- You wanted to have an intervention. - Yes.
[gasps]
[indistinct yelling]
She was lured to your apartment.
- This was a bad plan. - There was no plan.
These are supposed to be my friends.
You can't do what you did.
That's almost like kidnapping.
[Announcer] This is Judy Justice.
[opening theme playing]
[Announcer] Jennifer Parimon is suing her former friend, Cardy Moran,
for television damage caused during an argument.
[Bailiff] Court come to order, all rise.
Have a seat everyone.
Case 2144. Parimon vs Moran.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
[Judy] Miss Parimon, you and the defendant had been friends.
- Yes. - And according to what I read
there was a falling out which you will tell me about briefly.
Subsequently, and without too much time having passed
you decided to conduct an intervention,
a drug intervention,
- with the defendant. - Yes.
And it is your claim, that during that drug intervention
she damaged your television set, and you want her to pay for a new TV.
- That's what your case is about. - Yes.
The defendant has a cross-complaint.
She says she's missing some sort of a speaker.
I don't know what that is. And for the emotional distress
that she suffered as a result of this "intervention."
So I have a couple of questions, just preliminarily.
- How long have you known each other? - Over 20 years.
- [Judy] Friends? - Yes, best friends.
- Former best friends now. - [Judy] Former best friends.
But there came a time, according to your complaint,
that there was a falling out. And when was that?
That was in May of this year.
And what was the falling out about?
It was about our mutual friend, and...
- [Judy] This gentleman? - Yes.
What about your mutual friend?
He was in the hospital, and we were all taking care of him.
And she felt adamant to tell me, that I need to do certain things for him,
and I was letting her know
that if he needs to tell me he needs my help,
- he can tell me. - Okay there were several people
looking after him while he was in the hospital, taking turns.
- Is that right? - Yes.
And she was telling you things that you should be doing for him
and you said to her, "If he wants me to do something
let him tell me, you don't direct me." - Correct.
Okay, tell me the next thing that happened
that brings us to court today.
Well after that in May, I blocked her we didn't speak...
- [Judy] Did you go to visit him? - Oh, yes.
- That's... - [Judy] Not yet. And did you?
- Yes. - So you both did.
Okay, so you blocked her in May, then what's the next thing that happened?
Now we're in September, and this was...
And between May and September, you haven't seen her.
- [Jennifer] Haven't seen her. - Okay.
And now it's September, it's Labor Day weekend
and our friend, Brandon
wanted to mend our friendship back together.
And it kind of did, because we've been friends for so long.
We talked and kind of mended.
- Okay. - Okay, so I unblocked her.
And then on that Sunday, September 4th, she calls me
at seven o'clock in the morning, and I guess she still felt uneasy about
you known, us not talking for so long
that she demanded an apology from me.
She called you early in the morning, demanding an apology for what?
For basically, just, I was in the wrong, of not listening to her
- about our friend... - Okay, and then what happened?
So, I refused to give her an apology. I said we can move past it,
but I'm not apologizing,
which she got upset again, and hung up the phone on me.
And after that, she basically called
a family member of mine,
- [Judy] Not basically. - Sorry.
You say she placed a call to a family member.
- Yes. - Okay, and you can't tell me
what that family member told you, because that's hearsay.
- [Jennifer] Correct. - You understand that.
Okay, so she called the family member and that was on September 4th
- Yes. - Okay, the family member called you.
Yeah the family member actually...
Did what?
Actually lives with me,
- so they didn't call me. - [Judy] Okay. Okay.
Well you can tell me the relationship.
It's just family.
Okay, a family member who lives with you and?
So she was calling that family member, asking for...
You can't tell me what any of that was about.
[Jennifer] Okay, sorry. I'm sorry.
So after the conversation with the family member,
the family member told me what she said.
I know, I'm not saying the conversation.
Absolutely right.
So I told Brandon what she said,
and we thought at the time let's have an intervention.
Okay, so now without giving any credibility to any out-of-court statements
I assume by the word "intervention," you had a suspicion
that the defendant was using drugs or alcohol.
Yes.
Before that, before September 4th
did you have any knowledge of ongoing substance abuse
with your best friend?
- Yes. - Since when?
- For a very long time. - Okay.
Did you ever discuss the drug use with her?
Yes.
Well you can tell me what those discussions were like.
What kind of drugs were you afraid she was using?
I prefer not to say.
Well you can't not say, that's what this is all about.
You wanted to have an intervention. You didn't want to have an intervention
because she was having caramel-covered popcorn.
There was a controlled substance, I assume,
that you were afraid she was using.
- Yes. - [Judy] Which was what?
Cocaine.
- Have you ever seen her using cocaine? - Yes.
Did you ever use cocaine with her?
Yes.
Between May and September, had you ever used cocaine with her?
No.
- So it was before that? - Yes.
- His name is Brandon? - Yes.
Had Brandon ever used cocaine with the two of you?
No.
- Did you ever see Brandon use cocaine? - No.
Ok, so you who had used cocaine with her
decided to have an intervention with Brandon.
- Yes. - What do you do for a living?
I'm an inbound call agent.
I sell tickets.
Ok, and what does Brandon do?
He's disabled.
And who's going to be at this intervention?
It was myself, Brandon and another mutual friend.
"Mutual friend." Now this mutual friend, whose name I will not have you state,
have you ever seen that mutual friend use any sort of controlled substance?
- Answer the question. - Yes
Yes. So now you have two people who've used controlled substance.
One who has not, to your knowledge, doing an intervention.
Correct.
Okay, and do you know what an intervention is?
- Yes. - Okay, what is it?
It's basically a meeting of the minds of having
a discussion with one person,
- about an issue that... - [Judy] And who's there?
- [Jennifer] Who's there? - Yeah.
Oh, I would say, trusted people.
That I would feel that they, that they were...
Sarah, I want you to look up the word "intervention."
And read me,
the very, very simplistic definition of an intervention.
From the Mayo Clinic,
"An intervention is a carefully planned process
that may be done by family and friends
in consultation with a doctor or professional
such as a licensed alcohol and drug counselor
or directed by an intervention professional
called an interventionalist."
Okay. So what you don't have is something,
I assume, this conversation occurred on September 4th.
Correct.
Was it on that same day, that you decided to have an intervention?
- Yes. - Okay.
So let's start with the word "well-planned."
Not as a result of a conversation that you have with somebody.
And it's a well-planned event, done in conjunction
with very often relatives or close family
who have a concern that something is out of control
Some abusive behavior, that's related to either alcohol
or other controlled substances,
in conjunction with a licensed professional
where everything is...
everything is synchronized, but managed by a professional.
- Do you understand? - [Jennifer] Yes. This was a bad plan.
There was no plan.
It was a plan made because you were annoyed.
Usually people who are involved in thinking about an intervention
have nothing but love in their heart
for the person who needs that intervention.
But they have a plan. You didn't have a plan.
- Yes, I... - You kidnapped her into your house.
[theme music playing]
[Announcer] Jennifer Parimon claims her former friend, Cardy Moran,
broke her television.
Cardy is countersuing for emotional distress.
Now, you were annoyed at the conversation
so what you did was not really an intervention.
What did you think was going to happen at the end of this intervention?
What was supposed to happen to her?
According to what I read, you called her,
or someone called her, probably your family member, called her
with regard to these drugs that she wanted to purchase.
- Is that what happened? - Yes.
And said "I have them, come to the house."
Yes.
Okay, so that's not a giant leap you have to put that together.
So she calls your family member for some cocaine.
You arrange for an intervention. Your family member calls her
at your request and says, "Come to the house."
- So that's what happened. - Yes.
Okay. But she was lured to your apartment.
- Yes. Yes I was. - [Judy] By whom?
- By us. By her... - What do you mean by "by us"?
- They... - Ssh! Bup-bup!
Myself, Brandon and another...
[Judy] Well who called her and said, "Come over?"
- [Jennifer] Who called her? - Yes.
We were already going out. She was already going out with Brandon.
Just a second. She was already going out with Brandon...
Yes, and she decided to come
to where I live, to come and pick up these drugs.
Because when she found out that
basically the set up was for her to get her to my house.
So I told my family member
- to tell her that we did have it. - Just a second, that's what I said.
- So she was lured to your house. - Yes.
Yes.
Where you were going to do what with her? What happened when you got to your house?
- Basically just talked. - Not basically.
- Sorry. - Not basically.
You lure somebody to the house.
She's come to the house now, expecting, let us say expecting, to buy drugs.
or get drugs.
She gets there and realizes that that's not going to happen.
That there are other people. That that's not going to happen.
So tell me what happened when she walked in the house.
That's what your case is.
Well when she walked in the house, um, I immediately tried to give her a hug.
And she was upset.
No... you immediately after giving a hug, what did you say?
I didn't say anything.
I just... open arms...
and she said "No, it's fake", backing away.
[Judy] "It's fake". What's fake?
My hug.
- Okay, so she backed away. - Yes.
- And? - And it just started off...
No, no, no. Somebody had to say something to her.
Somebody has to say, "this is an intervention."
Somebody had to say why she was there.
She eventually was going to say, "Where are the drugs?"
But you have to tell me what happened.
Yes, when she walked in the house...
She walked in, you went to give her a hug, pushed you away.
Then what? Come on, this was an intervention.
Yes, so we couldn't even get to the part of "this is an intervention."
How could you get to an intervention? You don't know what an intervention is.
[laughs]
[Jennifer] Well, we couldn't get to a part of "let's talk."
She immediately said she was being set up.
This is a set-up, with arguments back and forth.
Well what were the arguments back and forth?
- The back and forth arguments... - She said, "I'm being set up".
Somebody said to her, "This is an intervention."
We didn't get to that part.
[Judy] Well what is the set-up that she was talking about?
- I don't know why she said... - Well there was a set-up.
[Jennifer] There was a set-up - It was a set-up.
It was a set-up...
Yeah, so I wanna know what your end game was.
The end game was to have a conversation with her
so we can resolve our issues of why does she need an apology from me
we have been friends for so long
Her getting... her... to my house
Yes, we did lie and say yes, there was drugs at my house.
But she already knew
from how we're all there, that there was no drugs
She was upset. She was irate.
She was bringing up the argument that we had
- earlier in the morning... - So this wasn't an intervention
for drugs or alcohol.
It was intervention for drugs and alcohol.
Oh, okay, then I'm asking you not what happened.
What was your end game?
The end game was to have a conversation with her
about how much drugs she was doing,
Because it changed her mood. It made her angry.
[Judy] Well, did you have a program for her to go to?
Did you have a program to take her to?
Had you spoken to a professional?
Had you done anything?
- No. - Okay.
And when she was there, according to you,
she was in your house with three other people?
Myself, and Brandon, and another mutual friend.
- [Judy] So with three other people. - Yes.
- She was there with three other adults. - Yes.
And she was lured there under false pretenses.
- Yes. - And what she did, according to you,
was pick up a chair and throw it at you.
Or threw it at a television set, breaking the television set.
- She didn't throw it at me. - [Judy] What did she do?
She threw it directly at my television.
Lucky she didn't throw it at you.
I wish she would've.
- That's exactly what she... - [Judy] Now just a second.
You're lucky. You can't do what you did.
That's almost like kidnapping.
If you're having a serious intervention, you have to sit down,
have a working plan of what happened,
have the right in your heart
have the right messaging.
Your messaging was all wrong.
Usually people who are involved in thinking about an intervention
have nothing but love in their heart for the person who needs that intervention.
And they seek professional help
in order to get that person professional help.
But they have a plan! You didn't have a plan.
- Yes, I... - You kidnapped her.
- into your house. - It was a bad...
- You can't do that. - It was bad. It was bad.
It was very bad. So you fix your own television set.
Your case is dismissed.
But Your Honor, I have it all on video.
- Did she break your TV? - Yes.
Oh, I'm gonna look at the video. Your case is still gonna be dismissed.
I believe she broke your TV. Show me the video.
- I believe it. - And I also have...
I believe that you're lucky that's all she did
in order to get out of your apartment.
Did she ultimately leave your apartment?
- Forcefully, I kicked her out. - [Cardy] Yes.
But forcefully you tricked her into coming in
and then you kicked her out.
- Yes, after breaking my property. - Okay.
[Jennifer] I'll squirt you like I squirt the [...] dog. I can not.
[Man 1] I said not to...
[Man 2] Jen! Cardy!
[Man 1] Are you [...] serious?
- [Cardy] I'm ready. I'm ready. - [Man 1] Are you serious?
Why am I being recorded?
Just a second. I don't know why you're being recorded.
And in any event, as I said, your case is dismissed.
Fix your own TV. You have a counterclaim.
- Yes. - And your counterclaim.
I don't know what this speaker is. What is a speaker?
A speaker, you connect your phone to Bluetooth
and you hear music on it.
Okay, so what was it doing at her house?
- It was never... - Shhhh.
We were supposed to be hanging out so
I was supposed to be hanging out with Brandon
and another mutual friend.
I didn't know we were gonna stay at Jennifer's house.
Ok, I just wanna know what, you brought the speaker?
- Yeah, a speaker. - And you left it there.
I didn't leave it there, my things were scattered.
When she was kicking me out,
my things were scattered, getting kicked into the hallway.
When amateurs decide to do an intervention
any negative consequence that flows from that
you just have to accept.
But that's reason for her to break my stuff?
Absolutely. It would've been reason to her to break everything
in your apartment, to get out.
[theme music playing]
[Announcer] Jennifer Parimon has accused her former friend, Cardy Moran,
of breaking her television.
Cardy claims Jennifer caused emotional distress
after being tricked by Jennifer.
Okay. Did you look for the speaker?
Yeah I looked all over the hallway.
- [Judy] Do you have her speaker? - There was never a speaker.
Did you see a speaker?
- No, I didn't. - Okay, there's no speaker.
Now let's talk about your emotional situation.
You got to this, I can't even call it an intervention.
- [Sarah] Trap? - Trap. That's a good word.
- There you go. - That's a good word. Thank you.
And tell me what happened when you got there.
When I got there, I asked the family member,
- her family member, to come downstairs. - Okay.
Miss Moran, you walk in the door.
[Cardy] Yes.
And there's no question that you were tricked
and that this was a trap. - Yes.
That's what it was.
I realized it maybe one minute...
That's what it was.
Got in there, it was an uneasy feeling.
Realized it was a trick to get you in there, it was a trap.
I want you to tell me what happened when you got inside.
Jennifer starts to walk up to me, like with her arms open.
Real slow motion like "Cardy, I'm sorry."
"You know, we should talk about this, we're friends."
In that same tone. And I'm like, "Yo, really?"
You're being fake. I don't really want this.
You know, I came here to get what I wanted
and let's go.
But Brandon's getting all comfortable.
He is disabled so you know, alright fine, he's gotta get comfortable.
So... we start arguing.
- Me and Jennifer we start... - About what?
About the conversation that me and her had earlier.
You know, she said that I should just get over what she said
initially for me getting upset.
Okay. So the initial conversation didn't have anything to do with drugs?
We never talked about drugs.
When I got to the house, we never even, I never had anything to do with them.
I was talking to the family member
what I came to get. When once me and her start arguing,
I tell Brandon, like, "Alright, can we go now?
Are we done here? Like, let's leave. I wanna go."
So what happened when you said to Brandon,
"Let's go, I wanna get out of here."
- What happened? - She squirts me with a water gun.
She tells me, "I'm gonna squirt you like I squirt the dog."
Brandon, stand up.
Your last name is?
Milner.
I want you to describe this water gun.
To be honest Judge, I don't remember seeing a water gun.
It's in the video. If you listen to the video, she says it.
"I'm gonna squirt you like I squirt the dog."
Brandon before I look at this again
you were there, in the room. - Yes.
I'm gonna give you one, before I look at the video again
whether you saw her squirt the water gun or not
did you see a water gun that day?
- No, I didn't. - [Judy] No, okay.
So let's play this and let me hear what you're referring.
[Jennifer] I'll squirt you like I squirt the [...] dog. I can not.
[Man 1] I said not to...
[Man 2] Jen! Cardy!
[Man 1] Are you [...] serious?
Okay, Sarah you have a much more keen sense of hearing than I do.
She said, "I'm going to squirt you like I squirt that [...] dog."
Okay, she's got younger ears than I do.
- What? - I never squirted her with the squirt...
Whether you did or not, are you telling me that...
- [Jennifer] No I said it. - That Sarah heard...
- Okay, so you did squirt. - I said it, but I didn't squirt her.
You did say, "I'm gonna squirt you like I squirt the dog."
- Yes. - Okay.
That's not an intervention.
We were arguing at that point, it was already past the...
- That's because you lured her there. - ... intervention.
Cause you did the wrong thing!
Yeah, it was a horrible plan.
It was horrible.
Okay, they're absolutely right.
And it caused a great deal of distress.
I wanna know how you got out of the apartment.
I was kicked out. I was pushed out.
My things were thrown into the hallway.
At what point did that happen?
- Is that after? - Literally three seconds after...
After the TV was broken.
- Yes. - You were pushed out the door?
Yes.
Well that's some really good intervention. How long were you in the house?
A total six minutes maybe?
Where did you go from there?
Umm, I got picked up and went home.
- Got picked up by... - Two hours later, by my sister-in-law.
Don't make anything up.
- No. - Who picked you up?
My sister-in-law and my daughter, and her boyfriend.
- In that two-hour period - Yes.
You must have waited somewhere for them.
Yes, I waited in her hallway.
Okay, so you waited. When they came to pick you up
was there any further conversation with her or Brandon?
- No. - They just picked you up.
Well between those two hours,
there was conversation between my daughter and Brandon,
my daughter and Jennifer everyone was talking except...
Where was your daughter?
She was home.
So it was on the phone that they were talking?
Yes, and she was pleading with them
to give me my stuff back so I could just leave.
The cross-complaint, or the countersuit, is seeking $1,800.
It's seeking $1,800.
Not only for the emotional distress that was caused to the defendant,
but also for a speaker.
They don't have a speaker.
How much was the speaker, so that I can deduct that?
It was $129.
Okay, so we're really talking about $1,700.
Okay, and that's the amount you want for your emotional distress.
- Yes, Your Honor. - For that six minutes.
I don't blame you. I think it's worth at least that.
I think that when amateurs decide for all the wrong reasons
to do an intervention
any negative consequence that flows from that
you just have to accept.
But that's cause, that's reason for her to break my stuff?
Absolutely. It would've been reason for her to break everything
in your apartment to get out.
Absolutely.
- You are holding her there... - I didn't hold her.
Yes, just a second.
You brought her there under false pretenses
that's what you did, and you had somebody else there as well.
And according to you, you wrote it was an intervention.
But it wasn't an intervention. It was whether you wanted to...
For a 20-year relationship, intervention may be a wrong word but...
Well it was a very, very wrong word
and you don't trick somebody to come to your house
with something else in mind. Even if it's to buy drugs.
So I'm awarding you $1,700 on the counterclaim
for your emotional distress. Your claim for the broken TV is dismissed.
- We're done. - [Cardy] Thank you.
[Bailiff] This court is adjourned.
I have no thoughts.
I'm happy with her decision.
but it's bittersweet because these are my friends.
Just have a conversation about certain situations we were having.
Her intention I don't think it was to make me stop doing what they all do anyway.
I didn't keep her, that's the thing.
She walked in freely, walked out.
That's the betrayal.
Yeah, this is over.
It's just time to go separate ways. You know I lived and I learned.
Those are the people that I grew up with
you know, those turn up days are over anyway, so.
I think this whole situation was a perfect example
of what my dad calls, "lack of two-step thinking."
So, we can already agree the intentions were not great.
They were just maybe, potentially rekindling a friendship
and that's not exactly the person you want leading your intervention.
If that's what they wanted to call it. And also, what was your plan?
If it went the way that the plaintiff at least claims
she was intending it was to get her friend help
Say that the defendant broke down and cried
and admitted to having a problem and really wanting help.
Where was the help? There was no help.
That's true.
So I agreed with you that she... that the plaintiff
deserved any amount of damage that happened
from having such a lack of a plan.
Well it's the lack of a plan, she lured her there.
Yeah, just a messed up situation all in all.
You really have to be coming from the right place to do something like that
and I think neither of them were even close to that sort of right place.
Neither the witness, nor the plaintiff.
[Announcer] Want Justice? Go to JudyJustice.tv.