Your car was trashed by her.
- He knew I was driving his car. - No.
You were driving like a moron.
You were convicted of driving without a license,
driving with a revoked license, and a suspended registration.
There were two people that you injured in a school zone.
I don't like what he's saying.
[Judge Levy] You can't put your head in the sand, ma'am.
Give me a break.
[announcer] Now, on Tribunal Justice.
["Ride of the Valkyries" plays]
[announcer] Today's case was filed in Lancaster, California.
[Cassandra] Your Honor, this is case number 2035A, Carter versus Smith.
Also, case number 2035B, Lee versus Lowe.
Thank you very much, Cassandra.
You're welcome.
- You may be seated. - [Judge Levy] All right.
As Cassandra just indicated, this is an A and a B case.
The A case is Carter versus Smith.
That's you, ma'am,
- the plaintiff, Ms. Carter. - Yes.
[Judge Levy] And the defendant is Ms. Smith.
- Yes. - [Judge Levy] And we have on the B case,
we have Mr. Lee as the plaintiff
and we have Ms. Lowe as the defendant.
Ms. Carter, standing to your right
- is your son? - Correct.
[Judge Levy] So, basically, you're both suing the defendants
for a total of $20,000.
Your son wants $10,000 from Darnise Lowe
and you're asking her mom,
Darnise Smith, for another $10,000.
Now let me explain why.
The two of you rented your car.
It was a 2022 Tesla Model 3 to Ms. Smith.
And you did that through a mobile app.
And Ms. Smith, you allowed your daughter to drive the car
and your daughter was involved in an accident
- while she was driving the car. - Yes.
And your daughter is Ms. Lowe who's standing to your left.
- Yes. - [Judge Levy] According to the plaintiff,
Ms. Carter, you're claiming that the defendant, Ms. Smith,
violated the terms of the mobile rental app
by allowing her daughter to drive the car
without first adding her daughter on the mobile app
- as an additional driver. - Correct.
[Judge Levy] And you're suing Ms. Carter for $5,000
for breach of contract and $5,000 for towing fees
and lost rental income based upon her accident.
- Is that correct? - Yes.
[Judge Levy] Okay. Ms. Smith, you claim that the plaintiff,
Ms. Carter's son, was aware
that your daughter, Ms. Lowe, was driving the car?
- Yes. - [Judge Levy] And you further allege
that he was supposed to add your daughter
- as an additional driver. - Yes.
[Judge Levy] And as a result of his failure,
the mobile app company would not cover the damage
- for your daughter's accident. - [Darnise Smith] Yes.
[Judge Levy] So you don't owe them anything?
- Yes. - [Judge Levy] Great.
On the B case, Mr. Lee, you are suing Ms. Lowe
for causing damages to the car that she was driving
in a negligent manner,
- and you're suing for $10,000. - Correct.
[Judge Levy] Ms. Lowe, according to your answer,
the reason that the mobile app did not cover you…
- [Darnise Lowe] Uh-hmm. - … was because he failed to include you
as an additional driver on their platform,
- and as a result, you owe them nothing. - Yes.
[Judge Levy] Got it. Ms. Carter,
how long have you been renting cars on this mobile app?
We had just started previously with another vehicle
and then decided to start renting the Tesla out.
- [Judge Levy] And for how long? - Three months.
[Judge Levy] Three months?
Do we have a picture of the 2022 Model 3?
- Yes. - [Judge Levy] That's the vehicle
that you own that was rented to Ms. Smith?
[Jaquay] Yes.
Could you explain to me how this mobile app platform works?
So I'm gonna let my son let you know how it works
'cause I have him helping me
- work everything. - [Judge Levy] Sure. Go ahead, Mr. Lee.
So it's a--we are independent contractors
and independently rent our vehicles to the platform
for use to other drivers out there.
[Judge Levy] And Ms. Smith was a guest
because she applied on the mobile app
to make her the primary driver of this vehicle
- during the contract time. - Correct.
Now, insurance plays a big part in all of this.
That's the reason why y'all are here
is because insurance wasn't covering the damages
that Ms. Lowe caused by crashing this car.
- Correct. - [Judge Levy] Okay.
And the defendant applied for minimum coverage
and they also informed us that she was at fault.
So they don't cover at-fault accidents as well.
Tell me how you came to rent the vehicle to Mrs. Smith.
So on September 26th, I was contacted by Darnise Smith
on the mobile app to rent my vehicle.
The 27th was the start date.
And she informed me that she doesn't really know how to work the app,
that she needed me to contact her daughter, Darnise Lowe.
[Judge Levy] Okay. And how did she do that?
- Is she talking to you? - [William] Over the phone.
- Over the phone? - And after that,
I--they sent me an address to pick her up at,
'cause we provide additional service that's called an add-on,
on our--on our listing.
And we went to go pick them up and we brought them to the vehicle.
[Judge Levy] So you picked up Ms. Smith
- and her daughter, Ms. Lowe? - No.
- Her granddaughter. - [Judge Levy] Oh, her granddaughter?
It's a six-year-old child.
Okay. Thank you. So you picked up Ms. Smith
- and her granddaughter at their home? - [William] Yes.
And you brought them to where the vehicle was located.
- [William] Correct. - And what did you do?
I went ahead and scanned their ID,
- physically. - [Judge Levy] Driver's license?
Yes. Their driver's license.
And I scanned it on to the […] app
and it takes about five minute-- a five to 10-minute process
for them to go and verify the identification.
After that, I went ahead and showed her the agreement policy as well
as provided her with a copy of the insurance card.
And once that came back, she was free to go.
Now, does that sound about right as far as you contacting the app?
You put your information in,
including your driver's license information.
Um, I told William that my mother didn't know how to use the app.
[Darnise Smith] And he did it 'cause I didn't know how to do the paperwork
- and stuff, so--he did it. - [Judge Levy] That's okay.
So you, ma'am,
someone who doesn't know how to use an app,
decided that you want a Tesla
fully automated drivable vehicle, right?
Uh, yeah.
I guess I just wanted a decent car that weekend for us to drive the weekend.
[Judge Levy] Well, you had to pick it out.
And correct me if I'm wrong, when someone like you,
Ms. Smith, you go on the app and you get to pick any type of car you want
and then you will then say to the app, "Well, this is the car I want,
this is the time that I want it," the app notifies the host.
The host will then say if they feel comfortable
with the person, the guest operate the motor vehicle.
- No, that's not how it go. - You're shaking your head no.
No, that's not how it go. You find the car that you want
and then it tells you the rate, like per day.
Then you pay for it. And then it tells them, like the host…
So why didn't you just do it?
- Because… - [Judge Levy] Hold on. Don't answer that.
… it's--my mom has the app on her phone.
You need a major debit or credit card to book the cars.
- [Judge Levy] And you don't have one? - No.
- You don't have a credit card? - [Darnise Lowe] Uh-uh.
- You don't have a debit card? - Uh-uh.
And you said that the reason that you selected that car,
- the fully automated operating vehicle… - We didn't even say that.
[Judge Levy] … was just because you wanted to give it a shot.
It never stated fully auto vehicle.
- It didn't. - It didn't state that.
- Okay. - He told us
about that after we rented the car.
- [Judge Levy] Okay. - He told me that you can do self--
he taught me everything. He--
- we pulled up on each other… - [Judge Levy] Is that--yeah.
… and he taught me everything in-person how to drive his car.
- [Judge Levy] Is that… - He knew I was driving his car.
The issue isn't whether or not you were driving the car.
The issue is whether or not your mom violated the rules
by not having you listed as an additional driver.
- Okay. But why he didn't inform me? - We didn't know that.
[Judge Levy] The reason he didn't inform you is
because you have all that information on the app.
So what I'm gonna do now is I'm gonna pass it over to Judge Acker
and then I'm sure that we're gonna have additional comments.
- Hold on one second. - [Judge Acker] Mr. Lee,
they mentioned you adding the ID. Can you explain?
- Because as I understand it… - [William] So--yes.
- … you get an ID or you scan it in… - Uh-hmm.
- So the way that this works… - [Judge Acker] How does this work?
… is 24 hours before you even sign up for the app,
you send a copy of your ID to […],
and they go ahead--and it will take 24 hours for them to process it,
checking your background and everything and things like that.
They will go ahead and approve or deny you as an--as a driver.
Once the actual primary driver gets there, gets to the vehicle,
there's a policy that I have to follow
where you have to scan the ID to confirm it's the person.
I had to take a picture of her to send it to the app
and I had to wait for their approval team to send it back to confirm their identity
before--'cause they have to start the rental.
I cannot physically start the rental.
But even if you'd been an additional driver,
and you, Mr. Lee, correct me if I'm wrong,
your insurance still would not have covered it because she was at fault.
- Did I understand that correctly? - Correct,
because she opted for the state minimum liability insurance.
So it doesn't matter if you were listed as an additional driver or not.
You were at fault.
- I know I was at fault. - Okay.
We talked about that.
He came to my house and told me.
Before he even pulled up the video, we spoke about this.
They said like three different prices, right?
So that's why we came here because I didn't understand.
At first, it was 71--70 something…
Seventy-nine thousand,
- fifty-one thousand. - And then 51,000.
- [Darnise Smith] And now 10,000. - Ten thousand.
- So there's three different prices. - Yeah, I saw that,
because the other driver is suing your insurance company,
- correct? - Correct.
[Judge Acker] Because according to these ladies,
they were ready and willing to pay and you said,
"No, let's just hash it out in court."
So that's not what happened at all.
I've tried to make several attempts to make arranged payment with them.
They both stated to me--here's one text message that she says, "I'm in Mexico."
And there's another one that says she has to go to San Diego.
When I actually went to the mother's house,
um, before even having them served with papers,
she said she was gonna come to California on the same day
- and that did not… - [Judge Acker] So the two of you,
- you were trying to work it out. - Yes.
- [Judge Acker] She was traveling a lot. - Correct.
[Judge Acker] So when you found out about the accident,
you're communicating with one or both of them.
- [William] Uh-hmm. - And you say,
"Bring your laptop so we can watch it."
- So that… - [Judge Acker] Now, is this the video
- of the accident… - Yes.
- … that you're gonna review with them? - So we had to get the--yeah.
We had to physically get the video with the USB on it.
So on--in the car there's a actual internal USB
and we wanted to get the vehicle--I mean, to the vehicle to get the USB.
There's another text message
that follows this exchange where you say,
"I'm putting on here that it's not your fault."
How am I to understand this exchange?
So on […] I have to file a insurance report.
So inputted all the information that she told me over the phone
and I told her to go back on there and put all the same information.
I told her--I told her--like everything she told me.
So I was using the same words that she stated to me
where she stated that she was not at fault.
I informed her that I would be using the same context
to try to help her to see--'cause she was crying on the phone.
She said she was all cut up.
She said that there were family relatives
in the vehicle with her that were badly injured.
So she informed me that somebody ran the stop sign and hit her in the front.
- "We were in the vehicle and…" - [Judge Acker] Yeah. She said
that she couldn't make it to celebrate her baby's birthday.
- [William] Yeah. - She said her…
- [Judge Acker] All right. Let's see… - … baby's birthday was the next day.
[Judge Acker] Let's see the video of the accident.
- That's you? - [Darnise Lowe] I'm this way, yeah.
And then the next car--
see, we both went through the stop sign.
Please note there is a stop sign on the left side.
- Yeah, there's… - Both are right there.
And I would like to say a few things.
- For one… - Wait, wait, wait.
Can we just play it one more time?
You were blowing through that intersection.
[Darnise Lowe] We both blew through it.
And they got a stop sign over there. So both of y'all…
- But I didn't see--but… - [Darnise Smith] I was going--
I was going a little quicker than the other car.
Yeah, you were going a little quicker than the other car.
- [Darnise Lowe] Uh-hmm. - [Judge Acker] Irrespective
of whether or not you were an additional driver,
you still would have been liable for this accident.
So I need you to help me understand why you are here.
Tell me where he refused your offer to make this right.
It's--okay. At first, they told me I was coming to court
because I stole the vehicle from my mom is what William stated.
And that's why I'm here 'cause he--
- she did not steal that car. - That's what, at first,
the whole court case was about.
But then when we got in here this morning, it said something else.
It said that I totaled the vehicle.
I know I totaled the vehicle.
So help me understand that, Mr. Lee.
Initially, did you accuse her of stealing a car that you knew she was driving?
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
The vehicle that you rented has a certain speed cap on it, doesn't it?
- Correct. - He raised it for me.
[Judge DiMango] Why did he raise it?
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Jaquay Carter and her son, William Lee, are suing Darnise Smith
and her daughter, Darnise Lowe, for $10,000 apiece.
Jaquay and William claim that Darnise rented their Tesla
that allowed her daughter to drive and wreck it.
Darnise claims that Jaquay and her son knew her daughter was driving
and it was their fault for not informing the mobile car app
of her daughter's involvement.
Initially, did you accuse her of stealing a car that you knew she was driving?
Correct. So her mother informed me
that she didn't know where the vehicle was
or anything at the time, and that was over the phone.
And there's a few other lies that I would like to point out in her state--
in all--in both their statements, if you don't mind.
- So… - Have at it.
… the first lie that they said, they said that they didn't know
that the vehicle was fully autonomous.
On the advertisement, it says in the description,
- "Get a full autonomous vehicle." - Got it.
[William] Another thing that I would like to point out, in the agreement
that she--that the mother signed and she read, clearly, it says,
"Guests are responsible for a $5,000 charge
for the recovery of the vehicle if,"--
and it says, "However it's not the same as the out-of-state vehicle charge.
Please note, these are two separate charges."
For another thing, it says, for 1.6 for additional drivers,
- "Hosts are not responsible…" - Sir, I think we got it.
- We got it. [William] - "Host are not able to…"
You know what? Mr. Lee.
Mr. Lee, what do you do for a living?
So I'm an entrepreneur.
I actually work in a legal department in Lancaster.
I am also an administration of criminal justice student.
- Yeah, I was gonna recommend… - [William] Yeah.
- … law school. - [laughter]
[Judge Acker] Judge DiMango.
I think I wanna just kind of do a big picture thing here.
They think that you guys engaged in a scam.
That you, Ms. Smith,
let him think basically that you were driving the car,
only put your name down on that
because you really never could have done it.
You didn't have a credit card,
you probably have unpaid summonses,
and you probably would've had insurance that it would've been much higher
because you are a single young woman,
whereas your mom would get a better deal.
So if she would have been listing her daughter as a secondary driver,
what would you have had to do to clear her?
I couldn't have done anything.
- They would have to wait 24 hours. - [Judge DiMango] Well, what would
they would've done to clear her?
So they have to wait 24 hours for approval, if she has any,
I mean, outstanding tickets, citations, things of that nature.
[Judge DiMango] Warrants, anything like that?
So you had every reason, the two of you,
to not wanna provide them
- with accurate information. - That's not true.
[Judge DiMango] And you are gonna say no.
So I wanna hear why you say no.
If I would have known, I would have had my name on there.
[Judge DiMango] No, no. I'm gonna tell you something.
- I think that's something… - [Judge DiMango] I can't--listen,
there's nobody more ignorant about all of this stuff than me.
I was driving a car and I said to a friend of mine
who was sitting next to me,
"Jeez, I love this car. I wish it,"--
I drove it for three years. "I wish it had heated seats."
And he goes, "It does have heated seats. There's the button."
And there it was.
So you're talking to somebody who really is probably
more limited than the two of you.
But I do know what I don't know,
and I do know what they're looking for on documents.
And I think you're smart enough to know
exactly why they wanna know who's driving,
exactly what the issues are.
And I don't really wanna hear anything else
'cause I don't believe you.
By the way, can we put up the accident?
Because what's interesting about the accident
is you told him first, "Oh, that wasn't my fault, that accident."
I just want you to see the impact.
I want you to see what happened to that vehicle.
[Darnise Lowe] I know. I was there.
[Judge DiMango] Yeah, I know you were there
and you're lucky that you can be here.
Okay, you're hitting that car.
- You're hitting them in the back. - [Darnise Lowe] Yeah.
He went about two feet
- to your 300 feet. - [Darnise Lowe] I--well, I swerved
so I wouldn't hit him like straight on 'cause we both…
[Judge DiMango] Are you ever gonna stop just talking about stuff
that tries to absolve you of responsibility?
- You were going in the 50s. - I know.
[Judge DiMango] You hit the car in the back.
They went like two miles an hour.
And he was correct when he said you were talking to him about everybody.
You're like, "Oh, my kids are so traumatized.
They're so traumatized." Yeah, they're traumatized
'cause you were driving like a moron.
- [chuckles] - [Judge DiMango] Now, the vehicle
that you rented has a certain speed cap on it, doesn't it?
- Correct. - [Darnise Smith] He raised it.
Why did you raise it?
Because we were driving and I couldn't catch up to him
'cause he was in his other Tesla.
And we was driving. He said that he can raise the speed.
What is it you wanna say now, 'cause you increased her speed?
For what reason?
[William] So, on the policy, I'm not--I'm not supposed
to have a speed limit on there,
but I can--but I'm able to raise it, yes.
She wanted to still go higher and you thought, "What a good idea"?
I didn't think before that, but it was not…
[Judge DiMango] You know, let me tell you something.
You think every word that's coming out of our mouths--
I see what you do there.
You're not somebody who doesn't think.
You just wanna make the sale on these things sometimes.
You know, there's a certain responsibility that you have
in a business as well
where it's just not about making money.
So, you know she's a driver.
Are you familiar with the form
that they fill out to send to the company?
- Am I familiar with it? Correct. - [Judge DiMango] I mean, you know
what they filled out on there, correct?
I don't know what they fill out on there, no.
It doesn't allow me to see it. You can even just look on the website.
I have to submit a request, which takes seven to 10 business days,
which I did do that after the accident
to figure out that--to come to find out
that Darnise Lowe was not an approved driver.
So, as--me, as an independent contractor,
me independently renting my vehicle to the platform,
I'm not able to access-- accessible to those…
Access the information that the platform has.
- Correct. - [Judge DiMango] You pay them a fee
basically to have them vet who they're getting.
- Correct. - And so now you know Lowe's driving.
Can you take the car back from her and say you're not allowed
- to drive or you don't know that? - No.
Because on the policy, it clearly states that at no time
am I able to take the vehicle back on my terms
- for renting the vehicle out. - So there's a breakdown then
between you and the company, because anybody then could rent
the vehicle and they could just let anybody else drive the car.
And the penalty there is if there's an accident,
there is no coverage because they're not a named driver.
Then you're up, you know, the proverbial creek.
That's why it has, in the agreement, that--
there's a $10,000 out-of-pocket expense
for the damage.
And here you are.
- Yes. - [Judge DiMango] Judge Levy.
So, Ms. Lowe, you would agree that the text messages
that you sent immediately after the accident
were that the other car drove through the intersection.
- You said, "Blew through the stop sign." - Yes.
But what you didn't tell him was that the police,
when they arrived on scene with the ambulance,
'cause there were two people in the other vehicle
that you injured in a school zone.
You never told him that the police only cited you
for blowing through the stop sign
and they specifically wrote
that the other vehicle stopped.
- Isn't that what happened? - Yeah. That is correct.
[Judge Levy] Yeah. That's exactly what happened.
And on Teslas, USBs give a whole host of information.
Why weren't your hands on the wheel
two seconds before you went into that intersection?
- They were. - [Judge Levy] No, they weren't.
That's the reason why you wanted the auto driver.
[Darnise Lowe] I never used the auto drive when I drove that car.
[Judge Levy] Of course, you did. Oh, time out.
Here is what Tesla's report showed.
You did not have your hands on the wheel five seconds before the accident.
You only put your hands on the wheel one second before the accident.
You did not manually apply the brakes
five seconds before the accident.
You only applied the brakes one second before the accident.
You were not seatbelted at the time of the accident, right?
No, I had my seatbelt on.
- No, you didn't. - Yes.
You were cited for that in the police accident reconstruction report.
- I thought… - [Judge Levy] Let's do this.
- They said to come back… - [Judge Levy] You know--you know,
everyone's dancing around it, Ms. Lowe.
Is it your position
that your failure to include yourself
on the mobile app had nothing to do
with your driving record
or a criminal record
that would have precluded the mobile app
from allowing you to drive?
- No. - [Judge Levy] No what?
No, it wouldn't haven't.
[Judge Levy] Did you have any prior moving violations
between, say, 2018 and 2022?
Uh, I think so. Speeding.
Speeding? How fast were you going?
I don't know. I think 90.
[Judge Levy] No. How about over a hundred?
That's the reason you had your mother file for the app
and put her information on it,
because you, ma'am, in 2012,
you were sentenced to six months' jail for accessory
after the fact and gun charges, right?
- That was you. - Possession of a--of a gun.
Possession of a--of a weapon.
You went to jail hiding and concealing--a felon.
2015, petty theft.
In 2018, you were taken to court
because you rammed your car
into an ex-boyfriend's girlfriend's car.
In 2019, you were convicted of driving without a license,
driving with a revoked license,
and a suspended registration.
2020, you were convicted of simple battery.
2021, shoplifting.
2021, operating without registration,
operating without a valid driver's license,
operating with a suspended driver's license.
2022, you went over a hundred.
I mean, like give me a break.
And here you are, you think you're gonna come in here
and you're gonna BS us into believing that,
"Oh, it was just an absolute oversight
that I didn't apply on the app myself."
- Uh-hmm. - You're a bald-faced liar.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
And you, ma'am, knew it.
[announcer] Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
You gotta be careful 'cause there are scammers,
liars, cheaters just like them.
They wanna test your car out 'cause they don't care
if they crash it because they say, "Hey,
I'm never gonna pay for it anyway."
[dramatic musical sting]
[theme music plays]
[announcer] Jaquay Carter and her son, William Lee,
are suing Darnise Smith and her daughter, Darnise Lowe,
for $10,000 apiece.
Jaquay and William claim that Darnise rented their Tesla
then allowed her daughter to drive and wreck it.
Darnise claims that Jaquay and her son knew her daughter was driving
and it was their fault for not informing the mobile car app
of her daughter's involvement.
Here you are, you think you're gonna come in here
and you're gonna BS us into believing that,
"Oh, it was just an absolute oversight
that I didn't apply on the app myself."
- Uh-hmm. - You're a bald-faced liar.
You should be ashamed of yourself.
And you, ma'am, knew it.
- You knew it. - No, I did not, sir.
[Judge Levy] You knew. You didn't know anything about your daughter's history?
No. She grown. I don't look at her records.
You don't know anything about her history?
I know she went to jail and stuff.
About her driving records, I don't know about that, sir.
- [Judge Levy] Really? - Yes.
- She didn't live with you? - She lived with me but…
When was the last time she lived with you?
Hmmm…
six months ago before she moved to Vegas.
[Judge Levy] Right. So six months ago.
- So you know when she's going to court… - [Darnise Smith] But I don't know
- her driving records. - [Judge Levy] So you know
when she's going--ma'am, why don't you just give her your car?
- What you mean why I didn't… - I have my own car.
- [Judge Levy] Why didn't… - She have her own car,
but we wanted to rent a car.
- Yeah. - [Darnise Lowe] The Tesla…
[Darnise Smith] A Tesla [indistinct] to drive now.
There's the truth.
- I'm always renting cars. - [Judge Levy] There's the truth.
You gotta be careful 'cause there are scammers, liars,
cheaters just like them. They have cars.
They don't wanna drive their cars. They wanna test your car out
'cause they don't care
- if they crash it… - We can rent a car.
… because they say, "Hey, I'm gonna crash it,
I'm never gonna pay for it anyway."
I don't like what he's saying.
You can't put your head in the sand, ma'am…
- [Darnise Smith] I would have not… - … and think that you're not
gonna be held responsible.
You will be. I have nothing further.
[Judge Acker] Question for you. Why didn't you advise […]
and say, "I think we've got another driver
who's not mentioned on the app."
- Why didn't you put them on notice? - If you look in the report, I did submit
a form actually like three--
possibly three days after and before the accident…
[Judge Acker] So, when you submitted that form
and by the time those seven to 10 days had elapsed,
the car had already been in an accident?
Correct, when I submitted the form.
And I believe I gave it to you guys.
Uh, you didn't give that to us.
I can look for it if you'd like.
I'm gonna ask Byrd to bring that back with us so we can take a look.
- Okay. - [Judge Acker] I have nothing further.
Then we are going to retire to deliberate. Thank you all.
[Cassandra] All right. This case is now in recess.
The parties both may exit.
[dramatic musical sting]
The defendants are absolutely clueless.
Mom just puts her head in the sand
and her daughter is just a bald-faced liar.
She knew full well that she was never going to be authorized
by the mobile app to drive that car.
But here's the problem,
that the text messages made clear that Mr. Lee was aware
that Ms. Lowe was driving that car.
And as the owner of the vehicle through the mobile app,
you are notified when the primary driver requests
and gets approved for an additional driver.
So, he knew that she was driving
- and he knew… - And I said that to him.
And I said, "It's more important to you to make the money
than it is for you to actually have done the right thing here."
But I think regardless of how those papers were filled out,
this woman was completely responsible for this accident.
- Ten thousand dollars, I believe… - Denied no matter what.
I believe that on case B,
which is Lee's case against Lowe
for the damages to the vehicle, the $10,000,
he's made out his burden.
- No doubt it was her fault. - Yeah.
His mom, that's Mr. Lee's mom's,
breach of contract case against Ms. Smith,
however, I would not be willing to rule
in plaintiff's favor on that case
because they did know
that the mom let her daughter drive
and she was not an authorized driver,
and I would not rule in the mom's favor on that charge.
I'm gonna just throw in a little wrinkle
because he insists
that he advised on the app
that there was gonna be this other driver because he knew.
I'm not sure he did that,
because perhaps he too knew that there was a reason
why she wasn't naming herself as an additional driver.
I think it's an omission that troubles me a bit,
because if that document existed,
I feel confident we would have had it, and we don't have it.
So, I'm with you on dismissing mom's case against the defendants
but sustaining his case against the defendants.
On case A, I'm still a little bit on the fence here
because he has been pretty clear that he does not know
that she is not a secondary driver on that app--
- on that thing. - He does. He does.
And if you have to--tell me that because that's where
I'm saying he doesn't know that, and I took him as credible.
The way the app works is once the primary driver,
- defendant mom… - Uh-hmm.
- … is approved, only she can… - Add the other…
… add additional drivers.
When those additional drivers are added,
of course, the mobile app notifies the owner of the vehicle
that somebody else is driving your car.
Did I ask him that? 'Cause I'm just curious,
- and he said what to me? - He said--he said no.
- And that… - Okay. I'm gonna go with it.
- [Judge Levy] Yeah. - I'm gonna go with dismissal.
I can't believe that they would not tell him
that there's more than one driver on the vehicle,
because if he ran into them,
- he might create a big issue. - [Judge Levy] You have a--
you have a right to know as an owner who's driving your vehicles.
Yeah. Okay. I'm good on that.
That's what I really want. Thank you.
[dramatic musical sting]
Court is back in session.
All parties are reminded that you're still under oath.
- Thank you, Cassandra. - You're welcome.
[Judge Levy] Let's start with the B case. That is you, Mr. Lee, versus Ms. Lowe.
There is absolutely no doubt that this crash--
I'm not calling it an accident,
because when you go through an intersection
at almost 60 miles an hour in a school zone
without your hands on the steering wheel,
it's not an accident anymore.
And but for the grace of God,
she didn't kill somebody.
Having said that,
your car was trashed by her
and she's gonna pay you that $10,000
that you asked for in your complaint.
However, case A, that's your case, ma'am, against Ms. Smith.
That case is gonna be dismissed in part,
Mr. Lee, because of something that you did.
It's being dismissed because at the end of the day,
you knew that Ms. Lowe was driving.
You have the obligation on behalf of all of us
who drive and walk on the roads
to make sure that people like Ms. Lowe over here
don't get behind the wheel of your car.
You could've shut off your Tesla.
You could've notified the police.
There are consequences that come along with those decisions that you make.
So, case A, ma'am,
your case against Ms. Smith is being dismissed.
And on case B, your case, Mr. Lee, against Ms. Lowe
has been granted, and you receive a judgment
in your favor of $10,000.
Thank you all for coming.
[gavel bangs]
This case has been concluded.
All parties are excused.
[theme music plays]
She should have settled it with us when we asked her to.
Um, it's okay. I'll live with it.
Their lies eventually caught up to them.
We'll still rent cars. We always rent cars.
They had the audacity to do that.
- We're gonna do what's right. - Make sure that she's added
on the contract next time.
- Hopefully. - I'm happy to be alive.
I just thought it was just crazy.
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