03x48 - A Father's Fight for Justice: Part 1

[bunniefuu]

There was an argument.

Correct. He was in my face like,

"Don't be disrespecting me.
Don't be doing that."

And at this point,
he had his forearm on my neck.

And then he hit you.

Whacked me so hard.

No, ma'am.

Blood was everywhere.
Literally on the wall and the floor.

And then what happened?

I had to escape him.

[narrator] This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] DaVon Clarence is suing
his ex-fiancée, Safari Williams,

for false arrest, abuse,
and emotional distress.

[Kevin] Court come to order.
All rise.

Have a seat, please.

Hello, Judge. Case number 3090,
Clarence vs Williams.

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

Mr. Clarence, from what I've read,

you and Ms. Williams have known each other
since middle school?

Yes, ma'am. Since middle school,
we've known each other.

The papers suggest that sometime later,

the two of you developed
a romantic relationship

and you started to live together in 2015.

Yes, ma'am. November 16, 2015.

And you have two children together.

Yes, ma'am, we do.

[Judy] It appears that there was
an incident in your home

and you were arrested.

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] You were arrested for an as*ault.

Was there a weapon
that you were arrested for?

No, ma'am. There was no weapon
that I was arrested for.

It was just an as*ault.

Yes, ma'am. as*ault on a family member.

Okay. So, Ms. Williams,
I'm gonna start with you.

Okay.

Because Mr. Clarence ultimately was
acquitted of all of those charges.

-Yes.
-[Judy] And that was after a trial.

Yes.

Mr. Williams says that
as a result of your allegations,

not only did he suffer damages himself,

but he wasn't able to see
the two children for a while

because you had requested
a restraining order,

which was then granted but later vacated.

Um, it was a protective order,
and, um, yes, he...

-And it covered the children.
-Correct.

[Judy] Just for my own information,
how long, Ms. Williams,

did the protective order last

so that Mr. Clarence couldn't
see the children?

It was for three years,

but he was able to see the children
through visitation.

But how long was it
that he did not see the children

because of the protective order?
Because that's part of his lawsuit.

Okay. So it was...

Mr. Clarence, how long in actuality was it

that as a result of the restraining order,
you could not see the children?

-Two years.
-[Judy] Two years.

-Mm-hmm.
-[Judy] That you didn't see them at all?

At all.

It wasn't two years.

[Judy] Okay. So you were living
in a home together...

-[Safari] Mm-hmm. Yes, ma'am.
-...on Valentine's Day.

-There was an argument.
-Correct.

-[Judy] You called the police.
-Correct.

The police responded and told you
to leave the house for a while.

Yes.

[Judy] And you did leave the house.

I did leave with my daughter.

But you have two children.

Two children because they told us
that we had to split children.

Or one stays with the other parent,
the other one comes with me.

Okay. So you have two kids:
a girl who is how old?

She was two at the time.

[Judy] And a boy?

He was four at the time.

-So the boy stayed with his father.
-[Safari] Mm-hmm.

And you left with your daughter overnight.

-Right.
-[Judy] Did you come back?

The next morning, yes.

She actually came back
that same time at 2:00 a.m.

Well, the next morning, that's 2:00 a.m.

-Don't interrupt again. Okay.
-[DaVon] I'm sorry.

-So you came back early in the morning.
-Yes.

[Judy]
And what happened when you came back?

I stayed in my vehicle with my daughter

because I didn't want to go
into the apartment, and then...

-Eventually, you went into the apartment.
-[Safari] Yes.

What time did you go into the apartment?

Which was 7:00 in the morning.

And that was on the 15th of February.

Correct.

Who was home when you got home
on the 15th of February?

It was DaVon and our son.

Was there any problem on the 15th?

Um, the 15th was when
me and him had got into it

as far as a verbal altercation.

He didn't like what I had said to him,

and we just started going off,
and, um,

he came to a point where he just got mad
and said, "Well, you know,

why would you say anything like that?
You know I don't care about you."

Um, and then we started
getting into another argument.

Then that's when he had
brought out a knife and put it

on the kitchen counter and said,
"If you want to k*ll yourself, go ahead.

-I don't care."
-[DaVon] I did not say that.

Okay. Just a second.
That was the 15th.

[Safari] Yes.

[Judy] Ms. Williams, you know,
most couples have arguments.

Mm-hmm.

So something had to have precipitated

his statement because,
according to what you just told me,

Mr. Clarence didn't take out a knife...
according to what you said...

and threaten you with it.
He said to you... according to you...

if you want to k*ll yourself,
here's a mechanism to use it.

What had you said to him
immediately prior to that

that inspired that?

He told you he didn't love you anymore.
He didn't want to be with you anymore.

And...?

And that's when he said he didn't care.

-He didn't care about me at all.
-[Judy] He didn't care. And you said?

And so I...

That's when I... when he had
took out the...

[Judy] He said he didn't...
No, you had to say something

to him that says, well, if that's the way
you feel, you go k*ll yourself.

But you had to have said
something to him before.

It was the argument started with the kids,
but then when he said that, um,

you know, I didn't want you here anyway.
You know, it's just...

You know, the relationship is pretty much
dead, so there's no reason to stay.

And if you want to leave, you can leave.

Is that what he said to you,
or is that what you...

-[Safari] I said to him.
-Oh. You said to him.

Okay. And then?

And then that's when he said,

"Well, I don't love you no more.
I don't care for you."

[Judy]
You said that. And then what happened?

And then afterwards, that's when, um...

That's when he had went
into the kitchen, 'cause...

There was... I barely remember
what happened after that.

'Cause all I know is that, um,

when he had went into the kitchen,
that's when he came back and said...

-[Judy] Okay.
-"You know, you can k*ll yourself."

Do you recall taking a knife
and putting it,

either on a counter or on a tabletop,

and saying,
"If you want to k*ll yourself..."

No, ma'am. I don't recall that.

Okay. But at that point,
the police were not called.

This was the day after
the police had been called.

This is February 15th.

-And Mr. Clarence left the house.
-Right.

[Judy]
Right. He left on the 15th.

-Did he come back?
-A week after.

-[Judy] So he was gone for one week.
-Mm-hmm.

That brings us to the 20th.

Did you communicate with him
during that week?

-[Safari] Yes.
-[Judy] By phone?

Yes. Text message.

[Judy]
Do you have copies of the text message?

Um, I do not.

-Your Honor, I do.
-[Judy] Do you have copies?

I'd like to see the messages that were...

-[DaVon] So this is the first...
-...traded in that week's period of time.

He's standing there,
and you're pushing him.

-Yes. Pushing him off of me.
-[Judy] Go ahead.

And that's when he did a closed fist
and hit me right here

on the side of my face.

-Okay.
-[Safari] So I passed out,

and then after I had gotten up,

he stood up and said,
"You wanna fight me?

-Fight me."
-That's not true.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] DaVon Clarence claims
his ex-fiancée, Safari Williams,

owes for a false arrest, abuse,
and emotional distress.

Safari is countersuing
for as*ault and defamation.

Okay. So this is February the 19th.

Mm-hmm.

And I also do have my text messages
pulled up here on my phone.

-[Judy] What? Okay.
-I don't have a hard copy.

Good. Tell me if this is what it says.

You say to him,
"I need my keys ASAP, please."

-That's a week after he left.
-Correct.

[Judy] What keys had he taken from you?

He had taken my house key
and my mother's home key.

It was on my keychain.

Okay. How did you get
into the house for a week?

I never left, because he had it.

You mean for a week
you weren't out of the house at all?

At all. I had my kids. I lost my job.

So I was at home.
I had no reason to leave, really.

Just a second.
When did you lose your job?

I lost my job a week prior
because of the money

he had taken out of the account
that I was gonna pay for

to insure my job.

'Cause I had little legal issues
with my job.

[Judy] Well, tell me about that.
That's not in here.

[Safari] As far as, um...

Losing your job had
nothing to do with him.

No. It had everything.

'Cause the reason being
is the fact that I didn't have the money.

'Cause I was a delivery driver.

So I had to pay off a certain citation
that I was cited for.

What? What citation
that you were cited for?

It was a speeding citation.

Okay. So you got a speeding ticket
which you had to pay.

He didn't force you to speed.
You did that yourself.

Right. However, I had the...

So you can't be a driver if they're
gonna take away your license.

That was thing.
So I had needed the money.

He had taken that money out of there
and used it to pay somebody else.

I don't know what you're talking about.
Taken it out of where, a joint account?

Out of a joint account. Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] Okay. The reason you lost your job
had nothing to do with him.

The reason you lost your job is because

you drove in a way
that you got a speeding ticket.

Now... Now let's get back to the 20th.

So you needed your house keys
and your mother's house keys,

-which he had taken with him.
-Yes.

[Judy] Did you take the house keys?

No, ma'am.
The keys that were inside the house

were to her mother's house, but her mother
had changed the locks previously before.

So really they were just throwaway keys,

and the keys were just sitting
inside my glove box for months.

But you went by and you returned the keys.

-[DaVon] Yes, ma'am.
-Okay.

-He had taken those keys...
-[Judy] Now I want you to... What?

-He had taken those keys prior.
-I did not.

'Cause he's always taking things
of my possessions.

-[Judy] Okay. Let's...
-[DaVon] That's not true.

-So, yes.
-You asked him for your keys back,

which means that
during that interim period,

the only text messages I see here,

you asked him to come back to the house
and bring you your keys.

And I assume, since there is no history,

that your mother's never had
a history with him.

Oh, yeah, she has.

A violent history?

[Safari]
It's not a violent, but more so...

She had her issues. They both had...

[Judy]I don't care
whether they had their issues.

So if you needed your keys back, he could
have dropped them off at your mother's.

He didn't have to bring them to you.

But she didn't allow him on the premises.
That's why.

Well, why would you have
invited him back on the 20th

if you had such a miserable experience
on Valentine's Day?

I didn't expect for him
to sit there and, um...

There was an alternative,

but he came back on the 20th
with the keys.

Now, I want you to tell me, on the 20th...
because this is your counterclaim...

you actually claim that he assaulted you.

So I want you to tell me
what happened on the 20th.

The 20th,
I had asked him for my keys back.

-Yes, and he came over.
-[Safari] So he came home from work.

He had dropped off the key.
He came in, said hi to the kids,

tucked them in bed.
I was in the room,

but that day I wasn't feeling good
so I had to just, you know,

excuse myself to go to the bathroom.

I come back out, I see my phone
being tossed on the bed by him

as he was sitting there
reading messages or whatever.

So I didn't say anything about it.

He just said, "Okay. I'm about to go."

I said, "Okay, cool."
And he kissed the kids and walked out.

So he kissed the kids and he walked out.
He walked into what room?

He walked from the back room, our room,

where we were sleeping at,
me and the kids,

and he walked to the front door,
out the door.

So what happened was...

[Judy] No. Look here.

-Yes, ma'am.
-[Judy] He's leaving.

-[Safari] He's leaving.
-And...?

[Safari]
And in a few moments, he had called me

and he asked me, "What time is
your job interview for the next day?"

I told him 8:30 and I asked him why.

He said, "Well, I'm moving out.

I'm getting all my things out of the house
while you're there."

I said, "Okay. Well, why?

Because the front office is not gonna
just let you off the lease, you know."

[Judy] Well, you understood
he hadn't been there for a week.

[Safari] For just a week, yeah.

But I just asked him because I don't know
how we were gonna go about it.

So that's when he had told me
don't act like I hadn't seen...

"You didn't see me reading your messages."

You know, "I'm tired
of you disrespecting me.

I'm tired of you disobeying me.
I'm tired of you,"

you know, "talking to these dudes
or venting and blah, blah, blah."

Like, you know, just going at me
as if I'm disrespecting him.

At this point, you left.

So therefore, if I'm talking to a friend,
what's the problem?

Why are you looking through my phone?
And this is nothing that you paid for.

That's true. Snoopy.

[Safari]
Yeah, so you're snooping around.

So at this point, he's mad because of...

[Judy] But he's not in the house.

Yeah, he's not, he's not in the house.

So afterwards, I say,
"If you wanna leave, stay gone.

I don't even care."
He hung up in my face.

I said, "Okay. I don't have
time for this mess."

So I go in the back room,
get ready for bed.

I put my phone on the charger,
and I laid down.

And he's knocking on the door really hard,
kids asleep.

So I go to the front door,

and that's when he opened the door,
and he just... like in my face.

Like, "Don't be disrespecting me.
Don't be doing that."

And I'm just like, "Okay, bro. You need
to get out of my face, first of all."

And he just said, "Okay. Well,
you know what? Forget it. I'm leaving.

I'm just gonna pack my stuff up
and I'm leaving."

The whole time,
he's, like, packing his things.

-[Judy] Okay. So he's packing.
-[Safari] Correct.

So when he packed his things,
he was just, you know, talking.

And he went in the back room.

And that's when I had followed him
in the back room,

because he was going to take my things.

-[exasperated sigh]
-[Safari] And that's when he had came out

and said, "Good luck
finding your phone charger."

"Where's my phone charger?
'Cause it's not on the bed.

Where's my phone charger, bro?"

So I blocked him
so he could give me my things.

And he said, "I don't know.
I don't know where your phone charger is."

"DaVon, where's my phone charger?"

"I don't know. Now move."
And he did a shoulder thrust.

So I'm like, "Okay, bro."

I grab his lanyard...
he had his work I.D.

I grabbed his lanyard
from around his head.

[Judy] Okay. So you put your hands on him.

Just a second. You put your hands on him
because the lanyard...

-that's what it says here.
-[Safari] No.

No. That's what it says in your papers.
You acknowledge that.

[Safari] Oh. Okay.

That you grabbed his badge, but his badge
was on a lanyard that was around his neck.

So you put your hands on him.

So, yeah, so it was...
it was more so to take his things

so he could give me back my phone charger.

-I need it for my job interview.
-Just... Okay.

-So you never connected with him.
-At all.

In anything that you did.
So far correct?

No, ma'am.
I had scratches on my neck,

and she did not put her hands up
to fight me.

She actually threw
a car battery at my hands.

A car... no, that is so untrue.

I have pictures of the car battery

and it being broken
if you would like to see them.

[Judy] Okay.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] DaVon Clarence is accusing
his ex-fiancée, Safari Williams,

of a false arrest
after she assaulted him.

Safari claims DaVon assaulted
and defamed her.

So you grabbed his lanyard,
which was around his neck, and...?

It was around his neck, and I took
his glasses off his face.

[Judy] And then what happened?

[Safari] And then that's when he had
turned around, dropped all of his things,

and he turned around
and he starts tussling

and then tried to get his things.

-I said, "No. Give me my phone charger."
-[Judy] No. Just a second.

So far, what I'm hearing is
there was lots of nasty stuff going on.

He's packing his things,
giving you the best possible scenario.

He took your phone charger.

You didn't see him
take your phone charger,

but it was on the bed, according to you,
and then it wasn't on the bed anymore.

-Correct.
-Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] Right. So in response to that,
you put your hands on him twice.

Once with the lanyard
that had his badge on it.

Right.

And then you grabbed his glasses
off his face.

-[Safari] But never hurt him.
-Just a sec...

-Never.
-[Judy] Just a second.

You put your hands on him
not in a happy way.

You put your hands on him
in an aggressive way.

-No.
-[Judy] Because... oh, yes.

If you grab somebody's glasses
off their face, madam,

and grab a lanyard from around their neck,
that's aggressive.

He may not have been hurt
as a result of that,

but you have to know
you're not allowed

to put your hands
on somebody else in anger.

It was not angry. I took...

I didn't touch him or hurt him.

It was never aggressive.
I just wanted my things back.

-And I didn't touch him or choke him.
-Ah, got it. Uh, yeah.

I'm just telling you what the law is.

You put your hands on him
in an aggressive way

because you wanted your charger back.

Which he had taken,
but he had not taken off your person.

If he took it, he had taken it
from where you left it

because he was annoyed that you were
texting other guys, according to you.

Because he had been gone for a week,
you can text whoever you like.

Okay. So now you've taken his glasses off
and you've taken his badge off,

which was on a lanyard.
What happened next?

After he turned around and he...

Started to tussle with you,
which is what you said.

And then afterwards,
we fell over the couch.

And at this point,
he had his forearm on my neck.

-So at this point, I can't breathe.
-[DaVon] No, ma'am.

I told him, "Get off of me.

"DaVon, you're hurting me.
You're choking me. I cannot breathe.

Please, get off me. Get off me."

He's on you with his forearm on your neck.
And...?

So at this point, he gets his things,
he grabs his stuff...

[Judy] Okay. So he's not
choking you anymore. And...?

He gets up and he, um...

-[Judy] Look at me.
-...put his glasses on.

And then at this point,
he's standing over me.

I'm still on the floor,
and I'm telling him to get off of me.

-Not get off, get away from me.
-[Judy] No, he's already off of you.

He's already off of you, Ms. Williams.

He's gotten his things.
He put his glasses on,

which means both hands were
putting his glasses on.

-So he's not on top of you anymore.
-[Safari] He's standing over me.

-But he's standing over me.
-So he was stand... and?

I push him away.
I said, "Get out. Get out.

I don't want you here.
Get out. Please, get out."

So at this point,
I'm shoving him away from me.

Okay. So again he's standing there,
and you're pushing him.

-Yes. Pushing him off of me.
-[Judy] Go ahead.

And that's when he did
a closed fist and hit me

right here on the side of my face.

-Okay.
-So I passed out.

I didn't know if... I blacked out.

And then after I had gotten up...

And I had cried.
I said, "Why did you hit me?

Why would you hit me like this?
Like, why?"

And then he just kept going
back and forth.

Back and forth where?

From the front door to the back room,
back room to the front door.

[Judy] Was he taking his things out?

I don't know what he was taking.

Okay. So he was going from the back door
to the front door,

-but he had packed his things.
-[Safari] Right.

-Okay.
-[Safari] So I get up,

and that's when he turned around.

And I can't...
right now, I'm imbalanced.

I can't even stand up right
'cause he whacked me so hard.

So at this point, he stood up
and said, "You want to fight me?

-Fight me."
-That's not true.

And he put up his hands,
so that's when I put up my hands.

And then I went to hit him.

And that's when he had started
throwing punches at me,

like, back-to-back-to-back.
And I busted my lip, so...

Okay. So let me understand this.

You both got up, and he said,
"You wanna fight me?"

So you put up your hands.

Both of you put up your hands,
and you went to punch him.

That's what you just told me.

-Missed, I assume.
-[Safari] Missed.

-And then he hit you.
-[Safari] Yes.

Okay, so again, you went to punch him.

And I missed.

-And that's when he...
-[chuckling] Oh. Okay. Fine.

Now I got it. And then?

[Safari]
And that's when he start hitting me.

[Judy] Okay. So now he...
now you're fighting.

-Yes.
-Go ahead.

And, um, I told him to stop as soon as
I saw blood was everywhere...

literally on the wall and the floor.

-And he stopped.
-[Judy] But let me ask you this question.

From all this fighting and tussling,

-was Mr. Clarence visibly hurt anywhere?
-[Safari] No.

-[Judy] Did he have any mark whatsoever?
-No.

-[Judy] So you never connected with him.
-At all.

In anything that you did.
So far correct?

No, ma'am.
I had scratches on my neck,

and she did not put her hands up
to fight me.

She actually threw
a car battery at my hands.

A car... no, that is so untrue.

I have pictures of the car battery

and it being broken
if you would like to see them.

Okay. I'm gonna get to you in a second.

Anyway, that's when he left.

-Did you go to work?
-[DaVon] No, ma'am.

[Judy] What did you do?

So I had to go sleep in my car
because I didn't have my glasses.

-[Judy] Where were your glasses?
-Inside the house.

[Judy] So you left without your glasses.

-Yes, ma'am.
-He had his glasses on that night.

-The whole time.
-Is that what your testimony said?

-[Judy] Shh!
-I'm sorry.

[Safari] I'm not there with you.

Okay. When did you call
the police, Ms. Williams?

I didn't. He took my phone.

Okay. Well, somehow
the police were contacted.

I don't know how they were contacted.
I had to escape him.

When you escaped him on the 20th,
did you take your children?

I took them. Yes, I did.

[Judy] Was he in the house?

He was inside and out of the house, so...

-Your Honor, can I...
-[Judy] Where'd... yeah?

Can I add one more thing?

So after all that happened,
that's when he did leave.

I had the opportunity to get his clothes.

I put his car battery in the hamper
that he was packing his stuff at,

threw it outside of the apartment,

and then I closed the door and locked it
so he wouldn't get in.

So at this point,
I'm looking for the phone

to call the emergency services.

However, he goes up to the window
and says, "Looking for this?"

And it was my phone.
So I had to find another device

in the house to try to
at least get a recording

or to find something to say, you know...

I had to verify this because I felt like
nobody's gonna believe me

if I made this up.

So I had to record it off my son's tablet.
I have a video

of the injuries
of the night that it happened.

Well, you have hospital records,

because you say that you went
to the hospital the next day.

[Safari] Yes, ma'am, I did.

I went to the hospital,
and they diagnosed me...

No, no, no.
I want to see the hospital records.

Yes, ma'am.

[narrator] Want justice?



[theme music playing]