted him,
and everyone told me not to,

but I gave him the benefit of the doubt.

Well, he didn't know
how to drive a five-speed

when I gave it to him,
so watching him drive away,

[chuckles] you know, was a little
terrifying.

Probably no more deals with friends.

Yeah, definitely not dealing with him
anymore.

[Judge Judy] I think that these people
who sell cars privately

in installments to friends
should rethink that.

I agree.

[Judge Judy] We've had too many
of those things go south.

[Sarah] Especially without
written contracts or any real...

Right.

...legal way to hold them accountable.

[Judge Judy] Right.
You have to say to yourself,

"What could go wrong..."

[Sarah] "And what can I do
to make that not happen?"

[Judge Judy] And to prevent that.

And if that could go wrong,
it probably will.

Yeah. And be prepared for it.

Case number 1175,

Vorhies versus Rodriguez.

Please step forward.

[announcer] Zachary Vorhies
is suing his friend, William Rodriguez,

for the cost of designing
a custom keytar instrument.

Mr. Vorhies, your claim is an unusual one,

and I see that nobody
has a device to show me

exactly what it is
that you're talking about,

so you're gonna have
to do your best to explain it to me.

- You have an engineering background?
- Yes.

[Judge Judy]
And you and the defendant were friends?

Defendant is a musician
and you play the guitar.

I play piano and guitar
and a couple others.

And what I gather is

that you got together at some point

and discussed creating a device

for a guitar

that enhanced, in some way,

the experience of either playing
or listening to the guitar?

Keytar, Your Honor.

Like a blend between
a guitar and a keyboard.

[Judge Judy] So how do you...
what does it look like?

What does it...show me what it looks like.
I have no idea what it looks like.

I would love to show you that.

It's on my phone. If I could go...

[Judge Judy] Just a second.

You have it? Never mind.

So it's...

you hold it, I'm presuming sideways.

- You hold it sideways?
- [Zachary] Uh-hmm.

[Judge Judy] Okay. So you hold it
either like a guitar, or down here,

or up here, but it looks like
a piano keyboard?

Yes.

[Judge Judy] And what was it
that you were going to create

for this piano keyboard/guitar?

Your Honor, I'm a LED artist and engineer.

[Judge Judy] What's LED artist?

[Zachary] It's a light-emitting diode.

It's a...it's form
of digital lighting technology

that can be controlled with a computer.

And so the defendant approached me to...

[Judge Judy] Just a sec.

Is that what you do for a living?

I did software for YouTube and Google

as a senior software engineer.

And this was a side thing that I did.

So what you were creating
was a lighting device

for this piano/guitar?

- Uh-hmm.
- [Judge Judy] So it lit up and it...

It lit up.

[Judge Judy] Was it something
that you could attach to the keytar?

- Yes. It was attached to the keytar...
- [Judge Judy] So...

...and built into it.

We removed a piece of the keytar

and replaced it with a light array.

Do you have the keytar?

We, we...it's here, yes,
but it's not prepared to present to you.

[Judge Judy] I wanna see what you removed

in order to put your piece in.

Can you take your piece out?

No, it's very hard.

[Judge Judy] Well,
very hard is not the answer.

- [Zachary] You could rip it out.
- There are a lot of things

that are very hard but doable.

No. You can't...you can't remove it.

- [Judge Judy] Can you remove it?
- Yes.

[Judge Judy]
And how many pieces are there?

There are two pieces.

There's the light array,

which is built into the side panel,

and then there is a computer unit
that plugs in

to the MIDI output of the keytar,

which analyzes what's being played
in order to drive the lights.

[Judge Judy] Okay.

What you want is you've been unable
to come to a contractual agreement

with regard to exploiting this keytar.

And if somebody could get it...

- Kevin, if you could go out there and...
- [Kevin] Yes.

...bring it in just so I could take
a look at it.

You've been unable to come to an agreement

with regard to how to exploit this thing
monetarily.

Am I correct that you do not have
a written contract?

Yes, but we do have a memorialization

of our contributions to the project

of which the defendant
has listed by contribution.

Just put that down for a second
'cause Kevin's gonna come back

and he'll bring it up to me.

That's great. The memorialization,

which you're gonna show me,

does it list a dollar amount?

Yes, Your Honor.

When did you generate it?

January 6th, 2019.

Do you have a copy of that?

Not printed, no.

- Do you know that it exists?
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] Oh, that's a whole...

[Zachary] Yeah.

[Judge Judy] That's a whole big thing.

- But now I see it's huge.
- [Zachary] Uh-hmm.

- It's kind of why the decision to...
- All right. Kevin,

- just put it over next to the defendant.
- [William] Okay.

Did you buy that, sir?

I paid for all of the hardware
involved in this.

The keytar itself was a gift to me

from a sponsor of mine,
a music instrument maker.

[Judge Judy] But everything else there
that's built in,

with the exception
of the lighting piece that he put in?

Oh, I paid for the lights as well.

[Judge Judy] His contribution?

I paid for the hardware.

His contribution was software.

Whatever it is.
I don't know hardware, software.

Who cares?

I feel that there was a verbal contract.

I can't put a value on your work.
What you want...

He put a value on the work
and the contribution.

No. He didn't agree to pay it.

[theme music playing]

[announcer]
Zachary Vorhies claims his friend,

William Rodriguez,
owes for the cost of a custom keytar.

William is countersuing for harassment.

Kevin, there's a document that Mr. Vorhies

has that he wants to show me

where the...he says the defendant agreed

what his financial contribution was.

Do you know what this is, Mr. Rodriguez?

Yes, Your Honor.

[Judge Judy] Would you explain to me
what that is?

[William] This was a expense document

that was being made so that,

in the case, that we were able
to license the technology

that we were building together,

we would ask that this would be reimbursed

- by whoever licensed the technology.
- [Judge Judy] Okay.

So the question is, sir,

you do not have an agreement with him.

He did pay for the items

that are marked on there,

things that you had to buy.

- Uh-hmm. Yes.
- [Judge Judy] That's a yes?

So you want...what you're asking for

is for the court
to make a contract for you?

- Yes.
- That's not a contract.

That's not a contract. You're right.

So you created a device.

Software, yes. Uh-hmm.

[Judge Judy] Get a patent for it.

Courts don't create contracts for people.

That's not what we do.

We enforce contracts.

We don't create contracts.

If you created something
out of your own mind,

something that is of value,

apply to the patent office
to get a patent on it.

He's not claiming
that he invented this software.

That is correct.

[Judge Judy] That the mechanicals of it

were created by the plaintiff.

- The mechanicals and the software.
- [Judge Judy] Of the software?

Yes. That is correct.

[Zachary] Your Honor, we have a 50-50...


I gave the defendant
the option of either paying me

or allowing me sweat equity.

Courts do not create contracts for people.

Uh-hmm.

Uh-huh is not an answer.

Yes. I understand.

[Judge Judy] I mean, I would say to you,
if you can remove the device

that you put in there,
then remove the device.

It's now yours.

He doesn't have it anymore.
You say you can't remove it.

He's not claiming

that he invented anything.

You're claiming that you invented
this LED software.

Uh-hmm.

If you claim that you invented
an LED software...

[Zachary] And installed it.

[Judge Judy] Well, you installed it

- but you say you can't remove it.
- Yeah.

- Right?
- Right. Uh-hmm.

[Judge Judy]
If you say you can't remove it,

I'm not giving you that whole thing.

That was a gift to him.

Patent your software,

and then if he intends to use it
for any reason,

you'll sue him for patent infringement,

for violating your patent, if you get one.

But courts don't create
a contract for you.

That's not what courts do.

Any questions?

[Zachary] I feel that there was
a verbal contract

and I'd like to see that enforced

because verbal contracts
do have force in...

They do have,
but you want me to put a value on it.

And I choose not to do that.

I can't put a value on your work.
What you want...

He put a value on the work
and the contribution.

[Judge Judy] No.
He didn't agree to pay it.

It was an agreement that
if there was something

that happened with regard to this product

that came from your brain,

your labor effort would be worth $10,000

to that person who purchased it.

But he's not purchasing it
from you. That was never...

[Zachary] The...but the value of it
came from the design of the software.

[Judge Judy] Then what I'm telling you is

patent it,

and if he attempts to use it...

see, if you patent it,
you can make another one.

You can make 10 more.

And if he attempts to use
your patented software

without paying you

or anybody that sponsors him,

you sue him for patent infringement.

The patent game is a giant's game,

and I'm just...you know,

I don't have the resources
to get a patent and enforce it.

I've been down this road before.
I've gotten a patent.

It, it doesn't seem realistic

to be able to, you know, get some...

Well, I wanna tell you something.

- I'm not an engineer. I'm a lawyer.
- Uh-hmm.

And I tried to get something patented

that I felt was a genius idea
about 35 years ago.

Even I managed to get drawings and get...

and I'm not an engineer

and I can't draw a straight line.

So if it's too cumbersome
a process for you,

I'm sorry, you should have had
a better contract.

I'm not making a contract
for you against him

when there was nothing in that paper
that you showed me

that obligated him

to pay you $10,000 for your labor.

Patent it. We're done.

- [Zachary] Okay.
- Patent it.

[Kevin] Court is adjourned.

- Thank you.
- Thank you.

I felt that an oral contract
would be binding,

but the judge disagreed
and I'm gonna accept that decision.

He has been a good friend to me
in the past,

and this was pretty sad
to have to deal with this.

I agreed to forego payment

in exchange for a 50-50 split.

There was artistic conflict.

All I wanted was 10 days out of the year

to be able to use the device as I saw fit,

and he was basically saying no,
I can't have it at all.

All that I wanted to do was talk about

why he wanted to use it or the details

of what he was gonna be doing
while he used it,

and that was unacceptable to him.

He took advantage of me.

I don't think that I'm going
to engage with him again.

I'm ready to move on.

So I have a friend, Taylor,
that I go to law school with.

And she is an engineer.

And now she's in patent law.

And it is some
of the most specific, finicky...

- [Judge Judy] Technical.
- ...technical laws.

Any regular lawyer can't just dip
their toe into patent law.

It's a...
it's a really complex environment.

There's no question he knows
how to do the process

because he said he's tried
the process before.

And I had this idea for a screen

something to open windows

and have a screen attached,

and sent a prototype
into the patent office.

- You can do that.
- [Sarah] Uh-hmm.

People do that all the time.

Even people who aren't engineers.

So if he's invented
something that's valuable,

he should patent it

or, at least,
make an attempt to patent it.

But courts aren't in the business
of creating contracts...

- Uh-hmm.
- ...for people.

And these two people
really never had a contract.

They had an agreement
that if something was sold,

they would be 50-50 partners.

A contingency more so than a contract.

It, it wasn't...
well, well, it wasn't sold.

[Sarah] Uh-hmm.

[Judge Judy]
So...we don't create a contract.

- [Sarah] Yeah.
- Interesting.

And I learned what a keytar was.

[announcer] Want justice?


[theme music playing]