Unless the patsy is someone like me who checks his/her bank account at least once a day.
This would have been a great scheme in the paper world of 25 years ago. Today, not so much.
I have a bunch of favorites, but one goes back to the Wapner days.
A couple of young men were suing a convenience store for $5000. They had purchased a candy bar, and split it. The problem was, it was covered in maggots. Did they have the candy bar with them? No, they ate it, maggots and all. Did they go to the hospital? No. Did they get violently ill? No, but it was really gross and stuff.
Wapner actually found in their favor. He awarded them 50 cents, the cost of the candy bar.
There was one Judge Judy that was mind blowing. The litigants were middle aged women. They were hanging out one night, and the defendant’s daughter and plaintiff’s son, both teenagers, took the plaintiff’s car for a joy ride around the plaintiff’s farm. The car flipped over. The defendant’s daughter was killed instantly. The plaintiff was suing for damages to the car.
Judge Judy was not pleased.
Not sure I understand this one. Was the plaintiff’s son the driver?
After Wapner retired from The People’s Court, he (and Rusty) briefly had a show on Animal Planet called Animal Court.
One case that has stayed with me is of a woman suing a roommate (or perhaps it was a petsitter) who had been given the task of watching the plaintiff’s new purebred Persian kitten while the plaintiff was out of town. However, while drinking copious amounts of wine and doing laundry, the petsitter/roommate left the dryer open, kitten crawled in, and then was killed during the dryer cycle (yowsa).
Kitty cuteness video was provided as evidence, as was purchase receipts, vet costs, and the anti-anxiety medication the plaintiff was prescribed following this trauma. Normally this sort of thing doesn’t yield results, but Wapner was visibly furious (well, in his subdued Wapner way). When he asked the defendant–who admitted she was intoxicated during this time–why she left the dryer open mid-laundry load, she said simply, “To get more wine.” Wapner, incredulously, looked at her and repeated, “To get more wine?” with that smile of his that communicated everything Judge Judy would have said out loud.
During his decision, he stated among other things it was a beautiful cat and the defendant was beyond negligent of her care. He awarded the plaintiff the entirety of what she was asking, including the anti-anxiety meds (which surprised me), which may have been the $5000 limit…I don’t remember.
But man, the video of the kitten, the story that was told, the flat-voiced “to get more wine,” and his “You’re an IDIOT” smile have stayed with me.
There was an episode of Judge Joe Brown featuring a stepmom who bought her stepson a necklace that said “Mom” on it (I think. The situation was something like that). It went missing and she blamed his mother. Judge Joe Brown tore into her, telling her how tacky it was to buy the kid something like that and how she had to have done it to get on his biological mother’s nerves. You could tell that the bio mom had been really upset about it and felt totally vindicated by his words. Wish I could find a clip!
I used to love to watch Judge Joe Brown to see him lay his righteous wrath on defendants. “You need to be* takin’ care of business*!” It didn’t usually make any difference to the defendant, though.
I can see how judges get cynical after a while. I was always amazed how much people would lie if they thought it was even a little in their interest to do so. I remember one case on Judge Judy where a woman was suing another woman for medical bills and pain and suffering resulting from a fight they had. It went something like this:
“Your Honor, all I did was say, excuse me, would you please mind moving?”
“Did you touch her?”
“No, Your Honor, I sez to her, please don’t hit me.”
“How did she end up with the fist shaped bruise on her chest?”
“Well, I *might *have placed my hand, real gentle like, on her while I was asking her real nice not to come in my yard.”
Man, at least I know how to lie with a little more aplomb.
Wasn’t there a Wapner case where some one was suing over a Billy Ripken 1989 baseball card? For those who don’t know, the original card had him holding a bat with an obscenity written on it. It was withdrawn but quickly became valuable. Anyways, the good judge couldn’t understand why a Billy Ripken baseball card was worth so much more than a Cal Ripken since Cal was the better player.
One case I remember watching was one where a car repair place was sued. Essentially Person A hired this place to pick up his car at work, giving them the keys and model and color. The repair guys went there, found a car that matched the description, inserting the key, opened the lock and drove it away. Unfortunately it was the wrong car, it just so happened the keys were identical. Wapner asked the car repair guys just how many cars have the same key pattern (sounds like a job for Cecil) and he said the manufacturer wouldn’t tell them but it was a very small. IIRC the plaintiff of the wrongly taken was a lawyer (or perhaps I am confusing this with another case). Anyways the plaintiff was also suing for emotional damage and Wapner had to tell the lawyer “no, this is a small claims court…you can’t make that kind of claim here”. You would think a lawyer would know what small claims court would allow.
Ok does anyone remember the Judge Wapner episode where this black woman was suing for $35.00? And she had a thick accent from like Africa or somewhere? She says, ‘I WANT MY $35 DOLLARS…NOW!’.
lol. me and a friend back in the day both saw the episode and we still to this day say that, cuz it was so weird. cuz her accent made it sound like this - ‘I VANT MY SERTY FIVE DOLL HAIRS…NOW’.
so of course that’s been a running joke for years. weird I know, but if anyone remembers, please respond. or better yet, I sooooo want to see that episode again.
thanks!
Mark
Either I saw one that’s remarkably similar or the defendant also has a son and he was driving at the time of the crash.
"But he’s not Judge Judy and executioner!
- Constable Butterman, Hot Fuzz
Simpsons did it! Simpsons did it!
“Who made you Judge Judy and executioner?” - Homer Simpson, Three Gays of the Condo (4 years before Hot Fuzz)
Anyway, one thing from Judge Judy that really stuck in my head for a long time was some issue some former roommates or something had, piddly little things, but when they returned from commercial the voice over guy said something like “So and so is suing whatserface because she says whatserface ate her ice cream”
There was a case where someone was suing a grocery store clerk, because she gave him the wrong change - he had given her 2 twenties to pay for $15 of groceries (or something like that), and she had given him $5 back. The mistake had been fixed within minutes, but the plaintiff had sued more than once (as I recall, the judge (Wapner?) tossed the case and told him to grow up).
I don’t remember the judge but there was a case where a mother and daughter were suing the daughter’s boyfriend. Apparently he lived with them and refused to pay the rent they had previously agreed upon.
Anyway, during the course of the discussions it came to light that the 22 year old boyfriend had gotten the 16 year old girl pregnant and they had a baby. The judge clarified several times “You’re 22?! She’s 16?! You have a baby?!” and then ordered the kid held while they called the cops about a statutory rape charge.
They agree to binding arbitration on the particular case. This doesn’t (and can’t) extend to potential cases brought by other plaintiffs, nor to criminal charges. So no, it’s not a brilliant kind of stupid - it’s a really stupid kind of stupid.
A case between two dog breeders on “People’s Court” with Wapner. Unfortunately, one of them (the plantiff, I think) decided to use their terminology during the case and caught Wapner completely off-guard when she used the word “bitch” for the female dog. She apologized, but stated that was the term they used in breeding despite how society uses it.
A cop was cited by a woman he pulled over and ticketed, claiming he was “insulting and sexist.” He took her to Judy Judy, suing for defamation. He played a tape of their encounter, showing him to be polite and professional. The look on the woman’s face was priceless.
Woman: Isn’t he supposed to tell me he’s taping us?
Judge Judy: NO!
Woman was found guilty.
You’d think in this age of Police Video shows that people would be aware of dash cams and other recording devices on cops.
Speaking of lawyers, the most memorable court scene I remember on TV was on the People’s Court when the plaintiff brought in his lawyer – to small claims court. Wapner really chewed the lawyer out telling him that he should have known that representation was not allowed in small claims court.
The two neighbors arguing about responsibility for a cracked window glass, caused by a felled tree. The two families looked so stereotyped. The plaintiff was somewhat Jewish-looking, very stern, and spoke in a curt, business-like manner. The defendant and his sons looked like laid-back suburban WASPs.
The judge ruled for the plaintiff but suggested the two family heads shake hands, go home and have a beer together. When the reporter asked the defendant about this, he said “I think I’ll have a beer.” The plaintiff, in response to the same query, said “I don’t drink beer and he’s not nice.”
It wasn’t the most entertaining Judge Judy ever, but someone I went to high school with was dragged onto the show as a defendant. It seems Jay didn’t want to pay his rent and his landlord had a problem with that. His excuse for non-payment? “I was really tired that day.”