[Judge Levy] You get stopped by a New York state trooper
- and you took off like a bat outta hell. - Yes.
[siren wailing]
[woman] We have a [indistinct].
Each one of those officers has somebody
who is praying that they come home safely.
She told me not to stop.
And she was like, "No, just keep going."
You knew there were drugs in the car.
At the time, no, I did not.
[laughs] Even I find that funny.
You two should be in jail.
[announcer] Now on Tribunal Justice.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]
[announcer] Today's case was filed in Buffalo, New York.
[Cassandra] Your Honor, this is case 2013,
Lucas versus Dillon.
All parties have been sworn in.
- Thank you, Cassandra. - [Cassandra] You may be seated.
There's Bonnie and Clyde.
There's Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.
There's Thelma and Louise.
And now we have Lucas and Dillon.
Two high school friends.
You leave Rochester, New York
to go on a graduation road trip in your new car,
and instead you go on a two-day crime spree.
You getting arrested for DWI,
to both of you getting arrested for possession of marijuana,
stealing your car out of a lot,
having your tires ripped up
by police spike strips.
You blame her,
you say she owes you $5,000,
and you here are arguing that this is not your fault.
And now your pocketbook, your clothes,
and your diamond ring were stolen.
You blame her.
You believe she did it,
you owe her nothing.
So why don't you, Ms. Lucas,
tell us how this all started.
When you first left home,
where did you leave home from?
- From Buffalo, New York. - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
So you leave from Buffalo, and now what? What happens?
We were going to see people that was in jail.
Well, mind you, she has a boyfriend.
She was going to see a different dude.
I'm going to see, he was my boyfriend at the time.
- Okay. So... - [Judge DiMango] Wait, wait.
You're driving your car.
Did you have a driver's license
- back then? - No.
[Judge DiMango] Did you take a road test?
At the time, no, I did not.
I have in your papers here
that you failed the road test the day before.
- Okay. - Okay, what?
I caught you in a lie? Come on.
- What do you think-- - No, that wasn't a lie.
- But I'm... - It can't be that easy.
Like I--that was not a lie.
I did not take a--I took a road test
the day before, but you didn't say when.
And I failed it. Yes, I did.
[Judge DiMango] And you failed it.
- Did you have a license? - Yes, ma'am.
[Judge DiMango] Did you have a driver's license at the time
that you were driving her vehicle?
Yes, but they were suspended. I didn't...
Yeah, you don't have a license
to drive that's suspended.
You either have a driver's license that valid or you don't.
You got several summonses for not having a valid license.
- Yes or no? - Yes.
Back to you, Thelma.
[laughter]
[Judge DiMango] And you, I know you think it's funny.
- How old are you? - [Paulette] I'm 19.
- And how old are you? - Twenty.
For your ages are already off
to a worse road trip than your car took you on.
So now you're driving, you're going to see your beau
and her friend or whatever, and you get pulled over
- for a DWI, correct? - Correct.
[Judge DiMango] And they say you're high.
- I wasn't. - [Judge DiMango] No, not at all, right?
- Because I wasn't. - Did they take any breathalyzer
or blood tests from you?
So they took a breathalyzer,
and then she said that I failed the breathalyzer.
So then she said that she had to arrest me and tow my vehicle,
- and she would release me... - [Judge DiMango] Oh, sure,
'cause you don't have a license.
And they can't let her drive it. She doesn't have a license.
So now they take a blood test from you, don't they?
Yes. It came back and I was not high.
[Judge DiMango] No, it came back that you had marijuana in your system.
But I was not high. I smoked marijuana...
- [Judge DiMango] Oh, I see. - ... but I was not high at the time.
See, you're a woman of distinction.
And I don't even mean that you're special and classy.
You're a woman of distinction that
if it's not said exactly the way you think it should be said,
then you must be telling the truth.
I'm not gonna lie and say that I don't smoke marijuana.
I do smoke marijuana, but at the time I was not high.
Your definition of high
and the law's definition of high
are two separate things.
So an alcoholic could have five drinks
and still feel like he's not drunk,
but nevertheless, he is under the law.
You, ma'am, came back testing positive for marijuana.
- They impounded your car, correct? - Yes.
[Judge DiMango] And did they put it in a lot?
No, it wasn't even behind the gate.
[Judge DiMango] It wasn't even behind the gate.
They just take your car, 'cause they're very trusty in upstate.
Down in the city, we don't trust anybody.
So they gave my keys and everything to Nalisa.
- [Judge DiMango] Did you get the keys? - Yes.
[Judge DiMango] So now you are in jail
or do they--what do they do with you?
No, they just took me to the hospital,
took blood work,
then they took me back to the state trooper hub,
then they let me go.
So she said, "Let's get in the car.
Let's go get the car." We went and got the car.
[Judge DiMango] You decide you're gonna just take it out of there, right?
Yeah, we pull off the lot.
And on the way back to Buffalo,
before I got on the highway, I was taking back roads.
- On the back roads, I hit a deer. - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
Let's see the car before you hit the deer.
Ah, I love this one.
We're not seeing the better end of you in court apparently,
the better end of you we are seeing now.
[laughter]
That's your car before the deer.
[Nalisa] Uh-hmm.
And let's see, I think we have another picture of the car.
This one is after the deer.
Those are the side tires.
The reason why the tires are shredded--
which one of you wants to tell us?
[Paulette] So after the deer,
she purposely hit the deer
because the deer already made it to the grass.
The deer was already across the street.
So wait, are you telling me that she took the car
and started aiming at a deer that...
- Oh. Oh, yes, definitely. - ... was running away?
That was definitely on purpose.
No, ma'am.
It was--it was dark outside and there--
where we were on the back roads,
there was no, um, street lights so...
And you had to take the back roads, right?
Because you couldn't be seen
- on the main roads, correct? - Yes.
[Judge DiMango] And also, why else did you have to take the back roads?
- Because... - Because of the three pounds of marijuana
that were in the car?
Three p...
- [Judge DiMango] Hmm? - Yeah.
[Judge DiMango] So now you're running away,
taking back roads
because you have three pounds of marijuana in the car.
And she done hit the deer.
[Judge DiMango] The deer is not here to complain.
What is she saying to you during the ride?
Um, so basically, when the police first got behind us,
they were trying to pull us over
for the headlight that the deer had took out.
[Judge DiMango] Okay. So now the deer breaks your headlight,
which causes the police--they chase you.
- What do you do? - I was speeding.
You were speeding. How fast were you going?
Um, I wanna say...
Over a hundred miles per hour.
Thank you for giving her up so quickly.
But you're correct.
The police officer's police report,
he writes that he couldn't even keep up with you
at a hundred and ten.
Do you know how many innocent lives are taken
by people like the two of you,
where other individuals are driving along?
Because you don't pull over, do you?
No. They put out a spike strip.
They put out spike strips.
So that means that all the tires are ripped up.
They've got to arrest you both
'cause neither one of you has a license.
Let's see, I think we have a video of this.
So let's take a look at that.
What you say is that they impound the car
and in impounding the car, they have to search the car.
And when they do that, they find three pounds of marijuana.
They charge you both with that.
You have to get a lawyer, correct?
Which is part of what you're suing her for.
You're saying she owes you $2,000 for a lawyer.
You had to get new tires.
You want her to pay for the tires,
and that's of course, if I don't believe
that the two of you are doing what we call in New York,
I mean you two both should be familiar,
you have friends in prison, you know prisoners,
you should be familiar somewhat with the law
of the law of acting in concert,
which means that when two people are acting together
with the same mental culpability,
with the same mindset,
and you help one another,
- you request that they do something... - No, I told her to slow down.
- [Judge DiMango] You are both... - Definitely did.
[Judge DiMango] ... responsible for what happens in the end.
Now you, you claimed that she put sugar in your gas tank
and in support of that,
you have a picture that you've submitted.
Actually, there's so much sugar on this,
it looks as though you could have been baking a cake
inside that thing there.
How do you know she did that?
Because she's the only person that I have a problem with,
and she had been texting my phone
about the damages done to her car
and I told her that,
you know, I wanted my belongings that were in her car.
So what belongings do you say were in her car?
[Nalisa] My engagement ring.
What would possess you?
See, 'cause I don't believe this either.
With all that you two were doing,
you said, you know, I think the best place for this engagement ring
will be in this car
that we have been driving while high,
on a high-speed chase,
ripping up our tires, stealing outta car lots.
I think this is a safe place for my ring.
You think I believe that?
And by the way, the car was impounded twice.
What would make you think Thelma stole it?
I don't have any proof that she did take it...
- [Judge DiMango] That's correct. - ...when I asked her about my...
[Judge DiMango] You don't have any proof.
When I asked her about my belongings that was left in her car
after she got the car back, 'cause I called the impound
- and they told me... - So was it your position that
the reason you're not paying her for anything
is 'cause you believe that she was the one
who stole your property,
made your car a cake,
and is that it?
No, 'cause I told her I would help her pay for her car.
- I told her that. - But when you got back to Buffalo,
you act like you don't have no money.
[Judge DiMango] Well, I think the two of you...
- So you didn't even buy your own car yet. - ... have entertained me sufficiently
with your saga and your crime spree.
- So Judge Levy? - [Judge Levy] So if you have no money,
and you really don't have all that much money...
- Yes. - [Judge Levy] Where'd you come up
with the money to buy three pounds of weed?
And what were you taking three pounds of weed to the prison for?
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
Ah, we just got pulled over, right?
- [Paulette chuckles] - [Judge Levy] The lights
behind the vehicle, that's the officer
who just pulled you over.
Your position is that you were not high.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Paulette Lucas is suing former friend,
Nalisa Dillon, for car damages
she claims Nalisa caused to her car
while fleeing the police.
Nalisa says Paulette ordered her to keep driving
until a police spike strip ended their road trip.
Where'd you come up with the money to buy three pounds of weed?
And what were you taking three pounds of weed to the prison for?
I wasn't taking it to nobody.
[Judge Levy] No, you just drive around
with three pounds of marijuana in the car for fun?
No, it was for my per-- it was for my personal uses.
- I wasn't taking it to nobody. - [Judge Levy] Three pounds of weed
for your personal use? Where'd you get the money to buy it?
Um, I work.
How much did you pay for that three pounds of weed?
Um, like 120.
- [Judge Levy] Hundred and twenty dollars? - Yeah.
[laughter]
Even I find that funny.
Uh-hmm.
Let's bring this all back.
It's June 24th, 2023.
You two decide to drive
from where you live in Buffalo.
That's the northwest territory of New York.
And you decide to go to Malone, New York,
four counties away.
Takes about five hours
- to get there, right? - Yes.
So you're going to visit your boyfriend
in one of the jails
and you leave the jail
and you are driving now to the jail
- where your friend is, is that right? - Correct.
[Judge Levy] And it's at that time that you get stopped
by a New York state trooper
- because you were speeding. - Correct.
[Judge Levy] And how fast were you going?
I probably was going like 65,
- 70 or something like that. - [Judge Levy] Look, look at me.
[Paulette] I really don't. I don't know...
- Look at me. - [Paulette] ... at the time.
What about a hundred? Were you going a hundred?
No, definitely was not.
Now, you do not have a valid driver's license
and you smoked pot that day in the car
and that's when the police officer approaches, right?
Correct.
[Judge Levy] You were arrested,
put in the back of the police car, correct?
- Correct. - You then get taken to a hospital
- and you get a blood draw? - Correct.
[Judge Levy] You come back from the hospital,
you get processed.
It's about what? It's about midnight,
- 1:00 in the morning, now on June 25th. - Correct.
[Judge Levy] And now you're stuck at the state trooper barracks, right?
No. She said that she will let me go,
but due to Nalisa license being suspended
and me being on a permit,
that she has to, um, tow the car.
Okay. So just so I'm clear.
So the trooper clearly told you then
that she was gonna let you go,
but you can't get a hotel room
- 'cause you guys are too young, right? - [Paulette] Correct.
[Judge Levy] Why didn't you call your dad, come pick you up?
I did call my dad.
- [Judge Levy] And... - He said I should have never went,
- which is correct. - Well, good for him.
What about you? Who do you live with?
My grandmother at the time.
[Judge Levy] Why not call grandma and come pick you up
so you don't have to take the car out of impound?
You just chose not to.
No, I called my dad and my stepmom.
Okay. But they wouldn't come out and get you?
- No. - [Judge Levy] So then the two of you
decide the best thing to do at that point
was just to take the vehicle out of impound.
And it was at that time when you're on the back roads
in upstate New York that you hit a deer,
- right? - Yes.
[Judge Levy] And that knocked out your headlight.
That's what caused the police officers to notice the vehicle,
and they tried to stop you and you took off like a bat outta hell,
driving over hundred miles an hour,
- right? - Yes.
Did you think anything up to this point was funny?
I definitely did not--definitely not...
[Judge Levy] You knew you were in trouble, right?
Correct.
[Judge Levy] Because you, you were the one, Ms. Dillon,
who actually took a video of the two of you in the car
after the plaintiff was stopped going 95 miles an hour
and prior to her getting arrested for DWI drugs, right?
- [Nalisa] Yeah. - Play the video.
[Paulette laughs]
Speed limit is 55. Fifty-five.
Ah, we just got pulled over, right?
[laughs]
The police officer came to the--
came to--came to my left side of the car
and going ask her,
"What's the speed limit?"
This [bleep] says 45, she's like, "No.
- It's 55" - [Paulette] But how...
"But how much--how fast do you think you were going?"
Paulette just started laughing.
Lady goes--what you say you said?
- I said 80. [laughs] - [Nalisa] Eighty?
I knew good and well I going 100.
[Judge Levy] That's you saying that you went a hundred.
Add 15 more.
[Judge Levy] The lights, behind the vehicle,
that's the officer who just pulled you over.
And your position is that you were not high.
And none of that was your fault
for getting arrested, is that right?
- I was not high. - [Judge Levy] Okay.
You, for some reason, gave us the toxicology report.
Do we have that--can we put that up there?
This is the toxicology report
- that you gave us? - [Paulette] Correct.
[Judge Levy] So this toxicology report says the blood results
came back positive for THC.
- So you had marijuana in your system. - Okay.
[Judge Levy] And that's all that they needed
for the driving while ability impaired by drugs charge.
Judge Acker.
[Judge Acker] You two should be embarrassed.
You should be too embarrassed to bring this lawsuit.
Because as I understand and digest this case,
the two of you are getting high
and then you give your high friend
the right to drive your car.
And then when your high friend gets into an accident,
you wanna bring her to court?
You two need to be in therapy.
So I understand we have body cam video
of the police officers,
who had to also risk their lives
chasing you two stoned young women.
So I'd like to see that body cam video.
[man] They're gone.
[Judge Acker] Each one of those officers has somebody
who is praying that they come home safely.
[siren wailing]
3:00 AM.
3:12 in the morning.
So I want to go to your defense
because the plaintiff's case
is premised on you not stopping.
You refused to stop.
Did it ever occur to you, "Hey, you know what?
- The jig's up. We should pull over." - Yes.
Why didn't you do it?
[Nalisa] 'Cause she told me not to stop.
She was like, "No, just keep going.
They're going to pull-- or they're going to arrest us."
And she was just yelling at me, telling me to keep going.
[Judge Acker] So why on earth
would you take instruction
from your high friend
who just got booked for driving while under the influence?
But I gotta go back to you, Ms. Lucas.
Yes, ma'am.
[Judge Acker] You wanna sue her
because you made a stupid bad decision
by giving her the keys in the first place?
Um, I didn't give her the keys.
- The cops gave her the keys. - [Judge Acker] Oh, right, right,
the cops gave her the keys.
Did you know that she didn't have a valid license at the time?
She did say that,
but when she hit the deer, she kept going.
I told her that we should call-- we should call the cops
so we can make a report because that's what you're supposed to do.
Can we put up the graphic that shows
where these young ladies
led law enforcement on this high-speed chase?
How long did the chase last?
[Nalisa] It was from Syracuse--
that's like Syracuse from Rochester.
I don't know, like, that's like two hours or hour,
something like that.
[Judge Acker] You traversed four counties
and led these officers on the chase
for over two hours.
And so what's happening in the car at this time?
She was on the phone with her father.
I wasn't too much as paying--
I wasn't paying their conversation no attention
'cause I was too busy driving.
[Judge Acker] So she was on the phone with her father
and you still did not have the presence of mind
to simply stop the car.
Your defense is foolish.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
You admitted to one of my colleagues
that you were going to pay her some money.
- Yes. - Why did you agree to do that?
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Paulette Lucas is suing her former bestie, Nalisa Dillon,
for wrecking her car,
but Nalisa says Paulette instructed her to run from the police
until spike strips ended their wild night out.
You admitted to one of my colleagues
that you were going to pay her some money.
- Yes. - Why did you agree to do that?
Because I told her, um, after everything happened
- that I would help her get her car fixed. - Help me?
- [Judge Acker] You felt like you... - [Nalisa] Yeah.
[Judge Acker] ... bore some responsibility
- because you were driving? - Yes.
[Judge Acker] But then I look at you,
because there's a doctrine in the law,
and it's called assumption of the risk.
And it means that when somebody says,
"You know what? I'm gonna engage in really risky behavior,"
they just have to suck it up.
They have to eat the loss.
For me, the legal issue is whether or not
you should be held to your promise
to pay for at least part of it,
or whether or not you just made a decision so absurdly stupid
that you have to assume the risk
of everything that happened afterward.
- I don't have anything further. - [Judge Levy] I do.
Ms. Dillon, what happened to your criminal charges?
You were charged with aggravated, unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle,
fleeing a police officer,
- and reckless driving, right? - Yes.
[Judge Levy] What happened to those charges?
- They got dismissed. - They got dismissed?
[Nalisa] Yeah, they, um--
instead of giving me all of those, uh, misdemeanors,
they gave me traffic tickets and I had to pay a fine.
That's a win. Merry Christmas.
And what about you?
You were charged with facilitating aggravated,
unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle as a misdemeanor.
What happened to that charge?
I just have to pay a fine.
And the DWI drug charge?
My license was suspended for six months
and I have to pay the DMV 175.
I have nothing further.
- Let me ask you, where is the car now? - Her car?
- I got my car. - [Judge DiMango] Yeah.
- Yeah, she has her car. - You have the car?
- [Paulette] Yes. - You have the new tires on it?
Yes.
- [Judge DiMango] You've been using it? - Yes.
So, really was not even any harm done in that way.
You had to get the car fixed and it's done.
And what about you?
What has changed in your life
that would even let me think
that there was a lesson learned here?
Taking you too long.
No lessons learned by either one of you.
I don't have any other questions.
We're gonna retire to deliberate. Thank you.
- [Nalisa] Uh-hmm. - [Cassandra] Court is now in recess.
Parties may exit.
[dramatic musical sting]
I'm not prepared to award Ms. Lucas
for any of the damages or anything that occurred here.
Just right off the top,
she has a working vehicle that she has at home.
So all of these damages and all that I believe
that they both were acting in tandem with
throughout the course of these two days,
I don't think she should be rewarded for it.
I know that there was a point when the defendant said,
"I was willing to give her something,"
but that doesn't mean that we, as a court,
have to follow through with what she wanted to do.
Plaintiff should have taken it.
Yes, that's right.
But no, they chose to come here and deal with us.
So for me, I'm not willing to give Ms. Lucas anything,
and I wanna dismiss the case.
[Judge Levy] I agree.
When both the plaintiff and the defendant trespassed
onto the first tow company's lot
and took the car without paying,
thereby committing theft of services,
- they acted in concert. - [Judge DiMango] Uh-hmm.
When the plaintiff allowed the defendant to drive the car,
they acted in concert.
And when they were both driving like Thelma and Louise
through four counties,
upwards of a hundred to a hundred and fifteen miles an hour...
With the marijuana in the car.
With three pounds of marijuana in the car,
- they were acting in concert. - Absolutely.
[Judge Levy] Uh, as to Tanya,
you were absolutely right.
The legal theory of assumption of risk applies.
In other terms, um,
play stupid games, win stupid prizes.
I think that's perfectly said.
They were in this mess together,
and I think the plaintiff's just gonna have to eat the cost.
[Judge Levy] I will just add one very quick point.
I believed the defendant
when she said that the plaintiff told her
not to stop during that trip.
And the reason is because the plaintiff knew
that police were chasing her.
And because they were only chasing her
for, uh, an equipment violation,
the protocols of the sheriff's department
are to back off the chase,
don't risk someone's life because of a simple...
- Of the traffic. - ... traffic infraction.
So the plaintiff knew
that some police had already backed off.
The police report went on and explained that
state troopers picked up the car on the throughway
and they were the ones to follow her for two hours.
So the plaintiff's thinking, "Hey, the cops are just gonna back off
like the last ones did, so keep going."
That's why I believe what the defendant said.
Ultimately, it doesn't change our decision.
- No. She's still... - Um, with anything,
- it would've [indistinct]. - She's still being a part
- of a criminal team. - [laughs]
- Right. - That's it.
[dramatic musical sting]
[Cassandra] Court is back in session.
All parties are reminded that you're still under oath.
Thank you, Cassandra.
Well, Thelma, Louise,
we all are unanimous here.
And what's pretty clear to us
was that this criminal escapade
was really something you both derived pleasure
and enjoyment from.
You were both in it equally.
You were both acting in concert
from the day you started out
on your visit to prison.
We were unanimous.
Neither one of you came across as credible
on almost every point.
And so to give you anything when you still have a working vehicle,
- I think... - I have to get a new one.
[Judge DiMango] ... we would all be remiss...
- It's not fully [indistinct]. - [Judge DiMango] ... in our obligations.
And there we go, proof positive
of how little, if anything,
you have learned.
So this was not a situation of a lesson learned.
Oh, it was, because I stopped talking to her.
Definitely was.
And you're not gonna stop.
So therefore, ma'am, it is with great pleasure I say
that we are going to award you absolutely nothing...
- That's cool. - ... and dismiss your case unanimously.
- [Paulette] Okay. - [gavel bangs]
[Cassandra] This case has concluded. You're excused.
[theme music plays]
It got outta control because she was driving.
It wasn't out of control when I was driving.
She was the one going a hundred and fifty-five.
The cop was right there hiding and he came out.
She was being, like, really irate with the police,
just like standing there bobbing her head and stuff.
I'm like, "Ooh."
She slows down and let the deer go across the road.
The deer is already over there.
How did you hit the deer? Get out of here.
I didn't purposely hit a deer.
That makes no sense.
I could have died. That's why I obviously sue her.
And she, um--she said she was gonna give me money,
but she obviously didn't 'cause she broke
and she know she don't got no money.
I ain't never talk to that girl again. [laughs]
I ain't never talk to that girl again.
[announcer] Are you being sued?
Let Tribunal Justice decide your case.
Find us on social media at Tribunal Justice.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]