03x81 - Custody Chaos

[bunniefuu]

[Judy]
What threats did she make to you?

She sent me a text message
threatening mine and my daughter's life.

I don't even know that phone number.

You discussed this
with your former husband.

Yes, ma'am.

Now, you're a witness.

She had a fake phone number set up

and sent those messages.

Oh, there you go. That's a threat.

[narrator]
This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Joanna Henderson is suing
her ex-fiancé, Jeffery Stout,

for personal belongings
and a husky dog.

[Kevin]
Court come to order. All rise.

[Judy]
Have a seat, please.

Judge, Case 3126A,
Henderson versus Stout.

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

Ms. Henderson, you and the defendant
were engaged to be married

and were living together. Is that right?

-Yes, Your Honor.
-[Judy] From when to when?

2019 to 2022.

[Judy]
And when did you become engaged?

[Joanna]
September of 2022.

[Judy] Your lawsuit seeks two things:
the return of some appliances

that you claim are yours,
and also a dog that you claim is yours.

Let's start with the appliances.
When were they purchased?

They were purchased
July or August of 2022,

when I lived in my own apartment.

[Judy]
And you purchased them?

Yes, I did. Washer and a dryer.
They were a matching set.

The washer and dryer
that she had at her apartment,

I had purchased for her
when she got that apartment.

Does that sound right?

It could possibly be. Yes, Your Honor.

[Judy] Can't help you
with the washer and dryer, madam.

-I'm okay with that, Your Honor.
-[Judy] Okay.

So, we can't help you with the washer
and dryer. Let's talk about the dog.

When was the dog brought into the home?
Month and year.

July of 2022.

Did you both go together to adopt the dog?

-No.
-[Judy] Just you.

-Correct.
-[Judy] Is that correct, sir?

Yes, Your Honor, she adopted her.
I was working over the road.

Okay. And the dog was, at that time,
I think, two years old.

[Joanna]
Yes, Your Honor.

[Judy]
When did the relationship terminate?

The day before Thanksgiving in 2022.

And in November of 2022,
you had had the dog four months.

Correct.

[Judy]
Who took the dog in November of 2022?

[Joanna]
Primarily with him.

[Judy]
So, the dog was with him until March

-of 2023.
-Yes, Your Honor.

Since March of 2023,
where has the dog been?

I do not know, Your Honor.

-[Judy] So, it has not been with you?
-Correct.

So, the dog has not been with you
since November of 2022?

Correct.

Are you kidding me? Why are you here?

Just for my own curiosity,
where's the husky? It's a husky, right?

-[Jeffery] Yes, Your Honor.
-Where's the husky?

-She's with me.
-[Judy] Okay.

[Judy] Now you know where the dog is

and where the dog has been
for the last two years.

-I'm glad to know.
-[Judy] I'm glad you know.

Your case is dismissed.

So, that takes care of your case.

Now, we have the second part of this case,
which is your counterclaim.

You have a child from a previous marriage
or relationship?

A previous marriage, Your Honor.

And at the time that you were together,

you had joint custody
pursuant to the divorce?

Yes, Your Honor.

[Judy] And it is your claim that
as a result of the plaintiff's actions

while you were a couple
that targeted your ex-wife,

you lost custody of your child.

Yes, Your Honor.

The family judge made it clear that...

Don't tell me what the family court judge
made clear.

If you want to show me a decision
and an order,

I'll be more than happy
to look at it.

-Yes, Your Honor.
-Okay. Can I see it?

-[Judy] Okay. I'll read into the record...
-Yes, Your Honor.

...what the judge found.
"The evidence demonstrates

that the Respondent's girlfriend,
Joanna Henderson," that would be you,

"has caused strife and friction
between the parties.

It is not lost on the Court that, prior
to her relationship with the Respondent,

the parties were able to co-parent.

Since the Respondent's relationship
with Ms. Henderson,

Ms. Landrum," that is your former wife,
"has had to obtain an Order of Protection

against her and was arrested once
for having violated the same.

Ms. Henderson has held herself out
as the child's mother

and claimed to be homeschooling the child
without any authority to do so.

It is evident and regrettable
that the Respondent," that would be you,

"has chosen to prioritize his relationship
with Ms. Henderson

over his relationship with the child."
That's what it says.

What kind of a lawsuit is that?

What kind of a lawsuit is that, sir?

You are now claiming that
because of the plaintiff's actions,

you had trouble with your custody order.
And you give me this

in support of that counterclaim
which you are requesting $5,000.

-Yes, Your Honor.
-[Judy] Right?

[Judy] She may have caused trouble.
The judge found you guilty.

What kind of lawsuit do you think
you have against her?

Because of her violating
her restraining order

and harassing my ex-wife.

She was arrested for having violated
the restraining order.

Was there a trial on that?

-No, there was not a trial, Your Honor.
-[Judy] Yeah. Okay.

Judge found you at fault.
This is your child; it's not her child.

If you chose, at any time,
which the judge found,

that you chose to prioritize your
relationship with Ms. Henderson

over that of your responsibility
as a parent, that's regrettable.

-Okay. So, your counterclaim is dismissed.
-Yes, Your Honor.

So, the washer and dryer, you don't get.
And the husky stays with you.

'Cause you've had the husky
for two years.

I don't have any idea, Ms. Henderson,
what you're doing here.

Your case is dismissed.
There's a second part of this case

-that has to do with your ex-wife.
-Yes, Your Honor.

Where the two of you are defendants.

Okay, we're gonna go outside and we're
gonna call that case as a brand-new one.

[Kevin] This court is adjourned.

Glad she was able to see that Stormy
was my dog and always had been.

It's very disappointing that I do not get
to see my dog which I purchased myself.

I think she was just hurt and upset
and was trying to get back at me.

I hope we can just move on with our lives,

and maybe I can find another dog
like Stormy.

Case number 3126B,
Hilgert versus Henderson/Stout.

All parties, please come forward.

[narrator] Lauren Hilgert
is suing her ex-husband, Jeffery Stout,

and his ex-fiancée, Joanna Henderson,

for false claims and personal threats.

Ms. Hilgert, you and Mr. Stout
were married.

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] From when to when?

We were married in 2015,
I believe it was the month of June,

and we were divorced
on February 14th of 2018.

[Judy]
And you have one child whose name is Ava.

Your lawsuit is couched in harassment,
threats, and false claims

against both your former husband
and his former fiancée,

'cause they are no longer a couple.

[Lauryn]
Yes, ma'am.

You said, "Not tonight." Don't give him
an answer as to why not tonight.

Just not tonight.

Nasty! That's nasty.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Lauryn Hilgert
claims her ex-husband, Jeffery Stout,

and his ex-fiancée, Joanna Henderson,
made false CPS reports

and Joanna threatened Lauryn's life.

Now, I've already read into the record
in the previous case

the judge's evaluation of what happened
after your ex-husband

and Ms. Henderson became a couple.
And it's clear

that the judge who heard that case
found that your former husband's conduct

-was unwise. Right?
-Yes, ma'am.

That's not a cause of action.

And that the judge found
that you and your ex-husband

had perfectly fine
co-parenting arrangement

until Ms. Henderson
came into the picture.

Yes, ma'am.

Also, not a cause of action.
So, I'm gonna do this very quickly.

This lawsuit seeks $10,000
for actual and punitive damages.

And the damages
that you are complaining about

were all tied up in ongoing custody
disputes with your ex-husband.

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] I want you to tell me what threats,

harassment, and false claims

your ex-husband made against you.
Just your ex-husband.

-Let's go. Did he threaten you?
-No.

Okay. So, against him, threats are out.

-Did he harass you?
-[Lauryn] Yes.

-[Judy] How?
-He would message me continuously.

-[Judy] About what?
-About our daughter.

Well, that's not harassment
unless it is harassment.

Can I see an example of those text
messages that you deem harassment?

Yes, ma'am.

So, these are the text messages

that you claim form the basis
of the harassment.

As well as him filing a false DFS report.

This isn't harassment at all.
What kind of harassment is this?

He says, "We're having
a family dinner tonight,

but some of them
are going to be a little late

and Ava really wants to see them.

So, I was hoping to keep her
until like 8:00 tonight.

Or I was thinking
since it would be a late pick-up

and I'm getting her tomorrow,
she could just stay another night."

What's harassment about that? Nothing.

-Sounds very nice to me.
-No, ma'am.

I don't care what it sounds like to you.
This sounds very nice to me.

If you read down, I said, "Not tonight."
And then...

[Judy]
Just a second. Just a second.

-You said, "Not tonight."
-[Lauryn] Yes, ma'am.

Don't give him an answer
as to why not tonight.

You don't give him a say.
"It's a school night, it's a this..."

-Just not tonight.
-[Lauryn] Yes, ma'am.

-Nasty! That's nasty.
-No, ma'am.

[Judy]
It's not actionable, but it's nasty.

I'm telling you, been there, done that,
both personally and professionally.

Your response to him was nasty.

They require for my responses
to be very short.

No, no, no, no, no. His email to you
was very pleasant.

Very pleasant and most reasonable,
and yours wasn't.

You said, "Not tonight."

"She has homework,
she has a doctor's appointment,

she has something. I wish I could..."
Nothing. Nasty.

Okay. Then, he says...
Excuse me, I didn't read this.

He asked a very logical question, why?

"Why is it that every time
I want to keep Ava a little late,

there's always got to be some excuse?

Or when you're tired of making up excuses,
it's just no.

Why don't you want her to spend time
with me or my family?

This is getting ridiculous. She has been
taken away from the parent and family

that raised her and she's been with
so much of her entire life.

You've ripped that all away from her
and now she was so excited to see them."

-Also, perfectly reasonable.
-[Lauryn] Yes, ma'am.

And then, same day, he says,
"Over the past few months,

I've noticed several signs of neglect,
from her eczema to her clothes.

I have seen abuse on the soccer field,
coming to me with bruises.

And most recently, Ava
has said something very concerning.

All of these things together
led me to take action

and make sure our daughter
is safe and properly cared for.

I have taken steps to have these concerns
and things Ava has said investigated."

So, he's telling you he made a report
someplace, to be investigated.

A week before he sent that message,
yes, ma'am.

Who knows? Who cares?

I have the paperwork
that he made the report

a week before he sent that message.

Well, now, he's telling you he sent it.

He didn't tell you that he sent it
before he sent it.

He's telling you now.
What's wrong with that?

He broke the court order
and kept our daughter away from me.

Oh. You sound like nonsense, madam.

Oh.

[Judy] Okay. So, there's no harassment
by your ex-husband.

Everything he did was reasonable.
So far, nothing against him. No threats.

False claims. I assume you are referring
to the CPS report that he made

to have you and your husband investigated.
Is that correct?

Yes, ma'am.

That's also dismissed.
If he had concerns, that's what he does.

He called CPS. And not only that,
he didn't even do it in a sneaky way,

He told you about it.

Well, that's not that incident
that he had made.

There was four different CPS calls.

-And the judge...
-[Judy] Okay. Just one second.

Just one second.
Well, this was May 31st, 2021.

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy]
Okay. And I assume that was investigated.

No, ma'am.

-[Judy] This was never investigated?
-No, ma'am.

-So, he made another report?
-[Lauryn] Yes, ma'am.

Good for him. [laughs]
So, if CPS didn't investigate that one,

he made another report.
That's what you're supposed to do.

Not until the next year.

I don't care when it was.

-Which was also found unsubstantiated.
-[Judy] That's okay.

And the family court judge said
that he filed a false report.

That's in our court order.
That he found that it was false.

Oh. I'd like to see where the judge
found that it was a false report.

I'd like to see what the report was

-of the judge finding it false.
-Yes, ma'am.

Okay. "After a hearing on May third,
for Motion for Temporary Custody

and an Order of Protection,
the Court found that the Respondent,"

that's you, "made false allegations
against the Petitioner's fiancé.

The evidence clearly demonstrates that
the minor child made no such disclosure

of abuse to the Children's Division,
or to her counselor.

Despite Respondent knowing the child
had not made any disclosures of abuse,

he wrongfully withheld the minor child
from the Petitioner.

Denied contact
for approximately one month."

Okay. So, you made an allegation of abuse.

Yes, Your Honor.

-[Judy] Against her fiancé.
-Yes, Your Honor.

Now your husband, I assume, at the time.

Yes, ma'am.

And the child failed when investigated
and interviewed

by Child Protective Services,
failed to repeat any allegations

of abuse against her fiancé.
Do I have that right?

Yes, ma'am.

To whom did the child
make allegations of abuse?

Why would you, on November 19th,
send her a text message

that says, "You're gonna die.
You deserve it"?

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Lauryn Hilgert
has accused her ex-husband,

Jeffrey Stout, and his ex-fiancée,
Joanna Henderson,

of making false CPS reports. And she
also says Joanna threatened her life.

Okay. The child failed when investigated
and interviewed

by Child Protective Services,
failed to repeat

any allegations of abuse
against her fiancée.

-Do I have that right?
-Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] To whom did the child
make allegations of abuse?

She, uh, revealed that to me, Your Honor.

-[Judy] To you?
-Yes, Your Honor.

It doesn't strike me
that he made up that story.

Unless you're telling me that before that,

you had had ongoing serious difficulties
with him.

-'Cause it seems to me that...
-Yes, ma'am, we did.

-[Judy] You were co-parenting.
-[Lauryn] No, ma'am.

Not at that time, no, ma'am.

[Judy] Well, if the child was
at his house, that's co-parenting.

I don't know why you're here.
You have absolutely no cause of action

against your ex-husband.
So, you can sit down, sir.

The case is dismissed against you.

You want to tell me what your
cause of action is against Ms. Henderson?

Threats. Let's start with threats first.
What threats did she make to you?

She sent me a text message
threatening mine and my daughter's life.

[Judy] She sent you a text message
that was a threat?

-Yes, ma'am.
-I want to see it.

[Lauryn]
Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] Why would you send her
a text message

that says, "You're gonna die.
You deserve it"?

May I ask what phone number
it's sent from

to confirm it is my phone number?

[no audio]

[Joanna]
I don't even know that phone number.

I've had the same phone number
for over ten years.

"Your worst nightmare. You're going to pay
for all the 'blank' you've done.

Or would losing your daughter be worse?

Because you sure think
you have everything right now.

Watch your back."

That's the reason why the relationship
was over, Your Honor.

-You mean, their relationship?
-[Lauryn] Yes, ma'am.

[Judy]
Okay. So, what you're telling me is,

you discussed this
with your former husband.

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy]
Now, you're a witness.

Yes, Your Honor.

-[Judy] You've just heard what I've read?
-Yes, Your Honor.

At that time, Ms. Henderson
was your fiancée.

Yes.

[Judy] Did you discuss
these text messages with her?

I did not.

-[Judy] You did not?
-I did not discuss them with Joanna.

Who did you discuss them with?

I discussed them with Lauryn.

-[Judy] With your former wife.
-[Jeffery] Yes, Your Honor.

[Judy] After they were received
in November of 2022.

Yes, Your Honor.

[Judy] That was after you
and Ms. Henderson had broken up.

-We were still together until that day.
-[Judy] Until this day?

Until just after those messages were sent.

I was at a visit with my daughter
at the time.

At the end of the visit, Lauryn
showed me those text messages.

I took that phone number
that they were from,

'cause we suspected it was Joanna.
As soon as I got home,

to mine and Joanna's apartment,
I called that number

and it rang to Joanna's phone.

She had a fake phone number set up
and sent those messages.

Oh, there you go.

-That's a threat!
-[pen scratches]

Why would you do that?

It was bad judgment and I do regret it.

Now you can sit down. That's better
than "it wasn't my phone." Bad judgment.

Okay. That's a threat.

Harassment?

She violated a Protection Order
that I had against her.

And she was arrested for that.

[Judy] Yeah, this is not
the right court for that. Next.

False claims?

She played the same role
because when they were together,

and those four different CPS calls
were made,

she had played a role in that.

He was part of that.

-[Lauryn] Yes, ma'am, they both were.
-[Judy] Okay, very good.

Your former husband doesn't strike me
as the kind of person

who had anything but his child's
best interests as a motivation.

He may have used bad judgment
with her,

but I don't think he didn't have
your child's best interests

as a focal point of his judgment.
Part of that is suggested to me

because when he read these messages,
messages to you, threatening you,

that he felt was so wrong,
that was it, he broke up with her.

No, ma'am, that's not
when he broke up with her.

That's when he said he broke up with her.
Is that when you broke up with her?

Yes, Your Honor.
That's the day I moved out.

When she sent the death threats.
But not...

-I'm talking about the death threat.
-[Lauryn] Okay.

I said, "When she made this threat,
you discussed it with him,

-and he left."
-Yes, ma'am.

Doesn't sound like a bad man.
Anyway...

Ms. Henderson, sounds like
you made a whole lot of trouble.

Some of it is actionable, some not.
The death threat is actionable.

Judgment for the plaintiff
on your claim of threat only...

What did you do
as a result of getting this...

I did make a police report, Your Honor.

You did. Do you have it with you?

No, ma'am, it was closed out.

Was it closed out
with nothing done about it?

They weren't able to trace the fake number
that she used back to her.

So, it was closed, yes, ma'am.

The family court judge found
that Jeffery's actions

caused my daughter
separation anxiety disorder in the trauma.

-The counselor testified in our...
-[Judy] Listen to me.

-...custody judgment, Your Honor.
-[Judy] Listen to me.

-[whispers] I don't care.
-[Lauryn] Okay.

[Judy]
Does he see his daughter now?

[Lauryn]
On supervised visits two hours a week.

Just for my own curiosity,
they're not together anymore.

Why was an order made
for supervised visitation?

Because of everything that he had done.

And because he caused my daughter
separation anxiety trauma.

Oh. Get over it.

[Lauryn]
We've been doing it for two years.

Judgment for the plaintiff
on the counterclaim for $500.

-We're finished.
-[Kevin] This court is adjourned.

It's a shame that she wasn't able
to see through their lies.

It was a bad judgment of mine,
and I wish I could take that back.

And that's an adult choice that I made,
and I wish I couldn't've made it.

I hope they continue to stay broke up
and we're able to co-parent.

Hopefully, me and Lauryn
can move on together

with co-parenting for our daughter.

And hopefully, this is
the last I hear from Joanna.

You know, Sarah, the parents actually,
both of them,

impressed me as being two nice people.
And from the time of their separation

they seem to have done really well
with this little girl.

Yeah. And there was a wrench
thrown in it a little bit.

-Until... until Ms. Henderson.
-Mm-hmm.

It's just so unfortunate
that you go so long,

and co-parenting is hard enough as it is,
and you go successfully for, you know,

five years co-parenting, or however long
since they had broken up,

and you bring someone new into the mix
that just does not gel.

Gets jealous. People have to know,
once they have children,

there's a saying I used to say,

you have to love your children
more than you hate each other.

-Yep.
-Because children don't ask to be born,

-they are born.
-Mm-hmm.

And it's your job to make sure
that they have

as successful a childhood as they can.

So, that has to be your focus.
Even if the person that you love,

you no longer love.
You don't like that person anymore.

-Yeah.
-It matters not.

You made this child together.
That has to be the focus.

Sad when you lose sight of that.

[narrator]
Are you having a family dispute?



[theme music playing]