I suspect I know what changed the judge’s mind (she originally ruled for the defendant then changed her mind after the defendant confirmed she was suing their employer).
The plaintiff alleged that the defendant had falsely accused her of assault. The defendant brought photos of her injuries. The plaintiff insisted she never touched the defendant, but Judy said it wasn’t reasonable to think that the defendant would do that to herself. However when the defendant confirmed that she was suing her employer, it seemed more likely that she would have injured herself to bolster her claim (taking into account her general demeanor and testimony).
Well “sue” as in get them to agree to appear on a TV show with them so that one or both of them can get several thousand dollars.
But I’m with Frylock, its my mothers favorite show, and while she gave birth to me and supported me for the first 18 years of my life, when I visit I spend several hours watching Judge Judy with her. I figure this makes up about even.
Saw a great People’s Court yesterday that I had recorded from a week or so ago. It was about bed bugs and the defendant’s main argument was too legalistic about chain of custody of the pictures. The best part was in the hallway when she went into an F-word laden power to the people rant.
JJ is getting on my nerves a little because she calls people liars when she can’t possibly know for certain. Seems like I learn more about the law on PC than JJ.
I remember on a Judge Joe Brown when he threatened to charge somebody with contempt of a legal arbitration proceeding so maybe the judges have more power and authority than you might think.
Another thing to keep in mind is that if a defendant knows he’s going to lose it’s better to get embarrased on national TV and let the show pay the damages than to have a judgement against him.
I really like the court TV shows, they are my guilty pleasure.
The best ones ( and this usually happens on Peoples Court, prolly because it’s NYC based ) is when I know the defendant or plaintiff. This has happened to me twice.
I love Judge Marilyn, but she totally screwed the pooch on one of the cases involving an engineer I knew who got stiffed on a consulting fee. Granted, the guy didn’t explain himself very well but Judge M was convinced he was an electrician that had come out to estimate a job he hoped to get and ruled against him…when in reality he was hired to define a scope of work that would enable the client to get 3 “apples to apples” bids from different electricians. She didn’t get it and maade the wrong call.
But she made up for it when this really wealthy couple I know was sued for non-payment by a domestic worker. I was shocked and laughing when I saw them on my TV screen, they are not only wealthy but they are the most dishonest sneaky and underhanded people I have ever met. ( They came off as well-off but I doubt anyone just watching realized how filthy rich they were ). And they were sounding so nice and reasonable I thought they would get away with it, especially since the woman suing them barely spoke English and had trouble making a case.
But Judge M picked up on the small inconsistencies " you say this woman is completely crazy but you left her alone with your children?" and at one point the rich lady made a nasty face and Judge M saw it and from that point on the “jig was up” and she ruled against them and redeemed herself.
And she is the only court TV judge that seems to have caught onto a weirdness in NYC housing laws where tenants on a month to month lease aren’t required to give a landlord 30 day notice, this was comes up about every week.