03x34 - as*ault, Infidelity, and Nigerian Matrimony

[bunniefuu]

The mother of your two children
came to marry your cousin.

He was, in fact, cheating on me.

-You married his cousin.
-His brother.

That's not him, is it?

That's him right there. Yes, ma'am.

I would make a B-line for the door.

[narrator]
This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

Godwin Onyebujor is suing
his child's mother, Deanna Williams,

for as*ault, false arrest
and parking tickets.

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

Have a seat, please.

Hello, Judge.

-Case #3058, Onyebujor vs. Williams.
-Thank you.

Mr. Onyebujor, you have one child
with the Defendant.

[Godwin]
Yes, Your Honor.

And one on the way.

I'm not sure if it's mine yet, Your Honor.

Well, she says it's yours.
And you were, in fact, living together.

At the time. Not right now.

[Judy] You were
living together from when to when?

From January this year to about April.

So, the one child that you have together

was conceived when you
were not living together?

We were living together,
the first child we had,

we were living together at my parents'.

How long were you living
with your parents?

About throughout the whole time
my daughter was born.

When was that?

May of 2018.

[Judy] How long were you living with her
at your parents' house?

We were living together the whole time
before we moved out.

Give me the time frame.
How many years? From when to when?

About five years. Sorry, Your Honor.

So, that would be from 2013 to 2018
or from 2018 to 2023?



So, you've been
constantly living together.

You lived at your parents' house,

and then in this apartment
that you leased.

Yeah, between those time,
we moved out together to Long Beach,

but we moved back in with my parents'
as well.

Fine, so you moved back and forth, but
you've been together with her since 2018.

Yes, ma'am. Yes, Your Honor.

When did she marry your brother?
In what year?

Actually, it's my cousin, not my brother.

Just a second. Actually, it's who?

-It's my cousin, not my brother. Yes.
-[Judy] Your cousin.

When did she marry your cousin?

I think it had to be twenty...

[Judy]
When did you marry his cousin?

In February 2018.

Were you living together
at the time she married your cousin?

No, we weren't.

[laughs] In what month did you start
living with him at his parents' house?

About... after I had my daughter,
May 14, 2018.

Well, clearly you were with him
before you moved into his parents' house.

-Yes...
-Because if your daughter was born,

you know, I'm not really good in math,
but clearly you were together

even if you weren't living with
his parents when you married his cousin.

His brother.

[Judy] You say his brother,
he says his cousin. His relative.

It's his brother.

And where was his relative?

In Nigeria.

-[Judy] Is he now here?
-Yes.

-And are you in the process of divorcing?
-[Deanna] Yes, ma'am.

-That's not him, is it?
-That's him right there, yes.

-[Judy] That would be you right there?
-[Deanna] Yes.

I would make a B-line for the door.
No, sit down.

[Bernard]
All right.

Okey dokey.

It is your claim that the Defendant
assaulted you on several occasions.

You're gonna tell me when that,
in addition to her assaulting you,

she vandalized your home
during your last argument

[Godwin]
Yes, Your Honor.

[Judy] by throwing grease
on the kitchen walls from a fry pan,

Yes, Your Honor.

that you purchased a car that allegedly
was supposed to be her car,

but it's in your name because
you had better credit, according to her,

that after this break-up,
she took the car

and while she had the car, she racked up
hundreds of dollars in parking tickets,

or other toll fines.

Yes, Your Honor.

You've subsequently taken back the car.

No, Your Honor. I purchased the car.
She never has a job.

I work two jobs.

Just answer my question.
Did you subsequently take back the car?

The vehicle is mine, Your Honor.
I took it back. Yes, Your Honor.

[Judy]
Just answer. You took it back from her.

Yes, Your Honor.

Okay. And you're suing her for the tickets
she racked up on the car

-because the car is in your name.
-Yes, Your Honor.

[Judy] She says, no, you're violent.
You assaulted her.

Oh, and you're also suing her
for false arrest.

A lot going on here. You're suing him
'cause you say he abused you.

And it was really your car,
it was just in his name,

as I said, because he had
a better credit score.

You didn't address the parking fines,
but you want something for this car.

Okay. Just for my own information,
Ms. Williams, your daughter is now five?

Yes, ma'am.

-You're expecting another.
-Yes, ma'am.

What do you do for a living?

-[Deanna] I'm a massage therapist.
-For whom?

Um, I'm just on my own.
I just graduated.

So, you're not doing it yet?

No. But I've been...

Just a second. Did you file
income tax returns last year?

Yes.

How much did you earn last year when you
filed your income taxes, you personally?

-Um...
-[Judy] Personally. Just be very careful.

How much did you claim that you earned
if you filed income taxes?

Well, I had a W-2.
I was previously working at the DMV.

And how much did you earn?

About, um, about 25 to 30K.

[Judy] Let's get to the assaults that
you reference, sir, in your complaint.

We're gonna do assaults first.
When was the first as*ault?

It was in February 2023.

I don't want to get to the first as*ault
because after February 2023,

you moved back together.

Yeah, temporarily. Yes, Your Honor.

You claim you were assaulted. You
went to the hospital, you had broken ribs.

Yes, Your Honor.

Police were called and
you weren't together at that time.

She left the house.

Yes, 'cause she
has a restraining order.

You filed a restraining order against her.

But then, you invited her
back to the house in March.

I never invited her,
she came back to the house.

-And I never...
-[Judy] Just a second.

When she came back in March,
did she come back in March

and stay for a period of time?
Just be careful.

Yes, Your Honor. 'Cause it...
Yes, Your Honor.

We're not gonna play a mind game here,
sir.

-She came back.
-Yes, Your Honor.

You agreed that she could come back.

Yeah, 'cause her name is on the lease.
I can't kick her out.

Not because... Her name may be
on the lease, you couldn't kick her out.

-Did you sleep with her?
-Yes, Your Honor.

Yeah, that's not on a lease anywhere
'cause she's married to your brother.

Do you understand?

My cousin, Your Honor.

Okay. Do you understand?
So, you invited her back to the house

after this as*ault. And in the law,
you know what we call that?

"Condonation." Well, it was an as*ault,
but you forgave her.

Because you invited her
back to the house...

She had no place to go.
I had to let...

[Judy] Listen... shoulda, woulda, coulda.
If you say she came back

because she was on the lease,
she had no place to go,

that would make you altruistic.

Sleeping with her
is a different situation.

-Do you understand that, sir?
-Yes, Your Honor.

Okay. So, all three were true.
She was on the lease...

-Yes, Your Honor.
-[Judy] She had no place to go...

-Yes, Your Honor.
-And you slept with her.

-[Godwin] Yes, Your Honor.
-There we go. That's called "condonation."

That may be an expensive condonation
for you, but it's condonation.

Now, so, she moves back in March
and, what's next?

She moved back in March.
Um, and we had an incident

where I gave my daughter my phone.
And she takes the phone from her

and she kept going through my phone
while I was sleeping

'cause I work two jobs.
In between those times...

-Just a second. So, she took your phone.
-[Godwin] Yes, Your Honor.

-And she looked through your phone.
-She does that frequently.

-Almost all the time, she does.
-[Judy] I don't care.

Every woman does the same thing.
Men do it, too.

-She looked through your phone.
-[Godwin] Yes, Your Honor.

And what did she find?

Oh, she said she found a...
The lady that bought the car from me...

'Cause I sold the car to a friend of hers.
She said I was talking to her.

And she got mad over me talking to her.

So, she found that you were talking
to another lady.

Yes, Your Honor. It was a friend.

[Judy] Just a second.
Don't explain yourself to me, sir.

I'm still trying to figure out
the brother-cousin.

[laughs]

We were texting
when he disclosed to me

that he was,
in fact, cheating on me

and that she was pregnant.
Um, I have the text message.

-You have those text messages.
-Yes, ma'am.

Is that correct, sir?
That's either a yes or a no.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Godwin Onyebujor
claims his child's mother,

Deanna Williams, assaulted him and
had him falsely arrested.

Deanna is countersuing, claiming
Godwin assaulted her multiple times.

Okay. When she looked through the phone,
where were you?

I was laying down in the bedroom.

-This was in March?
-[Godwin] Yes, Your Honor.

[Judy]
March what?

[Godwin]
I think it was March 28.

And you were lying down, and...

She kicked down the door
and she came into the room

and she hit me upside the head
with a perfume bottle.

Not the phone?

No, not the phone.
'Cause my daughter had the phone.

I thought my daughter had the phone.
But when she came into the room,

she kept asking me, "Who was that?
Were you talking to this person?"

And I said, yeah, but nothing...
Nothing sexual, or like nothing bad

about my conversation with her.
But she was mad about it,

you know, 'cause she got aggressive.
So, she hit me upside the head

with a perfume bottle,
punched me in the eyes

and she run out the door
with my daughter.

-This was March 28.
-[Godwin] Yes, Your Honor.

Were you treated for that anywhere?

No, I wasn't. I wasn't, Your Honor.

Did you take any photographs of it.

-[Godwin] The police did.
-May I see them?

-[Godwin] I don't have it right now.
-The police were called?

They were called 'cause I was gonna...
I went to work that day.

'Cause as soon as the incident happened,
she took my phone and run out the door.

So, I couldn't call the police,
so I went straight to work.

So, they came to my job to arrest me.
That she had scratched herself.

Because after they released me,
she told me that she did that

'cause she thought she
was gonna get arrested for hitting...

[Judy]
Because she had a prior restraining order.

-Yes, Your Honor.
-What happened to that case?

-It was dismissed.
-[Judy] Is that right?

-Yes, I believe so.
-[Judy] What do you mean you believe so?

-I have evidence...
-I was never notified.

Just from what he told me,
the case was dismissed.

Why don't you tell me what happened, your
version of what happened on March 28.

March 28, you were looking in his phone.
You were looking in his phone.

Listen to me, be very careful.
March 28, you were looking in his phone.

It was March 29.

March 29, you were looking at his phone,
and...

I was looking in his phone.
I found messages.

And, uh, Cash Apps of him sending
another woman money.

In what room in the apartment were you
when you were looking at the phone?

So, this incident is not related
to what he's talking about.

Um, that was the night before.

-[Judy] That's March 28.
-No, March 29.

This incident happened on March 30.

So, previously, the night before,
I had found the messages.

I had questioned him about it.
He said, it wasn't anything.

He wasn't doing anything,
blah, blah, blah.

The next day, which was a Thursday,
I was in the bedroom.

Mr. Onyebujor was in the living room
with my daughter.

Um, we were texting back and forth,
talking,

uh, when he disclosed to me that
he was, in fact, cheating on me

with an acquaintance of mine.
I wouldn't call her a friend.

And that she was pregnant.
Um, I have the text message.

-You have those text messages.
-Yes, ma'am.

Is that correct, sir?
That's either a yes or a no.

She says she has the text messages.

Your Honor, no. 'Cause she has my phone...

[Judy] Just a second.
May I see the text message?

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] Just a second.

Did you write in a text message to her...
Listen to me.

That you were having a relationship...
I didn't finish the question yet.

In sum and substance, you were
having a relationship with someone else

and the person was now pregnant
with your child?

I never... No, Your Honor.
She has my phone the whole time.

[Judy]
May I see it?

Before I look at this, sir,
I'm gonna give you one more chance.

Were you having a relationship
with someone else

prior to March 28? Yes or no.

No, Your Honor. I...

Okay. Did another woman advise you

-that she was pregnant with your child?
-No, Your Honor.

-I don't have a child with her.
-[Judy] Okay.

[Deanna laughs]

Here we go.

[laughs]

Your Honor, I also have the messages
between him and her.

-Just a second.
-Excuse me.

"Yep, 'cause she don't take it
out of my wallet."

Referring to this other woman.

"Well, finally you're a man
and admit that."

"How long have you been with her?

Your response: "She's pregnant too.
Over one year."

[Godwin]
Your Honor, she has my phone.

Just a second.

"Just watch this time, the car..."
It says "cat," I assume it means "car."

"...is going to be taken away.
You better run this time."

"You threatening me. You can't
take the car, I have a contract."

You say, "She's a better person
than you will ever be.

I'm gonna take that car away
and give it to her."

Does that sound familiar?
Stop waving!

That sound familiar to you?

[Godwin]
No, I never...

What do you mean, no?
That's from your phone.

She has access to my...
She takes my phone and take off with it.

She makes up all these stories.

Just a second.
I'm talking about your phone, sir.

Yes, Your Honor. She has my phone.
The majority of the time,

she has my phone. She text random...

So, you mean, she was texting
from her phone and then, back and forth

to herself and your phone?
And she was creating this?

That's a possibility...

What's the name of the woman?

Jennifer Villas. I have text messages
between them, also.

-[Judy] May I see them, please?
-Of course, ma'am.

Okay. So, what happens is,
when she gets your phone,

she's able to make copies
of what your conversations are.

Not only with her, but with Jennifer.
Do you understand?

I don't... That's her friend. I don't have
no relationship with her friend.

We're friends. I sold a car to her,
that was it.

I don't know whose messages these are.

The, um, gray is her and then,
the green is him.

And those are the messages
from her to him, asking him for money,

telling him to delete the messages...

Okay. So now, we're at March 28,


Somewhere around there. You're up.

Yes, ma'am. So, um, I was in the bedroom,
he was in the living room,

that's when we were
exchanging those text messages,

when he had admitted that he was,
in fact, cheating on me,

and the woman was pregnant.

When I received those text messages,
it kind of put me into a panic attack.

[Judy]
You got angry.

Yeah, I got angry. I was kind of
hyperventilating, I was like... [gasps]

-[Judy] Got it.
-Yes, ma'am.

I was in the bedroom
with the door locked.

He came to the bedroom door,
started banging on it,

telling me to let him in.
I did not open the door.

I continued crying, pretty hysterically.

And that's when he proceeded
to break through the door.

He entered into the bedroom and
immediately started assaulting me.

He was hitting me.
I was sitting on the edge of the bed,

he grabbed me by my hair. He just...

[Judy]
Did you seek medical assistance?

[Deanna]
Yes, I did.

Can I see the medical report?

Um, I have the police report.

Who did you seek medical treatment from?

So, I went to the hospital...

[Judy] Let me see the report
from the hospital.

Oh, I don't have that.

That doesn't help me.

-I don't have that with me.
-Then it doesn't help me.

[Judy]
Then it doesn't help me.

Says she ultimately refused
being transported to the hospital.

-[Deanna] Yes, because...
-Not because. That's what it says.

[Deanna] No, yeah, I drove myself.
I didn't want to...

I don't know that
because you don't have a report.

You want to tell me
how it came about

that the mother
of your two children,

one, and one-to-be, how she came
to marry your cousin?

I didn't know about that at first.

[laughs]

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Godwin Onyebujor
has accused his child's mother,

Deanna Williams, of assaulting him
and lying to the police.

Deanna claims she was the one assaulted.

Now, you left the hospital
prior to treatment, is that right?

Yes.

Just say yes or no. Yes.
You left the hospital prior to treatment.

Can I see what happened with this case?

-You were arrested.
-[Godwin] Yeah, I was arrested.

You were arrested on this case, and
that's the false arrest that you have...

That's a false arrest that you have.

May I please see
the District Attorney's write up on that?

Or whatever you have that indicates
the case was dismissed.

I think that this is one of them.

Let me double check on...

And while you're looking
through documents,

I'd like to see proof of the tickets
that she got.

This was dismissed.

[Judy]
This incident occurred in April.

That's the last one she got arrested
when she broke the wall...

No, no, I under...
I'm talking about the dismissal...

[Godwin]
It's right there, Your Honor.

[Judy] The City Attorney decided that
they were not gonna prosecute this case

and advised you that there was no need
to report to court

to answer the charges. All right.
Then, I want you to tell me

what happened in this April incident
when she damaged your kitchen.

I'm gonna go from one to the other.

You went back to the apartment
after all this happened.

You went back to the apartment in April.
What for?

To pick up my clothes.
Mr. Onyebujor said

he had them in bags on the front porch.

And what happened when you got there?

-When I got there, I contacted the police.
-[Judy] Why?

So they could meet me there
so it could be a peaceful exchange.

-The dispatcher...
-[Judy] Don't tell me what they told you

or you told them. You got to the house...

-I got to the house, the door was open...
-Just a second.

Were there bags on the porch?

No, ma'am, there was not.

Okay. The door was open, in April...

Now, you had had, according to you,
this violent attack in March.

Stop looking through your papers.
You'd had this violent incident in March.

-Yes.
-So, you go back to the house,

and you walked into the house
because the door was open.

And then, what happened?

I started to collect my things...

[Judy]
How did you start to do that?

I went into the kitchen,
and I was getting my things...

-[Judy] What things?
-My blender, my...

No, that's not your clothes, madam.
That's not your clothes.

You said, I wanted to get my clothes and
he was gonna put them in a bag.

Now, you opened the door, you went into
the kitchen and you started to take...

-That's what you just told me.
-The door was open.

The door was open. You went into the
kitchen and started to take your things.

What things? I started to take
my blender...

[Deanna]
All of my things.

Just a second. I don't know
whose things they are.

You started to take things
that weren't your clothes.

And then, what happened?

And then, the brother saw me
and told Mr. Onyebujor,

who was in the restroom, that I was there.

-[Judy] And?
-I started to quickly get my...

-get out of the kitchen.
-[Judy] How did you do that?

Um, I went to grab the stuff
and I went out...

So, you went to leave the kitchen
with the stuff from the kitchen.

The blender, yes.

The blender. And?

Mr. Onyebujor came out of the bathroom
and he attempted to take my phone.

He lunged at me to take my phone.
He had his hands...

[Judy] Just a second. I thought...
What was your phone there for?

You had the blender.

I had the blender like this and
I had my phone like this.

Go ahead. So, he went
to take the phone and...

I dropped the blender and I'm fighting,
like, to take my phone back from him.

I believe he was trying
to take my phone away...

I don't know what he was trying to do,
madam.

You were fighting back and forth
with your phone.

You dropped the blender and...

So then I, um, by the stove
there was a frying pan.

I picked up the frying pan to, like,
I was gonna hit him.

He backed off. I left,
ran out of the apartment

with nothing but my phone.

[Judy]
And no clothes.

[Deanna]
And no clothes.

You came for your clothes,
you should've taken your clothes.

Yeah. I'm kind of, you know...
just with everything going on,

I was just very emotionally distraught
and...

Okay, fine. Now, were you driving the car
when this ticket came in?

Notice date, April the third.
Is this the only ticket that you have?

That was the only one I could get out.
But she has two more she...

Well, I don't know if she has or not, sir,
because that's evidence.

And evidence is the only thing
that I work on.

This is an old ticket, madam.

Yes, I paid the tickets.
I have my bank statements.

Did you pay... Let me see
that this ticket was paid.

[Deanna]
Just let me know the date, please.

The citation date was November 30, 2022.

And the notice date was...

And you parked in disabled parking.

No, Your Honor, that was him.
He took the vehicle up to the mall.

And that was him. That was his ticket.

[laughs] You want to know something?
You know how much I don't care?

I actually think that the two of you
deserve each other.

-[Deanna] No.
-Yeah.

You want to tell me how it came about
that the mother of your two children,

one and one-to-be, how she came
to marry your cousin.

I didn't know about that, at first.

We went to Africa before
we started talking to him.

'Cause at that time we're not together.
We separate many times, many occasions.

Sometimes we'll break up and
she'll go back to her ex

who's always in and out of jail,
so, like...

[laughs]

[Godwin]
She has a previous...

How many times, Ms. Williams,
have you been to Africa?

[Deanna]
Um, twice.

When?

Um, February 2018, when...

[Judy]
What did you go there for?

[Deanna]
We went there to marry his brother.

Tell me what the circumstances were.

The circumstances were Godwin,
you know, persuaded me...

-[Judy] This is Godwin.
-This is Godwin, yes, ma'am, my boyfriend.

We were never broken up. Um,
persuaded me to marry his brother

so he could be able to come over here.

-[Judy] And did you?
-Yes, ma'am.

-[Judy] And did he come over here?
-Yes, ma'am.

-[Judy] And he's here.
-And he's here.

Prior to February of 2018,
had you ever met his cousin-brother?

[Deanna]
No, ma'am.

Okay, your case is dismissed, sir.
So's yours.

We're done here.
You deserve each other.

[bailiff]
This court is adjourned.

I thought it wasn't fair,
'cause I think she just know how

to manipulate the system.

I mean, she's fair.

She's a pathological liar.

He's like, I would say,
a Nigerian scammer and I was scammed.

But I allowed myself to be.

She never wants to make changes,
better for herself.

She always want to just have her way
in every situation.

He's narcissistic, he's a sociopath.
He's just honestly the worst person.

Anybody who comes in contact with him
should run.

We fell in love over the phone,
we started talking and get connected.

I'm divorcing him.

She's full of lies. You know,
like a habitual liar.

She just loves to lie and
she can't change that about her.

I hope he continues denying my son
and I can just go on

and be happy without him
'cause he's horrible.

I think the key take-away of that is
if you're gonna commit a federal crime,

don't subject yourself
to a court's jurisdiction.

Just sign away, yep, okay. That seems
like a terrible, one-step thinking plan.

[Judy]
You're absolutely right.

They thought that you wanted to
hear squabble between his side, her side.

Arguing, fighting, multiple instances
of what they call as*ault,

when the underlying factor is there is
a major federal crime committed here.

I don't know why they would subject
themselves, you're absolutely right.

-Oh, man.
-Foolish.

[narrator]
Are you a victim of an as*ault?



[theme music playing]