03x38 - Rims, Barter, and Betrayal

[bunniefuu]

I gather that all of you
are very involved in cars.

-Mm-hmm.
-Yes, Your Honor.

I was talking about how I wanted rims
on my car,

and he was like,"Oh, maybe I should get
new rims on mine."

The rims that you wanted,
she gave you the money?

-Yes, Your Honor.
-His girlfriend would not.

Why wouldn't you?

I just wouldn't.

Smart girl!

I know.

[announcer] This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Bailiff Cassandra Britt
is standing in for bailiff Kevin Rasco,

and law clerk Alexei Mentzer
is sitting in for law clerk Sarah Rose.

Skylar Ramirez is suing her former friend,
Chris Martinez,

for an unpaid loan and harassment.

[Bailiff Cassandra] Court come to order.
All rise.

Have a seat, please.

Case number 3073,
Ramirez v. Martinez, Judge.

-Thank you, Cassandra.
-Yes.

Ms. Ramirez, this gentleman
is a friend of your boyfriend.

Yes, was.

-He was a friend of your boyfriend.
-Yes.

[Judge Judy] No longer I assume
because of this incident.

-Yeah.
-And I gather that all of you

-are very involved in cars.
-Mm-hmm.

Fixing them up, souping them up,
making them pretty, whatever it is.

It is your claim that the defendant,
Mr. Martinez,

wanted rims for his car.

I must tell you why I haven't had
a rims case in many years.

[chuckles]

And rims are expensive,

the rims that you wanted, sir,
were $1,200.

Yes, Your Honor.

[Judge Judy] And you didn't have
the $1,200?

No, Your Honor.

And according to you, Miss Ramirez,
you gave him 800

of the 1,200 as a loan.

-Yes, Your Honor.
-We'll get into the specifics

of how that came about.

And you haven't been repaid,

-that's why you're here.
-Yes, Your Honor.

How long have you known each other?

The two of us.
Like, seven, eight months maybe.

-What's your boyfriend's name?
-Nathan.

Nathan, how long
have you known Mr. Martinez?

I've known him for a couple years now,

uh, maybe about six years.

Six is more than a couple.

-I'm sorry, Your Honor.
-[Judge Judy] Six years.

Ms. Ramirez,
I want you to tell me the circumstances

surrounding this transfer of $800
to Mr. Martinez.

It was a conversation
between the two of us.

He explained that...

Just the two of you,
your boyfriend wasn't there?

It was just the two of us
at Brittany's house and we were...

-[Judge Judy] Who's Brittney?
-Brittney is his girlfriend.

-Was it your house?
-Yes.

We had a conversation
that he wanted to acquire some rims

and didn't have the credit score for it.

[Judge Judy] Didn't have the credit score?

-[Ramirez] Yes.
-Okay.

So you were originally going
to take out a loan to buy the rims?

Yes, Your Honor.

And when was that, Mr. Martinez?

Uh, it was towards
the end of March of 2023.

You went to a finance company?

I used to work for a tire shop
and they do financing there,

and then that's when Ms. Ramirez...

No, Ms. Ramirez isn't a mind reader so
somehow you had to have a conversation...

-I brought it up with my girlfriend...
-[Judge Judy] You brought...

-Brought it up with your girlfriend?
-I talked about it with my girlfriend...

Hold on!

-Good morning, Your Honor.
-Tell me your name.

Brittney Gallardo.

I want you to tell me the first
conversation you had with your boyfriend

-about these rims.
-Okay.

Yeah, we were just talking about

-both of our cars...
-Just the two of you?

Yes, just both of our cars.

I was talking about how
I wanted rims on my car

and he was like, "Oh, maybe
I should get new rims on mine."

And then, from there, that's when...

No, no, no, no, no.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no.

-Just the two of you?
-Mm-hmm.

So you said you wanted
new rims on your car,

he said maybe I should get
new rims on mine.

-Mm-hmm.
-There had to be more than that.

You know, he's your boyfriend.
You live together?

-Mm, no.
[Judge Judy] "Mm." What does that mean?

He stays over every once in a while.

Okay. I want you to tell me
the conversation that you had

with your boyfriend,
when she wasn't there,

-initially about buying rims.
-[Gallardo] Mm-hmm.

That was the first time we ever really
had that conversation.

Okay, well, the first time
you had the conversation...

-Yeah.
-...the issue of money had to come up.

I told him I didn't have money for mine,

and that we had to work on
getting the money for rims first.

So you said,
"I don't have money for rims for mine."

[Gallardo] Mm-hmm.

Uh-huh is not an answer, yes,

-I'm sure you mean "yes" Ms. Gallardo.
-Yes, ma'am.

And he said he's got to work
on getting the money for his?

Yes, ma'am.

-Were those his words?
-Yes, ma'am.

Well, if it's my boyfriend,
my next question would be,

"How are you going to do that?"

And what did he tell you?

He was looking for another job
because he had just lost his job recently.

[Judge Judy] So he was going
to look for another job.

-Yes.
-Did he talk to you about

financing the rims?

No, ma'am.

He just said he was gonna
look for another job.

-Mm-hmm.
-Tell me about when this was,

-do you remember what month?
-Um...

middle of March, beginning of March,
somewhere in there.

Okay. There came a time when the plaintiff
was at your house.

-[Gallardo] Yes.
-And you were home.

-Yes, ma'am.
-And your boyfriend was there.

Yes, ma'am.

Were you present
when he started to talk about

his lust for rims with the plaintiff?

[Gallardo] Yes, ma'am.

-Tell me the conversation.
-They were talking about rims,

-so I brought up the conversation...
-[Judge Judy] No, she wasn't...

...that we had about them,

and then she was, like,
"Oh, why don't you guys just get them?"

And I was, like,
"Well, I don't have the money right now,

and he still has to find another job,
so until that happens,

we can't really do much."
And she was, like, "Oh, well,

I could be your friend
and I could help you guys finance,

but the work that he does
on my car

-should be free.
-[Judge Judy] No, no, no, no, no.

Careful what you say to me.
Be really careful.

-Yes.
-You want to be helpful,

-but don't get ensnared in the web.
-[Gallardo] Okay.

Because I weave that.

Yes, ma'am.

So she was there,
you started to talk about rims.

Yes. ma'am.

Financing them, she said,
"I could help you guys out...

-Mm-hmm. Yes.
-...by financing.

And you had tried to finance.

No, Your Honor, I hadn't tried.

Okay, so you hadn't gone
to anyone else about financing.

-No, Your Honor.
-Okay.

So she said I could
help you guys out financing,

and what did your boyfriend say?

-Um, to...
-[Judge Judy] Um, No, no...

-Sorry.
-Ms. Gallardo, right here.

-So...
-Not him.

You know, he may be permanent,
he may be temporary.

You never know.

This tape is forever.

I know. [laughs] I know.

Good, I mean ten years from now,

you probably will have to look at pictures
to remember what he looks like.

[chuckling]

-[Judge Judy] Do you know what I mean?
-Yeah. Yeah.

[theme music playing]

This is her boyfriend.
He used to be your friend.

-Yes, Your Honor.
-He's not your friend anymore.

You want to tell me why?

Because of this whole situation,
uh, the way it turned out to be.

Well, you were friends for six years,
did you have a discussion with him?

Because there came a time
when she wanted her money back.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Skylar Ramirez
claims her former friend, Chris Martinez,

refuses to pay back a loan for car rims.

Okay, she said I think
I could help you out financing, and...

They had their conversation,
I went inside because I have kids.

-So I just went inside...
-Oh, so you didn't hear?

I heard the conversation from the door
'cause I went to go check on the kids,

but I said, "I would rather you wait
until we can do it on our own."

And so their conversation came up

because she already
gotten work done on her car.

So... And she kind of already owed him.

[Judge Judy] There's no
"almost, kind of"...

She owed him money for the labor
that he was doing on her car.

And because of that, he was, like, "Well,
if you do that we can just call it even."

-And...
-[Judge Judy] You heard that?

[Gallardo] Yes, ma'am.

And so, she was, like, "So, you're gonna
do my car for free?"

And he said, "Yeah, I'll work on your car
for free but you have to finance

and pay for the rims."

That day that they went
to go get the rims, I guess,

he had to put cash out of his own pocket
to get the rims that day.

-[Judge Judy] How much, sir?
-[Martinez] I put 400 down.

You put down $400,
but the rims were $1,200.

She got financed for 800.

The rims cash-wise
were $1,200 out the door, cash.

They were more because of interest,
so I put $400 down.

-So she gave you eight.
-Yes, Your Honor.

-And that was sometime in March?
-Yes, Your Honor.

Between March and May,

what work did you do on her car?

Every time they needed
something done on their car

they'd show up
to my girlfriend's house late,

around 11.00, 12:00 at night,
asking for work to get done.

I've done oil changes on the car,
their brakes, spark plugs...

I asked you a specific question.

Between March, which is the time
that she advanced $800 towards your rims,

and May, what work did you do on her car?

Your Honor, it varies. I've done
multiple stuff within that time period.

This is her boyfriend.
He used to be your friend.

-Yes, Your Honor.
-He's not your friend anymore.

-No, Your Honor.
-You want to tell me why?

Because of this whole situation,
the way it turned out to be,

he's just going off what she says.

-He's just following her.
-Well, you've been friends for six years.

Did you have a discussion with him?

Because there came a time
when she wanted her money back

because now she's got this loan
that's built up interest, right?

[Martinez] Yes, Your Honor.

And so you had to have had
a discussion with...

-Nathan.
-...Nathan.

Nathan really has never
talked to me about anything.

It's always Skylar going through his phone
on his Instagram,

talking to me about it
or having other people call me.

-May I say something?
-[Judge Judy] Nathan.

Nathan, did you ever have...
After the exchange of this money,

and after your girlfriend
took out this loan,

did you ever have a conversation
with Mr. Martinez?

I did not personally, no.

Did you have any email
or text exchange with him?

-On my account, yes, Your Honor.
-Do you have a copy of that?

[Ramirez] This was later on.

A month after the financing.

[Judge Judy] Well, this is in April.
I assume that this is you saying,

"Ain't trying to rush you, bro,
but we need the money."

Yes, Your Honor.

"Do you have half of the 50?"

Yes, Your Honor.

And he says, "I don't bro,
I always have three kids to take care of."

You have three kids?

-I have three, Your Honor.
-Okay.

"You're good, I wasn't even trying
to be like that,

don't take it the wrong way."

"I'm not, bro, I don't want
you guys to think I'm blanking y'all over.

What does that mean?

I didn't want them to feel like
I was screwing them over, Your Honor.

Screwing them over for what?
For the money?

Yeah.

For the money. Well, that would
indicate to me, Mr. Martinez,

that you acknowledge
that you owed them money,

but you have three kids to take care of,
and you didn't have the money.

The initial agreement when I got the rims,
was I'll work on their car.

That was the initial agreement.

[Judge Judy] That's in March.

You said that I would work on their cars.
That's what you said.

-Yes, Your Honor.
-The initial agreement

is that, "I would work on their cars."

And so I specifically asked you what work
did you do on their cars

from March until May.

This was actually
a pretty reasonable question

because these texts were the end of April.

And you said I changed spark plugs,
I changed the oil,

I've done brakes, I've installed
aftermarket parts for them.

Just a second, "when," is my question.

I just want to know what you did for them
after she gave you the money.

Were you supposed to sell this car, sir?

-Yes, Your Honor.
-Did you sell it?

-No, Your Honor.
-Why not?

Um...

-"Um" is not an answer.
-Just, people had warned me.

-You have a Mitsubishi?
-Yes, Your Honor.

-Two thousand.
-Yes, Your Honor.

Where'd you get it from?

I traded one of my last vehicles for it.

-You traded?
-Yes.

What did you trade it for?

I had a 2013 Cadillac ATS

and I traded my homeboy with it,
and he gave me cash on top as well.

When?

I want to say beginning of February.

Oh, so you didn't have this car very long,

so it was your intention of flipping
the car once you put rims on it.

Not even that,
I was gonna sell it with stock rims too.

Then what did you invest $400
of your own money,

and $800 of her money for?

I wasn't gonna sell it,
the vehicle with the rims on it.

People that messaged me about it,

I told them I'm selling it
with stock wheels.

Because I'm not gonna lose $400
out of my own pocket.

-[chuckles]
-[Martinez] So...

Does he take care of your cars?

Uh, he did change our brakes,
he did, um...

On one car or two cars?

-One car.
-One car, Your Honor.

-You live together?
-Yes, ma'am

-Yes, ma'am.
-Okay, so he changed the brakes.

-Do you remember when he did that?
-[Ramirez] March.

What else did he do?

Um, he did our spark plugs
a few days later,

and then, there was a leak in
a router or something like that,

in the brakes, and he changed that,
but other than that,

it was, like, small little things.

He painted our rims,
we helped him paint the rims together.

When you go over to where they live...

-Mm-hmm.
-...he does it at his house?

No, he does it at Brittney's house,
his girlfriend.

We would text him,
and I'd tell him that I get off late,

and he said to just come through
later on in the day

whenever I'm off work, so it would be late
and I would let them know that.

And they were okay with it until a time,

and then they told me that's not okay
and I said that's fine,

like, I respect the boundaries.

What arrangements did you make to pay him?

Anytime he would do a thing for us,
like the brakes for instance,

he told us that would be $50,

and I told him that I'd CashApp it to him
and I CashApped him $50.

-So you paid him for the brakes.
-Yes.

-Fifty dollars. And you can show me that?
-Yes.

I have it on my phone.
-Sh-sh.

Did she pay you $50 for the brakes?

-She's gonna show me that she did.
-For the brakes, yes.

Spark plugs?

I have never received a payment
for spark plugs.

[Judge Judy] Spark plugs?

No, he said that he would do the labor
for it, if we paid for the parts.

And how much were the parts?

All together because we bought it
with the brakes,

it was, like $156,
somewhere around there and some change.

-Okay, and you paid for the parts?
-Yes, ma'am.

Okay, now, Mr. Martinez,

I'd like you to give me some indication
of how many hours

it took you to change the spark plugs.

Roughly about 30 to 45 minutes.

Thirty minutes. And then you said
there was a router.

-Rotor.
-[Ramirez] Yeah, sorry.

And was that also around
the same time in March?

Yeah, it was all around the same time.
We were supposed to do it the same night,

and then he explained that it was getting
late and if we can do it another night.

Okay, so far you've paid him $50.
Did you pay him anything for the rotor?

No, he said he was going to do that
because he noticed it was leaking.

So he did those things within
a 48-hour period?

Around there, some.

And for that, you sent him $50?

-Yes, ma'am.
-Which you acknowledge you got?

Yes, Your Honor.

Those are the things
that you said were done, right?

That. Oil change, uh...

Oh, just a second.
When did you do an oil change?

I did the oil change
the same day I did the spark plugs.

Okay, so it was all done
within a 48-hour period,

and after you did that work,

and it took you an evening,
it got a little late,

so you did some the next day,

you charged her $50 which she sent you.

I charged her $50 for the brakes.

I never got paid
for doing the oil change...

Well, oil change is nothing,
it's certainly not $800.

[theme music playing]

You know, if you have three kids
and you don't work all the time,

or work a not-high-paying job...

-Right.
...doesn't it sound moronic

to spend $1,200 on rims for a car?

Yes, ma'am.

Sounds like something
a 10-year-old would do.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Skylar Ramirez is accusing
her former friend, Chris Martinez,

of owing her the balance
of a car rims loan.

Do you understand
what I'm talking about, Mr. Martinez?

-Yes, Your Honor.
-Okay.

So, now we're at a place

where I just eliminated
most of your defense

because you said you did work on her car
so many hours.

Fifty hours or whatever it is.

And you were never paid for it,
so it was part of the agreement.

So now, I have you worked on the car
according to you,

over a 24 or perhaps 48-hour period,

but you have a fulltime job,
so you were doing it in the evening.

And she didn't pick this $50
out of the air.

You must have said,
"I'll do it all for you for 50 bucks."

No, Your Honor.

-No?
-No.

Okay, how much did you tell her
it was going to be, sir?

I told her for spark plugs and oil change
that's $30 apiece.

-Um...
-Just a second.

Spark plugs and oil change was $30,
so that's $60.

Okay? And the brakes?

Brakes, I charged them 50, I...

Be careful what you tell me

because, you know,
you start to get dry mouth,

-do you understand?
-Yeah.

So, you charge her $50...

Thirty dollars each for those two things
and the brakes.

I just charged for labor.

-So when she was...
-And how much was that?

With that, that was $110.

[laughs] You know, you're making that up
as you're going along.

What did you do with the $50 she sent you?

-I kept that because that was my pay.
-You kept it.

-You kept it.
-For the brakes.

Pay for what? The brakes.

-The brakes.
-Right.

So now, at most she owes you $60,
is my math correct?

Mr. Mentzer?

At most she owes you $60.

because you said $30 for the spark plugs

and $30 for the oil change.

Where do you get $800?

I did their exhaust,
I put an aftermarket wing on their car.

Just a second. When?

This was all in the span of maybe
two weeks to a month

before we stopped being friends.

Ms. Ramirez, now I want you to tell me
about the conversations...

Because I've been on that team
for a while.

-Mm-hmm.
-Now I want you to tell me your version

of how it came about,
that you took out this loan for $800.

So the conversation
was at Brittney's house

and the three of us were there.

We communicated that
he didn't have enough credit,

and he asked if I would finance for him,
because Brittany would not.

So I explained...

[Judge Judy] Why wouldn't you, Brittney?

You couldn't or you wouldn't.

-I wouldn't. I wouldn't.
-You wouldn't. Smart girl!

I know. [chuckles]

-I don't know.
-Smart girl.

You're thinking about
that photograph, right?

-Mm-hmm.
-[all chuckling]

-Sure am.
-[Judge Judy] Yeah.

-So?
-[Ramirez] Yeah.

You said Brittney would not, and?

Brittney would not,
so he asked if I would do it for him

And I said, "Well, yes of course,

like, we're friends, I will help you out,

but we have to make an agreement
because I want to make sure I'm not losing

any money out of pocket because
I'm just doing this to help a friend."

And he said yes,
we went to the place on March 29th.

We went to the rims place

and they told us, the paper's right here,
of how much it would be together.

Eighteen hundred. The payments are $71.40
every other week.

and he said that he would pay me
every other week

so nothing had to come out of my pocket.

We never made an agreement
of he would do the car, whatever.

[Judge Judy] I'm not talking about
the car.

But I had no idea that he paid
any money out of pocket.

On the lease it says nothing about him
paying any cash money whatsoever,

and that's why the total
is so high, and...

Do you have any communications with him

other than what Nate
has shown me about the loan?

This...

This is the CashApp that he sent $50,

and then called me and asked
if he could have 20 back for gas.

And so, as you can see,
it was in that period of time.

So, Mr. Martinez,
what did you send her $50 for?

That was towards the rest because I was
getting harassed every day about it.

Just a second, so this was payment...
A $50 payment for the rims?

-But then you asked for cash money back?
-I never asked for money back.

-She sent the money back. Yes.
-So you paid her $50

towards the rims,
and you did that beginning of April?

Yes, Your Honor.

And then I see another payment...

-[Ramirez] That was the 20 I sent back...
-Oh, that she gave you back.

...that he called to ask for some back.

Did you ever borrow money from him?

No, Your Honor.

Because it says, "I'm confronting you
on a big boy issue."

-[Ramirez] Yes.
-"We always paid you back."

I'm talking about the parts,
where he did, like, the spark plugs

and the brakes and all that,
he said that I never paid him,

when he knows that
I did pay him for those.

-So that's what you were talking about?
-Yes, that's what I was talking about.

[Judge Judy] We always paid you back."

How much do you owe
the finance company now?

Today if I were to make the purchase
it would be $892.15.

But that's already after
I made payments already.

And how much did you make in payments
that you can prove to me?

Ms. Gallardo, how long have you known him?

[chuckles] Way too long,
I want to say 13, 14 years now.

-You live together?
-No.

-Is he the father of these children?
-No.

-Do you work?
-Yes, ma'am.

What kind of work do you do?

I'm a masseuse.

-Do you support your kids?
-Yes, ma'am.

What about him? Does he support his?

Yes.

As much as he can. [chuckles]

Well, you know, you have to eat regularly.

Right. He does mechanical work and stuff,

he goes and spends time
with his kids, and...

But, you know, if you have three kids,
and you don't work all the time

or work a not-high-paying-job...

-Right.
-...doesn't it sound moronic

to spend $1,200 on rims for a car?

Yes, ma'am.

Sounds like something
a 10-year-old would do.

You know, not somebody
who was a responsible parent.

-Because you have kids.
-Yes, ma'am.

And when you said,
"I'd love to put rims on my car."

-You said, "I can't afford it."
-Yeah, I can't afford it right now.

Ta-da!

[chuckles]

How much did you make in payments?

Altogether, I made $416 in payments.

-And I have some late fees.
-So you paid so far $1,316.

Is that correct, Alexei?

-Eight-ninety and 416?
-Yeah?

-I have 1,306.

Yeah, 1,306 is what you paid so far.

The 890 would clear the debt?

Yes, that would make it your own.

Yeah, $1,306.

Judgment for the plaintiff,
thank you very much.

-Remember that picture.
-Yes, ma'am.

[Bailiff Cassandra] Case is now closed,
court is adjourned.

[theme music playing]

She was just being immature about it.

I think she made the right decision.

Um, I'm a parent of three
and I'd rather not

put myself in a hole
that I can't get myself out of.

Yeah, I really wanted it to work out,

but I feel like it was just immaturity
that made it go like that.

We stuck to the agreement that we had,
which was working on the car.

Every time he'd done work on our car,
we always paid him.

Friends come and go.

The world works in mysterious ways,
and I think he just likes it that way.

So Alexei, let me tell you
my take away from this case,

which has nothing to do with the law,

it has to do with Ms. Gallardo,

who I found absolutely charming.

I actually found the plaintiff
and her boyfriend

also honest and charming.

The defendant, on the other hand,
is a hustler,

and it's interesting that Ms. Gallardo
knows he's a hustler

because that lady smiled
when I said, remember the picture.

Ten years, you won't remember him

because he has three kids.

Takes care of them, she says,
as best he can.

Well, you can't take care of him
as best you can if you don't have a job.

And then, not to have a job,

and to want $1,200 rims for your car.

She knew it was ridiculous.

[announcer] Are you a victim of a scam?

[theme music playing]