This is vandalism.
I seen shattered glass all over the floor.
- I didn't do it. I'm being framed. - That's a lie, Your Honor.
Could you explain these photographs to me?
...is framing me and that he did vandalize his own apartment.
[comical gibberish]
[laughter]
[announcer] This is Judy Justice.
[♪ opening theme music plays]
[announcer] Carlos Guillen is suing his former roommate, Nijah Pine,
and her boyfriend, Gallo Dioum,
for property damage and stolen belongings.
Court come to order. All rise.
Have a seat, please.
Hello, Judge. Case 2121.
Guillen versus Pine Jaganmohan.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
Mr. Guillen, you rented a room
in a house that you were renting or that you own?
Uh, that I was renting.
It's a three-bedroom house.
And you lived there with whom?
At the time, it was me and my sister, and then my cousin.
How long have you been living in that house?
I was living there previously with my sister for about five years,
and then she then moved and then it came over to me in 2020.
So you've been living there for seven years.
About five years. Yeah.
When did you decide to rent a room?
She came to me around early May,
saying that she was going through a situation
with her previous roommate.
- She that was you. - Sorry. Nijah. Yeah.
- Sorry about that. - How did you know her?
We worked together as servers.
But then she came to me on the job
saying that she heard that I had a room available
and that she was going through
with some of her previous roommates before.
She said she needed someplace to stay,
so I told her that she could stay with me
until she got on her feet.
Is that the conversation?
- No. - Okay.
So let me hear your version of the conversation.
So someone did tell me he was renting a room.
I did need a room for rent.
As we all know, COVID did happen,
so I wasn't in my place I had stayed previously.
I was moving.
And so I went to him and I said, "Hey, I heard you had a room for rent."
He's like, "Yeah, girl."
I'm like, "Yeah, I guess so.
I can pay... Like, I can move it now basically."
Because I came to him on May 31st,
moved in, June 1st, which was the next day.
He was like, "Yeah, girl, just pay $800 a month."
Just give me $1000 to move in.
You're gonna love it. You're gonna love it."
I'm like, "All right, for sure."
So it'll be month to month, and that was it.
It was never like, "till you get back on your feet."
It was never like a helping hand.
I paid to move in with him.
He never said it was a helping hand.
- Right. - Well, he did just state that, um,
I was going to be staying there till I got back on my feet,
which was never the case.
It was... I was staying there.
- But you needed a room. - Yes.
- Okay. And the rent was $800 a month. - Yes.
And he asked you for $1000 up front as security.
- Yes. - And when did she move in?
She moved in on May 30th, Your Honor.
When did she pay you for June's rent?
Immediately, so the day that she moved in is when she gave me the money.
So she paid June's rent.
Yeah, she did pay June's rent, yeah.
And what about July?
She paid for July's rent as well, yeah.
And how about August?
She did pay for August's rent, but she does owe me for utilities.
She's about two months backed up on utilities.
What about September?
We weren't there for September,
because the altercation already occurred on August 27th and 28th.
Okay, so she was there for three months and she paid you for three months.
Yes, ma'am.
Your complaint is that there was an altercation
and at some point during her tenancy,
she brought in a boyfriend who's going to uncross his arms.
Yes.
- Who was living with her. - Mm-hmm.
And when was that?
So she told me previously to her moving again that she did have a boyfriend
and that he would be there from time to time. I allowed it.
During his stay, and while they were there, they were always arguing.
It was like commotion.
Like, every other night, he would punch holes in the wall.
- They would constantly get into... - Your Honor, if I could...
...like, fights.
So what happened to how this whole thing got about,
one day I had came home...
And I actually have the messages here.
Those are the messages you had on your phone?
- Yeah, between me and her, ma'am, yeah. - Okay. May I see them, please?
- May I see them, please? - He was standing outside of the building.
- I came home around... - Shh-shh. Just a second.
- I have to read them first. - Yeah.
I don't understand what this is.
So I was pulling up to my house around 7:00 a.m. in the morning.
He was outside sitting on the steps, crying and smoking a blunt.
He walked up to my car asking if we can have a conversation.
I said, "Sure."
He gets in my car. We're talking.
He tells me that him and Nijah just got into a fight.
Nijah kicked him out again.
- He and his girlfriend got into a fight? - Yeah, he and his girlfriend, Nijah.
And this was on August 27th.
Yes, August 22nd, yeah.
Um, so we had the conversation. He told me that Nijah...
What were you doing at... Look at me.
What were you doing out at 7:30 in the morning?
- So, me... - No, no, just a second.
Me and Nijah, like, the night previously, we had went out together.
We got in pretty late. We were out drinking.
We did get into a situation, but it wasn't a situation...
I just want to know what you were doing out 7:30 in the morning.
- That's my question. - I was leaving and walking to my car.
Did you have a conversation with Mr. Guillen?
We had a brief, two-to-three-minute conversation.
Okay. But you had a conversation with him.
Now, you had had an argument with your girlfriend
the night before, you just said.
What kind of an argument did you have with her?
It was basically, we went out.
We were trying to have a good time together.
It didn't really kind of end up the night how I wanted it to go.
She felt how she felt.
It was never an argument of, you know, yelling at her,
or like, we were going at it. It was just like...
- Well, you had been out drinking. - Yeah.
And when you were out drinking the night before,
did you have any altercation with your girlfriend
- while you were out? - No.
So you had the altercation with her in the house.
- It's an apartment. - Okay.
Now, he works nights?
Nights and days, yeah. I'm a server-bartender, Your Honor.
Okay. Now, he wasn't home when you were having these fights,
- with this argument with your girlfriend. - Not a fight.
Not even an argument. But no, ma'am, he wasn't home.
Was not at home.
And when he came home that morning, you were outside.
I was walking to my car.
- He was outside on the steps crying. - I wasn't on the steps.
- Just a second. Shut up. - Sorry.
- I wasn't on the steps. - Just a second.
- I didn't even have... - You have to understand.
I move slowly but methodically.
Got you. Sorry, your Honor.
- Okay. Now, do you work? - Yes, I do.
- Where? - Security.
- Security for whom? - Allied.
What time did you report to work on the 27th?
On the 27th, I went to work late
because of the situation that had happened previously that day with the cops,
and we have the text messages of me texting my supervisor.
What situation previously that day?
He wasn't home.
So what situation previously that day?
What happened previously that day was that...
Previously what day?
Earlier during the day, he had...
That was 7:30 in the morning. You hadn't seen him.
- I'm having my... - It wasn't the 27th.
That wasn't the 27th when that happened.
We had the conversation on the 26th.
Early coming back, it was seven that day.
Because we had got into it, I didn't see her at all.
After me and her had our little falling-out,
I'm walking to my car, we have the conversation,
I go home with her.
You went home for what?
He said that I was living with her.
- I was never living with her. - You were.
You went home for what at 7:30 in the morning?
What did you go home for?
- To sleep. - To sleep?
So what you're saying is, it wasn't on the 27th, it was the 26th.
This altercation that happened with me on the steps,
it might either was the 26th or the 25th.
But this happened way prior, before the date on the 27th.
The 27th is the day where the first police incident happened,
where there was the actual dispute over him and her.
He said that she didn't pay the first month's rent,
which we have in the police report...
Okay. I've already determined all the rent was paid.
Right, but he has the dates wrong
'cause the 27th is not the day that we got into the altercation.
What was the date?
- It was the 22nd. - It was the 22nd.
- Twenty? - 22nd of August 2022.
And I'm off Mondays and Tuesdays, so I was off.
I went home to sleep after I left the apartment.
- So on the 22nd, Your Honor... - On the 22?
Yeah, on 22, which is a Monday morning, at 7:30,
I pulled into my garage. He was outside crying.
- So it wasn't on the 27th? - No, it was on the 22nd, yeah.
Twenty-second in the morning, yes, ma'am.
It was 7:30 in the morning. He's sitting there crying.
I come in, he asked can he come to my car to talk to me.
We talk, he tells me that him and Nijah got into another altercation.
She hits him.
He, like, stops her from doing what she wants to do.
He said that Nija expressed that she's talking to other people
and that she just wants him to leave her alone.
He then asks me, do I know about her dealing with any men or anything?
I tell him, I've only seen her with one guy,
it was some light-skinned dude who she went to the bowling alley with.
But other than that, I didn't see anything.
I told him, you know, with me being 25 and him being 20,
I said, you know, you're a young man.
You know, you have your own car, you got a place, you're doing stuff.
You should be living life. You shouldn't be,
you know, getting beat, or dealing with all this stuff.
Just be young and live your life, you know. That's when he then...
- Okay. - Yeah.
Did you have that sort of a conversation with him?
- Not at all. - Okay. Tell me what...
The conversation was two to three minutes.
I never entered his car.
- I was walking... - No, no, tell me what you said to him.
I told him that me and her got into it.
You might not see me around here. I don't know what the situation is.
And he did tell me, "Focus on yourself. Y'all will be good."
Okay, so it's pretty much...
So, whatever. That was a discussion...
You had had a fight with her on the 22nd,
and there was some registering, some complaint.
Mnh-mnh.
Sir, if you say, "You might not see me around here.
We had an argument," that was registering some sort of a complaint.
You didn't leave there happy on the 22nd.
Yes, Your Honor.
Is it right? You didn't leave there happy.
I never was... upset... how he's trying to make it seem.
We didn't have this conversation of me being beat on or me crying.
- You didn't leave... - That's not true, Your Honor.
Mr. Dioum, you didn't leave there happy that morning.
Yes.
- Is that right? - That's correct.
You had had an altercation with her the night before or earlier,
and you stopped and had a brief conversation with him.
I don't have to get into the nuances of it.
- You weren't happy. - Mm-hmm.
Okay. That's the 27th.
And you say you told him, "You're a young guy."
- Yeah, "Live your life." Yeah. - "Live your life."
And then he thanked me in those messages that I gave you right...
That's... [comical gibberish]
Okay.
[♪ dramatic music plays]
Would you tell me what you know with regard to the vandalism?
Once I opened the door, I seen shattered glass all over the floor.
His room was completely vandalized. There was a knife in the wall.
Could you explain these photographs to me?
I can't explain the photographs. I didn't do it.
[♪ dramatic music playing]
Carlos Guillen claims his former roommate, Nijah Pine,
and her boyfriend, Gallo Dioum,
vandalized his property.
Nijah is countersuing for a false arrest,
tire damage, and cyber-bullying.
Now, 22nd moves into the 23rd, the 24th.
Anything happen the 23rd, 24th, 25th?
On the 26th, I had got a phone call from one of my friends
saying that Nijah at the place that we were working at
was going around telling people
that I was trying to sleep with her boyfriend,
saying that I'm trying to make him gay
- and that I go for straight men. - Okay. Just a second.
- All this stuff. - Just a second.
That's all hearsay, by the way,
- unless you have a witness to that. - Yes.
And I assume that you could have a witness to that if you'd like.
Did you, Miss Pine,
have any conversation at work with any of your colleagues
about discussions that the plaintiff may have had with your boyfriend?
- Yes, Your Honor. - Okay.
Do you remember who?
It's actually another coworker, that's a mutual friend between us.
Okay. And without going into the text of the conversation,
were you registering complaints about Mr. Guillen?
- Yes. - Okay. That's all.
- That's all that's relevant. - So with that being said, um,
that following morning on the 27th,
I then walked up to her room around eight o'clock
because, you know, she's living in my house,
I'm helping her out.
She's talking about me at my place of business.
So I went up there to go ask her, you know,
what's going on, what's happening?
The moment I go up there, she's like, "You're a--"
You're this and this and this.
We start arguing at this point.
Like, we're both yelling at each other. It's getting heated.
She then tells me that she's going to have some dudes come and beat me up,
since I want to argue with a girl and all this stuff.
Men then come to my home. Six dudes come to my house.
How much later after the conversation?
This is probably like, literally 10 minutes after the conversation.
Like, this was very fast.
She had these men come to my house.
Um, I saw one of the dudes outside.
I was trying to, you know, go outside and just be like,
"Look, I'm not trying to do anything to her."
We got into an argument. I'm hearing stuff.
Gallo out of nowhere comes from a corner
and tries to swing at me.
Once he does that, I then go inside my house.
I go into my room, and I look at my window,
and it's six men outside my home.
She then lets these men inside the house,
they're banging on my door, talking 'bout "Bring yo'... [dipped audio] outside."
And all this stuff. "Oh, you want to fight women."
All this mess banging on my door and stuff.
Was anyone else in the house other than the two of them?
It was my cousin with me at the time.
- That's not your cousin. - No, this is my witness, Imani.
- It was my cousin at the time... - A witness to what?
A witness to the next day, Your Honor.
But back with this day, my cousin was with me.
He wanted to go out and fight and do it.
I said, "No, we're going to sit here and wait."
The police end up getting called from the neighbors
'cause it's six men outside banging and cussing and making a scene.
The police then get there.
There was an officer who I don't know if she already knew previously,
or who she was cool with, but the officer said
that because I am a 6' 8" man and she is a woman,
she feels intimidated by me and all this stuff.
So he told me that the men who were there is allowed to stay there
because she is a tenant there, and that's her place.
So they're considered her guests.
Once that was said, Your Honor, I immediately got everything that I could,
and I booked the hotel at the Westin.
I stayed there at the Westin for nine days.
That day, she was going around on social media,
saying that I was scary and that I ran in my room,
and that I called the cops.
She's basically talking smack about me on the Gram.
Hold on, Your Honor. I'm trying to find it.
If I may interject?
- If I may? - Mnh-mnh.
- Not yet. - All right.
I'm sorry, Your Honor. But she went on social media...
Okay. Just a second.
So is what you're telling me you don't have that, unless it's in...
It might be in that file. Yeah. Sorry.
But it's like a message of her saying like,
"Oh, y'all won't believe who called the police
and ran in the room crying."
And like, just talking smack, Your Honor.
Okay, here it goes.
Yeah, that's what she posted.
Once she posted that, and you know, people start hitting me up.
- I see it. - Yeah.
Once she started posting that, people started hitting me up.
They're like, "What's going on? What's going on?" And this and this.
So I then went on Instagram and I had made a comment.
I called her... [dipped audio]
for short, it stands for... [dipped audio]
Because she was going around saying that I was dirty.
She went around telling that I was dirty,
so I just let it be known on social media that the only thing dirty was her.
You know, since she was talking about me on the Gram,
I decided to, you know, react.
Although it's not pleasant, that's what people do on the Internet.
I was just matching energy, you know?
- Yeah. - Got it.
Let's get to your lawsuit, sir.
So far, she's lived there three months and she's paid three months' rent.
- Mm-hmm. - Okay.
Your claim is that during the time that you were in the hotel,
when you were out of the apartment,
- there was damage done to the property. - Right.
- Do you have photographs of the damage... - I do.
...that was done to the apartment while you were out at the hotel?
- Yes, ma'am. - May I see it, please?
Here you go.
Where did you go when you finally left the plaintiff's house?
After I got my U-Haul, he dropped me off to my uncle's house.
On what date?
I went there the night of the 27th,
August 27th, 2022.
And I came back the next day, on the 28th, to get my things.
Okay. So he left on the 27th.
You left on the 27th after he did.
Yes, ma'am.
Did you leave as well with your girlfriend?
- Correct. - Where did you go?
I went to my grandfather's house where I was staying.
And how long have you been staying with your grandfather?
All my life.
- Where do you live now? - With my grandfather.
- And where do you live? - With my uncle.
When you finally got back into your house, Mr. Guillen,
- this is the way you found it? - Yes.
On what date did you come back, did you find it this condition?
- That was August 28th, Your Honor. - August 28th?
- Yes, ma'am. - Okay.
I had to woke up to a whole bunch of phone calls
from my witness, Imani,
and a family member saying that they were there.
- You want to stand up? - Yeah.
[Guillen] All right. [laughing]
Would you tell me what you know
about what happened on the 27th/ 28th of August
with regard to the vandalism?
I wasn't there on the 27th, but...
we had a conversation that led to me coming to the apartment.
So I came to the townhouse,
retrieved the key to get inside of the house.
Once I opened the door, I seen shattered glass all over the floor.
His room was completely vandalized. There was a knife in the wall.
But this was all, like, downstairs. Once I realized...
I'm going to show you these photographs, and I'm going to ask you,
if these photographs are a true or inaccurate representation
of what you saw when you walked in on the 28th?
- Yes. - May I have them back, please? Come in.
Have you been to Mr. Guillen's house before?
- Yes. - Was it always in good order?
Yes. Yes. He's a clean freak.
You moved out on the 28th for how long?
I moved out on the 28th. I didn't come after that.
- Permanently? - Yes.
- Permanently? - Yes, Your Honor.
- Have you seen these photographs? - Uh, yes, I did.
Actually, his family member sent them to me.
Okay. Could you explain these photographs to me?
I can't explain the photographs. I didn't do it.
Okay, fine.
I wasn't there actually, and I have proof I wasn't.
That's a lie, Your Honor.
- And you... Just a second. - It's not a lie.
- Just a second. - Okay.
Ah, she's crazy.
She may not have personally done it.
The question is,
he certainly didn't do damage to his own property.
- Oh! - There is no...
Well, if you have proof that he did...
- I have proof, Your Honor. - ...damage to his own property,
then I'd certainly like to see it.
I do have proof I was not there and...
I don't care whether you were not there or not.
He can't show me he wasn't there, and your brother is not here.
He can't show me he wasn't there.
So I have to decide if it was a stranger, the plaintiff, or this side.
Maybe not you, but someone acting on your behalf.
Carlos Guillen is accusing his former roommate, Nijah Pine,
and her boyfriend Gallo Dioum,
of destroying his property.
Nijah claims Carlos had her falsely arrested
and damaged her tires.
- Right now, I have damage. - What I would like to say ...
No, I don't want you to say anything.
I want you to tell me what proof you had
that he damaged his property.
I would like to restate,
I have proof that he did not care about the apartment,
that when I moved in, it was in horrible condition, actually.
And he's not a clean freak.
And I wasn't there to vandalize the apartment at all.
No, just a second.
I just asked you a question. Can't you give me an answer?
It's a simple answer.
You said to me, "I have proof that he vandalized his property."
Is that what she said?
Well, I have...
Your Honor, if I may...
Just a second, I want to make sure that that's what you said.
"I have proof that he vandalized his property."
His property was vandalized when I moved in, is what I'm saying.
Oh, no, madam. Oh, j-j-j-j-just a second.
She says, "I have proof, Your Honor, he damaged his own property."
Okay.
So all I want you to do is show me proof
that he damaged his own property.
Okay. So I do not have video proof of him doing it,
but based on my countersuit and the fact that I was falsely arrested,
and the harassment, the lies,
even the online posts that I haven't been able to show you yet,
that he is framing me
and that he did vandalize his own apartment.
- He didn't care about it before. - Just a second.
I'm willing to look at proof-- of any proof that you have
that he vandalized his own apartment.
- So around the time... - Not "so around." Just show me!
Ah, okay. Sure.
So what I have in my hand here, Your Honor, if I may...
- Kevin. - ...is this proof
that before I moved in, the apartment was not well taken care of.
And, like I said,
I don't have proof that he went in and did it himself,
but I do have proof that the apartment was never cared about to begin with.
And after he actually moved all his things out,
which he claimed and stated on social media.
Here. You can... you can... you can take these back.
This is not what I'm talking about, madam.
That's a dirty bathroom that you've shown me.
- This is vandalism. - I didn't do this.
There was no question in my mind that this is vandalism.
This isn't dirty house.
It's disgusting. Somebody took powder and liquid.
This isn't just sloppy and messy.
This is clearly vandalism.
So, is that all the proof that you have?
You said, "I have proof that he vandalized his own property."
I'm waiting to see that proof because otherwise,
there are certain things that ring true.
I would like to recant that because I don't have proof that he did it,
but I do have proof that I'm being framed, yes.
You have to understand, Ms. Pine, there are two things:
either he vandalized his own property,
which I find is unreasonable because he would have to live
with all this filth that's in his bed.
- He didn't have to live with... - I'm speaking. I'm speaking.
I would have to find that he took a knife to his own sofa
and destroyed the cushions to his own sofa.
And quite frankly, I don't know this gentleman well,
but he does not appear to be psychotic.
Now, I don't say that he may not be a truth-teller all the time,
but he doesn't appear to be psychotic.
So, no person who's not psychotic does this to themselves.
So either some stranger in the night
came in and vandalized his property,
or you, your boyfriend,
and/or your brother, who?
Didn't you say that you called your brother to come?
- I called my father. - Your father to come?
Yes. And my father called my brother and he came...
- Just a second. - Yes.
I knew I heard brother in here.
- Did your brother come? - I didn't call my brother.
Okay. Called at least brother.
I don't know if father came too.
So I have to find if it was a total stranger,
the plaintiff, or you,
boyfriend, father, brother, friend, whatever it was.
So, all I'm asking you to do is,
do you have any other proof
other than the nonsense that you gave me
that he caused this serious vandalism of his own house?
I do not have proof that he caused it,
but I do have proof I was not there and...
I don't care whether you were not there or not.
- Okay. - Do you understand?
I don't care whether you weren't there or not.
He can't show me he wasn't there.
And your brother is not here, he can't show me he wasn't there.
And your father is not here, and he can't show me that he wasn't there.
Do you understand? So I have to decide
if it was a stranger, the plaintiff, or this side.
Maybe not you, but someone acting on your behalf.
To be continued.
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