I had gone into his comic book store looking to sell the comic books.
-He took some of your comics? -Yes, ma'am.
-What happened to them? -I cannot confirm.
Hundreds were missing. What happened to his comic books?
Either they were lost, stolen, eaten by trolls… pick from the menu.
-[announcer] This is Judy Justice. -[theme music]
[announcer] Manuel Romeral is suing comic book store owner Andrew Liegl
-for the value of stolen comic books. -[Kevin] Court come to order. All rise.
[Judy] Have a seat, please.
Judge, case 3150, Romeral versus Liegl.
-Thank you. -Welcome.
[Judy] Mr. Romeral, what do you do for a living, sir?
Ma'am, I'm retired. I did 34 years with LAPD.
-Married man? -[Manuel] Yes, ma'am.
-My wife is right next to me. -[Judy] Is she a working lady?
[Manuel] She was. She retired from LAPD as well, after 29 years as a detective.
-And what do you do, sir? -I own the comic book store
Brave New World Comics in Santa Clarita, California.
Would you take a look at that, Sarah?
-How long have you owned the store, sir? -Since August of 2017.
[Judy] And I have to tell you that I don't know much about comic books.
It's just comic books or you also trade trading cards?
-Oh, we do comic books… -[Judy] Just a second.
-We're not auditioning here, sir. -[Andrew] Yeah.
There's only one star here, that's me.
-[courtroom laughs] -[Judy] So let's bring it down a notch,
unless for some reason you can't.
Because, you know, you're dealing with somebody
who's gonna have to make a judgment based upon what I hear
as to whether or not you're an honest guy or not an honest guy.
So far, I'm not getting a good feeling.
And it's your presentation. I have no preconceived notion of you at all, okay?
-So, let's bring it down a notch. -You also do trading cards?
Oh, we do sports, we do games for the community, yes.
Sports cards, trading cards, Pokémon, magic cards, yes, ma'am.
Just enthusiastic about comics.
-He trades everything? -Yeah. And the website is well-laid out.
Comic books, graphic novels, graded items, books,
toys and games, all that sort of thing.
They also, just for later, do have an appraisals page.
They have an appraisals page on their website that says
that it's $25 for a ten-minute evaluation at the store.
-[Judy] Mhm. -[Sarah] $100 for an hour evaluation,
I'm assuming, however much time it takes to appraise.
Okay. Good.
What training or education did you have when you started your business
in comics and trading cards? I know a little bit about that
'cause one of my children was very interested in trading cards for a while,
so I'm marginally aware of that. What special training do you have
in appraisal of comic books, trading cards?
I've owned my business for almost six… over six years now.
-Well, that doesn't give you… -Prior to that…
That doesn't give you any training whatsoever.
What training did you have when you opened your business?
I've worked for two publishers
-prior to owning my businesses. -[Judy] Two… just a sec.
-What did you do for them? -So you ask how I'm qualified to appraise.
So, one of my jobs with these companies was to facilitate signings
with a grading company, and I would facilitate these signings
to ensure the books were very high grade that we would submit.
So, what you're telling me is you did on-the-job training?
-Yes. -[Judy] Okay.
The reason I ask that question is because Mr. Romeral
had an extensive comic book collection,
which he decided that he wanted to donate to charity.
And I assume take part of that off as a deduction on your taxes, correct?
-That's correct, ma'am. -[Judy] And according to your complaint,
-you had something like 1,700 comic books. -Yes, ma'am, 1,766 comic books.
And you decided or your wife decided that it was time
-to get rid of these from your house. -[laughs]
[Judy] I don't know who decided to get rid of them.
But if you wanted to donate them to charity, which charity did you designate?
The charity was called The Book Truck Inc.
You're looking that up, right? Just for my information, how did you get to them,
rather than the Heart Association, the ASPCA, Stand Up To Cancer?
How did you get to Book Truck Inc.?
Yes, ma'am. So, how I came to this, nonprofit organization
was a suggestion from the defendant,
'cause I had gone into his comic book store looking to sell the comic books
-and he wasn't interested. -[Judy] Okay.
-So you went in on what date to his… -It was sometime in October, ma'am,
-I don't have the… -[Judy] October of 2023?
-2022. -Okay. You remember that?
[Andrew] I recall him coming in… [stammers]
-…stating that he had a collection… -[Judy shushes]
I don't… I… yes. I recall him. Yes. -[Judy shushes]
-Yes, ma'am. [laughs] -Did you have a lot of coffee today, sir?
I did. I actually… in the trailer, yes, a lot of coffee.
You know, I could tell you had a lot of coffee.
-[courtroom laughs] -[Andrew] I did. I did.
[Judy] I could tell that you're really over-coffeed. So you remember, Mr. Liegl,
that he came in looking to sell you his comic book collection.
And you said you were not interested?
-Correct. -[Judy] Okay. Then you did what?
[Manuel] Then, Your Honor, he suggested that I donate the comic books
to a nonprofit organization that he had worked with
called The Book Truck Inc., that was in Long Beach,
and he knew the founder and director, her name was Elizabeth Dragga,
that's D-R-A-G-G-A.
-[Judy] So he suggested this charity? -[Manuel] Yes, ma'am.
[Judy] Did he say how he was acquainted with this charity, the person who ran it,
did you ask what it did? What was its mission?
Yes, ma'am. I did ask him.
He said that he had donated books on prior occasions to the organization.
And it's a teen advocacy, a nonprofit, and what they do, Your Honor,
is they give books and comic books to children and kids
-that are in underserved communities. -Did you verify that?
-Yes, ma'am, I did. -[Judy] Okay.
So The Book Truck is a… it says,
"It increases literacy skills among foster care, homeless, and low-income teens
in order to create a pathway out of poverty."
-They're given books… -They're given comic books? In…
-Well, all different kinds… -Just a sec. Let me just understand this.
They're giving comic books to young people to create a pathway out of poverty?
-[Sarah] Well, it doesn't… -I just…
-[Sarah] …specifically say comic books. -No, no. Uh, could you…
-It doesn't specifically say comic books. -[Judy] Say it to me…
say it to me one more time. I have to absorb this.
Okay. "The Book Truck increases literacy skills
among foster care, homeless, and low-income teens
in order to create a pathway out of poverty."
-It's not only comic books. -No, no, I understand that.
But he's suggesting the donation of 1,700 comic books to help teens…
They don't specify what type of books they accept, I guess.
Yeah, but he was recommending comic books…
-Yes, ma'am. -[Judy] …for this mission…
-Yes, ma'am. -[Judy] …to help people out of poverty?
-[Manuel] Yes, ma'am. And I did do my own… -Okay. I… just a second.
-I'm absorbing it all. -[Manuel chuckles]
It's all coming this way.
-[courtroom laughs] -[theme music]
Before I brought the comic books to Mr. Liegl here,
I did ask Ms. Dragga if he was trustworthy.
-[Judy] Now, I don't… listen. -[Manuel] Yes, ma'am.
-You were a lieutenant… -[Manuel] Yes, ma'am.
…and you're trying to introduce hearsay into a trial?
[theme music]
[announcer] Manuel Romeral claims comic book store owner Andrew Liegl
stole comic books instead of donating them to charity.
Andrew is countersuing for an unpaid appraisal fee.
[Judy] Okay. Mr. Liegl, who do you know in Book Truck Inc.?
-So… so my… -[Judy shushes] That's a name.
Yes, Elizabeth… Elizabeth as well.
-[Judy] Elizabeth what? -Dragga.
-How do you know her? -[Andrew] When the pandemic hit in 2020,
I decided to reach out to a charity to try and work with during that time,
-explained to her what I did, and… -[Judy] What do you do?
Own a comic book store. And essentially, I also learned how to read through comics,
and I'm a pretty good reader. So I kind of believe in this.
But anyway, we worked with them back in 2020
and we worked with my customers and myself.
My store donated a whole lot of books
and our customers came in and donated their own collections.
-During this time, I did win… -[Judy] Put that very sweet thing down.
I would just like to point out, ma'am,
this started by you questioning my character, and I just wanted to point out
by saying I was recognized by the County of Los Angeles,
Kathryn Barger, for my work with The Book Truck in 2020.
-Just based on how much we donated. -[laughs] Okay. Very good.
-[courtroom laughs] -Now let's get back to the hustle.
[Judy] Okay. So now, you bring your comics, 1,700 of them,
-to the defendant's place of business. -I didn't do that right away, ma'am.
I did a little bit of research, given my background.
I contacted Ms. Dragga, and I spoke to her, and I wanted to find out
more about her organization and what it was trying to achieve.
And I liked the message, I liked her mission,
-so I decided that's where I wanted my… -[Judy] You spoke to her on the phone?
-Yes, ma'am. -[Judy] So you spoke to Elizabeth.
-[Manuel] Yes, ma'am. -[Judy] Now,
on what date did you bring your comic books to Mr. Liegl?
That was on January the 19th, ma'am.
[Judy] And what he was supposed to do is give you an appraisal
so that you could take that off your taxes
and he was supposed to send the comic books to Book Truck Inc.?
That's correct. And there's a little bit more to that, though, ma'am.
Well, what's more to it?
[Manuel] Well, before I brought the comic books to Mr. Liegl here,
I did ask Ms. Dragga if he was trustworthy.
-Now, I don't… listen. -[Manuel] Yes, ma'am.
-You can't tell me… you were a lieutenant? -[Manuel] Yes, ma'am.
And you're trying to introduce hearsay into a trial?
-Yes, ma'am. -Okay.
So before I took the comic books in, I went to Mr. Liegl, the defendant,
and I told him that I needed a written appraisal for the collection
-per my tax accountant. -[Judy] Of course.
Your accountant said, "You need an appraisal."
He said, "I'll do an appraisal."
And Mr. Liegl said that he would do it for free.
[Judy] Fine. And?
[Manuel] But he wouldn't give me a written appraisal.
He said, "I don't do written stuff."
[Judy] But you advertise, sir, on your website,
that you do appraisals and how much you charge for them.
-What's the point of doing appraisals? -I didn't say that.
[Judy] Okay. He brought you the comic books?
-[Andrew] Yes. -[Judy] Great.
-Did you give him an appraisal? -Yes.
-[Judy] Written? -Yes.
-I initialed all of it. -Show me.
[Manuel] Your Honor, if I may interject, that appraisal, I did that.
-[Judy] Just a minute. -And there's a story behind it.
-[Judy] Just a second. -[Manuel] Yes, ma'am.
He's gonna show me something.
What do you mean you did this? This is on his stationery.
I understand that, ma'am, but I'm the one that wrote up the appraisal
because he wouldn't do one, and we discussed it,
and what we agreed to is that I would write the cover letter
because that's what my tax accountant asked for.
-[chuckles] -[Manuel] And I told the defendant
I could take the information off of his website, which he agreed to.
And then I itemized every single comic book per the accountant.
I then asked the defendant, "Well, what source should I use?"
And he said to use this guide
which I went out and purchased. This is the Bible in the comic book…
[Judy] Great. So you prepared this,
he initialed each page that it's coming from an appraiser,
you did it, you were going to present this to your accountant…
-Yes, ma'am. -…as proof
of how much money your collection was for the purposes of your deduction?
-Yes, ma'am. -[Judy] Okay.
And this was done 01/19/2023. And what was the total?
It was $16,709.
[Judy] Okay. And did you give that to your accountant?
-Yes, I did, ma'am. -[Judy] Okay.
-And your accountant's name is what? -[Manuel] His name is David.
[Judy] Great. When did you give it to him?
-Just recently when we did our taxes. -[Judy] Okay. Just recently,
-'cause you prepared your taxes. -Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am.
He probably has not returned your taxes to you, to send away, or has he?
-He has, Your Honor. -[Judy] He has.
-You have a copy of those? -No, I do not.
[Judy] Okay. So, now, what I'd like you to tell me
-is what's the problem? -[Manuel] Well, the problem, ma'am,
is when we agreed on the value of the collection, I told the defendant…
-[Judy] Just a second. -[Manuel] Yes, ma'am.
[Judy] You're suing him for $5,554,
because he took some of your comics from your collection.
-Yes, ma'am. -[Judy] That's what you claim.
How much money did you take off of your taxes,
if he gave you an appraisal of $16,700,
how much did you allege that you donated to charity?
[Manuel] The amount was $11,093
is what was submitted for a charitable contribution, Your Honor.
Well, that's by your accountant, but you had an appraisal for 16,700.
-I sent the modified version of it. -Who modified it?
[Manuel] I modified it by crossing out the comic books
that would not be part of that appraisal, because they were missing.
You're gonna have to show me that.
[Manuel] I have it right here, Your Honor.
-You have what? -[Manuel] This is the revised appraisal,
that makes a notation that the donation does not have the full 1,766 comic books.
That I was only able to recover
-from the defendant… -[Judy] Just a second.
-[Manuel] Yes, ma'am. -What do you mean recover?
-You mean you took them back? -A portion of them, ma'am.
What did you do with them?
I donated those to a charitable cause, ma'am,
which, as I indicated before, it was 1,318 comic books that I was able to donate.
-What charitable cause, sir? -The Book Truck, Inc.
-[Judy] You donated them to Elizabeth. -Yes, ma'am.
[Judy] Now, you have no objection to my calling your accountant, do you?
-No, ma'am. -[Judy] And your accountant will tell me
that the amount that they took as a charitable deduction was not 16,700.
-How much was it? -The amount, ma'am, was $11,093.
[Judy] And that $11,093 is what David is going to tell me
-he took off your taxes. -[Manuel] Yes, ma'am.
And he took off your taxes based upon a modified appraisal.
-Yes, ma'am. -I'd like to see the modified appraisal.
I have that right here.
-Give her David's number. -Yes, ma'am.
[Judy] Sarah, you're gonna take him in the back for a minute. Take him.
When you get David on the phone,
he's gonna tell David that you can speak to him.
I wanna find out what he took off on his taxes.
-Okay. -Just ask him the amount. Go in the back.
[theme music]
I offered to donate to resolve the situation
the missing quantity of comics in equal value and he refused. In his name.
[chuckles] High on life. High on coffee. Long on hustle.
[courtroom laughs]
[theme music]
[announcer] Manuel Romeral has accused comic book store owner Andrew Liegl
of stealing comic books instead of donating them to charity.
Andrew is countersuing Manuel for an unpaid appraisal fee.
-[Judy] Okay. -[Sarah] So she was able to help me,
the secretary. She said it did not breakdown…
I asked specifically about the comic book collection,
not any of his other charitable donations.
She said it wasn't broken down in that way,
that she only has the final number of all of the charitable donations for the year.
But that number that she gave me was 11,625, only about $500 off from what…
-Great. -…the plaintiff said.
Okay. So now the ball is back in your court Mr. High-on-Life-and-Coffee.
[courtroom laughs]
[Judy] So let me tell you what this shows me.
This shows me that you gave him an appraisal and signed off on it
as to what comic books you were taking into your custody
for the purposes of this charity.
When he finally got his comic books to Elizabeth,
there were comic books missing. Her name is on the attached list
of what comic books were missing from the collection.
Now, I want you to understand
that I do not believe that this man took comic books out of his own collection.
So, it would lead a person of marginal intelligence,
which I like to think I have, that somewhere between the initial 1,700
and what was ultimately given to Elizabeth,
who signed off on the revised appraisal, were few hundred less.
-What happened to them? -So…
Not a "so". Just tell me what happened to them.
So, he dropped them off at the end of January of 2023,
the appraisal was done, he left them there.
At that point in time, I make contacts with Elizabeth
and we cannot get in touch with each other.
-She actually had an incorrect email… -[Judy shushes]
-[Andrew] And at that time… -Please tell me
what happened to his comic books.
I had to move my entire storage space in my unit out of my store.
-[Judy] You moved all of your inventory. -Everything. Our donations, everything.
[shushes] You moved everything out of your store.
-[Andrew] Correct. We have a lot to store. -[shushes]
-And? -We moved it into our storage space.
-And? -[Andrew] It sat there for ten months
until I went and retrieved it for Manuel to get.
[Judy] But some were missing.
-[Andrew] So he claims there are. -[Judy] Just a second.
There were. Elizabeth vouches for the fact that they were missing.
-What happened to the other comic books? -I cannot confirm. So what happened,
-we had to rebox every… -[Judy] Okay. Well, if you can't…
-Ma'am, we had to rebox everything. -If you can't confirm
what happened to the comic books that will help people get out of poverty,
then those were given to you and you are responsible for them.
If you put them in a storage space, rebox them, regroup them,
or forgot who they belong to, some of the expensive ones,
and maybe one of your employees
decided that they wanted to be lifted out of poverty,
-so they lifted the comic books. -[courtroom laughs]
But this is, in effect, a bailment.
You have a responsibility to say where those comic books went to, sir.
And I contacted him to have them picked up,
I contacted Elizabeth to have them picked up,
and I was being threatened by my landlord,
I would be evicted if I didn't get that stuff out of my space.
-I don't… -I just want you to tell me.
-So you got it out of your space… -We did.
-[Judy] …Elizabeth got some… -And at that point…
Just a minute. Elizabeth got some of them.
-A substantial number were missing. -[Andrew] In September…
-Ma'am, ma'am… -[Judy] What happened…
…these were dropped off at my store in January.
I did not hear from him until June.
[Judy] Who cares? That doesn't tell me what happened to the comic books.
I made multiple efforts to get them out…
we had to unbox them, put them in small… it's… everything.
I was being threatened of being evicted
-if we didn't clear it out. -[Judy] Just a second.
I asked you what happened to his comic books.
They were moved from my business into our storage unit.
And so the answer is you don't know what happened to them.
They were donated.
[Judy] No, not according to Elizabeth, not all of them. Either they were lost,
-stolen, eaten by trolls… -[courtroom laughs]
[Judy] …you don't know, Elizabeth is lying… Pick from the menu.
Your Honor, I made… when Manuel returned to my store in June of 2023,
it was a very aggressive exchange.
I offered to donate to resolve the situation out of my own stock
the missing quantity of comics in equal value and he refused in his name.
[chuckles] High on life. High on coffee. Long on hustle.
What's the difference in the value, Mr. Romeral, of the comic books?
Is that what you're suing for? Based upon his appraisal.
-Yes, ma'am. $5,500… -[Judy] $5,554.
Yes, ma'am.
You have a counter… [chuckles] a counterclaim,
-money owed for an unpaid appraisal fee. -Correct.
[Judy] There was no contract for an appraisal fee. Is that correct?
If there is, I'd like you to show it to me.
[Andrew] The appraisal fee was waived as the intent was for this to be donated.
-[Judy] Well… -Another thing I…
[Judy] You know, once something is waived, it's dead.
Counterclaim is dismissed. Judgment for the plaintiff. A little bit.
-[Judy] $5,554. -Your Honor…
[Judy] Judgment for the plaintiff. We're done.
-Thank you, ma'am. -[Judy] Thank you.
-[Kevin] This court is adjourned. -[theme music]
-I don't agree with it. -A wonderful decision. I feel vindicated.
Something that was wrong was made right today.
He left his stuff abandoned after multiple contacts to come and pick it up
and I don't know why I'm held accountable for this.
I knew… There's something wrong here,
and he's taken advantage of me and the charity.
I felt a little bamboozled, like I did a free appraisal and now he's getting cash,
it's kind of backwards to me honestly. I think this is truly an example,
if any small business owners are watching this, truly, no good deed goes unpunished.
Get everything in writing and get that contract.
The truth always comes out, thanks to Judge Judy.
Kiddo, that's really a good thing, like donating your car.
I mean, he could've sold the comic books, he's retired, she's retired,
they could go to fairs…
-[Sarah] Yes. -…and sell the comic books.
Decided, get them out of the house, she said,
-"Get these things out of the house." And… -[laughs] Mhm.
Still not right to be misrepresented, you know, the charity,
when they think they're getting this portion,
and I was glad… I think I was making the call when you were reviewing
-the revised appraisal that Elizabeth… -That Elizabeth…
-[Sarah] …had signed off on. -…signed off on.
Sure. But I'm glad that he went through that trouble to have her sign off.
And once we came back and all the numbers cleared out,
it was very honest of him to not claim the 16,000
-off on his taxes, which he could have… -Actually could've done.
…with the initial appraisal. He said, "That's not right.
I know that these are missing. Some of the higher value ones are missing."
Went to Elizabeth, the charity owner, went over it with her,
that must have taken a lot of time, had her initial each one, and ultimately,
only submitted to his accountant what he honestly donated.
So good for him and I think the right thing happened.
Me, too.
[announcer] Want justice? Go to judyjustice.tv.
[theme music]