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00:00She purchased a car in your name.
00:04Yes, ma'am.
00:05You acknowledge that this was a loan.
00:09So why didn't you pay her?
00:10Um, I didn't know any, like, I'm really nervous.
00:15Part of it is nervousness.
00:17Part of it is that you have no defense.
00:19This is Judy Justice.
00:38April Johnson is suing her former nanny, Caitlin Hemingway, for breach of contract and emotional distress.
00:47Court come to order.
00:49All rise.
00:51Have a seat, please.
00:54Judge, case 4076, Johnson v. Hemingway.
00:57You're welcome.
00:58All right, I'm going to start with you, Ms. Hemingway.
01:00You were hired as a nanny for the plaintiff and her six children.
01:05Yes, ma'am.
01:06And they're young children.
01:07You were hired in what month and year?
01:09April of 2024.
01:11And where had you worked before?
01:13I was a nanny for a different family.
01:14And when did you work for them?
01:16About a year prior to working for Ms. April.
01:20So you were without a job for a year?
01:23No, I worked for them for an entire year.
01:25For one year.
01:26And what happened to that job?
01:28They no longer needed me, and they were planning on moving away.
01:31And where did you work before that?
01:32I was a behavioral analyst for a company that works with autistic children.
01:38And how old are you?
01:40I'm 21 now.
01:41And you started to work for them April of 2024.
01:45I believe.
01:46It was January of 2024.
01:48I interviewed her in December of 2023.
01:50Does that sound better?
01:52Yes.
01:52And at some point, a couple of months later, sometime probably in April, the plaintiff purchased
01:59a car in your name because you did not have a reliable mode of transportation, and you
02:06were taking the kids back and forth.
02:08Yes, ma'am.
02:09And when that car was purchased, were you with the plaintiff?
02:12No, ma'am.
02:13So she purchased a car and just came back and said to you, this is the car, or did you
02:17discuss
02:18with her the car?
02:19We discussed the car.
02:20Okay.
02:21And tell me what the discussion was.
02:22She discussed that she would give me a loan.
02:26Okay.
02:26She discussed with you making a loan to you for the purchase price of the car.
02:31Did she actually do that, and was the car purchased?
02:35Yes, ma'am.
02:35How much was the car?
02:37$9,157.
02:41Okay.
02:41And the plaintiff paid for that car?
02:44Yes, ma'am.
02:45And you were making payments to her?
02:47Yes, ma'am.
02:48And how much did you pay off?
02:49$3,767.
02:53I have the amount, ma'am, if you'd like it.
02:55I would.
02:55She paid $2,524.35.
02:59That is incorrect.
03:00What's incorrect?
03:01I paid $3,761 towards the car.
03:05Where does the discrepancy come from?
03:07Before I quit, I was working for her for 10 days straight.
03:11They went to Hawaii.
03:12She did not pay me for those 10 days.
03:14So what you're talking about is you only really paid her the $2,000.
03:18I've never actually paid her in cash.
03:19She's always deducted it from my paychecks.
03:22Okay.
03:22Ms. Johnson, now do you know where she's getting that figure from of $3,000?
03:26I don't know where she's getting the figure from.
03:29I do have a spreadsheet.
03:30She says with the time she worked, she paid off $3,700.
03:35That's incorrect.
03:36How much did she pay off?
03:38$2,635.
03:41$2,600.
03:42And there is a $1,000 difference.
03:45And you say the $1,000 difference comes from 10 days that she didn't pay you for.
03:50Yes, ma'am.
03:51Which 10 days didn't she pay you for?
03:53Okay.
03:53So from July 27th to August 6th.
03:56You were away until August 6th.
03:58Yes, we were gone from $7.28 to $8.6.
04:00She worked 130 hours during that time frame, and she earned $2,275.
04:07Was she paid for all that time?
04:09No, ma'am, because that money goes towards the car.
04:11I'm asking you all together, including those 10 days.
04:14She said she paid you a total of $3,700.
04:18She is wrong, ma'am.
04:19She paid $2,524.35.
04:22Let me see.
04:24Let me see.
04:24Let me see.
04:35Okay.
04:36Well, my question to you, Ms. Hemingway, you acknowledge that this was a loan.
04:41Yes, ma'am.
04:41And you acknowledge that minimally you owe her $5,400.
04:46Yes, ma'am.
04:46So why didn't you pay her?
04:48Because I was put in a position where I was forced to quit because of the circumstances
04:53and the safety of me in this work style.
04:58I never really had a schedule.
05:00I didn't know any, like, I'm really nervous.
05:03I'm so sorry.
05:04Part of it is nervous, Ms. Hemingway.
05:06Part of it is that you have no defense.
05:08I have a defense.
05:10I read your defense.
05:12You left to go home.
05:14You live in Texas, or your family is in Texas?
05:16I live in Utah.
05:17But you had to go back to take care of a family situation.
05:21In what state was that?
05:22Texas.
05:23Texas.
05:23That's what I thought.
05:24I read your papers.
05:25And while you were there, the plaintiff told you there was going to be someone else moving
05:29into the house, a cousin or a nephew or somebody.
05:33And they were also going to be in a room in the basement of the house where you had your
05:38room.
05:39And you felt very uncomfortable.
05:40You didn't know who this person was.
05:42And you felt uncomfortable that there was going to be a man in the basement with you.
05:47And you voiced that to the plaintiff.
05:50And the plaintiff said, that's too bad.
05:51He's my nephew or whatever it is, cousin.
05:53And it was at that point that you quit.
05:55No, that's not the point.
05:57Well, that's what you say in your answer.
05:58That's one of the biggest reasons I quit.
06:01That's what it says in your answer.
06:02What's the other reason that you quit?
06:04Her dogs attacked me and left me marks.
06:10I didn't, I'm sorry.
06:11I'm just really nervous.
06:12I can't talk.
06:13Well, I'm just curious because you don't say anything about the dogs here.
06:16The only thing that you talked about was this man that was there was.
06:20She told me that this man does drugs and that he was and that he has like tattoos and everything.
06:28You can quit your job, Ms. Hemingway, but that doesn't vacate the loan.
06:33I understand.
06:33A year and a half ago, I got raped by a man.
06:39And so hearing April wanting to move another person that wasn't already part of the agreement,
06:48I was told I would have my own space.
06:50No, just a second.
06:51I absolutely understood your answer and agree with you that it was probably in your interest,
07:01emotionally, not to have to live in a basement apartment next to a young man that you didn't
07:07know that even the plaintiff said had some trouble.
07:11Would that be a fair statement?
07:13Yes.
07:13The person that you move in had a history of a little trouble.
07:16Yes, ma'am.
07:17Okay.
07:18But it's your relative.
07:19It's not hers.
07:19She's a kid.
07:20She's 20 years old.
07:21Correct.
07:21She doesn't have to live next door to somebody.
07:24So you can quit.
07:25Absolutely.
07:26Yes, ma'am.
07:26That doesn't mean you don't have to pay for the car because you have the car.
07:29Yes, sir.
07:29Okay.
07:30So all we have is a difference in amount.
07:34Okay?
07:34So you're going to go outside and you're going to figure out what the amount is.
07:38It's either $5,000 or $6,000 that she owes.
07:42Neither.
07:42Okay.
07:43Outside with your spreadsheets, somebody's going to come and help you.
07:46I'm not doing it.
07:47Math is not my strong suit.
07:49Outside will recall the case when you've come to a number.
07:54And later today.
07:55I don't know why you're mad at him.
07:57You should be angry at the drunk driver who caused the accident.
08:00So what are you doing in court?
08:01All of this stuff that you're talking about, a desk that you would have liked to have had.
08:06Okay.
08:07Of hers.
08:07Nonsense.
08:18April Johnson claims her former nanny, Caitlin Hemingway, broke their agreement and caused emotional distress.
08:26Have you come to an agreement with regard to how much is left on the loan?
08:29Yes, ma'am.
08:30And you?
08:31Yes, ma'am.
08:31How much is left on the loan?
08:32$7,041.25.
08:36Acknowledged?
08:36There have been many weeks that April has not paid me, but I will go with her number for $7
08:41,040.21.
08:43Okay.
08:44$7,041.
08:45Thank you very much, judgment for the plaintiff.
08:48This court is adjourned.
08:54Because she claims I owed her a certain amount of money, and I don't believe through the things that she
09:00has put me through that I owe that money.
09:02I was honestly shocked when she quit.
09:04She brought a man into my space I didn't feel was necessary, so I did not no longer want to
09:11work there.
09:12I will have a new nanny on Monday.
09:14I'm happy I'm out of there.
09:17I understood the defendant's position and not wanting to stay in the basement, with or without her history, you know,
09:23with a stranger, a male.
09:25With a stranger who had a bad history.
09:27Yeah, sure.
09:28So that's obviously a reason to quit, and I understand that.
09:31But that's, like you said in court, not a reason to not repay the loan.
09:35I thought that was going to turn out a little different based on the papers.
09:38I thought that she was going to claim gift.
09:40I thought she was going to claim that this was given to me.
09:43But when she was in open court, she said, no, I know that it was a loan, and I quit.
09:47And I think in her mind, quitting equated to, because she had a reason to quit, she equated that with
09:53not having to repay on the loan.
09:54A loan is a loan.
09:55A loan is a loan.
09:56She acknowledged that it was a loan.
09:58She acknowledged it in text messages.
10:00Anyway.
10:01Cage 4074.
10:02Benamiez versus Morales.
10:04All parties, please come forward.
10:05Andrea Benamiez is suing her daughter's former boyfriend, Matthew Morales, for attorney fees and the return of property.
10:15Ms. Benamiez, the defendant lived with your daughter.
10:18Yes.
10:19He lived with your daughter for a couple of years?
10:21No.
10:22I'm not talking to you.
10:23I'm looking at him.
10:24How long did you live?
10:25We lived together about six to seven months.
10:29Yeah, I thought that you indicated in your answer that it was a couple of years.
10:33We were dating for approximately two and a half to three years, but we lived together for about six to
10:37seven months.
10:38Two months.
10:39I don't want to hear you.
10:40Okay, sorry.
10:41When did you start dating?
10:43March of 2021.
10:46And in what month did you move in together?
10:48In March of 2023.
10:51Did you move into your apartment, her apartment, or did you move into a joint apartment?
10:55She moved into my apartment.
10:56And how long had you lived in your apartment?
10:59I'd probably been there about four years or so.
11:02This is what the case is about.
11:03Your daughter was tragically killed in an automobile accident.
11:07Yes.
11:07Mr. Morales was not in the car at the time.
11:10But that happened.
11:11And it is your claim that he has certain property of your daughter's.
11:15Yes.
11:15That it rightfully belongs to you since I assume she died without a will.
11:21Intestate.
11:21Yes, Your Honor.
11:22I know what that means, Madam.
11:23I'm a lawyer.
11:24Yeah.
11:24She died without a will.
11:25Correct.
11:26And you want your stuff.
11:28Mr. Morales says that after she passed away, you, who had moved cross country a couple
11:33years ago, had designated someone whose name was Belinda?
11:38Bethany.
11:39Bethany.
11:39To gather up your daughter's things that you wanted, and Bethany took them.
11:45Correct.
11:45You're suing him for, oh, $10,000 for value of return of property, attorney's fees, and damages
11:52for pain and suffering.
11:54Okay.
11:55You know, sometimes it's much easier to be angry than it is to be sad.
11:58So I have absolutely no idea what you're doing here.
12:02I've been angry.
12:02I have no idea what you're doing here, but it looks as if there's a bag over there.
12:08Would you tell me, Mr. Morales, what is in that bag?
12:11There were a few items that I did end up finding.
12:13Would you please give that to me, Kevin?
12:16I want to see.
12:16And so these are those said items, so I brought them with me.
12:26Okay.
12:28And you brought these to give to her mother?
12:30Correct.
12:31Fine.
12:32Would you give those to the plaintiff, please?
12:38In what month and year was the accident, Mrs. Benaholson?
12:41She was killed on August 13, 2023.
12:48And now we're a year and a half later, and what is it that you think that Mr. Morales
12:53has that belonged to your daughter and that, therefore, you should have?
12:59I have a list.
13:00I lived with my daughter for 25 years.
13:03I want to explain something to you.
13:04Okay, I'm sorry.
13:04I don't want to see a 15-page list.
13:07A year and a half after, tell me what the big ticket items are that you think that he
13:12has that belonged to your daughter.
13:14I just got three small bags back, and my daughter...
13:17I don't care.
13:18Okay, I don't understand the question.
13:20I'm so sorry.
13:21If you say my daughter had a Rolex watch, and it wasn't in her property, that's a thing.
13:28If you say my daughter had a set of white pearls, and that wasn't in her property, that's a thing.
13:36I don't want to hear about clothes, shoes, pocketbooks, cooking utensils, dishes.
13:42I don't want to hear anything about that.
13:44Do you understand?
13:45So now look at your list and tell me what the first thing is that nothing that I've just mentioned.
13:52Clothes, shoes, underwear, pocketbooks.
13:56Okay, a rose gold-colored apple.
14:00Just a second.
14:01A rose gold-colored apple.
14:03Apple watch, which I have a picture of her wrist and dance before death.
14:06Just a second.
14:07An apple watch.
14:08Mm-hmm.
14:09Do you have an apple watch that belonged to...
14:11What was her name?
14:12Excuse me, Rachel.
14:13And no, I do not.
14:15I'm assuming that...
14:16I don't...
14:17You don't have it.
14:18No, I do not.
14:19Did you sell it?
14:20No.
14:21No, he doesn't have it.
14:22What's next?
14:23I'm so sorry, but right here, from his attorney to mine, he says he has it, but he purchased
14:29it so he believes it's his.
14:30Oh, just a second.
14:31He has it.
14:32Just a second.
14:33Is that correct?
14:34I did purchase it, but I do not have it.
14:36I don't know if it was confiscated when she was in the accident because she was wearing
14:40it.
14:40I'm not sure.
14:41He doesn't have it.
14:42Next.
14:42Okay, but this...
14:43Next.
14:44Oh, my God.
14:47She must have been happy with him if she moved with him.
14:52You should be saying thank you for making the last few months of my daughter's life happy.
15:07Andrea Benamiez claims her daughter's former boyfriend, Matthew Morales, owes for attorney
15:14fees, and the return of property that belonged to her deceased daughter.
15:18What's next on your list that you say that he has that belongs to your daughter?
15:25Again, I may be a little nervous and sad.
15:28No, but I'm not explaining.
15:30What can I tell you?
15:31I can't say that I only got three bags back from a 29-year-old.
15:36I don't care what you got back.
15:38But I don't understand the question.
15:39Well, then pay attention.
15:41Okay.
15:42I'm processing the news.
15:42And pay.
15:43You have to pay attention.
15:44I am.
15:45What did your daughter do for a living?
15:46She sold at a swap meet for two years.
15:50I...
15:50No, just a second.
15:51Okay.
15:51What did she do for a living when she and Mr. Morales were together?
15:55She worked as a cocktail ratress.
15:58She wasn't a high-income earner.
16:00Am I getting that right, Mr. Morales?
16:02That is correct.
16:03Okay.
16:03And now we're talking about a year and a half later, was she working when she was living
16:08with you?
16:09She was working with me when she was living with me.
16:12She was working when she was living with you, not working for you.
16:14No, not for me.
16:15She was working when she was living with me.
16:17We did actually move to Reno in July of 2023.
16:21And that was when she got the job as the cocktail waitress.
16:24I want you to tell me what else you think Mr. Morales has that belongs to your daughter.
16:31Her birth certificate and...
16:32Just a second.
16:33Okay.
16:33Do you have her birth certificate, sir?
16:36Yes.
16:36Okay.
16:37Kevin, would you give her birth certificate to her mother?
16:40Birth certificate's very easy, madam.
16:43All you have to do is go to the county clerk's office and you can get another one.
16:46What's next?
16:47I appreciate that.
16:47What's next?
16:48Yes.
16:48There is a desk of Rachel's that he said he threw it away.
16:55It was damaged.
16:55But I don't think he had authority to dispose of things.
16:58He wasn't an, you know, an executor or anything or a...
17:01So what...
17:02Let me ask you this question.
17:03Yes.
17:03You don't doubt this desk that he threw away.
17:06He, yes, he stated he did.
17:08Sure.
17:08Mm-hmm.
17:09You don't doubt that he threw it away because it was damaged.
17:12What do you want him to do?
17:13Pay you for it?
17:14Pay you the value of it?
17:15Well, what do you want?
17:15No, it was very sentimental.
17:16I would have liked it to repair it.
17:18Well, you can't have it.
17:19Okay.
17:20What else do you think that he has that belonged to your daughter?
17:24I lived with my daughter for 25 years.
17:27Listen, ma...
17:27She worked for 13 years and she had accumulated a lot.
17:31She's just under 29 years old.
17:33I have no idea whether that's true or not.
17:35I have no idea whether that's true or not.
17:38And it is irrelevant to these proceedings.
17:40Okay.
17:40So what else does she have?
17:42All I know is I got two bags of clothes from someone that was just shy of 29 and I
17:47lived
17:48with her before I moved two years ago.
17:50And she had half my garage filled with things, put it into a large storage unit.
17:55And I never got access to the storage unit.
17:58I don't know why you're mad at him.
18:00You should be angry at the drunk driver who caused the accident.
18:03Oh, I am, too.
18:03So what are you doing in court if you said he stole $50,000 in cash that she kept in
18:09a
18:09vault?
18:10All of this stuff that you're talking about, a desk that you would have liked to have had
18:14of hers.
18:15Nonsense.
18:16So I don't understand why he didn't cause what happened to your daughter to happen.
18:22I understand.
18:22So I don't know what you're here for.
18:24May I answer the question you asked me?
18:27Yeah, sure.
18:27Well, other than what you've already told me that you lived with her for so many years,
18:31that she had stuff in a storage unit, that you didn't have access to it.
18:35That's all speculation.
18:37Yes.
18:37I asked you, what is it a thing that I can ask you?
18:43He said, birth certificate?
18:45You got a birth certificate.
18:46Desk?
18:47He actually disposed of an old desk that was down.
18:51What did you mention it for?
18:52I don't know why.
18:53You said, I would have liked to have it.
18:55Well, that means that you would have liked me to make a monetary judgment against him
18:59for a desk.
19:00Well, I'm not prepared to do that.
19:02So let's move on.
19:03Could I answer the question you asked one year?
19:05Sure.
19:07To lose a child anyway, it's indescribable.
19:13Then to have a short-term six-month relationship, retain 99.9% of your daughter's stuff.
19:21This is all I have to touch to remember my daughter's life.
19:24That's, well, that's, I want to tell you something.
19:26Yes.
19:26That's more important than a desk or a pair of shoes.
19:29Or an Apple Watch that you can go out to replace.
19:32So I want you to sort of think about it this way.
19:35If your daughter dated a defendant for a couple of years and then was happy enough with him
19:42to move with him.
19:44Now, you weren't there because you moved cross-country.
19:46You moved 2,000 miles away from your daughter.
19:49Okay?
19:49She lived with him for a month, two months.
19:53It's irrelevant.
19:54She must have been happy with him if she moved with him.
19:59You should be saying, thank you for making the last few months of my daughter's life happy.
20:04She was living with a guy who she clearly liked because she moved with him.
20:09And instead of saying thank you, you sue him for nonsense.
20:13Nonsense.
20:14It's not his fault that she's gone.
20:16I know that.
20:16So you want something to touch of your daughter's?
20:19It would seem to me that that is just a second.
20:22It seems to me that that's a something.
20:24And I would rather put that down.
20:25And I would rather have that as a something which your daughter clearly curated herself,
20:32which means she went, she saw this, she liked it.
20:34It was a crystal.
20:36She collected them.
20:37And it's clearly more important than an Apple Watch that you can go into Apple and buy another one of
20:42or a desk.
20:43So you want something to touch of your daughter's?
20:46That's it.
20:46And say thank you for making the last couple of months of my daughter's life or couple of years happy.
20:54Are we done here?
20:56I think so.
20:57This court is adjourned.
21:01Maybe it's their grieving process.
21:03Maybe this makes them feel better.
21:05I don't know, but I think they're targeting the wrong person in this.
21:09After just shy of 29 years of life, this is all I have to remember my daughter.
21:15Oh, I gave them back everything that I possibly had that was hers.
21:18It's good that I get to move forward.
21:20I really thought she'd be on my side.
21:23I hope she finds closure.
21:24It wasn't meant to be, but yes, I can move on.
21:26And he could enjoy all my daughter's things going forward.
21:31Anger is a much easier emotion to deal with than sadness.
21:36The plaintiff was devastated by the loss of her daughter.
21:40The defendant wasn't involved in that accident at all.
21:43But it really just seems to me that the last person you would lash out at is the person who
21:48brought her happiness for the last few months or few years of her life.
21:52And from what we saw today, he seemed very decent.
21:56Here's the birth certificate back.
21:57A couple of things that you weren't given in the initial tradeover.
22:01So he seemed pretty reasonable.
22:03Tragic.
22:03A 29-year-old woman killed by a drunk driver, which is what happened.
22:07Hopefully this will give her some closure, though, and she got the last couple items.
22:10I don't think so.
22:11With him, I mean.
22:12With the defendant.
22:12With him. Hopefully with him.
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