01x108 - Dating with Children

[bunniefuu]

Were you friendly with him
when he was married?

Yes.

[Judge Judy]
You had a protective order against her?

Yes, ma'am.

Well, he was trying to have me
arrested for one.

Police say that you violated the order?

- Right.
- [Judge Judy] You could not be within

- two blocks of his home?
- Right.

[Judge Judy]
What were you doing at his house?

[announcer] This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Amy Thomas
is suing her ex-boyfriend,

Jason McMahan,
for the return of her property,

the cost of a trip,
and money taken from her bank account.

[Kevin] Court come to order.

All rise.

Have a seat, everybody.

[Kevin] Hello, Judge.

Case number 1158, Thomas versus McMahan.

- Thank you.
- Welcome.

[Judge Judy] Oh, my goodness.
This sounds like some drama.

Ms. Thomas, you and Mr. McMahan

were, for a period time,
involved romantically?

- Yes, ma'am.
- Who is this?

[Amy] Uh, my son.

[Judge Judy] What is he here for?

[Amy] There's a counterclaim
against his car that he bought from him.

[Judge Judy] He could wait outside
for a minute.

Kevin, would you escort this young man
outside for a minute?

Thank you.

How long do you know Mr. McMahan?

About 11 years.

Were you friendly with him
when he was married?

No. Well, we were friends, but not...

- [Judge Judy] You were friends?
- Yeah.

[Judge Judy] So you were friends
with his wife as well?

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] How long were you friends

with his wife?

Same amount of time.

- Were you married at the time?
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] You're no longer married?

- No.
- [Judge Judy] In what year

did you and your wife separate?

- It was...
- Month and year.

...January of...five years ago,
so 2016-ish?

And in what month and year
did you and your husband separate?

May of, like, 2018.

And when did you and Mr. McMahan
start to see each other?

November, December of, like, 2020.

Or 2019, sorry, 2019.

These questions sort of become relevant.

So, that...you and your wife
were already separated...

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] ...when you

and the plaintiff got together?

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] Fine.

'Cause I sense, based upon
what you write, that there was...

in the complaint,
that there was some bad energy

between yourself and your ex-wife.

Yes, ma'am.

While you were a couple,
your complaint is,

that there was a trip that was scheduled,
it was to celebrate your birthday,

you were going to Las Vegas,
you were taking your children.

And according to your complaint,
the defendant

was supposed to take his children.

You made the arrangements,

you booked the Airbnb, you booked flights.

And according to you, at the last minute,

the defendant backed out of the trip

and he said his ex-wife wouldn't let him

take the children with you to Vegas.

So, you want half the cost of the trip.
That's one thing.

- Right.
- [Judge Judy] And then

you want the return of property

that you allege he has that's yours
that was in a house

that you sometimes stayed at?

Yeah, I stayed at his house a lot.

Your children are how old?

Christian's 20, and my youngest is 16.

Okay. And when you stayed at his house,
where were your children?

- At my home.
- [Judge Judy] So you didn't live

- at his house?
- [Amy] No.

- [Judge Judy] You stayed at his house?
- Right.

- [Judge Judy] You slept over.
- Yeah.

Let's keep this very, very simple

because it's not a complicated case.

What items do you allege
that you have that are yours

that are at his house?

My dresser. I just moved it in...

- [Judge Judy] Okay.
- ...the day before.

Your dresser, and?

My bed. I bought a new bed.

- A mattress?
- [Amy] Uh-huh.

The rest of my Xbox stuff because
we used to do family nights there,

so I just need my Xbox stuff back.

- Do you have her dresser?
- Um, I do, Your Honor.

- [Judge Judy] It's an old dresser, right?
- Yes.

And I, I, I've told the plaintiff
not to bring it over

and she still brought it over.

It wouldn't even fit upstairs.

- [Judge Judy] Just a second.
- Okay.

You have no objection if she gets a mover

with an escort and comes to get
the old dresser?

Yes, she can stay outside, yeah.

- She can stay outside?
- [Jason] Uh-hmm.

- Go get the dresser.
- Thank you.

[Judge Judy] Now, you bought a mattress.

When you went to his house,
was there a mattress?

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] And you brought over

a new one, was that your idea or his idea?

- Both.
- [Judge Judy] I'm a woman.

I want you to understand that.

He doesn't mind sleeping
on his old mattress with a new girlfriend.

The new girlfriend minds sleeping
on the mattress where you used to sleep

with other people.

So, there was a mattress
when you got there.

And when you brought over
the new mattress,

he got rid of the old one.

- Yeah.
- [Judge Judy] The mattress stays.

- The dresser comes with you.
- Okay.

[Judge Judy] He doesn't want it.

Do you have any of her Xbox stuff?

Um, that Xbox stuff, she gave to my son.

My eight-year-old son, Your Honor.

When did she give it to him?

She bought him a video game
for Christmas and then after he got

that video game, she brought him
a charging station and two controllers.

- And that was for Christmas?
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judge Judy] Did you buy those things
for Christmas, is my question?

- No.
- [Judge Judy] What did you buy them for?

I bought them in May
so that we could play Mortal Kombat

when the movie Mortal Kombat came out.

Well, why didn't you keep it
at your house?

Because my kids would come over there...
'cause I was over there a lot,

so, like, we would do dinner
and then we'd all have like a game night.

This kid's 20 years old?

He's got a maturity of, like,
a 12-year-old sometimes.

- [Judge Judy] Really?
- So he would come out...yeah.

- [Judge Judy] Really?
- Yes.

- [Judge Judy] He drives a car?
- No.

I thought you said
there's a counterclaim for a car.

- Is he the one with the car?
- No, I have the car.

It's in my name...

I don't care if it's in your name or not.

He doesn't drive.

[Judge Judy]
Does he have a driver's license?

No. He's not allowed to drive.

He had one, I took it away.

[Judge Judy] Just a...so far, Ms. Thomas,

you're not doing terrific with me.

You have your dresser back.

The last...which is coming back to you.

If she doesn't pick up the dresser
with an escort within five days

- of today's date...
- Okay.

[Judge Judy] ...the dresser is yours,
you can keep it, you can throw it away,

you can make it into firewood,
you can do whatever you want with it.

It was clear from this
that you brought in furniture

'cause he didn't have furniture,
so you brought some stuff in.

You can take your dresser.

But you have five days to do it in.

Get a mover.
Now let's talk about the trip.

You were supposed to take a trip to Vegas?

- Yeah.
- [Judge Judy] On what dates?

Uh, June 28th through July 5th.

Did you go?

No.

- [Judge Judy] You did not go?
- [Amy] Uh-uh.

[Judge Judy] And your children didn't go?

- [Amy] Uh-uh.
- [Judge Judy] You booked an Airbnb?

Yes.

- How much was it?
- Uh, 809.38.

When did you cancel it?

[Amy] The day that everything fell apart,
so June 26th,

the day before
we were supposed to leave, pretty much.

Did you get your money back?

- No.
- [Judge Judy] Why didn't you go?

Well, he was trying
to have me arrested for one,

- for two, I just...no, I wasn't...
- [Judge Judy] No, no, no, no.

- Slowly. Why did...
- [Amy] I, I didn't wanna go.

You didn't wanna go?

No, I couldn't.

[Judge Judy] Why couldn't you go?

'Cause he was supposed to pay half, so.

So, what do you mean supposed to pay half?

You have two children.

You were supposed to go there
for your birthday.

You booked the Airbnb, why didn't you go?

Because all the money
that was spent to go,

he was supposed to repay
all that back so that we can finish

going to the trip and he didn't do that.

So there was no reason you didn't go?

Yeah, no, I couldn't go.
Health-wise, I just couldn't go.

Like, mental health-wise,
I didn't wanna go.

[Judge Judy] You didn't go
because he told you that his wife

wouldn't let him
take the children out of state?

- No, that's not what happened, but...
- [Judge Judy] Well,

tell me what happened. That's what...

that's what it says here
in your complaint.

That's what led up to all
of this happening, but no,

it's because he's...
because there was a domestic violence

and I'm just not in the right mindset
to go.

I didn't wanna go.

So he laid hands on me
and I just didn't wanna go.

You understood
that the protective order that was signed

by your judge said that you could not be
within two blocks of his home?

- [Amy] Right.
- [Judge Judy] And have no contact

- with either him or his children.
- Right.

And you understand
that you violated that order?

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Amy Thomas claims
her ex-boyfriend, Jason McMahan,

is wrongfully keeping her property

and stole money from her bank account.

Jason is countersuing,
claiming Amy damaged his cars

and burglarized his home.

So you chose not to go?

Yeah. No, I have PTSD, I don't...yeah.

I wasn't gonna go by myself,
it was supposed to be a planned thing

and fun, and it's not fun.

She's gonna get her dresser.

Next part of your complaint is,
he took money from your bank account.

- Yeah.
- What money did he take

from your bank account and when?

It's been going on since June 26th 'til
current. Um, his auto insurance,

he is signed up on electronic fund
transfers.

- Mr. McMahan...
- [Jason] Yeah.

...did you take
on an automatic withdrawal,

your auto insurance
out of her bank account?

No, I pay my auto insurance
through my, my bank and my card,

and I have since I've had auto insurance.

- [Judge Judy] Okay. Ms. Thomas?
- [Amy] Uh-hmm.

Would you show me proof
that Mr. McMahan withdrew money

from your bank account
to pay his car insurance?

[Amy] So the front's the bank statement,
this is that got withdrawn.

[Judge Judy] Insurance premium,
Progressive Direct Insurance,

A 139.77, what is that, sir?

I have no idea.
I've never used her bank card

or her bank information at all,
Your Honor.

I've paid my insurance myself
through my own card.

- I've never had access to any...
- [Judge Judy] Name on account...

[Jason] And as a matter of fact,
Your Honor,

I have a text message of her sending
to my kids' mother

about how she's got all of my access
to my information.

I don't have any access of hers.

How much is your auto insurance, sir?

[Jason] It's $139.

I have no idea how it got on there,
Your Honor.

[Judge Judy] Show me proof
that you paid your auto insurance.

[Jason] I...

From your bank,
you know what this is about.

[Jason] I know, and I don't have
a bank statement for that.

I, I don't know what that's about,
honestly.

[Judge Judy] Well, take a look.

[Jason] Like I've called
Progressive myself and used my card.

- The whole time, I...
- Uh, just, just a second.

Yeah, I have...I honestly have no idea.

[Judge Judy] Okay. Keep reading.

- Well, I...
- [Judge Judy] Keep reading.

So don't tell me you have no idea
until you read everything.

- I really don't, Your Honor.
- [Judge Judy] Really, everything.

Okay. So do you need some time
to get your bank records to show me

that you've paid your own
auto insurance every month?

[Jason] I mean,
I, I could call Progressive.

[Judge Judy] I, I could...
no, don't call Progressive.

Okay. I, I don't have access
to my accounts right now, Your Honor.

I couldn't give you that information
'cause I, I had no idea

that that was even on there.

Well, were you served
with a complaint that talked about it?

No, it was just a...I was served...

- [Judge Judy] Oh.
- ...with a piece of paper that...

- [Judge Judy] Show me.
- ...I owed 63...

Show, show me the complaint
that you served him.

I'll take those now, Kevin.

He, he was served with a...an order.

[Judge Judy] Just show me the complaint.

Can I ask you a question?
When did you stop this?

So I just found out about it. I was
already in small claims

and then I had to amend my order and add
that to it.

[Judge Judy] Ms. Thomas,
what you're telling me is that Mr. McMahan

was not served with a complaint
that included this?

- No, he was.
- [Judge Judy] Then show it to me.

I'm trying to find it,
but I think I left it in the trailer.

[Judge Judy] Then it doesn't exist.

He says he never got it, and unless
you have proof that he was served with it,

I'm going to dismiss that part
of your claim so that you can re-file it.

- Okay.
- [Judge Judy] Because it looks to me

as if, if he pays $139 a month
for his car insurance,

it looks to me as if it's coming out
of your bank account.

- Yes.
- [Judge Judy] And if it is coming

out of your bank account
as recently as last month,

and he didn't have an opportunity
to bring his bank records

to show that it comes out of his account,

I'm gonna dismiss your claim
without prejudice.

You can re-file it
with regard to that claim,

unless you can show me proof
that he was served with...

I, I have it, the service notice,

but I think it's...I think it's in my other
stuff because I was [indistinct]

[Judge Judy] Well, if it...listen.

- This is where we are.
- [Amy] So, I'm sorry.

This is where we are,
and it goes up to a week ago.

So I doubt that he was served with it
unless he was served today with it.

- No, he was served...
- [Judge Judy] It doesn't...

- ...like, two weeks.
- [Judge Judy] Hmm?

He was served two weeks ago.

If he was served two weeks ago,

then he would have had time
to get his bank funds.

Yeah. I understand.

If you could just...I could...
I don't mind if you dismiss it,

- if I could bring that...
- [Judge Judy] Fine.

- Yeah. That's fine.
- [Judge Judy] So he's...

you're gonna get your dresser back.

Now we're going to go to his counterclaim.

First, let's go to money owed
for car damages.

- Your cars were damaged?
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judge Judy] It is your claim
that the plaintiff damaged your cars?

Yes, ma'am.

- [Judge Judy] On several occasions?
- [Jason] Yes.

- The first one being...
- [Judge Judy] Just a second.

- Okay.
- [Judge Judy] Let us acknowledge

that your cars were damaged.

- You have police reports...
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judge Judy] ...that your car was damaged.

Do you have any proof
that the plaintiff damaged your cars?

I have three videos, and the second video

is her car driving by.

It's an all-black car with all-black rims

and, uh, you can see
a puddle forming behind my car.

And there's a third video where it's the,
uh, the very next car going by

and you can fully see a puddle
of brake fluid behind my car.

So what you want me to see are
videos of an all-black car, not her?

[Jason] Yes. Yes, ma'am.

Of an all-black car
passing your car, and a puddle of fluid?

Well, there's somebody
throwing something out of the window

and, uh, you can't really see
who it is, um,

but it's an all-black car with black rims,
she owns an all-black car with black rims.

I've never had problems with anybody
in the eight years

that I've lived in my house.

I've parked there eight years.

And as soon as I quit talking to her,
my cars get destroyed.

Can I see your police reports, please?

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] By the way, did you go

to his house after the 28th of June,

that was...or July, whenever
that you were supposed to go away,

and he went with his kids on vacation
to a lake or something...

did you go to his house
and dismantle a trampoline

that you had bought for his children?

No. And I have a picture of that
on my phone.

That's still up in his back yard.

- Is it?
- [Amy] Uh-hmm.

That's 'cause she was in the process
of taking it apart, Your Honor.

- But it's still there?
- [Jason] Yes.

- Right. There's nothing...
- [Judge Judy] Okay.

- ...off with it at all.
- [Judge Judy] So...just a sec.

So it wasn't damaged?

- No.
- [Judge Judy] Okay.

- I believe that's the one.
- [Amy] I didn't touch it.

[Judge Judy] Did you go to his house,
Ms. Thomas?

- [Amy] On the day he's talking about...
- [Judge Judy] Did you go to his house?

- [Amy] Yes.
- On what date?

This would have been the 26th.

Did you start to dismantle the trampoline

that had been purchased for his children?

- No.
- You didn't touch it at all?

- No.
- [Judge Judy] Is my question.

- No.
- [Judge Judy] What did you go there for?

I was already there,
um, I was moving my stuff out.

What do you mean
you were moving your stuff out?

[Amy] A lot of my stuff was there,
so, uh, my...

- [Judge Judy] What stuff other than...
- ...my clothes...

- [Judge Judy] ...your dresser?
- [Amy] ...my clothes, hygiene stuff,

uh, my air conditioner,
like a lot of stuff was there.

And that was the 27th, Your Honor.

What was your air conditioner doing there?

Because he doesn't have
a lot of money and it's hot.

It's hot in his house
and I was there a lot.

I didn't wanna be hot.

You negotiated a price of $1,300,
you paid him 500,

you did not pay him the rest,
your mother stole the title,

had it titled in her name,
forged his signature...

- No.
- [Judge Judy] ...and you have the car.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Amy Thomas is accusing
the defendant, Jason McMahan,

of withdrawing money from her bank account
without permission.

Jason claims Amy's son
purchased his Honda Accord

but still owes
the remaining balance on the car.

On the 19th of July, sir,

you had a protective order against her?

Yes, ma'am.

- [Judge Judy] That was in effect?
- Yes.

[Judge Judy]
And you reported to the police

that you received text messages from her?

Yes. For some reason, um, she was,
like, tied to my phone somehow,

so anytime she was in my neighborhood,

it would send me a text message,
saying that she was in the neighborhood.

[Judge Judy] Okay. You know he had,
in July, a protective order against you

on behalf of himself and the children,
you understood that?

- Right.
- [Judge Judy] And you understood

that the protective order that was signed

by a judge said that you could not be
within two blocks of his home...

- Right.
- [Judge Judy] ...and have no contact

- with either him or his children?
- Right.

[Judge Judy] And you understand
that you violated that order?

- But I didn't.
- Police say that you violated the order.

They saw the text messages
and they saw the TikToks to his children.

The problem was,
is that I was not served with that order

'til later on on that evening so I didn't
even know about it 'til after that.

And I really didn't.

So, I was not served 'til after July 9th
with this protective order

that he did back in...I don't remember
what day it was, I'm gonna say July 28th.

[Judge Judy] What were you doing
near his house in July?

Pay attention.

What were you doing at his house
near his porch in July?

[Amy] I wasn't near his porch,
I was way far away,

but it's in the vicinity.

He lives, like,
kind of in the hood by the...

- [Judge Judy] No, no.
- ...by the courthouse.

I work for the courthouse.

Like right here is his house,
here's the courthouse.

- So I had no chance of...
- [Jason] That's not true, Your Honor.

...so the police...
the police met me down the street

at the Department
of Social and Health Services.

I don't know the building.

I wanna know what you were doing
near his porch.

- I was five blocks away. My...
- [Judge Judy] Five blocks away?

...phone...my...yeah.

My phone drops locations,
like, it said...like,

that was like a primary place I would go.

It would drop my location
when I was close by.

It does it with my kids too.
I got rid of it right after that.

And we went to court, showed the judge
the same thing, she understood,

and she's like, "Okay."

So I wasn't like, in his location at all.

It's just where I work is really close
to his house.

You say you work at the courthouse?

Work...yeah, I work for, uh, DCYF.

[Judge Judy] How do you get to work?

- Drive.
- [Judge Judy] What kind of car

do you drive?

Um, I have...I have two cars,
but right now, I just...

[Judge Judy] No, no. What kind of...
just pay attention to my question.

What kind of car do you drive?

- A Honda Civic.
- [Judge Judy] What color?

- White.
- [Judge Judy] What color

is the 1997 Honda Accord?

- Uh, gold.
- [Judge Judy] Part of your counterclaim?

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] That she took a title

to a 1997 Honda Accord that you sold?

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] Who did you sell it to?

Um, I was...
I sold it to her son, Christian.

Um, he gave me a $500 down payment,

and he was supposed to give me
the rest of the $800,

and they took the car instead
and I didn't get anything.

When did you sell it to him?

It was on June 9th.

Now you can bring in the young man.

First name is Christian?

Yes, ma'am.

What was the agreed price for that car?

We went 500 at first,
and then we were gonna go up,

but he never came back.

Let's start, Christian, by saying,

I know the answers to these questions.

He owned a 1997 Honda Accord, gold.

- Correct?
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judge Judy] You wanted
the 1997 Honda Accord?

Yes, ma'am.

- [Judge Judy] For you to drive?
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judge Judy] Who negotiated the price
with him?

I did, ma'am.

[Judge Judy] Did you negotiate a price
of $1,300?

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] Did you give him $500 down?

Yes, ma'am.

[Judge Judy]
Did you ever pay him the rest?

- No, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] Did your mother

bring you home the title?

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] That she took

from his house?

- I don't know what happened...
- [Judge Judy] You don't know

what happened,
but she brought home the title?

- Yes, ma'am.
- Did you title the car

- in your mother's name?
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judge Judy]
Do you have a driver's license?

- No, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] Who drives the car?

- It sits in the garage, ma'am.
- [Jason] That's a lie.

I got a...I got a picture of him pulling up
in my...in front of my house in that car.

[Judge Judy] Just a second. You got $500?

- Yes, I did, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] So he owes you the balance?

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] $800?

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] Very good. Okay.

So that's an easy.

You negotiated a price of $1,300,
you paid him 500,

you did not pay him the rest,
your mother stole the title,

had it titled in her name,
forged his signature...

- No.
- [Judge Judy] ...and you have the car.

He has a text message right here.
He's wrong.

He paid him a thousand dollars,
it's right here from Jason.

- No, he didn't. He, uh...
- Right here.

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

[Amy] Sorry.

He doesn't remember things
all the way, but yes.

- No...
- [Judge Judy] Just a...hold on a second.

Did you ever pay him anything more...

don't speak...than $500?

[Christian] Well, I always waited
for him to come back

and grab the money,
but he never came back,

and also when we parked the car,
he never came back to grab it

and all we ever agreed to
was if he came back,

he could just have the car as long
as he gave me back the money I paid him.

Okay. Well, right now,
this was a while ago,

so right now he's gonna get his $800 back.

- All right, ma'am.
- Mr. McMahan?

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] There isn't probably

much doubt in my mind
that the plaintiff vandalized your cars.

But you understand as...the police,
that a black car driving by

without any identifying person
in that car.

I don't know if it was her,

I don't know
if it was somebody on her behalf,

I don't know who it was.

I know that you're owed for the car
because the person

that you negotiated the price with
says he only gave you $500.

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] That you could have taken

the car back and they would have given you

if you gave him back the $500,
but at this point,

I wouldn't take the car.

I need a fly swatter.

Not anymore.

Okay. That's enough.

Goodbye and good luck.

Nasty. Okay.

Punitive damages, taking money
without permission, $800.

So, this is my judgment.

My judgment is within five days,
Ms. Thomas, go and get your dresser.

If you don't get it within five days,
he's gonna make it into firewood

or do whatever else he wants with it.

On your counterclaim,
I'm awarding you $800.

That is the balance due
on the 1997 Honda Accord, gold.

We are done here.

- Goodbye.
- [Kevin] Court is adjourned.

I'm happy with what she said.

We had one, he just didn't want
anybody to know about it.

My...the whole thing is,
I wanted to stay single.

I'm [indistinct] dating. I'm cool.

Overall, I'm happy with it.

[Sarah] I think that case is a good lesson

for people having to follow
the proper legal channels

because she said that he was served

and put on notice
for that portion of her claim,

but if he wasn't like he said,

then he would not have been notified
and would not have brought

his bank records to combat
whatever statement she was saying.

So I think it's important
to make sure all your Ts are crossed

and your Is are dotted
before you come into court.

I agree with you.

I also agree
that it's very coincidental...

[Sarah] Uh-hmm.

...that his insurance payment
was $139 a month

and a $139 a month has been deducted
from her bank account.

But he still would have to be put
on notice and served properly

before she could make that claim today.

Right.

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