03x80 - Marijuana Meltdown

[bunniefuu]

So, you were going to go into her space,

make and sell your
CBD infused ice cream.

CBD and THC, Your Honor.

And you still have
his ice cream equipment.

-Correct.
-Um, we had a fallout, so...

And you're saying,
I want my equipment back.

I just want the value.
I don't want the equipment anymore.

I don't care what you want.
You've been eating too much ice cream.

[narrator]
This is Judy Justice...

[theme music]

Kyle Bishop is suing his
former business partner, Bridgette Pinder,

for the return of ice cream equipment.

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

Have a seat, please.

Judge, Case #3137, Bishop vs. Pinder.

-Thank you.
-Welcome.

Mr. Bishop, you and Miss Pinder

are both in the business
of products that contain CBD.

CBD and THC, Your Honor.

-[Judy] CBD and what?
-THC.

You have to tell me what that is.
Some people don't know.

It's a cannabis derivative.

That's good for what?

It's good for pain management,
sleep; stuff like that.

And your particular specialty

-was CBDs infused ice cream.
-Correct.

[Judy]
And you take that for pain management.

You can.

What else do you take it for?

You can take it recreationally too,
if you want.

-[Judy] Just to be happy?
-Just to be happy.

It would seem to me that
that's why you would take ice cream.

-Sure.
-[all laugh]

How long have you been involved
in that business?

Since 2018, Your Honor.

Just for my own curiosity. How'd you get
involved in the ice cream part of CBDs?

Basically, it was just a fun way
to infuse the CBD or THC.

And how do you buy the CBDs?
Does it come in a box? Did it come...

So, it's a, um, it comes in a liter jar.

-[Judy] A liquid.
-[Kyle] Yep.

[Judy]
And where do they get that from?

They extract it from the plant itself.

And you buy it from a company?

Yeah, the extraction company, yep.

Where are they located?

[Kyle]
In Oregon.

-[Judy] Must be a good business.
-Oh, yeah. [chuckles]

And you invested
in this ice cream machinery.

Mm-hmm.

I assume there's no difference

between the ice cream machinery
to make ice cream...

[Kyle]
No, none at all.

-and one to make...
-No.

-ice cream infused with CBD.
-None.

Okay. When did you purchase
the equipment?

So, the freeze drawer was purchased
on February 22nd, of '23.

That was just one of the machines.
One of the three.

[Judy]
And how much was that machine?

That machine was exactly $2,904.02.

-Okay.
-But there's also interest on it.

There's a payment plan on it.

Just tell me what
the second piece of equipment was.

And that would be
a Whynter ice cream machine.

[Judy]
Okay, when did you purchase that?

Um, this one was purchased
on January 9th of '22.

That was the second ice cream machine
that I have.

[Judy]
And the third one?

Um, I don't have the exact date,
but I do have proof of purchase.

[Judy]
What was the year?

[Kyle]
Uh, '22.

-Did you buy it from a private party?
-Yes.

Okay. And how much was that?

That was $250.

Okay. And the one that you bought
on January 9th, 2022 was how much?

Three hundred.

$3,454 is what you paid for the equipment.

-Correct.
-You have any loans out on the equipment?

I do, yep.

[Judy] And that would be
on the one you purchased in 2023.

-Correct.
-And how much is left on that?

I actually don't know.
I just keep making payments on it.

When was the last time
you made a payment on it?

[Kyle]
This month.

[Judy]
Now, Miss Pinder...

You're in the same business.
And what I gather was

he leased some space and then
he had some trouble in his space.

You used to be in that space.
And you were moving into new space.

We were already in new space.

You were already in new space.
And he asked you if he could...

move his ice cream equipment
over to your space

and sell stuff out of your space.

Correct. We were gonna collaborate...
Oops, I'm sorry.

[Judy]
And when was that?

Um, that was in July of 2023.

And that was the plan.
He had his ice cream infused,

and you were involved in CBDs.
What kind? What do you sell?

So, we grow, process, and
make all of our own products.

So, we have a hemp farm
where we grow all of our own hemp.

And then, we process it ourselves so
we get an oil, a resin out of our plant.

And then, we take that and we use that
in our products.

We were going to collaborate with Kyle
on an ice cream product.

And that is how we ended up, um...

So, she would supply the liquid.

-No, she didn't supply anything...
-[Judy] No, she would.

I didn't say she did.
I said if you're gonna collaborate,

were you were gonna buy your product
from her?

We could, yes.

I actually did supply... oops, sorry.

Well, that sounds like a collaboration.

-Right?
-[Kyle] Mm-hmm.

I mean, if she processes her own liquid...

Right. But it's more cost effective
to buy it in bulk, the way I was doing it,

versus making it.

[Judy] So, how were you
going to collaborate with her?

It was going to be a 50/50 partnership
between the profit made.

So, you were going to go into her space,
make and sell your ice cream,

-[Kyle] Right.
-and she would get half the profit.

-Right.
-[Judy] In exchange for your rent.

Is that the deal?

We didn't have a deal on rent or anything.

Okay. So, you didn't have a deal on rent,

but you were gonna split profits
on his product.

Okay. Then, there was a kerfuffle
between the two of you, when?

About July 26th, 2023.

And you were no longer collaborating
after that.

-[Kyle] Correct.
-[Bridgette] Correct.

And you still have his ice cream equipment
in your store.

[Bridgette] Correct. And the reason
that I have his ice... Oh, okay.

[Judy]
And that's what he wants back.

Actually, I do. I just want the value.
I don't want the equipment anymore.

-I don't care what you want.
-Sure.

You want your equipment back.

Well, actually, I want
the value of the equipment.

[Judy]
She's not gonna pay you for the equipment.

If I rule that she has to give it back
to you, she's gonna give it back to you.

You've gotta go pick it up
from wherever it is. Okay.

But I do have text messages saying
that I was gonna sell that in a new spot.

But you didn't.

-[Kyle] Well, I can't.
-Why?

'Cause I don't have a new spot.

Well, that's not her fault.

Right. No, I know it's not.

You've been eating too much ice cream,
Mr. Bishop.

[theme music]

[narrator] Kyle Bishop
claims his former business partner,

Bridgette Pinder, is wrongfully
withholding his ice cream equipment.

Bridgette is countersuing for
the cost of CBD products and defamation.

Now, there's a theory that you're
holding onto his equipment

that he has some of your product.

Yes, ma'am.

So, in effect what you did was
put a lien on his equipment,

even though you didn't put a lien on it.

-Correct.
-You have to return his equipment.

Okay.

And you have five days to do that.
You go there if you need to go there

with a sheriff or a Marshall.
We'll put that in the order.

I've already done that once.

I've already done that once,
Your Honor.

Well, now you do it with an order.
Five days, you pick up your equipment.

Okay. Now, you paid $3,454
for the equipment.

Would you mind telling me
why you're suing for $7,000?

Basically, for damages
done to the business, as well.

[Judy]
What damages?

Uh, loss in profit and wages.

How do you know that?
What proof do you have of that?

I can't sell any product, Your Honor.

What proof do you have
of what you could sell?

I do have other clientele
that would purchase.

How do I know that?
You get your equipment back.

-Okay.
-[Judy] Be happy.

Now, she has a counterclaim.
She says you have some of her product.

I do.

First, how did you come into possession
of her product?

We agreed upon the old space
that we were both currently at,

um, it was a 60/40 split.

Just a minute. You mean,
in your old place that you left?

Yes, yep.

Before you left the old space,
she gave you some of her product

-for you to sell.
-[Kyle] Right. Right.

And then, I still owed on that product,
after closing.

-Did you have a written contract?
-No.

How did you keep track of
what she had given you to sell?

We basically just did it
through the POS system.

-[Judy] The what?
-The POS system. Point of sales.

Do you have a...

On my end, I would keep track
of every time I would bring product

out to the store, or one of my employees
would bring product.

These are... that's... and I also have,
um, copies of my wholesale books

and my lists, um, if you would like...

so that you can see
how much things cost and...

Mr. Bishop, I'd like you
to take a look at this

and see if this represents a fair
and accurate representation

of the product that Miss Pinder
gave you to sell on consignment.

These are the correct products
but not the, um, quantity.

-Do you have what the quantity is?
-[Kyle] I do not.

Why don't you keep it?
I mean, you're in business.

If you don't have it and she has it,
then I must rely on what she has.

-Mr. Bishop.
-Mm-hmm.

You gotta stop eating all that ice cream,
sir.

No, I do... I do have conversations
of what...

Eat up all the product, you know,
you're not in business anymore.

[all laugh]

[Judy]
So, where is all of her product?

[Kyle]
It's in storage right now.

[Judy]
How long has it been in storage?

About four months.

What's the exact date
it went into storage?

I don't know, Your Honor.

July was when he left his store.

It was actually May 11th,
was the last day, Your Honor.

Okay, so, I'm sorry.
May 11th was his last day.

And our products are not, um,
very shelf stable.

They have about six months to a year
shelf stability.

Um, so those products
would not be viable anymore.

Tell me, Mr. Bishop, how come
you put the products in storage in May?

No, it's just because we
were transferring over to a new spot,

well, trying to, anyway. And then we were
continually trying to find a new spot.

Well, what happened with her spot?

Um, we had a fallout, so...

He was never coming to my new spot.
His old spot is where he... that...

I was in prior to him renting it.
So, we've never been in business together.

We've never had a spot
or anything like that together.

[Judy]
But that was the plan.

-[Bridgette] No, it was not.
-[Kyle] That was the plan.

The plan was for him to make ice cream
in our processing facility,

but not for us to ever
share storefront together.

So, his ice cream equipment was placed
by him in your processing facility,

-not the store.
-Correct.

So, he never really used it
to make ice cream.

No. I asked him multiple times
in multiple text messages

to come in and make the product,

because we were supposed to
be making a product together.

And he would always give me excuses,
like I don't have gas money,

I can't get there today, this and that.

And then, the product not being viable.
We also went back and forth with that.

I kept asking him to make something
with a longer shelf life.

Things like that. So, that didn't happen.

[Judy]
May I see some of the text messages?

And then, I'd like you to tell me...

So, these are in order. This is
from where we were talking in, um...

uh, July 26th, there's a...

um, so this is me asking
for my products back.

You can just start with that.
I don't know, you want the whole thing?

[Judy]
Yeah, I want everything.

The Defendant said to you, "I'll need my
products back and money you owe me first.

I assume you asked
for your ice cream equipment.

Correct.

[Judy] "I've been asking you for weeks
when you're coming in,

and you didn't, so now,
I don't have time."

Well, how much did you owe her in July?

Mr. Bishop, you clearly,
based upon all of these messages...

-Mm-hmm.
-[Judy] owe her money.

Correct.

And you owed her some serious money
in July.

And what you're doing is saying to her,
listen, I'm not doing well right now.

So, you gotta stop stressing me.
You're asking her to be like your mother.

I owe you money, but don't talk to me
about that right now

'cause I'm very stressed.
And I have to make money.

And I need my freezer equipment
to make money,

and you won't give it to me.

-Mm-hmm.
-[Judy] That's what you're saying to her.

Now, he says to you,
"I know I owe you $700

and it's just frustrating
that the faucet just shut off.

Trust me, I know.

But we need to work together on this
to make it work.

There is a spot in Glenco for $800,
all utilities, with a small kitchenette,

and only asking for one year's rent. I can
sell things and do DoorDash to meet that."

The $700, Your Honor, that was
for product he had sold in the store.

Not for the product of mine
that he still has.

-So, I agree that that...
-[Judy] That's what he...

Yeah, he was selling our products.

So, that was the $700 that he had sold
that he owed us

from selling the product. But he still has
all the other product in storage.

-He has other inventory.
-[Bridgette] Yes, yes.

Okay. Mr. Bishop, I'm reading
all of these messages...

Mm-hmm.

and it appears that you said to her,
I owe you $700.

Correct.

Now, in my rudimentary business mind,
that means

that that is not materials that you had
of hers that are currently in storage,

but materials that you sold and
were her part of the profits.

You said it was a 60/40 split
in the old store.

That was for the, um, collaboration
we were going to do.

No. That's for what you sold already.

That's for what you sold
and you didn't pay her.

But there's no way I have $10,000 worth
of product. There's absolutely...

But you see, I don't know that

because you just took it and
didn't keep inventory.

You just took it. Gimme, gimme.

Gimme, gimme.
I want to make some ice cream.

I wanted him to succeed.
I want a lot of people to succeed.

And so, I try to help others
in our community.

And that's what I was trying to do here,
Your Honor.

She actually had a lobbyist group
make my product ill*gal.

I don't know how that's helping me.

-Because it's ill*gal.
-Correct. She made it ill*gal.

[theme music]

[narrator] Kyle Bishop
has accused his former business partner,

Bridgette Pinder, of refusing to return
his ice cream equipment.

Bridgette is countersuing, claiming Kyle
owes for the cost of CBD products.

So, my question to you, Mr. Bishop, is
how much money did you owe her?

Only $700, Your Honor.

[Judy] I want you to show me
how you get to that figure.

[Kyle]
Sure.

Your Honor, that was the...

There's hers...

Sir? Excuse me, sir.

What you're showing me is $700
that you already owe her

for products that you sold.

[Kyle]
Right, but that's all that was owed.

Well, what's in storage?

It's about $500 worth of product.
It's not much.

[laughs] That's not what she says.

[Kyle]
Right, that's what she says.

[Judy]
Why didn't you give it back to her?

I mean, we tried talking.
I even brought a cop for a civil standby.

We couldn't really work it out.

What do you mean,
you couldn't work it out?

Why don't you just give her back all
the products that you had back in July.

They were still good.

I was going to sell those in my new spot

I thought I was gonna get a new spot
by next month, but...

that never panned out, unfortunately.

-Well, that's not her fault.
-[Kyle] Right.

You kept stuff that didn't belong to you.

Right.

But I do have text messages saying
I was gonna sell that in the new spot.

-But you didn't.
-[Kyle] Well, I can't.

-[Judy] Why?
-'Cause I don't have a new spot.

Well, that's not her fault.

Right. No, I know it's not.

You've been eating too much ice cream,
Mr. Bishop.

Try chicken and fish.
It'll help you out a lot.

It's good for your brain.

-Your Honor?
-[Judy] What?

He's also been, um, defaming us
on social media and YouTube.

which I have copies of. He also
has product with our logo on them

still on his Facebook page that we've
asked him to take down multiple times.

Which he hasn't,
and he laughs at us about.

-[Judy] May I see?
-[Bridgette] Yeah.

The picture of the YouTube, Your Honor,
is him, um, sharing text messages

that I gave you, um, on YouTube.

-Calling us thieves...
-Who cares?

I have a saying,
that if you don't want to see the picture

on the front page of the
New York Times, don't take the picture.

And if you don't want to see
something republished,

don't send a text message about it
because it can be republished.

I don't know what this means.
"Can you get away with stealing?

Hashtag law, hashtag education."
What is that?

The content of that was actually
a guy stealing a watch,

and then, the state pressing charges
against the guy that stole it.

So, telling her, basically, that
the state would press charges against her

for stealing my stuff.

But taking my business then.

She actually should not have retained your
stuff without the intervention of a court.

-But that's why we're here now, sir.
-Correct.

And the Defendant says that the value
of the merchandise that you have

is not as you speculate, $500,
or whatever,

but more in the neighborhood of,
she says, thousands of dollars.

Because you're suing
for a congregate amount of $10,000.

You break that up in product
and in defamation.

Now, you have a fixed amount,
that I can see,

of what product you gave him,
when, and your cost on them.

-You have that?
-[Bridgette] Yes, ma'am.

I'd like to see it.

It's on the back sheet of the one
that I gave you, $11,000.

The one that looks like this, Your Honor.

-Okay. You asked him for his stuff.
-[Bridgette] I did.

Mm-hmm. Do you remember
what he told you?

He told me that he was going to be getting
a new space,

and that he was going to sell my stuff
in his new space.

I asked him multiple times
for my things back

because I know that they're
not gonna do well in a storage space.

I even told him, give them back to me,
and I will give you new stuff

-when you open your new space.
-That's not true, Your Honor.

[Bridgette]
It is true, Your Honor.

-There's no text messages saying that.
-[Bridgette] No, I told that to him.

[Judy]
It really doesn't matter, does it?

Yeah. 'Cause I wanted him to succeed.

I'm in a huge part of our community...

That's not true, Your Honor.

Don't interrupt her.

I wanted him to succeed.
I want a lot of people to succeed.

And so, I try to help others in our
community.

And that's what I was trying to do here,
Your Honor.

She actually had a lobbyist group
make my product ill*gal.

I don't know how that's helping me.

Mr. Bishop, let me
ask you this question.

You're coming to court today,
asking for the return of your equipment.

Correct. Right now, I can't even
make the product 'cause it's ill*gal now.

Because it's ill*gal?

Correct. She made it ill*gal.

She's not a legislature.
She may have lobbied to make it ill*gal,

but she's not a legislature...

She used a group called [inaudible].

I don't care, Mr. Bishop.
You have to understand, I don't care.

What I'm saying to you is
you're coming in to a court of equity,

and you're saying,
I want my equipment back,

-which I can still use.
-[Kyle] Mm-hmm.

[Judy]
'Cause it's equipment. And...

I can't use it to make ice cream.

I don't care what you use it for.
You can use it to make ice cream, sir,

you just can't make it
with CBD infused ice cream.

-[Kyle] Correct.
-Make as much ice cream as you like.

And as far as the Defendant is concerned,
if you can't make CBD infused ice cream,

-she has no use for the equipment.
-Correct.

Except to sell it.
But if you can't use it... Is that right?

Correct.

If you can't use it, then
you really don't want it back.

-Correct.
-Then I'm not gonna give it to you back.

-Okay.
-And I'm gonna take off the value

based upon what you owe her.

Because she can't use the product anymore,
its shelf life is gone.

-And you've retained it. You understand?
-Correct.

So, she says the value of her product
is $11,000.

My court maximum is ten.

She's got the equipment
that you can't use.

I don't know what she can sell it for.

You paid $3,000 for the equipment.
You have $10,000 worth of stuff

that you can no longer use
because he's retained it in storage.

Sell whatever you can
of his ice cream equipment.

[Bridgette]
Okay.

I'm awarding you $7,000
on your counterclaim.

Thank you, judge.

Plaintiff's claim is dismissed.
On the counterclaim, $7,000.

Thank you.

-Thank you, Your Honor.
-This court is adjourned.

We just had a disagreement, unfortunately.
Had a bit of a falling out.

He wouldn't show up to make the product.

The shelf life on the product was
not long enough, and it wasn't reliable.

They put in a law that my ice cream
is now ill*gal.

We did not do that.
We did not get anything banned.

We worked really hard to get THC
legalized in Minnesota,

and that's what we did.

We're just gonna move forward.

We will never work with him
in the future.

I should've asked whether these products
that contain the CBDs that she sells

that he took and has in storage.
I wonder if they have an expiration date.

A lot of them do.
I think it's a plant derivative.

Sometimes, you know, balms or salves
that have CBD in them

do all have an expiration date.

Just because they do come
from a plant derivative,

so they have some form
of expiration on...

A date. Yeah, you see that on
products you buy in the grocery store.

It sounded accurate, when she said
six months to a year, around...

Yeah, it would've been a good question.

[narrator]
Want justice?