Go! You're in the park, drunk.
He's in the park, drunk.
I was sitting at a park bench.
Next thing I know, I get hit in the face by a beer.
He had asked me to toss him a beer
and did not catch the beer.
You're two drunks. That's what happens.
[narrator] This is Judy Justice.
[narrator] Giovanni Costello is suing his former friend, Jacob Knapp,
for dental and medical bills.
[Bailiff] Court come to order. All rise.
Have a seat, please.
Case 21-10. Costello vs. Knapp.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
Mr. Costello. You and Mr. Knapp were out drinking in the park.
- Yes. - Date and time?
The date and time was around 3 a.m., and it was on 9/11
of 2021.
And you've known Mr. Knapp for how long?
Roughly nine years. We started off playing High School baseball.
And when had you first met up on September 11th?
I can't remember the exact time. I would say around, maybe, 7 p.m.
- Where? - At a bar over in Old Town Pasadena.
We weren't meeting up--
- Just a second. - Yeah.
So, you were in a bar in Pasadena, 7 p.m.,
just the two of you, or were there more people?
- No. - How many were there in the whole group?
I had around five or six people in my group,
- and we went to a bar-- - All friends?
- - - Yeah. - And you?
He wasn't a part of that group.
But you were at the bar?
No, ma'am. I was at work when he contacted me.
Okay. So...
So, you were at the bar, starting at seven, with your friends,
- he wasn't there. - Yeah.
Okay. What time did he join you?
It wasn't... I couldn't tell you the exact time.
Approximately.
- About an hour later. - At the bar.
Yeah. But it wasn't a text or anything like that.
He just happened to go to the same bar.
No, ma'am. What ended up happening, from the start, I was at work,
- he contacted me via text, I don't-- - Do you have that text?
No, ma'am. I tried to erase the whole memory from my mind,
so I deleted all the pictures and texts-- - Oh, well, that's unfortunate.
- - - Yes. - That's unfortunate. I've never done that,
by the way. You know, deleted-- Wanted to erase something from my mind, so I...
didn't just say, "I'm not going to think about it anymore."
I've never done that. Did you ever do that, Sarah?
- I have not. - You have not.
And she's pretty efficient with text messages.
- Did you ever do that? - Never have I done that.
No. Well, you must be unusual, sir.
Okay. So, you met at the bar.
What time did you get there?
Uh... Well, my shift ended at around 9 o'clock--
- But what time did you get to the bar? - 10 o'clock.
And when you got to the bar, you met Mr. Costello.
- - - Yes, ma'am. - He had a few friends with him.
How long did you stay at the bar? Uh... We were there till 12.
Okay. So, Mr. Costello, you had been drinking
from 7 until about 12.
- Correct-- - The answer is yes. Yes, of course.
And what's your drink of choice, sir?
Uh... Beer.
What else?
The first bar that we were at doesn't serve hard alcohol.
So it was just beer there.
Okay. So from seven to when
- were you at the first bar? - Yeah.
From seven to when?
Seven till when?
- Till 12. - Till 12. Yeah.
So at 7 to 12--
But I was driving the same time as well.
Okay. So from 7 to 12 you were drinking beer?
- Yeah. - And then where did you go at 12 o'clock?
After 12 o'clock, we ended up going
- to another bar in Arcadia. - Okay.
And you stayed there from when to when?
Uh... from 12 till closing, which is 2 a.m.
And you were part of that group?
Yes, that's when I initially met the group.
- At the second bar, or the first-- - At the second bar, yes.
- Not at the first bar. - No, ma'am.
Okay. So you got to the second bar, you were there about...
- You said you were there at 10 o'clock. - Yes.
So they weren't there when you arrived.
They were there when I arrived, yes.
Well, he said that--
I though he said he got to the second bar at 12 o'clock.
I arrived at the bar around 10 o'clock, ma'am.
- And you got there at 12 o'clock. - Yeah.
So, by the time you all got together and left the bar,
you had all been drinking, you for a very long time,
and you for a shorter time.
- Yes, ma'am. - So, from 10 to 2...
So, four hours. And what's your drink of choice?
Ten to twelve, Your Honor, I apologize. Ten to twelve.
- Where did you go at 12 o'clock? - Twelve o'clock is when...
we had all decided to go to a park, kind of a low-key area.
No, he said that he went to a bar
between 7 and 12...
- - - Am I correct? What did he say? - Seven and twelve.
He said that you were at the bar, the first bar, between 7 and 12,
- drinking beer, that's what you said. - Correct.
- You said the first bar only served beer. - Mm-hmm.
"Uh-huh" is not an answer.
- "Yes" is an answer. - Yes.
You say at 12 o'clock
you went to a second bar where you had alcohol between...
- Twelve and two. - Yes.
- Yes? - Yes. Correct.
You got to a bar at 10 o'clock.
- Yes. - Which one?
The beer bar,
- or the alcohol bar? - I finished my shift, like I said, at 9,
and I showed up at the bar at 10, to meet up with them.
To try to rekindle an old friendship.
Okay. Yeah.
I actually don't care about that.
All right. So...
Partially you got your stories straight, partially not.
Anyway, you were two drunks,
now it's after 2 o'clock, and you decide to go to a park.
How many people went to a park, and what park?
It was the same amount of people that I was with from the start.
And you were along, at the park?
Yes, ma'am. Yes, I was.
Okay. Did you take any beers to the park, or you went without them?
You took beers to the park. The answer is yes.
Yeah, the main reason of going to the park was after the bar had closed
Jacob mentioned to the group that he had beers with him.
So that incited us to go to the park, and have some--
- To continue drinking. - Exactly.
- Yeah. - Yes, prior to me showing up,
- -I did stop by a 7- - Eleven-- - Okay, so you had beers with you,
- and you were at the bar. - Yes.
Nice. Very good.
Now you get to the park, you're drinking beers,
Now you're going to describe what you say is the assault
that you suffered at the hands of Mr. Knapp.
Now, I want you to know my feeling before you tell me the story.
- Okay. - I usually don't get myself
overly exercised about what...
drunks do in a park.
- Okay, do you understand? - Mm-hmm.
I know that you may be all exercised about it,
although I'm not exactly sure you're all exercised about it.
So, if you really are, I'm going to listen to you, if you're not,
- Yeah. - We just eliminate this case.
Do you understand?
- Mm-hmm. - Yes, ma'am.
If you just simply toss me a beer, I don't understand how
a beer can could chip my tooth the way that it did--
Just a second! I can eat a biscotti, and it can chip my tooth.
Biscotti, that's a cookie.
And I could chip my tooth on my grandmother's steak
it was so hard.
[laughter]
[narrator] Giovanni Costello claims his former friend, Jacob Knapp,
owes for dental bills,
after being hit in the mouth
with a beer can.
Okay. Go!
You're in the park, drunk.
- He's in the park, drunk. - Yes.
And?
To state I was not drunk, because I was driving
- my witness here back from-- - I wanna tell you something, babe,
if you were drinking from 7 to 2, you were drunk.
- I hadn't been drinking the whole time-- - Let's go. Let's go.
So, going into it, I was sitting at a park bench with Maureen here.
And then I had another two friends that were on the other side.
And we're hanging out. They had-- The two across from me got up.
They went further into the park, and I was sitting with just her alone.
And I was just about to show her a video off my phone.
Next thing I know, I get hit in the face by a beer.
After that occurs,
I reach to my mouth, to see something's wrong there.
And I feel that, like, a part of my tooth is missing.
- Okay, that's what we're talking about. - Yeah.
- The assault that you're talking about. - Mm-hmm. Yeah.
And you allege that
Mr. Knapp was the one who threw the beer bottle.
- Yes. - Okay.
It was a full beer can.
- A can. - Yeah. Not a bottle.
- I have to disagree, I'm sorry. - Did you report this to the police?
- I did not take it to the police because-- - Wait just a second,
- I'm just asking you... - Oh. Sorry.
- The answer is no. - No.
- I disagree with this. - Disagree that he went to the police?
- With his story. - I'll-- I'll get there. Okay.
So, now you get hit in the face with a beer can.
Step by step. You look down, you look at your tooth...
I realize it's chipped, I say out loud, "My tooth is chipped," she doesn't--
Don't tell me nothing about "she." Just you.
Oh. Just me? I just-- I noticed it was chipped.
And then, after I announced that it was chipped,
several of my friends, I guess, went towards him, and--
But you didn't tell me anything about him.
You didn't tell me. You just said you got hit in the face with a beer can.
- Yeah. - That's all you said to me.
And he was the only other person that was standing right there,
besides her sitting next to me.
So you didn't see him throw the beer can at you.
There was no one else there.
- I'm just-- - Yeah. Oh. Sorry.
I didn't see him throw it at me,
but I never-- There was never a case of...
So you didn't. That's all. You didn't see him throw it at you.
- No. - Okay. Go.
- From the park, Your Honor? - Take it from the park.
- So... - Now I got 2 drunks in the park, maybe 3.
There was actually more than just three of us surrounding the table.
- Just a second. Go slowly. - Okay. Sorry.
Slower. I don't know a table, I have no idea what you're talking about.
So, as he was saying, we were sitting at a park bench.
I had brought the beer, the beer was next to me.
He had asked me to toss him a beer.
And that's plainly what I did. I underhanded him, lightly,
a beer to him, and in his defense he's saying he wasn't drunk,
but it definitely was apparent that he was...
Anybody who's been drinking from seven to two in the morning is drunk.
Yes, ma'am. So, I lightly tossed him a beer, unfortunately it was dark enough
to where he had missed, and the beer had hit him in the face.
Which, after-- Immediately, I started to apologize to him,
stating that I didn't mean to,
but it was apparent that he was looking at me, and did not catch the beer, so...
Personally, I think that everything he's said to you right now is--
Okay, that's your story. You tossed him a beer,
because he asked you, he said, "Toss me a beer..."
- Yes, Your Honor. - And it was dark. And you were drunk.
And he was drunk.
I wasn't drunk, Your Honor. I had four beers...
- within the time of-- - Nah
- 10 o'clock till this incident happened. - Nah. I'm not...
Yeah, you know, I'm not real comfortable with that, sir.
Because according to you, you had been drinking for four hours,
and not only were you drinking for four hours,
but you brought extra alcohol to have in the park.
- Which was in a closed container. - By the way, where do you live?
- In Pasadena, Your Honor. - In California.
Are you allowed to drink alcohol in parks in California?
- I'm not certain. - Well, let's find out.
Open beer cans in city parks, in California.
- That's a no. - So, after...
- We're not talking yet. - Oh. I'm sorry. Excuse me.
Drinking alcoholic beverages is a prohibited activity
in parks and park areas, according to the Pasadena city park rules.
Thank you. This park that you went to, what's the name of it?
Not sure. It was up the street from the last bar we were at.
Okay. Now, did you, Mr. Costello, and the defendant,
immediately after this event,
did you communicate with him via text or email?
I texted him, I think it was roughly a couple of days later.
- Okay. I'd like to see the text. - Mm-hmm. I have that.
That's all I wanted to know. Don't say anything else.
Okay.
Just show me the texts that you sent him a couple of days later.
Here it is.
Okay. Thanks, Kevin.
I'd like to see these texts from your phone,
and I'd like to see all your text messages, starting September 14th.
- It's right here. - Of 2021.
No. Sir, you have to understand, what you said to me here,
what you have me, is two texts a year apart.
- I want to see the texts to him... - There's nothing.
...after September 14th. You mean, he didn't respond at all to this?
- I don't believe that. - The next thing I did was send him
a letter through the mail, and I have that here, and I have proof of it where
I had it so where he had to sign for it, and I have the receipt for it as well.
What date?
- That one, I can pull it up right here. - I'm sorry, what letter?
- I never received a letter. - Just a sec.
So what you're telling me is that I'm supposed to believe
that after you sent this email on September 14th,
which is three days after the event,
he never responded to you, and you never sent a follow-up email or text.
That was the letter, and in the letter I gave him--
- Shh, just a sec. - Okay.
Oh. Here, take this back, it's nonsense.
I don't want to see something prepared for litigation, sir, you said
you had a document that you sent to him, that he had to sign for.
If you sent him a letter, return receipt requested,
then you have a return receipt requested with a signature on it.
That's a document that you prepared two days ago.
I have the receipt in here.
Let's get it.
Okay, I never signed such a document.
- Don't shout out again. - Yes, ma'am.
It's annoying, and I'm annoyed enough with this case.
I'm sorry for being so unorganized.
- Me too. - Yeah.
I'm sorry you're so unorganized too. Or "disorganized."
- Oh, here it is. - Great.
Certified mail.
It's stuck to the back one.
This was sent April of 2022.
I want to see what the response was...
- There had to be a response... - I never got a response.
...since September 14th, 2021. There had to be a response.
- I never got a response from him. - Kevin.
Show this to Mr. Knapp, and tell me if he recalls this text message.
Your Honor, no, I do not remember getting this text.
Then why would you respond a year later?
I know from the past, dealing with Mr. Knapp here,
he tends to always... being friends,
whenever we get into an altercation or an argument, he unfollows me,
blocks me on everything, so there's a possibility--
I don't deal in possibilities, sir.
I sent the text message, and I have proof that it was delivered.
- And I never got a response from him. - I'm just ask-- Sir.
This incident happened September 11th.
You have to understand I think that if that's what happened...
I tend to believe that the defendant did not just willy-nilly take a can
and fling it at your face.
I want you to know that I don't believe that.
He was stupid enough to throw the beer can in his direction.
You're two drunks, that's what happens.
So, don't get so drunk and go to a park. How old are you?
- Twenty-seven. - Twenty-seven years old. And you?
Twenty-eight, Your Honor.
Twenty-eight! You know, old enough not to be so stupid.
[narrator] Giovanni Costello has accused his former friend, Jacob Knapp,
of hitting him with a beer can.
Jacob says Giovanni asked him to throw it.
Okay, it is more likely, more likely than not,
that you were sitting with this lady, who, according to you, you were supposed
to drive home. That's what you said five minutes ago. So, you were supposed
to drive her home, which means "She was trashed," that's what you said.
- You said, "I wasn't--" - Those were the arrangements
- from the beginning of the night. - Okay. So, do you understand?
So, we had a whole bunch of "trashed" people, and I am more likely to believe
the defendant when he says you said to him, "Toss me a beer."
And it accidentally hit you in the face.
- My questioning is that the-- - I don't answer questions.
Okay, well, where the beer was placed on the table,
I don't understand why I would have to ask him to toss me a beer when I can simply
reach over and grab one myself.
I don't know either.
But it sounds more likely to me that not that it was his beer, he brought it there,
and you said to him, "Toss me a beer." And you failed to catch it.
Now, that doesn't mean that the defendant
isn't at least partially responsible for the stupidity of that night.
But you have some responsibility too.
Because I really don't believe that he left the bar, he was...
angry and frustrated over something, that you had no idea
what he was angry and frustrated over, because you were all sitting together,
and he just, out of the blue, took a beer and threw it at your face.
I don't believe that.
- Do you understand? - If I could show you a picture here,
you could see that... if he just simply tossed me a beer,
I don't understand how a beer can could chip my tooth the way that it did.
- Just a second! It can. It can. - Okay.
I can eat a biscotti and it can chip my tooth.
- [laughter] - That's a cookie, a very hard cookie.
And have.
I mean, I could chip my tooth on my grandmother's steak it was so hard.
But certainly from a beer can. So I don't believe that you're blameless.
- What was your dental bill, sir? - The statement's here.
While he's looking for that, you understand
that if you were sitting there, and instead of a bunch of beer cans,
and the plaintiff said to you,
"You know, that gun that's in your pocket,
toss it over to me, I wanna take a look at it"
And you took the gun out of your pocket, and you tossed it over to him,
and as you were tossing it over, it accidentally fired. Would it be his fault?
If he got shot?
- No. - No. Who's fault would it be?
- Mine. - Because you aren't supposed to do that.
- Because it was potentially dangerous. - Of course.
Well, same thing with a knife, or an explosive device.
- Right. - Or something very hot.
- Like, "Toss me a cup of coffee..." - [laughter]
...in a container, and it splatters. So, you don't do what anybody
asks you to do, if it's not a smart thing to do.
- Right. - Unless you're drunk!
- Unless you're drunk. - Your Honor, if I may...
Coming from a baseball background, such as me and Gio did--
I don't care about your baseball background.
There's no question, sir, that you acknowledge that you threw it at him.
And I'm telling you that your excuses
that "He asked me to do it so I followed the fool's directions..."
I'm telling you, he's gonna pay part of his dental bill, because
I think it was partially his responsibility,
but if you acknowledge that you were stupid enough
to throw the beer can in his direction,
you have to be partially liable.
You're two drunks, that's what happens. So, don't get so drunk and go to a park.
- How old are you? - Twenty-seven.
- Twenty-seven years old! And you? - Twenty-eight, Your Honor.
Twenty-eight. You know, old enough not to be so stupid.
You know, you can figure 17-18 year olds are so stupid, at age 28,
you should be doing something constructive.
I assume you work?
- Yes. - What kind of work do you do?
- I'm a chef. - And you?
- I'm a lumberman, Your Honor.
Okay, so you're both gainfully employed, letting off a little steam, that's fine.
But if there's a problem that develops because anybody is not operating
on all cylinders because of alcohol, you have to take responsibility.
What was the dental bill?
My dental bill came out to...
$2,342.
Can I see that, please, Kevin?
Uh, this-- You need both.
Was...
any of this dental bill covered by insurance?
- On the dental? No. - Okay.
- Anything else? - My wholeheartedly truth is, I...
didn't ask him for a beer.
I had no problems. I was avoiding him for the whole night, for the most part,
because from the past, Jacob has had a...
way worse drinking problem than I've ever, like, gotten to.
I went out that night solely to have a couple of drinks, hang out with friends,
- the night went longer than expected-- - Very nice.
Judgement for the plaintiff for the amount of $1,171, which is half of your
dental bill, you pay half, don't get drunk,
you're too old to get drunk.
I don't believe that he maliciously threw this at you, I think you asked for a beer,
he tossed it at you, and you missed. That was his stupidity, and yours.
- We're done here, thank you very much. - Thank you, Your Honor.
[Bailiff] This court is adjourned.
All I did was I underhand, I lightly tossed it over to him,
and that's really what happened.
I did nothing wrong to deserve to get a beer thrown at my face like a baseball.
Unfortunately, he chipped his tooth, so it was unfortunate.
I said, "Hey, Jacob, look, you chipped my tooth. Like, look what you just did."
No more drinking in the parks, guys.
Not to do it again.
I think this situation is the exact reason cities like Pasadena have rules
about drinking alcohol in parks, because like you always say,
"It's not an on-purpose, it's an accident,"
but a lot of times, there are certain things that can increase the probability
- of an accident happening. - That's true!
And I think drinking at 2 a.m. in a park probably is one of those things.
That's true, so that's-- So many times, rules and regulations
don't seem to have any substance of reason behind it,
but this certainly is an example of why, when the bar closes at 2 o'clock,
- you're supposed to go... - [both] Home!
[narrator] Want Justice?
Go to JudyJustice.tv