03x98 - Dubai Yacht Party Fail

[bunniefuu]

The defendant assaulted you?

She just lunged at me like this,
you know, she scratched my face,

-calling me names and stuff.
-Drunk and belligerent.

And I put my hands up and I said,
"Don't get up in my face."

She started screaming,
"Ah, ah, she's attacking me."

That is not true, Your Honor.

-You're cousins?
-Yes, ma'am.

-[announcer] This is Judy Justice.
-[theme song]

[announcer] Lisa Proctor is suing
her cousin, Anita Lewis,

for hotel costs, phone bills,
and an as*ault.

[Kevin]
Court come to order. All rise.

-[Judy] Have a seat, please.
-Case 3160, Proctor versus Lewis.

-Thank you.
-You're welcome.

Ms. Proctor, how are the two of you
related? You're cousins?

-Yes, Your Honor. We're cousins.
-How cousins? First cousins?

First cousins. She's on my dad's side.

[Judy] And you and some friends
were planning a trip to Dubai?

Actually, it was my cousin's girlfriend's


-It's a long way.
-Yes, 14 hours.

[Judy]
And you invited Ms. Lewis to join you...

-Yes, I did.
-[Judy] ...on the trip?

-[Lisa] Yes.
-[Judy] Tell me why?

[Lisa] They had an extra seat,
and I asked her, and she said yes.

-Okay. And you went to Dubai when?
-December 28th, we left.

-When were you supposed to return?
-January 4th.

-That's a long trip for a few days.
-Yes.

[Judy] It is your claim that while
there and while intoxicated,

-the defendant assaulted you?
-[Lisa] Yes, Your Honor.

The two of you were sharing a room.
As a result of that as*ault,

you felt uncomfortable about
staying in the room with her.

-You got another room...
-[Lisa] Yes.

...you want her to compensate
you for those expenses?

-Yes.
-[Judy] The defendant says

you're making a mountain out of a
molehill, that it never happened,

she was arrested in a foreign country,
you made a false police report.

-That is not true, Your Honor. I'm sorry.
-And she has a counterclaim.

I don't quite understand
what the counterclaim is.

I've read it, but I don't understand it.
You'll tell me about it.

When... you left on
December 28th or December 29th?



-The two of you were sharing a room?
-Yeah.

[Judy]
And I want you to tell me,

approximately what time
did you check into the room?

Do you remember, on the 28th?
Was it the 28th or the 29th?

It was the 29th
around 3:00 PM in Dubai's time.

-And you were going out that evening?
-Yeah.

-Had you been drinking?
-I had two beers.

-[Judy] The answer is yes?
-Yes.

-[Judy] Had you been drinking?
-Yes. We all had been drinking.

-[Judy] So everybody was drinking?
-Yes.

-Had you started drinking on the plane?
-Yes. We had drinks on the plane, yes.

-Had you started drinking on the plane?
-Yes.

Did anybody bring alcohol
with them to the hotel?

Yes, we did, Your Honor.

-What did you bring with you to the hotel?
-I had vodka.

And what did you bring
with you to the hotel?

I had beer and a bottle of vodka.

[Judy] Now, why don't you tell me
about the events of the 29th?

So when we landed in Dubai, we landed
and checked into the hotel room,

everything was fine.

So, later that evening,
we were going on a yacht party

-where it was all right.
-[Judy] What time?

-[Lisa] It was 9 o'clock.
-And during the afternoon,

it would be a fair statement
that everybody was in a festive mood

and there were a couple of more drinks
that you had and everybody...

Not really. We were really tired,
'cause it was a 14-hour flight.

-I know I didn't have a drink...
-[Judy] Of course.

-...in a hotel at all.
-[Judy] Did you?

-I had two beers in my room.
-[Judy] Okay.

Before you left to go on the yacht trip?

-Yes.
-[Judy] Okay. That's...

[Lisa]
So we proceeded to go on the trip,

everybody was excited
about going to the yacht trip.

It was our first night there. It was
beautiful. We were having a good time.

They had drinks, but some people
just drunk more than others.

We were all up front
taking pictures and everything.

And what had happened was,
I saw, Michelle... I'm sorry.

When I proceeded to go
to the back of the yacht, I saw Michelle.

I didn't get up too much because,
you know, I was wobbling around.

So I saw her dancing, gyrating
on the floor and everything like that.

So next thing I know,

I went back to the front of the yacht
and a man handed me her purse.

He was on a yacht with his son
and he handed me her purse.

I was like, "Oh, what's going on?"

-So, next thing I know...
-[Judy] Just a second.

Did you know how he came
into possession of her purse?

-[Lisa] I have no idea.
-No idea.

-So he handed you her purse?
-Yes.

-[Judy] What did you do with her purse...
-[Lisa] I gave it to her.

-[Judy] Oh, you gave it? Okay.
-[Lisa] She had her purse.

-She had her purse.
-[Judy] So you gave it back to her?

-Yes. Yes.
-Okay. Keep going.

[Lisa] So then after that,
we proceeded to go home.

So when the limo driver picked us up
to take us back to the hotel room,

she was irate and belligerent.

And we have already knew
you can't be loud in that country.

You can't curse and things of that sort,
'cause as soon as you land in the airport,

it's quiet, and they tell you that. So she
was in a limo, yelling and screaming.

I was like, "Michelle, calm down." She was
like, "You don't tell me what to do."

I was like... I had enough.
So then when we got to the hotel room,

I was just tired of her
being loud and belligerent.

So I just went to my room,
put my robe on, and ordered a meal.

After I ordered the meal,
she came into the room

and she just lunged at me
like this, you know?

Then she scratched my face.
And I was like, I thought I was dreaming.

I was like, "Hold up."
She scratched my face.

I grabbed her arms 'cause I didn't wanna
get loud. I didn't wanna fight over there.

And I threw her on the bed.

Once I threw her on the bed, I didn't say
anything. I threw my clothes on quickly.

And next thing you know, she was
taunting me, calling me names and stuff,

saying I was dirty, ugly, and everything
like that. So she left out the room.

-[Judy] Okay...
-[Lisa] So then I proceeded to go.

I didn't talk to her at all. I went to
the front desk. I called my cousin.

And then I started to break down upset.

So the concierge asked me
did I wanna call the police.

I told him I needed another room.
I didn't feel safe staying with my cousin.

And I felt as though like I was battered.
You know, I didn't feel safe at all.

Okay. And?

So then after that...
oh, he called the police.

I'm sorry. He called the police.
I called my cousin. She didn't answer.

So I was in the hotel lobby
talking to the concierge.

And then later on,
she came down to the concierge's office.

-Where you were?
-[Lisa] Yes.

Okay. And?

[Lisa] And after that, the police were
called. She saw the scratches on my face.

Michelle came down somehow or another,

and that's where I would like her to
speak, to let you know what happened.

So what she's gonna testify to
is that she saw scratches on your face?

-[Lisa] Yes.
-I assume you took a picture of that?

-No, I did not. No, I did not.
-[Judy] Oh.

Because it was all new to me.
No, I did not.

-Well, that's sort of silly.
-[theme music]

Lisa lunged towards me.
I had on the same style nails.

I held my hand up. I said,
"Don't get up in my face."

And at that point, my nail poked her.

She started screaming,
"Ah, ah, she's attacking me."

[theme music]

[announcer] Lisa Proctor claims
her cousin, Anita Lewis,

owes for hotel costs, phone bills,
and an as*ault during a trip to Dubai.

Anita is countersuing Lisa
for filing a false police report.

Other than your cousin's testimony,

is there any police report
or anything else like that?

Well, I did. The police was called.

-Do you have it?
-[Lisa] I have paper from...

this is from recovery
when I called the hotel.

Thank you.

Okay. This is from the hotel.

It says, "Allow me to inform you
that I witnessed the incident.

I was the one who called the police
as per your request."

Well, he didn't... this person
did not witness the incident.

-No, he did not.
-[Judy] Okay.

-He just called the police.
-[Judy] Okay.

-Well, so that... the police were called?
-[Lisa] Yes.

[Judy] Okay. And you have no
photographs or anything else

-of the scratch or on your face?
-I did not take pictures.

-No I did not, Your Honor.
-[Judy] Okay.

When you did not go back to the room that
she was in, you were given another room?

-Yes.
-[Judy] With whom?

-By myself.
-[Judy] Were you charged for that room?

-Yes, ma'am.
-Let me see.

Did you sleep in your room alone

-the remainder of the trip?
-I did.

-Did you pay for it?
-[Michelle] I did.

How much did you pay for your room?

I'm not sure about the total room charges.
I just paid the total $4,900 for the trip,

-and the hotel was included.
-Okay. Reimbursement of hotel room charges

and phone bills,
money owed for an as*ault.

Okay. Now, I want you to clearly
tell me about the as*ault.

I was sitting on the bed,
sitting on the bed in a robe.

I came upstairs to relax,
and I sat on the edge of the bed,

and when she came in,
she came in real angry,

and just out of nowhere,
and I thought I was dreaming or something.

She just lunged at me
and scratched my face,

and I just grabbed her arms
and threw her on the bed.

[Judy]
So would you say, Ms. Proctor,

that the most horrendous thing
that happened on this trip,

-not your phone bills, not anything else...
-Mhm, mhm.

-...was that you were scratched in the face?
-Not only that, I felt threatened by her.

I was... I didn't wanna stay
in a room with her.

-[Judy] No, I understand that.
-[Lisa] Yeah.

What I don't understand is, if you were
going to pursue an action against her...

-Mhm.
-...and you had...

...your cousin there,
you had other women there,

-you have your phone...
-Mhm.

...it would seem to me that
you would take a picture of your face

to demonstrate to whomever
that you had an injury.

-That was true. That's true.
-[Judy] That's true.

Yeah. And one of the girls
suggested I do it and I didn't do it.

-[Judy] Yeah. Well, that's problematic.
-Yeah... [indistinct] yeah.

I need some proof from you.

-[Lisa] Mhm.
-And this doesn't do it for me.

-Mhm.
-Let us assume that I believe

that the defendant
was drunk and belligerent.

And in the course of being
drunk and belligerent over...

there was something over a phone,
who had her phone,

-that's what the papers say, correct?
-Yes.

[Judy]
And in the course of this kerfuffle,

-you got hurt?
-Mhm.

Did you seek medical treatment
for this scratch?

No, I did not. No, I did not.

[Judy] Did you and Ms. Lewis
proceed on the trip together

other than staying together
in the same room?

Did you travel together for the remainder
of your five days in Dubai?

She was on the excursions.

-[Judy] That's what I'm asking.
-She was on the excursions.

-But I stayed away from her.
-Stand up, please.

-Tell me your name.
-Claudette Walls.

Do you remember the first night
that you were in Dubai?

-[Claudette] Yes, I do.
-Tell me what happened.

[Claudette] Okay. So after we were
coming back from off of the cruise ship,

I witnessed similar situation
with Michelle,

how she was dancing
and how she was in a lot of men's faces,

you know, just being belligerent.
And she was drunk.

I told her, you know, she needs
to calm down. You know, just cool it.

So coming back,
when we got back to the hotel,

my cousin, Lisa, went her separate way.
I'm not sure where Michelle went.

I went to my room with my roommate.
I took a shower.

While I was in the shower, my cousin
Lisa had called, so I missed that call.

Then I came out, Michelle had called me.

-That's Michelle.
-[Claudette] Yes.

Had called me to tell me that
she was upset

and to tell me that Lisa's gonna
file charges against her.

Tell me exactly what she said to you.

-[Claudette] She said, "Claudette, um..."
-[Judy] No, don't...

Lisa's going to file...
going to get me arrested,"

now, so, I didn't know
what she was talking about.

She was all over the place.
I said, "Get you arrested for what?"

"I don't know. I don't know, but, um,

you need to come down here
'cause I don't know what's going on.

She gonna get me arrested." I said,
"Michelle, I don't know what's going on".

So in turn, I hung up from her
because I had to get dressed

because Lisa had called me back, and she
told me she was at the concierge desk,

and she was talking to them. And I said,
"Okay. I'll be... I'm on my way down there."

When I came out,
as I came out the elevator,

Ms. Lewis had met me, was telling me
that Ms. Proctor had took her phone

and she was just...
she was just saying all this stuff like,

"I know Lisa took my phone. Um, I know
she probably threw it in the water.

And I know she don't like me,"
and blah, blah.

I mean, it's just all over the place.

And I kept saying,
"Michelle, do you hear yourself?

Why would she invite you on a trip if she
didn't like you? Do you hear yourself?"

I said, "Furthermore,
maybe you left your phone."

So of course that's what the outcome...
she forgot her phone on the boat.

Then I proceeded to go meet my cousin
at the concierge desk.

The first thing I noticed is
she had scratches on her...

on her nose leading up under her eye.

She had one here
and in the middle of her chin.

Did you ask her how she had those?

[Claudette] Yes, I did.
And then she told me what happened.

She was in her robe. She had undressed,

put a robe on, and she had ordered...
placed an order for chicken quesadillas.

She was sitting on the edge of the bed.
All of a sudden, Michelle came in the room

and she just was, like, belligerent
and fussing and everything.

And then she just stormed at her
and attacked her in her face.

And then she told me that...

then she started saying all these
crazy things about, "You're crazy.

You're... you stink. You ugly.

And I got better clothes than you,"
and all... and just crazy stuff.

So then my cousin said, "You know what,
I'm not going to, um, fight her."

Well, she told me she had grabbed her by
her wrists and threw her back on the bed.

And then from there,
she proceeded on packing her clothes.

She got dressed and packing everything
'cause she said she was scared

and she couldn't stay there in the room...
in the room with her anymore.

Okay. Let's hear your version.
Do you remember what happened?

-I absolutely do.
-[Judy] Okay.

It would be a fair statement
that you had had

a sufficient amount of alcohol
that night on the boat?

[Michelle] Your Honor, on the boat,
I had two beers and one drink.

So when we... when we went on the yacht,
I left to go to the bathroom.

There was a line.

When I came back upstairs, Lisa was
telling me, "We have to get off the boat.

We have to get off the boat right now."

So I knew that I had left my sweater
and my phone sitting on the little couch.

I had my purse on me. So I don't know what
she's speaking about the purse. I had...

I don't... I don't understand a word
you're saying by the way.

-[Michelle] I had my purse on me.
-No, I don't understand where we're at.

[theme music]

[Judy]
So the plaintiff didn't have your phone?

-No.
-You left your phone on the boat?

-The phone got left on the boat.
-You left your phone on the boat?

Yes.

[theme music]

[announcer] Lisa Proctor is accusing
her cousin, Anita Lewis,

of owing for a new hotel room
after Anita assaulted her in Dubai.

Anita is countersuing,
claiming Lisa filed a false police report.

Okay. You got on the boat,
you went to the bathroom?

[Michelle] We were...
yes, we were on the boat.

-We were on the boat for a while.
-Just a sec. What time... okay.

Now, you're on the boat for a while.
How long was a while? You get on the boat,

-the boat leaves the dock.
-It was for four hours.

Four hours.

So you had been
on the boat for four hours?

-[Michelle] Mhm.
-[Judy] And what you're telling me

is in that four hours,
you had two beers and one drink?

-Yes.
-[Judy] Okay. And then?

I was dancing,
so then I went to the bathroom.

-[Judy] Okay.
-When I came back up, Lisa told me

-that we had to get off the boat.
-[Judy] To leave?

-[Michelle] Mhm.
-So you have to leave the boat?

In the van on the way back,
they had told me...

when Lisa told me,
"Let's get off the boat,"

I was like, "I need to go get my stuff,"
so meaning, my sweater, and my phone.

They said that they had my stuff,
they had my sweater.

So when we got on the van to take us
back, I was like, "Can I get my phone?"

So they were like, "Nobody has your phone.
Does anybody have your phone?"

So Claudette tried to call my phone.
My phone didn't ring.

-So I'm assuming like, "Okay, so...
-Can we get back to the hotel, please?

When we get to the hotel,
we go to the room,

and I'm asking Lisa to call...
can she call the trip guide,

so that I can get the information
to the pier, so I could get my phone.

She was the one yelling at me, "No,"
and I couldn't use her phone.

So I was standing, facing the door,
Lisa was standing towards me.

Lisa lunged towards me,
and I had on the same style nails,

I held my hand up,
I said, "Don't get up in my face."

And at that point, my nail poked her.

She started to scream,
"Ah, ah, she's attacking me."

I ran out the room, ran down the hallway,

and I proceeded to go
to the concierge myself to ask him,

since I could not use her phone,

I was gonna ask the concierge
to call the travel agent.

-Where was your phone?
-My phone had got left on the boat.

And you got your phone?

-And I got my phone back.
-[Judy] Right.

So the plaintiff didn't have your phone?

-The answer is no.
-No.

-And the witness didn't have your phone?
-[Michelle] No.

-You left your phone on the boat.
-The phone got left on the boat.

You left your phone on the boat.

Yes.

Have you ever had any arguments
or any issues with Claudette?

-[Michelle] Never.
-[Judy] Never.

-Did you know her before the trip?
-Yes.

If I were to ask Claudette
whether or not she saw any scratch marks

on Ms. Proctor's face,
what do you think she would say?

She's going to...

-No, no, no. Look at me.
-[Michelle] ...say yes.

But I have pictures of... from days after.

-One day, two days after this incident?
-[Michelle] Yes.

I'm anxious to see them.

-I have the pictures in my phone.
-[Judy] I wanna see your phone.

-Okay. So that was New Year's Eve.
-After...

Was...that was New Year's Eve, so that is...

-this happened on the 28th?
-After.

-[Michelle] The 29th.
-[Judy] [indistinct] report,

so you're talking about two days later?

-[Michelle] Yes.
-Okay. I'd like to see it.

[Michelle] And even days after that,
I have pictures of her.

Okay. Now, would you
please ask the plaintiff

to show me in this picture
where the scratches are on her face?

You're not gonna be
able to see in this picture

'cause this was days later and it's foggy.
They were light scratches.

-So you can't see it?
-[Lisa] No. No.

And you had an opportunity

-to take pictures that day...
-Yes, I did, Your Honor.

...so that you would
preserve this action...

-[Lisa] Yes.
-... in the event that you want

to sue her for that as*ault.
And you chose not to do that.

-You had your cell phone?
-Yes, I did.

-[Judy] Which has photographic capacity?
-[Claudette] Yes.

You did not take a picture of her face?

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

So the only thing that I have

is the plaintiff telling me
that she was scratched,

and the only photograph that I have
does not display any scratch on her face.

-[Judy] Would that be a fair statement?
-Yes. That's fair.

[Judy] Okey-dokey. I'm not going
to award you any money for that.

If she scratched your face...
Certainly, if I had evidence of that,

-that I would entertain.
-Mhm.

-[Judy] I have no evidence of that.
-Mhm.

And you had the ability
to preserve that evidence.

You chose not to do it,
you could've done it in the mirror.

-[Lisa] Mhm.
-And your witness chose not to do that,

to take a photograph of you.

-Okay. You have a counterclaim?
-Yes.

And your counterclaim is for filing

-a false report.
-Yes.

[Judy]
She said you scratched her in the face.

And I didn't scratch her in the face.

[Judy] Well, I don't know
whether you did or you didn't.

The fact that the police came
and the fact that I have something

that there was an incident at the hotel,
and I have this from the hotel,

I can't find that she did
something to you maliciously.

That's not harassment
in filing a false police report.

She says that you attacked her
and that you were drunk.

And when they realized that she wasn't
telling the truth, that's when they left.

If they thought in Dubai
that I had assaulted her,

I would have been locked up.

-[Lisa] Can I ask something...
-No. No,

that's not what report says actually.

The report says that they declined to open
a case. That doesn't say you didn't do it.

-I never attacked...
-[Judy] Okay. Your counterclaim...

your counterclaim is dismissed.

-Okay.
-[Judy] Has no merit whatsoever.

The only thing that I have to consider

is whether or not these charges for your
hotel room were reasonable charges

in addition to what you already paid
and whether or not because of her conduct,

-you absorbed $2,673 in hotel room...
-Mhm.

-[Michelle] Your Honor, she...
-...over and above... just a second.

Over and above what you had already paid.

-Exactly.
-Do you have anything whatsoever,

Ms. Lewis, to tell me
that contradicts that statement?

You can sit down.
Do you have any proof...

[laughs] ...that she did not
pay an additional $2,600?

-No, I don't know what she did after.
-[Judy] There you go. Okay.

I'm satisfied that there was a kerfuffle
and I'm satisfied that you were drunk,

and I'm satisfied that
as a result of that,

she had to absorb $2,673
for an additional hotel room.

Judgment for the plaintiff.
We're finished.

-Thank you very much.
-Thank you, Your Honor.

-This court is adjourned.
-[theme music]

I don't think it's fair.

I want my money back for getting a room,
so I'm happy with that.

Their whole story,
they corroborated was a lie, together.

-She lied about everything.
-A bunch of lies.

-She lied about everything.
-She lied about attacking me,

she lied about the police.

And the only reason why
I didn't press charges against her

'cause I didn't want her
locked up in the Dubai.

She might have still been there now.

I wish Judge Judy would've understood
that they weren't telling the truth.

-Some people just can't hold their liquor.
-[laughs]

Thank you, Judge Judy.

-You know what I'm not understanding?
-[Sarah] What?

-I understand girls' trips away.
-Mhm.

[Judy] I don't understand taking
a 14-hour plane ride

-one way...
-Mhm.

[Judy] ...and drinking to the extent
that you're not able to absorb

all this wonderful new stuff around you
that you will probably never see again.

-Yeah.
-[Judy] It just sounds...

-I mean, if you wanna drink, great.
-[Sarah] Stay home.

Stay home, go to a local bar, go away
for a weekend, take a half-hour drive.

-but to travel 28 hours...
-Mhm.

...spend a fortune on plane tickets, stay in
a nice hotel, and proceed to get so buzzed

that you do things that are probably
so out of character for you...

...is just... to me,
I don't understand that.

Especially in a place where you don't
know the customs, the rules,

the decorum of the place
that you're visiting

could really land you in some trouble.

Could have landed her in a lot of trouble.

She would not have
liked the jail in Dubai.

-Oh, yeah. [laughs]
-Guaranteed.

Anyway. I don't understand
going to a foreign country

that you probably never visit before
and not maintaining a level of sobriety

-so you can enjoy every second.
-[Sarah] Mhm. I agree.

Just seems stupid
and I thought women were smarter.

[announcer] Have you been cheated?


[theme song]