02x79 - World's Worst Intervention

[bunniefuu]

- You wanted to have an intervention.
- Yes.

[gasps]

[indistinct yelling]

She was lured to your apartment.

- This was a bad plan.
- There was no plan.

These are supposed to be my friends.

You can't do what you did.

That's almost like kidnapping.

[Announcer] This is Judy Justice.

[opening theme playing]

[Announcer] Jennifer Parimon
is suing her former friend, Cardy Moran,

for television damage
caused during an argument.

[Bailiff] Court come to order, all rise.

Have a seat everyone.

Case 2144. Parimon vs Moran.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

[Judy] Miss Parimon, you and the defendant
had been friends.

- Yes.
- And according to what I read

there was a falling out
which you will tell me about briefly.

Subsequently, and without
too much time having passed

you decided to conduct an intervention,

a drug intervention,

- with the defendant.
- Yes.

And it is your claim,
that during that drug intervention

she damaged your television set,
and you want her to pay for a new TV.

- That's what your case is about.
- Yes.

The defendant has a cross-complaint.

She says she's missing
some sort of a speaker.

I don't know what that is.
And for the emotional distress

that she suffered
as a result of this "intervention."

So I have a couple of questions,
just preliminarily.

- How long have you known each other?
- Over 20 years.

- [Judy] Friends?
- Yes, best friends.

- Former best friends now.
- [Judy] Former best friends.

But there came a time,
according to your complaint,

that there was a falling out.
And when was that?

That was in May of this year.

And what was the falling out about?

It was about our mutual friend, and...

- [Judy] This gentleman?
- Yes.

What about your mutual friend?

He was in the hospital,
and we were all taking care of him.

And she felt adamant to tell me,
that I need to do certain things for him,

and I was letting her know

that if he needs to tell me
he needs my help,

- he can tell me.
- Okay there were several people

looking after him while he was in
the hospital, taking turns.

- Is that right?
- Yes.

And she was telling you
things that you should be doing for him

and you said to her,
"If he wants me to do something

let him tell me, you don't direct me."
- Correct.

Okay, tell me the next thing that happened

that brings us to court today.

Well after that in May, I blocked her
we didn't speak...

- [Judy] Did you go to visit him?
- Oh, yes.

- That's...
- [Judy] Not yet. And did you?

- Yes.
- So you both did.

Okay, so you blocked her in May,
then what's the next thing that happened?

Now we're in September, and this was...

And between May and September,
you haven't seen her.

- [Jennifer] Haven't seen her.
- Okay.

And now it's September,
it's Labor Day weekend

and our friend, Brandon

wanted to mend
our friendship back together.

And it kind of did,
because we've been friends for so long.

We talked and kind of mended.

- Okay.
- Okay, so I unblocked her.

And then on that Sunday,
September 4th, she calls me

at seven o'clock in the morning,
and I guess she still felt uneasy about

you known, us not talking
for so long

that she demanded an apology from me.

She called you early in the morning,
demanding an apology for what?

For basically, just, I was in the wrong,
of not listening to her

- about our friend...
- Okay, and then what happened?

So, I refused to give her an apology.
I said we can move past it,

but I'm not apologizing,

which she got upset again,
and hung up the phone on me.

And after that,
she basically called

a family member of mine,

- [Judy] Not basically.
- Sorry.

You say she placed a call
to a family member.

- Yes.
- Okay, and you can't tell me

what that family member told you,
because that's hearsay.

- [Jennifer] Correct.
- You understand that.

Okay, so she called the family member
and that was on September 4th

- Yes.
- Okay, the family member called you.

Yeah the family member actually...

Did what?

Actually lives with me,

- so they didn't call me.
- [Judy] Okay. Okay.

Well you can tell me the relationship.

It's just family.

Okay, a family member
who lives with you and?

So she was calling that family member,
asking for...

You can't tell me
what any of that was about.

[Jennifer] Okay, sorry. I'm sorry.

So after the conversation
with the family member,

the family member told me what she said.

I know, I'm not saying the conversation.

Absolutely right.

So I told Brandon what she said,

and we thought at the time
let's have an intervention.

Okay, so now without giving any
credibility to any out-of-court statements

I assume by the word "intervention,"
you had a suspicion

that the defendant
was using drugs or alcohol.

Yes.

Before that, before September 4th

did you have any knowledge
of ongoing substance abuse

with your best friend?

- Yes.
- Since when?

- For a very long time.
- Okay.

Did you ever discuss
the drug use with her?

Yes.

Well you can tell me
what those discussions were like.

What kind of drugs
were you afraid she was using?

I prefer not to say.

Well you can't not say,
that's what this is all about.

You wanted to have an intervention.
You didn't want to have an intervention

because she was having
caramel-covered popcorn.

There was a controlled substance,
I assume,

that you were afraid she was using.

- Yes.
- [Judy] Which was what?

Cocaine.

- Have you ever seen her using cocaine?
- Yes.

Did you ever use cocaine with her?

Yes.

Between May and September,
had you ever used cocaine with her?

No.

- So it was before that?
- Yes.

- His name is Brandon?
- Yes.

Had Brandon ever used cocaine
with the two of you?

No.

- Did you ever see Brandon use cocaine?
- No.

Ok, so you who had used cocaine with her

decided to have an intervention
with Brandon.

- Yes.
- What do you do for a living?

I'm an inbound call agent.

I sell tickets.

Ok, and what does Brandon do?

He's disabled.

And who's going to be
at this intervention?

It was myself, Brandon
and another mutual friend.

"Mutual friend." Now this mutual friend,
whose name I will not have you state,

have you ever seen that mutual friend
use any sort of controlled substance?

- Answer the question.
- Yes

Yes. So now you have two people
who've used controlled substance.

One who has not, to your knowledge,
doing an intervention.

Correct.

Okay, and do you know
what an intervention is?

- Yes.
- Okay, what is it?

It's basically a meeting
of the minds of having

a discussion with one person,

- about an issue that...
- [Judy] And who's there?

- [Jennifer] Who's there?
- Yeah.

Oh, I would say, trusted people.

That I would feel that they,
that they were...

Sarah, I want you
to look up the word "intervention."

And read me,

the very, very simplistic definition
of an intervention.

From the Mayo Clinic,

"An intervention
is a carefully planned process

that may be done by family and friends

in consultation
with a doctor or professional

such as a licensed
alcohol and drug counselor

or directed by
an intervention professional

called an interventionalist."

Okay. So what you don't have is something,

I assume, this conversation
occurred on September 4th.

Correct.

Was it on that same day,
that you decided to have an intervention?

- Yes.
- Okay.

So let's start
with the word "well-planned."

Not as a result of a conversation
that you have with somebody.

And it's a well-planned event,
done in conjunction

with very often relatives or close family

who have a concern
that something is out of control

Some a*usive behavior,
that's related to either alcohol

or other controlled substances,

in conjunction with
a licensed professional

where everything is...

everything is synchronized,
but managed by a professional.

- Do you understand?
- [Jennifer] Yes. This was a bad plan.

There was no plan.

It was a plan made
because you were annoyed.

Usually people who are involved
in thinking about an intervention

have nothing but love in their heart

for the person
who needs that intervention.

But they have a plan.
You didn't have a plan.

- Yes, I...
- You kidnapped her into your house.

[theme music playing]

[Announcer] Jennifer Parimon
claims her former friend, Cardy Moran,

broke her television.

Cardy is countersuing
for emotional distress.

Now, you were annoyed at the conversation

so what you did
was not really an intervention.

What did you think was going to happen
at the end of this intervention?

What was supposed to happen to her?

According to what I read,
you called her,

or someone called her,
probably your family member, called her

with regard to these drugs
that she wanted to purchase.

- Is that what happened?
- Yes.

And said "I have them, come to the house."

Yes.

Okay, so that's not a giant leap
you have to put that together.

So she calls your family member
for some cocaine.

You arrange for an intervention.
Your family member calls her

at your request and says,
"Come to the house."

- So that's what happened.
- Yes.

Okay. But she was lured to your apartment.

- Yes. Yes I was.
- [Judy] By whom?

- By us. By her...
- What do you mean by "by us"?

- They...
- Ssh! Bup-bup!

Myself, Brandon and another...

[Judy] Well who called her and said,
"Come over?"

- [Jennifer] Who called her?
- Yes.

We were already going out.
She was already going out with Brandon.

Just a second.
She was already going out with Brandon...

Yes, and she decided to come

to where I live,
to come and pick up these drugs.

Because when she found out that

basically the set up
was for her to get her to my house.

So I told my family member

- to tell her that we did have it.
- Just a second, that's what I said.

- So she was lured to your house.
- Yes.

Yes.

Where you were going to do what with her?
What happened when you got to your house?

- Basically just talked.
- Not basically.

- Sorry.
- Not basically.

You lure somebody to the house.

She's come to the house now, expecting,
let us say expecting, to buy drugs.

or get drugs.

She gets there and realizes
that that's not going to happen.

That there are other people.
That that's not going to happen.

So tell me what happened
when she walked in the house.

That's what your case is.

Well when she walked in the house, um,
I immediately tried to give her a hug.

And she was upset.

No...you immediately after giving a hug,
what did you say?

I didn't say anything.

I just... open arms...

and she said
"No, it's fake", backing away.

[Judy] "It's fake". What's fake?

My hug.

- Okay, so she backed away.
- Yes.

- And?
- And it just started off...

No, no,no. Somebody had to say
something to her.

Somebody has to say,
"this is an intervention."

Somebody had to say why she was there.

She eventually was going to say,
"Where are the drugs?"

But you have to tell me what happened.

Yes, when she walked in the house...

She walked in, you went to give her a hug,
pushed you away.

Then what?
Come on, this was an intervention.

Yes, so we couldn't even get
to the part of "this is an intervention."

How could you get to an intervention?
You don't know what an intervention is.

[laughs]

[Jennifer] Well, we couldn't get
to a part of "let's talk."

She immediately said she was being set up.

This is a set-up,
with arguments back and forth.

Well what were
the arguments back and forth?

- The back and forth arguments...
- She said, "I'm being set up".

Somebody said to her,
"This is an intervention."

We didn't get to that part.

[Judy] Well what is the set-up
that she was talking about?

- I don't know why she said...
- Well there was a set-up.

[Jennifer] There was a set-up
-It was a set-up.

It was a set-up...

Yeah, so I wanna know
what your end game was.

The end game was
to have a conversation with her

so we can resolve our issues of
why does she need an apology from me

we have been friends for so long

Her getting... her... to my house

Yes, we did lie and say yes,
there was drugs at my house.

But she already knew

from how we're all there,
that there was no drugs

She was upset. She was irate.

She was bringing up the argument
that we had

- earlier in the morning...
- So this wasn't an intervention

for drugs or alcohol.

It was intervention for drugs and alcohol.

Oh, okay, then I'm asking you
not what happened.

What was your end game?

The end game was
to have a conversation with her

about how much drugs she was doing,

Because it changed her mood.
It made her angry.

[Judy] Well, did you have
a program for her to go to?

Did you have a program to take her to?

Had you spoken to a professional?

Had you done anything?

- No.
- Okay.

And when she was there,
according to you,

she was in your house
with three other people?

Myself, and Brandon,
and another mutual friend.

- [Judy] So with three other people.
- Yes.

- She was there with three other adults.
- Yes.

And she was lured there
under false pretenses.

- Yes.
- And what she did, according to you,

was pick up a chair and throw it at you.

Or threw it at a television set,
breaking the television set.

- She didn't throw it at me.
- [Judy] What did she do?

She threw it directly at my television.

Lucky she didn't throw it at you.

I wish she would've.

- That's exactly what she...
- [Judy] Now just a second.

You're lucky. You can't do what you did.

That's almost like kidnapping.

If you're having a serious intervention,
you have to sit down,

have a working plan of what happened,

have the right in your heart

have the right messaging.

Your messaging was all wrong.

Usually people who are involved
in thinking about an intervention

have nothing but love in their heart for
the person who needs that intervention.

And they seek professional help

in order to get
that person professional help.

But they have a plan!
You didn't have a plan.

- Yes, I...
- You kidnapped her.

- into your house.
- It was a bad...

- You can't do that.
- It was bad. It was bad.

It was very bad.
So you fix your own television set.

Your case is dismissed.

But Your Honor, I have it all on video.

- Did she break your TV?
- Yes.

Oh, I'm gonna look at the video.
Your case is still gonna be dismissed.

I believe she broke your TV.
Show me the video.

- I believe it.
- And I also have...

I believe that you're lucky
that's all she did

in order to get out of your apartment.

Did she ultimately leave your apartment?

- Forcefully, I kicked her out.
- [Cardy] Yes.

But forcefully you tricked her
into coming in

and then you kicked her out.

- Yes, after breaking my property.
- Okay.

[Jennifer] I'll squirt you like I squirt
the [...] dog. I can not.

[Man 1] I said not to...

[Man 2] Jen! Cardy!

[Man 1] Are you [...] serious?

- [Cardy] I'm ready. I'm ready.
- [Man 1] Are you serious?

Why am I being recorded?

Just a second. I don't know
why you're being recorded.

And in any event, as I said,
your case is dismissed.

Fix your own TV.
You have a counterclaim.

- Yes.
- And your counterclaim.

I don't know what this speaker is.
What is a speaker?

A speaker, you connect
your phone to Bluetooth

and you hear music on it.

Okay, so what was it doing at her house?

- It was never...
- Shhhh.

We were supposed to be hanging out so

I was supposed to be
hanging out with Brandon

and another mutual friend.

I didn't know we were gonna stay
at Jennifer's house.

Ok, I just wanna know what,
you brought the speaker?

- Yeah, a speaker.
- And you left it there.

I didn't leave it there,
my things were scattered.

When she was kicking me out,

my things were scattered,
getting kicked into the hallway.

When amateurs decide to do
an intervention

any negative consequence
that flows from that

you just have to accept.

But that's reason
for her to break my stuff?

Absolutely. It would've been
reason to her to break everything

in your apartment, to get out.

[theme music playing]

[Announcer] Jennifer Parimon has accused
her former friend, Cardy Moran,

of breaking her television.

Cardy claims
Jennifer caused emotional distress

after being tricked by Jennifer.

Okay.
Did you look for the speaker?

Yeah I looked all over the hallway.

- [Judy] Do you have her speaker?
- There was never a speaker.

Did you see a speaker?

- No, I didn't.
- Okay, there's no speaker.

Now let's talk about
your emotional situation.

You got to this,
I can't even call it an intervention.

- [Sarah] Trap?
- Trap. That's a good word.

- There you go.
- That's a good word. Thank you.

And tell me what happened
when you got there.

When I got there,
I asked the family member,

- her family member, to come downstairs.
- Okay.

Miss Moran, you walk in the door.

[Cardy] Yes.

And there's no question
that you were tricked

and that this was a trap.
- Yes.

That's what it was.

I realized it maybe one minute...

That's what it was.

Got in there, it was an uneasy feeling.

Realized it was a trick
to get you in there, it was a trap.

I want you to tell me what happened
when you got inside.

Jennifer starts to walk up to me,
like with her arms open.

Real slow motion like "Cardy, I'm sorry."

"You know, we should talk about this,
we're friends."

In that same tone.
And I'm like, "Yo, really?"

You're being fake.
I don't really want this.

You know, I came here
to get what I wanted

and let's go.

But Brandon's getting all comfortable.

He is disabled so you know,
alright fine, he's gotta get comfortable.

So... we start arguing.

- Me and Jennifer we start...
- About what?

About the conversation
that me and her had earlier.

You know, she said that
I should just get over what she said

initially for me getting upset.

Okay. So the initial conversation
didn't have anything to do with drugs?

We never talked about drugs.

When I got to the house, we never even,
I never had anything to do with them.

I was talking to the family member

what I came to get.
When once me and her start arguing,

I tell Brandon, like, "Alright,
can we go now?

Are we done here? Like, let's leave.
I wanna go."

So what happened
when you said to Brandon,

"Let's go, I wanna get out of here."

- What happened?
- She squirts me with a water g*n.

She tells me, "I'm gonna squirt you
like I squirt the dog."

Brandon, stand up.

Your last name is?

Milner.

I want you to describe this water g*n.

To be honest Judge,
I don't remember seeing a water g*n.

It's in the video.
If you listen to the video, she says it.

"I'm gonna squirt you
like I squirt the dog."

Brandon before I look at this again

you were there, in the room.
- Yes.

I'm gonna give you one,
before I look at the video again

whether you saw her
squirt the water g*n or not

did you see a water g*n that day?

- No, I didn't.
- [Judy] No, okay.

So let's play this and
let me hear what you're referring.

[Jennifer] I'll squirt you like I squirt
the [...] dog. I can not.

[Man 1] I said not to...

[Man 2] Jen! Cardy!

[Man 1] Are you [...] serious?

Okay, Sarah you have a much more keen
sense of hearing than I do.

She said, "I'm going to squirt you
like I squirt that [...] dog."

Okay, she's got younger ears than I do.

- What?
- I never squirted her with the squirt...

Whether you did or not,
are you telling me that...

- [Jennifer] No I said it.
- That Sarah heard...

- Okay, so you did squirt.
- I said it, but I didn't squirt her.

You did say, "I'm gonna squirt you
like I squirt the dog."

- Yes.
- Okay.

That's not an intervention.

We were arguing at that point,
it was already past the...

- That's because you lured her there.
- ... intervention.

Cause you did the wrong thing!

Yeah, it was a horrible plan.

It was horrible.

Okay, they're absolutely right.

And it caused a great deal of distress.

I wanna know
how you got out of the apartment.

I was kicked out. I was pushed out.

My things were thrown into the hallway.

At what point did that happen?

- Is that after?
- Literally three seconds after...

After the TV was broken.

- Yes.
- You were pushed out the door?

Yes.

Well that's some really good intervention.
How long were you in the house?

A total six minutes maybe?

Where did you go from there?

Umm, I got picked up and went home.

- Got picked up by...
- Two hours later, by my sister-in-law.

Don't make anything up.

- No.
- Who picked you up?

My sister-in-law and my daughter,
and her boyfriend.

- In that two-hour period
- Yes.

You must have waited somewhere for them.

Yes, I waited in her hallway.

Okay, so you waited.
When they came to pick you up

was there any further conversation
with her or Brandon?

- No.
- They just picked you up.

Well between those two hours,

there was conversation between
my daughter and Brandon,

my daughter and Jennifer
everyone was talking except...

Where was your daughter?

She was home.

So it was on the phone
that they were talking?

Yes, and she was pleading with them

to give me my stuff back
so I could just leave.

The cross-complaint, or the countersuit,
is seeking $1,800.

It's seeking $1,800.

Not only for the emotional distress
that was caused to the defendant,

but also for a speaker.

They don't have a speaker.

How much was the speaker,
so that I can deduct that?

It was $129.

Okay, so we're really talking about
$1,700.

Okay, and that's the amount
you want for your emotional distress.

- Yes, Your Honor.
- For that six minutes.

I don't blame you.
I think it's worth at least that.

I think that when amateurs
decide for all the wrong reasons

to do an intervention

any negative consequence
that flows from that

you just have to accept.

But that's cause,
that's reason for her to break my stuff?

Absolutely. It would've been reason
for her to break everything

in your apartment to get out.

Absolutely.

- You are holding her there...
- I didn't hold her.

Yes, just a second.

You brought her there
under false pretenses

that's what you did,
and you had somebody else there as well.

And according to you,
you wrote it was an intervention.

But it wasn't an intervention.
It was whether you wanted to...

For a 20-year relationship,
intervention may be a wrong word but...

Well it was a very, very wrong word

and you don't trick somebody
to come to your house

with something else in mind.
Even if it's to buy drugs.

So I'm awarding you $1,700
on the counterclaim

for your emotional distress.
Your claim for the broken TV is dismissed.

- We're done.
- [Cardy] Thank you.

[Bailiff] This court is adjourned.

I have no thoughts.

I'm happy with her decision.

but it's bittersweet because
these are my friends.

Just have a conversation about
certain situations we were having.

Her intention I don't think it was to make
me stop doing what they all do anyway.

I didn't keep her, that's the thing.

She walked in freely, walked out.

That's the betrayal.

Yeah, this is over.

It's just time to go separate ways.
You know I lived and I learned.

Those are the people that I grew up with

you know, those turn up days
are over anyway, so.

I think this whole situation
was a perfect example

of what my dad calls,
"lack of two-step thinking."

So, we can already agree
the intentions were not great.

They were just maybe,
potentially rekindling a friendship

and that's not exactly the person
you want leading your intervention.

If that's what they wanted to call it.
And also, what was your plan?

If it went the way
that the plaintiff at least claims

she was intending it
was to get her friend help

Say that the defendant
broke down and cried

and admitted to having a problem
and really wanting help.

Where was the help?
There was no help.

That's true.

So I agreed with you that she...
that the plaintiff

deserved any amount of damage
that happened

from having such a lack of a plan.

Well it's the lack of a plan,
she lured her there.

Yeah, just a messed up situation
all in all.

You really have to be coming from
the right place to do something like that

and I think neither of them were
even close to that sort of right place.

Neither the witness, nor the plaintiff.

[Announcer] Want Justice?