02x38 - Tough Love Dad

[bunniefuu]

You asked your father
if you could move back in.

-Yes.
-She was ultimately evicted.

I told her I would do it.
I don't think she believed me.

Her behavior changed.

She can be very nice,
but there's a whole 'nother side

that is actually very scary.

We were afraid of her.

[Announcer]
This is Judy Justice.

[♪ opening theme music plays]

[Announcer]19-year-old Isabel Irwin
is suing her father, Neil Irwin,

for personal belongings.

[Kevin]
Court come to order. All rise.

Have a seat, please.

Case number 27,
Irwin versus Irwin.

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

Miss Irwin, this is your dad?

-Yes, he is.
-And you're 19?

Yes, I am.

According to what I read
in your complaint,

your parents divorced
when you were 10.

Yes.

And your father was
your primary custodian.

-You lived with him.
-Yes, I did.

Did you graduate from high school?

Uh, yes, I did.

When you were 10, 11, 12,



did you live with your father?

Uh, at the age of 15,
I moved out because...

Okay. So, at age 15,
you moved out.

Yes.

Because here you said,
"When I was 18,

my father kicked me out of
the house for no good reason."

-Yes.
-Yes, what?

Well, you've just told me that you
left the house when you were 15.

Yes, and I lived
with my mother for two years.

So, from age 15 to 17,
you lived with your mother.

Yes.

Is that because you were having
difficulty with your father?

Uh, yes.

Okay. And then you went
to live with your mother.

-Uh, yes.
-But that didn't last.

-No.
-So now, at 17,

-you go back to your father.
-Yes.

And you stayed with him
until you were 18.

Yes, correct.

So, so far, I have the fact that

your family is a little dysfunctional,

but that you had certain problems.

Um... I moved out
when I was 18, and...

Just a second.

Would that be a fair statement,

that you had some problems?

No, it would not be.

Okay. What high school
did you graduate from?

It's a school partnered
with the National Guard

for kids that are off track

to get 'em back on track.

Did you have to pay for that school?

Uh, no, they are paid by the government.

-Would you look them up for me?
-Yeah.

It's a residential program

for youths aged 16 to 18
who've dropped out of school

or who are seriously behind in credits
and need to catch up quickly.

Okay, so you were
dropped out of school?

-Uh, no.
-Or seriously behind?

Yes.

Dropped out, or behind in credits.

Okay. And how old were you
when you graduated from...?

I was 17 years old.

And so, at that point,
you moved in with your father.

Uh, yes.

And why did you leave
when you were 18?

-He had evicted me.
-Okay.

And I'd like you to tell me
your version of his evicting you

when you were 18
because this case involves

you're suing your father for things...

items that he disposed of
that were yours,

and you want this court
to award you

$7,400 for the things that
he disposed of that were yours.

-Yes.
-Okay.

So, tell me why you believe
he evicted you when you were 18.

I believe he evicted me when I was 18

because I was buying my first car,

and he got jealous of the car I had.

And he stated that when I moved
back in for the second time.

Um, he evicted me
the second time...

No, no, no.

We're on the first time
that your father evicted you,

not the second time.

The first time your father
evicted you...

I can ask him, or you
want me to stay with you?

-You can ask him.
-Fine.

Tell me why you evicted her
the first time, which you did.

The main reasons would be
that she agreed to pay rent,

which she never did.
She needed to...

-She working?
-Uh, off and on.

I'd say over the past two years,
she's probably had,

from my guesstimate,


all ranging from an hour, a day,

I think the longest being
about three months.

Can't maintain a job.

Would prefer to smoke pot
all day in her room

and hang out with her
boyfriend, basically.

Which, at the time,
for the first eviction,

she did not know Cory.

-Okay.
-But she still does the same thing.

Yeah, well, that's unfortunate.
That's what you indicate here.

So, that was the reason that
you evicted her the first time.

And that was maybe in June?

I would have filed that
June 9th of 2021.

June. Okay. But she came back
shortly thereafter, in October.

The sheriffs removed her
August 13, 2021.

Is that because you asked her
to leave and she wouldn't?

It's a three-step process,
and I had a 24-hour notice

posted to the door after 34 days.

Well, you... I mean,
she's your daughter.

-Yeah.
-So, there must have been

some discussion, Mr. Irwin,

with her, you saying to her,

"Listen, this is not working out."

There wasn't a discussion,
Your Honor.

I served her the first notice.
We talked about it.

Oh, you talked about it?

Prior to me filing.

I told her I would do it,

and I don't think she believed me.

She knew you wanted her to leave
as a result of that discussion.

-Yes.
-And she didn't.

She did not.

She had lived with you, off and on,

with the exception of two years

that she lived with her mother,

and part of it
in a residential program.

-It's a residential program, correct?
-Yes.

When she lived with you,
she was 10 years old.

Can you tell me, Mr. Irwin,
from the time she was 10

until the time she was 18
and she was ultimately evicted,

what items in the house
she purchased...

bed, TVs, anything big.

She never purchased anything.

When she came back from her mother,
what did she come back with?

I believe just a few clothes and a bag.

She had to kind of run back.

And, to the best of your knowledge,
had your daughter maintained

any sort of gainful employment
the last three years?

-No.
-So, other than

the clothes she came back
with when she was 17,

there were no big-ticket items?

Uh, there were a few by the time
I had to evict her the second time,

but I would have furnished those,

being, you know, bed set, furniture.

The bed.

Tempur-Pedic bed.
I think that's part of

what she's really wanting
out of this $7,400.

Okay, so, you purchased a bed...

-Yes.
-Because you didn't

have one in the room
where she was?

I was just trying
to take care... Yeah.

I, uh, was using the room
for my own purposes.

I lived alone
until she moved back in.

And, um, usually welcoming
of my daughter coming home,

so I furnished a room.

Okay, so that's why you
left the first time.

The first time you left

because he got annoyed
that you were hanging around

-doing nothing and smoking pot.
-I did pay rent too.

Right. Right.

-No, she didn't.
-And you're doing...

weren't doing it much.

No, I was not smoking often.

[Judge Judy] Were not
doing much, is what I said.

Yes, I had a job. I worked
at the beginning of the year.

For how many days?

I worked there
for about three months,

and then I worked as
a kennel technician for about two months.

What happened to both those jobs?

My dad, he would... he has alcoholism.

He would never let me
sleep in the room

as I was paying rent,
and he would lock me out.

-That's not true.
-He would lock me out...

[Judge Judy] Just... I... okay.

He would lock me out, and he
would flip the garage switch

so I wasn't able to get
access to the house.

I wasn't able to get clean,

so I couldn't obtain the job,

and my mental health
wasn't there for that job,

so that's why I took
the kennel technician job...

Okay.

...and that's when he evicted me.

Where are you living now?

-Uh, with my boyfriend.
-That's him?

-Yes.
-And where are you working now?

-I am unemployed.
-So, that's easy.

So, now you're not working.

Now nobody's locked you out.

Nobody's made it impossible
for you to work.

And what kind of work
does your boyfriend do?

He is construction.
I do DoorDash.

Okay. Your boyfriend
is construction.

-Yes.
-Hold old is he?

He is 20 years old.

-You're Cory.
-Yes, Your Honor.

-Who do you live with?
-Uh, my mom and her new husband.

How did I know that?

How did I just know that?

It's so perfect to be old

that, I mean,
I asked the questions.

I could have asked the questions
and answered the questions.

So, you and your girlfriend
live with your mother.

Yes, Your Honor.

-Did you graduate from high school?
-Yes, Your Honor.

And what's the name of
the company that you work for?

Uh, Landscape.

Do you work for them full time?

-Yes, I do.
-For how long?

I've been working for them
about two months now.

-Two months!
-Yes.

Prior to that, what did you do?

Um, I worked for Chewy.

-Chewy, the dog products?
-Yes, Your Honor.

What happened to that job?

Um, I just wasn't liking
the job anymore,

and I thought I could do
a lot harder work,

and that's what I strive to do,

is just continue trying to be
the best person I can.

And what does your girlfriend
do all day when you're

out in your landscaping job
for the last two months?

Um, she stays busy going to the gym

and making sure that everything is

in tip-top shape
and just bringing me lunch

when I'm on my break for... for...

And you're living
in your mom's house...

be a fair statement...

you don't have to be a math wizard,
which I am not,

because you don't have enough money
to move out into your own place.

Yes, Your Honor.

-Does your mom work?
-Uh, yes, she does.

Who else lives in the house?

Uh, her newly husband.

And you have a room
in your mom's house?

Yes, Your Honor.

-Is it furnished?
-Yes, Your Honor.

Who bought the furniture?

I bought the bed set and...

Tell me when you bought the bed set.

I bought it about two years ago

because we moved there recently.

So, what you're telling me
is you purchased a new mattress.

-Yes.
-With your earnings.

Yes, Your Honor.

And how much was it?

It was about one thousand,
five hundred.

And if you left the house,

you would want to take your mattress

-because you bought it.
-Yes, Your Honor.

You wouldn't take any of
the other furniture

in the house because
you didn't buy it.

[Cory]
Yes, correct.

Whether it's your dresser
or a TV in your room,

your parents bought that.

-Yeah.
-The mattress, you bought.

Yes, Your Honor.

Now you can sit.

[♪ theme music plays]

Show me that you gave him $3,000.

I can't figure
that you had saved $3,000.

I gave him that to purchase a mattress

because that was the time
I was purchasing my car.

How could you purchase a car?
You don't work!

[♪ theme music plays]

[Announcer]
19-year-old Isabel Irwin

claims her father, Neil Irwin,
owes for personal belongings.

Now I'm gonna sort of
pull this together.

Eventually, you move
back into the house

after an initial eviction,
and you weren't doing well,

-I assume.
-Yes.

And then you came back
a couple of months later

and asked your father
if you could move back in.

-Yes.
-And he said okay.

-Yes.
-And that didn't work out.

He was unhappy
with the arrangement.

I was paying rent before.
He just...

-No.
-He was kicking me out,

so I decided not to pay rent.

Whatever the reason,
he wasn't happy with it.

You were gone for a couple of months.

-He evicted me, yes.
-Yes.

Well, he evicted you
for a reason, Miss Irwin.

You have to stop being a baby.

He evicted you for a reason.
He took you back

'cause you went there, you said,
"I have no place to go."

I assume, without going into specifics
'cause you look a little frightened,

and I don't have to get that crazed
with you

because it sounds like
a very sad situation,

he said, "It's not working out again.
I want you to leave."

And when you left,
you did not, according to you,

take your stuff, and your father,

at some point after he received
a text message from you,

which I assume you have, sir.

I do.

Which said, "Have a nice life."

After he received that,
waited a while and disposed...

That was a statement I made

because I asked him
to help me fill up my tires

'cause they needed air,
and I saw him pull

into the Safeway parking lot
and leave with his groceries,

and he never helped me.

[Judge Judy] Okay,
so you said, "Have a nice life."

And then you want a whole bunch
of things from the house.

I want you to tell me,
with your limited work history,

which you have, hardly
enough to sustain yourself,

because in October
you came back to him and said,

"I need a place to live."

So, I want you to tell me
what you purchased.

I purchased a Tempur-Pedic bed.

And who did you purchase it from?

-My father.
-You purchased it from your father.

Yes. He made the original purchase

and said I could just give him
the money, which I did.

Okay. And how much did you
give him for the mattress?

-Three thousand dollars.
-That's incorrect.

Show me that you gave him
$3,000.

I can't figure that you
had saved $3,000.

I gave him that to purchase the mattress

because that was the time
I was purchasing my car.

How could you purchase a car?
You don't work!

You don't work!

-The first one was a cash transaction...
-This doesn't tell me anything.

-...that he made me withdraw.
-This doesn't tell me anything.

You wanna tell me...?
That tells me nothing.

You want to give that to her?

I would have to find credible,
Miss Irwin,

that you had managed
to save from your job

that you had for three months

while you claim you paid
for rent $3,000.

It was the leftover money
from me purchasing my car.

[Judge Judy] Oh! That...
I don't believe that for one second.

Okay, you want to tell me
about the mattress, sir?

Simply put, I got one for myself
when she wasn't living with me.

And the mattress I furnished
her with is a floor model.

He gave me a good deal on it.

I think it retails about 3,500,
I got it for 2,300.

My daughter and I
did have an agreement

that she could purchase
the mattress for $1,800.

However, as you may have
figured out, that did not occur.

And this was after
she moved back in October,

or when she was...?

Yep. Yes, it was.

After she moved back in October.

-Yes, Your Honor.
-Okay.

The mattress is staying
where it is. Okay.

Now let's go to dresser,
nightstand, and TV.

So, you acknowledge that none
of those things you purchased...

bed, dresser, nightstand, and TV.

-No, I did not purchase them.
-Okay. That's your father's.

"He threw out my clothes,
shoes, and jewelry."

-Now, you were evicted.
-Yes.

Was it an actual eviction?
Did marshals come to the house?

Um, no. I got served the
eviction notice on June 30th.

He illegally locked me out...

-No, no, no, no. June 30th?
-Yes.

So, on June 30th,
you were given an eviction notice

that said that you had
to be out on what date?

In 30 days.

So far, is that correct, Mr. Irwin?

That's fairly correct.
I do have the 30-day

no-cause notice to quit
that she was served.

Okay, and on what date
did you leave?

On July 1st, 'cause he
had thrown a can at my boyfriend...

Just a second.

You left on July 1st?

-Yes.
-Tell me how you left.

I packed a small bag and I had left.

You packed a small bag
that contained what?

A few of my clothes and whatever
I could grab for a few nights.

And where did you go?

To my boyfriend's house.

-So you went to Cory's house?
-Yes.

-Do you have a laptop?
-I do not.

-Do you have a phone?
-Yes, I do.

-Did you take the phone?
-Yes, I did.

You took some clothes with you
when you knew that you had

-an eviction notice, correct?
-Yes.

Tell me what jewelry you
allege your father threw out.

He threw out my necklace
my boyfriend had bought me.

-He threw out...
-Okay.

Which boyfriend?

Uh, this boyfriend, Cory.

Tell me about the necklace.

Uh, he had purchased it
for my birthday.

Okay. Stand up, Cory.

Tell me about the necklace
you purchased.

Uh, I had purchased it
from Kay Jewelers.

I had purchased it
for about $250.

-Okay. When?
-On her birthday.

-Just a little before that.
-When's her birthday?

Uh, February 20th.

-Did she wear the necklace?
-Yes.

-Every day?
-Uh, no, just on occasion.

Whenever we'd go out
and do stuff and all that.

When she came to your house
with her bag,

did you ever see the necklace again?

No, I did not, Your Honor.

[Judge Judy] Do you know
where this necklace is?

I do not.

Did you throw away a necklace?

I guess anything's possible,
because when she left

and sent me the "have a nice
rest of your life" text,

it looked like a hoarder's room, so I
guess anything could have been in there.

-Who cleaned it up?
-I did.

-Didn't see a necklace?
-Didn't see a necklace.

'Kay. Were you looking
for anything of value?

I wasn't looking for anything.

To me, it looked like old clothes

that probably hadn't been
worn in years.

I just wanted to clear out the room.

Okay. Fine, have a seat.
Other than that necklace,

what other jewelry did you have?

I had some rings I purchased
from Ojai, California,

on a trip I previously took
from my dad.

Okay. What else?

You took a bag of clothes.
What specific...

'cause you had jewelry, shoes.

I assume you took some shoes with you
because you were gonna be there...

-No, I did not.
-Well, you were wearing a pair of shoes.

Yes, I was. I was
wearing my old shoes.

Okay. When you got rid
of all of the stuff, Mr. Irwin,

you didn't go through any of it?

No, I did not.

Did you give her any notice
that she had 10 days,

two weeks, to get her stuff?

I did not give her notice.

On what date did you
dispose of all of her stuff?

It would have been around
July 20th,

about 20 days after or so.

Okay, well... but, even according
to your eviction notice,

she had 30 days to vacate.

Well, if you read
the actual eviction notice,

it's five days. After five days,

you have to file another part
of the eviction notice,

which is unlawful detainer,

meaning that she is now there illegally.

So, she left within
the five days willfully.

I'm 19 years old,
and I want to live to be 79.

And right now, that
doesn't look good for you.

I'm telling you, you look troubled

and older than your years.

[♪ theme music plays]

[Announcer]
19-year-old Isabel Irwin

has accused her father, Neil Irwin,

of throwing out her personal property.

Neil claims he paid
for Isabel's belongings.

[Judge Judy] Okay,
so you didn't file the next step.

-I did not.
-So she left within five days.

-That was...
-Yes.

And she just left the place a mess.

A mess, yes.

Okay. Who's this?

This is my mother, Janice Leonard.

Could you stand up, please,
for a moment.

Miss Leonard, how many
grandkids do you have?

Well, from Neil, two. I have six.

Did you and Miss Irwin get along?

Oh, yes. She came to...

we lived in Idaho at the time.

I had an equestrian center,
so every summer

she would be there all summer long.

We taught her to ride.
She had the best horses.

She jumped.
She was a fantastic rider.

But, as the years went on,

it was just getting more difficult.

When she turned 14, her
behavior changed drastically.

Can you describe...

I know that you moved back
to where your son lived,

and according to the answer,
he gave you a key to the house.

He was in Las Vegas on a trip...

That's correct.

Could you describe,
when you went into the house,

what Miss Irwin's room looked like?

Every time I would go over there,

the house would be worse
every single day,

and there was a very strong,
pungent smell,

so I thought the dogs
were going to the bathroom.

Her room was a total disaster.

There's clothes literally strewn...

I don't know how tall.

Twelve inches, maybe.

Nothing was ever picked up,

and one day
before Neil came back,

I said, "This place
is really smelling bad."

And later I learned that
they were smoking marijuana.

They would be in the bedroom
and giggling,

and in the bathroom together,

and when I would come,
she'd only be there

for maybe 20 minutes,
and they both would leave.

There was no respect, I have to say.

I've seen her in action,

and she can be very nice and very polite,

but there's a whole 'nother side
that is actually very scary,

to the point when she was,
years ago, 14,

my husband and I were
locking our bedroom door

because we were afraid
of her when she stayed.

Okay. Thank you.

[Judge Judy] Isabel...
is that what they call you?

-Uh, yes.
-Isabel.

Word of advice, caution.

-You're 19?
-Yes.

You look older.
That's not a compliment.

You seem like
an intelligent young woman.

-Thank you.
-But I see issues there

of blaming everyone else,
and it's very possible

that your father and your
mother and other people

share the blame in your issues.
That's possible.

But at this point in your life, Isabel,

you are just starting,

and you can either spend your life

blaming somebody else... parent,
grandparents, siblings...

for where you are, or you can say,

"I have to get myself some help,"

and put a period,
"'cause I'm 19 years old

and I want to live to be 79."

And right now, that doesn't
look good for you.

I'm telling you, you look troubled

and older than your years.

Your father looks better,
your grandmother looks better.

They look appropriate
to their age and stage,

and clearer, so I think that
you should get some help.

I also think, Mr. Irwin,
there were things in her room.

And I, believe me,
I have seen rooms like that.

You know, I have been
involved with lots of kids

and grandchildren.

Most of them grow up, and once
they get a place of their own,

they walk around
with a bottle of Windex and Bounty

and clean up after
everybody's fingerprints,

but if they're living
in their parents' house

or their grandparents' house,
they live like slobs.

Sometimes that never changes.

But, you know, there's messy,

and then there is dysfunctional,

and what you are describing
is dysfunctional,

and I think if
your daughter was honest,

she would look and she would
say that's dysfunctional.

You were in the room, Cory?

Yes, Your Honor.

Stand up.

Would you describe
your girlfriend's room

in her father's house as
evidence of being dysfunctional?

-Um...
-Not an um.

Right here, Cory.

Does her room look like your room?

No, it does not, Your Honor.

Would your mother permit your room
to look like her room?

Uh...

[Judge Judy]
Uh's not an answer, Cory.

Would your mother permit your room

where you're... that you're sharing...

to look like the room
that was in his house

where your girlfriend lived
and you stayed occasionally?

No, Your Honor.

[Judge Judy]
Okay, sit down.

You should have looked
for the necklace.

He gave me an honest answer
to everything that I asked him,

so the necklace was probably
mixed in with a load of garbage

that was there...

[Neil Irwin]
To say the least.

...that was like a hoarder,
so I'm awarding you...

Your Honor,
I have a video of the room.

...to your boyfriend $250
to go and buy her a new necklace.

Thank you very much.
This case is over.

-Thank you, Your Honor.
-[Kevin] This court is adjourned.

I agree with the judge's decision 100%.
I think it was very fair.

I think it wasn't fair.

She has so much more potential
than what she's doing right now.

I was just trying to get my belongings,

and he literally just
never wanted me to do it.

She's a great kid, in all reality.

She's just making some
wrong decisions right now.

...all made any really
bad decisions.

It's all been influenced by my father.

You know, the apple doesn't
fall far from the tree.

I hope she grows up, and I love her.

I know I need to grow up,
but he evicted me,

gave me two days, and I didn't
want to make my dad mad.

I hope you weren't talking about me
when you were thinking

of your grandchildren
keeping messy rooms.

I try and be neat and nice and organized.

Well, I wasn't thinking
about you today,

as a law school graduate,

but I do remember,

-when you were in college...
-Me as a 19-year-old.

...and you were staying with us
rather than in the dorm,

keeping your door closed
because it looked like

somebody hit your room
with a Mix Master.

[Sarah Rose chuckles]
There were just a few

too many open suitcases, I guess.

Yeah, open unpacked suitcases.

But... got older and more respectful,

and then you had your own apartment,

and I remember visiting
your apartment,

and I said,
"Who is it that lives here?"

I couldn't figure out who lived here...

not the same person who lived with me.

[chuckles]
It's a maturity thing,

and I think... I was shocked

to see that she was
only 19 years old,

in line with what you said to her,

that she looks older beyond her years,

and some difficulty can do that to you,

but you have to take accountability

and do what you can
to make your life organized

and set yourself up for success.

That, you know, all that is true.

I'm not sure that she has
all the tools to do that,

and I don't know if she has
anybody there to guide her.

It's too bad because she seems

like an intelligent young woman,

and her grandmother
certainly portrayed a picture

of a child who was accomplished
when she was younger,

and then something happened.

I hope she turns it around.

Hope she turns it around.
I hope it's not other issues.

[Announcer]
Are you having a family dispute?