'Going Awol' & 'Let My Kid Go Now'

The People’s Court Podcast

This episode of The People's Court features two intense legal battles centered on family dysfunction. In the first case, a man sues his girl

Key takeaways

• Judge Millian ruled against James because he failed to provide evidence for $2,190 in medical bills via his VA records.
• The defendant, Elizabeth, accused the plaintiff of inflating his lawsuit from an initial $900 demand to over $4,650.

Main topics

• Property damage claims
• Child custody disputes

Notable quotes

I am not going to rule in your favor.

Conclusion

The episode serves as a cautionary tale regarding the necessity of leg

Transcript preview

Speaker 4 (0:01) I went to go see Speaker 2 (0:02) my sister because it's been a year. That you talked to her? Mm-hmm. You hadn't talked to your sister in a year? Does that sound right? Speaker 4 (0:08) Oh, my goodness. The reason why we started fighting more and more. Oh, my gosh, and you're both a wreck. You're Speaker 2 (0:14) both just about to burst. Speaker 5 (0:18) This is the plaintiff, James. He says the defendant, his girlfriend's twin sister, jumped on his back during a family dispute and started hitting him. During the scuffle, his cell phone was broken and his shirt was ripped. The out-of-control defendant, nothing but trouble, damaged his property and he's suing for $4,650. The cost of the cell phone, shirt, medical bills, and pain and suffering. Speaker 5 (0:52) defendant, Elizabeth. She says the plaintiff started it all by physically pushing her into a car. She tried to defend herself and pushed him back, and that was that. The plaintiff's just looking to make a quick, easy buck by filing this bogus lawsuit, and everyone will see what a fool he really is after he loses this case. She's accused of going AWOL. All parties, please raise your idea. Speaker 5 (1:22) are about to witness is real. The participants are not actors. They are actual litigants with a case pending in civil court. Both parties have agreed to drop their claims and have their cases settled here before Judge Marilyn Millian in our forum, the People's Court. Be seated. Come to order. Speaker 7 (1:44) Let it get time it's for you on thank Speaker 2 (1:45) you Doug. Okay, James You've asked to be referred to only by your first name and you were suing Elizabeth You've asked me for two only by your first name as well. Yes, okay for four thousand six hundred and fifty dollars and damages that you say you are out as a result of your girlfriend's twin sister attacking you Okay, what happened Speaker 1 (2:06) I was at my girlfriend's job waiting for her to get off and I was waiting for and then She was taking a while to leave, so I went over to her car to make sure everything was okay. And then I saw Elizabeth and her father standing there. Okay. And she was talking to Elizabeth, and then I started talking to Paul, and we were talking about trucks. And then he said he wanted to go home, so I walked back to my truck, and Elizabeth wasn't leaving. She started yelling, and I told her... She didn't leave Veronica alone. I was going to call the cops. Speaker 2 (2:41) Wait, wait, wait. Her twin sister and the father are there at work. Stand up, please, and come to the microphone. Why are they there? Speaker 4 (2:50) They came there to confront me to come back home. Oh, Speaker 2 (2:54) okay. So there's a problem? Yes. Oh, you skipped Speaker 4 (2:57) that part. Can you tell me, why don't you tell me, what's the problem? I left home about a year and a half ago because of domestic violence in the house. So I left because it wasn't stopping. Speaker 2 (3:10) Domestic violence between whom and whom? Speaker 4 (3:12) My sister and me. My sister was abusing me while I was there. How? Speaker 4 (3:19) Verbally and physically. Physically how? Punching, hitting. She used to hit me with one of my cookbooks. She pushed the bed off while I was trying to sleep. Have Speaker 2 (3:32) you always had this kind of relationship with your twin sister? Speaker 4 (3:34) It escalated. It started out small and escalated over time. So it got to the point where it wasn't stopping and I've had Speaker 2 (3:43) enough. Speaker 4 (3:43) So you moved Speaker 2 (3:43) out and went where? Speaker 4 (3:44) First I went to my father's house for a couple weeks until I graduated. One school, and then I went to a different school, and I moved out to... Oh, hold on, Speaker 2 (3:52) hold on. You went to your father's house? How old were you? Speaker 4 (3:55) I think I was 21, 22. Speaker 2 (3:57) Okay, and so you moved with your father because your father... Who were the players in this? I don't know who they Speaker 4 (4:03) were. Speaker 2 (4:03) Paul is my father. Right, I got it. And then she's your sister. When you were living with her, it was just the two of you or with somebody else? It was my mother, two brothers, and my sister. And is that where you had lived growing up? And you had never moved out? So then you went to your father's for a while, and then? Speaker 4 (4:18) Then I moved to my grandmother's house, my father's mother, while I went to school. Okay. And that's when this event happened, while I was there. When did you start dating him? We started dating in 2009, in December. Were you living Speaker 2 (4:33) at home when you met him? Yes. And how long has it been, before that day, how long had it been that you hadn't seen your sister and your father? Speaker 4 (4:41) My father I saw every other week or so at my grandmother's. I hadn't seen my sister in months. It was kind of... So what did your sister go there for that day? She was trying... It came across that she was accusing me of all the problems at home, and... just yelling at me for everything. What was she saying? She was saying that it was harder at home. It was, like, harder to pay the bills, and they moved out of the house I was staying in with them. Okay. I Speaker 2 (5:14) want to hear your responses, and all this stuff is important, not because I'm trying to pry into your affairs, but because you're here to sue the sister for beating you up. So I need to know what was being discussed right before the confrontation. Go ahead. Speaker 4 (5:27) I went to go see my sister because it's been a year. That you talked to her? Mm-hmm. You hadn't talked to your sister in a Speaker 2 (5:32) year? Does that sound right? Speaker 4 (5:34) Oh, my Speaker 2 (5:35) goodness. Speaker 4 (5:35) The reason why we started fighting more and more... Oh, Speaker 2 (5:38) my gosh, and you're both a wreck. You're both just about to burst. Speaker 4 (5:45) We've been fighting more and more ever since she met him. Speaker 2 (5:49) But was there physical violence that maybe shouldn't have happened? Speaker 4 (5:52) We both fought. I understand I may be wrong on that part, but she also fought me. All right, go on. Speaker 4 (6:02) The family didn't like him. Why didn't they Speaker 2 (6:05) like him? Speaker 4 (6:07) Arrogant, rude, disrespectful. And he seemed controlling. Okay. Speaker 2 (6:15) Is your sister easily controlled? Speaker 4 (6:17) Yes. Okay. That night, I went to go see her. He wasn't there when I pulled up with my father. He wasn't there. Okay. So I went to go talk to her. I said, I just want to talk to you. Speaker 2 (6:28) When you saw her, what did you two say to each other after not seeing each other for a year? Speaker 4 (6:33) I said to her, my mother still does love her. Speaker 4 (6:39) Next thing I know, he pulls up and starts yelling at me, what am I doing there? I said, I'm just trying to talk to my sister. Speaker 4 (6:47) My father pulls him away and they spoke apparently about trucks. I didn't know that. About trucks? Speaker 2 (6:52) Dad, what is this about trucks? Like how do trucks Speaker 6 (6:55) come into this? Speaker 1 (6:55) When Speaker 6 (6:55) the boyfriend came in to the three of them, I ushered him away from them and talking in another part of the parking lot. I Speaker 2 (7:06) mean, when you ushered him away, I assume you didn't just start talking about trucks. What did you say to him to get him to walk away? No, Speaker 6 (7:11) he has Speaker 2 (7:11) a Speaker 6 (7:11) truck. And he had some work done on it, and we were talking about that. It Speaker 8 (7:15) has to be true because you say the same thing, that he starts talking to you about trucks. And what do you do? You walk away Speaker 2 (7:19) and start talking about trucks with him? Speaker 1 (7:21) He asked me about a truck, so we went and started talking about it. Speaker 2 (7:25) So you walk away and you leave the sisters alone for how long? Speaker 1 (7:28) Uh... Five maybe ten minutes. Okay, Speaker 2 (7:32) and then what happens I Speaker 1 (7:34) went back to my truck and Then Elizabeth started screaming and I told her she didn't leave Veronica alone. I was gonna call the police Speaker 2 (7:41) screaming I Speaker 1 (7:42) wasn't really paying attention question Speaker 2 (7:44) when you know that your girlfriend hasn't spoken to her twin sister in a year, right? Mm-hmm. You weren't happy when the two of them were having some contact. I mean you love her, right? Speaker 1 (7:54) I've told her do you know this woman? Yes I told her to go talk to her family. Right, so it was happening. So why would there Speaker 2 (8:00) be a, why are you here? Speaker 1 (8:02) Because at that time it was about 10.45, I guess, at night, and she was yelling. So what happened? I told her, I pulled out my phone and told her if she didn't go away, I was going to call the police. Speaker 2 (8:15) And then? And Speaker 1 (8:16) then she grabbed Veronica. Elizabeth Speaker 2 (8:18) grabbed Veronica. Speaker 1 (8:20) Then I grabbed Veronica, pulled her over to my truck, opened the door to... get her inside the truck so we could just leave. Speaker 2 (8:27) Okay. And then Speaker 1 (8:28) Elizabeth started hitting me. Speaker 2 (8:30) How did she hit you? With an open hand? With a fist? Where did she hit you? Speaker 1 (8:35) In the head, in the shoulder, in the back, in the side, in the arm. And then when Veronica ran for her car, her sister went after her again. Wait, Speaker 2 (8:45) Veronica got out of your car and went to her car? Speaker 1 (8:47) Well, she didn't get in the truck. She was, like, the doors opened. She was standing in the doorway of the truck. And then when Elizabeth started hitting me, she ran for her car to get in her car and drive away. And then when Elizabeth went after her, I got... I don't Speaker 2 (9:02) understand. Veronica, if in fact your sister is beating your boyfriend up, why are you leaving your boyfriend's car where you're already in the car and going to your car that's somewhere else and then leaving your girlfriend to beat up on your... your sister to beat up on your boyfriend? I'm not understanding this part. Speaker 4 (9:21) I was very frantic at the time. I felt like if I got into his car that we were going to leave my car behind, and I didn't want to leave my car. Speaker 2 (9:28) And then what happened? Speaker 4 (9:30) As I went to get into my car, I feel James bump into me because I didn't realize she was going after me, and he, like, puts me in my car. And as I was sitting in the car, I looked behind me, and she had jumped on his back and is still hitting him. And that's when I saw my father pulling her off of him. What happened, Dad? Speaker 6 (9:51) The three of them were in a mush, and I went out of my car, and I physically had to take Elizabeth off the pile. Speaker 2 (10:00) When you say you physically had to take Elizabeth off the pile, why is that? Who was attacking who? Speaker 6 (10:06) They were all, it was just all, I couldn't say as far as who was attacking, they were all three in a mix. Speaker 2 (10:13) What is your version of how it happened? Speaker 4 (10:15) I never touched him by his truck. Did you ever touch him Speaker 2 (10:19) at all? Speaker 4 (10:19) I was defending myself because he pinned me against her car. Speaker 2 (10:22) How did he pin you against her car? Speaker 4 (10:24) He pushed me into the car. And then you did what? I defended myself, and at the same time I saw him pushing my sister. How did you defend Speaker 2 (10:33) yourself? Speaker 4 (10:35) And then at the same time you Speaker 2 (10:36) saw him what? Speaker 4 (10:37) Pushing my