01x109 - You Jumped On My Car!; Last Will and Testament Strife

[bunniefuu]

You purchased a car?

- Yes, ma'am.
- Did you show them the title?

- No.
- Did you have the title?

- No.
- No sane person would pay you

without seeing that you owned it.

And you think that that's okay?

- Yes.
- [laughter] Doink.

[announcer]
This is Judy Justice.

[♪ theme music playing]

[announcer] Christopher and Paulette Cole
are suing army veteran Naomi Herrera

for the cost of a Volkswagen Beetle.

[Kevin] Court come to order.
All rise.

Be seated, everyone.

[Kevin] Hello, Judge.
Case 1071 C & P Cole versus Herrera.

- Thanks, Kevin.
- You're welcome.

[Judge Judy] Mr. and Mrs. Cole,
you purchased a car from the defendant?

- Yes, ma'am.
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] And you didn't know her
before you purchased the car?

- No, ma'am.
- You purchased the car on what date?

- 05/21 was the first transaction.
- May 21st.

And you made the first payment
on that date?

- Yes.
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] And it was
a Volkswagen Beetle, what year?

- 2005.
- And the purchase price was $2,800?

- Yes.
- Ms. Herrera,

when had you purchased the Beetle?

In 2018.

Who did you purchase it from?

[Naomi] A nice older couple
that I found on Craigslist.

[Judge Judy] That only drove it
to the Piggly Wiggly.

- It was a very good car.
- Yes, it definitely was.

[Judge Judy] Right. You were asking
$2,800 for the car or more?

I was offering it to a military family
to bless them at $2,800.

I didn't need all the editorializing.
You wanted $2,800 for the car?

Correct.

And Mr. and Mrs. Cole responded.
I assume this is online?

- Yes.
- And they agreed

to your purchase price, $2,800.

I read your answer,
I read their complaint.

They gave you a down payment of $1,000,
and you allowed them to take the car.

- Correct. On the premise...
- [Judge Judy] Speak not.

This is just a general laying out
of the case.

They gave you a hundred dollars.

They were supposed to pay you the balance
within a day or so or a week.

They're seeking the return
of their $2,800

because they have not been
furnished with the title to the car.

On May 21st, 2021,
when they gave you the thousand dollars,

did you show them the title?

- I showed...
- That's either a yes or a no.

- No.
- You showed them the title.

- Did you have the title?
- No.

Did you tell them
that you didn't have the title?

[Naomi] No.

[Judge Judy] Did you know
where the title was?

Misplaced in my house.

So the answer is you didn't know
where it was?

Correct.

When next did you communicate
with them that you had located the title?

June 5th, 2021.

So between May 21st
and the 5th of June,

you did not advise them
that you had the title?

- I did.
- You did?

I, I told them that I was
getting a copy of the title.

- But that you didn't have one.
- Correct.

- And you never found the original?
- Correct.

So they came on what date?

They came initially...

[Judge Judy] No, they came
on May 21st initially.

Right. And they were supposed
to pay me the next day

- the thousand dollars, and then...
- [Judge Judy] Okay.

...eight hundred after that.

And then I contacted them,
and I was accused of harassment.

[Judge Judy]
No, just a sec.

What I want you to do is,
I want you to tell me, now you have...

- June 5th.
- ...the title on June 5th.

- Correct.
- On what date did they come

to pay you the $1,800?

- June 5th.
- On June 5th.

- Correct.
- The same day

that you told them
that you had the title.

- Correct.
- Well.

Then there was a kerfuffle
that I'll get to someplace else.

- Yes, she jumped on my car.
- Just, just a second.

You didn't expect them to give you
the $1,800 before they had the title?

I expected them to pay
according to our agreement.

Listen to me.

They would be morons if they paid you

the full value of the car.

You didn't have to let them take the car.

- Let's start with that.
- But they have the bill of sale.

[Judge Judy] Just pay,
pay careful attention.

You didn't have to let them
take the car with a deposit only.

You could have said to them,
"I can't find the title to this car.

I'll take your deposit, which means
I won't sell it to anybody else,

and then I'm going to find the title.

When I find the title,
the car is yours,

and I'll give you the title
and we'll exchange the money."

You could have done that.

No sane person
would pay you the full value of the car

without seeing that you owned it.

Do you understand that?

- I absolutely understand that.
- It's ridiculous.

If... as if Kevin... Kevin,
what kind of a car do you drive?

Mercedes.

- What color?
- It's black.

- It would be as if... what's your name?
- Stephanie.

As if I said to Stephanie, "Come here,

I wanna show you
this black Mercedes that I own.

I'm going to sell it to you for $5,000.

I don't have the title for it.

Give me a thousand-dollar deposit,
you can give me the rest tomorrow."

When I still won't have the title.
I don't have any right to sell that car.

It's not mine. I don't own it,
so nobody is going to give you

the full value of a car
when you don't have the title.

So this is what happened.

On the 5th, you notified them
that you now had the title.

- You probably got a duplicate.
- Correct.

They came by to give you
the money, $1,800.

Correct.

And they had $1,800, and you said to them,

um, 'cause this is all from the papers.

You said to them,
"I'm charging you an additional $280

because you didn't pay me on the day
you were supposed to pay me."

- [Naomi] Correct.
- [Judge Judy laughing]

And you think that that's okay?

I'm just asking you if you think
that that's okay.

- Yes, I do.
- It's ridiculous! You're ridiculous.

- Do you have the car?
- Yes, ma'am.

- Where's the title?
- I don't have it.

I threw it out the window
when she jumped on my car.

- [Judge Judy] Okay.
- No.

Okay. I am going to create an order,
and the order will direct

the Department of Motor Vehicles,
because she signed an agreement

to be bound by anything
that I order today.

[Paulette] Yes, ma'am.

So I'm going to sign an order
to the Department of Motor Vehicles

that instructs them to issue
a new title in your name

because the car has been fully paid for
as a result of this arbitration.

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

- Yes.
- Yes, ma'am.

- Is the car running okay?
- Yeah.

- [Judge Judy] Great.
- They're driving it without insurance.

- I have a letter from the DMV.
- That would be your problem...

- They're now threatening...
- Then you should have...

then... today is September,

then you should've gotten another title

and given it to them so that they
could get insurance. They can...

- I gave them the bill of sale.
- Quiet, quiet.

They need the title.

I could write a bill of sale up.

Excuse me,
what year Mercedes do you drive?

[Kevin] '13.

[Judge Judy] I've sold Stephanie
a black 2013 Mercedes

for $17,000, signed Judy Sheindlin.

You think that if they took
that to the Department of Motor Vehicles,

they're gonna give me a title to,
to Kevin's car?

Along with the release of liability.

[Judge Judy laughing]

Doink.

You're suing for the damage to your car.

I'm not making a leap between
the damage to your car and triggering

some emotional response
without a psychiatric witness.

I want you to pay careful attention
to what I'm saying.

[announcer] Later.

[Judge Judy] Lost income
and punitive damages for harassment...

- Yes, ma'am.
- ...and emotional distress.

I am the only one who's
in emotional distress doing this case.

So why don't you tell me
how they harassed you?

[announcer] Christopher and Paulette Cole
say army veteran Naomi Herrera

wrongfully kept the title
to their Volkswagen Beetle.

Naomi is countersuing
for harassment and emotional distress.

Now you have a counterclaim,
and your counter...

- [Naomi] Absolutely.
- Yeah. Right.

First of all, let's start
with the fact that you had no right

to withhold the title to the car
from them for $280

that you tacked on
in addition to the $2,800

'cause they didn't pay you
in full for a car

which you could not provide
a clear title to, do you understand?

- I understand.
- Now what happened

was that they came to your house

with the money, you said,
"You can't have it unless you pay me

an additional $280."
There was some sort of a kerfuffle,

and it is your claim that your car
was damaged because Mrs. Cole

jumped on your car
as you were trying to flee the situation

in your car causing damaged to your car.

That's what your counterclaim is?

My counterclaim
is for the emotional, um, PTSD trigger

- and for that...
- Yes, that's...

- ...what you just said.
- Stephanie.

- [Stephanie] Yes.
- What do you do for a living?

- I own my own business.
- You're not a psychiatrist, are you?

- No.
- You're not a psychologist, are you?

- No.
- No. Okay.

You're suing for the damage to your car.

I'm not making a leap between the damage
to your car and triggering

some emotional response
without a psychiatric...

[Naomi] She jumped on my car.

...without a psychiatric witness.

I want you to pay careful attention
to what I'm saying.

You're suing for two things,
emotional distress

- and the damage to your car...
- And harassment.

- ...because she jumped... and what?
- Harassment.

Well, they should harass you.
They had a car that they can't drive

because you tacked on 10%
to the purchase price of the car.

Now I'll see damage to the car.

I don't have photos
of the damage to the car.

[Judge Judy] Well, if you're suing
for damage to the car,

you have to have photographs of...

- We poured hot water on it...
- Just a second.

- ...to get the dent out.
- Well, then, the dent is out?

- Yes.
- Fine.

Then you have no case,
you have no counterclaim.

- I do.
- No, you don't.

You have no counterclaim here
that I'm going to find as valid.

I need damage.

If she jumped on your car, which
is a no-no, you shouldn't have done.

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judge Judy] I understand

that it was just an absolute no-no.

They came, gave you $1,800.

Did you give her the $1,800?

- Yes.
- Yes.

[Judge Judy] Okay. So now you had
all the money that you asked for the car,

and you weren't giving them the title.

And, in the heat of the moment,
she jumped on your car,

which she absolutely shouldn't do,
and if there was damage to the car,

I would absolutely award you
on the counterclaim

whatever it cost you
to fix the damage to the car

because, as angry as she was,

she should not have jumped
on your car and caused damage.

But if the car was not damaged,
you have no counterclaim.

All right.

I will prepare the order directing
Department of Motor Vehicles

to put the car in your name.
Your counterclaim's dismissed.

We're finished.
Thank you very much.

- [Paulette] Okay. Thank you, ma'am.
- [Kevin] Court is adjourned.

She was getting away with our money.

I didn't know if we were
being swindled or scammed.

I think that nobody should jump
on somebody's car.

I don't know this lady,
so my instinct was to jump on the car.

She didn't jump on the hood.
She jumped on the side of my car

and hung on for dear life
so that I didn't k*ll her.

And she seen me on the car.

She reached, she just drove down
the hill with me.

I absolutely had it.

And when she jumped on top of my car,
I threw it out the window.

That when she couldn't produce it
and then produced another pink slip,

made me kind of wonder,
Who else is she doing this to?

No, I wish that it
would have been given

to a military family
that really would have been blessed

because that was
my whole intention of selling it.

If this is what she does for veterans,
then I,

I would hope that she wouldn't help
anybody else from this point on.

[Sarah] I thought the plaintiffs
were very smart in that case

- to not give their full purchase price...
- Purchase price.

[Sarah] ...for the car until they had
the only piece of legal value

that showed that they actually own
the car.

And I think that this is also
how a lot of scams can get started, by...

Your example with Kevin's car
was perfect.

You can say anything you want,
you can draw up whatever

you want on your own,
but unless you have the sole document...

- that the legal world considers...
- [Judge Judy] Proves...

- Proves ownership.
- ...that proves ownership, yeah.

- Right.
- Then I wouldn't give them my money.

[Judge Judy] Of course not.

Of course not.
It got done, and you're right.

When people are buying a used car
from someone,

it is really important
that you have proof of title.

Clean title to a car before you turn over
any money.

[Sarah] Mm-hmm.

All parties please step forward.

[announcer]
Nikol De Riso is suing spouses

Susan LevyConnelly and Toni Huzar

for legal documents, harassments,
and emotional distress.

[Judge Judy] Ms. De Riso,
do you wanna explain to me

what a "document preparer" is
and what training

is required to be a document preparer?

Yes, ma'am. So a document preparer
is similar to a paralegal.

There's actually no formal training
that needs to be taken.

However, I do have a PhD that deals
in elder law as well, 31 years in service.

[Judge Judy] But you have
no expertise in estate planning?

- Yes, ma'am. I do.
- Tell me what.

I have a PhD in elder law.
As well, I have taught

at three different law schools
teaching elder law.

- Okay. You're not old, right?
- [Susan] Fifty-five.

I have food
in my refrigerator older than that.

This is what the case is about.

The defendants contacted you
because you are a couple.

And one of you was going into surgery.

That would be you.

And you wanted to...even at your young age,
you wanted to put your affairs in order

in the event that the surgery
did not turn out well,

and you contacted the plaintiff
to prepare wills for the two of you.

And you agreed
on a price of $200 to do the wills.

And you sent them a form
to fill out, telling...

- [Nikol] Yes, ma'am.
- ...what you want.

According to you, they sent you
back the form, and you sent them a will.

- Yes, ma'am.
- And they complained that the will

was not consistent with what they
had filled out in the questionnaire.

- So you redid it.
- Yes, ma'am.

And each time you redid it
and it was signed,

there was a filing fee,
according to you.

And then ultimately,
they were dissatisfied,

you wanted to put a period at the end
of this whole episode dealing with them.

They wanted a refund.

You gave them a refund,
the refund of $200.

So now you're in the hole a little bit

because you've already filed
once or twice.

And according to you, you think
that they should pay you $8,000.

- Yes, ma'am.
- For return of money

taken under false pretenses,
services not rendered,

lost income,
and punitive damages

for harassment and emotional distress.

- Yes, ma'am.
- Okey-dokey.

So, first I would like to see from you,
Kevin, can you give it to me, please,

the questionnaire that they filled out?

Thank you.

All right.
I'm gonna cut to the chase here.

Did you get your money back, your $200?

- Yes, I did.
- Okay.

And I would like you to tell me first,

since you're suing for an astronomical
amount of money,

what money was taken of yours
under false pretenses?

That's what you claim in here.

Did you ever advise the court,
Ms. De Riso,

that you couldn't appear
in court on the 11th of August

because you had a broken jaw?

- I had a...
- Just a...

That's a yes or a no!

[announcer]
Nikol De Riso says spouses

Susan LevyConnelly and Toni Huzar

owe her for legal documents,
harassment, and emotional distress.

I would like you to tell me first,

since you're suing
for an astronomical amount of money,

what money was taken of yours
under false pretenses?

For one, I asked them ahead of time
if they could qualify

for discounts, okay?

One of the discounts was
if you are a law enforcement officer,

Toni answers in both, replied no.
That's when Toni...

- Uh, Ms. De Riso...
- [Nikol] Mm-hmm.

...I'm going to refresh your recollection
as to what you wrote in your complaint.

[Nikol] Mm-hmm.

You wrote in your complaint was,
"I normally charge $537 for the service,

but Toni asked me
for a same-sex discount."

That was her first one.

[Judge Judy] "I gave them a discount
just because they seemed nice."

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

So let's skip over
police officers, military,

everything else. Not interested.

I want you to tell me false pretenses.

- Yes, ma'am.
- Can I just cross it out?

- You can cross it out, yes, ma'am.
- Okay. Very good.

- She did lie, though.
- False pretenses.

Services rendered.

Okay. Well, you already
returned their money.

- Yes, ma'am.
- Okay. So, returned their money.

Lost income and punitive damages
for harassment.

- Yes, ma'am.
- And emotional distress.

I am the only one who's
in emotional distress doing this case.

So, why don't you tell me
how they harassed you.

[Nikol] So, towards the end
of us dealing together,

Toni informed me

that she was a New York Police Officer
and a detective,

and she was going
to press charges on me,

and she was going to sue me,
and then she called me.

And, pardon my language ahead of time,
because I don't normally cuss.

But her exact words were,

"You [...] I will make sure
you're [...] arrested."

And I told her, you are on speakerphone.

And when I told her
she was on speakerphone,

it was in hopes that she would stop
everything that was she saying,

and instead she just continued to tell me
how she knew where I lived,

she told me she was going to put me out
of business, she continued to cuss at me.

And I said, "For what?"

And she said [...] and hung up the phone.

[Judge Judy] Okay. Nasty.

Nasty. Nasty, nasty language.
Nasty, just nasty.

- We...and...
- [Nikol] And so...

- Keep go...
- For that following week,

I literally was afraid
because how do I know

she's not going to put false
charges on me?

- [Judge Judy] Well...
- Because she's lying at that point.

This was...this was... just a sec.

In what day and month
did you return their $200?

- It was July the 3rd of this year.
- Okay.

Then I'd like you to show me
how they harassed you after July 3rd.

Uh, one was through phone call
and one was through the court.

Well, give me the... tell me the date.

[Nikol] Okay. The date
was approximately July the 6th.

- And that's when Toni told me...
- [Judge Judy] Who's Toni?

Raise your hand, Toni.
That would be you.

Says to you.

[Nikol] That's when she reiterated again
that she was a retired

New York police officer, detective.

And she reiterated again
that she was going to make sure

I was put in jail, and I said,
"For what? What are your charges?"

And she said [...]
and hung up the phone again.

And then you said through the courts.
How did that happen?

[Nikol] Through the courts.
I filed a motion of continuance.

- For what?
- For a pre-trial conference.

- For what?
- For this case.

Okay. And was that continued?

Yes, ma'am.
Because they didn't show up.

- [Judge Judy] Just a sec.
- [deep gasp]

[Susan, softly]
Just hold on.

Okay. Ms. Huzar,

the plaintiff has just relayed to me
conversations that you had

on at least two different occasions
with her.

First, are you or have you ever
been law enforcement?

No.

Did you at any time
during your conversations

with the plaintiff tell her
that you were law enforcement?

I told her I think
this is a scam, and I said,

"I'm a New York PD,"
just to, uh, get my money back.

[Judge Judy] Just a second,
so that was a lie?

[Toni]
That was a lie.

[Judge Judy]
Okay. On what date...

on what date
did you receive your refund?

First she said she wasn't sending it,
and then she sent it on July 6th.

- [Toni] Yeah.
- Can I say something?

- [Judge Judy] Sure.
- Okay.

She stated that
we didn't show up in court.

Our original court date was August 11th.

August 10th,
we got an email from the court

stating that she broke her jaw

and she wouldn't be available
until the middle of October

because she wouldn't be able
to speak and on medication.

- May I see... do you have that?
- [Susan] Yes.

- Let me see that letter from the court.
- Okay.

Did you ever advise
the court, Ms. De Riso,

that you couldn't appear in court
on the 11th of August

because you had a broken jaw?

- [Nikol] I had a...
- Just a...that's a yes or a no!

That would be a no.

- You did not?
- It was dislocated, not broken.

It's clarification, ma'am.

It doesn't make any difference
for the purposes of this case.

You told the court you could not appear
in a case in which you filed,

and you said it was adjourned
because they didn't show up.

- That's what you told me.
- Yes, ma'am because...

- [Judge Judy] Yes.
- ...you still have to show up

if they don't rule on it yet.

Did you bring documentation
of your injury?

Not of my dislocation of my jaw,
no, ma'am.

You did not. Okay. Ms. De Riso,

I'm not gonna let you waste
another minute of my time.

- No problem, ma'am.
- This case is over.

- Thank you.
- Your case is dismissed. We're done.

- [Nikol speaks indistinctly]
- [Kevin] Court is adjourned.

I'm very pleased
with the judge's decision.

She lied, and it got all proven in court,
and now we can go home

and be happy and move on with our lives.

I'm going to tell you that they lied,

and they lied multiple times.

She said she broke her jaw, she claimed

that we didn't show up in court.

Because they didn't get it for free.

Well, now we've had our new will,
and it's all ready to go

with a reputable real attorney.

That is the bottom line.

[Judge Judy] That was a case
that if the defendants had counsel,

I would've awarded
the defendants' counsel fees

because I think that the plaintiff,
who should know better...

[Sarah] Mm-hmm.

...was abusing the process of the court
and suing these people for $8,000.

And while I don't condone the use
of a*usive language

or saying, you know,

"I have a cousin who's a lawyer,
or I used to be a police officer,"

it's not grounds for a lawsuit.

And if the plaintiff
is telling me the truth,

she is a professor at law school.

And so, she should have at least

some rudimentary knowledge

about what constitutes
a lawsuit and what does not.

Mm-hmm.

So I actually think that it was
an abuse of process and they've...

she's just lucky that they
didn't have a counterclaim.

I agree.

[announcer]
Are you a victim of a scam?



[♪ theme music playing]