Judy Justice (2021) s01e03 Episode Script

1
-There's a five-year-old child?
-Yes, ma'am.
You're raising that child?
Yes, ma'am.
And that's your sister's
biological child?
She was gonna be
put up for adoption.
And you got angry with her?
In my heart,
family needs to stay together,
no matter what it takes.
Um, I don't know
what else to say.
[narrator] This is Judy Justice.
[theme music]
[narrator] Lillyanna Barrientos
is suing her sister,
Sandi Villicana, for a vehicle
and children's clothing.
[Kevin] All rise.
Order in the court.
Hello, Judge.
We have case number 1014,
Barrientos versus Villicana.
Thank you.
Have a seat, please.
Ms. Barrientos, the defendant
is your sister?
Yes, ma'am.
My older sister.
[Judy] I want you to explain
something to me
that I'm curious about,
but it also relates to the case.
Otherwise,
I wouldn't go into it.
There's a five-year-old child.
Yes, ma'am.
[Judy] You're
raising that child?
Yes, ma'am.
And that's your sister's
biological child?
[Lillyanna] Yes, ma'am.
[Judy] How long have you been
raising that child?
Since birth.
You have legal guardianship?
Not full.
It's just a power of attorney
in, in the state of Texas.
It's specific, um, granted
powers to take care of her.
But not legal adoption.
Have you applied
for legal adoption?
I've looked into it,
but it's very costly,
and I can't afford that right now.
Who pays for her support?
I do.
[Judy] Can you tell me
the reason why you took
custody of your niece
when she was born?
Because she's family.
She was going to be
put up for adoption.
In my-my heart,
family needs to stay together,
no matter what it takes.
Who is the child's father?
Uh, her-her ex-boyfriend.
Does he see the child regularly?
[Lillyanna] Hmm-mm.
[Judy] Does he pay any support
for the child?
No.
Does he work?
No. He's disabled.
So I guess he gets Social Security.
But he's a good dad to her.
Has he been legally declared
the father of your daughter?
-No.
-[Judy] Why not?
He wasn't at the hospital
when she was born.
He didn't sign her papers
or anything.
But he is her father.
[Judy] Well, if he's disabled,
what's the nature
of his disability?
Um, a pacemaker.
So, limits his ability to work.
How old is he?
Thirty-seven.
Well, I just-- something
for you to explore
so that this child can have
a certain amount of finality
as far as a parent is concerned.
If one of her parents is
getting Social Security disability,
it is possible that
the little girl would be
entitled to Social Security
until she reaches majority.
It's something worthwhile
to look into if you haven't.
Yes, uh, her father
explained that to me.
-[Judy] He did?
-We've already worked through that.
Did you apply?
[Lillyanna] I believe he did.
We didn't really speak up
on the matter.
He just asked me for
some of her vital information,
and I gave it to him.
And he said he would work on it.
Okay. And that would mean
that you would have to
acknowledge that he was
the child's father.
Yes.
[Judy] Okay, good. All right.
Now let's get to this case.
Why don't you tell me
what happened with the car?
So, March 20th,
one of my sisters, other sisters
texts me and she tells me
that Sandi's car was towed.
-[Judy] That's your car?
-Yes.
And I contacted Sandi
this week.
This March 20th
of that week,
I was in school taking midterms.
And I contacted Sandi and asked,
and I told her,
"What happened to your car?"
She said, "It got towed
from my apartment."
And I told her,
"Well, why didn't you tell me?"
The reason why I said
why didn't you tell me
is because, um,
I, I want to help.
You know, I don't want her
to be carless again.
And she said, "Well,
I don't know why I didn't."
I said, "Okay, well, how much
is it to get it out?"
She said, "I don't know but
it's been there for five days."
So, for a car to be in, uh,
impound for five days or so,
the price goes up day by day.
So, I made an offer to her.
I said, "Can you sell me
the car for 1,200?
I'm not going to
loan you the money
so you can get the car
and use it yourself."
Um, she said,
"Okay, that's fine."
And I have proof that we made
a statement on selling.
[Judy] May I see that?
Yes.
These are text messages
on Facebook.
[Judy] Do you work?
No.
-How do you support yourself?
-Um
I support myself
the way I support myself.
I don't know
what else to say.
You always supported yourself
the way you support yourself?
-Yes, ma'am.
-I'm asking you
this question, because it says--
My sister has helped me
in the past,
but I support myself.
Well, the reason
I'm asking you this question,
because what you say
in this text is
you were talking about
the rent moratorium,
so I assume you weren't
paying rent where you were.
Hmm-mm. I just recently, um,
got evicted from my apartment.
-For non-payment of rent?
-Yes.
Okay. What happened next?
So, I left school,
picked her up,
and we went to the, uh,
impound to go get it out.
First we stopped at the ATM.
I have the bank statements
of me withdrawing the cash.
You withdrew $1,200?
Fifteen.
I was not with her
when she withdrew the money.
Were you with her
at the impound?
-Yes.
-[Judy] Yeah, you had to be
with her at the impound.
So, you were with her
at the impound.
And did you see
the transfer of funds?
Um, no, I waited outside
of the office while she paid.
-I had to go back there to get my vehicle.
-Did you--
Did you know how much she paid?
Yes, I do.
Okay. And what was
your arrangement with her?
-Um, our arrangement was--
-[Judy] Look at me.
What was
your arrangement with her?
She was helping you
to get your car out,
and what was your
arrangement with her
with regard to this money,
because it was
-1,200 dollars?
-[Sandi] I was gonna go with her
and let her keep the car
so she can take, so she can go
to her classes that week.
The arrangement
that you want me to believe
is that she paid 1,200 dollars
for the use of your car for a week.
You want me to believe that?
I mean--
You want this face
to believe that?
-You can believe it if you--
-[Judy] Just a second.
I-- you may get over
on some people.
But that was not your arrangement.
I'm going to give you a minute
to take your breath
because she could have taken
drivers in a limousine
to go to her classes
for less than 1,200 dollars.
-Yes, she could have.
-[Judy] Okay.
So, the arrangement wasn't that
she could use your car
for a week to go to class.
And in return for that,
in return for that, she would,
she would give you 1,200,
it just doesn't make sense.
The 1,200 dollars
wasn't all paid off.
She gave me 200 cash
also that day.
So, she paid the car.
She paid the car, the place,
and gave me 200 cash.
[Judy] Two or three?
Two.
[Judy] And so, she kept
the 100 for herself?
Yes. She told me
-to hold it for her.
-[Judy] Oh, whatever.
So, so far, that's
1,400 dollars.
And what happened with the car?
I held on to it.
For how long?
Uh, I think it was
about three or four days.
And then what happened?
Can I tell you
what our arrangement was?
-Yes.
-Our arrangement was that
she was going to
take care of Lillian
while I was taking midterms.
So, I've seen it as we were
benefiting each other,
I'd get the car out for--
for her
while she watched Lillian
for me, so I could, uh, study.
So, the agreement was
that in exchange for
getting her car out,
she was going to take care
of her own daughter for a week
while you studied for midterms?
Yes, ma'am.
[Judy] That was the agreement?
Yes, ma'am.
That's reasonable.
Well, it's not reasonable.
It's sort of ridiculous,
but that I can understand.
[theme music]
If you're going to be a liar,
you have to be
a consistent liar.
I know how to lie,
believe me. I'm not.
Oh, I absolutely
know that, Madam.
But I'm not lying right now.
I absolutely know that.
[narrator] And later today
You knew, Ms. Foster,
that you weren't driving
the car on Monday
and you weren't driving
the car on Tuesday,
and you weren't driving
the car on Wednesday.
You see how easy this is?
Like shooting fish in a barrel.
[theme music]
[narrator] While
studying for midterms,
Lillyanna Barrientos claims
her sister, Sandi Villicana,
breached an agreement
for a car.
Okay. So, you agreed to
-take your daughter--
-[Sandi] Yes.
while she was studying
for midterms.
How many days did you have
your daughter for the week?
-Two.
-[Judy] How many days?
So, you kept her for two?
Two days.
[Judy] And then,
what did you do with her?
[Sandi] The third day,
it was night time,
time to go to bed
and she kept on crying.
She kept on crying
her dad's name.
And I tried for like
an hour and a half
to get her go to sleep.
She didn't want to go to sleep.
She just wanted her dad,
her dad, her dad.
So, I called her dad,
and I told him, "Look,
you know, I know how to
take care of my daughter,
but she will
not stop crying for you.
I don't know what to do."
So, he told me to go ahead
and take her to him.
So, I took her to her father.
Well, if you're
going to be a liar,
you have to be
a consistent liar.
I know how to lie, believe me.
Oh, I absolutely
know that, Madam.
[Sandi] But I'm
not lying right now.
[Judy] I absolutely,
I absolutely know that.
"A week later, Lillyanna asked
if I could watch Lillian,
my biological daughter.
Lillyanna
has legal guardianship,
but she needed a babysitter
during midterms week."
So far, we are together.
I agree.
"But when Lillian came
to my house,
she refused to obey my rules.
I called Lillyanna
to pick her up
and she didn't respond.
I had no choice but to take
Lillian to her dad's house.
I dropped her off there
with the clothes that Lillyanna
had brought with her."
Well, that's a whole
different story than crying,
couldn't go to sleep,
I want my dad, my dad, my dad,
I called her dad
and he said bring her over.
That's a whole different story.
This says, "she wouldn't obey",
the five-year-old,
your five-year-old
wouldn't obey your rules.
By going to sleep
when I told her to go to sleep.
[laughs]
I don't see
what's so funny about that.
Oh, my God. Okay,
so you took her to her father.
And you said, "I want my money back.
You broke our agreement."
And she came, took her car.
That's what happened.
Correct.
And you want your money back?
Yes, ma'am.
Yeah, well,
you breached the agreement.
The agreement was she could use
the car for a week,
you would take care of
your daughter for a week,
and she would take care
of the car.
That was your agreement. What?
She never returned
the clothes to him.
-[Sandi] And she never--
-[Judy] And not, not--
-I'm not-- I don't care about--
-She never intended
to return my car either.
Right now, I don't care
about the clothes.
Right now, this is
a simple contract case,
which is very easy for me.
You know, this, in spite of
the blurry lines of truth,
it's actually quite simple.
You had a contract,
according to,
actually both of you,
that you would get her car
out of tow,
and give her a couple
of hundred bucks besides
because she was being evicted
from her apartment, I gather.
And in exchange for that,
she would let you use the car,
and she was going to
take care of her own child for a week.
And instead,
she brought the child
to the biological father's house,
who has not been declared
the child's biological father.
And you got angry with her,
and you said,
"Now I want the car back
or I want the money."
-That--
-[Judy] That's where we're at.
Okay. And so far,
based upon what you told me,
you gave her 1,400 dollars.
Twelve hundred dollars
is what the tow was.
Do you have proof of that?
I have that.
I'd like to see it.
This is for my plates also.
She paid that that same day.
Thank you.
Judge.
Okay. So, so far, the tow
and the getting it
out of impound was $483.
Is that what you paid them?
Yes, at the towing facility.
That doesn't include
what we paid at the dealership
to pay for the plates.
The receipt is up there.
The $300 is for the plates.
That's $783.
Yes.
-Well, why would you give her--
-[Sandi] Plus another--
Shh.
-[Sandi] I'm sorry.
-Why would you give her 1,200?
I took out extra cash
because it was going to go
to Lillian's father.
I was going to give him money
because the Biden tax, um,
checks child credit,
I was getting those
into my account.
And I was taking cash out
-as well to give to him.
-Why?
Because he deserves
half as well.
Why?
Because he takes care of her
just as much as I do.
-[Judy] Oh, he does?
-Yes.
Well, all it cost you
to get the car out
was 783 dollars.
And I gave her cash
on top of that.
Whatever profit was left.
You just told me you gave her
200 dollars in cash.
It wasn't 200 dollars.
-No.
-She said 200 dollars.
It was 200.
She would say that
because it was just cash.
It was a cash transaction,
including another 50-dollar
Cash App transaction
that she wanted,
she needed that same day.
How much cash did she give you?
Two hundred cash in my hand.
[Judy] And she paid
to get the car out?
Yes.
[Judy] And she
paid for the plates.
-Yes.
-Yeah.
All of that comes together, 983.
Judgment for the plaintiff.
Thank you very much.
[Kevin] Court adjourned.
[theme music]
I'm glad this situation is over,
and it's behind me.
I learned how to
start saying no.
Lack of communication
with each other.
It made the situation worse.
Oh, we couldn't communicate.
She just blocked me
on everything.
I should have never did it.
I should have did it on my own.
I have a big heart.
And I always want
to help everybody.
But I'm not going to
sit there and look stupid.
We can just put this behind us
and act like it never happened.
She burned a bridge forever.
There were so many layers
to that case.
But it was interesting
that the biological father
of this child doesn't work
and gets disability
because he has a pacemaker.
And yet,
according to the plaintiff,
he watches the child
half the time.
Do you know
how much energy it takes
to watch a five-year-old?
-I do.
-[Judy] Yeah.
Can you imagine going to college
and taking care
of a five-year-old?
No, no shot,
I give her credit for doing it.
And she gave a good answer.
You know, the way she said
keep your family together.
That's pretty responsible.
Let's keep your fingers
crossed for that baby
and hope that baby
turns out okay.
Case number 1013.
Foster versus Kelly.
Please step forward.
[narrator] D'Eryka Foster
is suing her cousin,
Ronaldo Kelly,
for expenses she received
after he wrecked her car.
Miss Foster,
this is your cousin.
Yes.
There was a period of time,
Mr. Kelly,
that you were living
with your cousin.
-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] In her home?
-[Ronaldo] Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] When was that?
Uh, it was around the
beginning of December in 2020.
Right into,
coming to the New Year.
How long did you live with her?
For a week.
One week?
One week.
-[Judy] Is that right?
-Correct.
[Judy] And during that week,
did you use her car?
Yes, ma'am.
And did you have
an accident in her car?
Yes, ma'am.
[Judy] And when you were
using her car,
and you had an accident
in the car,
did you have her permission
to use the car?
Yes, ma'am.
When you were in the car,
and using the car
with her permission,
you were dressed with a wig?
Yes, ma'am.
[Judy] You were
pretending to be her?
Yes, ma'am.
[Judy] Because she had
a Lyft license.
Yes, ma'am.
Whatever they have,
what are they called?
Do you know,
where you could drive--?
You don't know?
What is it when you--?
-Rideshare.
-An authorized Lyft driver.
An authorized Lyft driver.
You have to take a test
for that?
-No.
-[Judy] You just have to apply?
Correct.
[Judy] Do you have to
pay any money?
-No.
-Do you have to
-give them any money?
-No.
[Judy] I can't understand
how this whole thing--
These things
are so complicated.
[whispers] Wish they'd be easier.
[audience laughs]
"Ronaldo has been using
my Lyft account
without my knowledge
or permission."
Well, that's not true. Right?
Wrong.
What's wrong?
What you just told me?
You see, you can't
have it both ways.
[theme music]
[narrator] D'Eryka Foster
claims her cousin,
Ronaldo Kelly,
wrecked her car
while impersonating her
as a Lyft driver.
Okay. You were pretending
to be someone else
in order to make a living?
Yes, ma'am.
[Judy] You wrote in your answer
that you and your cousin
agreed that if she let you
use her Lyft permit and her car,
you would make some extra money?
-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] Is that so far correct?
That's correct.
And you would
split the money with her
because you were using
her car, her license.
You would give her
what percentage?
Sixty percent.
And you would keep
40 for yourself.
Yes, ma'am.
How many times had you
used the car as a Lyft driver
during that week
you stayed with her?
It was six days
from Monday through Saturday.
And this accident
happened on Saturday?
-Night.
-[Judy] Saturday night.
So, on Monday,
how much money did you make?
I would say a range
around maybe, maybe like a,
maybe a hundred and, like, 30 dollars.
Or maybe like 140.
It was somewhere
around that range.
How does that work?
Does the customer pay you?
Yes, they pay you
for-for picking them up.
[Judy] They pay you in cash,
or they put it on an app?
They-they put on the app.
-It's so confusing.
-[Ronaldo] They do, like,
yeah, they do it over the app.
So, they pay you, and it goes
right into your account?
Yes, ma'am.
And on Tuesday
when you worked,
and they put it in your account.
Right, or they put it--
-Or they put it in her account.
-[Ronaldo] Her account, right.
[Judy] Okay. So, now
it's in her account.
-[Ronaldo] Yes.
-[Judy] Did she give you money?
Yes, she did give me money
to furnish for gas.
Okay. She gave you money,
but she also gave you money
for working, I assume,
-from her account?
-Yes, yes, the 40 percent.
Did she give that to you every day?
Every day. Yes, ma'am.
So, the money actually went
into her account on Monday.
-So, she saw it your Monday.
-[Ronaldo] You're right.
Now let's go to Tuesday.
Tuesday, did you work?
Yes, ma'am.
You remember about how
much money you made on Tuesday?
It was perfectly--
like, around the same thing,
like maybe a hundred and like,
twenty, 30 dollars
that day too, as well.
[Judy] And when it goes
into your account,
this December of 2020,
so you have it added up
by month or by week or by day?
-By day.
-[Ronaldo] By day.
So, you saw that money
in your account on Monday?
-Yes.
-[Judy] Yes.
And you saw the money
in your account on Tuesday?
Yes.
[Judy] And on Wednesday?
-Yes.
-[Judy] Now, you knew,
Miss Foster,
that you weren't driving
the car on Monday, right?
Yes.
And you weren't driving
the car on Tuesday?
Right?
And you weren't driving
the car on Wednesday.
You see how easy this is?
Like shooting fish in a barrel.
Let me tell you what you wrote
in your complaint.
"Ronaldo is my cousin,
he moved to Atlanta.
He came to work with me.
I was working from home,
not using my vehicle.
He asked if he could borrow
my car to earn some money
by making food deliveries.
Few days later, he informed me
he was in an accident.
At first, he said
someone hit my car.
After investigation,
it was revealed
that Ronaldo had been using
my Lyft account
without my knowledge
or permission."
Well, that's not true.
"I used to be a Lyft driver,
so when he asked
to borrow my iPad,
he discovered my Lyft account
which included a photo."
That's also not true, right?
-Wrong.
-What's wrong?
What you just told me?
You see, you can't
have it both ways.
What you just told me
was on Monday,
money got deposited
in your account by your cousin
who was driving your car
as a Lyft driver.
You weren't driving your car,
you knew you weren't
driving the car,
and it wasn't coming to you
for making food deliveries.
On Tuesday, you had money
put in your Lyft account.
You gave him money
on both Monday and Tuesday
or Tuesday and Wednesday,
the day afterwards.
So when you say he used
your Lyft account
without your knowledge,
that's not true.
That's what you wrote
in your complaint.
That's what you swore to.
Do you want to read it?
-I know what I wrote.
-[Judy] Is that truth?
That's what I wrote.
No. I-I want to know
if what you wrote is the truth,
-or what's here is the truth.
-[D'Eryka] Supposedly, supposedly
he had his own Rideshare account
because he did
a background check.
So, you can register,
my vehicle can be registered
up on to somewhere,
someone else's account.
So he lied to me about
what was actually going on.
Oh, I don't believe that
at all, Miss Foster.
-I don't believe that at all.
-[D'Eryka] Okay.
He had an accident
with your car.
You had insurance on the car?
I did.
And they disclaimed it
because they said you two
were involved in a fraud,
because he was driving
with your permission,
which he clearly was,
based upon what he tells me.
He was driving
with your permission.
He had an accident.
Your insurance company
disclaimed.
Absolutely right.
Just tell me about the accident.
So, basically, I was,
had a customer in the car.
I was taking him
to his location,
and I was following the GPS
at the time.
-And he told me--
-Look at me.
And he told me that, uh,
I could find another direction
quicker than the GPS.
So, once he told me that,
I got out of track on the GPS
and I tried to go the way
he was telling me to go,
and I was in a two-turn lane,
sittin' in the left lane
and I was
in the right-side lane.
So when I made the left,
I ended up trying to cross back
over into the inside left lane,
and that's when the vehicle
from the inside came through
and hit me because
well, I hit them,
because I was trying
to get back on track
to go where he was
telling me to go
instead of following my GPS.
You don't own the car?
-No, ma'am.
-[Judy] Did they tow her car?
-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] Was it totaled?
I believe it was,
but the accident was pretty bad.
Was the other car
damaged severely?
Oh, no, ma'am,
only the trailer.
Actually, the truck
didn't hit the car.
It was the trailer
he was carrying.
You drove down the side of the truck.
-Is what-- It's what--
-You-you lied to me
and told me that,
oh, somebody just hit your car.
And I get there and whoo,
you just clearly
drove down the trailer
all the way to the end
of the truck.
So, you started out lying.
No, no, Miss Foster,
you started out lying.
You started out lying
when you signed the complaint
and you said you did not know
that he was using
your Lyft license
and pretending to be you,
which is clearly not true
because he gave you money
every single day that he drove.
So, he wasn't giving you money
as a gift.
You were complicit
in this fraud.
That's why the insurance company
disclaimed
and that's why
I'm dismissing your case.
We're finished. Thank you.
[Kevin] Court adjourned.
A spade is a spade
and if you don't like
what I say, hit the highway.
I hate that the situation happened with,
uh, with the car and everything
but, you know, I've--
I've told my truth
and I just feel like she made--
she made the right decision.
You know.
No, I was not fully aware.
Well, basically I had a wig on,
and I had a mask on.
So, people really couldn't
tell who it was.
I don't want to talk about it.
I mean, it's a done deal now.
Things went wrong.
Family member trying to help me out
and the accident
just basically happened.
He can stay away
from me, far away.
Hit the highway.
Oh, that's my cousin.
I love her to death, man.
I hope our relationship
get better, right.
[Judy] I don't know, Sarah.
I-I don't remember
what class in law school
when I learned about
the doctrine of clean hands.
Contracts, most likely.
Contracts, most likely.
In this case, it was clear
that she couldn't
keep her story straight.
So, she combines two things,
the doctrine of clean hands,
she was part of the fraud
by allowing her cousin
to use her license.
And in addition to that,
she wasn't too swift,
because if you tell the truth--
-You don't have to have a good memory.
-A good memory.
Right. Perfect.
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