02x121 - Child Abuse Allegation Nightmare (Part 1)

[bunniefuu]

It all started over a parking space.

She's called the police over this
multiple times.

Mine was parked there first.

Who cares?

There is no entitlement to park
right in front of your house.

It's a public street!

I don't care if you park on Mars.

[announcer]
This is Judy Justice.

Lynette Hernandez is suing her neighbors,
Pamela Jackson and Ashley Jackson

for filing false CPS reports,
and defamation of character.

[Kevin]
Court come to order. All rise.

Have a seat, please.

Case 2176. Hernandez v. Jackson.

-[Judy] Thank you.
-[Kevin] You're welcome.

Ms. Hernandez,
you and the defendants are neighbors.

-Yes.
-You more recently moved

into the neighborhood?

Yes, on February 25th of 2022.

And you've been living there
for about a year.

Year and a half.

[Judy]
I have complaints and cross-complaints.

Each one of your are claiming
that the other is guilty of harassment.

The defendant,
in addition to the harassment,

says that there was an as*ault on...
that would be on you?

-Me.
-...on you, by the plaintiff.

Yes.

[Judy]
And false police reports.

Reports to child welfare administration.

Each one of you is requesting
serious damages as a result

of this ongoing harassment
and as*ault.

And I gather from reading the papers
that when you moved in,

the whole bad feeling between neighbors
started because of a parking space.

-[Judy] Would that be correct?
-Correct.

-So your car is the white car.
-[Lynette] Correct.

Tell me about the problem,
when you first moved in, with the car.

And go over to the chart.

Okay.

So a month after I moved in,

I politely asked Pamela if she...

Just a sec.
Pamela, that would be you?

-Yes.
-[Judy] Your last name is Jackson.

-Yes.
-[Judy] Okay.

So you asked Ms. Jackson,

whose car is the car parked
in front of yours?

-Yes, this one.
-[Judy] Okay.

So you said to Ms. Jackson...
go ahead.

I told her if she could please scoot up.

We were both pulling in
at the same time.

We were coming back at the same time,
so I thought I could politely ask her

if she could just scoot up.

[Judy] I don't know what that means,
and perhaps other people do.

But I don't.
You asked her to move her car?

Yes, just a little bit forward,
because on the handicap,

the yellow line ends right there.

No, no, see, look at me.
You asked her to...

I see a handicapped sign.

So you asked her to move up.

-[Lynette] Yes.
-[Judy] Why?

Because she parks so further back,

and when the neighbors park back there,

I have to, like, parallel park,
and sometimes I'm in a rush.

So I just, you know, want to just get out
to go to work,

or to drop the kids off to school.

So you don't like to parallel park.

I do, but sometimes it's too...

I just wanted to politely ask her
if she could just scoot up a little bit,

because she has
a bunch of space in the front.

Well, I...
I don't see a whole bunch of space.

What is handicap?

Where is that handicapped spot?

-Right here in front of her house.
-[Judy] Right there.

You have a handicapped sign?

When I moved in,
I was told I could park there...

-[Judy] Just a second.
-No, I do not.

[Judy] You do not.
So you shouldn't be parking there anyway.

I was told I could,
because that was the old sign.

That's why they dismissed the ticket
that she called to get

-when I didn't move my car.
-[Judy] Just a second.

You can't tell me what somebody else said.
There's a handicapped sign.

I went to the police department marshal.

Do you have something
from the police department,

indicating that you can park
in a handicapped spot?

No. They removed it the next day
and dismissed it because of that.

Just a second. Is the sign still there?

-No. They removed it immediately.
-[Judy] Okay.

-Fine. So the sign was removed.
-Yes.

And what is that alleyway
where the trashcan is?

That's the driveway
for the next-door neighbor's...

-House. Just a second.
-Mm-hmm.

So that what she's doing
in parking her car there

is permitting the trashcans,

which are supposed
to be out into the street, right?

Point to the trashcan.

-Yes, right here.
-So the trashcan

is supposed to be out in the street.

In order to get back to the house,
somebody who lives in that back house

has to pull all the way around
the trashcan and her car

if she moves her car up.

-Your Honor...
-[Judy] It makes it...

It makes it that much more difficult
for the person who lives behind.

I understand.
For trash day, it's understandable.

[Judy]
I don't care. She doesn't...

You have to understand, Ms. Hernandez,

that she doesn't have to accommodate you
so that you don't have to parallel park.

Mm-hmm. I just thought
I could ask her politely,

-and I didn't think it was gonna be...
-Well, okay, so let's go back a second.

-Mm-hmm.
-[Judy] Now you can go back.

So that's what started the trouble.
You said "politely."

Tell me exactly what you said to her.

Tell me exactly what you said to her,
and you said that that happened in March.

-Go ahead.
-I asked her, I said,

"Excuse me, can you please
scoot up a little bit

so that I can parallel park?"

-There was no trash...
-[Judy] Now just a sec. I don't care.

Trash, no trash,
she doesn't have to figure,

"Monday, Wednesday, and Friday
I have to scoot up my car,

because she doesn't like
to parallel park."

Do you understand?

Trash day Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Recycling Tuesday and Thursday,
but not every week. Every other week.

So I have to remember to scoot up
so that my young neighbor

doesn't have to parallel park.

It's ridiculous. Okay...
It's ridiculous

-Is that the way she asked you?
-No.

-[Judy] What did she say?
-The way she told me was,

"Ma'am, I would appreciate if you would
just move around and park in the back."

-Now, the alleyway...
-[Judy] Now just a second.

Let's go slowly. "Ma'am..."

So she said, "Ma'am, can you...
I would appreciate

if you would please move around
to the back alleyway.

I need parking
for all my friends and family."

No. Not true.

Your Honor, that's not true.

No, I don't believe that.

Sarah, I don't know what this...

[Sarah] You don't have to keep hitting it.
That's the whole video.

Thank you. If I hit it,
maybe I hit it on the table.

Yeah, I don't think so.
That only works with your phone.

-It only works on my phone?
-Yeah.

Fresh mouth.

[spectators laugh]

[announcer] Lynette Hernandez
claims her neighbor, Pamela Jackson,

filed false CPS reports and defamed her.

Pamela is countersuing for an as*ault.

[Judy]
Okay, she asked you to move.

And you said to her, your response to her,
was, "It's a public street."

"I'll park where I want to park."

I tried to explain to her
I have arthritis.

So if you'll see, I park where I can
walk around my car and go up the walkway.

I don't care.
You don't have to justify it to me.

I'm just... I asked you the question.

You responded what?

What did you...?

The way I responded was for...

Think. If you don't remember,
say, "I don't remember."

Don't make it up.

I remember, because I've stated this
the whole time.

Every time, even the police
have sat there and asked

why I park there, because she's called
the police over this multiple times.

I have even explained to them,
I park the way I do...

-[Judy] No, I want you to tell me...
-I told her, I says,

"I'm older, I have arthritis."

"I park where I do
to be able to use my walkway."

Her response was, "You'll have a better
access to your walkway if you pull up."

I said, "No, the person
on my passenger side would."

"Then I have to go up on the grass."

-No.
-I need the walkway for stability,

because I've already had one fall.

[Judy]
Okay, whatever.

You told her, "I can't accommodate you."

-Yes.
-[Lynette] Your Honor, that's not true.

They didn't take that long.

She got in her car,
and she actually got in,

and she scooted up.

-[Judy] And she moved up a little bit.
-She moved up,

because the trashcan wasn't there.

Okay, so you asked her,
"Ma'am, could you move up a little bit?"

And she... So what you're telling me
is she accommodated you.

-She did.
-[Judy] And she didn't say anything.

So I thought it was okay.

And then what happened?

[Lynette]
And then, whenever I was parking,

I got off and I told her, I was like,
"Thank you."

And then that's when she got upset.

[Judy]
No, no, no, no, no.

In March, what you're saying is
you asked her to scoot up.

-And she did.
-And she did.

When was the next date
that something happened with the car?

April 6th, she called the cops
for the first time

because she parked...
That's how she parked.

She parked very close to my car,
as you can see on the picture.

She started parking close to me like that.

-She called the cops for the first time.
-[Judy] Just a second.

-That photograph was taken April 6th?
-[Lynette] Yes, ma'am.

-Of 2022?
-Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] Okay, and you were parked
right in front of your house?

-[Lynette] Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] First.

And she parked in front of you?

-Correct.
-[Judy] And you're telling me

that she called the police?

-Correct.
-[Judy] Is that correct?

-No.
-[Judy] Okay.

Show me that she called the police
on April 6th.

-[Pamela] Uh, she...
-Shh!

[Lynette] She called the police,
and then she was telling them...

[Judy]
No, no, no, no.

Don't tell me what she was telling them.

I want to see where
she called the police on April 6th.

She said she didn't.
Is that what you just said?

I called the police.
I'm not the one that parked.

I was already parked there
when she pulled up on me.

I called the police
because she tapped my back end

before she pulled back.

-Incorrect.
-So you were parked there already.

I was already there, and this has been
an ongoing issue for months.

She would pull up on me,
and sometimes tap my bumper.

-[Judy] And you were in the car?
-[Pamela] I wasn't in the car.

-I was inside.
-So you just saw her park close to you.

-I saw her tap my bumper.
-[Judy] Okay.

-And that's when you called the police?
-[Pamela] Yes.

-[Judy] Okay.
-And she knew,

because she was recording me calling them.

-[Judy] Do you have that?
-[Pamela] It's even on her TikTok.

-I'd like to see.
-I do, because she was lying to them

and said that I hit her car,
and I did not hit her car.

-It shows she was the one pulling in.
-[Judy] Shh!

Well, but the scenario that she's telling,
Ms. Hernandez,

that she's telling me,
is different from what you told me.

So let's get it clear.

Was her car parked there first,
or yours?

Mine was parked there first.

[Judy]
And she says hers was parked there first.

That means that she would have
to back into that spot, whatever it was.

-And she did.
-[Judy] Just a second.

That's what you want me...
She backed into that spot,

and backed in very close to your car.

-[Lynette] Yes.
-I don't believe that.

I don't believe that.
That doesn't... I don't believe that.

You're gonna have to prove that to me,
because that would be silly.

I see what you're showing me.

What you're showing me is consistent
with the cars being very close together.

But you want me to believe
that she actually backed into that spot.

-She did.
-[Judy] It's a video?

[Lynette] Your Honor,
she did park like that that day.

[Judy]
Ah.

I hope this video will show me that.

-I don't know what this... Sarah?
-[Sarah] Yeah?

Am I getting the whole...?

[Sarah]
Yeah, you don't have to keep hitting it.

-That's the whole video. That's it.
-Could we do it again?

-[Sarah] Yeah.
-[Judy] Thank you.

-If I hit it, maybe hit it on the table...
-Yeah, I don't think so.

That only works with your phone.

It only works on my phone?

Fresh mouth.

[spectators laugh]

Yeah. All right, this is useless.

Okay, so the police came out.
And was there a police report?

-I have it right here.
-[Judy] May I have it, please?

Who else lives in the house with you,
Ms. Hernandez?

Me and my two children.

Oh, well, that was nasty
over a parking space.

How unfortunate.

-I'd like to see that.
-[Judy] Absolutely.

Thank you.

Oh yes.

The officer actually didn't believe her
because there was nothing on her car.

[Judy]
Doesn't have to be anything on her car.

You tap somebody's bumper,
there isn't always damage.

That's close enough for me.
Okay, give me the paper back.

[Lynette] They...
Uh, the officer did not believe her,

because she lied.

She made false accusations,

saying that I was
threatening her with a knife,

and with a baby in my arm.

Officer didn't believe her because...

Don't tell me what the officer believed
or what the officer didn't believe, madam.

It's irrelevant what you think
the officer believed.

If the officer was here,
I would question the officer.

Okay, it all started
over a parking space.

And you have to understand,

I'm not sympathetic with you.

You move into a neighborhood.

Something is established
in the neighborhood.

Because I'm sure she didn't
wait to park in that spot

just when you moved in.

That's where she's been parking her car.

It's not that you don't have
a place to park.

You have a place to park
in front of your house.

That's the defendant's house.

Her car is parked
right in front of her house.

You have a place to park.

Your car is parked
right in front of your house.

You want her to move
to make it easier for you,

so that you don't
have to struggle to park,

so you could just scoot in
and scoot out.

I just didn't want to risk
hitting her car for being...

-No.
-...because the people behind me

-would park pretty close up.
-[Judy] Who cares?

It's a public street!

I don't care if you park on Mars.

-Mm-hmm.
-[Judy] Park someplace else on the street.

It would bother me
if that was my driveway

and there was a car that was right up
to the edge of that driveway,

causing me to have to swing out wide
every time I pulled into my driveway.

And I couldn't do it during trash days
because it's even a wider turn,

all so that you
didn't have to parallel park.

I'm telling you,
I'm not sympathetic with that.

You're not entitled to a public street
parking spot.

That's sort of an entitlement that...
What generation?

-Gen Z.
-Gen Z.

This is gonna cause
the demise of this country.

[announcer]
Lynette Hernandez

has accused her neighbor,
Pamela Jackson,

of defaming her on social media.

Pamela claims Lynette assaulted her
with a trashcan.

Okay, how old are you?

-I'm 27.
-You're 27. Well, that makes sense.

Is that called Gen X?

-Is that a Gen X? What is that?
-I think it's a Gen Z.

-Gen Z? Gen Z.
-Yeah.

Yes, there's a whole bunch
of entitlements with Gen Z people.

-Your Honor, I think it's...
-[Judy] Just a second.

Your Honor, I don't think it's fair
that she has called CPS on me.

We're not talking about fair.
Right now we're talking about parking.

Right now we're talking about
what precipitated this bad feeling,

and I agree with you.

We'll get to the rest of the harassment.

But what I'm telling you is,
you're off base here.

You're not entitled to a public street
parking spot

that may or may not inconvenience
somebody else.

You have a spot in front of your house.

But if the reason you told her
to move her car

and the people behind is because
you don't like to parallel park,

that is sort of an entitlement.

I'm just telling you, Ms. Hernandez,

that's sort of an entitlement that...
What generation?

-Gen Z.
-Gen Z.

This is gonna cause
the demise of this country.

There is no entitlement to park
right in front of your house.

Comfortably.

-Judge, if I might add...
-There's no entitlement to that.

You wanted that, you should have
bought a house that had a garage.

If that started the problem,
I'm telling you that you were wrong.

That doesn't give her license
to do bad things.

Now, she can call the police
if she thinks that you touched her car,

which you probably did.

You didn't damage it,
but you probably touched it

because you were annoyed,

because that's a constant source
of irritation.

No, I did not touch her car.

-[Judy] So I'm not concerned
about calling the police.

Understand this.

I'm concerned about calling CPS.

Because that's one of the issues here.

And, Ms. Jackson,
I believe, in her answer,

said she did, in fact,
call Child Protective Services.

-And I have evidence why.
-[Judy] Just a second.

You called Child Protective Services when?

I made a call in August.
Was it August or September?

[Judy]
If you don't remember, you don't remember.

You made a call
to Child Protective Services based on...

-Two times?
-[Pamela] Twice.

Well, there was the most recent.
There was three.

-So the first one...
-[Judy] Just a second.

So you called Child Protective Services
three times?

All three times,
and I've got video evidence to why.

Okay, I'd like to see the video evidence.

[Pamela] Ashley, pull that up.
One of them has to do with the fact

she was inside,
and I'd been outside changing batteries.

I went and verified my cameras
picked up the audio.

She had been yelling at her daughter.

-Uh, threatened to beat her up.
-Just a second.

The first time you called
Child Protective Services

was in August or September of 2022.

-Correct.
-[Judy] That's what you said.

Why did you call Child Protective Services
the first time?

The first time was,

I saw her kind of shove
her daughter backwards.

[Judy]
You have that on tape?

[Pamela]
Did you find the tape on that one?

-[Ashley] Yes.
-I'd like to see it.

Your Honor, they did not call CPS
in August.

Just a second. She says she did.
August or September.

But she's trying to claim earlier
that I called in February.

But that wasn't me.
She had another situation going on.

She even told the cop if it hadn't been
for her telling me not to move my car,

she wouldn't believe
I was the one that called.

-Because she called the police on that.
-[Judy] Shh!

I don't see anything sufficient for you
to call CPS the first time on that.

That was a motion with her hand.
The child didn't fall.

There had been a bunch of yelling out
before that.

I don't care. That's an overkill.

What's next?
When's the next time you called?

The next time I called,
and she's got the video.

She can pull it up for you.

She was inside.
I was changing my battery.

She yelled at her daughter.

-Where was the daughter?
-[Pamela] They were inside.

-So you heard her yelling at her daughter?
-Heard her yelling at her daughter

to get down, or next time she does it
she's gonna beat her up,

-and then we heard "break your neck."
-[Judy] Okay.

-And you videoed that?
-[Pamela] Yes.

We even showed that to the police.

-[Judy] Okay. I'd like to see.
-Your Honor, it wasn't me.

Looking at it, I'm... So far you...

[audio hissing]

[audio spiking]

[indistinct recorded speaking]

You hear anything?

[children yelling faintly on recording]

Hey...

get your ___ off the couch right now...

right now...

Do that again I'm going to beat you up...

stop playing with me...

you're going to break
your neck one of those days...

Yeah. She says, "I'm gonna beat you up,"

and, "If you don't listen,
I'm gonna break your neck."

[Judy]
Okay.

-How old is your daughter?
-[Lynette] That's not me.

-My daughter is 7.
-[Judy] Who is that?

Whose voice is it coming from your house?

It's not me.
It's the neighbor that was on the corner.

-[Judy] What?
-That's not me, my daughter's name,

or my son's name is Cam.

-She said, "Cam, get your..."
-No, she didn't.

You can listen to it again,
and it's gonna say "Cam."

That's not me.

-[Lyzette] That was the person...
-[Pamela] On that side, nobody has kids.

Yes, they do.

[audio hissing]

[children yelling faintly on recording]

Hey

get your ___ off the couch right now...

I think she says, "Hey."

"Get off the couch right now, right now."

"I'm gonna beat you up."

"Stop playing."

"I'm gonna break your..."

Oh, she says,
"You're going to break your neck."

-"You're going to break your neck." Yeah.
-"You're going to break your neck."

-[Judy] Okay.
-That's not me.

[Judy]
Second time. Just a second.

Second time. Would I, based on that?

She didn't say,
"I'm gonna break your neck."

She said,
"You're gonna break your neck."

After she threatened to beat the child up.
I'm actually a victim of child abuse.

[Judy] I'm sympathetic with that,
and I'm sensitive to that.

I still think that that's a little bit
of overkill, Ms. Jackson.

Let's go further.

[announcer]
To be continued.

[announcer]
Are you a victim of an as*ault?