03x43 - Van Heist Justice

[bunniefuu]

You asked to put the van in her name
because you have unpaid fines.

Okay.

That's against the law.

You knew that he couldn't
have a car in his name.

I knew that he had
a lot of tickets.

So, you were an accomplice.

That's not a question.

That's a statement.

[announcer]
This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

[announcer]
Edward Taylor is suing his former friend,

Sabra Crockett,
for the cost of a van.

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

Have a seat, please.

Case 3065,
Taylor versus Crockett .

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

-[Judy] Mr. Taylor.
-Yes.

[Judy]
I read your complaint.

-I have several questions for you.
-Okay.

When was the last time
you owned a car in your name?

October of last year.

[Judy]
What kind of car did you own?



[Judy]
What happened to that car?

The upper and lower
control arms were broke.

And I couldn't drive it
because I felt that it was too unsafe.

[Judy]
How long did you have that car?

[Edward]
About four months.

-Was it insured?
-[Edward] Yes.

[Judy]
By whom?

I don't have the name
of the insurance company with me,

but it was insured.

Prior to that,
you had that car for four months.

What was the car you had previous to that?

Previous to that,


On either of these cars that you had,
either the Cadillac or the Lexus,

had your accrued tickets and fines?

Yes.

[Judy]
How much?

Uh, I believe my tickets are around
a couple thousand.

[Judy]
On both of those cars?

No, not on those cars,
from cars prior.

I'm talking... Well, you couldn't have
registered either one of those cars, sir,

if you had $2,000
in fines on other cars.

I have a photograph of the picture
of the registration.

-Of what?
-To the Lexus, on my phone.

Did you pay
the $2,000 in fines

on previous cars?

-No.
-[Judy] No.

Now we can get started with this case.

Okay.

This case says
that you purchased a van.

For whatever reason,
you purchased the van.

The defendant was a friend of yours.

You asked to put the van in her name?

[Edward]
She asked.

No, that's not right.

Okay, go ahead.

[Judy]
Get it together, sir.

-[Edward] All right.
-Would you, please?

I'm going to be respectful to you.

You be respectful to me.

-Amen.
-[Judy] Good.

You asked to put the car in her name

because you had
unpaid fines and tickets

and couldn't have it in your own.

Okay.

That's not an "okay."
That is a "yes."

[Edward]
Yes. Okay.

Okay. Just as long
as we're getting it together.

-[Edward] Okay.
-[Judy] And she did.

You bought the van.
You paid $2,400 for it.

[Edward]
No, ma'am.

-[Judy] How much did you pay for it?
-The total price...

I have the bill of sale here.

Evidence.

It says here in your complaint, sir,
"I paid $2,500 for the van."

Yes, I made a payment on the van
since then of $200.

May I see...
May I see the papers that he's showing me?

"I went to visit my friend in April 2022,
who is a bishop.

Parked next to an old van
that the church owned

and asked if
they would be willing to sell it.

He said the church would sell me the van.

I paid $2,500 for the van."

That's your sworn complaint.

-Okay.
-[Judy] "Okay" is not...

-Yes.
-Okay is great.

Right, but they decided that
they wanted 2,900. I do have...

Your Honor, I do have the receipt.

[Judy] I don't...
Listen to me, sir.

-Okay.
-I don't care.

[Edward]
All right.

The reason you put the van
in the defendant's name

was because legally
you were not allowed to put it in yours

because you had unpaid fines.

And what happened,
according to the defendant,

is that in the time that you had the van,

which was from what month and year
to what month and year?

May the first of 2022,
and she brought the police...

When did she take the van back?

May the seventh.
May the seventh of this year.

And in that year, according to
the defendant, she took the van back

because you had, again,
acquired a lot of tickets on it.

Two tickets, which I paid.

-[Judy] Really?
-Yes, I have the receipt.

[Judy] Well, then she's
gonna have to show me.

She said you acquired
$1,600 worth of tickets.

-Is that what you wrote?
-Yes, I did write that, Your Honor.

[Judy]
Do you have proof of that?

I have proof as what the tickets are

and what it would cost
to get this van in shape.

[Judy]
No, no, that's not what I asked you.

-I said...
-I have some here. Yes, I do.

-Just a second
-Okay.

Answer...

"At this point, he owed me
$1,600 in toll fees."

[Sabra]
Toll fees.

[Judy] Do you have proof
that he, in that year,

he accrued,
while driving the van, 16...

No, Your Honor.

[Judy]
Why not?

Because the $1,600
was including everything

that needed to be
added to this van and...

[Judy] No, no, no, no, no, no,
Miss Crockett.

-Yes.
-[Judy] No, no, no, no, no, Miss Crockett.

That's not what you said here.
You said you took...

-I'm going to read you what you wrote.
-Yes, I know... Yes, dear.

"At that point, he owed me
$1,600 in toll fees

and I didn't trust him
to do the right thing.

Before the van was completely worthless,

I decided to have the police
come and get it."

-Yes.
-[Judy] So how much were the fees?

You said "toll fees."

How much can you prove
that he had accrued in toll fees?

You didn't spend any money for this van.

And I absolutely believe
that you should have taken it back.

Under normal circumstances,
you should have taken it back

if he accrued any tickets on the van
because you're liable for that.

Yes.

And he's got a miserable history
with paying his fines.

-[Sabra] Yes. Yes, Your Honor.
-[Judy] Do you understand?

Yes, Your Honor. Yes, Your Honor.

How much can you prove
he had in toll fees?

The tickets that I have here,
pictures of.

-[Judy] Well, show me.
-Okay.

I didn't ask you for anything.

Are you showing me text messages?

I want to see toll fees.

That's all I have here
is the text messages.

-[Judy] From whom?
-Between Edward and myself.

And some pictures of the tolls,
the tickets that I sent to him.

I would like to see
the tickets that you sent him.

I don't want to see text messages.

You tried to circumvent the law
by physically owning a car

and putting it in someone else's name
to circumvent the fact

that you haven't paid tickets.

-Mm-hmm.
-Doesn't put you in a good place here.

[theme music playing]

[announcer]
Edward Taylor claims his former friend,

Sabra Crockett,
owes for the cost of a van.

Sabra says the van was stolen
and she owes him nothing.

You're the owner of the car.

You would have gotten
notification of toll fees.

Yes, I did, Your Honor.

[Judy]
Well, then I want to see them.

Look that up.
Give me the low range.

Uh, 1,600 to 4,000.

Miss Crockett, it's taken you
too much time to find what was clear.

[Sabra]
Right here. Here's two, my dear.

Here's two what?

Here you go, young man.

Yeah. Well, I have one.

And she says to you
that she got a collections notice

on a ticket from September 13th
in the amount of $110.17.

So, you need to call this lady.

And then on May fifth,
she says to you,

"Your balance from other tickets
would be 601.17."

No, ma'am, I have two tickets here.

-[Judy] Mm-hmm.
-One that's $33 from Trenton.

I was in Trenton.

-I have one that says $110.17.
-And ten dollars. Right.

I have letters here
that state that she received the money.

Just a second.
When did you get the fines?

I didn't get pulled over.

This was, like, from a camera shot,
and there was no toll booth in Trenton.

-It just was a overhead camera.
-How come it went... Just a second.

It went to collections, sir.

So, if she was notified of a ticket,
she notified... Listen to me.

-Okay.
-[Judy] If she was notified of a ticket,

believe me,
this lady notified you right away.

-[Edward] No, she didn't. I can prove it.
-[Judy] Go ahead.

The letter that she sent me
said that

the ticket
was September the 13th, 2022.

Seven months later,
I have here from her

one ticket that says $110.17

and another ticket that says 33.

That's $143.17.

I'm not talking about money, I'm talking
about why did it go to collections.

Because she didn't turn the money
in that I stuck in her mailbox.

And I have proof here
that I stuck the money in her mailbox.

Just a second. On what date
did you put money in her mailbox?

[Edward]
I have it here.

On March the 15th, it says...

[Judy]
Just a second. March?

-Yes, March the 26th at 5:15.
-[Judy] Just a second. March?

I got a text message from Miss Morris,

"I just got it this morning.

The money you put in my mailbox,
I got it, but you are still late.

I will send you
the picture of the ticket."

Now, this is the first time I'd gotten
a ticket from her, period.

The one for 33 and the one for 110.

This other thing about $116,

she can't show you that she sent it to me.

She cannot. For her life,
she can't show you that.

Here are the two tickets
that she sent, and on my phone,

I have a balance of $60.17.

-Oh, well, maybe this says...
-[Edward] From her.

Maybe this says 60,
although it looked like 601.17.

-Oh, no, $60 and...
-[Judy] Sixty?

[Sabra]
It's $60, Your Honor.

[Judy] $60.17?

-Yes.
-[Edward] Yes, not 600.

Okay, that was on Friday, May fifth.

Yes, on Monday, May the first,

I paid her $182 for insurance.

Here's the letter that she sent me
about the insurance...

[Judy] May I...

-This isn't...
-[Edward] Here's another one.

-[Judy] Just a second.
-Okay.

[Judy]
Let's start with this, Mr. Taylor.

The fact that you tried to scam
the Department of Motor Vehicles

starts you off with a problem.

Do you understand?

-[Edward] Yes.
-With me.

Starts you off with a problem.

Because if you know that
you're not allowed by law

to register a car in your name

because you have unpaid fines
from whatever state you're from.

What state are you from?

[Edward]
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

From Pennsylvania.

-You have unpaid fines.
-Mm-hmm.

And you tried to circumvent the law
by physically owning a car,

having it in your possession
and being the sole driver of the car,

and putting it in someone else's name

to circumvent the fact
that you haven't paid tickets.

-Mm-hmm.
-[Judy] Doesn't put you

in a good place here.

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

-[Edward] Yes, ma'am.
-We understand that.

It's like buying a car
without a driver's license

and saying, "You know what?
This is the car I want.

I have no driver's license 'cause
they took my license away

for drunk driving.

But I need a car to get around,
so I'll give you the money.

You buy the car and I'll drive it."

-Do you understand?
-Yes.

[Judy]
That's against the law.

So, when people come into court
who have already broken the law,

and you ask me to find in your favor

and return a car to you
that you can't own, you understand?

We have a problem.

That's where we're starting from.

Now, similarly, you were an accomplice
because you knew

that he couldn't have a car in his name.

Are you denying that you knew
he couldn't have a car in his name?

-Yes, I am denying it, Your Honor.
-[Judy] Okay.

Now, you tell me why
you thought he'd...

Uncross your arms.

Why you thought he needed
the car put in your name

rather than him owning the car himself.

Okay, this is how it went,
Your Honor.

No, I asked you a question.

-[Sabra] Yes.
-I mean, do you own a car?

-Yes, I do.
-[Judy] Did you pay for it?

-Yes, I did.
-[Judy] Is it in your name?

-Yes, it surely is.
-[Judy] It surely is.

Who is this person?

[Sabra] This is my girlfriend,
my neighbor, and my friend.

[Judy] Just a sec...
Does she own a car?

-[Sabra] Yes, she does.
-Is it in her name?

[Sabra]
Directly, yes, it is.

Okay, so, you know that
if he bought a car with money...

Yes.

...and said to you,
"Put it in your name,"

-there had to be a reason.
-[Sabra] Definitely.

What did you think the reason was?

When I got to the Allstate office
to get the title changed,

he approached me and said,
"Could you put it in my name?

Because I have a lot of tickets."

That's what I just said.

Yes, I didn't know...
I knew that he had a lot of tickets.

I said, "I'm going to
give you three months."

[Judy]
That doesn't make any difference.

What you did was,
you knew he couldn't put it...

Uncross.

You knew he couldn't put it in his name
because for the same reason

the drunk driver couldn't
put a car in their name,

they had no license.

He wasn't allowed to own a car

unless he paid off his fines
on his old cars.

Yes, Your Honor.

[Judy] So, you were an accomplice in that
by putting it in your name.

That's what I'm telling you.

That's not a question.

That's a statement.

There's a difference
between a question and a statement.

I'm making a statement to you.

-Yes, Your Honor.
-[Judy] You knew...

No, I did not know, dear.

-Oh, yes, you did.
-[Sabra] No, I did not.

Because when I met Mr. Taylor,
he was driving a Chrysler 3000.

Who cares? He told you he couldn't put it
in his name because of the tickets.

-[Sabra] For the tickets.
-That's what...

-[whispers] That's what she said.
-[Sabra] Yes, dear.

That's exactly what I said to you.

He told you he couldn't put it in his name
because of the tickets.

Has he cleared up all the tickets
that are in your name?

-No, dear.
-How much is outstanding in tickets?

Probably $50.

I don't care about $50.

I mean, I care about $50,

but not as much as this tape
is costing to tape this case.

[theme music playing]

[announcer] Edward Taylor is accusing
his former friend, Sabra Crockett,

of refusing to pay for his van
after it was stolen.

Sabra says she did Edward a favor
and he still owes her for parking tickets.

[Judy] So, Mr. Taylor,
I am disinclined to help you,

but I want to know
what happened to this van,

just out of curiosity.

Now, I know
the van was stolen once...

-Yes.
-...and recovered.

It was stolen a couple of months
after you were driving it.

Six weeks after I bought it.

Six weeks. Sad. And then you got it back.
Got it out of impound.

A couple of parts were whatever.

But you were still driving it
'cause you drove it for a year

after it was stolen the first time.

You took it back more recently because
you say you got these tickets.

Whatever. You took it back.

-Yes.
-[Judy] It wasn't smart of you

to do it in the first place

if you knew that he was breaking the law
by having this car.

-Yes, Your Honor.
-What happened to the van?

I retrieved the van.

-[Judy] Yes, I know you did.
-And with the police...

On what date
did you go and get the van?

I got the van on May third, 2023.

No.

[Judy]
Where is it now?

Somebody stole it, Your Honor.

From where?

[Sabra]
In front of my house.

Do you have a police report?

-[Sabra] Yes, I do, dear.
-I'd like to take a look at it.

Here you go, Your Honor.

-[Judy] Thank you.
-This young man here.

[Judy]
Okay, and Allstate is the insurer.

[Sabra]
Yes, dear.

Did you advise Allstate
that it was stolen?

-Yes, I did.
-[Judy] And what happened?

They gave me a claim number and said
they'll call me in a couple days.

[Judy] And did they call you?
Were you waiting for the call?

I was waiting for the call. Yes.

[Judy]
Oh, well, then, you have to wait, sir.

If you get any money,
you have to give it to him.

You understand?

-Yes, Your Honor.
-[Judy] Yeah.

I have talked to Allstate,
but it was only...

What is it? Liability on it?

No, no other.

Well, that would not be my problem.

That would be his problem.

You put insurance on this?

Yes. I paid every month.

It depends upon what kind
of insurance you have...

-[Sabra] Eighty dollars a month.
-..if you had...

if you get any money
back from Allstate for the van.

Listen, this just happened.

We're talking about something
that happened 23 days ago.

You're not a priority for Allstate,

so I don't know whether they're going
to give you any money or not.

It depends upon his insurance.

All I'm telling you is,
if you get any money

for this stolen van,
it belongs to him.

Yes, Your Honor.

Very good. Has he cleared up
all the tickets that are in your name?

No, dear.

[Judy]
How much is outstanding in tickets?

-[Sabra] Probably...
-That you can prove.

Probably $50.

I don't care about $50.

I mean, I care about $50.

I care about $50,
but not as much as this tape

is costing to tape this case.

So you understand that
if you get the check,

and if you had insurance
to cover your van...

Sir, pay attention.

If you had insurance to cover your van,

I'm directing her
to turn that money over to you

-if she gets it.
-Yes.

If she doesn't get it,
you get nothing.

Okay, but how would I know if she got it?

Well, you trusted her to put the car
in her name, didn't you?

But I can't... Your honor,
can I show you this here

where I I don't owe anything for tickets?

[Judy]
I don't care.

-No, I'm just...
-Do you understand?

I don't care. You do owe
for your old cars' tickets.

[Edward]
Okay. Yes.

[Judy] You do owe thousands of dollars
for your old cars for tickets.

-Yes, I agree.
-[Judy] All I'm saying to you is

that if you had full coverage
on this van instead of just liability...

Mm-hmm.

[Judy] ...if you hit somebody,
she should get a check for a stolen car.

If you did not have that on the van,
she will not.

So, I would suggest that we will
prepare an order for this car

that you can send to Allstate,

which is your insurer,

that if there is a check... her insurer...
which if there is a check,

that check should be forwarded to you.

Whether they will do that or not,
I don't know.

But I doubt very much
whether you were paying

for anything other than
the minimum liability on this van.

Would that be right?

-Yes, that's right, but...
-[Judy] Then you would get nothing.

Then you would get nothing.
She doesn't have it anymore.

-[Edward] Yeah, so...
-Got stolen.

I knew nothing about it being stolen.

-[Judy] Well, just so that you know...
-I know now.

[Judy]
...this is the police report.

Got it?

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy]
I'll take it back now.

-Got it?
-Yes.

Very good. Thank you very much.
Your case is dismissed.

[Sabra]
Thank you.

[Kevin]
This court is adjourned.

Well, the judge made a good decision.

I think the judge did a marvelous job.

Well, I just didn't pay it.

That's... that's just telling the truth.

Because he knew I had
a valid driver's license

and I could drive
and he couldn't.

She never intended
on giving me the title.

I went to his church and I had
the police to meet me there

and I had the title, registration,
and the insurance card.

I learned that you can't trust everybody.

This is a lesson learned.

Do not sign for anything
unless you check out all the facts.

Okay, I just have a little bone to pick
with your analogy of...

I understand
the analogy that you made

between driving drunk and covering
for someone who's unable

to drive under the law for having a DUI
or, you know, something of that nature.

But when you liken it to parking tickets,
I understand under the law, equally,

that person would be unable
to register a car for those two reasons.

But I feel like with a DWI,

you're making an active choice
to get behind the wheel

when you know that you're drunk and
you're endangering the lives of others.

With parking tickets,
there's a lot of factors...

socioeconomic factors...

that play into why someone might not
be able to afford their parking tickets.

Now, before you get to the counterpoint
of he bought two more cars after that,

I'm not saying that this situation
warrants my counterpoint,

but I do think that it's
something to consider,

is that a DWI is something very serious
that you're taking an active role

in your own criminal behavior.

-You're endangering others.
-Endangering others.

You're endangering others.

I would agree with you.

When you come
into a court of law and equity...

Yep.

...equity means you want
a fair result to happen.

So, you're sort of throwing
yourself on the court

and saying, "I want you to do justice."

And before you do that,
you're supposed to come in with...

-Clean hands.
-Right.

-And he clearly couldn't do that.
-Yeah.

Because the whole scheme with the car
is to avoid personal responsibility.

-Sure.
-Paying your tickets

so that you can have a car,

so that you don't park
next to a fire hydrant,

in a handicapped spot,
you know, in a fire zone,

you're not supposed to do that.

That also places people at risk,
but not in the same way as drunk driving.

-But it's...
-I understood the analogy.

You're not supposed to...
not here, anyway...

break the law and then come into court
and ask for my help in equity...

-Mm-hmm.
-...when you've broken the rules.

- The same court you're defrauding.
-Yup.

And she was really a co-conspirator.

I don't even think
she realized until

-you said it three times.
-I don't think she realized.

No, I don't think she realized...
she realized it either.

I'm not sure.

She was supposed to be a church member
or whatever, a friend.

I'm not so sure that there wasn't
a little bit more there.

I don't know.

I don't know,
but I certainly wouldn't for anyone

put a car in my name
and be responsible for it

and let you drive

if you have a history
of being irresponsible.

You wouldn't even do that
for me, I don't think.

No, you don't have to think about that.

-I would not do that for you.
-And it would be the smart thing.

-I wouldn't put a car in my name for you.
-No.

[announcer]
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[theme music playing]