03x114 - Hunting the Cheating Husband

[bunniefuu]

[Judy]
She suspected her husband was cheating.

We're chasing this car now. She crashes
into the back of her vehicle in my car.

Which had in it
your husband and his girlfriend?

- Yes.
- The airbag exploded, the car is totaled.

Oh, I don't care if your car
is in a thousand pieces on Pluto.

Keep your nose
out of other people's business.

- [announcer] This is Judy Justice.
- [theme music]

[announcer] Kiaramie Scott
is suing her sister, Leair Scott,

for vehicle damage, transportation fees,
and emotional distress.

[Kevin]
Court come to order. All rise.

Have a seat, please.

[Kevin]
Judge, case 3174, Scott versus Scott.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

- [Judy] Ms. Scott, this is your sister.
- That's correct.

- [Judy] Older, younger?
- Older.

- [Judy] She's married.
- [Kiaramie] That's correct.

[Judy] She called you and told you that
she suspected her husband was cheating.

That is correct.

[Judy]
When did she call and tell you this?

The text messages
that I have were February 3rd.

- Of what year?
- [Kiaramie] This year, Your Honor.

[Judy] Anyway, she said
she suspected her husband of cheating

and she asked you
if you would come over with your car

to take her to track him down,
because her husband and this other woman,

she thought, were driving in
the family car, hers and her husband's.

- So she didn't have a car. Is that right?
- That's correct.

So you dropped everything
and you went over to her house.

How long did it take you to get there?

Probably about 15 minutes, not that long,

we live about ten minutes, 15 minutes
across the bridge from each other.

And when you got to her house,
was she outside? Was she inside?

[Kiaramie]
She was outside waiting for my niece

that's right here today to come back home.

- Her daughter.
- [Kiaramie] Yeah.

She was outside,
we couldn't go anywhere and...

- [Judy] How old are you?
- Sixteen.

[Judy] Anyway, she hopped
in your car and at that point,

- she was in the passenger seat.
- Yes.

[Judy]
So you picked her up

and started driving to where she thought
you might find her husband,

the girlfriend, and her car.

- Yes, Your Honor.
- [Judy] Did she find them?

Not right away.

She gives this address, she... on her
phone, she said, "We're gonna go here.

This is where
the car should be parked up at."

We get to this address,
we're looking around probably about 15,

- 25 minutes or so...
- [Judy] You're driving around.

- No, we parked the car.
- [Judy] Oh, you parked the car.

- Mhm.
- [Judy] Okay.

- And you were walking around.
- [Kiaramie] Yes.

Just the two of you?

No, she had a friend,
I don't know the friend.

- [Judy] She had a friend with you.
- The friend met us there.

- [Judy] Had you called your friend?
- Yes, I did.

- [Judy] And told her where to meet you.
- Yes.

- And friend was a female?
- [Leair] Yeah.

[Judy] So now the three females are
walking around this neighborhood.

What time was this?

At this point, probably 12:25
I wanna say, in the morning.

So now you're walking around
in a dark neighborhood,

the three of you looking for a car
that your sister thought was occupied

- by her husband and this woman.
- [Kiaramie] Yes.

So tell me what happened.

We are looking for the car, we're walking
around, we don't see the car,

she's frantic, you know,
agitated because of the situation.

[Judy] What... do you remember
what she was saying to you?

She's saying she couldn't believe
he was doing this to her.

You know,
that the time they spent together,

him lying, saying that he was working
overtime and that wasn't the case.

He was having an affair with this woman
that he worked with at his job.

We went to basically what she told me
was to just go retrieve the car.

I asked her, like, "You know, you sure
you just don't wanna go about this

the right way, like, court proceedings?"

Like, you know, the lawyers,
however you may go about it.

I don't... you know me and her
is estranged.

We only really recently started talking
again because our mother passed away.

Well, did she tell you what
she intended to do if she found them?

She wanted to take her car back,
she had the spare key,

and I was under the impression that I was
just taking her to go get the vehicle,

- you know, nothing crazy happening.
- [Judy] Okay.

You were under the impression
that the car was going to be empty?

[Kiaramie] Yeah. She told me he dropped
the car off at the female's house and...

- [Judy] And he was in the house.
- That's a lie.

- Yeah.
- [Judy] Shh. You'll have a chance.

- So you thought that the car was parked.
- On the block, yes.

[Judy]
Okay. And?

So once we get there,
we're looking around, no car is visible.

She's now calling her stepdaughter,

which is her husband's oldest child
to figure out where he's at,

because she hasn't talked to her husband.

The stepdaughter's telling her,
like, you know,

"I don't wanna tell you because I don't
wanna get in trouble with my father."

She's trying to like, you know,
"Just tell me the right address."

Because we're under the impression,

if you're saying that the car was here
because this is where the female lives

and we done walked around,

- we can't find the car...
- [Judy] Okay.

- ...do you have the wrong address?
- So?

[Kiaramie] We leave outside of the
building, continue to like walk around.

- What building?
- Of wherever that female lives.

Did you go into that building?

[Kiaramie]
Yes, we went into the building.

So what did you do
when you walked into the building?

I guess she was trying to see if she could
hear her husband's phone calling him

- to verify if he was on the location.
- [Judy] How big a building?

Probably about five floors,
five, six floors.

- Did you go up the elevator?
- [Kiaramie] She took the elevator up.

Did you go with her?

Me, her, and her friend was with her,
that is correct.

- [Judy] So you were all together?
- Yes.

[Judy] You were all together trying
to listen for a phone going off.

- Did you go all five floors?
- No. She went to one specific floor.

[Judy]
Okay. Okay. But at this point,

you know that she's
no longer looking for her car

because her car
isn't on the fifth floor, right?

- [Kiaramie] No, yeah, at this point.
- Or the fourth floor or the third floor.

- Yes.
- [Judy] So you know she's looking

- to confront her husband.
- [Kiaramie] Husband, yes,

- at this point.
- Okay.

So, let's get finished with this farce
that we're going to just pick up the car.

- [Kiaramie] Mhm.
- She's looking to confront

- her husband and the woman.
- That's correct.

[Judy] And you don't hear
a phone so you exit the building.

- [Kiaramie] We leave out the building.
- [Judy] Let's go.

Now, I'm standing at the corner,
I'm smoking a cigarette

because we done stand here all this time.

I'm asking her,
"What are you gonna do next?"

She's in her phone, looking at her phone,

I didn't know exactly
what she was looking at.

Come to find out she knew
where her car was all along,

because in the type of car she has,

there's a tracking device
for that vehicle, a BMW,

you can track it on the phone,
I did not know that.

So the car ended up magically
coming down the block,

it's, I'm guessing, the husband
and the female's in the car.

So now at this point, I'm looking...
the only BMW.

I'm like, "Hey, is this the car?"
She's more further down the block than me,

I'm standing at the corner. So she's
like a little more down the block.

She turns around,
of course she knows her license plate,

she's like, yeah, "that's my car," as
she's walking more into out the street.

The car tried to hit her,
like it swerves to hit her,

and then you see it swerve back in place.

- If I was... if you were standing at the...
- [Judy] Shush.

- [frustrated sound]
- Just...

[theme music]

She had to like kick my door open
to get out the car because of the crash,

the car is totaled.

She got out, she went directly
towards the passenger side

and she pulls out her husband.

- And the girlfriend was driving.
- Was in the driver side. Yes.

And she went to pull out her husband and?

[theme music]

[announcer] Kiaramie Scott
claims her sister, Leair Scott,

owes for vehicle damage
after Leair crashed her car.

Leair is countersuing, saying Kiaramie
damaged her car during the pursuit.

Go ahead.

[Kiaramie] You see that the car
was trying to hit her,

so now it swerves back in place and she
now is trying to run after the car.

So at this point,
we're running to the car,

she jumps in my seat,
I'm in the passenger,

we're chasing this car now
about three, four blocks on.

The car, I don't know
if it was intentionally,

because, you know, she was agitated,

she was angry at the situation
that was going on.

She crashes into the back
of her vehicle, in my car.

And that's why you're here
because there was damage to your car

as a result of this ridiculousness,

- that's your lawsuit.
- Yes.

[Judy] By the way, just so that I finish
it up, once you crashed the car,

did the other car stop
with her husband and the girlfriend?

That's how it exactly happened.

She got out the car after a while
trying to break her way,

- because my car is totaled now.
- [Judy] What do you mean she broke the...

[Kiaramie] Like basically she had to like
kick my door open to get out the car

because of the crash, the airbag exploded,
so she couldn't get out the vehicle

like just by opening the door
and getting out. The car is totaled.

- Airbag exploded, roof is up.
- [Judy] Okay. So she got out.

She got out, she went directly towards
the passenger side

- and she pulls out her husband.
- Her husband was in the passenger side...

- Side of her car.
- ...of her car.

- Yup.
- [Judy] And the girlfriend was...

- [Kiaramie] Was in the driver side...
- [Judy] ...driving.

- [Kiaramie] ...yes.
- [Judy] Okay.

And she went to pull out her husband and?

So she's arguing with him,
they're yelling,

I'm trying to tell her to calm down.
He's trying to tell her to calm down,

it turns into like a little scuffle
between them.

I don't really get into it
because it wasn't really a scuffle,

it was more of him, like, you know, trying
to hold her and I guess explain his self,

or try to talk through the situation,
whatever was going on.

At this point in time now she's arguing
with me because I'm trying to tell her,

like, "You know, there's a whole accident
here. We need to leave, you feel me?

Because the cops are gonna come,
it's gonna look bad."

She's telling me she wants to stay because
she works with the law enforcement,

so she wants to put the report in
that the car was stolen

because of the situation
with the girlfriend.

I leave with my vehicle. I'm telling
her to just come with me though, because...

I leave with my vehicle and I...

- You left with a totaled vehicle?
- [Judy] Just a second.

You gotta learn to control your temper,

- that's what started the whole problem.
- [Leair] You're right, Your Honor.

You got into your car
that you say was totaled.

- [Kiaramie] Yes.
- And?

- [Kiaramie] I drove away.
- [Judy] Okay.

- Where did you go?
- I went home.

[Judy] Okay. Well, home
is about 15 minutes away according to you.

From my sister's address
to my address, yes.

From the address we were at, you can
add an additional five to ten minutes.

- [Judy] So you were 20, 25 minutes away.
- [Kiaramie] That is correct.

- So, you drove this totaled car...
- [Kiaramie] Yes.

- ...20 to 25 minutes.
- I did, yes, I did.

[Judy]
Oh, that's all I'm asking you. Okay.

And you want your sister at this point
to take care of the damage to your car.

Yes.

[Judy] Now, we're gonna
flip over to the defendant.

You received a text message
from this woman?

Yeah. Saturday... February 3rd
at like 10:00 something in the morning.

Shh. February 3rd, you received
a text message that said what?

Just a picture of him and her...
him and her kissing together.

- I have it on my phone here.
- Of course you have it on your phone.

- Would be my screensaver.
- [courtroom laughs]

She's not very appealing, miss.

[Judy] Shh, just a second.
Just find the picture.

Oh, and the idiot
who's taking this picture of them kissing

I assume that's your husband.

- Unfortunately.
- [laughs] Good. Return it.

How long, Ms. Scott,
have you and this genius been married?

[sighs] Five years.

So you see this picture on your phone,
and tell me what you did.

- I go to him and I show him the picture.
- [Judy] Just a second.

- So he was home when you got the picture?
- Yes.

At what time was it?

[Leair]
Like 10:00 something in the morning.

- [Judy] What day of the week was it, do...?
- Saturday morning.

- [Judy] So nobody was working?
- No.

So Saturday morning,
you show him this picture and he says?

He's like, "Le, can I talk to you?"
Because, you know, I'm just red,

so he's like, "Can you I talk to you,
can we go outside?

Because I don't wanna argue
in front of the kids."

So I go out, we go outside,
so he's confessing

but he's really not saying
who the lady is.

[indistinct] He's basically still
lying about the whole thing.

How did he explain the picture?
What did he say about the picture?

- He just said that was his friend.
- [Judy] Friend from where?

He wouldn't ever tell me.

- I found out now that I got arrested.
- [Judy] Okay.

- Who got arrested?
- [Leair] I got arrested.

- [Judy] When?
- That night.

What did you get arrested for?

I got arrested because my sister
beat up the girl,

the police wanted me to tell my sister
to come back and I said no,

so they said, "You're getting arrested,"
because she does have bruises on her.

- So I got arrested for it.
- Okay. Your sister wasn't arrested?

No, because I refused to even say
that was my sister to save her.

[Judy] Shh, just a second.
What happened with that case?

- I'm still fighting the case right now.
- [Judy sighs] So you have a criminal case

- pending against you...
- [Leair] Yes.

- ...with regard to this incident?
- Yes.

[Judy] Well then, I'm not going
to take any more testimony from you,

because your lawyer would not like that.

[Leair] I told my lawyer
I was coming on this show.

I don't care.
Your lawyer would not like that.

And unless you give me
your lawyer's number...

- I can do that.
- ...and Sarah will call the lawyer.

- Phone number.
- [Leair] Phone number is 917...

- Sarah, you know what to ask her?
- [Sarah] No, what do you want me to ask?

- Tell her that we're here.
- Mhm.

- [Judy] We're trying this civil case...
- Yeah.

...but the civil case is going
to go into the details

- of what happened on February 3rd...
- Mhm.

[Judy] ...and February 4th
of this year. I've told her client

that I am not comfortable
proceeding taking her testimony

because that testimony can be used during
the course of a criminal proceeding.

She has told me that her lawyer

is perfectly comfortable
with her speaking to me,

and have a clear,
recorded conversation with her

about whether or not she has advised
her client that she can testify today,

truthfully, to the events of February 3rd
and February 4th. Got it?

- We're gonna take five. Thank you.
- [theme music]

You trespassed on private property
with intent to commit a something.

I don't know what but ultimately that
something resulted in a criminal arrest.

There's no question you didn't think
that her car was on the first floor

of a five-story building in the Bronx.

[theme music]

[announcer] Kiaramie Scott
has accused her sister, Leair Scott,

of damaging her vehicle during a pursuit.
Leair is countersuing Kiaramie,

claiming she is the one
who crashed into Leair's car.

- Sarah?
- [Sarah] No answer.

I called twice and the mailbox was
a Google mailbox set up,

so I didn't feel comfortable

- leaving a message.
- Okey-dokey. Now, Ms. Scott,

- what's the name of the law firm?
- I don't know.

- Have you paid them any money?
- No, it's a public defender.

- [Judy] Public defender where?
- In the Bronx County.

[Judy]
Is it Public Defender?

- Is it Legal Aid? Is it...
- Legal Aid Society.

- [Judy] Legal Aid Society in the Bronx?
- [Leair] I believe so.

- What do you mean you believe so?
- I believe so, Your Honor, I don't know.

[Judy] Well, you have to understand
that I am not going to allow you

to testify any further with regard to what
happened on February 3rd and February 4th

without first confirming with an attorney
that the attorney is dumb enough

to say to you,
"Go, appear on national television

while an as*ault charge is still pending
against you in the Bronx." Okay?

So, I'm not gonna ask you
any further questions.

What I'm going to do is to paraphrase
from your sworn statement

which in sum and substance says
that the plaintiff was driving the car,

not you.

While she was driving her own car,
she slammed into your car,

which had in it
your husband and his girlfriend.

- Yes.
- And then she backed up

and rammed into your car again.
Now, you have a counterclaim.

Let's see what your counterclaim is.

For $7,500 for damage
she caused to your vehicle.

She's suing you for $7,500 for damage
that she claims you caused her vehicle.

I don't have to see anything,

- you gonna show me that she confessed?
- Oh, I...

[Judy]
You're gonna show me pictures?

Let me tell you that
this is one of those cases

where I'm going to quote somebody,
many years ago, who said,

"A pox on both your houses."

Because there's no question that you
were an active participant, madam,

so I don't have to consider her.
She's done. Her counterclaim is dismissed.

For all purposes,
she went crazy that night.

She involved you,
she involved another friend,

and I don't care if this car, which is...
may or may not be in your name,

may or may not be jointly owned,
I don't give a rat's behind.

That's not the way you deal
with a matrimonial case.

Deal with a matrimonial case and hiring an
investigator or a lawyer, and getting out.

You don't involve all these people

in a midnight search
for your husband and his girlfriend,

which, by the way, according to you,

included trespassing
in a five-story building

and going floor to floor,
listening for a phone

- so that you could do...
- But that's a lie.

[Judy]
Just a second. I told you, say nothing.

And we didn't go to every floor,
Your Honor.

- [Judy] Just...
- We went to that one floor...

[Judy] I don't care if you went
to one floor or you went to five floors,

you trespassed on private property
with intent to commit a something.

I don't know what, but ultimately that
something resulted in a criminal arrest.

So I don't care if your car
is in a thousand pieces on Pluto.

Keep your nose
out of other people's business.

- She called me, I wasn't in her business.
- [Judy] Just a...

I didn't know what was going
on with her husband...

- [Judy] Listen, listen.
- ...until after.

[Judy] Listen, madam.
You knew exactly what you were doing.

You told me exactly what you did.

You told me that you got into your car,
went to her house to pick her up

- to go in search of...
- Her car.

[Judy]
Just... That's what you originally told me.

There's no question,
you didn't think that her car

was on the first floor
of a five-story building in the Bronx.

You didn't think a car was there,
that they drove up the five...

So you were
no longer looking for the car.

And you understood exactly what
was going on. You even said to me,

I tried to tell her this is not the way
to do it, that... didn't you? Don't!

[Kiaramie]
When we was there, yes. I was like...

- [Judy] Just a second. Is that...
- ...calm down.

[Judy] Is that what she said?
Go back if you can.

"I tried to tell her,
I tried to discourage her."

- [Kiaramie] And...
- [Judy] Don't speak.

- That's what I have Whitney for.
- [chuckles]

[Judy]
Ridiculousness.

She said, "I asked her, you know,
are you sure you don't wanna go about this

or you wanna go about this the right way,
court proceedings, you know, divorce...

- Yes, that's exactly...
- ...how you may go about it?

Just a second... just...

[Kiaramie] And then we left the building,
just to calm her down, so we can leave.

[Judy chuckles]
So then you leave.

After you tried to calm her down,
then according to you, you could've left,

instead you were standing
on the corner smoking a cigarette?

- Yes.
- [Judy] Right,

not getting in your car and leaving,
you wanna be involved in this nonsense,

you'll be involved in this nonsense,
you're a grown-up woman.

- You wanna stay here, I'm not getting...
- [Kiaramie, indistinct]

- I don't care what happened to your car.
- [Kiaramie] ...wanna leave her...

- You're right.
- Your fault.

Courts don't help people who get
involved with this kind of nonsense,

which ultimately, I assume,

involved somebody, and I don't
wanna go any further, getting hurt.

Getting hurt enough
so that there was an arrest for as*ault.

- Nobody got hurt.
- [laughs] You're an idiot.

Your case is dismissed.
Counterclaim is dismissed. Goodbye.

- Thank you, Your Honor.
- [Kevin] This court is adjourned.

[theme music]

To be truthful, I was just helping
my sister trying to do her a favor

and led from one thing to another, it got
out of hand, but here we are now, so.

She's lying about everything.
She never said nothing.

We didn't go in no building to listen to
a phone, how dumb does that sound?

I hope she learns from her mistakes
and choose the right person next time

and don't just choose them
because you think it is gonna work out.

She is like the rowdy one, yes.

It strained it even more
than what it already was.

Done. I wish her the best.
I love her from a distance.

You know, I'm only a few years out of
law school, but even for us newbies,

I can't imagine any one of us
giving a client permission

if they have an ongoing
criminal case for anything,

especially as*ault or something
where someone ended up injured,

coming to a forum like this or even
any small claims and giving testimony

that could potentially hinder their
own defense in a criminal case.

You're absolutely right.
What I found interesting

- was the defendant gave you a 917 number.
- Mhm.

- Now, a 917 number...
- [Sarah] Is a cell.

- ...is a cell phone.
- [Sarah] Mhm.

[Judy] Now, you know, we've had
two people in our family

who worked in Bronx public defenders...

- [Sarah] Mhm.
- ...in different offices,

- but in public defenders.
- [Sarah] Yeah.

[Judy]
For a total of probably 30 years

- between the two of them.
- Mhm.

Not once do I remember either one of them
giving a client their cell phone number.

- Mhm.
- I found that such a lot of baloney.

Yeah. Too many questions.

- [Judy] Yeah, too many questions...
- Not enough answers.

...too many and it didn't make any
difference. They went there for no good,

they got no good,
they both got damaged cars.

Deserved it.

- Right.
- Yeah.

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[theme music]