This story is odd. Seriously.
[announcer] Today on Tribunal Justice.
You were gonna hold this dog for ransom
until she paid your money.
And I’m like, "I’m never gonna get my money back."
And I need my money.
And you keep the puppy.
I didn’t look at it like that.
That’s crazy talk.
[announcer] This case was filed in Noblesville, Indiana.
This is case # 1021 on the calendar
in the matter of Molden v. Spice.
Parties have been sworn in. You may be seated.
-[Tanya] Thank you, Byrd. -[Byrd] You’re welcome, Judge.
Miss Molden,
you loaned the plaintiff $200
to buy a beautiful little puppy.
This is the puppy.
[Molden] Yes. There’s my heart.
[Tanya] You loaned her this money to buy the puppy.
-She promised to pay you back. -Yeah.
[Tanya] She then abandoned the puppy for two days with you.
And then, the day before she was supposed to pay you back,
she filed a protective order against you.
So you are suing her for the $200
that you say you loaned her to buy this gorgeous creature.
Miss Spice, you say you owe her nothing.
You actually tried to pay her back.
She wouldn’t take your money because she said
that the dog was partially hers.
-Who’s got the dog now? -I do.
[Tanya] You have the dog.
But you still haven’t paid her the money.
I know you wanted a dog for a really long time,
because you point out in your answer--
You, in fact, tried to buy a dog online
prior to this incident,
and you got scammed out of $1,200.
How did that happen?
It was a breeder off Marketplace.
And they had sent me all the documentation,
actually the logistics that the puppy was going
to be shipped over from Georgia.
And then once it got to Georgia,
they said the puppy was in distress,
and the puppy might have had COVID,
and it would have been an additional $1,200
to buy a puppy a mask and a breathing device.
And so I knew it was a scam at that point.
And somehow, they managed to keep the money that you sent.
-Right. -[Tanya] So cut to June,
when you go to a pet store with your friend, Miss Molden.
Which I should have never invited her to go.
-[Tanya] Well, but you did. -I know.
[Tanya] And now we’re here.
So the two of you go to the pet store.
And, Miss Molden, you loan the defendant $200.
There’s a puppy you fell in love with.
What’s the puppy’s name?
Kayla Joy Spice.
[Tanya] You fell in love with Kayla Joy.
You didn’t have enough money for Kayla Joy,
so you loaned her $200.
You put that $200 on your credit card?
I did.
So in June,
you go with her to get the puppy.
You pay the $200.
Who takes the puppy home that day?
-I did. -So you take the puppy home.
The next day, the two of you have lunch.
And, Miss Molden, what you say is that during that lunch,
the defendant had too much to drink.
And you took the puppy home.
Talk to me about that.
That’s not actually how--
[Tanya] That’s what you said.
"At lunch, Carrie drank more than expected
"and ended up leaving her dog with my daughter
and goddaughter overnight."
That’s your complaint. Your words, your complaint.
She showed up at my office unannounced
-and brought her puppy. -[Tanya] Were you friend?
-[Molden] We were. -So you were friends.
So was it offensive that your friend showed up
with the new puppy and said, "Hey, let’s have lunch"?
[Molden] It was her erratic behavior.
And I told her, I can’t go to lunch.
I’m working, and--
[Tanya] But did you not go to lunch with her?
You don’t say no to Carrie Spice.
[Tanya] I’m not sure if this case is about your $200,
or if it’s about the fact that you guys
just wanted to show up and sling mud at each other,
so understand you got to prove the case.
-Yeah. -So she showed up.
She insisted you have lunch with the cute puppy.
Mean her.
You went to the lunch.
And so then what happened?
She left her puppy at the office with the three girls.
[Tanya] Okay, so did you leave the puppy?
No. She asked permission to have the dog.
Her family member had just gotten out of the hospital
and asked if she could take care of the dog.
[Tanya] That’s what was really interesting,
because in your complaint, Miss Molden,
you suggest that she abandon the dog with you
because she was drunk.
In your answer,
you say that she asked to have the little gorgeous puppy
for a day or two
because of a sick friend.
So I looked in the text messages.
I didn’t see anything, you know, where you were like,
"Hey, you’ve abandoned the dog
because you were so drunk at lunch."
Did you have a sick relative?
Well, she never came back and got the puppy.
[Tanya] I’m asking a question. Did you have a sick relative?
-[Molden] I did. -So you say that had nothing
to do with you keeping the puppy.
-I never asked for the puppy. -[Tanya] The defendant says
you wanted the puppy to keep this family member company.
So after she left the dog with you,
was there some communication from you where you said,
"Hey, why’d you leave your dog here?"
Well, we went to lunch and she was supposed to come back,
and she never came back from lunch, but I came back.
And I locked up the office,
and the girls took the puppy home.
To my home.
And then I took video of it
and sent it to her.
And then she was out partying still.
She didn’t want to come back,
so I told her I’d just keep the puppy.
"I just want to party all the time,
and you keep the puppy."
This story is odd. Seriously.
You all have some stuff going on.
What is this text message?
"You pushed me around in my office
"in front of all the office staff the other day
and totally humiliated me"?
I sent that to her.
[Tanya] Okay, so when did you send this?
I don’t remember the date that I sent it,
but it was within that two days.
[Tanya] What were the circumstances
that gave rise to you sending this message?
What was this being pushed around in the office?
What happened?
She came to my office
and made me leave and go to lunch with her.
She wouldn’t take no for an answer.
So she pushed you around by making you go to lunch.
Yes. She would not take no for an answer.
[Tanya] What happened at that lunch?
How horrible was it?
She invited this gentleman
that she wanted me to meet,
because he was a so-called "millionaire."
And I told her I didn’t want to meet anybody.
-I was in a relationship. -[Tanya] Yeah, I saw.
There was another text message
where you seemed to be upset
that she was trying to set you up with some guy,
and you wanted to say single, or you were seeing somebody,
or you wanted no part of it.
No, I wasn’t upset about that.
The only thing I’m upset about,
I went to the pet store with her.
When we got to the pet store,
she was at the register checking out,
paying for the puppy, and turns and looks at me and says,
"Do you have $200 I could borrow?
I’ll pay you back on Friday."
And I said, "Sure."
[Tanya] And she was supposed to pay you back by Friday.
There were some demands for repayment in advance of that.
You kept saying, "Where’s the money?"
And then horrible insults back and forth.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
This is about $200.
You gave her $200 for a puppy,
you owe her $200.
I mean, I don’t know what we’re talking about here.
I don’t care about your fights. I don’t care about the dates.
I don’t care how many millionaires you deal with.
I really don’t care.
[announcer] Patricia Molden is suing
her former friend, Carrie Spice,
for an unpaid puppy loan.
Carrie claims she had to file a restraining order
against Patricia.
So why the heck did you file a TRO against her
the day before you were supposed to pay her back?
Because she was blowing up my phone,
and I work for high-end investors,
and I talk to million-dollar people on the phone.
And I’m trying to do a transaction,
and she’s blowing up my phone.
And so she would not stop--
-[Tanya] Blowing up your phone. -My work phone.
-Asking for $200? -Yes.
But was she threatening you?
-[Spice] She was harassing me. -No, no, no.
She was harassing you. When you say "harassment,"
you mean she was asking for the money.
This is how she was harassing me.
I want you to give me some evidence
of a threat that gave rise to a protective order.
Okay.
[Tanya] I think that filing a protective order
because someone’s calling you, asking you to pay them back
the money that they loaned you,
that’s an abuse of the legal system.
-It wasn’t about the money. -[Tanya] Judge DiMango?
This is about $200. You gave her $200 for a puppy.
You owe her $200.
I mean, I don’t know what we’re talking about here.
I don’t care about your fights. I don’t care about the dates.
I don’t care how many millionaires you deal with.
I really don’t care.
Why don’t you owe her $200? Why?
I tried to give it to her back, Your Honor.
[Patricia] What do you mean you tried?
I said, "Come over and pick up your 200,
and bring my playpen." The dog’s playpen.
And she said, "No. Everything has to be about you."
I said, "Come get your $200."
And what is it that you could offer us?
Why don’t we step up?
And you are who?
-I’m Bell. I’m her daughter. -[Patricia] Okay, Bell.
I was the family member who was in the hospital.
I’d gotten out of the hospital.
Carrie Spice said that my mom
had asked if we could have the puppy,
but we hadn’t even pulled out of the hospital parking lot yet,
and she called my mom and asked me
if I could watch her puppy for an hour.
Wait, wait. You’re in the car with your mother,
and you hear your mother’s side of this conversation.
Or do you hear her? Is it on the speaker in the car?
No, Carrie had called my mom and asked to talk to me.
-[Patricia] Okay. -So my mom gave me the phone.
-[Patricia] Okay. -And I talked to Carrie.
-And she had-- -She had the puppy at home.
-[Bell] Yes. -So far, this true?
Did you speak to her on the phone?
Go on.
And she asked me if I would mind
watching her puppy for an hour or two
while she went to lunch in Cornwall, and I--
That makes sense. You didn’t do that?
What did you do? You didn’t take the puppy to lunch with you.
Patricia called the day before and said, "Can I please have--"
[Patricia] Did you have a conversation with either of them
-regarding the dog? -The day before, yes.
[Patricia] That you were gonna go to lunch?
With Patricia. Patricia asked permission
to have the dog because her daughter
was getting out of the hospital and it would help her.
Did you want to have the dog in your company?
I wasn’t aware of the dog until I got the phone call,
but I’m not gonna turn down a puppy.
So you get this phone call, you get the dog.
You have it. You have the dog now?
-Yes. -[Patricia] And is the dog
helping you recover or feel better in some way?
-Yes. -[Patricia] Okay.
Because, you see, the whole issue here that I’m having is...
But once again, back to the ridiculousness of this.
You have this dog maybe for two days.
Whether or not she gives it to you so she feels better,
whether or not she does it so she can find millionaires
to fix you up with, you know, whatever happens here,
it’s two days.
I don’t necessarily see an abandonment of property.
So for you to think she abandoned it
and then it now belonged to you, I find very incredulous.
Now you, on the other hand,
you now go and get an order of protection.
How long were you two friends?
Ten years, but I don’t ever want to be friends with her again.
[Patricia] Okay, that’s fine. That’s great. That’s up to you.
So you were friends for ten years.
Before this moment of enlightenment
where she doesn’t want to be your friend anymore,
you guys must have done a lot of things together.
-Yes? No? -Yes.
[Patricia] Okay.
I’ll behave.
I will.
The reason I got the order--
See? I knew if I kept quiet long enough,
she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.
--is because she was telling people
that I had venereal diseases.
[Patricia] Bottom line is,
you say she claims that she offered you an opportunity
to get this money. Is that true?
I mean, I would have stayed away from her too.
No, Your Honor. It’s not true.
What are you crying about?
For goodness’ sakes, it’s $200.
[Molden] I know.
[Patricia] Judge Levy?
Miss, Molden, did you ever believe
that you had some type of a possessory interest
in this puppy?
No. I knew she wasn’t gonna pay me back,
because she was the one--
-[Adam] Hold on. -[Molden] I’m sorry.
[Adam] That’s okay. You answered my question.
You thought that maybe you kind of did have
a possessory interest in this dog?
[Molden] My attitude was,
I wasn’t going to let my daughter
and my goddaughter return the puppy
until she paid me, because the chain of events
that was unfolding, I’m like,
"I’m never gonna get my money back.
I’m leaving for vacation. I need my money."
So in the law, we kind of call that
holding something for ransom.
-Right? -Yeah. That wasn’t right.
-But I did. -[Adam] That wasn’t right.
For eight hours, I did.
Yes.
You were willing
to withhold that puppy
from its rightful owner
for ransom until she paid you back the 200 bucks.
For the evening, yeah--
-[Adam] I don’t care... -Yes, you’re correct
-...if it was for a minute. -Yes. It was wrong. Yes, I did.
And not only were you willing
to hold the dog ransom,
but you also sent her a text message
in which you told her you were gonna hold this dog
until she paid your money.
I did.
-Not proud. -[Adam] You’re not proud.
And you shouldn’t be.
And your daughter, thank you for being here, by the way.
You understand that what your mom did was extremely wrong.
Yes, sir.
[Adam] I want to ask you something.
You were in the hospital. You better now?
-Yes. -[Adam] Good. I’m glad.
Are you here testifying that you did not know
anything about this puppy while you were in the hospital?
You knew about the puppy.
I knew they were at the pet store,
but I didn’t know they had actually bought a puppy.
But you knew that your mom was going to the pet store
with her friend to buy a puppy.
-Yes, sir. -[Adam] And it was something
that it would have been nice for you to have in the hospital,
or when you got out of the hospital,
to keep you company.
-Yes. -You said something about that
when you started testifying earlier
about why it was that you allowed the plaintiff
to have the dog, is that right?
And it had nothing to do with drinking alcohol.
-No, Your Honor. -[Adam] That was my recollection
-of your testimony. -I’ve been friends
with Patricia and Bella.
I picked up Bella from school.
I’ve taken Bella out for breakfast.
I have taken her over to my house and fed her dinner.
[Adam] I get it.
Do you feel like that you’re sort of in the middle
between your mom and your mom’s friend?
And your friend?
-Yes. -[Adam] Not a good place to be.
But I thank you for being here.
You can have a seat. Thank you.
Okay, so now we know
that you were holding a dog for ransom.
I didn’t look at it like that.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
Defendant said, "Drop off my dog at your house
"and I’ll pay you Friday like I told you,
and stay out of my life."
And is it any wonder
that she filed an order of protection against you?
Are you surprised about that?
I would have.
[Adam] You actually said,
"I paid $200 for that puppy.
"So there, little girl.
"That puppy is half mine.
How do you like that?"
That’s what you texted to her.
-Yeah, that was terrible. -[Adam] That was terrible.
And is it any wonder that she filed
an order of protection against you?
Are you surprised about that?
I would have.
That’s crazy talk.
"You can have the puppy once you pay me back," right?
-Yes. -And in response to that text,
defendant said, "Drop off my dog at your house
"and I’ll pay you Friday like I told you,
and stay out of my life."
That’s what she texted to you.
-Mm-hmm. -[Adam] Right?
I got a question here.
In part of the evidence that you presented to us
was a letter from a store manager...
-Yes. -...at the puppy store,
in which you told her that you were coming to court.
You asked her to write you a letter, right?
Just an evidence letter that she’s written
as me loaning her the money, yes.
[Adam] So you explained to her
what the case was about.
That you wanted to sue the defendant for the $200 back,
and that you explained to her
that you needed this letter to support your case, right?
I thought that was a good character witness letter.
And did you think that this letter helped you?
-[Molden] I would hope so. -Are you denying
that she loaned you the $200?
-No. -[Adam] Did you have any problem
paying her the money back?
-No. -[Adam] The playpen issue
that you brought up...
It was a dog playpen I let her borrow.
-It was like a $100 value. -[Adam] Is that true?
Did she say to you that she was gonna pay you back
the $200 if you gave her back the dog and the playpen?
Think about your answer carefully.
I know. I’m just trying to go through everything,
because there was just so much craziness in all of that.
[Adam] Well, I don’t care about there’s so much craziness.
You presented evidence to the court, to the three of us,
in which you included a text message from the defendant
in which she said, "I’ll happily pay you back the $200,
as long as you give me back the playpen and the dog."
The girls already gave her the puppy back.
"I’ll pay her the money when she returns my playpen I gave her
to borrow for the puppy."
-Right. -That’s the text that she sent.
-Is that right, young lady? -[Bell] Yes, sir.
There you go, right? So her testimony was accurate.
When you had this letter signed, did you tell the manager
that you refused to return the puppy,
and that you held her ransom?
-Um... -[Adam] Nope?
-Probably not. -[Adam] Probably not.
Because that wouldn’t have been something
that was helpful to you, right?
-I’m all done. -[Tanya] Thanks, Judge.
What I don’t understand, Miss Spice,
is why you didn’t write her a check
for the money.
You know, it’s 2022.
We don’t have to meet each other
in our covered wagons to repay our debts.
You could write a check and put it in the mail.
So why did you not do that?
Because I did an order protection against her,
and I’m not speaking to her,
and that was granted for two years.
So I will not communicate with her.
[Tanya] So according to you,
that order of protection means
that no money can transfer from your hands to her hands.
You think that an order of protection means
you don’t have to pay back your debts?
-No. -No, let’s be real clear.
-[Spice] Or see her. -Let’s be really clear.
So you chose not to pay her back.
You could have gone to the post office
and bought a money order.
You could have gone to a local store and bought a money order.
You did not do any of those things, correct?
-No, I called her. -No, it’s a yes or no.
Did you do any of those things?
No, I did not do that.
I work three jobs and I’m a single mom,
and I support myself.
In your three jobs as a single mom...
-[Spice] I did not have time. -"Payable to you," right?
And signing your name
and putting it in that mailbox.
I’m way too busy for that.
A lot of really interesting things
have come out in this case,
and they are not helpful to either of you.
I don’t need you to validate me. Just be quiet, please.
-Okay. -[Tanya] I’m good, Judge.
She can’t. We’re gonna retire to deliberate, thank you.
[Byrd] Court is now in recess.
You may step out.
Truly, my friends, if I had my way,
I would swoop in and take the dog away from all of this drama
and rescue her,
and give her a normal home.
I don’t see how she doesn’t owe her the money.
I’m a little confused as to why
she had to file a lawsuit,
and why she wanted to come to court to do this
when there was another option, I think, for of them.
But it seems clear to me that it’s $200,
as annoying as they both were.
[Patricia] I don’t even know how they were friends.
Yeah, I mean, there’s no dispute that she borrowed the $200.
But I have to agree with you.
At this point in the evidence,
and I’m hoping you got something to say,
she gets the $200.
I understand exactly, I think, what the case is about.
In my opinion, the defendant,
who was willing to pay the $200.
She acknowledged right away that she owed the money.
She didn’t say it was a gift, as we hear so many times.
Because the plaintiff held her puppy for ransom.
And she didn’t like that.
The defendant believed that the plaintiff
acted so inappropriately by holding her dog ransom
when she, the defendant, went out of her way
to let the plaintiff have the dog
for her daughter that was in the hospital,
which the plaintiff didn’t want to give up right away.
She was trying to figure any way that she could avoid answering.
And it wasn’t until her daughter came up...
-Sure did. -And that’s exactly right.
So the defendant knows fully well
that she’s paying that $200 back.
I’m just confused that the defendant,
who says that she works three jobs,
she spends a lot of time in courts
doing nonsense stuff.
You’re going to superior court, taking up court time,
which of course makes it more difficult for legitimate cases
to get into court.
And it delays justice for others.
But she’s willing to do all of that.
For someone who’s so busy,
it seems like it doesn’t take that much time
to just write a check.
We have to order her to pay $200.
I don’t think it’s gonna be a surprise to the defendant.
-She knows she owes the money. -She said her peace.
She wanted someone to acknowledge
and to accuse, as I did,
the plaintiff of holding her puppy ransom.
She’s happy.
And she’s gonna pay the $200, I agree with you.
-So we’re unanimous. -Yes.
Very good.
Court is back in session.
Parties are reminded you’re still under oath.
-[Tanya] Thank you, Byrd. -[Byrd] You’re welcome.
You know, Miss Molden, we are unanimous
in sustaining your complaint
and awarding you this $200.
But we’re also unanimous in thinking that this case
is a wild waste of court resources.
You all showed up to taunt each other
and waste our time.
The legal issues are clear and they’re not hard.
You loaned her $200, you owed her $200.
But you decided to drag it out and engage in your drama.
So the law requires
that we order the defendant to pay you this $200.
Frankly, you both should be paying us
for wasting our time with this blather.
That’s the judgment of the court.
-[Byrd] This case is concluded. Parties are excused.
She just wanted to keep my puppy.
I guess the entire friendship,
they’ve just never, like, really fully gotten along.
So it’s like for their friendship,
it’s kind of normal.
For her to do this just shows her character.
I thought that they did a great job.
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