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00:02You decided to commit a hate crime no we're yelling he spit to me I spit back on him felt
00:07really racially motivated did you ever threaten to kill him no that's a lie
00:14two immature men getting in each other's face and that's the scary part now on tribunal justice
00:44today's case was filed in Bridgeport Connecticut yeah this is case number three zero one three on
00:50the calendar and that of st. Raymond versus Gonzales parties have been sworn in you may be seated thank
00:56you bird what a case or shall we call it a cautionary tale Mr. St. Raymond you're suing Mr.
01:03Gonzales because you allege that he intentionally crashed his vehicle into yours correct and your
01:09claim is for four thousand nine hundred and thirty one dollars and that's for vehicle damage towing and
01:14storage fees and attorney's fees Mr. Gonzales you say that you owe the plaintiff nothing and that he
01:20caused his own damage after he engaged in a hate crime against you correct Mr. St. Raymond you say
01:28that before the collision Mr. Gonzales was trying to run you off the road can you go to the chart
01:34and
01:34show us what happened well you'll have a chance to sir well this King's Highway here is a four lane
01:40highway it's two-way these two lanes go this way these two lanes go that way okay and we were
01:48both
01:48on this side and the defendant we cross over this way almost backed me into this lane where oncoming
01:58traffic was and I pulled back I put my brakes on and honked my horn both ended up turning and
02:03we ended
02:04up here okay I'm gonna pause you right there Mr. Gonzales you say in your answer that you were trying
02:10to
02:10get over he gave you a dirty look and did not want to let you over yes you show me
02:15what happened
02:16absolutely so as our cars were headed on King's Highway north we were eventually going to take
02:23a left on Villa Avenue the plaintiff was on the left hand side ready to take a left turn as
02:32well
02:33I was on the right hand side I needed to merge in he did not want me to merge so
02:38he essentially tried
02:38to speed up to prevent me from essentially getting into that lane so I'm gonna go ahead and move these
02:43other vehicles just to illustrate that St. Raymond is behind me now that I've been in now that I've
02:50now that I was successfully able to merge into his lane I take my left turn St. Raymond is as
02:58well
02:58behind me however he instead takes the left hand turn giving the impression that he's going to enter
03:04the plaza that is on the left hand side of Villa Avenue he never had any intentions of entering I'm
03:09gonna
03:09stop you right there I don't think you know and there's no evidence in the record as to what his
03:13intentions were I'll ask you to go back to the podium sir and I will note for the record the
03:18fact
03:19that you were aware of the fact that he wasn't trying to let you over but you kind of said
03:24I'm
03:24gonna come over anyway is a little bit troubling so Mr. St. Raymond he's gotten in front of you
03:30why is it that you went over into the next lane instead of staying behind them well first of all
03:35he was right I was ahead of him and he was trying to pass me and then he comes over
03:43like this and we
03:44ended up here at this point the defendant and I were having words you had a war of words your
03:50honor
03:50he was looking me right in the eye he turned his wheel like this and then slammed his door in
03:54the
03:54accelerator and then bam and this is car and does five thousand dollars worth of damage very good
04:00so Mr. Gonzalez you maintain that the collision happened because you wanted to make sure he
04:05didn't get away yes so you go to the chart sure and I'd like you to show me your version
04:10of what
04:10happened so as both vehicles are basically on Villa Ave as he rolls his car directly next to mine
04:18he starts screaming I can't hear what he's saying but I simply started laughing because I know that
04:23he's visual he's visibly upset that I overtook him in the lane so as I rolled my window down I
04:28can hear
04:28him screaming that's when he decides to spit in my face from his vehicle into mine so after he spits
04:33in my face I essentially just parked my vehicle in front left fender first however my vehicle in no way
04:42shape or form touches his vehicle the only reason his vehicle ever makes contact with mine is because
04:47he makes an attempt to try to flee the scene all right I'll ask you to go back to the
04:51podium and the
04:52police did in fact find you at fault for the accident but that's not really the end of the
04:57interaction between the two of you because you called 911 sir did you not yes can we play the
05:029-1-1-1 tape please
05:27Mr. St. Raymond that was your voice rather saying he's about to kill me but there was certainly no
05:32evidence that he was trying to kill you in fact can we look at video number two because the police
05:38showed up on the scene and they caught very good visuals and that's you sir is it not approaching the
05:44defendant Mr. Gonzalez yes and you can see where his car has hit mine and your car Mr. Gonzalez you
05:50can see it is over the line at the time he gave me signs that he was literally going to
05:54leave as he
05:55was entering back into his car you have a phone you have a cell phone you could I I introduced
06:00this
06:00case as a cautionary tale because this happens all the time and sometimes people get shot sometimes
06:08people are subject to much greater damages than either of the two of you had with respect to your
06:14vehicles yes I agree your honor when he hit me when he slammed into me intentionally yes I kind of
06:21lost
06:21I was very mad and where he lied he said he was he thought I was going to get away
06:26I would I had
06:27to stand in front of his car so he wouldn't drive away so when that's when I said he's going
06:33to kill
06:33because he was saying let me throw this out the defendant's position is that that collision occurred
06:40as part of an exchange that you escalated spitting on someone as an assault so that perhaps this was
06:45all a part of an unfortunately violent exchange that you are in some part responsible for and then
06:52you were in fact arrested by the police and charged with a hate crime because I note that among the
06:57damages that you're seeking against the defendant were towing fees but you were arrested didn't the
07:03police tow your car can we please put up the body cam video of inside the police station you were
07:08being
07:08booked my car was not drivable it had to be I don't know if the car wasn't drivable well or
07:15if in fact the
07:15car was towed into the police tow yard because you decided to spit on somebody and commit a hate
07:21crime I spit on him after he spit on me we both spit on each other that wasn't in the
07:26police report
07:27but again no evidence of that but what I will entertain are some of your damages you've submitted
07:32this four thousand dollar estimate yes but when I looked at your damages one there was no picture
07:38and you didn't submit any evidence of damage you submitted an estimate which refers to my goodness a
07:44myriad of things including damage to the roof like what did he do he used his superpowers to
07:50evade your spit and then jump on the roof and start jumping up and down no ma'am he slammed
07:54into my car
07:55and I a week after the accident I brought the car into my auto repair person and they came up
08:01with
08:01the estimate how do you explain the claim for damage on the roof that was in your estimate
08:05uh I don't know I just took the car into a my mechanic my body shop then and why didn't
08:11you
08:12submit any pictures of the damage you know I wish I had taken pictures but they put me in handcuffs
08:17I
08:17couldn't take pictures Judge Domingo well I have to say the reality here is is that this incident on
08:23the street was the confluence of two immature men getting in each other's face and the reality here
08:29is that if any one of you had a gun you don't know what would have happened next and you
08:35didn't
08:35even have car insurance did you coming up on tribunal justice how did his spit hit you in the face
08:43I mean you guys are like a car length apart
08:52steven saint raymond claims brian gonzalez intentionally slammed into his car so he's
08:58suing for nearly five thousand dollars in damages but brian says steven is the one who hit his car
09:04then spat on him because of his race the reality here is that if any one of you had a
09:10gun you don't
09:11know what would have happened next and that's the scary part and you didn't even have car insurance
09:17did you no I did when an officer approaches my vehicle he asked me for my identification which
09:23included my license and my insurance anybody can hand an insurance card over I have insurance cards
09:29in my card that say I'm insured till hell freezes over but the reality is when you call the insurance
09:34company they'll say it's not always paid or not I don't know if you have a letter from your insurance
09:39company but the point is just two people on the road doing what they shouldn't be doing and that's
09:44playing chicky basically so now you're next to each other you both stopped you admit you spit now how
09:51did his spit hit you in the face I mean you guys are like a car length apart so when
09:56he spits does he
09:58hit you in the face with the spit yes no we're yelling he spits me I spit back at him
10:03all right so now
10:04one of two things could happen you could let him go take his license plate call the police what do
10:10you do instead of that you cut him off now you already know he's hot and agitated right and you
10:17are too because you think it's funny that he's hot and agitated at the moment absolutely you think
10:21it's a step you think it's funny so now you're engaged in this this is why I'm saying you're like
10:25two immature kids so now you put your car in front of him and now your fear is I'm doing
10:30that because
10:30God forbid he should get away I did not try to get out of there that's incorrect your honor I
10:36got
10:36out of my car I was afraid he would drive off and you heard me on the 9-1-1
10:40call yeah you were a
10:41lunatic on the 9-1-1 call I was because he was yelling I'm gonna run your ass over and
10:46yes I was
10:46afraid did you at any point Mr. Gonzalez did you at any point say I'm gonna run you over get
10:50out of
10:50the way no that's a lie but there's a criminal act here for which you were arrested and charged
10:55with harassment and I'm not proud of it and you went to your diversionary program with regard to you
11:00Mr. Gonzalez your incident where you cut in front of him your car is hit and you're given a summons
11:07for moving into the wrong lane is that correct yes by the way sir there's no request by you for
11:13any damage to your vehicle the insurance company covered your damages sir so for that incident he
11:19actually had hit the door and obviously the mirror in that angle but I did not file a claim for
11:24it because
11:24I was simply gonna fix it myself or is that because you didn't have insurance cover no because you could
11:28have suit his insurance company I could have but I really just wanted to put this whole situation
11:32behind me because it was you know right after work did you have to pay a fine or anything for
11:36the
11:36traffic summons oh no I pleaded not guilty it was dismissed you pled not guilty to being in the wrong
11:41lane absolutely you were in the wrong lane Judge Levy when I first reviewed all this material because
11:50Mr. St. Raymond that this whole story about you spitting in his face was just not true unless you
11:56are a watermelon seed spitting champion cars are about seven or eight feet wide you got to go
12:02through the entire vehicle between the two vehicles and nail you with your little head all the way in
12:10your car and I thought to myself number one there's no evidence that you actually did spit but now you
12:15admitted that you did maybe you did hit him in the face may I comment yeah okay both spits didn't
12:22hit
12:22either person his spit didn't hit me my spit didn't hit him but he's saying it hit you're in
12:27the face right yes well he's lying well it doesn't make a difference if he's lying or not because even
12:31if it's true it gives him all the motive to ram into your car anyone would be furious if they
12:36got
12:37spit in the face let me ask you this Mr. Gonzalez did you ever threaten Mr. St. Raymond prior to
12:44the
12:44police coming did you ever threaten to kill him no what about before they arrived before they arrived
12:50he was on my vehicle in front banging on the hood of the car as the car was neutral I
12:54put it in
12:54neutral so I said do you want me to kill you because the car he's in front of the car
12:59and it's in
12:59neutral now I didn't say I was going to kill him and you remember denying that to the police when
13:04they
13:05interviewed you right yes yeah so you lied to the police because you knew that it would make you look
13:10bad right I know how the cookie crumbles I know you do let's listen to that 911 clip again clip
13:16one
13:43do you want me to do it do you want me to do it do you want me to do
13:46it what were you doing
13:47going to do the car could have easily gone forward or I could have in anger accidentally
13:50pressed the gas pedal so he was in a dangerous position himself that is why I said what I said
13:54by the way Mr. St. Raymond the issue of your request for towing fees and attorney's fees is
14:01due in part because you claim that the defendant did something that got you arrested right no no sir
14:07I got I got myself arrested you got yourself arrested let's see what you did to get yourself
14:11arrested coming up on tribunal justice
14:26Stephen St. Raymond is suing Brian Gonzalez for nearly $5,000 in damages after ramming his car
14:33then threatening to run him over Brian says Stephen hit his car out of rage committing a hate crime
14:40against him let's see what you did to get yourself arrested
14:42stop running in the street calm down calm down calm down you can call me a
14:52it doesn't change that you hit me calm down calm down
15:00I'm okay right now I'm dealing with somebody right now
15:04you don't know a big bunch of guys just tell me what happened
15:08first of all are you hurt at all I'm not hurt at all are you hurt at all no but
15:16he did ramming
15:17Experiment volume
15:18all right
15:19hold on hold on hold on
15:22I appreciate that you can hang up
15:25guys
15:27please stop right here I stopped because I heard of
15:44So we're clear, the police report filed by the officer on the scene, the first one,
15:49put in that report that you, sir, committed no action that contributed to the accident.
15:55So, 1723, clip two. Let's play the video.
16:11Stop it right there. Stop that. Just so we're clear, the police report, they indicated there was no alcohol or
16:18drugs that affected you in any way.
16:20You were not at fault at all. Correct. Keep going. This is where the problem.
16:26There you are on the ground. Stop.
16:29That was you on the ground. May I comment on that?
16:31Yeah, you can. How'd you get on the ground?
16:33I sat on the ground because I realized I was out of control and I figured I would be better
16:37off just sitting and being still.
16:39I never, ever implied or stated that a police officer made me sit.
16:44So let's keep going.
16:45He's still living to your office, your partner. That's not appropriate. You know that's not normal behavior.
16:50He got out of his car, in front of that car, yelled at the gentleman. The gentleman got out of
16:55his car and he got in front of the man, just the young guy's car.
16:58He hit the top of his car and said, you try to run me away.
17:01Yeah, did you hear him spit? Did you see him spit at all?
17:04Who?
17:05I did not see him spit.
17:08I told you that was it.
17:19And there you go. You did that yourself.
17:21I was angry.
17:22You were angry.
17:23So those two, towing and attorney's fees, chances are, I'll speak to my colleagues, not going to make it.
17:28You said, Mr. Gonzalez, that one of the reasons why you don't think you owe the plaintiff anything is because
17:33the plaintiff spit at you, cut you off because of your race.
17:39Because that's a hate crime, right?
17:40After hearing the word used more than 10 times, that's what made me believe it felt really racially motivated.
17:46Do you remember giving a statement to the police during their interview of you when you said the reason that
17:52he was so upset?
17:53You said it was because you cut him off.
17:56You know what? Don't answer that. Let's play it.
17:58All right, go for it.
18:11So that's why he was infuriated, because of how you drove prior, right?
18:16Right.
18:16Nothing to do with your skin.
18:17Right.
18:18So we're clear, the police report found you to be the cause of the accident, and it also included a
18:25policy number from Progressive Insurance that you provided the police with, correct?
18:30Yes, the digital card.
18:31Can you please, Cassandra, show this to the plaintiff?
18:34This is the Progressive letter with respect to the insurance claim that was filed by you against the defendant.
18:39Read the highlighted portion.
18:41The 2013 Volkswagen GTI had no policy with any member of the Progressive Group of Insurance Companies at the time
18:48of the accident.
18:50And that's the reason why you couldn't get his insurance company to pay for the damage, which is why you
18:54had to sue him.
18:55Spot on.
18:56Got it.
18:56Yes, sir.
18:57I have nothing further.
18:58We are going to retire to deliberate at this time.
19:01We'll be back.
19:03Court now stands in recess.
19:04This case will be recalled.
19:06Parties are excused.
19:15Candidly, I don't think the plaintiff has made his case because I'm not at all convinced of his damages.
19:19He included a damage estimate for $4,000 that included everything under the sun.
19:24When I asked him, for instance, about the specific claim of damage to the roof, I'm like, how do you
19:30support that?
19:30He was like, well, I just took the car in and that's what they told me.
19:34We have not one picture of the car before, not one picture of the car afterward.
19:40So to me, causation and liability on the defendant is pretty clear.
19:44He caused the accident.
19:45But I'm not going to make up a damage number, particularly when the plaintiff himself couldn't be troubled to submit
19:51a picture of his damaged car.
19:53At least then we would see some correlation between the accident, between the repair estimate and the car.
20:00Right now we have a repair estimate and he says, well, I just took it in and they told me
20:04a bunch of stuff.
20:04I just don't find that all persuasive.
20:06Well, if that was visible on the video at the time.
20:09Here's the accident report and the accident report, it indicates the motor vehicle damage diagram.
20:17And what they're saying is his vehicle was damaged at number two, number three and number four.
20:23Correct.
20:24Which is on the passenger side.
20:25That's right.
20:25It's exactly.
20:26Over the right tire and along that way.
20:28Again, I still do not know the extent of those damages and I don't see how they corroborate.
20:34I mean, the police report also said that it was a minor side swipe and minor damage.
20:38But the bottom line is, assuming that we find the damages, assuming we recognize that the fault was with the
20:44defendant because it's pretty clear that it was, where are we with regard to other issues?
20:49I believe the statute of limitations in this case has already run.
20:53The filing was 21 days late.
20:56I mean, I don't see any way around that.
20:58I would say, but for the statute of limitations, I would have awarded him.
21:03Everything.
21:03Everything except for the tow fees and for the legal fees because that was as a result of him getting
21:07arrested for breach of peace.
21:09Oh, yeah, we wouldn't give him the legal fees on that.
21:11So, but for that, I believed everything that he said.
21:15And I agree with you about the statute of limitations.
21:17I think I'm on my own with respect to a dismissal based on lack of evidence of damages.
21:23Yeah.
21:23But we're unanimous on dismissing his case.
21:26Dismissed in its entirety.
21:31Court is back in session.
21:33Parties are reminded you're still under oath.
21:35Thank you, Bert.
21:36We've deliberated and we've reached a unanimous verdict.
21:39I like the fact that we don't have to escalate this case into a debate about racism and tension.
21:48Like, this case is far more simple than that.
21:50You were found at fault for the accident.
21:54But, sir, I really had questions and problems with your proof of damages.
21:59And I would have dismissed your case on those grounds.
22:02Certainly on the police report, there were some indications and some notations about where minor damage had been found on
22:08your car.
22:09It wasn't clear to me how much of that was necessarily caused by the defendant.
22:13And your damage estimate just wasn't corroborated by any independent evidence that I was able to credit.
22:20My colleagues didn't feel the same way.
22:22They would have awarded you everything you were asking for except for the towing fees and the storage and attorney's
22:29fees.
22:29They would have given you damages for your vehicle.
22:31However, they found that they cannot do that because you filed your case too late.
22:37You missed the statute of limitations by 21 days.
22:41And I would also join in that assessment.
22:43So your case is dismissed.
22:45It is dismissed with prejudice.
22:47And I must say, this case doesn't need to be here.
22:50It really is.
22:51It's much ado about nothing.
22:52And you all turned it into the civil war.
22:54Unnecessary.
22:55Your case is dismissed, sir.
22:56Good luck.
22:58This case is now concluded.
22:59Parts are excused.
23:00You may step out.
23:04$4,000 did my damage to my car, and he gets off scot-free.
23:07At the end of the day, I still do feel that there was some level of racially motivated hate coming
23:11from the plaintiff.
23:12He lied repeatedly to the judges.
23:14I'll just accept their decision as a win.
23:16I was willing to risk my life to prevent him from driving off.
23:18You can tell that he wasn't in the right state of mind.
23:20We live in very woke times, and people can hitch a car and have no insurance, and that's fine with
23:29America.
23:30God bless America.
23:31Just watch out for road wages, and watch out for that plaintiff in particular.
23:35Have you been scammed?
23:37Let the majority rule in your favor on Tribunal Justice.
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