03x58 - Episode 58

[bunniefuu]

She took out a knife
and stabbed the both of you.

Yeah. My hand's covered in blood.
My outfit was covered in blood.

So let me understand this.

You had a confrontation
with two unarmed people.

Mm-hmm.

You stabbed her in the neck.

Yes.

And you think that was okay?

I was self-defensing myself...

[laughing] That's funny!

[narrator] This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Danielle Florez
is suing her former friends,

Priscilla Ortiz and Jessica Aguirre,

for false arrest, car damages,
and emotional distress.

[Kevin] Court come to order. All rise.

Have a seat, please.

Hello Judge. Case 3102,
Florez versus Ortiz, Aguirre.

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

Oh, my God, this is like a series.

Like a ten-part series.
So I have to try to simplify it.

Ms. Florez, you and these two ladies
used to be friends.

-Correct.
-[Judy] And between the three of you,

you have seven children?

Um, altogether about, yeah. [chuckles]

And the three of you
have been friends for a while.

-And on September 1st of 2022...
-Mm-hmm.

...the three of you
along with your boyfriend

were hanging out at whose house?

My house.

-[Judy] With all the children?
-[Danielle] Yes.

[Judy] And you had to go out
for a little while,

-according to what you said.
-Yes.

I don't know where.
Tell me where you went.

I went to see a friend, she needed me.
There was some urgent...

I was gone for 30 minutes.

So you went off for a little bit and when
you came back, according to what I read,

you found that your boyfriend
and these two gals...

[Danielle] Mm-hmm.

-[Judy] ...were drinking.
-[Danielle] Yes.

[Judy] And you and the boyfriend
sort of got into it.

Correct.

Excuse me. Sorry, um,

it's incorrect that she was only gone
for 30 minutes.

[Judy] Let's say
she was gone for two hours.

It was two hours.

[Judy] Great! Good guess.

She was gone for two hours,
so you were drinking for two hours.

And not...

-Well, her boyfriend was...
-We started at the pool.

[Judy] Okay, and you threw him out.

Yes.

[Judy] And the two of you left as well.

One of you took the boyfriend
home with them.

-That's me. Yes.
-[Judy] That would be you.

-Mm-hmm.
-And when you brought the boyfriend

home with you, according to you,

he was upset
and you wanted to console him.

Yeah.

-Well, you consoled him.
-Mm-hmm.

[Judy] I bet.

He's now your husband.

Yes.

[Danielle chuckles]

[Judy] And then on September 25th,

Ms. Florez was at a local bar.

-The bar that Priscilla and I go to.
-[Judy] Shh.

I don't want you to shout out anymore.

-Do you understand?
-[Jessica] That's fine.

It doesn't help you.

That's fine.

[Judy] She was at a local bar
and after she arrived,

you two arrived. Is that correct?

Yes.

[Judy]
Had you ever been to that bar before?

This is the first time.

Why did you pick that bar?

Because it was far from my city,
about a 20-minute drive.

I figured somewhere a little farther,
so I won't bump into the girls,

and I ended up bumping right into them.
[laughs nervously]

So what you're saying is you did not know
that this was a place

where they frequented.

-[Danielle] Yes. Yes.
-[Judy] Okay.

Who takes care of all your little children
when you're out bar-hopping?

-[Danielle] At this very... Oh, sorry.
-Just a... Shh!

I'm just asking a question.
That's a name.

Who takes care of all your children
when you're out bar-hopping at night?

I have a co-parent,

so at that time, it was my co-parent
that was taking care of my children.

-[Judy] And what about you, who's taking...
-My family.

[Judy] Which family?

My siblings, my older siblings.

I live at home with my dad,
so he's home with them.

[Judy]
Anyway, after you were there for a while,

the two of them came in
and according to you,

you decided to leave,
that there was some bad air

in the air and you decided
it wouldn't be a good idea,

you went to leave, and according to you,
they followed you outside.

Yes.

[Judy] Your car was parked there?

-Right in front.
-[Judy] Okay.

So now I've set the stage.

Now you tell me what happened
when you left the bar.

Um, I didn't really want to continue
staying there after seeing the girls.

I felt unease.

Um, before I left,
I noticed the girls were getting rowdy.

Um, the security then asked them to leave.

Um, the girls I did see in the corner
of my eye walking across the street

as security was yelling at them, "Leave,"
or whatever they were...

So, were they outside or...

[Danielle]
They were already going outside,

-they were being pushed outside, yeah.
-They were outside.

By security.

[Danielle] Correct, yes.

-Okay, and you're still inside.
-Yes.

Shh. Just for my own curiosity,

why didn't you stay in the bar when they
were pushed out? Why did you leave?

I just felt uncomfortable, I couldn't...

But they weren't...
You understand my question?

[Danielle] Yes.

The threat was gone.
They were now outside the bar.

Why don't you stay in the bar?

[Danielle] I wanted to leave,
one of the reasons being

is because it was getting
closer for me to pick up my children.

I felt it was best for just me to leave,
and I was really not having fun.

What time was this?

This was about...
It was getting close to midnight,

so probably about 11:30-ish.

[Judy] Okay, so now it's midnight,
and how old are your children?

My daughter's ten and my son is five.

[Judy] And they were with whom?

The co-parent, my ex-husband.

[Judy] And you were going to
pick them up at midnight?

No, I was... I would make sure
I pick them up in the morning,

but I wanted to go home, rest,
and so forth. I...

So, you weren't going to
pick your children up, you...

[Danielle] Not right away, no.

Okay, so there was no urgency
for you to leave at that moment.

[Danielle] Yes.

Just setting the stage for where we're at.

So, now you're outside,
and you go outside.

-Your car is parked right in front.
-Yes.

Keep going.

Um, I went outside to leave.
I opened the driver door.

As soon as I opened the driver door,

Priscilla Ortiz jumps
right in front of me and the vehicle...

[Judy] That would be you?

-Yep.
-Mm-hmm.

Not, "Yep."

[Priscilla] Oh, yes, Your Honor.

-Better.
-Sorry. [chuckles]

[Danielle] I was confused.

I said, "What are you doing?"
She goes, "You're not leaving.

You're not going anywhere."

As soon as that was said,

I've seen in the corner of my eye
was Jessica,

and I felt other people around me.

I then felt people pushing me
and tugging me,

and there is ongoing traffic right there.

I was very scared. And then I had, um...

On my purse, it's a cell phone,
my debit card and so forth,

and I have a key little weapon

for self-defense that I do carry with me.

That little weapon I had,
and I told Priscilla, "Stay away from me."

And I had it right in the front,
and I go, "Stay away from me."

She lunged after me
and I did stab her with it.

-Then...
-How many times?

From my understanding, twice at least.

I don't think it was any more than that.

[Judy] She didn't have a weapon.

[Danielle] No, she did not.

But I had a prior restraining order
before that.

She has been taunting me before that.

[Judy]
I don't care, she didn't have a weapon.

-You're right.
-And you stabbed her.

Yes.

[Judy] As a matter of fact,
you stabbed both of them.

-[Danielle] Yes.
-[Judy] Okay, so now you stabbed Priscilla

-at least twice.
-[Danielle] Correct.

Where had you stabbed her?

I believe on the back.

So she was still active, doing what?

Yelling at me. She...

-[Judy] Yelling at you.
-Yes.

[Judy] Okay. And what did you do
when she was yelling at you?

I backed up and I told them,
"Let me leave.

Get out of my way, I want to leave."

As I opened the driver door, Priscilla
came right between me and the car...

And! Just and.

Then she started yelling at me,
saying, "You're not going anywhere."

[Judy] Yes, and?

So then I backed away

-because other people were coming back.
-[Judy] And?

Then Jessica came and lunged at me

and that's when I lunged at her,
and I did hurt her.

And then I was trying to
leave the situation.

The girls were in front of me
and I squeezed through

and jumped into my vehicle
because the door was already open.

After I seen Jessica...

Wait... You stabbed only one,
when did you stab the second one?

When I was being pulled, I stabbed,

but I didn't know it was Jessica
at the time.

But I did stab someone
as I was being pulled back.

You stabbed her in the neck.

Yes.

-She was leaving.
-Yes.

[Judy]
So that you followed her out of the bar?

Yes.

Why?

Because she mumbled something
and I wanted to confront what she mumbled

and previously
we were already having altercations.

Well, then that would
make you very stupid.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Danielle Florez
claims her former friends,

Priscilla Ortiz and Jessica Aguirre,

owe for car damages
and emotional distress.

Priscilla and Jessica are countersuing
for injuries received

when Danielle stabbed them.

Now... Then you get into your car.

-[Danielle] Correct.
-And?

I got into the car. I drove...
Uh, before I drove off,

the car was going back and forth.

I looked in the back window,

I noticed that someone was breaking
my windshield wiper,

breaking the front of my windshield wiper.

-[Judy] Who was that?
-It was Jessica's cousin or niece.

She was there, she was breaking
the windshield wipers and so forth.

[Judy] And then?

[Danielle] I drove off.

I drove two streets away
and I called the police on myself...

So what are you suing them for?
Somebody else damaged your car.

I have recordings of Jessica
opening my driver door

and kicking the steering wheel.

[Judy]
Okay, I would like to hear that recording.

Okay.

-[indistinct shouting]
-[music playing over speakers]

[woman on video]
She got stabbed...

[indistinct chatter]

[Danielle] You can see all of them on me.

[indistinct arguing]

I didn't see anybody
kicking your steering wheel.

Kicking the inside of my car,
if you notice...

[Judy] I didn't see anybody
kicking inside of your car.

You wanna play that again?

-[Danielle] Yes.
-Maybe I missed it.

[Danielle] It's right here,
you see Jessica, she's moving a lot.

She's actually kicking the inside of my...

The inside of my, uh, vehicle.

[Judy] Okay. And then she gets out.

[Danielle] Correct.

Okay. And so I want you to show me
the damage she did to your steering wheel.

Yes.

[Judy]
'Cause then you say you drove away.

So you clearly drove away
and the car was functioning.

Let me just this clear, Ms. Florez.

-[Danielle] Yes.
-By the time

she went in and kicked your car...

Yes.

[Judy] ...and then she got out of the car
and you got in and drove away.

You had already stabbed
both of them with a weapon,

which neither one of them had...

-[Danielle] Mm-hmm.
-[Judy] ...when one them

tried to prevent you from leaving
by kicking your steering wheel.

-Am I getting this right?
-Yes, you are, Your Honor.

[laughs maniacally]

That's funny.

So let me understand this.

You had a confrontation
with two unarmed people.

You stabbed them both.

You suffered no physical injury.

They're going to show me
because I had seen photographs in here

of their injuries.

One required 13 stitches,

one required several staples
as a result of being...

I got 30 stitches.

[Judy] And you think that was okay?

I was self-defensing myself

out of previous events of them
constantly harassing me, Your Honor.

-[Judy] I don't care.
-I got restraining orders against them,

they kept harassing me.

Listen to me, you can't use
a deadly weapon against somebody

because you feel
as if you're being harassed.

But the first thing that was clear is,
if they had been harassing you

and they were told by security
in the bar to leave, for whatever reason...

Because nothing happened in the bar
because you felt uncomfortable.

You just felt uncomfortable
that they were there,

so maybe they were rowdy, who knows?

But then they were escorted
out of the bar.

[Danielle] Mm-hmm.

And instead of you letting the situation
sort of resolve

and staying for a half-hour
until they left,

you decided to leave at the exact
same time as they were escorted out,

or moments thereafter,

because you wanted to get home
and take a nap

before you had to go pick up your children
early in the morning.

Am I getting that right?

-You are. Yeah.
-[Judy] Yeah.

[scoffs] Get out of here.

You have a counterclaim.

-Yes.
-Yes.

[Judy] And your counterclaim
is for being stabbed.

-Yes.
-Yes, Your Honor.

I would just like to know,
there was a trial on this?

-Yes.
-[Judy] Against her?

[Jessica] Against her.

[Judy] Was it a jury trial?

Well, we weren't really
involved in anything for it.

We got, like, phone calls,

but they pretty much told us, like,
"You don't need to go to court

because there's nothing to do other than
we already have your statements."

Did you have a lawyer?
Because you were arrested for as*ault.

You had to be arrested for as*ault,
this was serious physical injury.

-Yes, I did.
-[Judy] One of them was in the neck.

You know, but for the grace of God,
it could have hit an artery,

and she could have been dead.

What happened with that case
when you were arrested?

[Danielle] It got dismissed.

[Judy] I want to see
a certificate of disposition.

I want to see what happened.

[Danielle] This is where it's dismissed.

Those were the ones
that were for dismissal.

[Judy] I have to know more about this.

I have the police report of that...

No, I don't want the police report,
I want to know what happened in court

that caused it to be... Was it dismissed?

Did you take a plea

-and do community service, did...
-[Danielle] No.

[Judy] Well, what happened?

They dropped it
because I had a restraining order

and previous events
with Jessica and Priscilla.

[Judy] Where does it say that here?

[Danielle] When we were at court,
they didn't show up multiple times.

The court last...

I didn't get my release until November...
I was out on OR

until November 22nd.

Okay, I asked you to show me a picture
just for closure...

-For the view.
-[Judy] Kevin,

would you just show me pictures

of the steering wheel
that she wants to show me?

[Danielle] Yes, they're all in there.

Just steering wheel.

No.

Who wants to tell me what happened?

Um, Your Honor, we were not
escorted out of the bar,

um, the night everything happened
on September 25th.

So, we were just in the front of the bar,
we were not escorted out.

Did anybody ask you to leave?

-No, nobody asked us to leave.
-[Judy] How come you decided to leave?

You had just gotten there.

[Priscilla] We didn't leave at all.

[Judy] You didn't leave?

No, nobody asked us to leave,

we didn't feel any type of way of being...

-Fine, so now you're at the bar. And?
-[Priscilla] Mm-hmm.

And so, um, we had gotten our drinks

and we were already there for a while

until we noticed that
Ms. Florez was there.

And so, once we noticed
that she was there,

-we still, you know, were just, like...
-We stayed.

Come, come, come, come, come,
faster. Faster.

And then, so, we stayed
and towards the end of the night,

which was already past 1:30,
almost 2:00 is closing time.

So we were still right there and we were
right there by the front of the bar.

When Ms. Florez had walked past me,
she had mumbled something...

-I didn't.
-[Priscilla] ...and then I had asked her

what she mumbled.

Somehow we were
going around her car and...

Now, just... You were at the bar,
how do you get around her car?

-[Priscilla] 'Cause, like, she parked...
-When you're in the bar. Shh...

Like she mentioned,
she was parked in the front.

So she was leaving... Follow me carefully.

There's so much going on,
I look down and I felt wet

and I just touched myself.
My outfit, as you can see in the video,

was covered in blood.

I hadn't touched her. We were arguing.

But I have the police report here

where she states
that she did not have any injuries.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Danielle Florez
is accusing her former friends,

Priscilla Ortiz and Jessica Aguirre,
of damaging her car

and creating a false arrest.

Priscilla and Jessica are countersuing,

claiming Danielle
stabbed them multiple times.

She was leaving.

She was leaving.

[Judy] Passing you in the bar.

Yes, correct.

And she was leaving.

Then she said something to you,
mumbled something under her breath.

[Priscilla] Yes.

[Judy] You said, "What did you say to me?"

-Blah, blah, blah.
-Yes.

[Judy]
She's still leaving, she goes outside.

-Yes.
-[Judy] Did you follow her outside?

-No.
-[Danielle] Yes.

[Judy] Did you... I don't want to hear you.

Did you go out after her?

-We were already in the front.
-[Judy] No just...

I don't understand
what you mean, "In the front."

Well, because the front of the bar
has an inside and outside

and the front has where you can,
you know, kind of hang around.

So that's where we were.

But we were not escorted out. We were not.

I didn't ask you
whether you were escorted out.

I'm trying to get a timeline.

Right now, she passed you...

Well, she said we were escorted out
and we weren't.

[Judy] Did you understand
what I just said to you? I'm past that.

-Yes.
-[Judy] Right now, all I'm dealing with,

how much of this whole mess
and getting stabbed

was instigated by the two of you.

-That's what I'm trying to figure out.
-Yeah.

How much of it was your responsibility
of getting involved with her

because it doesn't look like
the kind of person

who would just take out a knife
and stab you.

So now we're outside and I want
to find out how you got outside.

She was going outside.

Did you follow her

-to her car?
-No, Your Honor.

[Judy] How did you get to her car?

We were already outside.

If you don't answer my question,
I'm going to dismiss your case.

-Do you understand that?
-[Priscilla] Okay.

-Yes.
-[Judy] That's easy for me.

If something doesn't make sense,
it's not true.

-You said you were at the bar...
-[Priscilla] Yes.

...she passed you.

You were sitting at the front,
clearly towards the entrance

because you said it was
half inside, half outside.

Yes.

[Judy]
So she was passing you on her way out.

She mumbled something to you
as you were at the bar.

-Yes.
-[Judy] You said, "What did you mumble?"

-She's going out to her car.
-[Priscilla] Mm-hmm.

How did the two of you get to her car...

-Uh, by walking.
-[Judy] ...from the bar?

-By walking.
-[Judy] Right after her.

-Yes.
-[Judy] No...

-Don't speak!
-All right.

-[Judy] Right after her.
-[Priscilla] Mm-hmm.

So that you followed her out of the bar.

Yes.

Okay. Why?

Because she mumbled something
and I wanted to confront what she mumbled,

and previously
we were already having altercations.

Well, then that would
make you very stupid.

-Okay.
-[Judy] That would make you very stupid.

To follow her out after you
had had many altercations.

You had been in the bar for a while,
everybody's drinking.

You followed her outside. She was leaving.

What about you?

We were still inside. Priscilla goes
and follows to where she's going

with the guy that she was with.

And then he starts to kind of, like,
go towards Priscilla to grab her.

Who sort of goes to Priscilla?

The man that Ms. Florez was with.

[Judy]
Who was following her out of the bar.

Yes.

[Judy] So he goes to prevent her

from following her out of the bar.

-Well, at that point...
-[Judy] Do... Don't.

That would be a yes.

Well, 'cause they're both arguing
with each other.

-[Judy] That's okay.
-Yeah.

She was following her out of the bar.

[Jessica] Yeah. But she was
just sitting there yelling at her.

They're both yelling at each other.

-And then he...
-[Judy] They wouldn't have been yelling

at each other if she hadn't

-followed her out of the bar.
-You're right.

-Of course, I'm right.
-[Jessica] So...

So... So now they're yelling at each other.

[Jessica] They're yelling at each other
and to me,

there's no reason
for him to put his hands on her.

So when her cousin and I saw that,
we went up to confront him.

We were like,
"Hey, you need to leave her alone

because they've had altercations
in the past."

So we were like, "Hey, you need to
leave her alone. Stay out of it."

And then everyone starts arguing.

Them two are arguing.
We're arguing with the guy.

And then everything gets
moved over to her car.

And then that's when
everyone's yelling at each other

and then out of nowhere,
she strikes me.

And then there's so much going on,
I look down

and I felt wet and I just touch myself,
my hand's covered in blood.

My outfit, as you could see in the video,
was covered in blood.

I hadn't touched her,
we were arguing, but...

I have the police report here

where she states
that she did not have any injuries.

-And then her...
-[Judy] Just a second.

She didn't have any injuries
and there was no cause

for her to stab either one of you.

Based upon what I saw,
based upon what she told me.

There was a lot of verbal screaming
back and forth

and screaming back and forth,
but there was nothing that I heard or saw

that suggested that in self-defense,

she took out a knife
and stabbed the both of you.

Absolutely nothing.

So, Ms. Florez, your case is dismissed

where you're asking for damages
to the steering wheel.

-Miss...
-[Judy] And on the counterclaim,

I'm awarding the defendants $10,000
as they request.

I have no idea why they dropped this case.

-Your Honor, please.
-[Judy] Either your lawyer knew somebody

or the judge was taking a nap!

But there is absolutely no basis
to use a deadly weapon...

I was self-defending myself,
I have restraining...

-She keeps bothering me, even to this day.
-[Judy] I...

-Listen to me. Listen to me.
-Your Honor.

[Danielle] Your Honor, please...

I don't care if you have
restraining orders, madam.

Don't you understand?
You cannot use a deadly weapon

when somebody is yelling at you.

People that you know,
people that you have a history with,

you can't use a deadly weapon.

And nothing in the story that you told me

gave you reason to pick up a knife
and use a deadly weapon.

The history that you may have with them...

-Yes.
-...is an entirely different thing.

Please, let me please explain
what happened previously to these events

and the ongoing harassment.

Priscilla still... Still taunts me.

[Judy] Listen to me.

-If she taunts you...
-How can I taunt someone

that has a restraining order on me?

...file a violation
of the protective order.

-Okay.
-[Judy] That's what you do.

You don't stab them.

I had it for self-defense,
'cause I was so scared of them.

Okay. That's my judgment.
Your case is dismissed.

Ten thousand dollars on the counterclaim.

-[Priscilla] Thank you, Your Honor.
-We're done.

[Kevin] This court is adjourned.

I do feel scared to this day of how she
torments me as well as her family members.

We were all friends
and then she's just not a good person

that we wanted to be associated with.

Uh, with Jessica, the fact that
she did follow me outside the vehicle,

I know a weapon was not a choice to have,

but it was something
that I felt unsafe with

because of the constant of them
harassing me prior to this event.

I just looked down
and I was covered in blood, and I just...

I just started freaking out.

Definitely no more seeing each other.

I hope definitely with them...
relocation within the apartments,

it will be a better, peaceful environment
for me and Priscilla,

um, and definitely go from there.

-Justice was served.
-Exactly.

She didn't deserve...

-I'm glad she was put in her place.
-...to take advantage of us again.

I don't think I would have granted
the defendants all of the money

that they were seeking
in their countersuit

because in her story,
when she was laying it out to you,

she admitted that she knew that there was
a restraining order against her

-held by the plaintiff.
-You mean...

-You mean the defendant.
-The defendant.

So the second that they entered that bar

and then realized
that the plaintiff was there,

they're under a legal obligation to leave
and you did not leave.

So, therefore I think that they...
Obviously, no one deserves to be stabbed.

-You cannot just stab people...
-That's... Yeah.

That is not something you can do.

But...
-But they were under an obligation.

They were under legal obligation to leave.

Not to say they should not have been
compensated for being stabbed

-under the circumstances.
-Absolute... Absolutely. She had no...

She had no basis except that
she said she had prior harassment.

-There is a proper course of recourse...
-Yeah.

...for when someone violates
a restraining order,

-none of which includes stabbing.
-Includes stabbing them in the neck.

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



[theme music playing]