You are somebody who deserves to be treated with kindness.
[announcer] Now on Tribunal Justice.
We was never in a committed relationship.
We were still sleeping together and everything,
like, on a regular basis.
You are not a priority in his life,
and you can't get that through your head.
Like, he's trying to embarrass me.
You need to make better relationship choices.
- Hold on, hold on. - Block his number and forget this.
Move on.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]
[announcer] Today's case was filed at Clayton, Missouri.
Your Honor, this is case number 2054 Strozier versus Hall.
All parties have been sworn in.
- [Judge DiMango] Thank you. - [Cassandra] You may be seated.
[Judge DiMango] Okay. Mr. Strozier, Ms. Hall,
you say you've been friends for 12 years.
You say you had, at one point,
been boyfriend and girlfriend for seven years.
- So there's a little bit of confusion... - Yeah.
[Judge DiMango] ... about use of terms here, I think.
You claim that her car needed brakes.
She asked you for money, promised she'd repay you.
She still owes you, according to your papers, $850.
But you claim that because of her attitude throughout this whole thing,
accusing you of your relationship problems with a new girlfriend, et cetera,
that you want double damages here because she did it maliciously.
- And so you're saying you want 1,600. - [Stacy] Yeah.
But you say is that because of the relationship you had,
you gave him money plenty of times,
that he lied to you about having a girlfriend,
and that while he was in jail,
you put out a lot of money towards his phone calls
- and necessities. - Uh-hmm.
So, you're just gonna reimburse yourself the money
- and you're not paying him anything back. - Yeah.
[Judge DiMango] So let me start with you, because you asked for 850,
then you say you're gonna double it and make 1,600.
So that means right off the bat that it's only 800,
because 1,700 would be twice the amount.
And then we have a text which I'd like to put up on the wall,
which says, "You broke our agreement over and over,
and you still owe me $700."
[Stacy] That was the wrong amount.
[Judge DiMango] There's three wrong amounts here. That's my point.
[Stacy] Well, can I clarify a few things?
- 'Cause we just said a lot... - We're gonna start.
- Okay. - [Judge DiMango] We're gonna start.
But right off the bat, I just wanna see that.
First off, you knew each other for 12 years, right?
Were you boyfriend-girlfriend during any of that time?
We had that type of relationship,
but we was never in a monogamous, committed relationship.
She had other people she dealt with.
I had other people I dealt with.
So she was kind of like my girl
but we was never in a committed relationship.
And during that time, those 12 years,
did you indeed spend four years incarcerated?
- I did. - And during those four years,
I'm gonna guess you weren't seeing other people.
- No, I was not. - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
He--well, you're saying while he was in jail,
he was still seeing other people?
He was still talking other people, yes, he was.
That's all me and her was doing was talking.
[Judge DiMango] Okay. When you came out two weeks later,
you were willing to help her get her brakes fixed
by lending her the money. Is that correct?
On the condition she pay me back her first paycheck.
[Judge DiMango] That's correct. That's what you say here.
And I don't think she disputes that, originally,
she was going to pay you back, correct or not?
- Um, originally. Yeah. - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
So, she gives you $50 back at some point, doesn't she?
- Uh-hmm. - [Judge DiMango] Okay.
That's why she doesn't owe you 850. She only owes you 800.
Now, you're down to $800.
And she tells you that she's gonna pay you out of her paycheck.
But the bottom line is she can't, because she's not working at some point.
- No, that's--no, that's incorrect. - [Judge DiMango] Is that correct?
- You did lose your job, correct? - [Candace] I did.
- [Stacy] Like, a month and a half later. - You lost your job when?
- No. I lost it literally two weeks later. - [Judge DiMango] You did?
- Uh-hmm. - Because I could see in there
that there's a letter from your employer...
- [Candace] Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm. - ... which says that you lost your job
- on, I think, the 6th of September. - Yeah. Uh-hmm.
And you were given a final paycheck on the 15th of September.
Uh-hmm. Yup.
[Judge DiMango] We have documents. So it's not just her word.
We actually have evidence in our file.
Well, two weeks was more enough time for her to give me back my...
[Judge DiMango] Nobody's saying that she didn't, but we're saying that...
And she start working full-time right after that.
And she told me and she was, like, "I'mma pay you this,
this on this day, and that day."
She never paid me nothing.
Yes, she did say that.
And we have evidence of that in the text messages
and the exchanges that you both had,
that she continued to wanna pay you, but did not.
And you kept asking her.
And I note that in some of the text messages,
- you were really very nice about it. - [Candace] Uh-hmm.
[Judge DiMango] You say, here,
"You can pay me 300, 200, if that's easier.
You looked me in the eyes and swore you would have the 800 back on payday.
You even told me you make 900 a week.
Now, don't get frustrated with me because I'm the one who helped you out."
But she claims that you did some things that made her not willing to pay you back.
What happened here? What was the problem?
The drama that happened later with his girlfriend
is why I was, like, "Well, I'mma take my time
because with rent, my child."
So I'm not gonna put to him as, like, the first, like, priority
when his girlfriend's harassing me,
- threatening to be beat me up. - [Stacy] Harassing.
- [Judge DiMango shushing] - [Judge Acker] Listen.
I apologize.
[Candace chuckles] And also, can I touch on the fact
that he said that I wasn't his girlfriend when he was in jail?
That's really what you wanna do here.
- You really wanna settle... - [Candace] I just...
... this boyfriend-girlfriend thing.
- But let me ask you this. - Okay.
[Judge DiMango] You hear what you just said to me?
"I wanna settle the fact that I wasn't his girlfriend while he was in jail."
- I mean, you're arguing... - [Candace] I'm not proud to say it.
- ... over a relationship with a guy... - Yeah.
... who's behind bars.
It's not a flex. No, it's not.
It's not what?
It's not a flex. Absolutely not.
- [Judge Acker] It's not a flex. - Nothing to brag about.
- [Judge DiMango] A flex? - Nothing to brag about.
- Her--yeah. Yeah. - A thing--yeah.
- Oh, okay. - Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
[Stacy] I'm trying to...
- Well, the thing is... - [Judge DiMango] Continue.
... I wanna expand on how much I've done for this man,
because for him to demand like the way he's demanding me,
the fact that I was going to visits, but I'm not his girlfriend.
I'm just on the phone.
That I'm riding with his mom, two-hour or three-hour ways to go visit him.
I'm gonna let her do this, 'cause she has to get it out.
[Candace] Uh, but putting money on his books,
taking my little paychecks, and being, like, "Okay.
I'mma put this on the phone, put this on his books."
[Judge DiMango] Can I say something to you?
Uh-hmm.
You were not a priority in his life...
- [Candace] That wasn't... - ... and you can't get that
through your head.
Well, I just think, like, if I look back on our history,
even when he got out,
like, he would still borrow money here and there.
And, like, I would be, like, "All right. Here you go."
- And then, like... - [Stacy] That's...
[Judge DiMango] So your defense is,
"He wasn't nice to me, and I'm not paying him back.
He didn't treat me in a way I think I should be treated in a relationship."
Because you're talking about using terms loosely
- when you borrowed money. - [Candace] Uh-hmm. Uh-hmm.
- Borrow money. We use that term loosely. - Uh-hmm.
[Judge DiMango] If you're using it loosely, what does it mean?
Just like when you can, I guess.
[Judge DiMango] But you're paying it back?
- [Candace] Sometimes. - Because there's a lot of words
that you use loosely.
You say loosely when he said, "I needed time to be"
--that was very funny, by the way, Mr. Strozier.
"I needed time to be alone."
You know what that really meant?
- Another woman. Uh-hmm. - [Judge DiMango] Yes!
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
He was mean.
He went out of his way
to try to hurt your feelings as much as he could.
So, why don't you describe that incident?
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Stacy Strozier is suing former friend Candace Hall
for a $1,600 loan she used to fix her car,
but failed to repay.
Candace claims Stacy humiliated her by dating other women,
and that they're even for all the money she's given him in the past.
You borrowed $850 to have brakes put on your vehicle
and you promised to repay him.
Now, as for you and the double damages,
I think if anybody wanted double damages
for being wronged in this, she would be the one.
Nah, that's a crazy way to work that...
[Judge DiMango] Why do you want double damages?
- What did she do? - Because she intentionally--
she could've paid me my money back.
She pretended like she couldn't pay me my money back.
She chose not to on purpose 'cause she was mad about another female.
That's the definition of malicious.
You mad at me.
So now, you're trying to say, "Forget your money."
But everybody in this courtroom is here
because somebody on the other side of the table
is not doing what they promised they would do,
whether they forgot, whether they can't stand the person again,
they're all doing it for that reason.
It does not warrant double damages.
And she mad, so she-- because she mad, she's saying,
"I'm not gonna pay your money."
That's the definition of malicious.
[Judge DiMango] It's the definition of a breach of contract.
That's all you need to do in here, is establish that.
Did you ever hear the expression a woman scorned?
- Well, you're looking... - [Candace] Uh-hmm.
... at a woman scorned,
and you should be looking at a better relationship.
Judge Levy?
[Judge Levy] So, Ms. Hall,
when you discussed with the plaintiff
- your need to borrow this money... - Uh-hmm.
[Judge Levy] ... so that you can put brakes on the car,
you remember him telling you that he would loan you the money
and that you would pay him back on payday?
Yeah.
[Judge Levy] 'Cause you were working at the time.
I was.
And when that payday came, you didn't pay him back.
[Candace] Exactly.
[Judge Levy] In the State of Missouri,
loan agreements have to be in writing.
Uh-hmm.
[Judge Levy] This wasn't in writing, right?
We didn't write it out ahead of time.
Right. And in Missouri,
they have to be in writing to avoid people saying,
"No, I said this, I said that.
I didn't say this, I didn't say that."
It has to be definitive.
There has to be a definitive payment plan.
And there was none, which would mean, Mr. Plaintiff, that you would lose.
The exception is where there is no issue, whatsoever,
as to the terms and conditions of the loan.
You just said there weren't. So I have nothing further.
[Judge Acker] Let's see if I can throw you a lifeline.
Okay.
- [Judge Acker] In your answer... - Uh-hmm.
... you suggest that there was an incident...
- [Candace] Uh-hmm. - ... that was really horrible to you,
- where he was himself malicious. - Uh-hmm.
You were alleging some type of harassment
- that would offset any obligation... - Uh-hmm.
[Judge Acker] ... that you have toward him.
- Am I right about that? - Right. Uh-hmm.
[Judge Acker] Describe that incident for me.
Um, we were talking about him wanting the money back.
Basically, I was, like, "Well, I'm only working part-time right now
because I lost my full-time job.
I was working two. So I was-- still had the part-time one.
I was behind on rent." Um...
[Judge Acker] Take your time.
And listen, I'm gonna just say something to you.
You are a stunning young woman.
I am sure you have great things ahead of you.
You should not be crying over some man who acts like this,
who you have to help out when he was in jail.
You deserve way more than this and you deserve way more
than being treated the way you were treated by somebody like that.
And, sir, I'm not casting aspersions because of your record.
People make mistakes.
I'm not judging you for that.
I'm judging you for how you treated her.
You don't need to make her feel like this.
So, pull yourself together,
because this is not simply an issue of you being scorned or rejected by him.
He was mean.
He went out of his way
to try to hurt your feelings as much as he could.
So, why don't you describe that incident?
Basically, we were talking on the phone
and, um, I was, like-- well, the way we were moving,
because he had been over my house, like, he had a key to my house.
He had been over there, like, on a regular basis.
We were still sleeping together and everything.
And he made it seem like I was delusional for thinking that we were, like,
about to get back together or something like that, like...
- After you're being intimate with him... - [Candace] Uh-hmm.
... but he's treating you as if you're nuts,
- because you're assuming... - Yeah.
- ... that why would you sleep... - He's like, "Why would you think that?"
You know, whatever, like, we're friends, well, but--
and I'm like, "You've been over here, like, almost every night."
You've taken me to work every morning since my car--
my brakes were messed up.
Like, why would you not think I was thinking that?
So he's like, "All right. Well, hold on."
He's like, clicks over
and then his girlfriend speaks
and he's like, "Tell her exactly what you just told me."
Like he's trying to embarrass me.
- Man, no. - [Candace] That is exactly what happened.
And also during the loan thing, he wouldn't bring back my key.
Every time I would ask him, like, my brother's coming to stay with me.
I told him, I was like, "I need that key back."
And this is after me and his girlfriend had got into it previously,
and I told him, I was like, "I want my key back.
Your girlfriend's in town, she's with you.
She already threatened me."
I was like, "I want my key back."
He would be like, "Oh, don't act like I'm gonna come over there.
Don't like she's gonna come over there. She's not gonna come over there."
Even though him and his girlfriend
got into previous altercations with each other.
- She even... - And he still had your key
- and he had access to your home. - [Candace] And he still--right.
And--yeah. So, and she always, like, just jumps to threatening me.
[Judge Acker] And if I understand you correctly,
your position wasn't so much,
- "I'm not gonna pay you back ever"... - [Candace] Uh-hmm.
... it was just, "You're no longer going to be...
- [Candace] Yes. - ... bill number one."
And, You Honor, like, I pay my car on time every year,
every time I had pay-- every time I had that car.
I had the car for five years, I paid my car on time.
I lost my job and I still owe on that car.
I was supposed to have that car paid off in November,
it’s January, I still owe on it.
[Judge Acker] I know, hold on. Just collect yourself.
I know you lost your job, but what you wanna do for a living?
I don't know, I wanna work in IT,
- which I'm trying to do right now. - [Judge Acker] Are you going to school?
- Are you going to school? - Um, the job that I'm at right now,
it's gonna pay after 90 days for me to go to school.
So I am so happy to hear that.
- Because here's what needs to happen. - [Candace] Uh-hmm.
You need to go to school,
you need to make better relationship choices,
you need to realize that you are somebody
who deserves to be treated with respect and with love,
and with kindness.
Pay him back the money if we decide that he's owed the money,
block his number and forget this.
Move on.
Uh-hmm.
These should be the last tears that you shed over somebody
who makes you feel like this.
[Candace] Uh-hmm.
[Judge Acker] Sir, I know I gave her a lot of space.
If you wanna respond to these specific allegations,
I'll give you that opportunity.
- Yeah. - [Judge Acker] But recognize
that we're really not here to pass judgment
on whether or not you were even a boyfriend.
We're here to get to the bottom of this case.
Her claim about what you did
is in my view material to an affirmative defense.
And with all that said, you may have at it, sir.
Yeah. First of all, I care a lot about this girl.
I wish her nothing but the best.
I have none but love and respect for this woman.
I'm not perfect, but I don't-- I'm not mean to her.
I treat her with kindness, uh,
and she kind of misrepresented a few things.
But as far as her thinking we was in a relationship,
she had multiple other dudes she deal with and she come to me, uh...
[Judge Acker] I don't wanna hear about that.
Did you put some other woman on the line?
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
What you're seeking by doubling your award,
you're seeking punitive damages.
And you do get punitive damages when people have acted maliciously.
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Stacy Strozier is suing Candace Hall
for $1,600 he loaned her to fix her car,
but never repaid.
Candace claims she gave Stacy money
before and while he was in jail,
so they're even.
Did you call her and put some other woman on the line?
[Stacy] No, that's not--that's not a fact.
I just gotta clear that up, 'cause I don't want this to be, like,
"Oh, I'm a bad boyfriend."
And you supposed to owe me this money back and I'm your boyfriend,
I'm making you owe me this money back, it's nothing like that.
[Judge Acker] I'm gonna be really clear.
I don't know anything about you or the relationship.
I think that she's entitled to be treated in a certain way.
And we're here because you did a kind thing.
You loaned her the money for this.
I think the relationship very likely was messy,
but again she was referring to a very specific event
that she was pleading as an offset.
You deny that event
and I don't think I have to dig much deeper.
I'll let you have the last word. Please be brief.
My colleagues may have other questions.
So, I never called her and put a female on the phone.
So, that's a fact in dispute.
I'm just gonna stop you right there.
If it's material to our determination, we'll discuss it in deliberation.
But I don't think that I need to go any further down that road.
I will point out to you, sir, that in the case like yours,
for breach of contract,
what you're seeking by doubling your award,
you're seeking punitive damages.
And you're right, because you keep referring to malicious conduct
and you do get punitive damages when people have acted maliciously.
But you do not get them in a breach of contract case.
- Right. - [Judge Acker] So if you win,
I'm pretty sure you're not gonna get double damages.
But thank you for articulating your defense.
I don't have anything further.
Then at this point, we're going to retire to deliberate.
- Thank you both. - [Stacy] Hold on, hold on.
I ain't get to say nothing.
[Judge DiMango] Maybe you don't have to.
Okay. Cool.
Court is in recess.
Parties may step out.
[dramatic musical sting]
Smart ladies, stupid choices.
Um, it's pretty clear that in a way,
I think she just needed to vent and get out,
you know, her hurt and her pain, what happened here.
Part of it was to be spiteful and not pay him back,
but nothing to rise to a level
where he would be entitled to double damages.
She made a deal with him.
She made a contract with him verbally,
she admits it in the courtroom,
she made a $50 payment towards that
and I credit the fact that it was $800 that she owed and not the 700.
I do note that he can't multiply 850 times two, however.
- [laughs] - But, nevertheless, we'll let that go.
And she owes it.
I feel terrible for her.
I too am going to just kind of say something to her,
I mean, you're hoping that it goes in one year and stays inside,
but I don't know about that.
You know, it's funny as I prepared the case yesterday,
I really thought that she was going to testify to my question
about when the payment was supposed to be made
that when I had it.
- Uh-hmm. - And that's all she had to say.
You know, when I had it, it would've been a couple here, a couple there
and then the Missouri law kicks in and he loses.
I was really expecting him to lose.
But when she testified truthfully,
and she really didn't have much of an option,
'cause you brought it up, I didn't see that text,
where he said, "You said you're gonna pay me on the next payday."
- So she had no wiggle room. - Uh-hmm.
So she admits payday, so you have the amount,
you have the payback period, you--you're done.
And if she were really smart,
- should've paid back the money. - Yeah.
Should've paid back the money, she would've...
But this has nothing to do with smart. This has to do with broken heart.
[Judge Levy] I get that.
I know that the heart makes the mind do things that it's not supposed to.
You know, but when she's crying inside, yeah, you know, I feel bad for her,
but you know what, it's self-imposed, she's a grown woman.
He's like, "I loaned her money.
There was no question about it,
and all she had to do was pay me back and we wouldn't be here.
We're only here because of her."
And there's some legitimacy to that.
I think that he gets back his $800.
In fairness to him, we're only here because he loaned her the money
- when she needed it in the first place... - Right.
... so he can't be 100% all bad.
I also thought it was interesting,
you know, obviously we all know that as a matter of law,
you don't get punitives for breach of contract.
But his analysis was kind of spot-on,
like she did kind of maliciously say,
"Well, I'm not gonna pay you back anymore because I'm mad."
So, his analysis was dead-on.
I think he--I think he said, "I know".
- He knows the law. - Law.
- Yeah. Of course he does. - He knows the law.
- He's been in jail for so many years. - That's [indistinct].
What do you think he's doing in there?
- He just didn't think that we're the law. - [laughter]
Well, that's why he figured he ended up in jail.
Stupid judges and lawyers,
but he seems to know better, so, yes.
We're unanimous?
- Yeah. - Yeah.
[dramatic musical sting]
Court is back in session.
All parties are reminded that you're still under oath.
- Thank you, Cassandra. - Uh-hmm.
This was a very simple breach of contract action.
You lent her money
and it was clear from the testimony and the paperwork
that you agreed that you were gonna pay him back on your next paycheck
and that you didn't.
You only gave him $50.
You danced around a punitive damage issue here,
which is, as you already know,
not something warranted under breach of contract
and you danced around the defense of not wanting to pay back
because of how he treated you.
And the bottom line here is what this really is about in my mind
is about two people who have a long-term relationship
squaring off in a courtroom to both resolve their legal issue
and also to express their emotional issue as well.
You saw in your relationship with him what you wanted to see in him.
And he did a nice gesture.
I mean, there's no doubt here that him giving you the money.
But what you saw in these gestures
was more than somebody--
I don't mean this really in a bad way,
but somebody in his position was capable of giving you.
This is why this was hard for you to pay him back,
'cause once this is resolved, you've gotta both go on your own way.
Be smart, make better choices. Stay out of jail.
Got it?
So the verdict is in your favor.
- It's unanimous, $800. - [gavel bangs]
[Cassandra] This case has concluded.
Parties are excused.
[theme music plays]
I loved him at the time, so that's how I act when I'm in love, so.
We was never in no committed relationship.
He claims that we weren't heading anywhere,
but why are you lying about being in a relationship and so, yeah.
Well, I mean, look at me, why wouldn't she wanna--
you know what I'm saying?
To be with somebody like me.
It was partly, like, how he treated me,
but I didn't have the money, so.
No more loans, man. You feel me?
I'm just happy it's over. I never have to see him again.
[announcer] Did someone break an agreement?
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["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]