I heard a loud crash, so I ran outside
and saw that my car had been decimated.
- And you all had been drinking? - Yes.
She was not allowed to touch that car.
She took it without my permission.
I don't care. You're her mother.
This innocent victim
has to have a donkey to pin the tail on,
and you're it.
[announcer] This is Judy Justice.
[theme music playing]
[announcer] Uzuri Shubin is suing Maribel Herrera
for car damages after her 17-year-old daughter's friend
crashed into Uzuri's vehicle.
[Kevin] Court come to order. All rise.
Have a seat, everyone.
- [Kevin] Hello, Judge - Hello.
Case number 1140, Shubin versus Herrera.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
[Judge Judy] Ms. Shubin, I'm gonna start with you very briefly.
Okay.
[Judge Judy] Because my reading of the case,
as far as I'm concerned,
you know very little about what happened in this case except that
- you parked your car on the street... - Uh-hmm.
- ...and went into your house. - Uh-hmm.
- Don't say uh-hmm. Yes. - Yes.
[Judge Judy] 'Cause she can't take down uh-hmm.
You don't know what happened with your car
except that it was destroyed while parked?
Exactly.
Right! And tell me when this happened?
So it happened tentatively
at 11:45 PM on August 29th.
- Of this year? - Yes.
[Judge Judy] Were you sleeping?
I was sleeping.
I heard a loud crash
and it was over in the direction in which I had parked my car.
So I ran outside pants-less,
no shoes, went over without my phone too,
and saw that my car had been decimated.
I actually have photos if you'd like to see those.
- I would. - [Uzuri] Okay.
Here you go.
So when I went over to...oh, okay.
I also have a video of the car crash as well.
- You do? - [Uzuri] Yes.
I'd like to see it.
Here. You could just press the play.
What year, model, make of this car was it?
So my car is a Jeep Liberty '06 Limited.
I also have a photo of what it looked like
prior to this incident.
When did you purchase the car, Ms. Shubin?
I purchased it around
December of 2018.
Do you recall the purchase price of the car?
So I purchased it for 5,360
and I have a photo of what it looked like prior...
- Okay. Can I see it, please? - ...before being ran into.
Here.
[Kevin] Also her video.
- I'm only the third owner. - [Judge Judy] Would you...oh, just a sec.
- God, it looks lovely. - [Uzuri] Yeah.
- Can I see the video, Kevin? Thank you. - [Kevin] Uh-hmm.
[Uzuri] It was immaculate.
[woman]
- [Uzuri] So my neighbor recorded... - [Judge Judy] Shh, shh, shh.
[Uzuri] Okay.
[woman]
[man]
[woman]
Okay. And the car was totaled.
Yes, yes.
That was the determination of the auto body shop.
[Judge Judy] Now, Ms. Herrera, you weren't there...
I was not.
[Judge Judy] ...on the evening of August 29th.
But you own the car,
that you are the titled owner of the car...
- Okay. - ... that hit her car.
- That would be a yes? - [Maribel] I actually am not.
[Judge Judy] Who is?
Um, the car was given to my daughter as a gift
for her to move around 'cause she just had a baby.
- [Judge Judy] Ms. Herrera. - Yes.
Where's the title to the car?
- I have it here. - [Judge Judy] I'd like to see it.
- [Maribel] Your Honor, I do have... - [Judge Judy] Shh, don't speak.
Who is this person who owns the car?
My daughter's in-laws purchased it...
purchased the vehicle from that person.
- I... - [Judge Judy] Just a second.
These people are the...
Somebody bought your daughter a present.
- Let me understand this. - [Maribel] Uh-hmm.
Somebody bought your daughter who's how old?
She is 17 now.
[Judge Judy] Somebody bought your daughter a present who is 17,
what month and year did they buy her the present?
I believe it was August, um...
What date?
[Maribel] Um, I can't recall right now but I believe it was August...
the beginning of August of 2021.
Why didn't they transfer title?
I did do that online, but then...
[Judge Judy] Oh, well then, let me see.
- Let me see the paperwork... - [Maribel] And...
...of you doing it online.
- Just a second. Let me see... - [Maribel] Yes.
...the paperwork of you doing it online.
- [Uzuri] Also, I have paperwork... - [Maribel] So...
[Uzuri] ...that says that she is the insured on the vehicle.
- Yes. - [Judge Judy] I'd like to see it.
- [Maribel] That is the... - I'd like to see the paperwork
- she did online and I'd like to see that. - [Maribel] And then this,
- the insurance. - [Judge Judy] So what...
you're telling me these, these people,
you did in fact change the title?
Yes.
And you change the title and insured the car
- in whose name? - My name.
[Judge Judy] That's what I asked you!
[Maribel] But I... I was trying to explain, Your Honor, that
when I did the paperwork online, when I switched over the...
to the title to my name, everything went through.
I have the emails there of everything that I did online,
the receipts and everything.
But at the end of the day, they did not put it under my name
because I still owed a fee which I couldn't do at the time.
I don't care.
So the car was yours and you had insurance on it,
and you filled out the paperwork and you swore in the paperwork
that the car was yours and it was being gifted to you
because it couldn't be gifted to a minor.
- Right. - [Judge Judy] Right.
Okay. Now I don't have to see anything. Return that to everybody.
- Also I have the paper that... - [Judge Judy] No.
Didn't ask you anything.
- So far, we understand each other. - Okay.
You're her daughter?
[Judge Judy] Yes. Your father's family gave you this car?
No, my fiancé's parent...grandparents.
[Judge Judy] Now, I'm leaving you, Ms. Shubin, for a moment.
- Okay. - [Judge Judy] And I'm going to try...
The two of you stand up.
Because it's true that your mother
wasn't there on the night of August 29th...
- when you had the car? - Correct.
- [Judge Judy] Right. And you're 17? - Yes.
And you have a child?
Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] How old is that child?
He is now five months.
He will be six months this month.
[Judge Judy] He's five months old.
- And you live with your mother? - [Violet] No, Your Honor.
- [Judge Judy] Who do you live with? - I live on my own, Your Honor.
Where does the father of this child live?
He's incarcerated at the moment, Your Honor.
- So, he lives in a state facility? - [Violet] Yes.
[Judge Judy] For what?
Honestly, I don't really have too much information on it.
When did he go to a state facility?
From what I've known, he was arrested on September 29th.
Prior to September 29th when he went to jail,
- who was he living with? - He was living on his own, Your Honor.
- Did he have a new girlfriend? - No.
[Judge Judy] So this is what I gather from what your mother
wrote in the answer
to why she's not responsible
for the damage to Ms. Shubin's car.
And she had to have gotten the story from somebody.
And I assume she got it from you
and your friend whose name is...
- Jazmyn. - [Judge Judy] ...Jazmyn.
Sometime on August 29th,
your son was visiting with his father.
This is what the story your mother tells me is,
- is that true? - [Violet] No.
- That's either a yes or no? - [Violet] No.
Okay. Who told your mother that story?
- I think she misunderstood... - [Judge Judy] No.
Who told your mother that story? 'Cause she swore to it here.
She says, "And it all sounded odd to me,
that her son was with his father for the night."
She had to get that from you.
So that was a lie,
- yes or no? - Yes.
[Judge Judy] "She got a call that there was a domestic dispute
at her father's house."
- So that was a lie? - Yes, uh-hmm.
- So Violet, that would be you. - [Violet] Yes.
[Judge Judy] Needed to get there quickly.
So all that you now understand, Ms. Herrera,
- is a lie? - That was not...
[Judge Judy] Just a second.
That's what your daughter says she told you
and that's what you wrote in the answer,
in your sworn answer.
I'm going to read what you wrote in your sworn answer.
Okay.
You say, "On August 29th, Violet was hanging out with her friends.
Her son was with his father for the night.
She got a call that there was a domestic dispute at her father's house.
So Violet needed to get there quickly.
She drove over to her son's father's house
and brought her friend Jazmyn with her."
That's what you wrote. I mean, I'm not psychotic.
I didn't make up the story.
I didn't pull it out of the air.
I didn't pull it out of my shoe.
You already have an irresponsible daughter.
She's 17 years old.
She has a six-month-old child.
The boyfriend that she decided to make this baby with
at age 15 and a half is now in prison.
[theme music playing]
[announcer] Uzuri Shubin is suing Maribel Herrera
for car damages after her 17-year-old daughter's friend
crashed into Uzuri's vehicle.
[Judge Judy] Now, that's what you wrote.
So if you wrote that, either you made it up,
Ms. Herrera, or your daughter told you that story.
So, only two answers, don't give me any other answer.
That's, your daughter told you what happened,
or you made up that story, which one is it?
Someone wrote it wrong because I did not say that.
[Judge Judy] Well, your daughter just said to me
that that's what she told you.
- No, the...I'm sorry... - [Judge Judy] Just a second.
Just a second.
No? Would you read that back for me, please?
Maybe I'm mistaken.
[Judge Judy] I said to her, "So did you tell your mother?
[Whitney] You asked her, "Who told her mother that story?"
She said, "I think she misunderstood."
You said, "Who told your mother that story because she swore to it.
So was that a lie, yes or no?" Answer, "Yes."
Okay. So now I'm going to come to you,
- your mother wasn't there? - [Violet] No.
- [Judge Judy] Don't play with papers. - [Maribel] I'm trying to...
Your mother wasn't there on the 29th of August.
So, just a little bit of background on you.
What do you do? Do you work? Do you go to school?
No, Your Honor. I do go to school.
What school do you go?
[Violet] I go to Charter High School.
[Judge Judy] Who takes care of your son?
My father does or my fiancé's aunts.
Aunts take care of my son while I'm at school.
- Your fiancé's in jail? - [Violet] Yes.
- [Judge Judy] Who takes care of your son? - I do.
Who does he live with?
He lives with me, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] When did you move out of your mother's house?
I believe it was sometime in May.
But I don't have an exact date for you, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] What's the reason you moved out of your mother's house?
[Violet] My family's household, there was just a lot of people
and now that, you know, we had a baby,
it was just we kind of wanted our own space.
- [Judge Judy] Who's the "we"? - Me and my fiancé.
- How old is he? - He's 20, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] Is this the first time he's been incarcerated?
Yes.
Tell me what happened on the 29th.
What had happened was,
- I went out...I went out. - [Judge Judy] Look at me.
At the moment, me and my fiancé were separated.
Okay. And he was living someplace else?
Yes. And I went out because I was just
having an emotional rollercoaster.
And I went out with my friends. We were...
- That's Jazmyn? - [Violet] Yes.
Where did you go?
We went to, um, the area that we were in that...
where the crash happened.
Now you went to the area where the crash happened and...
And, um, right there, that's when we started drinking a little bit,
then it was around 11:00,
I want to say 11:40,
where I got a call from, um, a relative
that was taking care of my son and saying...
[Judge Judy] What relative that was taking care of your son that night?
It was my fiancé's cousin and I had a call.
She called me saying that I needed to come pick up my son
and, um, there was other acquaintances with me and...
Who was with you?
[Violet] There was just two other acquaintances.
[Judge Judy] Who?
Um, I honestly don't really know them.
They were...it was just kind of, we...
[Judge Judy] Were they in the car with you?
Yes, they were.
- In addition to Jazmyn? - [Violet] Yes.
[Judge Judy] Were these two people that you would pick up at a bar?
[Violet] No.
[Judge Judy] Where were you doing your drinking?
It was by a... across the street from a graveyard.
- So in the car? - [Violet] Yes.
So the alcohol was in the car?
- Yes. - Yes, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] Who brought the alcohol?
It was one of the acquaintances, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] That was a male acquaintance?
[Violet] I believe so. Yes.
[Judge Judy] What do you mean, "You believe so. Yes."?
Yes, Your Honor.
Was that one of the male acquaintances
that I saw in this video who was all bloody?
Um, yes.
I'm listening.
[Violet] And after I got that call,
I went to go pick up my son
and the other acquaintances were not getting in my car
because at this...at this time that I got the call, we were already outside.
And I...I told them like, "Let's go. I need to go pick up my son.
I'm gonna take you guys home and I need to go get my son."
Nobody really listened.
So I just got Jazmyn and I told her
that, "I am going to trust you.
I'm gonna go...I'm gonna go get my son.
I'm gonna stay there because..."
[Judge Judy] Just a second. So you were going to, at midnight,
go to your boyfriend's cousin's house
- who were babysitting for your son? - [Violet] Yes.
[Judge Judy] And you were going to stay at the house?
Yes.
- Instead of going home? - Yes.
[Judge Judy] So you let Jazmyn,
- you gave her the keys to your car? - [Violet] Yes.
[Judge Judy] And you all had been drinking?
[Violet] Yes.
[Judge Judy] And one of the boys stayed in the car with Jazmyn,
or did she go back?
Did you go back, Jazmyn, to pick him up?
I went back to go pick them up.
[Judge Judy] So she went to, to the cousin's house.
She got dropped off.
Either you drove or she drove,
you picked up one of the boys from where the graveyard,
where you... they were drinking in a graveyard
- and then you were driving? - Yes.
And you crashed into her car?
Full speed. Probably like 60 or...
- And you crashed into her car? - Yes.
[Judge Judy] After you crashed into the car,
- did you stay at the scene? - I had left.
- That's either a yes or a no. - No.
[Judge Judy] You took off with the boy in the car?
[Jazmyn] Yes.
[Judge Judy] And you left and took off with the boy in the car
because there were a whole bunch of liquor bottles in the car?
- Yeah. - Yes.
[Judge Judy] That's what she says. She had to get that from someplace.
Did your daughter tell you that story?
That's either a yes or no.
Yes.
What happened to your car?
It was, uh, towed from the place.
I did call the police that night.
Wait just a sec. What happened to your car?
- It was towed. - Was it fixed?
No.
- [Judge Judy] It wasn't fixed? - It was not. It was totaled.
Did the insurance pay you for the car?
No, Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] Did you put in a claim?
I did.
- And what happened with that claim? - They denied it.
What did you tell the insurance company
'cause the insurance company didn't pay her?
- I don't know. - Just a second. The insurance...
the insurance that you had on the car
didn't pay her, do you know why?
- Yes. - [Judge Judy] Why?
Because, um, I did not know at the time until two days later...
[Judge Judy] Oh, no.
[Maribel] ...that my... the policy of my insurance had...
or expired or was terminated on the 29th
because my full payment didn't go through, so it was denied.
You paid $5,360 for this car...
- Uh-hmm. Yes. - [Judge Judy] ...three years ago.
Did you get another car?
Not yet. I'm still looking but, you know.
Great. Judgment for the plaintiff in the amount of $5,360.
- Let me tell you this... - Your Honor.
[Judge Judy] I understand you want emotional distress, everybody...
[Uzuri] Well, not just the car rental, that would be nice too,
'cause I really do want to rebuild my vehicle
and the auto body shop estimated that it would be about 7,000...
[Judge Judy] Right, 5,360.
- [Maribel] Your Honor, I'm sorry. - Down.
What I'm telling you is this,
you already have an irresponsible daughter.
She's 17 years old.
She has a six-month-old child.
The boyfriend that she decided to make this baby with
at age 15 and a half is now in prison.
You gave her the wherewithal to drive this car.
You filled out the paperwork
and you evidently got insurance under your name.
But she was not allowed to touch that car.
She took it without my permission.
[laughs]
[announcer] Uzuri Shubin has accused
Maribel Herrera's 17-year-old daughter and her friend
of crashing into her parked car while drinking and driving.
[Judge Judy] Okay, you let her drive a car.
She...you're her mother, you let her drive a car.
You did the paperwork, putting your name on the title.
If her fiancé's grandparents
decided to give her a car, let them put it in their name.
Say, "I don't wanna have any part of this.
My daughter is irresponsible.
She's demonstrated she's irresponsible.
She's demonstrated by her history.
And certainly going out with underage people
and drinking in a graveyard
and then turning the car keys over to somebody
who is under the influence of alcohol.
I would say that I have an irresponsible child."
Just a second.
And if you didn't wanna be held responsible for it,
you shouldn't have done the paperwork in your name.
You say, "You think that my daughter is mature enough
to have the responsibility of a car,"
you put the car in your name, and you get the insurance.
And you say that to the people who gave her the car,
you don't put it in your name.
She has to have somebody...
she has to have somebody to say
make me whole.
She's not going to do it, Jazmyn,
who drove drunk because she's a minor.
Your daughter's not gonna do it.
She can't take care of herself.
She makes bad judgments and she has no money.
You're the grown-up.
You gave her the wherewithal to drive this car. You and...
- [Maribel] I did not. - [Judge Judy] Yes, you did.
You filled out the paperwork and you...
and you evidently got insurance under your name,
under your name.
- Correct. - [Judge Judy] Correct.
But she was not allowed to touch that car.
She took it without my permission.
[laughs]
Madam, you gave her the ability to drive that car.
You put it in your name and you insured it.
And this innocent victim has to have somebody,
has to have a donkey to pin the tail on.
She can't say, "Well, it's not this one's fault, she's a minor.
It's not that one's fault because of the..."
She has to have somebody and you're it.
It didn't have to be you.
It could have been the people that gave her the car,
said, "I'll put it in my name and I'll insure it."
Grandma and grandpa of this incarcerated father,
they could have said, "I'll put it in my name.
I want her to have a car to get back and forth."
And, and would have been fine.
Then you wouldn't be standing there.
You helped her. You're the grown-up in the room.
5,360, judgment for the plaintiff.
- We're finished. - Thank you, Your Honor.
[Kevin] Court is adjourned.
I do admit that my daughter was irresponsible for what she did.
I really do love my car and I took such good care of it,
so for it to end up in the condition that it's in now,
it just sucks so bad.
A green Camry ran me off the road
and I tried to make a right and that's when I crashed.
It was catastrophic.
It sounded like an explosion, that's why it woke me up.
Right now, I'm just not responsible enough to have a car of my own.
I'm thankful that my car was there
because the velocity in which they hit my car,
if they would've hit the building behind it,
they possibly wouldn't be here anymore.
I'm glad that I wasn't in the car nor my son was in the car.
I appreciate her just understanding that I am a victim in this situation
and it's just been hectic and crazy
and I'm just thankful to have some resolution.
[Sarah] You know, when I saw that title from that case,
it made me think, "I should really find my title."
- I know I put it in a safe place. - The title of your car?
But I just can't quite remember where that safe place is.
But it is a very important document, so. I'm gonna have to...
[Judge Judy] Yeah. Welcome to a... welcome to a senior moment.
- Yeah. - Yeah, you look for it when you go home.
People don't realize that
being the owner of a car gives you a certain responsibility.
And you're supposed to exercise judgment about who uses that car.
And if you have a child
who acts irresponsibly about other things,
and I'm sure this is not the first time,
this wasn't the first rodeo for getting alcohol
and going to sit at the cemetery and drink.
Uh-hmm.
[Judge Judy] ...then you have to be careful
not to have your name attached to that
because ultimately your 17-year-old or your 16-year-old
isn't responsible 'cause they have nothing.
Somebody has to be responsible for an innocent victim
and it will usually fall at the feet
of the person who has the money to pay for it.
[Sarah] Uh-hmm.
[Judge Judy] So you have to be very cautious about lending your name
to somebody else's potential irresponsibility.
- That to me is the takeaway. - Yeah, I agree.
- And find your title. - [Sarah chuckles] Yeah.
[announcer] Want justice? Go to JudyJustice.tv.
[theme music playing]