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00:00You rented a property.
00:02Our kids were not safe there.
00:04Then you move, but you don't not pay rent.
00:06There's lots of damage in the apartment.
00:09Am I correct?
00:10Yes, but no.
00:11Not a but.
00:12Am I correct?
00:15It's getting more interesting as it goes along.
00:18This is Judy Justice.
00:37Gilbert Keele Jr. is suing his former tenants, Amber and Cynthia Spratley, for vandalism
00:45and lost revenue.
00:46Court come to order.
00:47All rise.
00:49Have a seat, please.
00:52Judge, case 4067, Keele v. Spratley.
00:56You're welcome.
00:57Mr. Keele, you rented a property to the defendants.
01:01That's correct, Your Honor.
01:02And they signed a lease from February of 2023?
01:06Correct.
01:07According to your complaint of February 2024.
01:11Yes, Your Honor.
01:12Now, sometime in September, you indicated that there were problems with the rent.
01:17That is correct.
01:18Was that the first month there were problems with the rent?
01:21Yes, Your Honor, that was.
01:22What was the monthly rent?
01:23$1,500 a month.
01:24Did they pay at all in September?
01:26They did not pay anything in September.
01:28Did they pay anything in October?
01:30No, they did not, Your Honor.
01:32Is there any reason you didn't pay rent in September or October?
01:36We let them know that we were moving out.
01:38I don't care whether you were moving out.
01:39Why didn't you pay rent?
01:40We didn't pay rent because we told them we were leaving because of the crime in the area.
01:44Well, he's not responsible for the crime in the area, but you were living there.
01:48But our kids were not safe there.
01:50If you're not safe there, then you move, but you don't not pay rent if you're living there.
01:56Well...
01:56Okay, so you evicted them?
01:58I evicted them, yes.
01:59Okay.
02:00Do you have the eviction papers?
02:01Yes, my witness here, Rakesha Betts, she's my property manager, actually, so...
02:05Could you stand up, please?
02:07Your last name is Betts?
02:09Betts, yes, ma'am.
02:10Ms. Betts, do you have the eviction notice?
02:12Yes, well, it's actually a notice to vacate because we have to give them a notice to vacate
02:17before an eviction is actually filed.
02:20Okay, may I see it, please.
02:26And may I interject?
02:27Just a second.
02:31Okay, so they had a notice to vacate on or before 11-4.
02:36Did you have a conversation with either of the two defendants?
02:40Yes, that's what I was gonna say.
02:42With who?
02:42I have a text message where I speak with both of them.
02:46You want to show me the text message exchange?
02:48Well, I have several text messages, so I don't even understand.
02:50I want to know, what about the move-out date?
02:52The move-out date was the...
02:53The move-out date says November 4th, but then was there an agreement to move out subsequent?
02:57To November 4th.
02:59So, because they didn't pay rent, we kept asking about rent.
03:02I have text messages that...
03:03No, I understand.
03:04Forget rent.
03:05I got that they didn't pay rent.
03:07Yes, ma'am.
03:07They acknowledged they didn't pay rent.
03:09They had no excuse for not paying rent.
03:11If they don't like the neighborhood, then they move, which they want to do.
03:14But while they're living there, they have to pay rent.
03:16Right.
03:17I've explained that to you.
03:19What?
03:20I have a lease where I had signed it in October of 23, where I had moved out the 6th
03:26of October.
03:26Was even not there on the 4th of October.
03:29I don't care whether you have a new lease someplace else.
03:33That's not relevant to me.
03:35If you have a lease here, you have to pay rent.
03:39Correct.
03:40You decide to move someplace else.
03:42That's great.
03:43Move there.
03:44But you have a lease here.
03:46I have children that were in foster care, and it was not safe for them.
03:51There was different occasions where things were broken and weren't being fixed properly.
03:57We had carbon dioxide issues.
03:59When was that?
04:00That's a yada, yada, yada, yada, yada, yada.
04:03You didn't like the neighborhood.
04:05You were going to move.
04:06This is not what the case is about.
04:08The case is about you moved out, and the plaintiff says there's lots of damage.
04:14And the damage that they say resulted in their not being able to re-rent the apartment.
04:19I'm not so sure about that.
04:21What date were you finally out?
04:23We were out by October 4th, like we said.
04:2610-4.
04:26No.
04:27That's not right.
04:28Just a second.
04:29Was your property in the house on October 1st?
04:33Yes.
04:34Was it there on October 15th?
04:37No, ma'am.
04:37None of our belongings were in the house.
04:39That's a lie.
04:40Okay.
04:41Ms. Betts, did you inspect the apartment?
04:43Yes, I did.
04:44On what date?
04:45October 27th, because I had a phone call with Amber.
04:49Who's Amber?
04:50Raise your hand.
04:50And she stated that they were out and moved on October 26th.
04:55May I see it?
04:56Which would you like to see?
04:57That text that they were out?
04:58That's right.
04:59That was a voice over the phone.
05:00I'll listen to it.
05:01I don't have that recorded.
05:03It was just a regular phone call.
05:04But that's how I knew to go to the property on October 27th, where I videoed, because she
05:10told me on October 26th that they were moved out.
05:13Now, show me the damage to the apartment.
05:16Would you like to see the pictures or video?
05:18Both.
05:19Here are the pictures.
05:22Video has already been...
05:29Okay.
05:30Well, this picture is showing a broken door.
05:32That's after...
05:34It's a sequence of events based on what happened.
05:39While I'm listening.
05:39So, October 26th is when I got the phone call that they were out of the place.
05:45Because prior to that, I had been texting and trying to figure out, okay, are you...
05:50Let's go.
05:50I heard that already.
05:51Let's go.
05:52I got the property to inspect, which is the video that you have.
05:56That's the day I went after the 26th to show the property.
06:02And this is how they left it as of October 27th.
06:22Clearly, that stuff is still there.
06:33Okay.
06:33You want to tell me about this that I believe?
06:36Yes, I do.
06:40Could it have been other people?
06:42Could it have been somebody else?
06:43It could have been anything.
06:45And if I had a house like that,
06:46do you think I could let it look like that?
06:48I have no idea.
06:49Having foster children.
06:50Somebody did, okay.
06:51Having killed...
06:53Now you have to prove to me
06:55that they left that damage.
07:06Gilbert Keele Jr. claims his former tenants,
07:10Amber and Cynthia Spradley,
07:12damaged his rental home
07:14after they were evicted.
07:16Go ahead.
07:17So when we first moved into the property...
07:20Now, I don't want to hear when we first moved in.
07:22I saw the video of the way the place was
07:25on the 27th of October.
07:28This premises looked like this after you left.
07:31Correct.
07:32I was gone the 4th of October.
07:36Working...
07:37You were gone?
07:38Yes.
07:38We were both gone October 4th.
07:40Did not go back to the house.
07:41All of our stuff was out of the house.
07:43She tries to sublease the apartment
07:46out from under us to our cousin.
07:49What?
07:50She's just...
07:52Tried to get us to write a...
07:54To sign an agreement for...
07:57How did she word it?
07:58Exactly.
07:59She worded it.
08:00We agreed to sign the agreement for her
08:04that my cousin agreed to pay the $1,300
08:06and she could stay there.
08:08$1,300 for what?
08:10For rent to stay there.
08:11What are you talking about?
08:13Exactly.
08:13I don't know what you're talking about.
08:15You mean at the beginning of the lease
08:16she said with the next...
08:17At the end of it.
08:17You mean after you moved out?
08:19Yes.
08:20Okay.
08:20Go ahead.
08:21My cousin was there helping my sister
08:23back and forth to work
08:24and getting kids to school.
08:26I was gone in another state
08:28helping my fiancé
08:30because he had just had open heart surgery.
08:31So she was staying with my sister
08:33to get my kids back and forth to school
08:36while I was out of town.
08:38So you're foster children.
08:39So somebody else was watching your foster children.
08:42They were in foster care at the time.
08:45They were adopted.
08:45They were adopted by whom?
08:47Me.
08:48It's getting more interesting as it goes along.
08:52I want you to explain that to me.
08:54They were adopted between the year.
08:56They were already adopted in that time frame.
08:59You mean between the time that you signed the lease
09:01and the time you moved out,
09:03an adoption proceeding was completed
09:05for your foster children?
09:07It was before that.
09:07So they're not your foster children.
09:10They're your children.
09:10They're adopted through foster care.
09:13How old were they when they came into your custody?
09:16Two in a month.
09:17Okay, fine.
09:19Go ahead.
09:19When I said foster children,
09:21the area is unsafe for the children
09:23to be there in that house
09:24or even around that neighborhood.
09:26There was a homeless colony
09:27lived right up the street.
09:29That's irrelevant to me.
09:30People broke into our house all the time,
09:32broke into cars all the time.
09:33So it could have been somebody else.
09:35It could have been anybody in that neighborhood.
09:37Just a second.
09:38Is what you're telling me,
09:40you don't know how that happened to the apartment?
09:43Yes.
09:43Is that what you're telling me?
09:45Could it have been other people?
09:47Could it have been somebody else?
09:49It could have been anything.
09:51The burden is on them
09:52to show that you left the property that way.
09:55If I had a house like that,
09:56do you think I could let it look like that?
09:58I have no idea.
10:00Having foster children?
10:00Somebody did, okay.
10:01Having kids.
10:02Shh.
10:04Now you have to prove to me
10:06that they left that damage.
10:08Okay, as I stated,
10:10October 27th,
10:11that's how the property looked when I went there.
10:13When you were there.
10:14Right.
10:14Whatever she's speaking of
10:16in reference to the cousin.
10:18I don't care about the cousin.
10:19I'm not, again, I don't...
10:21That's October 27th.
10:23I changed the locks.
10:25Everything was secure
10:26because I changed the locks.
10:27Just a second.
10:28So is what you're telling me, Ms. Betts,
10:30this is what you're complaining about
10:32on the 27th?
10:34The complaint is all the events
10:36leading up to everything being damaged
10:39and broken,
10:40it still stems from these tenants.
10:42So, Judge...
10:42Well, I don't know that.
10:43So, Judge...
10:44So far, I don't know that.
10:46Okay.
10:46So, on the 27th,
10:48this is how it looked.
10:49And then after they came back
10:50to try to get some of their stuff,
10:52that's when...
10:53Just a second.
10:53Go ahead.
10:54My question is,
10:56they said that they didn't do the damage
10:59inside on the 27th.
11:01My question to you is,
11:03was the door locked when you got there?
11:05Yes.
11:06So you had to open the door with a key...
11:09Yes, ma'am.
11:10...when you got there on the 27th,
11:12and this is what you found inside?
11:14Yes, ma'am.
11:14Then that's on them?
11:15Yes.
11:16Okay.
11:17Go ahead.
11:17Okay.
11:18I received a phone call
11:19after the locks were changed,
11:21done and over,
11:22on November 2nd,
11:24from Amber again.
11:25Okay.
11:26Asking,
11:27I need to get something
11:28out of the property
11:29I thought we had
11:30till November 4th.
11:32What do you mean?
11:32I said,
11:32if you remember,
11:33we had a conversation,
11:35and you told me on October 26th
11:37that you were moved out.
11:38She stated,
11:39oh, I must have misunderstood
11:40what you meant.
11:41And I said,
11:42okay,
11:43I'll make an exception
11:44because I didn't have
11:46really any issues with them.
11:48I was cordial with them.
11:49We didn't ever have any issues.
11:49You mean you said okay
11:50even though the house
11:51looked like that?
11:52When you went in on the 27th?
11:54Yes.
11:55Why?
11:55Because she said
11:56it was some important documents
11:58that she needed to get.
11:59I arranged for it
12:00to be done on November 6th
12:03for her to come.
12:05Well,
12:06on November 6th,
12:07she stated she was not
12:08able to make it
12:09and she was going
12:10to send her cousin.
12:11The cousin came
12:12on November 6th.
12:13How do you know that?
12:14I was there.
12:16I had to let them in.
12:17What's the cousin's name?
12:18Do you remember?
12:19What's Crystal's last name?
12:21Dotson.
12:22Dotson.
12:23No.
12:23I'm not talking to you.
12:25What's Crystal?
12:26Dotson.
12:26And I assume
12:27you have her on your phone.
12:29Her phone number?
12:29Yes, of course.
12:30Yeah.
12:30Did you ask her
12:31to go to the house
12:32on November 6th or 7th?
12:34No, I did not.
12:35No, I did not.
12:35What's her phone number?
12:36I did not ask her
12:37to go to no house.
12:38Just shut up.
12:40What's her phone number?
12:41I'm getting it.
12:42I have a picture.
12:46Just give me the number.
12:47I'm looking for it, man.
12:50She might have to tell you.
12:51I don't have it.
12:52Both.
12:52Turn your phones upside down.
12:54Let me see the text message.
12:59Uncross your arms.
13:07Okay, very, very easy.
13:09She's writing to you.
13:10Do you remember this?
13:12Exchange.
13:12Listen to me carefully.
13:13I'm listening.
13:17I asked her when we moved in
13:18if it was safe or she thought
13:19it was safe.
13:20She said, I don't know,
13:21but I haven't heard anything.
13:22Exactly.
13:22I don't live in the neighborhood.
13:24I can't tell you that.
13:25You should know a little bit about it.
13:26No, I should not.
13:27Yes, sir.
13:27I'm doing my job.
13:28Stop talking to one another, please.
13:30Don't do that.
13:40Gilbert Keele Jr.
13:42has accused his former tenants,
13:45Amber and Cynthia Spradley,
13:47of vandalizing his rental home
13:49and damaging his property.
13:51Hello.
13:52Do you still have plans to come tomorrow?
13:54If so, what time?
13:55And you say, yes, sorry,
13:57I've been super sick.
13:59What time can you do it?
14:00You remember that?
14:02And then she says,
14:04I can meet you there at 3.
14:06You say to her, okay,
14:08that fine, it will be Crystal.
14:10She said, okay, that's November 6th.
14:13And then she says to you,
14:15I'll wait until 3.30.
14:16This is the only day you have to get in.
14:18If she doesn't show up,
14:20there's nothing I can do.
14:21Now, does that sound familiar?
14:23Do there a yes or a no?
14:25It was not our belongings.
14:25Just a second.
14:26We had already moved.
14:27Listen to me.
14:28I'm listening.
14:28Listen to me carefully.
14:31Does that sound familiar to you?
14:33That's what I wanted to know.
14:34That's the answer to yes.
14:36Don't speak.
14:38You ain't bothering me.
14:39Don't speak.
14:40I asked a simple question.
14:41Does that sound familiar to you?
14:43That's on November 6th.
14:45The answer is yes.
14:46But I also told you,
14:46I was gone from there.
14:47I was in the hospital at that time.
14:49I was not even in Kansas City.
14:50I was in Wichita.
14:51So how did I do that?
14:52Who cares?
14:54It was not our stuff that was in the house.
14:57We had already moved out.
14:59We were out by the force.
15:00Like, we were asked to be out by the force.
15:02We were out by the force.
15:03Oh, no.
15:03I was just...
15:04Shh!
15:06No.
15:07You said I'd been super sick.
15:11Crystal will come.
15:12Just...
15:14Don't give me your whole story.
15:15Just wait until you get the question.
15:17Okay.
15:19You've both told me you were out of the house in October.
15:24Mm-hmm.
15:24These messages were sent the first week in November.
15:28Mm-hmm.
15:29The first week in November,
15:30you are communicating with Ms. Bett, listen to me,
15:34that you acknowledge that you were sending Crystal over
15:38on November the 6th for something that was left in the house.
15:45Mm-hmm.
15:45Am I correct?
15:46Yes, but...
15:47Not a but.
15:48Am I correct?
15:49I said yes.
15:50What was it that you left in the house?
15:54I personally...
15:55We left nothing.
15:56It was my cousin.
15:57She tried to sublease it to my cousin.
15:58It was her stuff in the house, not ours.
16:00We were gone when we said we were supposed to be gone.
16:03It was not our belongings in the house.
16:04When we left the house, it did not look like that.
16:06It had none of our items in it.
16:08We left by the force like we were supposed to.
16:10We had another house.
16:10Just a second.
16:11Did Crystal move into the house?
16:13No.
16:14Well, what does Crystal have to do with anything on November 6th?
16:17Helping me.
16:17She was staying there once in a while helping me get kids to school because I do not drive.
16:21On what date?
16:22Before we moved out.
16:24I'm talking about why would Crystal be there November 6th?
16:27Because she made some kind of statement with her saying that she could take over payment or something.
16:31I have the e-mail.
16:32No, no.
16:32These text messages are with you.
16:34I know because I text her for my cousin.
16:38I know I text her.
16:39I was sick.
16:40It was not our belongings there.
16:41Our stuff was not there anymore.
16:43We were moved out.
16:44She made an agreement with my cousin, not me.
16:47She wanted us to sign the agreement.
16:48We refused to sign it.
16:49I don't know why.
16:51If she was talking to my cousin.
16:52I don't know what this means, madam.
16:54I have the agreement.
16:55November 5th at 440.
16:57Do you still plan to come tomorrow?
16:59Yes, I was texting for my cousin.
17:01And you said, yes, I'm sorry.
17:02I've been super sick.
17:04I'm not denying that.
17:05What time today can you do it?
17:07I was texting her for my cousin.
17:09Because my cousin had things in the house because she let her sublease it or whatever you call it.
17:12I did not.
17:13I had no knowledge of her living there.
17:15Shh.
17:17$3,300.
17:18Do you have the bills to clean up that mess and to get out that trash?
17:21May I see them, please?
17:26We lived in a horrible neighborhood.
17:27It wasn't, how do you, I mean, we had shootings every night.
17:30We had people killed in front of our yard.
17:35Why would you keep any kid there?
17:38I have a question.
17:39I asked when we moved in if it was safe.
17:41She thought it was safe.
17:41She said, I don't know, but I haven't heard anything.
17:44Exactly.
17:44I don't live in the neighborhood.
17:45I can't tell you that.
17:47You're renting a house.
17:48You should know a little bit about it.
17:49No, I should not.
17:50Yes, sir.
17:50I'm doing my job.
17:51Stop talking to one another, please.
17:53Don't do that.
17:54Yes, ma'am.
17:56$5,800.
17:57Judgment for the plaintiff.
17:58Thank you very much.
17:59We're done.
17:59Let's go to the jury.
18:05Because of the damage of the house, it wasn't left like that.
18:08The whole upstairs, if they seen the whole upstairs part of it,
18:11it was all clean compared to anything in the bottom.
18:13The truth is they made a decision to move into a property,
18:16and they couldn't keep it up, and this is the result.
18:19It was ridiculous.
18:20The house was not safe for our kids to be at.
18:22We only did what was right for our kids,
18:23and if anybody can't understand that,
18:25then they don't care about their kids.
18:27The neighborhood's not dangerous.
18:29I mean, they moved in.
18:30They didn't put them there.
18:30They moved there.
18:31They moved there.
18:32I don't even live there, but at the end of the day,
18:34if they didn't feel it was dangerous,
18:35it was their choice to say, I don't want to live here.
18:38But they decided to do that.
18:39I'm glad to be out of there.
18:40Thank you, Judge Judy.
18:42She did a fantastic job, and I'm glad that she ruled in my favor.
18:47Part of that case, actually, otherwise,
18:49that it was relatively routine, leaving a mess in the house case.
18:53One of the things that brought me back to my family court roots
18:55were the foster children who evolved in that short time
18:59into children who had been adopted.
19:01The interesting part about it is that very often
19:04when you have children as foster children,
19:07and because the state and the federal government
19:10now require permanency planning for children,
19:13requires that you have a plan within 18 months.
19:15So I assume that these children,
19:17who she said had been with her from the time
19:19they were infants, practically, she adopted.
19:23But you said, but then the support stops.
19:24Yeah, I thought that you didn't get support
19:26from the government once they were adopted.
19:28I figured they got a stipend or some sort of funding
19:30from the government whilst taking in foster children.
19:33But I didn't know that once they got adopted,
19:35it was a continuance of the assistance.
19:38In many cases, it is.
19:40Incentivizes people to adopt.
19:41Incentivizes people to take their foster children
19:44and make them permanent part of the household.
19:46I don't know. I understand wanting to fund adoptions
19:49just as much as you fund, from the government's perspective,
19:52the care in foster care, because obviously the end goal
19:55is to be adopted into happy, healthy homes.
19:58So I understand that.
19:59But it makes me question also the types of people
20:01that are accepting these stipends for an adoption,
20:04that it's a continuance of this care from foster care.
20:07You know, hopefully it's all good.
20:09Yeah.
20:09As a family court judge, I saw a mixed bag of success stories.
20:13And the problem often with subsidized adoptions,
20:17especially in those cases that didn't turn out well,
20:20is that while in foster care, there is at least some oversight
20:23as to the well-being of the children.
20:26Once the adoption has taken place,
20:27although very often the funding remains,
20:31the government is no longer responsible
20:33for checking up on the children.
20:35So it's a mix.
20:37Anyway, the case brought me back to my roots,
20:39and it was an interesting exploration that we just did.
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