03x103 - Turkey Vandalism Part 1

[bunniefuu]

- So he is aggressive?
- Yes, ma'am. He has a history of it.

He was c*ck his fist looking...
I mean, like he was gonna jump on me.

- No.
- At which point he described vividly

how his dogs would tear someone
limb from limb.

Now I would like you
to tell me what I can believe.

- Do you understand?
- Right.

- Listen to me. I know everything.
- [announcer] This is Judy Justice.

[theme song]

[announcer]
Kathi Burg-Jones and Brian Jones

are suing their neighbor, Jason Hart,

for damages to their Jeep, harassment,
and filing a false restraining order.

[Kevin]
Court come to order. All rise.

- Have a seat, please.
- [Kevin] Case 3159,

Burg-Jones, Jones versus Hart.

- Thank you.
- You're welcome.

[Judy] You've been living
in your home for a long time?

- Yes.
- Yes.

- [Judy] It was your father's?
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] But you've been occupying it
with your wife now

- for the last 11 years?
- [Brian] Yes, ma'am.

- [Judy] Do you own the home?
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judy]
Was it left to you

- by your father?
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] Describe the property for me,
please. Is this a picture of the property?

[Kathi]
Yes.

- [Judy] Okay. So it looks...
- [Brian] Yes, ma'am.

[Judy]
It looks as if it's country property.

Yes. We live at the end
of a dead end road.

- How many acres do you have?
- About a half-acre.

[Judy]
And the defendant's home

- is relatively close to yours?
- [Brian] Yes.

[Judy] You have a contiguous
property line at some point.

You wanna go show me
where the property line is?

[Brian]
Yes, ma'am... Let's see.

The property line goes right down
through here somewhere

right through the middle
between the two houses.

- Okay. And show me where your yard is.
- [Brian] That would be this right here.

- And it goes back down this way and over.
- [Judy] Well, that's a lot of trees.

- Where is the backyard of your house?
- [Brian] Yeah.

Right here. This here is the backyard.

This here is the front yard.
This here is my driveway.

- Mhm. Show me where you keep your dogs.
- [Brian] Right in this area right here.

- [Kathi] In the backyard.
- Okay. And it's fenced in?

- It's fenced in.
- [Judy] Okay.

- And how many dogs do you have?
- Four.

- And they're big dogs?
- [Brian] Two of them are. Yes.

- [Judy] Well, tell me what they are.
- The other two are smaller.

- What are they?
- [Brian] They are boxer and shepherd...

king shepherd mix.

- [Judy] How long have you had them?
- Well... let's see,

- how long have I had them?
- [Kathi] Eight years.

- Eight years, I guess.
- Shh.

Are they outside and inside dogs
or just outside?

- [Brian] Inside and out.
- [Judy] When do you leave them outside?

Just whenever they gotta use the restroom.

I don't leave 'em out
all day long or nothing.

They're... they go outside
then use the bathroom,

- and they come back in.
- [Judy] Okay. You can come back now.

- Mr. Hart.
- [Jason] Yes, ma'am.

You've been living
in your home for how long?

[Jason]
Since October. October 6th of 2023.

[Judy]
Is it a home that you purchased?

- Yes, ma'am.
- And how many acres is your home?

[Jason] Well, including the front part,
that is at the end of the road,

- it comes to about an acre.
- Who did you purchase the house from?

- I did it through the probate courts.
- [Judy] Explain that to me.

So it's a process where if someone
could possibly not make their bills,

and they have passed,
the court system for Jefferson County

would purchase the property
and put it up through probate

- to cover the cost.
- [Judy] For auction?

- [Jason] Yes, ma'am.
- How much did you pay for your house?

- [Jason] I paid $12,000.
- [Judy] And describe the house for me.

It's an old farm house
that was framed in 2x16 lumber.

How big is it?

It is, in totality,
probably about 2,000 square feet.

[Judy]
Bedrooms, bathrooms?

Currently it is framed in
for three bed, two bath.

- Is it finished?
- [Jason] No, ma'am.

[Judy] So you bought the property
and the house unfinished, just framed?

[Jason] Well, actually
it had had an old 1970s trailer

that had been butted up to it.

And the roof that you're seeing there is
what would be basically like a pole barn

they had built over the structure
to keep the rain off of the old trailer.

And I have come in now
and I have started removing that trailer

to make it all a house.

- You have experience in construction?
- [Jason] Yes, ma'am.

[Judy]
Okay. Do you live there full time?

- Yes, ma'am.
- So the house part is finished enough

- for you to live in it?
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judy]
Okay. This is what it's about.

I assume, Mr. Jones,
that you knew the prior neighbor

- who lived in the trailer?
- [both] Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] How long was the property
vacant next door?

Probably close to a year, I guess.

Did you know that the property
was being put up for auction?

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judy] How did you find out?

The realtor came by and was saying
that it was gonna go up for sale.

- [Judy] Did you wanna buy it?
- Yes, ma'am.

And what happened?

Well, I couldn't come up with the money
to get the loan, so I had to pass on it,

but I bought the property
on the other side of me.

- For how much?
- [Brian] 20,000.

[Judy]
And how big a property is that?

That is probably about
three quarters of an acre.

- Smaller than Mr. Hart's?
- [Brian] Then smaller than that. Yeah.

- Yes.
- [Judy] And you paid...

- [Brian] 20,000. Yes.
- [Judy] ...substantially more for it?

[Judy]
What did you need more property for?

I just wanted... actually, I wanted to buy
both houses on both sides of me,

just so I didn't have no neighbors

- is what I was trying to do.
- [Judy] Mhm.

[Brian] So I can make one big backyard
and fence it all in,

so my dogs have plenty of room to run.

So that there is what I'm doing
with the property on the other side of me,

is I'm gonna fence the whole yard in

so that they can run back there
and behind both houses.

[Judy] Okay. Now that we have
a little bit of background,

so that I understand the background,

so you wanted to buy the property
that the defendant ultimately bought,

but you couldn't come up with the money

- to buy that property?
- [Brian] Right.

But came up with almost double that amount
to buy the property on the other side?

- It was... it was...
- Well, so there... I'm sorry.

- Well... we...
- It was financed through the owner.

It was owner-financed. And he sold it
to me without no money down or nothing.

Yeah, we're paying monthly on it.

- We're paying every month on it.
- Paying monthly.

Okay. It is your claim... each of you claim,

that the other is guilty
of harassing the other party...

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judy] ...over a period of time.

Mr. Hart's complaint
with regard to the harassment,

I believe, is primarily owing
to the dog barking.

- Well, just noise... yes, ma'am.
- [Judy] Dogs... noise complaints.

Noise, music, and the dogs barking?

- [Jason] Mowing lawnmowers at night.
- Hmm?

Running power tools from 9:00 to 12:00 AM,
sometimes 4:00 AM.

- Okay. Noise. Primarily noise.
- [Brian laughs]

- [Brian and Kathi] No.
- Shh.

[theme music]

I hatched that turkey
from an egg last spring.

- You did that yourself?
- [Jason] Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] I've tried to do that
with duck hatchlings, unsuccessfully.

I had a whole room
with heaters and lamps and whatever.

Nothing happened with mine.
I got scrambled eggs.

[theme music]

[announcer] Kathi Burg-Jones and Brian
Jones claim their neighbor, Jason Hart,

owes for Jeep damages
caused by his turkey,

as well as filing
a false restraining order.

Jason is countersuing for harassment.

- Okay. You have several complaints
- [Kathi laughs]

- and let's take the easy ones first.
- [Kathi] Okay.

[Judy] You claim that Mr. Hart's animal, a
turkey, damaged your car by flying on it...

- Well, climbing on it...
- [Judy] ...and scratch...

...pecking it, scratching it, yes.
I have video of it.

[Judy]
Just a second. When did that happen?

It happened on December 8th. I noticed it
when I was at the grocery store.

- And I... yeah.
- [Judy] Shh.

I didn't ask you anything.
I asked you what... when did it happen?

- That was December 8th of 2023?
- Correct.

- Do you keep turkeys, Mr. Hart?
- I had one turkey. Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] Okay. How long
have you had that turkey?

I hatched that turkey from an egg last
spring, which was probably in May of 2023.

- You did that yourself?
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] I've tried to do that with
duck hatchlings, unsuccessfully.

I had a whole room
with heaters and lamps and whatever.

I am such a bad hatcher.
So... I'm gonna digress for one second.

Just indulge me.
I wanna know how you hatched it.

[Jason] So I had a group
of heritage breed turkeys

at the other house that I was working on

and those turkeys had done very
successfully, laid me over a hundred eggs.

And we were able to incubate them

- because turkeys are inherently...
- [Judy] How many were you...

- I was able to hatch six.
- What kind of mechanism did you use?

[Jason] It's an automatic... It's something
almost outta Jurassic Park, honestly.

- It's a little conveyor belt.
- [Judy] Turns the...

- Yes, ma'am. It turns...
- [Judy] Yeah. And it turns.

I used the same thing.
Nothing happened with mine.

- [Jason] It...
- I got scrambled eggs.

The one that I had bought
is extremely good,

and it wasn't very expensive,
honestly. [laughs]

[Judy]
And it takes how many days? I forgot.

For a turkey, about 27.

Okay. So you've had this one,
this turkey, for?

- At that point... eight months or so.
- [Judy] In December.

Okay. You've been living on
property for 11 years more than that?

Are there wild turkeys in this area?

- [Brian] Yes, ma'am.
- But they're brown.

[Judy]
Just a second. But there are wild turkeys.

- Their color is brown?
- Yes, ma'am.

I actually know that because we have wild
turkeys on our property in Connecticut.

Or we used to have a family until...

somebody, I think, took them around
November. What color is your pet turkey?

So it is a Royal Palm,
so it is black and white.

- And they fly?
- [Jason] They can fly.

I clip one wing
so that they have a harder time doing so.

- But they can fly?
- [Jason] Yes, they can.

[Judy] Okay. And the turkey
that was on your car,

and you said you had a video of that...

- Yes.
- [Judy] ...for me to see.

- It caused damage to your car?
- [Kathi] Oh, yes, significant.

And Mr. Hart, you would acknowledge

that if your turkey caused damage
to their car, you would be responsible?

Yes, ma'am, if they can prove
that the damage was from my turkey.

[Judy] Okay. So would you go over,
one of you go over... Show me your house.

- Okay. This is our house right here.
- [Judy] Okay. And which is your car?

That's my car right there.
My Jeep Renegade.

[Judy] Okay. Would you play
the video for me, please?

Well, that's clearly a black
and white turkey. That would be yours.

Not a wild turkey.

[Jason]
I don't see a name tag on the turkey.

- [Judy] Shh.
- It was on top of it right there ...

...where those big scratches came in.
[chuckles]

[Judy]
Certainly a curious-looking thing.

Was this taken from a ring camera
or something else, a stationary camera?

Oh, yeah. We have cameras on the house.

- [Judy] Okay.
- Security.

That's it for the video.

- That's it?
- [Sarah] Mhm.

- Okay.
- [Kathi] And it stopped.

- So you saw the turkey on top of the car?
- [Jason] Yes, ma'am.

Okay. Can I see photographs
of the car, please?

They start right here,
and then you go back.

- Okay.
- Okay?

[Judy]
Okay. Thank you.

Thank you.

Okay. So your car was scratched
in several areas?

Yes, some of them are buffable
and some of them are deep gouges.

- And some of them are peck marks...
- [Judy] It was scratched...

- ...and... yeah.
- [Judy] It was scratched.

- What year of car is this?
- [Kathi] 2018.

[Judy]
Do you have an estimate for the repair?

- Yes, I have two...
- [Judy] May I have...

- may I see it, please?
- [Kathi] Yes, ma'am.

If you have more than one,
I'll look at more than one.

[Jason] I don't have an estimate.
I was never given one.

[Kathi]
Liar. Yes, he was.

- Do you have insurance on this car?
- [Kathi] Yes, ma'am. Full coverage.

[Judy] Okay. And how much is the insurance
covering? What's your deductible?

- A thousand.
- Did you have the car fixed?

[Kathi]
No, I haven't had it fixed yet.

I took him the estimates on February 7th,
and that was when he started giving me...

[Judy] Okay. But you notified
your insurance company, I assume?

[Kathi]
No, I didn't tell them yet.

[Judy] Well, you should,
if this happened in December,

because this was not an intentional act
on Mr. Hart's part.

Correct. I was gonna pay for it myself
instead of turning it in to the insurance

'cause I just... I was gonna get it
painted and fixed myself.

Well, because your estimate is for $2,600,

which may be reasonable or not,
considering it's a relatively new car.

But I assume you have a note on the car
and the full coverage?

- Right. Yeah. Absolutely, yeah.
- [Judy] Right?

So your deductible is $1,000, and that's
what he would be responsible for,

not the 2,600, 1,000, correct? Of course.

It'd be different if he walked over to the
car and slashed it with something else,

you know, with a utensil
and did something purposefully to the car,

or even negligently to the car.
But he didn't.

this was an act that was done by a pet
that should have been in his control.

So between the two of you,

- he's responsible.
- Mhm.

[Judy] But he's not responsible
if you have insurance,

and if your deductible...
you said is $1,000?

Right. The reason
I was gonna pay for it, though,

is because, if you don't turn it in,
even if it's not, you know, whatever,

it's gonna count against me
and my insurance,

and it's make my rates go up more.

- And, yeah, I'd rather...
- [Judy] Well, that's too bad.

Well, that's too bad. He's not paying the
rest. I suggest... you have insurance,

- I suggest that you use it.
- Right.

[Judy] Unless you've used
your insurance previously a lot.

- No. No.
- [Judy] If you haven't,

they're not gonna increase
your rates. Not on this kind of thing.

The car was stationary and it was
an act of vandalism by a wild turkey.

- They can't blame you for that.
- [theme music]

[Jason]
He showed up with his knife,

kind of playing with it
menacingly in his hands,

asking me, "Hey, you want me
to help you lift that wall?"

But the last interaction we had just had

was the most aggressive thing that I've
honestly dealt with in my entire life.

[theme music]

[announcer] Kathi Burg-Jones and
Brian Jones have accused their neighbor,

Jason Hart, of owing for Jeep
damages caused by his turkey.

Jason is countersuing, claiming
Kathi and Brian are harassing him.

Okay. Now, the next part of your case

- has to do with you.
- Yes.

- [Judy] And it has to do...
- Both of us, actually.

[Judy] ...with a restraining order that
was filed against you by the defendant,

that you said was a false restraining
order that caused you some difficulty.

- So, I'm gonna start with you.
- [Jason] Yes, ma'am.

You filed a restraining order
against Mr. Jones?

Yes, ma'am, on September 13th, 2023.

Tell me the circumstances
surrounding that.

[Jason] On September 9th,
I had made a call to 911,

which I have the call log for
and the video... or the audio recording of.

Kathi had told me
that a tree had fallen on her

- after screaming, "Hey! Hey! Hey!"...
- [Kathi] No way.

- repeatedly at me...
- Shh.

[Jason] ...to get my attention,
because they didn't know my name.

At which point, I turned around,
I said that that was very rude.

And I was probably pretty coarse with it,
because I don't like being screamed at.

And then once I realized
that she was possibly hurt,

I asked her, "Should I call 911?"
Which she answered to, "Yes. No, no, no,"

but I took her first inclination,
called 911 right away.

They came up to render services.
And I honestly think I saved her life.

- [Judy] Was the tree on her?
- [scoffs]

[Jason] There was no tree.
She had started a gasoline fire

that we had found later in a court,
during that ex parte,

that she had set the fire with gasoline,
and it had blown up on her leg.

- No.
- [Judy] Shh. Just a sec.

So he's gonna tell his story.
So you called 911?

- [Jason] Yes, ma'am.
- [whispers] That's totally a lie.

- [Judy] And they came out?
- [Jason] Yes, ma'am.

[Judy]
And then what happened?

Well, she had...
I guess it was her sister or someone

take her to the hospital
instead of the ambulance.

And at that point, she came back... I think
she had gotten some stitches in her leg.

And she immediately walked over
to my property

and started kinda getting at me
for, you know,

- "Hey, what in the world..."
- [Judy] This was on September...?

- [Kathi] Untrue.
- The same day.

[Judy]
I don't... would you do me a favor?

- Yes, ma'am. I'm sorry.
- [Judy] Don't try...

- You can't say, "I'm sorry," again.
- [Kathi] Okay.

- Go ahead. This was on September... 9th?
- [Jason] This was the same day.

Just a couple of hours after the...

- [Judy] 9th?
- Yes, ma'am.

[Judy] Okay. After she was
released from the hospital,

she came back where you were. Were you
working outside or were you inside?

I was... actually, I have pictures of it.

But I was... I was working,
on the house, yes, ma'am.

[Judy]
Okay. And tell me what happened.

[Jason] She came up and was very upset
with me for having called 911.

Tell me what she said.
Upset is a conclusion.

- Tell me what she said to you.
- "What in the hell was that all about?"

- You know?
- [Kathi, quietly] No, no.

[Jason]
Getting pretty aggressive with me.

At which point, I returned with,
you know, "I'm sick of you guys.

You gotta shut your damn dogs up.

It's been a constant problem
ever since I set foot on this property,

- and it needs to stop."
- [Judy] Okay.

So the problem existed well before...

- Yes, ma'am.
- ... this fire mishap?

It's happened because,
and I read in your papers,

that these four dogs
are out most of the time and barking?

Absolutely.
Kathi is home every single day,

and they're kind of out as they please.

They sometimes leave
the back door open to just come and go.

- No.
- [Judy] Okay.

And have you registered
complaints to them about it?

To them? Yes, absolutely.

That was how... the reason that Brian
brought the machete over to my house.

[Judy] When for the first time
did you register a complaint about it?

- [quietly] Liar.
- [Judy] To them?

- [Jason] To them? So the next day, Brian...
- [Judy] No, before that.

You'd been there for a while.
And the dogs were bothering you.

I'm just trying to find out
whether when it first started,

you either called
or approached the plaintiffs

and said, "Listen, your dogs'
incessant barking is really irritating."

I honestly can't remember. I just know
that in the two months leading up to this

that I had not been able
to get them to stop with the dogs.

[Judy] Okay. So then when you called 911,
plaintiff refused to go by ambulance.

She did go to the hospital, she came back,

she came to you and said to you,
"What the hell was that all about?"

And you said to her,
"Stop your dogs from barking."

Yes, and probably exchanged
some colorful language.

Okay. And what happened next?

I told her to get off my property
and not come back.

- [Judy] And?
- [Jason] And, the next day,

Brian calls me over to the property line
in-between our houses.

So Mr. Jones came out, called you over,

you were working outside,
I assume he was outside.

He called you over
to the property line, and?

- And he got very aggressive with me.
- Well, that's a conclusion.

- Tell me what he did.
- [Jason] But... he was c*ck his fists.

Looking... I mean,
like he was gonna jump on me,

telling me that, "You better be glad
that I'm on this of the property line,

and not your side of the property line.
And that's why I'm over here."

And that "You're starting
to really [...] me off."

At which point, he described vividly

how his dogs would tear
someone limb from limb,

- if they ever got into their backyard.
- [Kathi, quietly] Oh, God.

- That he can't walk his dogs.
- [quietly] Wow.

Because of how he's afraid
of what they would do around other people.

And that's also in the court documents
from the ex parte,

that he would sworn under testimony
and testified to.

- [Brian] Uh-uh.
- [Judy] That he did?

- [Jason] Yes, ma'am.
- [Judy] I'd like to see it.

- I don't have that with me.
- [Kathi snorts]

- [Judy] Well, then it doesn't exist.
- Okay. I understand.

- [Judy] Good. Okay. So he is aggressive?
- Yes, ma'am. And he has a history of it.

-I have that... here as well.
- [Judy] Shh.

With you? I'm talking about with you.

At that moment, that was the first time
that he had gotten to that point...

[Judy]
That was the first interaction...

- Yes, ma'am.
- [Judy] ...with you?

Was it based on that interaction
that you filed for a protective order?

- [Jason] No, ma'am.
- What happened next?

I'm on my property, and Brian told me
that he was working on his new house,

and he was working with his machete,

and he saw that I was doing something,
he came over to help.

But at no time had he ever been on
to my property to help me with anything.

And he showed up with his knife, kind of
playing with it menacingly in his hands,

asking me, "Hey, you want me
to help you lift that wall?"

But the last interaction we had just had

was the most aggressive thing that I've
honestly dealt with in my entire life.

Okay. So it was based on that
that you filed for a protective order.

- [Jason] Yes, ma'am. Because I went to...
- Okay. Now,

I would like you to tell me, Mr. Jones,
what I can believe, do you understand?

Is it correct that...
pay careful attention to my questions,

is it correct that your wife
accidentally started a fire?

- No, ma'am.
- [Judy] Was there a fire?

- Yes, ma'am.
- That she started it on purpose?

- [Brian] Yes, ma'am.
- What was the purpose of it?

To burn up the brush that I had cut down
prior to her starting the fire.

- [Judy] Was she injured?
- Yes, ma'am.

- Okay.
- [Brian] It was not a tree...

- Shh. Just a second. Was she injured?
- [Brian] Yes, ma'am.

- This all happened on September 9th?
- [Brian] No.

[Judy] When did it happen?

- Like the...
- Right here.



- [Judy] It was the 7th?
- September 7th.

Okay. And you have hospital records
to show me that it was the 7th?

- Yes.
- Okay.

And when the fire caught
on to your leg, Ms. Jones...

- Nope.
- [Judy] ...where did it catch on to you?

- I never caught on fire.
- Were you medically treated?

- Never... not being on fire.
- [Judy] Were you medically treated...

- Yes.
- [Judy] ...on September 7th?

- Yes, ma'am, I was for a stick...
- [Judy] Oh, okay.

- What were you...
- [Kathi] ...and the stick went in my leg.

- Shh.
- Okay.

[Judy] You were medically treated
on September 7th?

- [Kathi] Yes.
- For what?

For being stabbed in the leg
by a branch from one of the bushes

- that he was cutting down.
- [Judy] Okay.

- It was like a spear.
- Shh.

[mutters] Do you want an answer or not?

- You had some stitches?
- Oh, yes.

Okay. Did the defendant call 911,
as far... Shh. Listen to me.

- [Kathi] Mhm.
- I know everything.

- [chuckles]
- [theme music]

[announcer] Are you a victim
of an as*ault?