[Levy] ...you bashing in the door with the bat, throwing rocks.
[announcer] Today on Tribunal Justice...
She was removed from the house by the Sheriff's department.
You have a child.
And your child is going to be able at some point
to stream our show and see how his parents acted.
God help this child.
[theme music playing]
[announcer] This case was filed in McDonough, Georgia.
Your Honor, this is case number 1079
on the count in the matter of Amey versus Scott.
Parties have been sworn in, you may be seated.
- [Acker] Thank you, Byrd. - [Bailiff] You're welcome, Judge
Mr. Amey, you and the defendant, Ms. Scott,
started dating about six years ago.
Three years ago, you had a child.
You were in, sir, what you describe as a polyamorous relationship.
And I guess something happened outside the bounds of your understanding.
So the two of you called it quits and the two of you are now married.
Fast forward, a few years later, you seem to rekindle of sorts.
You move in with him, and once again, things go south between the two of you.
It doesn't work out.
You're now suing the defendant for $10,000
for back rent that you say she owes you
from the time that she was living with you.
Household bills and property damage that resulted
from an altercation that we will discuss.
Miss Scott, you maintain that you do not owe the plaintiff a dime.
According to you, he lived with you rent-free for several years,
so that offsets any rent you might owe him.
You contend that he evicted you illegally,
causing you severe emotional distress.
And you're also suing him for back child support.
Because you say that he failed to pay child support for many years.
We'll discuss that. But I'll tell you right now,
I don't know that we have jurisdiction
to consider the child support component of your case.
But I'll discuss that with my colleagues.
Mr. Amey, the two of you had the child together in September?
Yes, Your Honor.
[Acker] Who's got custody of the baby now?
- Ms. Scott. - [Acker] Do you see your child?
No, Your Honor.
So in September, before you break up, you're not married,
you have another person in your relationship,
you came to learn that they were doing things without you,
so then you split up.
So that was in 2019.
2022, you come back into each other's lives. How and why?
Well, I was just getting out of, um, a...a prior relationship
to let Ms. Scott back in.
And it was all based on me spending time with my son.
She was telling me she was sleeping in the car.
She was having hard times.
Her and her current wife
At this time, did your wife move into the plaintiff's home with you?
- Yes. - [Acker] But that didn't last very long
because they didn't get along.
- Correct. - Surprise, surprise.
- Uh, so she left. - [Scott] Yes.
You stayed in the home.
How long were you there before things became turbulent?
- Three months. - Will you do me a favor?
Um, I'd like you to sign this piece of paper.
Just, uh, write your signature down five times.
So why did you agree, after all of this time,
to let her move back in?
There were allegations of violence before all of this,
so why try again?
For the sake of my son.
She kept my son away from me the whole time.
So that's why I took advantage of this.
[Acker] What was the understanding?
You're now suing her for $10,000, back rent, utilities.
Uh, what was the agreement between the two of you?
Thank you, Byrd.
The agreement was that she was supposed to take me off child support
and go half on the, um, bills and rent.
Was that your understanding of the agreement, Ms. Scott?
No.
[Acker] What was your understanding of the agreement?
The agreement was that he invited me and Ms. Scott to...
stay there until my worker's comp check came.
And then when my check would arrive, then me and Ms. Scott
was supposed to go back to Texas.
- But no agreement to pay rent? - [Scott] No.
No agreement for bills?
No, ma'am, not at that point.
I'd like to direct your attention to the monitor.
There is an agreement dated May 10th.
It purports to be between you and the plaintiff.
In that agreement, it says,
"I, Tyneka Scott, agree to take Mr. Amey off child support
within the next thirty days.
I agree I will not call the police or law enforcement
or will not file any TPO..." Temporary protective order.
"Or restraining order.
I agree to help with the utility bills, food costs and rent,
totaling around a thousand ninety dollars a month.
I agree that I am an equal resident at the address stated."
Did you sign this?
- No, ma'am. - [Acker] In May? You did not sign this?
No, ma'am. This has been altered.
What part of it was altered?
[Scott] The thirty days were six months.
I agree to help with the utilities,
- the food costs and the rent. - You did say that.
I did type that, but the amount of my half totaling,
I didn't type that.
Just so I understand your testimony,
you are acknowledging that you made an agreement
with the plaintiff to pay half the rent?
- No, ma'am. - [Acker] No part of the rent.
- No. - So this entire agreement is forged?
Yes, a lot of it is forged.
What part is not forged? Is that not your signature?
I asked you to write your signature for a reason.
It's because the signature that you just signed for me
looks quite a bit like the signature on that document,
and it also looks quite a bit like the signature
- that you swore out in your answer. - [Scott] Right.
So I wanted to get this from you before I showed you that.
- [Scott] Yes. - Because that signature
looks like this signature, which is your signature.
So I'm going to give you a chance right now to explain
which parts of this document you're contesting.
The agreement was to get it notarized.
[Acker] I don't care if it's notarized.
- Did you agree to pay half the rent? - [Scott] No, ma'am.
Did you agree to pay half the utilities?
I agreed to put food in the house, I agreed to...
So are you saying that he forged this document?
- [Scott] Correct. - [Acker] All of it?
The signature is mine, but it has been altered.
Because he asked me to rewrite the agreement.
So the original agreement isn't what I'm looking at.
It has been added on and more stuff added on.
So part of your defense is that even though you were living with him
for some period of time,
prior to that, he lived with you for three years
and didn't pay any rent at all. When was he living with you?
He moved in, maybe a week of us meeting each other.
- [Acker] Is that true, sir? - No, Your Honor.
So he lived with you for three years?
He says he didn't.
Do you have any evidence at all of any expenses,
any dollars you laid out during this three year period of time
that you say offsets whatever you may owe him
for moving in with him later?
He's never paid anything, so I...
Do you have any evidence that he was there in the house with you?
Plenty of police reports.
Any of the police reports that you submitted?
No, ma'am.
So, you don't have any evidence in this case...
- Right. - [Acker] ...about that portion
of your defense, which is:
"I don't know him any money because he lived with me for free."
Let's talk about what happened in August because, sir,
you submitted an agreement that said she was in the home.
And had a right to be in the home.
She's got all kinds of issues with it,
but I'm assuming that you want us to enforce that agreement?
Yes, Your Honor.
[Acker] So I would like to look at the video
of the defendant at 4 AM trying to get into the home.
- This is you, Ms. Scott, is it not? - Yes.
It's around 4 AM and your answer,
you said that you came home from driving Uber.
- [Scott] Yes. - [banging noises]
- That's a bat in your hands. - Yes.
[Acker] Why are you banging on the door with a bat?
[Scott] Because I broke my hand.
And I've been out there since one o'clock.
[Acker] Did you hear her outside?
No, Your Honor.
Sleep.
[clattering]
Sleep.
[clattering]
Ain't no...
sleep.
unintelligible
And just so we're clear, the data on this is September, not August.
It's September at 4 AM.
[clattering]
[Scott] Want to play?
That was you giving the audio, "You want to play, you want to play?"
while you're throwing rocks at the window?
- Yes. Because he was up. - [Acker] How do you know he was up?
[Scott] He was texting me.
Can we look at the next video, video one,
because you were asleep, sir, is what you're saying?
- Yes, Your Honor. - [Acker] You were asleep.
Can we look at video 1E?
[banging]
[Amey] You need to leave, man, chill out, man.
Tryin' to stab somebody with a knife...
You done lost your mind.
Unplug my camera... man leave.
- Whose voice is that? - [Amey] Mine, Your Honor.
Was this a different incident?
- Yes, ma'am. - Yes, Your Honor.
So, Mr. Amey, let's just roll things back for a minute.
Now the defendant has disputed your document,
she has said that you've altered it.
Do you have any other evidence of her agreeing to assume a rental obligation?
Because, like, let's just cut to the chase,
the two of you have a rocky, rocky history.
There have been allegations of violence by him,
and I note, sir, that you claim that she at times has fabricated things
in order to get you into trouble.
So, with all of that said,
how are you going to prove that she owes you rent?
I don't know that I trust the document either.
How do we know?
Well, Your Honor, I never intended for her to stay at my house rent-free.
Well, that doesn't make sense...
- [Amey] And that's why we came came up... - Whoa, whoa, wait.
[Amey] ...with the kinds for...
You can't say you never intended for her to stay at your house
when you submitted to this court
a document that purports to lay out all of her rental obligations.
And part of her countersuit is that you illegally evicted her
and threw her out.
[Amey] That's false, Your Honor.
So you got to start proving the case.
I have an exhibit there on October 17th,
she was removed from the house
by the Henry County Sheriff's Department.
And you currently have a protective order against her?
It came after...after she was evicted.
[Acker] The sheriff came and removed her from your property.
[Amey] Right.
Because you were finally able to evict her.
- Yes, Your Honor. - [Acker] This was in October,
which suggests to me that your efforts to lock her out
prior to that, may have been improper.
Well, I have a exhibit, Your Honor,
that shows that that night that happened,
she said she wasn't coming back.
She had somewhere to live.
So that's why I locked the top lock, because she said she...
- wasn't coming back. - [Acker] But when you saw her come back,
- I didn't. - [Acker] and when you are now trying
to enforce a rental obligation...
You can't have it both ways!
You can't say "You're a tenant, you owe me rent.
but I'm going to lock you out and put your stuff on the street
when I feel like it." Judge DiMango?
I was not waiting for that moment at all.
[audience laughs]
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice...
I also saw an order in there for you to pay $66 for genetic testing.
So, is there an issue as to who the father is of this child?
Not for you, but for you?
Are you disputing that you may be the father of this child or not?
Are you trying to not be the father of this child?
[theme music playing]
[announcer] Quinterious Amey claims his ex-girlfriend, Tyneka Scott,
owes for back rent, household bills and property damage.
Tyneka is countersuing Quinterious,
claiming he owes for child support and pain and suffering.
[DiMango] You say that she moved in with you,
you say that she did that pursuant to an agreement that she made with you,
that if you let her live there, and if she paid the utilities,
you say she would "take you off child support."
But basically what she's saying is
she would waive child support on behalf of your son.
And I'm going to tell you right now that that agreement is void
as against public policy.
No custodial parent can waive child support
on behalf of the child.
You cannot, because the right to collect child support does not belong to you.
It belongs to the child.
In addition to that,
let me just read it, because I do a lot of this by memory.
So the first thing you say is you agree that
you're going to take Amey off child support
within the next thirty days. Illegal.
Unenforceable by the court.
"I agree that I will not call the police or law enforcement
or will not file any TOP or restraining order against Mr. Amey."
Did she agree to do that and then did this anyway?
- Yes, Your Honor. - [DiMango] Did you do that?
Because that's against public policy.
Why would you give up that right? You can't do that.
"I agree to help with the utility bills, food cost and rent
in the amount of my half, totaling $1,090 a month.
So there, we do have an agreement where you agreed to pay rent.
Now, this is part of this other illegal agreement.
The next thing is you say, "I agree that I'm an equal resident
since May 2022." What does an equal resident mean?
What is the purpose of that sentence?
It's equal meaning I have equal value in this home
and you can't just put me out because...
In other words, you're a tenant with full rights of a tenancy.
- [Scott] Correct. - And that's the portion
upon which you're saying,
that when he locked the door that night,
he had no right to do so
while you were in fact still living there
until he got, which he ultimately did,
- a lawful agreement to evict you. - Right.
"You agree, once child support has ended,
to jointly provide medical care for our minor son."
You owe medical care. He's your child!
And you know what find... I find the most interesting?
In this case, where this child is so important,
... is his name right?
... so important to you.
And ... important to you.
Where was ... the night you were throwing rocks at the window?
Where was ... when you said you had to use a bat
to knock on the door because you had one broken arm,
I don't know why your other arm was not allowed to knock on the door.
Where was ...?
He was at the babysitter, my brother-in-law's house.
[DiMango] So the two of you put this child,
who you both desperately want to see and spend time with,
you put him someplace else so that you can engage in
this type of childish, violent, volatile, abusive behavior.
And you come in here and you want me to do something for you and you?
So ultimately, have the two of you gone to family court, or any court,
with regard to actual court authority
and have an order for child support?
- Yes. - [DiMango] Yes?
- [Amey] No. - [DiMango] Why do you say no?
Did you go ex parte? Did you go without him?
No. He went without me. He just haven't got him legitimized.
[DiMango] Okay. Because what I saw was a couple of things there.
One, I saw an order for child support in the amount of $285 a month.
I also saw an order in there for you to pay $66 for genetic testing.
So is there an issue as to who the father is of this child?
Not for you, but for you?
Are you disputing that you may be the father of this child or not?
Are you trying to not be the father of this child?
- No, Your Honor. - God help this child.
The best interest of the child should prevail, and it's not.
It's not for any of you.
It's all about your games and who's with who,
and who's living with who, and who's married to who,
and who's coming back home, who's throwing rocks, who isn't?
So now I'm looking at the counterclaim here,
which is that you want $10,000
for wrongful eviction and pain and suffering,
and this... what's the pain and suffering?
Mr. Amey continues to call family and children services.
I think somebody should call it on both of you.
I mean, this poor child is in the midst of all of this.
Ma'am, what are you here to offer?
- What is your name? - Chamiah Scott.
Chamiah, what are you here to offer?
[Chamiah] Um, basically, I've been a witness.
I've been around Mr. Amey and Ms. Scott for the past six years
before ... was here up until now.
And so you're a witness to this turmoil.
- Unfortunately. - [DiMango] Yeah, unfortunately is right.
And I'm sure that on any given day, one person who started it
and the other one was a part of it,
and it went back and forth. Am I right? All of you.
Am I right? Am I right? Am I right?
Ma'am, can you step up, please?
And who are you in relation to Ms. Scott?
- That's my wife. - [DiMango] That's your wife.
And ma'am, you are?
I'm Quinterious' girlfriend.
And why are you here?
I'm witness for the night of the damages. And then also...
Oh, you were at home when she was banging on the door with the bat?
He was home, but he was asleep and he had called me hours later,
after the window was broken.
[DiMango] I don't know, I can't sleep if somebody drops a pin.
You can sleep through the night with that? What is it that you take?
I have a BiPap machine. Sleep... sleep apnea.
[DiMango] Ah! That helps. Okay, that could help.
It actually explains something.
That... a reason why you can't hear what's going on.
But you're all witnesses to inappropriate behavior
towards one another and as a result, towards the child.
And I don't know how the two of you, who seem kind of calm and rational
are going to talk any sense into them.
This verdict is not going to change who they are in any way
or what they're about, and that's very sad.
- Judge Levy? - [Levy] Thank you, Judge.
Um, Mr. Amey, as part of your evidence package,
you provided us with a copy of a lease.
- Yes, Your Honor. - [Levy] Why did you do that?
Just to show the amount of the rent each month.
And you're suing the defendant for money owed for back rent.
Yes, Your Honor.
[Levy] So here's my problem with that, though, Mr. Amey.
And I want you to help me understand it.
How is it that you can specifically ask her to contribute to the rent
when the terms of that lease prohibit any other adult
from living in the home?
Because the landlord made it clear
that it was one adult and children could be there,
but only one adult.
So you would agree that you asking the defendant
for contributions for the rent
would violate the terms of your own lease?
Yes. I took that chance with my lease.
[Levy] You know, that May 10th agreement,
why did you want to put a provision in
that said that the defendant agrees not to call the police
or file a temporary order of protection against you?
In 2018, she filed a false TPO against me.
-Because she had done it before? -[Amey] Uh, numerous times.
So I'm going to move on real quick because you told Judge DiMango
that your child has not been legitimized.
- That was your quote. - Yes.
That means the plaintiff here has not been legitimized as his...his father.
- Correct. - [Levy] Well, you submitted to us
evidence in exhibit eleven, child support documents.
- Can you pull that out? - [Scott] Yes.
[clears throat]
[Levy] That was an order for paternity and child support.
- This is your evidence, right? - [Scott] Yes.
You read this before you gave it to us, right?
- Yes. - [Levy] Okay.
So we... now we know it's an order for paternity and child support.
The order from the court is dated December 21st, 2021,
where the plaintiff here
has been determined to be the father by 99.9 DNA.
- You see that, too? - Yes.
[Levy] So what part of 99.9 isn't legitimizing the plaintiff...
- Mm. - ...to be the father of his own child?
What part of that? This is your evidence.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
Let's take a look at how your right shoulder feels
when you're throwing these rocks.
I pay very close attention to what people say.
Even when they come in and promise to tell the truth.
There you go. Right arm. Was your arm hurting there?
What about there? What about there? What about there?
Fraud. Worker's comp fraud!
[theme music playing]
You told us now on multiple occasions that your child was not legitimized.
Was that just to hurt him?
No. Mr. Amey told me that he has legitimation court coming up.
I wasn't even here for this.
Ms. Scott, you provided this,
that says, On December 21st,
a judge determined him to be the father of your child,
99.9% sure.
What the hell did you think this meant?
All I know was Mr. Amey said that he was going to legitimation court.
- [Levy] That's great. - I just knew about the paternity.
I got it, I got it. So that is paternity.
So the way court works to the extent you don't know,
and I think you know exactly how court works,
you guys were never married,
so he can't be forced to pay you child support
unless there is first an order of paternity
determining him to be the father.
Once that is done, and it was, which you knew,
then he could be ordered to pay child support,
which he was.
Does that help refresh your recollection as to what happened with your own child?
Yes, it does. Good. We can move on.
In your counterclaim,
you're asking for 24 months money owed for child support.
What months are those?
My son was born in September, the 14, '19.
Of 2019. So what you want and you're asking us for,
is to award you money for child support
at a time before he was declared the father of the child.
Which only happened in December of 2021.
There goes that claim. Gone. We can continue.
You provided us with exhibit 13.
- This was a worker's comp claim. - [Scott] Right.
I want you to tell me what your thought process was
by submitting that to the court.
That's the reason Mr. Amey wanted me to stay around.
Because he knew I was getting some money,
and that's what it was about.
Me spending my money on his expenses.
[Levy] And I believe that's why you submitted it.
But I'm going to tell you how this document affected,
at least my judgment in this case.
And I think probably it's going to be my colleagues, too.
So, "As a result of the head, neck, right shoulder,
back, right hip,
and both ankle injuries from her accident,
employee," you, "alleges you were partially disabled, right?"
- Yes. - [Levy] Yup.
That's what you said, partially disabled.
You weren't able to work. And as a result, you got a lawyer
who made whatever arguments the shyster lawyer made,
and he beat up the plaintiff, in that case, your employer,
for $20,000, right?
- Yes. - [Levy] We read this stuff.
Now, I want to go back to the video
of you bashing in the door with the bat
and you throwing rocks at the window.
And keep in mind you're partially disabled
because of your right shoulder and your right hip.
Let's take a look at that video.
I want to see how bad your right shoulder was.
What hand is your bat in?
Right.
[clattering]
Any pain in your right arm
when you're bashing on the door with your right arm?
No.
Let's take a look at how your right shoulder feels
when you're throwing these rocks.
I pay very close attention to what people say.
Even when they come in and promise to tell the truth.
There you go. Right arm. Was your arm hurting there?
What about there? What about there? What about there?
Fraud. Worker's comp fraud.
I can understand exactly why this guy wanted you to sign an order
promising not to have him arrested.
Because you've done it in the past before.
I know exactly why he wanted to do that.
You think all that's going to work out well
when you go back for custody in court?
Because he's going to be able to show that all to the judge.
I have nothing further.
- [DiMango] You good? - [Acker] Mm-hmm.
We're going to retire to deliberate. The witnesses can take their seats again.
Here's how I'm seeing this case.
Everything except for the property damage, I want to dismiss.
I think that's too intertwined with the child support.
Who owes who, what for rent.
That's all about custodial parenting obligations.
I want to get rid of all that.
I want to consider his damages for the door.
Full stop. He submitted them.
And then I saw clearly evidence of the rocks hitting the door.
Good catch on the worker's comp fraud, but that part of the case to me is clear.
I totally agree. I want to dismiss everything.
The only thing we do have by both admission and video are the damages.
I think he's established those damages to our satisfaction
by showing us the photographs.
And I'm willing to reimburse him that portion.
That's where I'm ready to go.
- That's where I started. - Agreed.
Full amount, we're looking at $5,285.
- Sounds good. - I'm good with that.
There we go.
Court is back in session,
parties are reminded you're still under oath.
- Thank you, Byrd. - [Bailiff] Mm-hmm.
We've reached a verdict and it's unanimous.
Uh, I will say this.
I'm happy to see that, notwithstanding all of the drama
that predated your court appearance,
that at least both of you were able to come to court
and comport yourselves in a way that are not consistent with the tumult
of your relationship in advance of this.
And part of the reason that that's so gratifying is that you have a child.
And he needs both of you to adult up. It is going to be hard.
And you know this, for your child.
He needs the two of you acting right,
not showing up throwing rocks and banging things around with bats.
You know, Mr. Amey, we're dismissing a lot of your lawsuit.
We're dismissing your claim for rent and the like.
All of that is tied up in the child support obligation.
Not so with respect to the property damage, Ms. Scott.
We saw what you did. You saw what you did.
You know what you did, and you know it was wrong.
And even if he acted completely inappropriately,
and I think you knew she was there. I think you could have let her in.
That does not excuse what you did.
And we are going to hold you liable for that property damage.
Because you admitted it, we saw it,
and we're gonna order you to pay Mr. Amey $5,285.
We cannot order you to be good parents,
but it really is our hope and prayer that you try.
Your countersuit's dismissed.
The judgment of this court is for $5,285 in your favor, sir.
Thank you.
[Bailiff] Parties are excused. You may step out.
Since I was living there, I just got done doing Uber.
It's like two, three in the morning. He wasn't asleep.
She said she wasn't coming back. And I never knew where she went.
She showed back up around three, four in the morning,
I was asleep.
He was really out there taunting me for hours.
You know, nobody wants to come home
and can't get in the house and really be...
screaming and pressing the doorbell like, you know, I don't want to do that.
I cannot pay child support each month while my son is here with me.
And I'm taking care of my son.
And now, finally, you're letting me be a father to my son.
I appreciate that.
You have to be a mom or dad from the start.
You can't just pick up and think you're going to be a dad today.
I just want to be there for my son.
You never can take a break from being a parent.
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[theme music playing]