02x45 - Parking Spot as*ault Caught on Tape

[bunniefuu]

She initiated a confrontation with me.

You can't do that.

It... I didn't... It wasn't my intention.

She installed a camera, set me up...

It was absolutely your intention.

You can't do that.

[narrator]
This is Judy Justice.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Sherry and Jeffrey Marshall
are suing their neighbors,

Joseph and Jennifer Feugate
for an insurance deductible

and filing a false police report.

[bailiff]
Court, come to order. All rise.

Have a seat, please.

Case #2074, Marshall versus Feugate.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

Mr. and Mrs. Marshall, you live
across the street from Mr. Feugate

- and his mother.
- Yes.

How long have you lived in your house?

Twenty-two years.

And Mr. Feugate, how long have you
lived in your house?

Your Honor, my mom has lived in the house
longer than I have.

She's lived in it since 2008.
I moved in in 2016.

Mr. and Mrs. Marshall, this problem
that I'm gonna try to rectify today,

- deals with parking space.
- Yes.

And the parking space
is a public parking space, correct?

- Yes, ma'am.
- Yes.

And it's on the street.
And the public parking space

happens to be in front of your home.

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judy] You live across the street.

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judy] And the case involves

acrimony that has developed
because you, Mr. Feugate,

would like to keep that spot
that's in front of your home,

free for your mother, who you say,
for health reasons,

would be more convenient for her
to park right in front of the house.

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] And Mr. and Mrs. Marshall
sometimes, or always,

park in that spot.
That's what the problem is.

- Yes.
- [Judy] Okay.

And I assume you're going to
speak for your husband for now?

I can, yes.

Do you want her to talk for you?

It's fine.

[laughs] He learned his lesson well.

Oh, that's very good. Perfect.

I can speak for myself.
If she needs to, she can.

[Judy] Perfect.
You've been living there a long time.

Did you have any trouble
with the Feugate family

about this parking space
between 2008 and 2016?

- No.
- [Judy] So, before the son moved in,

you had no problem.

That's right.

That's a lie, Your Honor.

Just a second. Had you ever had
discussions with Mrs. Feugate

about parking in that spot
before he came?

No, ma'am.
- [Judy] Okay.

Now, Mrs. Feugate,
did you understand what I said?

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] Okay. I want you to be very careful
in your answer to me.

Yes, ma'am.

You've lived there for a long time.

Your son didn't move in until 2016.
Before your son moved in,

did you ever have any communication
with Mr. and Mrs. Marshall

about parking in front of your house?

Ma'am, she didn't park in front of
my house before my son moved in.

Okay. So, is that correct?

That's correct.

Okay. Can you tell me what changed
after her son moved in?

Okay. Where I park at is actually
across the street from the Feugates.

It's right by my driveway.
And I park my Toyota Avalon

right beside my driveway,
which is the parking spot

that Mr. Feugate
is causing the problems over.

So, the parking spot
is in front of your house?

No, it's not in front of my house,
it's beside my driveway.

- [Judy] But on your side of the house.
- That's correct.

- [Judy] On your side of the street.
- Correct.

Did they have a parking space in front of
their house on their side of the street?

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy]
Do you ever park there?

I have, when they took the parking space
I usually park in,

I did park across the street.

Okay. So, occasionally,
either Mr. Feugate, his mother,

parks on your side of the street,
on a public street,

and you'll park in front of their house.

Correct.

Okay, I got it. Okay.
So, let me tell you all this:

We're gonna finish part of the case
right now.

Too bad.

You can park wherever you want
on a public street.

Because there are other visitors
that come, I assume,

for people who live on the block
that they take up parking spaces

and occasionally there aren't
other parking spaces.

You know, there's no question you would
prefer to park on your side of the street

and you would prefer to park
on your side of the street.

If you can't, you can't.

Mr. Feugate, I'm just telling you,
just so that you know,

you have no right
to a public parking space.

Yes, I understand that, Your Honor.

I'm not the one that
needs to be told that, though.

You have no right
to a public parking space.

Yes, ma'am.

Where do you live? In what state?

Ohio. Cincinnati.

Okay. I've actually been to Cincinnati,
frequently.

But I am certain that
there is no regulation in Ohio

or any city or town thereof, that says,
well, you sort of had first dibs

on the parking space, on the public street
that's in front of your house.

That's ridiculous.

The best that Cincinnati has, Your Honor,
is a three-day law

that if the vehicle doesn't move
within three days,

then it could be towed by the city.
But that's the best that they have.

You live across the street
from each other. Did either of you

ever call the police and say a car
has been there for more than three days?

- Yes, Your Honor.
- Who did?

- [Joseph] I did, Your Honor.
- Why?

Because the spot in question,
that's directly across the street,

it's actually, it's hindering to
the entire flow of the neighborhood

and where everybody parks on the street.

I served ten years, Army, and, um...

I fight for... I fought
for people's rights.

Listen, I don't care if you're a
good person, if you're not a good person.

if you're a do-gooder,
if you're not a do-gooder.

It's a public street.
And if what you're suggesting to me is

they should be nice, it's an older person
and they shouldn't park in that spot...

What I'm telling you is,
I wouldn't start up with anybody

by calling the police on a car that I...
Especially a car that I knew.

I know that it's my neighbor's car,
They've been living there for 22 years,

relatively peacefully. Relatively peace...

It hasn't really been peaceful,
Your Honor.

You moved there.

Yes, I did.

They were living there
a decade before you moved there. You.

Yes, ma'am.

If it wasn't peaceful, there are options,
you're a free person.

But I think it's absolutely ridiculous.
I can't imagine my calling the police

on a neighbor's car
that was parked in the street.

Well, that created problems. Okay.
So, I see where we're going,

we're gonna get to this case.

Reimbursement for insurance deductible.
That's one thing.

Because you claim that Mr. Feugate
damaged your car.

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy]
On what date?

That was on June the 26th.

[Judy]
Of this year?

Of '21, I'm sorry.

Okay. Do you have any video evidence
of the damage to your car?

No, ma'am, all I have is a picture.

Tell me how he damaged the car.
With what did he damage the car?

Okay. He damaged the car with his hand.
I'm parking the car...

[Judy]
You mean in front of...

In front of Mrs. Feugate's home.

- [Judy] So, on her side of the street.
- Yes, ma'am.

I exit the car. Mr. Feugate
is being erratical...

No-no, don't tell me what your
perception of... Tell me what he did.

He was beating the hood of the car.

[Judy] He came up to the car and
was hitting the top of the car.

- [Sherry] Yes, ma'am.
- [Judy] Okay, now I'll see the car.

And the police report.

I see the dent.
And that's the hood of the car.

Okay.

Okay, this police report says Mr. Feugate
told the police in his narrative,

that this incident occurred... There was
a disagreement over the parking space

and that you struck him with the car,
causing minor injury.

Okay, because you have
a cross complaint for that.

That is correct.

[Judy] So, that's a simple...
June 26th, I see the car was damaged,

there's no question it was damaged
by somebody pounding on the hood.

And I assume that was you.

Ma'am, that's wrong.
I did not pound on the hood.

Well, then, tell me, Mr. Feugate,
how these dents occurred,

just the way they look,
on the hood of the car.

Your Honor, there is a...
I have the 911 audio calls of the night,

as well as the police report.
And I also drew up a diagram

where she was originally parked,
that explains everything. But...

[Judy]
Okay. So, I'd like to see that.

Um, ma'am, if I could
approach the diagram?

[Judy]
Absolutely. June 26th.

On June 26th, I was talking to my parents
when the Marshalls came home.

My car was parked right here.
Okay, they came home,

they blocked their own driveway and
parked right up on top of my bumper.

Just a second. Just a second.
So, you, Mr. Feugate,

were parked on a public street
where you could park,

on their side of the street,
not your side of the street.

Yes, Your Honor.

And they came up,
blocking their own driveway.

Yes, Your Honor.

[Judy] Okay. Did you see them?
Were you in the house watching?

No, I was on my parents' porch.

Okay. So, now you're on
your parents' porch, they're in their car,

and they blocked their own driveway.

Yes, Your Honor.
Not a big ordeal, right.

Not any of your business.

Right. It wasn't, like I said,
wasn't a problem to me...

Wasn't any of your business.

- Exactly. So...
- [Judy] Go ahead.

I'm talking to my parents on the phone,
they're just getting done working.

I can hear that the Marshalls are upset

about where I'm parked at
on a public street.

And I went out to save my parents' spot,
because I could hear her say,

I'm gonna teach him a lesson.

So, Mr. Feugate, now,
is what you're telling me that that car,

where you're standing,
you went out to make it so

that they could not park
on a public street.

Is that what you're telling me?
The answer is yes.

- Yes. Yes.
- [Judy] You got off the porch,

to stand in the street to block them

from moving in front of your house

because your car was parked
on their side of the street.

- No. No, Your Honor.
- Just...

- No, you got that wrong.
- Is that red car yours?

The red car is mine. Yes, Your Honor.

Just a... The red car is yours.
Listen, I'm not a moron.

- [Joseph] I know that.
- The white car

is the space that you wanted to save
for your parents.

Yes, Your Honor. The were
on their way home. I was talking...

Who gives a rat's behind where they were.

- Now you have both spots.
- This whole area was clear.

There is a crossing road that comes
through here, and they coulda parked...

Who made you the monitor
of public parking?

No one.

Who do you think you are
to be the monitor of public parking?

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Sherry and Jeffrey Marshall
claim their neighbors,

Joseph and Jennifer Feugate,
owe for an insurance deductible

and filing a false police report.

Joseph and Jennifer are countersuing
for medical bills from an as*ault.

Now, you went out on a public street
to go like this,

to save a parking space
for your parents,

- that you had no right to do.
- Yes, Your Honor.

Let me just understand this.
You had no right to go out there.

You parked on their side of the street,
and then, you went outside

to save the spot 'cause
your parents were on their way home.

- Yeah, not...
- Just a second.

You have no right to do that.
Zero. Don't you understand that?

No, actually, I don't understand that,
Your Honor.

How do I not have a right
to save a spot...

You do not have a right
to save a public... Just a second.

You don't have that right.
Because I'm here to tell you.

You don't have a right to save a spot
on a public street

by standing in the street like this,
don't park here.

I wasn't like this.

I don't care whether you were
hopping on one foot and chewing gum.

You don't have the right to save a spot...

And it makes it twice as obnoxious because
you parked on their side of the street.

Now, if there was a spot in front of
their house that they could park in

and they said no, I'm gonna park
in front of the Defendant's house,

I could say, you know what, that's nasty.

- [Joseph] Well, that's...
- [Judy] That's nasty.

Now you have both spots.

This whole area was clear. Okay,
and there is a crossing road

that comes through here
and they coulda parked...

Who made you
the monitor of public parking?

- No one.
- Who do you think you are

to be the monitor of public parking?
Get back.

- [audience laughs]
- [Joseph] Yes, Your Honor.

[Judy] Okay. So now,
Mr. Monitor of Public Parking,

you come out and you're standing
in the street to save the spot.

She comes around to park there.
Right?

Yes, Your Honor.

Tell me what happened.

Well, um, she came around to park there
and then she hit me with her car.

[Judy] Just a second.
She came around to park there,

and you were standing in the street.

Yes, Your Honor.

Okay. Pay careful attention. Where did
she hit you in the car before you moved?

She hit me in the knee.

In the knee. And so you
jumped out of the way... No-no...

I fell on her car.
I was talking on the phone,

and when she hit me in the knee,
I fell on her car.

Baloney. That's not what this is.
What was the damage to your car?

That's baloney, that didn't happen
'cause your elbow went on her car.

Sir, she hit you on the knee. She hit you
on the knee with the front of her car,

which is possible. By the way,
you have medical records to show me?

- [Joseph] I do.
- I'd like to see them.

The record should reflect
that they closed this case,

made no arrests in this case and probably
told everybody to behave themselves,

which is what I'm doing.

I apologize.

[sighs] Okay. What is this?

That is the ambulance bill for...

I want to see a medical record.
I don't care if you went in an ambulance,

and I want to see what the doctor reported
about your injury. Where is that?

I was unable to get that.

[Judy] Well, that's too bad. I'm not
interested in this, that's nonsense.

Okay. How much did it cost
to fix your car?

Here we are. Thank you.

And you have a $500 deductible?

Yes, ma'am.

$500, so far, for the Plaintiff.
The counterclaim,

that talks about medical bills for this,
is dismissed.

Okay. Filing a false police report.

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] And the false police report
you're talking about is what?

Mrs. Feugate initiated a confrontation
with me.

[Judy] When?

December 22nd.
I'm on my way to my vehicle,

Mrs. Feugate is parked,
maybe like ten feet behind me...

[Judy]
Put up the diagram again, please.

Okay. Just go over to the board.
This is a different date,

but I just want you to show me
where she was and where you were.

Okay. Mrs. Feugate was parked
right about here.

She parked right about there,
which is opposite your house.

Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] Okay.

And I'm parked here.

- [Judy] In front of her house.
- Correct.

Okay. So, you're both
on the same side of the street,

which is the Defendant's
side of the street.

You're parked across the street
from your house.

- [Sherry] That's correct.
- Got it.

- Go ahead. What happened?
- Okay.

And Mrs. Feugate, she comes out of her car
and she's walking towards me,

she's upset, she's yelling, and
I don't remember all of the words

that she was saying,
but it was about parking.

She was telling me I couldn't park
where I was parked at.

She's yelling, she's screaming,
I'm trying to reason with her.

- Could you step back there?
- Yes.

I'm trying to reason with Mrs. Feugate,
I'm telling her it's a public street.

and I can park there. She's yelling and
screaming and telling me that I can't.

We're standing in front of one another.
She's still yelling and screaming

and I'm trying to reason with her.
Next thing I know,

she hits me on the hand.
My reflex, I pushed her back.

Next thing I know,
she's still standing after I pushed.

Next thing I know,
I guess she thought about it,

then she made herself fall on the ground.

[Judy]
Well, I don't know whether she did or not.

Somebody said, with regard to this,
that there's a video of this.

Is that correct?

Yes, ma'am.

It was recorded, wasn't shown in court.

I don't care whether it was shown in court
or not. I would like to see...

'Cause I read here that there's
a security video of what happened on...

There's a security camera.

If it's a video, you don't have to
go up there, Mrs. Feugate,

'cause I can actually see it myself.
So now,

those are the two cars parked
on the same side of the street

and they are parked on
the Defendant's side of the street.

Yes, ma'am.

- [Judy] And your car is the...
- Black car.

Your car is the black car,
their car is the red car.

That's correct.

And that's Mrs. Feugate
getting out of her car.

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

[Jennifer]
She started to move up.

So, I thought I'd move my car
a little closer.

Ssh! Don't speak.

- [Sherry] That's when she...
- [Judy] Ssh!

Okay, I'm gonna see that again, please.

And I'd like you to do it slowly,
at some point

when they're right in each other's faces
and getting very nasty.

Oh, no-no, Mrs. Marshall,
you can't do that.

- It wasn't my intention. When she...
- [Judy] Just a second.

It was absolutely your intention.

No, it was not.

- It was absolutely your intention...
- No.

Listen. You know,
I'm an equal opportunity ab*ser.

You can't do that.
You can't do what I just saw.

What I just saw is unreasonable behavior.

And totally inconsistent to being,
maybe, which I didn't see,

- slapped on the hand.
- Right.

[Judy] Maybe slapped on the hand.
I didn't see it.

But I did see you give her
a substantial shove,

and she is a person who has
a certain infirmity and she fell.

And if she fell, and if she was injured,
you're responsible. That's it.

I saw you give her a shove,
that didn't, as you say,

she decided to fall back down.
No, madam, you hit her with such force

- that she fell backward.
- You weren't there.

You say no, I say yes, I'm a judge, I win.

[theme music playing]

[narrator] Sherry and Jeffrey Marshall
have accused their neighbors,

Joseph and Jennifer Feugate,
of damaging their car.

Jennifer claims she was assaulted
by Sherry over a parking spot.

Now, I saw the video, I don't have to
have your mother testify.

You should've not created an incident,
Mrs. Feugate.

I did not.

Just a second. Yes, you did.

I was walking toward the car and
I was to go to my car and pull up,

because she was starting
to pull her car up.

And if you look, she started
to pull her car up first.

And then, when she come around the car,
she's holding her cell phone yelling,

"I got you on recording.
I'm recording you

because I'm gonna show you a hate crime."
Excuse me...

Just a second. Part of the problem
is you and your son

have to understand that you have no right
to the parking spaces

that on a public street,
just a second, in front of your house.

And your son, clearly,
is a provocateur in this

because he parks his car
on their side of the street.

I'm not get... So, what I'm doing
is I am dissecting this case.

If I have two unreasonable people,
they're gonna continue

to make each other's lives miserable,
and I can't control that.

All I can do is hear each individual side.
So, Mrs. Feugate,

I have already said that Mrs. Marshall
had no right, based upon what I saw,

to push you with such force that you fell.
I would like to see the medical report

after the incident of December 22nd.
May I see it, Kevin?

I was in the ER, and I had to wear a brace
for a month, on my arm and shoulder.

Did you have any out-of-pocket expense?

I paid $900
'cause it was Christmas holidays.

All I want to know is did you have any
out-of-pocket expense.

- Yes, Your Honor.
- And I also I had...

Ssh! What is this?

I had to have a woman come in
and clean my house...

- [Judy] I don't care about that.
- That was out-of-pocket.

Return that. That's a bill
for somebody to come in and clean.

Let her clean. Okay. So, filing a false
police report and false arrest.

- Who was arrested?
- I was.

[Judy] You were arrested, in my judgment,
legitimately,

because of based upon what I saw.
So, I'm dismissing...

That is not why they arrested me.

Oh, okay. So, that is not... The reason
that you were arrested, was not this?

The reason why I was arrested
is because when she hit me,

and when I pushed her back...
When they asked me what happened,

I did not tell them
that she had struck me.

Miss Marshall, is the reason
you were arrested

based upon the occurrence
of December 22nd?

- Yes, it was.
- Well, that's what I said.

So, don't say no. The reason you were
arrested and claim, falsely,

is as a result of
the December 22nd incident.

But I was cleared.

I don't care whether you were
cleared or not. I didn't clear you.

The burden of proof in a criminal case
is proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

Okay? That is not the burden of proof
in a civil proceeding.

It's a much lower standard.
I looked at that video,

I believe that your conduct
was unconscionable.

And not hers? You didn't see her...

I think that her behavior was stupid.

- Yeah.
- [Judy] Just a second.

I don't see her hitting you.
I see you walking away.

Miss Marshall, I see you walk away.
But I saw you give her a shove

that, as you say, she decided
to fall back down... No, madam,

you hit her with such force
that she fell backward.

- You weren't there...
- You say no, I say yes,

I'm a judge, I win. So you...
On your case,

I said absolutely, I don't believe him. I
don't believe that the damage to your car

resulted from his putting his elbow on it.
I told him,

you have absolutely no right
to save a space for your parents.

- I awarding...
- The whole case is malicious.

From what you saw him do,
that's what she did.

She installed a camera, set me up,
lured me in front of the camera.

She knew what she was doing
when she hit me on the hand.

- Oh, she knew.
- Just a second.

Just a second. It's not your judgment
I'm concerned about, madam.

I'm telling you, based upon what I saw,
I'm awarding Mrs. Feugate,

who I think she and her son both have to
understand what a public street is.

I'm awarding her $2,000
on her counterclaim

for her injuries
as a result of the as*ault.

I'm dismissing the part of your claim
for false arrest.

I awarded you the $500 that you asked for
for your deductible.

You got your $500, it's coming off
the $2,000 that I've awarded Mrs. Feugate

for her injuries. Judgment
on the counterclaim for $1,500.

Thank you very much, we're done.

[bailiff]
This court is adjourned.

I wouldn't have never
maliciously pushed anybody.

I've been trying to tell this story
forever.

I didn't know what else she was gonna do.
I was trying to protect myself.

It really does harden me that there are
people out there

that could go and just do this.

I have always been friendly,
I never bother anyone.

They keep bothering us.

We're really hoping that
this does resolve the issue.

I just want them to leave us alone.

Bring 'em to Judy Justice.

- Because she really does care.
- 'Cause justice will be served.

You wanna know how I know
that the Plaintiff wasn't being truthful

when she said that, I wasn't
being malicious, it was an accident,

I did not push her that hard.
If that had happened to me,

and I was just trying to get
someone away from me,

and that reaction from the Defendant
of falling back.

I thought she almost cracked her head
on the curb.

I would've said, I'm so sorry! Oh,
my goodness! I would've gone down to her,

I didn't mean to push you,
let me help you up.

The Plaintiff just
walked right back to her car.

And you could see her face
almost had a smirk on it.

Just walked right back to her car
like she didn't even care.

And that, to me, says
you knew exactly what you were doing

when you put your hands
on that woman.

Yeah. And I didn't see a slap.

- It could've happened.
- I said, it could've happened,

I just didn't see it.

That reaction was above and...

- Was an over-reaction.
- Of course.

[narrator] Want justice?