02x101 - Dude Where's My Truck? and Broken Bonds

[bunniefuu]

There was this truck
you had with your aunt.

I told her that I could pay it
in monthly increments.

He was never able to go
and transfer the title.

Because there was not one.

I had a officer knock on my door,
try to give me a grand theft auto charge.

When did it become uncivilized?

[narrator]
This is Judy Justice.

♪♪

[narrator] Susie Canales...

is suing her nephew, Noah Tijerina,

for the cost of a Toyota 4Runner.

[bailiff]
Court come to order. All rise.

Have a seat, please.

- Hello, Judge.
- Thank you.

Case 2160,
Canales vs. Tijerina.

- Thank you.
- Welcome.

- [Judy] Ms. Canales, is this your son?
- Yes, ma'am.

- [Judy] And his name is Chris?
- [Susie] Yes.

[Judy] OK.

This case is about a truck.

Toyota 4Runner, yes, ma'am.

That was titled in your name,

about 21, 22 years old,

but was in the possession
of your son, Chris.

- Yes, ma'am.
- And then, Chris went to jail.

- Yes.
- [Judy] And...

- your great-nephew moved into that house.
- Yes, ma'am. Correct.

And you moved into that house
with your wife?

- Girlfriend?
- Fiancée.

[Judy]
Fiancée. When are you getting married?

So, we're... we're waiting
on our second daughter in February,

so, after February.

OK, well,
that's not the way we usually did it



but I understand that that's the way
a lot of people do it these days.

Anyway, you moved onto the property.

When you moved onto the property,

in addition to some other things,
there was this truck.

When did you give your son the truck?
In what year?

It's always been his truck,
but I titled it over to him in 2021.

OK, so you signed over a title to him.

- Yes, ma'am.
- So, it's not your truck anymore.

So, what are you doing here suing for it?

He was never able to go
and transfer the title,

or go and register it, so, um...

- Because there was not one.
- [Judy] Shh, shh, shh!

- [Susie] I...
- Shhhhh!

If you say that again,
it won't be good for you.

We don't shout out here.
I run a very organized shop.

- Got it?
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] Great. OK,

so you acknowledged
that it's always been his truck.

Did you buy it new?

- I bought it used for his graduation.
- [Judy] When?

In 2005.

What's the value of it? Just...

Between three to five thousand,

but that's based on 100,000 miles
and good condition,

- so...
- OK.

Chris, stand up, please.

On what date did you go to jail?

Uh, April 20th, 2022.

- How long were you there?
- Till July 11th.

[Judy]
What were you there for?

A drug charge.

- [Judy] Is that still pending?
- No, ma'am.

When you were arrested,
or when you were incarcerated,

was there an engine in this truck?

Be very careful in your answer.

- Was the truck running?
- Yes, ma'am.

How many miles did the truck have on it?

Roughly 220,000?

And you were in the house,
and you disposed of the truck.

- Amongst other things, yes, ma'am.
- [Judy] Got it.

All we're talking about here

- is the truck.
- OK.

On what date did you dispose of the truck?

In... August. Whenever me and Susie
made a verbal agreement

for me to have ownership of the truck,
because it was no longer running.

How did you dispose of it?

It was towed away to a junk shop
and used for parts.

You have any paperwork?

I have paperwork for the towing.

Great, I'll see the picture
and I'll see the towing receipt.

That tells you that it wasn't working.

[Sarah] With the new mileage,
about $1,900 to $4,000

- would be the range.
- [Judy] OK.

[Sarah] Again, for good condition.

[Judy]
OK. And this is an invoice

for $75. "Junk vehicle towed.

No keys, no title, doesn't run, wrecked."

- Kevin.
- [bailiff] Yes?

Show this to... Chris.

So, that's what you're suing for.
You're suing for the value of the truck,

because it's been junked,
so you want $5,000.

The truck, at best if it were running,
would be $1,900.

According to this,
it wasn't running.

- Now, Mr. Tijerina?
- Yes, ma'am.

I want you to tell me the conversation
you had with your aunt.

Her son was now out of jail.

Because if this happened in August...

- You got out of jail July 11th.
- Yes, ma'am.

- [Judy] Where did you go?
- I went to my mother's house.

And that was before the truck was towed.

- Yes, Your Honor.
- [Judy] OK. Chris...

Did your cousin tell you
that the truck wasn't running?

Uh, no. No, ma'am.

[Judy] When did you find out
that the truck wasn't running?

I was always assuming that it was running.

Uh, I did attempt to contact him

and, uh,
he told me to come pick up the truck.

And I told him I was on my way.
I believe it was on the, um, July 15th.

We have, um, the text messages here.

I'd like to see them.

OK, so this all sounds very civilized.

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judy] OK.

Chris, when did it become uncivilized?

It really never became uncivilized,
we just, um,

uh, whenever I went to go...
get it that day

I... I think something happened and...
so, yeah.

- I'm not following you.
- OK.

You're all over the place.

This all sounds very civilized.
He's living in the house now.

- You were not.
- Right.

[Judy]
Some of your stuff was still there.

- Correct.

- [Judy] You know each other a long time.
- Mm-hmm.

He said, "Some stuff I'll throw away."
You said, "OK.

But the other stuff I've got
in the house, come by and pick it up."

- OK.
- Yes, ma'am.

At that time, he had to have told you
that the truck was not running

because he said the truck is at
the exact same spot where you parked it.

Right. Well,
I just assumed they didn't have the key

because a lot of my belongings
got thrown away.

Well, they didn't have the key 'cause
the tow people said that there was no key.

Right. That's just why I assu...
I assumed

- the truck was still in the same spot.
- [Judy] OK.

Now you find out
that the truck is not running.

Right? 'Cause you went there
to pick up some of your stuff.

[pen banging on the bench]

- Come on.
- [Chris] Yes, ma'am.

Yes, and that was in July.

- Because you said you were coming over
- Yes, ma'am.

- [Judy] July 15th.
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] So, you came to his house,
where your truck was sitting.

- Yes, ma'am.
- What did you find out about the truck?

The truck was still in the same spot
and it wasn't running.

- [Judy] Same spot?
- Same spot.

Did anybody prevent you
from taking the truck when you came?

- No, ma'am.
- [Judy] Then why didn't you take it?

Just simply for the key.
I didn't have the key to turn it on.

[Judy] Just a second.

April, May, June, and July. So, the car
had not been touched in four months.

That's what you're telling me.

While you were incarcerated,

and if you just said to me
the car was in the same spot

from the time you left,
now, and there was no key,

so you had no idea whether
the truck was running or not. Right?

Well, I just assumed
that it wasn't running because of the key.

- The... the no key.
- Well,

if you were that interested
you would've found out.

You would've called a mechanic,
they would've come,

they would've jump started the truck,

and somebody would've made you a new key.

Then you could've taken the truck.

He doesn't have to keep your truck
on his property.

Uh, well first of all, my family member
said that the...

they were evicted.
They had not been evicted.

What evicted?
What does that have to do with the truck?

At the time, Your Honor, he...
Chris was incarc...

- incarcerated. He came out...
- No, he wasn't incarcerated.

He wasn't incarcerated
when you gave him the truck.

- No, he was not.
- [Judy] No.

I see,
I have the dates here that you told me.

He wasn't incarcerated.
He wasn't incarcerated for a year.

And he didn't transfer the title.

I asked my family member
if I was able to go into the house

and remove all his items
and look for the key and the title

so I can have the vehicle removed,

and everything was thrown
out of the house.

So, when he came to pick it up,
it was gone the next day.

♪♪

I have text messages right here
saying that she doesn't like being lied to

and she's gonna go the court route.

I had a officer knock on my door
at eight o'clock in the morning

and serve me papers

trying to give me
a grand theft auto charge

and have a felony on my name.

Can I see the text message
that she sent to you afterwards?

[narrator] Later...

He says you didn't make any payments.

I never said
I was gonna pay him that back.

Well, you told me that you asked him
if you could borrow some money.

- That's what you said.
- A couple times I asked to borrow money,

but the entirety of that, all that,

like, I didn't say
I was gonna pay that back.

And he should know I...
He was just being nice.

♪♪

[narrator] Susie Canales...

claims her nephew, Noah Tijerina,

owes for the cost of a Toyota 4Runner.

What I'm telling you is,

he was not prevented from taking the truck
the day that he came,

which was mid-July.

He didn't dispose of the truck
until August.

That's what this receipt says.

I think.

[Judy] No. This invoice was prepared
two days ago.

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judy] Well,

this doesn't say when they took the truck.

How did you get this invoice two days ago
if it was from August?

I got the...the invoice
because I needed it for evidence

and the...the towing company
that sent me that invoice

gave me the incorrect day

because they sent it to me on the day
that that they sent me the receipt.

Doesn't say the date it was towed.

"Junk vehicle towed."

You have any e-mail communication
or text communication

immediately after the vehicle was towed?
Or before?

- With her?
- [Judy] Yes.

I called her the day that it was towed

because I have respect
for my family member

and I said, "I'm towing the truck.
It needs to get off of my property today."

And she said, "Mijo, I feel like
I should be compensated for the truck."

"How much do you want for the truck?"
She said she wanted $500.

I told her that I could pay it
in monthly increments.

Why would you want to buy a truck
that was worthless?

Because I have respect for my family
and I hold family very close to me

and if she says that something's
not right, I'm gonna make it right.

And that's what I tried to do.

I failed on that first month
of I was supposed to give her $100.

I did not pay the first $100.

I have text messages right here
saying that she doesn't like being lied to

and she's gonna go the court route.

I had a officer knock on my door
at eight o'clock in the morning

and serve me papers, trying
to give me a grand theft auto charge

and have a felony on my name.

OK.

Can I see the text message
that she sent to you afterwards?

Did you recall, Ms. Canales,
having a conversation with your nephew

about $500 for the truck?

No, ma'am, I do not.

- [Noah] My witness does...
- Shh!

"How was he supposed to pick up the truck
when he just got out of jail

the day before you had it towed?

And I asked for permission
to look for the keys and title,

but everything was moved
out of the garage.

At that time I was taking my mother
to the hospital,

but it's OK, I just got...
go through the court process."

"Regardless, you're going to get
your money, Aunt Susie."

So, there's clear that you had
a discussion with him about money.

Because he says to you,
in response to his statements,

so I don't see anything here about $500,

but he says,
"I'm going to get you your money."

- Mm-hmm.
- Well, you didn't say to him,

"What money are you talking about?"

I just told him I was done.

- I... I...
- No. You... no...

You said,
"I"m tired of the back and forth."

Which leads me to believe
that that's exactly what happened.

Do you have any other documentation

of this communication
that you had with her?

I mean, it's a useless piece of junk
of a car anyway.

The only thing I have is a letter
of me mailing her the money order.

That letter that I mailed her,

I have no idea where it is.
I asked...

[Judy]
Well, I don't know where it is either,

but that's a self-serving document.
I don't care.

But you acknowledge that you told her
that you would pay her $500 for the car.

She's the registered owner,
is that correct?

- Correct.
- Judgement for the Plaintiff

in the amount of $500.
I believe you.

- Your Honor?
- [bailiff] This court is adjourned.

He knows he did us wrong and, uh,
he knows he's lying right now.

That's the only reason why
he's acting like that

and that's why the reason
my mom is so upset.

It's sad that it had to end that way
for a family member

because family is something
that I hold very close to my heart,

um, and I don't like to see it
end that way.

He had free run of
all of my belongings

and, uh, he ended up selling it.

But at the end of the day,
it's my livelihood

and my fiancée's livelihood
that's at stake.

He knows what he did.

I did not take advantage
of my own family.

- Never.
- Yeah, it's tore us up a little bit.

It can't be put back together.

[Judy] Troublesome.

I'll tell you some of
the troublesome things

that I didn't even want
to go into it with them.

- He went to jail in April.
- Mm-hmm.

His mother knew where the car was

She could've gone to get the car.

- She had four months.
- [Sarah] Yeah.

Her son went to the house
when he got out of jail in July.

And all he had to do was do the same thing
the Defendant had to do.

Call a tow truck,
have it towed to your house.

- Right.
- Get an extra key made.

Right. And I thought that he was actually
a pretty good nephew.

Yeah. I did, too.
He didn't have to pay for the car,

but he felt for his aunt
and the situation that she was in and...

Well, he was just trying to be respectful

- Yes.
- and probably keep the peace...

- Exactly.
- [Judy] between everybody.

Well, again,
no good deed goes unpunished.

I was just about to say that.

Case 2123,
Valenzuela vs. Jenkins.

All parties, please, step forward.

[narrator] Jevon Valenzuela...

claims his former friend,
Darien Jenkins,

owes for unpaid loans

and bail money from a false arrest.

Mr. Valenzuela,
it is your claim that the Defendant,

who is a friend of yours, owes you
for some small loans that you made to him.

- Yes.
- [Judy] And, then

it is your claim
that he had you falsely arrested.

- Yes.
- [Judy] And you want damages for that.

You've known him for a while,
according to your complaint.

You knew him, you were friendly with him,
and then he moved out of state

and then moved back.

- Where did you move to, sir?
- [Darien] To Colorado.

[Judy]
And you moved to Colorado from where?

From Texas.

And in Texas is where
you knew the Plaintiff.

- [Darien] Yes.
- In what year did you move to Colorado?



[Judy] And in what year
did you move back to Texas?

This year, 2022.

OK. And why did you move back?

Why did I move back...

You moved to Colorado for what?

My family was up there, yeah.

And then my family went back to Texas.

- Oh, so you moved with your family.
- [Darien] Yeah.

- [Judy] How old are you?
- I'm 29.

Did you live with your family in Colorado?

No, we didn't all live together, no.

The reason you say you came back to Texas
was because your family came back?

- Yeah.
- [Judy] Did you have a job?

Uh, yes, I did.

- [Judy] Where?
- I worked from home.

- [Judy] What kind of work?
- For a newspaper.

- In Colorado?
- [Darien] Yes.

[Judy]
What did you do in Texas?

Uh, whenever I moved back,
I was still working from home,

but, um, they let me go.
It was... I got laid off.

[Judy]
When did you get laid off?

Uh, I would say June?

- June of this year?
- [Darien] Yes, ma'am.

And what month did you move back to Texas?

Oh, I had already moved back in May.

When you moved back in May,
where did you go to live?

I was living in hotels.

[Judy] But there came a point
when you had no money.

It got to a point.

[Judy] When did it get to a point
when you had no money?

Maybe July.

[Judy]
And when did you contact Mr. Valenzuela?

[Darien] I'd say July.

You didn't contact him in May
when you came back?

- [Darien] Uh...
- I just want to say, that's a lie.

Shh, shh, just... just...

When did you contact him?

I mean, we talked while I lived
in Colorado,

you know, we always text each other, so...

But when you contacted him in July,
what did you say to him?

I couldn't say exactly what I said, but...

[Judy]
The... give me the gist of it.

"Let me borrow some money," I guess.

- [Judy] OK, and...
- [Darien mumbles]

- you needed it for living.
- [Darien] Right.

[Judy]
And what did he say to you?

Um, he did, sometimes, if I asked him.

[Judy]
OK, and how much did he give you?

Uh, here and there maybe 100, maybe 200.

- Every...
- No, all together.

All together?
Oh, I couldn't say how much all together.

- You couldn't say.
- [Darien] Maybe...

I couldn't say. Maybe a few hundred?

[Judy]
Did he give you money for housing?

[Darien]
Uh, a couple times he did.

- [Judy] How much?
- A hundred here...

- a hundred there...
- [Judy] You have a record of how much

- you gave him, sir?
- I do.

OK. Because he's already said,

and would you read that back to me,
Whitney, please,

about borrowing?

[Whitney]
Said, "Let me borrow some money."

Right. OK,
"Let me borrow some money," so,

tell me how much money you let him borrow.



Show me.

OK, now, tell me what that is
that you're giving him,

all those papers
that you expect me to read.

These are screenshots
of every time I sent him money.

[Judy]
Oh. Can I see it, please?

OK. Get ready, Sarah Rose.

♪♪

Anybody who came could see
that your lip was bloody.

You say he fell, must have fallen outside.
You don't know how that happened.

But if you both are alleging
that there was a fight,

police would look at you and say,
well, "He's injured."

They wouldn't have arrested you
unless you had a warrant.

- Right?
- [mouths] No.

♪♪

[narrator] Jevon Valenzuela

is suing his former friend,
Darien Jenkins,

for unpaid loans
and damages from an as*ault.

So, every time you gave him money...

He agreed to pay me back.

[Judy]
No. He's already told me

that he called you and asked
if he could borrow some money

and you said, "Yes,"

and he'd said,
"I don't know how much it was."

So, if he doesn't know how much it was,
you have screenshots of it,

and Sarah is going to add them all up.

OK.

Of all the money that you said
that you borrowed from him,

how much did you pay back?

Uh, one... one-fif... 120?

Good guess.

- Did he give you back $120?
- No.

- [Judy] Did he give you back anything?
- No.

- [Judy] Nothing ever?
- No.

[Judy]
OK, so while Sarah is adding that up,

there came a point
where you left the hotel.

- Is that right?
- Yes.

[Judy] And Mr. Valenzuela probably
got tired of giving you money

and had said that you could stay
in a spare room at his house.

For the most part, yes.

And you moved in in August of 2022,
the end of August.

- Yes.
- [Judy] And then in September

you had an... a fight.

I don't care what the fight was about.
Became physical?

- He was physical, yes.
- [Darien] Uh... no,

No, it wasn't, Your Honor.

- No, it wasn't.
- [Judy] OK.

Let's say you had an argument
that spilled out into the street

because this becomes very important
because there's...

the other charge is false arrest.

And it was a false arrest, you claim,
based on his statement to the police

- that you assaulted him.
- Right.

[Judy]
Right. He says, yes, you had an argument,

but you weren't arrested on his allegation
that you assaulted him,

but you were arrested and held
on an outstanding warrant.

When the police responded,

they found that there was
an outstanding warrant.

So, now I want you to tell me,

in September of 2022,

did you have an outstanding warrant?

That's either a, "Yes," or a, "No."

Well, it was on a payment plan.

[Judy]
I don't care what it was.

- Did you have an outstanding warrant?
- Yes.

[Judy] And the outstanding warrant
was for a what?

Traffic tickets.

What kind of traffic ticket?

I think I was speeding
and I didn't have my license, either.

So, speeding, driving without a license...
What else?

Have insurance?

- I think it was insured...
- [Judy] Not "think."

- and...
- Not think. Speeding,

driving without a license,

- and no insurance.
- And no tags.

[Judy] And no tags.

- And for that, you got fined.
- [Jevon] Yes.

- [Judy] And you didn't pay the fine.
- I was paying it.

Well, there wasn't a warrant outstanding
'cause you were cooperating

and paying the fines.

The county that I'm in, they said,
the police officer said

it doesn't matter if you're on
a payment plan,

they'll arrest you if they want to.

Mr. Valenzuela,
did you miss payments on your fine?

- Yes.
- [Judy] Perfect.

And so, when the police responded to this
kerfuffle that was out in the street,

when they ran both your names,
your name came up with an active warrant.

- Yes.
- Well, that's easy.

So, that you were arrested
on the outstanding warrant.

I would have never been arrested, though,

- if he wouldn't have acted...
- [Judy] If he didn't call the police.

- [Jevon] No, he didn't call the police.
- Who did?

My neighbor did
'cause the way he was acting.

[Judy]
So, your neighbor called the police,

but for the outstanding warrant,

I don't know whether the police would've
taken you into custody.

You had an injured lip.

They could see that your lip was bloody.

You say he fell, must've fallen outside.
You don't know how that happened.

It's really not relevant to this case,
but if I were the police

and I showed up...

You didn't have any visible injuries,
right?

- No.
- [Judy] No. You had a busted lip.

If you both are alleging
that there was a fight,

police would look at you and say,
well, "He's injured.

He's got a busted lip, gotta sew it up."

They wouldn't have arrested you
unless you had a warrant.

- Right? Good.
- Right.

So, that's not his fault
that you had a warrant.

That's not his fault.

Have that total. It's $2,727.56

and that's including
some direct payments to Motel 6s

and other housing accommodations.

- Includes that.
- Yes.

In addition to direct payments
to the Defendant.

Great. He says
you didn't make any payments.

$2,727.

I mean, there's no way
he expected me to pay up.

I never said I was going
to pay him that back.

[Judy]
Well, you told me that you asked him

if you could borrow some money.

- That's what you said.
- A couple times I asked

to borrow money, but the entirety of that,
all that,

like, I didn't say
I was gonna pay that back.

And he should know I...
He was... he was just being nice.

- [Judy] He was being nice.
- And sometimes he offer...

[Judy] Not anymore.

Yeah, not anymore.

- [Judy] You have a job now?
- Yes.

OK, great, $2,727.
Judgement for the Plaintiff.

- We're finished, thank you.
- [bailiff] This court is adjourned.

I think he was just mad, overall,
so he just picked something to...

to get me back with.

Just like he said,
he thought I was being nice.

Why would you say you're gonna
pay me back, but then not pay me back?

He was screaming, yeah,
he was screamin', um...

Yeah. Just screaming, cussing,
like, embarrassing.

He was acting crazy

and because he was acting crazy,
woke up the whole neighborhood.

Well, he was drunk going crazy outside

running around the...
the apartment complex, so...

she called the cops on him.

That's what made my neighbor call the cops
and that's why they came.

Oh, no, there's no friendship.
It's gone. Yeah.

Don't have friends like that, but also,
don't bite the hand that feeds you.

Nothing comes good out of it, so...

Just something funny
from the receipts that I was looking at.

Some of them say, you know, the price
really big on Venmo or Cash App

and then it just says, "Completed"
at the bottom.

On some of them, though,
you could see heart emojis

that the Defendant sent thanking him,

basically acknowledging
that he received...

- the money payment.
- Received the money.

Sent a red heart emoji,

and some of them
were at very odd hours of the night,

like, one, two o'clock in the morning.

Some direct to Motel 6, some direct
to other housing accommodations...

- It's so interesting.
- But it like... I liked the receipts.

- The receipts.
- I liked the,

- I... I never learnt...
- uh, paper trail.

- Right. It's...
- Made it easy.

- [Judy] It's true.
- Mm-hmm.

And, because when people say,
"I gave him cash in loose..."

Even with an ATM slip, you never really
know if the cash transferred hands or...

- This is... this actually makes...
- Yeah.

- our job much easier.
- Yes, ma'am.

Yes, it does.

[narrator] Want justice?