So now you're walking your husky on the street. And...?
And then all of a sudden, we see a dog charging towards us.
- I don't know what she's saying. - Just a second.
- I saw my dog run across the yard. - Listen. Listen--
The fight-- Lasted like three seconds. It wasn't--
No, just a second, sir.
Go ahead.
Maybe your wife lets you get away with that, sir.
I don't.
This is Judy Justice.
Kristine Singleton is suing dog owner, Kevin Free, for vet bills.
Court come to order. All rise.
Have a seat, please.
Hello, Judge. Case number 2064. Singleton versus Free.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
Miss Singleton, your case is relatively simple.
It is your claim that the defendant's unleashed dog bit your dog.
Yes, ma'am.
You incurred vet bills and you want Mr. Free to be responsible for them?
That's correct.
Mr. Free says that it's true
that his dog did bite yours, I think on the leg.
Yes, ma'am.
But that your dog was on his property and your dog was the aggressor.
- That's your position? - Correct.
Okay. And you were walking two dogs?
Two dogs and my nephew.
Nephew was a baby?
Yes. He was three years old and my dog was three.
And the large dog that was bit, he was twelve at the time.
So you have a small rat terrier, I think.
Yeah. Mm-hmm.
And your larger dog is what kind of dog?
A Siberian husky.
And what kind of dog do you have, sir?
I have a Italian mastiff, Cane Corso.
That's a big dog.
At the time he was about, um, maybe twelve months old.
So maybe a little bit over a year, so he's bigger now, but yeah.
How much did he weigh?
At that time? Probably about 80 pounds.
Tell me about your property, sir. Photograph of your property.
- I do, I do. - I'd like to take a look at it.
Okay. Here's a couple of them here.
Miss Singleton, this incident happened when?
Christmas Day of last year, around 12:30,
right before we had Christmas lunch.
Weather was okay?
Oh, it was great.
And how close do you live to Mr. Free?
I don't live anywhere near him.
I actually live in Stone Mountain,
but I was going to my parents' house for Christmas,
so we were walking around the neighborhood.
He lives almost directly behind my parents' house.
And I see that while there are driveways here,
the front lawn extends all the way to the street.
- Is that right? - Yes.
And you were walking both your dogs. And were they leashed or unleashed?
- They were leashed. - Both?
Um, yes. They were both leashed.
And Mr. Free, you sort of acknowledged that both of her dogs were unleashed.
I-- I've only seen one dog.
I didn't see two dogs and I didn't see a child either.
- It was her and a dog, so... - Okay.
The dog that you saw, what kind of dog was that?
It looked like a--a husky. Kind of like a wolf. So I'm not sure.
So just a second. So you saw a husky?
- Correct. - Did you see the plaintiff?
Yes.
So I'm going to ask you one more time.
- Okay. - Was the husky on a leash?
I gue-- Yes. I guess.
The answer is either yes or no.
- I-- I'm not sure. I mean, I wasn't-- - Okay, well then, you're not sure.
She says the husky was on a leash.
Yeah. so I'm not going to deny her dog was on...
Okay. Mm-hmm.
And your dog at the time was on your property unleashed?
My dog was on my property, period.
You don't-- Pay careful attention.
- Your dog was on your property unleashed? - Correct.
At 12:30 on Christmas Day, what were you doing?
I was putting up a basketball goal I had just bought for my children
for Christmas in the front yard with my dog next to me.
Okay. What I want you to do is-- is this a picture of your house?
That's a picture of my house from the other side of the street. Correct.
That's fine. This is a picture of your house?
- Yes, it is. - The answer is yes.
Kevin, what I'd like you to do is take this photograph to Mr. Free.
I want him to take a Sharpie. Do we have a Sharpie or something?
- Okay. Do you have a pen? - Yes, ma'am.
And tell him to make a circle where he was and an X where he saw
for the first time, Miss Singleton and her dog.
- X where you were. Just where you were. - Okay.
You personally.
Okay.
And put a circle the place where you saw Miss Singleton for the first time.
Okay.
- So you were in the front yard. - Correct.
And that looks about 30 feet away
from where you saw Miss Singleton for the first time?
- If that. - From here to here.
I say about 20 feet, Your Honor.
It's not as big as it looks on that picture.
It's a pretty small yard.
I would say it's about 30ft from where you put the X.
It's all the way past the house. You're at the one side of the driveway.
- You have an entrance way to your house. - Correct.
And then you have-- is this front a living room?
- Yes, it is. - A living room, which is past that
and where you made a circle, which is a very large circle,
is probably ten feet away from the edge of the house.
- Yes, that's what I know-- - So I said it's about 30 feet away.
Okay.
And now I want you to put-- can I have your pink Sharpie, please?
- Yes. - Thank you very much.
I want you to use this and put in this picture
where your dog was at 12:30.
To get your understanding, you want--
12:30. I want you to put a mark where your dog was
immediately before you saw Miss Singleton and her dog.
Immediately before. Thank you.
- You're not going to be able to see. - Okay, great.
Great.
So your dog, according to you, was right next to you,
about 30 feet away from where Miss Singleton was when you saw her.
To be honest with you, he kind of moves around the yard.
He doesn't sit still very much, so...
- Well, you understand, Mr. Free, - Mm-hmm.
that even if your dog is on your property,
you're supposed to maintain control of your dog all the time.
- - - In which I did. - You understand that?
- - - Yes, I do. - You understand that?
- Yeah. - So if your dog
is able to run 30 feet,
without being connected to you--
He didn't run--
- walk cha cha, tap dance. - Uh-huh.
Pirouetted!
However he got there,
your dog got 30 feet away from where you were.
- Correct. - Your 80-pound dog.
Ultimately, her case comes down to she was walking her leashed dog.
I haven't figured out whose fault it is yet.
She was walking her leashed dog.
And your dog ran, walked, pirouetted, cha-cha'd--
whatever it did, to her dog, out of your control.
Kristine Singleton claims dog owner Kevin Free
owes for vet bills from a dog fight.
Now, Miss Singleton was walking with her other dog and a three-year-old.
I want you to process that into your mind.
And this is a twelve-month-old, which is still a puppy.
You know, still a puppy, but at 80 pounds--
Your Honor, there was no three-year-old.
- I-- - I didn't see any three-year-old.
- Just-- just a second. - Okay.
I don't care what you saw while you were busy
putting together something for Christmas in your front yard.
- Mm-hmm. - If you didn't see it,
that doesn't mean it doesn't exist.
If you didn't see it, it just means you didn't see it.
She tells me she sees it.
She remembers walking her two dogs.
You only remember one.
She has two that she was walking at 12:30 Christmas Day.
The fact that you only saw one means you weren't paying attention
to where your dog was.
Or they wasn't there.
Well, that's pretty stupid, Mr. Free.
I mean, it doesn't make sense to carry two dogs.
- That's pretty-- Mr. Free-- - In a neighborhood you don't even belong--
- I mean, you're not from. - Mr. Free--
Mr. Free, they're only going to take one voice.
Understood.
They're only going to take one voice, and that's mine.
Let me tell you why your argument is stupid.
Because it doesn't make any difference whether she was walking
two dogs or four dogs or eight dogs.
It doesn't make any difference whether she was walking
with or without a three-year-old.
Ultimately, her case comes down to she was walking her leashed dog.
I haven't figured out whose fault it is yet.
She was walking her leashed dog
and your dog ran, walked, pirouetted, cha-cha'd--
Whatever it did to her dog out of your control,
was not under your control because it was not leashed.
- Do you understand? - I understand.
Now, I can take away everything else.
Not that I'm going to, because I believe that you were
distracted, you didn't see it.
And I believed her that she was
- walking with a three-year-old nephew. - Yes, ma'am.
Nephew-- and another dog that you didn't see.
But that's not the issue in this case.
Whether she was with another dog, another child, or with anybody else,
the issue is whose fault is it that a dog was out of control?
So now you're going to tell me what happened at 12:30 on Christmas Day
just so that Mr. Free doesn't think that I'm picking on him.
- Okay. - Which I'm not.
I know.
You may think I am, but I'm not picking on him.
You're walking with your husky?
- Yes, ma'am. - On a leash?
- Yes, ma'am. - What happened?
I was walking with my nephew, three years old.
- No, don't. Just listen to me. - Okay.
- Listen to me, - Okay, just walk down the street.
- Okay. - I said you're walking.
- -I-- - I got it in my mind. - Okay.
But so Mr. Free doesn't think that I'm being unfair to him,
- Mm-hmm. - 'cause he don't remember
- Mm-hmm. - what he saw.
You're walking your husky.
Okay, only him.
- On the street. - Mm-hmm.
- So your nephew didn't get hurt. - That's correct.
- Your rat terrier didn't get hurt. - That's correct.
Okay, so now you're walking your husky on the street, and...?
And then all of sudden, we see a dog charging towards us.
- - - And... - Who's "we"?
Oh, I called me, my nephew and my dogs "we."
No, now it's just "I saw."
I saw a dog charging towards us.
That dog and Leon got into a altercation,
and then Leon turned around to try to kick the dog in the face,
and he grabbed his foot and he let go.
- But then... - Okay, let's go much slower.
Okay, yes, ma'am.
- You saw a dog charging towards you? - Yes, ma'am.
And?
And that dog got into an altercation with--
- With your dog. - Yeah.
Tell me about that initial altercation.
At first, they were biting each other's muzzles and--
Okay, so they were both biting each other's muzzles?
- Yes. - Okay.
My dog turned around to try and I guess he--
No, don't tell me what he was trying to do.
- Your dog turned around-- - He kicked the dog in the face.
Your dog kicked his dog in the face.
Yes. He grabbed his leg, punctured it, let it go.
Leon kicked him again. This time he grabbed his other leg.
- Okay, so your dog kicked that dog again. - Twice. Yes.
- His dog again. - Yes, ma'am.
- And? - That dog that time grabbed his leg,
had a good hold, and shook it immediately.
And then that's when I knew his leg was broken.
- No, no, no. Don't show me pictures. - Okay.
First I have to find whose fault it is before I look
- at pictures and vet bills. - Okay.
Okay. Now, when you saw
- his dog charging towards you, - Mm-hmm.
- And your dog's name is Leon? - Yes, ma'am.
- On a leash? - Yes, ma'am.
On a leash. But it's a big dog.
- Yes, ma'am. - How much does it weigh?
Leon? 75 pounds.
So about the same time
- as the defendant's dog? - Yes.
- And it's a senior dog? - Yes, that is correct.
Has your dog ever had a history with another dog?
I'm gonna say it again.
Has your dog ever had a history
of an altercation with another dog?
No, ma'am.
Has your dog ever had a history of an altercation with another person?
No, ma'am.
And I assume if I asked you those questions,
you would give me what answer, sir?
I would say no.
You would say no because...?
Because my dog has never had any problems with any dogs.
- With any dog? - Any dogs, person.
- Any other person. - Correct.
So you would acknowledge Miss Singleton,
that I'm going to show you this photograph of Mr. Free's house.
And what I'd like you to do is show me where, according to you--
let's get her a different color pen.
Well, we have-- that's sil-- This is blue.
Okay.
I'd like you to make a P. To just put a P.
- Okay. - Where the dogs first made contact.
Okay.
Okay. It's not on this photo.
Is it on this photo? Do you have a photo?
I do have a photo.
- Yeah, I'd like to see it. - Yeah.
Would you, please?
Yeah, this is his home, and this is where it happened,
right underneath the tree.
Put it...
Oh, so what you're saying is
where you put the P, that the dog was in the street?
Yes, ma'am, that's correct.
- Were you in the street? - I sure was.
I would like you to put a D in this picture
- Mm-hmm. - Where you say--
Did you see Mr. Free?
I did not. Not until he came to retrieve his animal.
Did you see where he came from?
No, ma'am, I did not.
Did you see anything being assembled in the yard?
Once we were leaving, yes.
- And what did you see? - A basketball goal.
- Yes, ma'am.
And is that what you were putting together, Mr. Free?
Yes, ma'am.
Would you show me where that was, please?
Mm-hmm.
- It was here? - Yes, ma'am.
Okay. Now, Mr. Free, you're putting something together,
the first thing you hear is a kerfuffle, some sort of a--
- No. - What do you hear?
Dogs are animals. They're not as smart as you are.
But when your dog charged out into the street,
it could just as easily have gotten hit by a car.
That would have been your fault.
Your dog was out on a public street outside of your control,
And it's a big dog, and you should be more careful.
Kristine Singleton claims dog owner Kevin Free
is responsible for injuries after his dog attacked her dog.
No, I actually-- visu-- I saw my dog
run across the yard, so...
And? You saw the dog
- running across the yard? - And that's when I was--
Well, normally, normally-- I really don't have a problem with him,
- Let me explain something to you. - Yes. Okay.
- My job that I'm really good at-- - Okay.
is telling when people are peeing on my leg
- and trying to tell me it's raining. - Okay.
- Do you understand? - Yeah.
Now, I could tell immediately from your body language
that you were beginning to tell me a whole bunch of "Who shot John."
So I suggest to you, Mr. Free, that if you tell the truth,
you don't have to have a good memory.
Now, I want to explain to you why that's so important.
Did you hear Miss Singleton?
Miss Singleton actually said that her dog nipped yours in the face.
- Correct. - She said that.
- Correct. - She didn't have to tell me that.
- Okay. - She said her dog
not only nipped your dog in the face
because they were fighting muzzle to muzzle,
but afterwards, kicked your dog twice.
- Do you understand? - I heard that, yeah.
- That's what she said about that. - Mm-hmm.
That's sort of-- "Uh-huh."
That--that's sort of surprising.
That would seem, to someone...
It surprises me that dogs can get on their front legs and kick, too.
So I don't know what she's saying to you,
but I don't know what--
- - - - I-- - I didn't see anything-- - Listen-- listen to--
The fight lasted, like, three seconds. It wasn't-- Go ahead. I'm sorry.
Do you understand when you're not telling the truth, Mr. Free?
Well, I think what you read from me is--
- me responding to a whole bunch of stuff - The important-- the important--
- that was said that didn't happen. - No, no, no.
- What me responding to you is - Okay.
- your body English. - Okay.
That's me responding to you because
- you were putting together this thing. - Mm-hmm.
But you said it was here. - Correct. It was in the driveway.
- It's pretty big. - Well, this isn't the driveway, sir.
- That's-- - That's grass.
That's what you marked where you were,
and you marked where your dog was in the grass.
- Exactly where I was. - And-- Just a second.
Not the basketball goal.
No, I asked you where you were.
- Yes, that's where-- - And you said here,
And then you said just said to me-- please read it back.
Where were you? And you said I believe he said he was in the driveway.
Correct. It was in the driveway.
- Right. - I apologize. Excuse me
Just a second. Driveway.
Okay.
- Understand? - I do.
Eventually, it noodles its way out, sir.
The same way it noodles its way out to...
If my memory is correct, in your answer you wrote down
you saw them for the first time in the street.
On the-- what we call a curve.
It's a small slope that comes up and down.
Not all the way in the street, no.
No. Here. You see what happens, Mr. Free?
- Yeah. - What you just said to me
belies credulity.
- Well, I'm trying to give a precise-- - Just a second.
- Excuse me. - But not because, you know,
- I've lived on this planet - Mm-hmm.
almost 80 years.
Mm-hmm. True that.
And if I have a choice between walking in the street
and walking in that little dip that's designed to take rainwater away,
I don't walk in that thing because I'll get killed.
I'll break my legs.
And you certainly don't walk in this little thing.
If you're walking two dogs and a child,
you don't walk in that little drain
that's carved out here to take rainwater away.
You walk either on the grass, on everybody's grass--
- Correct. - Or you walk in the street.
- Okay. - And you, sir,
would have me believe that the plaintiff
walked all the way around the block, walking on people's grass.
Other than that, she would have to be in the street and decide,
"Well, I think I'm gonna go up on the grass
- on this guy's house." - I wouldn't say that.
- What? - Sometimes it's unavoidable,
so I'm not saying that at all.
- Sir, I have to tell you something. - Yeah.
You're going to pay her vet bills.
Your dog was out of your control and was in the street, not on your grass.
In the street. You had no control over your dog, an 80-pound puppy.
Now, the dog could have
just playfully knocked over
the three-year-old and hurt the three-year-old.
Could have, didn't.
Got into a scuffle with a dog approximately the same size.
Her dog was leashed within her control.
Your dog, you had to run from where you were putting this together
and come and get your dog.
- Your Honor-- - That's what you--
- That's what you said. - A dog under control
doesn't manage to do two jump kicks
- and a bite. - It's not a jump kick, sir.
No, just a second, sir.
You can do that if you're on a leash.
Her dog never left her hand.
Your Honor, injuries was to the hind feet of the dog.
- This isn't-- Mr. Free-- this is-- - Okay.
Maybe your wife lets you get away with that, sir.
I don't. This is not a tap dance.
This is not a recital or a rehearsal.
You made a picture of where you said this happened.
I don't believe you.
That's what it's about.
I believe that this occurred on a public street.
And on the public street, you had no control of your dog.
You decided to let your dog stay outside.
You haven't had any trouble with your dog before,
so you wouldn't have anticipated
that your dog would run out into the street.
Because if your dog ran out into the street,
and the car hit it and killed it, whose fault would that be?
That would definitely be mine.
- That would definitely be yours, right? - Yes.
Do you think that you might sue the person who hit your dog?
- You might try. You might try. - Well--
You might say, "Oh, my God, they should have been going slower.
Oh my God, they--" Do you understand?
You're the owner. Dogs are animals.
They're not as smart as you are.
But when your dog charged out into the street,
it could just as easily have gotten hit by a car.
That would have been your fault.
But under those circumstances,
you would have said it's the car's fault.
Your dog was out on a public street
outside of your control and it's a big dog
and you should be more careful.
If you want to keep your dog outside while
you're putting something together
and keep the dog on your property,
put down a stake, put the dog on a lead
and let the dog stay outside with you.
But if you let a twelve-month-old 80-pound dog run loose
and it runs into the street, you, sir,
are responsible for the consequences.
- What was your vet bill? - It was $1,832.64.
Judgment for the plaintiff. We're finished. Thank you.
This court is adjourned.
I don't think that I was, uh, 100% responsible.
I'm glad it was swift and easy, honestly.
From my perspective, it lasted for about three seconds.
I was trying to fight with this man for a while.
I'm glad it's over.
Might have happened in that three seconds,
but it was too fast for my eyes.
Honestly, it was kind of traumatizing.
Especially since I had a three-year-old with me
and I had to quickly think and just pick him up
before the dog got him.
I think they just fought and my dog won.
Bring the Judy Justice, baby.
I watch the show. I know how she gets down, you know?
So, as you know, we have two large,
pretty docile golden retrievers at home
that are now eight and twelve years old.
But even when we have family that comes over
or friends with little children that are curious
that like to come up and pull on the ears a little or play with them,
you have to be careful. They're 80 and 90-pound dogs.
We've never once had a problem with either of them.
But you just never know.
You can't control a dog that's 90 pounds.
But they're just big. They could knock 'em over by accident
with their tail just so excited.
So you have to be careful.
You have a responsibility when you have a big dog.
100%.
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