03x60 - as*ault, Corgis, and Emotional Support Fraud

[bunniefuu]

You said he got mad at you,
he accused you of cheating.

I'm, like, what are you doing?
Where did you go?

-She pushed me.
-I did not touch him.

She threatens to m*rder me.

I actually have pictures
of what he did that night.

-Did you hit her in the mouth?
-No, Your Honor.

Did you hit her in the mouth?

Excuse me.

[narrator] This is Judy Justice.

[narrator] Cecila Moro
is suing her ex-boyfriend,

Said Rodriguez,
for stolen property and as*ault.

[Kevin] Court come to order. All rise.

[Judge] Have a seat, please.

Hello Judge. Case 3100,
Moro v. Rodriguez.

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

Miss Moro, you and Mr. Rodriguez met,
you began a friendship...

Could you give the dog
to your witness, please?

You met the defendant in a place
where you were both working,

became friends.

Shortly thereafter, you began dating,

and in May of last year,
you moved in together.

-Yes.
-Did you move into your apartment,

to his apartment, or was it an apartment
that you got together as a couple?

Yes, we got it together.

-Who was on the lease?
-It was both of us.

In October of the same year,
four or five months later, you broke up.

-Yes.
-And your lawsuit is about

what happened at the breakup
and as a result of the breakup.

According to your complaint, in October,
the day that you in fact broke up,

you had a fight with Mr. Rodriguez,

he put his hands on you, he assaulted you.

You left the house
and when you left the house,

you left and went and stayed
with your parents.

Yes.

You claim that Mister Rodriguez has some
property that belongs to you.

-Yes.
-In the house.

And that the as*ault that took place
was serious enough

that you should be compensated for it,
despite the fact

that there was no police involvement
in this. Correct?

Yes, ma'am.

And there were no hospital records,

-or no doctor's records.
-Yes, ma'am.

Because you didn't go to the hospital
or seek any medical care.

-Correct?
-Yes.

Okay. The defendant says that
there was an argument.

You did in fact break up.

After you broke up, you came to his house
and there was an argument

and you did in fact as*ault him.

He denies that he assaulted you at all

at the beginning of October
when you broke up.

And he says that when you left,

you agreed that he could keep
the two corgis

that you had together in the apartment.

This is one of them,
and that was in October.

And sometime in December,
this is his complaint,

you called and said,
"Could you take the dogs for two days?"

You said okay because there was a threat

and you haven't returned the dogs,
he would like the corgis back.

-Correct?
-Correct.

Now, this is one of the corgis,
where's the other?

[Cecilia] He was too big to fit
on the plane, he's at home.

[Judge] Okay, so when were
the corgis purchased?

Her I got in March of last year
and the other one, Chip,

I got in June of last year.

So you had one when you and the defendant
moved in together?

-Yes.
-Is that correct?

-Correct.
-Is this the one you had

-when you moved in together?
-[Cecila] Yes.

So all the dogs were purchased
after you lived together?

Yes.

Who were the dogs purchased from?

Her, I got from Petland in 'Frisco,

and the boy I... He found on Craigslist.

He found the dog
because you wanted a second dog?

Yes.

Who paid for the dog at Petland?

I did.

-Is that correct?
-That's correct.

-Is the dog registered?
-[Cecilia] Yeah.

-And that's this dog?
-[Cecilia] Yes.

Sir, this is part of your complaint.
You want this dog back?

-Yes, ma'am.
-You neither purchased the dog.

-Correct?
-Correct.

The dog is not registered
in your name. Correct?

[Rodriguez] Correct.

Why would you think
I would give you this dog?

Because the entirety of our relationship
since we bought Fatty,

I was the one taking care of her
in the mornings.

I would wake up 6:00 in the morning,
or whatever time it was,

take her out,
whether it was freezing cold, hot,

-raining...
-Who cares?

-And...
-Who cares?

Of course, but also, I have, here pictures
where she, once after the breakup,

she was stating that she can't keep
the dog, the dog's not worth the money...

If you have statements that suggest that
she gave you the dog, I'll read them.

But on its face, the fact that you walked
the dog in the morning,

or in the afternoon or at night
has no relevance to this whatsoever.

Well, I have the messages
where she's saying

that the dog is, you know, not worth
anything, I need to get rid of her,

she's bad, she's telling me
to come pick her up...

-May I see those, please?
-Yes, Your Honor.

Here you go.

[Judge] What are you selling?
Who's selling something?

She's stating that she wants
to sell the dog.

-Is that Chip?
-That is the other dog, yeah.

Well, one she bought and it's in her name,
so that's definitely hers.

-[Said] And also...
-That's Fatty. Right?

-Yes.
-Yes.

And Chip, sir?

So it was about both of them.

From the day we broke up, you know,
I kept the dogs

because she couldn't keep them.

She couldn't take care of them.
She left them in the cage all day.

And I also have evidence,
where, like, you know,

her family members
are throwing cheese at her face

-you know, mistreating the dogs.
-[Judge] Show me.

The dog looks perfectly happy to me.

You can press play.

[Cecilia laughs]

What was that big piece of cheese
that was thrown in the dog's eye?

That was my dad from TikTok.

-Who did that to the dog?
-[Cecilia] My dad.

-For what?
-He has a TikTok account,

it's a trend on TikTok
to throw it on babies' faces and dogs.

-[Judge] That's terrible.
-[Cecilia] It's a trend.

It's stupid!

Yes, it's a stupid trend.
I didn't partake in it, but...

Why would I leave this dog in a house
with a stupid person

who takes out that stupidity on an animal

to put a thing up on TikTok.

That's absolutely outrageous.

We take care of them, they're fine.

No, you don't.

What's wrong with you? Why would you
even think that that's reasonable?

Well, you say here,
"I never assaulted Cecilia.

We've had plenty of arguments
during the relationship,

but I've never assaulted her.

She has a tendency
to blow things out of proportion.

I have never put my hands
on a woman in my life.

Well, that's not true.

[narrator] Cecilia Moro has accused
her ex-boyfriend, Said Rodriguez

of assaulting her and stealing property.

Said is counter-suing
for the return of two corgis

and claims he was the one assaulted.

Why did you leave the dogs at his house
for two months?

It wasn't two months straight.
It was probably, like, a week or two.

-No, it wasn't a week or two.
-Straight.

What do you mean straight?
You had to fight in October.

Yeah. We were, um,
co-parenting, I guess, with the dogs

because I was working and so was he.
So we couldn't...

Are you telling me after you broke up?

-Yes.
-How could you be co-parenting

with somebody... You mean you would go
to his house and get the dogs,

-or he would bring them to your house?
-No, he would come to my house

to pick them up and drop them off
and it would... Same way with...

-And he would see you?
-Yes.

-He would see you?
-Yes.

Did you have conversations with him?

Nothing important.

Well, I want you to tell me,
after you broke up,

how did you arrange that you would
co-parent for the dogs?

There wasn't really an agreement, it was
just, "I'm busy, can you pick them up?"

"Yes," and then same...

-Not true.
-[Judge] All right.

This argument that you had in October
when you broke up,

you want to tell me about it and then
I'm going to get back to the dogs.

So he assaulted me.
He punched a hole in a TV.

He bought the TV,
but still he he punched it

because I told him
if he was going to put his hands on me,

then we're actually done,
but he punched the TV instead.

And actually, I have pictures
of what he did that night.

I don't care if he punched a hole
in the TV, it's his TV.

Yeah, he punched holes in the apartment
that we're staying at as well.

-You're still in the apartment?
-Yes, Your Honor.

He's still there.
Did you take her name off the lease?

Yes, Your Honor.

I don't care what he did to the apartment,
Madam, he's still in the apartment.

He's going to have to pay for any damage.

Let's move.

You didn't call the police as a result of
whatever incident happened in the house.

You said he got mad at you,
he accused you of cheating.

That's what you said in your complaint,

he came in, he jumped up on top of the bed

and then he choked you
and then he hit you.

You have photographs of that.

-Yes, I do.
-I'd like to take a look at them.

I'm just going to take this.
I don't know what this is from.

Clearly shows that something happened
in her mouth,

I'm not exactly sure what.
She has two marks that she's showing me.

Now, did you hit her in the mouth?

No, Your Honor.

You tell me in your own words
what happened the night that she came home

and you accused her of cheating.

So, the night that she came home,

I told her, I'm like,
"What are you doing? Where did you go?"

She starts trying to make up excuses,

I showed her messages, I'm, like,
"Okay, you're lying to me.

You know, I don't appreciate it."

She starts going off. I start going off.
You know, just a verbal argument.

But... And just, like,
how she assaulted me.

No, no, no, no, no.
She didn't touch you that night.

She pushed me.

Tell me how that took place, sir,
that she pushed you.

-She's a very angry person and...
-[Judge] No, no, no, no!

How it came about that she pushed you.

Well, we started arguing back and forth

about how she wasn't doing
anything wrong...

Okay, and now you're fighting verbally
back and forth.

-Yes.
-And she pushed you,

-she put her hands on your chest...
-And she...

Just... Show me how she pushed you, show me
on your roommate how she pushed you.

Go ahead.

And?

And she just starts, like,
throwing, like... Trying to slap me.

[Judge] And?

And at that moment, that's when I pushed
her over and I told her,

-"Do not put your hands on me..."
-Just a second.

So you pushed her over?

Yes, to defend myself.

Just to... You pushed her over. All right.

So, this is your problem, sir.

You said nothing happened that night.

You said in your answer
nothing happened that night.

I have a copy of the police report
that I reported.

[Judge] I'm going to look at it
in a second.

Now, you say here,
"I never assaulted Cecilia.

We had plenty of arguments
during the relationship,

but I've never assaulted her.

She has a tendency to blow things
out of proportion.

I have never put my hands
on a woman in my life.

Well, that's not true,
you just told me you did.

As self-defense.

You didn't say that here, you said, "I've
never put my hands on a woman in my life."

Would that be considered as*ault
in self-defense...

No, no, no, that's not what you said.

Okay, now I'll see the police report.

Okay, so what you did is you came home
after you were drinking for the night.

-Yes.
-That's what you told the police,

a night of drinking
and you had a fight.

He wanted to know where you were,
"She said the argument became physical.

The defendant here grabbed her
and pinned her onto the bed

while he laid on top of her,
holding her arms down.

Proceeded to take his right hand
and bruised and cut her lips.

She was dizzy
but did not lose consciousness.

It was not because of the alcohol
she had previously consumed.

Cecilia said she eventually left the room
and went to sleep."

Just a second, so after this incident

when he allegedly hit you,
causing this injury to your lip,

you went back to living with him.

-Yes.
-[Judge] Yeah!

[exclaims] I'm reading this thing

and I said well,
she said she was assaulted, she left,

she went home,
and she went to live with her parents.

-But you didn't. You went back to sleep.
-Yes.

And then you stayed with him

because this incident, the one
that you just described to me,

happened on September 10th,

and you went to the police
on October 24th.

-Yeah.
-Then there was an incident

on October 19th,
she said you had another argument.

"But he did not strike her because
she threatened to leave if he did.

Instead, he punched holes
in the apartment.

She decided to leave after that,
and no longer is living with him."

Okay, now later on in the month
after the 19th

because now I am not considering
what happened on September 10th.

Because you went back to live with him
between September 10th and October 19th.

Did you share a bed?

-Yes. Yes.
-That's a question.

-Every day?
-No.

[Judge] Four days a week?

-No.
-Five days a week?

You were living together
until the 19th of October.

-[Cecilia] Yes.
-Where did you live?

Well, we had couches as well as a bed,
so we weren't always sleeping together.

-That's not true.
-[Judge] You know, I don't believe you.

Okay, good. So I'm not even considering
the 10th of September.

Later on there was an incident
where he says you assaulted him.

You came to his house
where he was living now.

You were living
at your parent's house, right?

Yes.

And you came to the house.
What date was that?

It was, like, two days after...
Two or three days after the breakup.

[Judge] Was the breakup in October?

[Rodriguez] Yes, Your Honor,
it was October 12th.

October 12th. Got it.

You tell me what happened on October 12th.
Did you go to his house?

-I can't remember.
-She was living with me.

[Judge] She was living with you?

Until that day, October 12th...

I moved out October 31st.

I was still living with him when that
incident that happened on October 12th.

We broke up and that's
when he punched the, uh...

-I have pictures...
-[Judge] I thought...

-I heard punching the hole in the wall.
-[Cecilia] Yes.

I'm not interested. He still lives there.
He's gonna have to fix the hole.

No, I'm saying that's why we broke up

because I told him
if he put his hands on me then...

-But he punched the TV instead.
-Now we're talking about his allegation

that you assaulted him.

I did not touch him.

That is false.

That's the counter-claim that you have.

We're going to have to figure out
what to do with these dogs.

So I have pictures
and I have messages where...

I wanna know when it happened and where.

Let me show you...

No, I want you to tell me,
when did it happen and where?

It was a day or two after I had left,

which might have been October 14 or 15th.

And she was upset because I had already
picked up Fatty because she asked me to.

She texted me, "I want my stuff back.
I want the dog back."

And I told her, "No, you've already filed
the lawsuit against me,

let's just go about it the legal way.

I told her do not show up at my house,

which I clearly have messages
where I state not to show up.

And in those messages
she threatens to m*rder me,

find me and k*ll me.

At that moment I told her,
if you do not leave, I will call the cops.

And in that second she lashed out,
grabbed my neck

and scratched my whole, like, neck
and my shoulder.

-And that's...
-[Judge] What date was that?

So, October 14th or 15th.

And then you went to the police
on October 24th for the first time?

-Yes.
-Is that correct?

-Yes.
-Okay.

Can I see your photographs, please?

Did you report this to the police?

I called the police at the...
In the incident.

-That's why she attacked me.
-Just a second.

Did the police respond?

The police did respond.
They did not want to take a report.

Kevin, would you show this
to the plaintiff, please?

He pulled a g*n on me and that's why
I brought her as my witness

because she was there and saw everything
that happened that night.

There are several reasons why you get
these nonsense online doctors

that will attest to the fact that you need
a therapy dog in order to survive.

What was the reason?

I'm really smart.

I know. It was so we didn't have to pay
the pet deposit when we got the apartment.

So it was a fraud!

[narrator] Cecilia Moro claims
her ex-boyfriend, Said Rodriguez

owes for an as*ault and personal property.

Said is counter-suing
for the return of two corgis

and says he was the one assaulted.

Now, did he pull a g*n out
before this happened?

I want you to explain
exactly how it happened.

The reason I went to his house
is because I noticed on my credit card

that he spent $600 on a PS5.

-He's 22 by the way.
-[Judge] What is a PS5?

A console for gaming
where those kids play Fortnite, yeah.

Okay, so he spent money
from your credit card?

-Yes.
-Okay, had you contacted him about it?

-Yes, I have, yes.
-You had?

-Okay.
-And he took my dog as well,

and she's my ESA animal,
I can't be separated from her.

-That's not true.
-She's my ESA animal.

She's what?

My ESA animal, emotional support animal.

It's registered with the...
With the government.

Do you want to see the, uh... [chuckles]

-I'm not interested.
-[Cecilia] Okay.

Do you work?

Yes, I do, I'm a realtor
as well as a financial advisor.

Do you see a therapist regularly?

-I need to.
-That...!

That's not what I asked you.
Do you see a therapist regularly?

-No.
-Who did you get

to write the letter for you that indicated
that this corgi that you left behind

is an emotional support animal?

-That's a question. Madam. Look at me.
-I have...

-It had to be a doctor, correct?
-Yes, it is.

-It had to be a doctor.
-Yes.

What's the name of the doctor?

-I have it writ...
-No, no, no, no, no.

The answer is you don't know offhand,
the name of the doctor.

-Is that right?
-Yes.

Does the doctor live
in the area where you live?

-No.
-How many times

did you personally visit this doctor?

Not once.
It was registered through online.

[Judge] The answer is never.

Yeah.

So you're trying to tell me

that I should look at a certificate

that some doctor gave you online,

that you needed a support animal

when you are not in any psychiatric care,
and haven't been.

The doctor never examined you,

but for a fee... [bangs table]
Pay attention.

For a fee, wrote you a letter

so that you could make this
an emotional support dog.

Now I want you to tell me in what month.

[Cecilia] May.

And I have the registration
if you want to take a look at it.

I don't want to take a look at it at all.
It's nonsense.

You know it's nonsense
and I know it's nonsense.

Now, there are several reasons
why you get these nonsense online

from "close the cover
before you strike" doctors

that will attest to the fact that you need
a therapy dog in order to survive.

There are several reasons for it.
You want to take it to work?

No.

What was the reason?
There has to be a reason.

-[Cecilia] Yeah.
-I'm really smart.

I know.

Really smart.

It was so we didn't have to pay
the pet deposit when we got the apartment.

There you go! So it was a fraud!

-No, but... I was...
-Just a second.

So it was a fraud!

So you committed a fraud

so you didn't have to pay
a pet deposit for your animals.

When I asked you... You wanna
read me back the answer when I asked her,

"Do you see a psychiatrist?"
And she says, "No, but I need one."

And you knew you needed one in May
when you had to pay the pet deposit.

-"No, I need to."
-You two people are really cute...

-Is that what she said? Yeah.
-Yes.

Okay. Mr. Rodriguez,
the plaintiff owns the dog.

She owns the dog. She paid for the dog.

It's registered in her name.

The fact that you were a good caretaker,
I can't help you with that.

The dog looks as if it's in
pretty good shape.

Believe me, if the dog didn't look
as if it was in pretty good shape,

somehow I would find a way.

But right now the dog looks
as if it's in pretty good shape.

I'm directing the plaintiff, however,

that in the event that she has to
remove the dogs

from her parents' house where she's living

that she's precluded from
selling them or giving them away

until she gives you
an opportunity to take them.

I'm also directing you because I assume
you live with your parents

and I assume your father's
gonna be watching this

or I would tell him when I got home,

that the judge called you a moron.

I will.

-You can tell him that.
-I will.

And I suggest to you that if you want
to own a pet... I've had pets all my life.

...you have to protect your pet
from morons.

[Cecilia] Yes.

Whether they be little children
who are morons,

or adults who have nothing better
to do than to make TikTok videos

using somebody else as a fall person.

Frightening.

As far as the assaults are concerned,

I find that you both assaulted each other
on two different days.

There's no question in my mind
that you assaulted him.

And there's no question in my mind
that as a result of her pushing you

and you have a temper...

You have a temper because I know you broke
some of the things in your apartment.

...that you did in fact do something
with her mouth.

It didn't remove her teeth, but clearly,
whatever you did to her face

caused her lip to hit her tooth,
which caused it to have a bruise on it.

Anything else that I have to consider?

Yes, all the furniture
that I left at the apartment.

Did you have a moving company
come and move stuff for you?

That's either a yes or a no.

-Yes. Yes.
-I read the papers. You did.

On what date
did you have a moving company come?

It was November 1st.

When you hired the moving company,

did you give them
a list of things to move?

Yes.

And did they move the list of the things
that you gave them to move?

-[Cecilia] Yes.
-Correct?

-And they moved them?
-Yes.

So that part of your case is dismissed.

It's over. She's keeping the dogs.

And we're done here. Case is dismissed.

[Kevin] This court is adjourned.

That's what happens when you
get in narcissistic relationships.

People manipulate you.

I was with him since I was 15.
I'm 19 now.

Honestly, I was pretty upset with the...
With the outcome of the dogs.

I haven't talked to him in months.

This is the first time
I've seen him in forever.

She kept coming back, I mean...

I don't like him, I don't want him, ever.

If that means no, man.

What's done is done.

I was so surprised when I found out
that she was only 19.

Not a real stable place in your life

to be getting a dog and let alone two
when you're not settled.

You know, I think that's so unfair
for dog owners when they're not settled.

-And it's just unfortunate...
-There's an immaturity...

-Yeah.
-...I think what you're saying to me is.

There's an immaturity.
Problem is when you're immature,

you don't realize that it's a mistake...
-Mm-hm.

...because an immature person
is making a mature judgment.

I actually found...

I mean it was stupid. It wasn't as if
they did something horrendous to the dog,

but frightened the dog by throwing
this square of cheese at its eye.

Well, I've seen the trend
and it actually did start on babies.

Throwing slices of cheese
on babies' heads in high chairs.

-What is happening to the world?
-Yeah.

-What's happening if somebody thinks
-Too much time on their hands.

-that that's funny, to startle a baby...
-Yeah.

...or to startle a creature
in order to make somebody else laugh.

Yeah.

-You don't...
-The world we live in today.

The morons want to do that.
Let them stick a broomstick someplace,

and take a TikTok picture of it.

-On themselves.
-Yeah.

-On themselves. Why choose...
-I'm with you.

...some other living creature.
I don't understand that.

-I would build more jails.
-[chuckles]

[narrator] Want justice?