Bailey was attacked.
My mom was banging on the door saying,
"Wake up, wake up. She’s dying, she’s dying."
And so I...
[whispering] It’s okay.
So I just had to, like, say goodbye and, like, yeah.
That was mostly it.
Is that how you remember it
[announcer] Today on Tribunal Justice.
This case was filed in Columbia Heights, Minnesota.
Your Honor, this is case # 1056 on the calendar.
in the matter of Eddins v. Brandt.
Parties have been sworn in. You may be seated.
-Thank you, Byrd. -[Byrd] Mm-hmm.
Miss Eddins,
Fourth of July weekend,
you and your family were going to spend the holiday
-at your lake house. -Yes.
And you brought your little teacup Yorkie, Bailey.
-[Becky] Yes. -This was Bailey.
Very sadly upon your arrival,
Bailey was attacked
by the defendant’s dog.
The defendant is your next-door neighbor.
Prior to this incident, the two of you hadn’t met.
Uh, and Bailey didn’t make it.
Bailey passed away.
And you are now seeking $9,141
from the defendant.
And the elements of your claim are,
you want her to reimburse you for the cost of Bailey.
You want her to pay for pain and suffering,
for cremation expenses,
and also for lost wages.
-Yes. -[Tanya] Miss Brandt,
I will say at the outset
that the evidence I’ve seen in this case
indicates that you felt horribly about this.
-Yeah. -You are not turning
a blind eye.
You, in fact, offered to compensate them
to the best of your ability.
But that was not enough.
And I mention the offer of compensation
because I don’t want anyone to be under the impression
that the settlement offer that you made
was an admission by you that you were legally liable,
because your position is that you are not legally liable.
You point out that your dog, Bella,
-Bella was leashed. -Yes.
[Tanya] And Bailey was not leashed.
-Correct. -And you contend
that these injuries, and that Bailey’s death
essentially would have been prevented
had the plaintiff been more careful with the dog.
-Yes. -First off,
I think on behalf of all of us,
we are so sorry.
It’s hard to lose a pet member of your family.
So tell us what happened.
[Becky] We arrived at our...
It’s, um...
Both of the cabins are owned by our parents.
And when we arrived, we...
-She was sleeping in the car. -[Tanya] Your daughter?
-[Becky] Yes. -[Tanya] What’s her name?
-Sauve. -[Tanya] Sauve was in the car,
-sleeping. -Yes.
And we just grabbed the tent
and we put four stakes in.
Our teacup Yorkie saw her dog at the end of the road,
started running.
I grabbed her.
And the next thing I knew, her dog lunged
and grabbed my dog out of my arms,
and grabbed her to the floor and killed her.
[Tanya] As I understood the facts from the complaint,
there was an initial attack,
and then I think, Miss Brandt,
you were able to separate the dogs?
Um, when Bailey had come running up to the driveway,
I had Bella on a leash.
As soon as Bailey got close,
Bella growled and I pulled her back.
And so then Becky was able to grab her dog.
And then, after she had a hold of Bailey,
her and my mom were talking.
You know, I’m thinking, okay, we’re neighbors.
They’re gonna be next to each other.
Bella seems fine right now.
I’m gonna let her get a little bit closer.
And then I think you noticed that,
and then you bent over.
-Now talk just to us. -Okay.
[Tanya] This is Bella. Who’s the baby?
[Amanda] That’s my five-month-old son
who was on the walk with us.
[Tanya] And in your answer, you suggest that the reason
why Bella may have acted aggressively
is because your five-month-old baby was in the vicinity.
Yes, it’s a possibility.
So then after you get the dogs separated,
you, ma’am, are holding Bailey.
And do you lean over?
She was trying to look at the dog barking,
and so I just kind of leaned over like I always do,
because I don’t let our dogs touch,
breathe anything other dogs--
I was kind of like leaning over, like, see the dog.
You don’t want to be down there. It’s big.
And that’s when the fatal injuries took place.
Yeah.
I mean, it was a tragic situation,
and I felt really bad for them and the family.
So I offered her $3,000.
That was after she told me that Bailey passed, 1,500.
So I was trying to be nice.
And she came back with she wanted more.
[Tanya] And the reason you wanted more money
was because of what happened to Sauve after this incident.
I’d like to talk to you. Why don’t you take the stand.
How old are you, dear?
I’m 18.
You were sleeping when the initial encounter took place.
-Yes? -Yes.
What woke you up?
My mom was banging on the door, saying,
"Wake up, wake up. She’s dying, she’s dying."
So I got out the car,
and Bailey was on the driveway ground.
And I saw her wound on her neck.
And then I realized that she, um, was dying.
And so I, um...
[whispering] It’s okay.
[tearfully] Um...
-Sandra. -[Sauve] I, um...
-Here you go, sweetheart. -Sorry.
You okay? Do you want to talk about this?
Because I can move on and we can come back.
-I think I’m okay. -[Tanya] Okay.
So I just had to, like, say goodbye
and, like, yeah, that was mostly it.
[Tanya] What happened to you afterward?
Because a major component of your mother’s claim
for pain and suffering
involves how this experience impacted you.
Yeah.
So tell us how you were impacted.
So I was out with some friends
for the first time since she passed away,
and then we were just talking about Bailey, what happened,
and I started having like a panic attack.
And I didn’t know what it was.
I just, like, had, like--
Like, I couldn’t breathe.
I was very shaky and I didn’t know what to do,
so I went home.
And then my parents took me to the hospital.
And the whole time,
they said that I was just having a panic attack
because of my anxiety and what was happening.
And then I had follow-ups.
And then now I’m on my fourth anxiety medication.
I’m just gonna say this.
I’ve never lost an animal under these circumstances,
but I’ve lost an animal, and it’s tough.
-Our hearts are with you. -Thank you.
You can sit down now,
because now I have to get to the tougher part of your case.
Because beautiful little Bailey
got out of the car and was running around unleashed.
-Mm-hmm. -What portion of responsibility
do you think you bear
for the things that happened subsequently?
I mean, we were on our own property,
and she ran to the end of our property.
And then once I had her,
she knew her dog was aggressive
and gave her another two feet, another two inches,
whatever it was that she gave.
And that’s when she lunged at me and grabbed her
out of my arms.
Um, well, Bailey did come running up to us barking,
so I think that put Bella on end.
Where was the baby?
So my mom and the baby were behind
when Bailey ran up.
And then when I pulled Bella back
once she showed a small sign of aggression, growling,
pulled her back, and then it was Becky and my mom talking,
the stroller with my son in it,
and me and Bella were in the middle of the road.
After this happens, you make a settlement offer
of $3,000 because you felt horribly.
And I thought I saw, Miss Eddins, at some point,
that you were willing to take that $3,000 offer,
and then it seems like the communications fell off.
Can you tell me a little bit about what happened?
Um, I did reach out to her and told her,
"Do you want to solve this in court or outside of court?"
And I said, "I’m waiting to hear from you."
And that’s when she said,
"I was instructed not to have contact with you anymore."
[Tanya] I saw that message.
And what you’ve also said
was that you just wanted to make sure
that you weren’t giving money or making concessions
that could somehow turn around and be used against you.
Were you still willing, at that point, to settle?
Um, yes. So after she had said something about going to court,
I didn’t want her to take the $3,000
and then file for a lawsuit after she took it.
[Tanya] Understandable.
I’m gonna pass the case to Judge DiMango.
So sorry for your loss, and I hope you’re doing better.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
When did you get Bella?
June 7th.
So June 7th. And this was July 1.
Yup. I got her from the Humane Society.
Had Bella ever shown aggression
since you got her in the beginning of June?
[announcer] Becky Eddins is suing dog owner Amanda Brandt
for the cost of her Yorkie, as well as pain and suffering.
Amanda claims Becky never had her dog on a leash.
So when I’m reading this,
my first thought was,
when you bring a pet to an unfamiliar location,
you don’t know what’s lurking around.
You don’t know, what we would call in the law,
an "attractive nuisance."
What’s going to draw the pet someplace else?
And so before you exit a car,
what would be the most prudent thing to do, ma’am?
It’s not an unfamiliar place for Bailey.
We’re up there every major holiday,
and once a month for the whole weekend,
sometimes a week.
So ten times a year?
-Probably, yes. -[Patricia] Okay.
So even if you want to say ten,
I don’t know how good the dog’s memory is,
but he’s getting out of an area that he’s not seeing every day.
So he’s gonna want to run around.
He’s gonna want to explore.
And you don’t know yourself
what lurked behind somewhere.
There could have been a raccoon.
There could have been a bird.
There could have been anything.
So, what would be--
And you didn’t answer my question on purpose, I know,
what would have been the most prudent thing to do
before you took Bailey out of the car?
Probably to have a leash on her.
[Patricia] I’m sorry, probably or for sure?
-For sure. -And as I understand the facts,
Bailey shot down the driveway.
Correct? And you were up at the car doing what, ma’am?
We were at the tent,
putting the tent up for the weekend.
So immediately you did notice that he had taken off.
Oh, yeah. I went right after her.
You say she came to where you were.
-You were in the street. -Mm-hmm.
The street in front of your driveway or house?
Where were you?
Um, we had been walking down,
so we were closer to her driveway.
Okay, so when Bailey comes down,
technically is he still on his property?
I believe she was still on her property.
I mean, they met.
Bella never went on her property,
so, I mean, they got close enough.
So Bella was not on their property,
but the dogs were in the same vicinity.
You have a diagram to this effect?
Yes.
[Patricia] So we have the driveway,
the defendant’s property, and the street in between.
And Bailey shoots down.
You come down on the heels of Bailey, would you say?
-Yes. -And would you agree with that?
-Yes. -[Patricia] When she got there?
So now you grab Bailey in your arms.
-[Becky] Yup. -You are with your dog,
on a leash as it should be.
And you notice that Bella is kind of reacting,
so you kind of tug on the leash and pull her back.
-Mm-hmm. -You’re now holding Bailey.
Is Bailey barking?
-What is Bailey doing? -She’s trying to look,
because I’m trying to face her this way, away from the dog.
[Patricia] When I read the papers I’m thinking,
What would possess you to want to lean down and have the two--
Because I see that on the street all the time,
when the two dogs are jumping at each other,
the two parents want them to kind of like kiss.
And I’m like, Oh my God,
that’s gonna be a case for tribunal.
-[laughs] -You kind of say to yourself,
"Why would they do that?"
But from what I gathered from what you were saying,
you were not bringing Bailey down to greet Bella.
You were bringing Bailey down to show Bella the danger.
[Becky] I think I just went like this.
I didn’t go, like, way down with her.
I just kind of went like...
[Patricia] Well, whatever it is,
the bottom line is, it was at that point
that we see the ultimate result we all know.
Judge Levy?
When did you get Bella?
Um, I had gotten her June 7th.
And so June 7th. And this was July 1.
-Yup. -And where did you get her from?
I got her from the Humane Society.
Okay. Was there anything that you received from them
to suggest that she was aggressive
or had acted in an aggressive way at any time?
No. In fact, I have in my evidence,
there was a no-bite history that I highlighted
-from her papers. -[Adam] I saw that.
Had Bella ever shown aggression since you got her
in the beginning of June?
Um, no.
[Adam] When you were at your home,
-had you just gotten there? -[Becky] Yes.
[Adam] Okay, so you were all in the car.
Did you have to take Bailey out of the car with you,
or did she jump down on her own?
I had to put her down. She’s too small.
[Adam] So I’m gonna say it.
The choice you made was to take her out of the car,
put her on the ground without a leash,
which gave her free roam.
We have a mini shih tzu who weighs about five pounds.
We also have two big-boy golden retrievers
who each weigh a hundred pounds.
When we take the little one outside to go pee or poop,
we are right on her.
Because there’s about anything flying in the sky,
a fox, a raccoon that’ll come up and snag her,
and we wouldn’t have a chance.
But you weren’t worried about that,
because you put her on the ground.
And she followed us to put the tent down.
-Okay. -As soon as she took off,
I ran too.
Can we put that back up, please?
So your plaintiff’s driveway there where the white car is?
-Correct? -[Becky] Yes.
[Adam] And so she’s running down there.
The defendant, where she is is marked on that diagram.
-Right? -Yes.
And at that point,
you grabbed Bailey,
but you didn’t walk away.
-Why not? -I backed up.
I took probably one or two steps backwards.
So how far away were you and Bailey
from the defendant and Bella
when you claimed to have backed up?
[Becky] Probably closer than what we are.
-That’s maybe six feet? -Yeah.
And is it your testimony that Bella was able to lunge
and grab Bailey out of your arms?
-Correct. -[Adam] Six feet?
-Yeah. -[Adam] Is it your testimony
that you never bent down so the dogs could meet each other?
-Correct. -[Adam] And would you agree
that your memory on July 1 was better than it is today,
some several months later?
I would say it stays the same. I don’t think it gets worse.
-It feels like yesterday. -So you don’t think--
That’s okay, because you know where I’m going with this.
Because you gave a statement to the police
on the day that this incident happened, didn’t you?
I believe so.
-You called the police. -Yes.
So there is a police report, is there not?
-[Becky] Mm-hmm. -And you called the police
-right after this incident. -Yes.
[Adam] What you said during the phone call, ma’am,
was that your neighbor bent over to allow the two dogs
to greet each other.
-Do you recall that? -Yes.
[Adam] And you let some slack on the leash
when her dog got close.
And that’s when your dog lunged, unfortunately,
biting Bailey, is that right?
-Yes. -And when you spoke
to the police 35 minutes later,
you were specifically asked if she bent over--
You bent over to allow the two dogs to meet.
You recall the police asking you that?
-No, I do not. -Do you have any reason
to believe, as you stand here today,
that they were lying in their police report?
No. I never said that.
I think that’s what she said. I never said that.
[Adam] Okay. And would you agree
that your memory of what transpired
between the two dogs,
between you and the defendant,
was fresher in your mind then than it is now,
some six months later?
Yes.
[Adam] You recall in the police report
them indicating that your dog could have been cited
for dog at large, dog without a leash.
Oh. Did not know that.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
Rejecting that $3,000 offer could have been very wrong,
because your dog was not attacked on your property.
Your dog was attacked in the street.
You’re shaking your head?
That would be in the police report, and it’s not.
[Adam] Having had dogs my entire life,
it’d be devastating if I saw what happened to my dog
happen to your dog.
I’d be absolutely devastated.
Can we agree that no amount of money
would have made you and your family feel whole
from what happened?
-Correct. -[Adam] No amount.
-No amount. -[Adam] But can we also agree
that but for you not having her on a leash
and allowing her to run down to the street,
and then you having her close,
and when the police asked you whether or not you bent over,
you didn’t say no.
You said you could not remember.
That’s what you said.
But a moment ago you said no, you didn’t do that.
But the police told you that they could have charged you
with dog at large,
but they didn’t because they felt badly.
It seems to me from reviewing all of the evidence,
and I read it very carefully,
that your position in this case,
rejecting that $3,000 offer could have been very wrong,
because your dog was not attacked on your property.
Your dog was attacked in the street.
You’re shaking your head?
That would be in the police report,
and it’s not in the police report.
Um, it was not--
I don’t believe it was on the street,
because my knees were all scratched up--
[Adam] So let me ask you a question.
What prevented you, if anything, from telling the police
and them memorializing in the police report,
that this attack occurred on your property
as opposed to 9 1/2 Avenue?
Because that’s what they wrote in their police report.
I think that’s what they told her,
-because they never came out. -No. You spoke to--
You spoke to them at 8:35 p.m.
You spoke to them on the phone.
They specifically asked you, and you didn’t say no,
that her dog was on your property.
What you said was
you could not remember.
I think that it might have been a little shortsighted
to reject a good faith offer of $3,000
under the circumstances
as it was memorialized in this police report.
And in your financial situation,
3,000 would have been a stretch.
-Mm-hmm. -What do you do for a living?
-I am a waitress. -[Adam] Waitress.
How long do you have to work to make $3,000?
A long time.
[Adam] I got nothing else.
We’re gonna retire to deliberate.
Thank you all.
[Byrd] Court now stands in recess.
Parties are excused.
There is really no good outcome here,
because such a horrible thing happened.
I think they both bear some responsibility.
I think the plaintiff bears the lion’s share of it,
because this initial incident would not have happened
if Bailey had been on a leash.
My big dog doesn’t get out of the car
until I have the leash on,
because I don’t know who or what he’s gonna run into.
So the plaintiff bears the lion’s share.
However, simply having your dog on a leash
doesn’t mean you can give the leash all the slack you like.
You have an obligation to keep the dog under control.
I would award the plaintiff a thousand dollars.
I think that the defendant should have done a better job
maintaining Bella.
Open for discussion.
Well, I think that the real crucial part for me is,
when she had Bailey in her arms,
there’s no way that two dog lovers
don’t think that their beautiful dogs
should be happy greeting other dogs
and having a play pal.
Especially that she never saw her dog there before, she said.
So I really think that she bent down
not to teach Bailey, "Look, there’s a danger,"
but to say everything was calm--
Because the dog wasn’t a danger at the time she bent down.
So I really think that she was having the dog greet.
And I think that the defendant
was very generous with the 3,000.
I think she rejected it.
And I am not really comfortable
giving the plaintiff any money at this time.
You know, that police report was super important.
It was provided to us by the defendant
as part of her package.
And this is the defendant who made the phone call first,
at 7:55 p.m.
"Neighbor bent over..."
That is the plaintiff.
"...bent over to allow the two dogs to greet each other.
Amanda let some slack out on the leash."
And when the dogs got close,
that’s when the defendant’s dog grabbed the plaintiff’s dog.
Thirty-five minutes later,
the police spoke with the plaintiff.
The plaintiff was asked if she bent over
to allow the two dogs to meet.
She says, yes.
And she said she could not remember.
I wasn’t gonna place the blame
squarely on the plaintiff’s shoulders out here now
with her daughter sitting right there.
It wasn’t gonna do any good or make much of a difference.
Nobody has a problem with the defendant
giving Bella more slack on the leash?
[Patricia] But don’t forget, she’s up in her arms.
And I want to say about this paragraph here,
what I was trying to say earlier,
is that if you have a dog in your arms,
you know right away
whether you’re bending to greet or you’re bending to show fear.
The mere fact that she answered the cop, "I don’t remember,"
she knew darn well what she was doing.
I’m onboard with all of this.
My question is, do either of you think
that the defendant bears any culpability?
[Patricia] I don’t. I don’t think so, Tanya.
I’m gonna stick with she should get a thousand dollars,
but she should have taken that $3,000,
because I do think she bears the lion’s share of the guilt.
I’m gonna stick with a grand.
I’m going to say dismiss.
I would tend to agree with Pat.
So I’ll dissent.
-Okay. Very good. -Very good.
Court is back in session.
Parties are reminded you’re still under oath.
Thank you, Byrd.
We have deliberated,
and our verdict in this case is not unanimous.
We are absolutely sad about what happened to your dog,
and we also believe that no amount of money
could compensate you for that loss.
But you are in this court seeking money,
and in order to determine what that award should be,
we have to make legal decisions about liability.
I would have awarded you a thousand dollars,
because I think that you bore the lion’s share
of responsibility for what happened.
But I think that you, Miss Brandt,
that because you gave Bella some slack on the leash,
that you should bear some responsibility
for what happened to Bailey.
So I would have ordered you
to pay the plaintiff a thousand dollars.
My colleagues do not agree, Miss Eddins.
They believe that you bear all of the responsibility
for what happened to Bailey,
because none of this would have happened
if she’d been on a leash.
So we do continue to send you our condolences,
but this court must dismiss your case.
Good luck to everyone.
[Byrd] This case is now concluded.
Parties are excused. You may step out.
I think they made a great decision.
It still hurts today like it was yesterday.
That’s all we do, is cry.
I can’t even be around any other bigger dogs now.
The stress of, you know,
her making me feel bad for everything,
bearing the responsibility.
Um, so that wasn’t very nice.
Uh, very disappointed,
because we do have to see her and her family at the cabin.
Always keep a dog on a leash,
especially at the cabin.
Which now, I don’t know if we’ll ever go back,
which we haven’t already.
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