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00:00You are suing for the costs of a family trip.
00:03Absolutely.
00:04I told her multiple times I did not want to go.
00:06The real reason, got a new girlfriend and decided not to go.
00:10No.
00:11I think you have to acknowledge certain things.
00:14Such as?
00:15She doesn't recognize your transition.
00:18Correct.
00:19You have a hard time referring to him as a he.
00:22I don't usually call, we don't actually discuss it.
00:24That's why you don't want to go on the trip, is that right?
00:27Now on Tribunal Justice.
00:51Today's case was filed in Lawrence, Indiana.
00:55Judge, this is case number 3025 on the calendar in the matter of Jones v. Robinson.
01:01Thank you, Berg.
01:01You're welcome, Judge.
01:02Parties have been sworn in.
01:03You may be seated.
01:05Ms. Jones, you are suing the defendant for $10,000 for the costs of a family trip.
01:11Now, he didn't go on the trip, but you maintain that he's nonetheless obligated to repay you for the cost
01:16of that trip.
01:17And you also maintain that he owes you money for car payments and the balance due on a car.
01:23Mr. Robinson, you claim that you never plan to go on this family trip.
01:28And with respect to the car, you're like, she never gave me full possession of the car, so I don't
01:34owe her anything.
01:35That's correct.
01:35I want to talk about this trip, Ms. Jones, because you seriously are going to cause a lot of us
01:42to up our auntie game.
01:44This was a 10-day trip to celebrate your mother's 78th birthday.
01:48Yes.
01:49Fly to Italy.
01:50Private yacht on the Mediterranean.
01:52You invited the defendant to join, but you wanted them to look after your mom.
01:59Now, Mr. Robinson, in your papers, you say that you never really agreed to go on the trip because it
02:06was a family trip, and you were going to be the only one working.
02:10That's correct.
02:11So you never said, okay, I'm going to come on the trip.
02:13No.
02:14I'm going to remind you of some text messages that you may have forgotten.
02:18Okay.
02:18But that your aunt submitted into evidence, and in one of them, she says to you, you're going to need
02:23to get your passport done soon, or you're going to owe me for the airline ticket, too.
02:29Your response to that was, okay, and you sent that on or around March 9th.
02:33And then, I'm going to have to set up some type of payment arrangement for the ticket because I'm not
02:39going with y'all.
02:40Thanks, but no thanks.
02:42Ring a bell?
02:43It's so long ago, but if you have the text messages, then...
02:47And again, you don't think that your aunt is trying to run a fast one on you.
02:51You don't think she's making this up.
02:53No.
02:53Why didn't you want to go on that trip?
02:55Because at the time, I wasn't in a position where I could take off from work, and also financially, I
03:00wasn't able to go.
03:01The only thing that she was asking of you was, I need you to stay in the room with your
03:06grandmother, make sure she gets insulin shots.
03:10Otherwise, your time is all your own.
03:12I saw that message.
03:13The way it sounds there, it doesn't sound bad.
03:16But she's saying it like, you need to do your duties.
03:19And I'm like, what?
03:21I would do that out the kindness of my heart, regardless.
03:23Regardless, 30.
03:24You did say, though, Trey, that you were going to come up with a payment plan to pay her back,
03:29didn't you?
03:30But originally, from the jump, I told her I didn't want to go on this trip when they presented it
03:34to me in the first place.
03:35And then, who ended up taking care of your mother?
03:39I actually hired someone else to go.
03:41And the whole reason why the defendant was asked to go, and I had some trepidations in even asking, it
03:48was at the behest of my mother, her grandmother.
03:51Because it was a family trip, she wanted the whole family there, because I wanted to please my mother and
03:59the whole trip.
03:59What were the reservations that you had?
04:02Behavior and things that I wasn't totally sure that would fit into the trip.
04:08To give you a quick rundown, there may have been half an hour in the morning, wake her up in
04:14the morning, make sure she gets dressed.
04:15But let me ask you this, Ms. Jones, let me ask you this.
04:18You knew that Trey wasn't really in a position to pay for the trip in the first instance, yes?
04:22Absolutely.
04:23That's why I was paying for it.
04:24And at some point, you became aware of the fact that he was never really all the way on board
04:30with this trip.
04:31That's incorrect.
04:32Correct. Before I ever bought the ticket, we had a conversation and agreed to it.
04:38I would have never bought the ticket if it was not an agreement.
04:42What happened with the ticket?
04:43Were you able to refund it, get any money back, get a credit?
04:47You couldn't even get a credit?
04:48Because it was actually used for another person.
04:51Aha.
04:52If anything, he may owe you for a change fee.
04:54But if the ticket that he was supposed to pay you back for, you actually were able to get value
04:58for.
04:59But not the airline fee.
04:59By using from somebody else.
05:01The cruise, yes.
05:01But not the airline.
05:02The cruise, but not the airline.
05:03Correct.
05:03So you were not able to use that ticket, change that ticket, or get a credit for the flight.
05:08Let's talk about another situation.
05:10I think you were moving from Florida to Indiana, driving down in a Chevy Suburban that your aunt calls a
05:16death trap.
05:17Car breaks down.
05:19She sends a mobile mechanic.
05:21Yeah.
05:21Remember this situation?
05:22Yeah, I was driving from Indiana to Florida.
05:24And on the way down, I got a flat tire.
05:26So then I called her, and then she was able to get a mobile mechanic to come help me fix
05:32it.
05:32Ms. Jones, did you do that with an expectation that he was going to repay you?
05:36No.
05:36So it was a gift.
05:37That's not part of it.
05:38No, that's not part of it at all.
05:39Glad to clear that up.
05:40Now we come to the point in time where you're getting rid of the death trap.
05:43You signed for a 2016 Jeep Patriot.
05:47But part of your defense is that the car was never in your name and that she would just take
05:51it back from you when she felt like it.
05:53So it wasn't really your car and you don't owe her any money.
05:56Yeah.
05:56The point I was trying to make, though, was that I would have kept that truck.
05:59She made it where she wanted to help me get a new car.
06:02Oh, come on, Trey.
06:03I don't want to hear about the fact she made me get a new car that I had to drive
06:06around in.
06:07But what I am trying to get my head around is what the repayment obligations were.
06:12Because there were some moments when you did.
06:15You would actually repossess the car because either he was intoxicated, wasn't making payments.
06:21But for what purpose did you sign for that car?
06:25Was it for you to drive or was it for Trey to drive?
06:27It was absolutely for the defendant to actually drive.
06:30It was for the defendant to you.
06:31And begged me to actually get.
06:34Yeah.
06:35We don't need to go down that.
06:36I really wanted to keep my old broken down car, but you made me get a new one.
06:39Begged me to help.
06:40That's not a plea.
06:41You can do.
06:42You know better than that.
06:43But at some point, the car becomes totaled and you say somebody hit you.
06:48Yes.
06:49Now, can we put up the photograph of the car?
06:5301.
06:55How did somebody hit you?
06:57Did they back into you driving backwards?
06:59Well, they didn't hit me.
07:00They were driving and they switched lanes and then I ran off of the road and hit a fence.
07:05And it ripped the hood up like that.
07:08And you're still paying on the car.
07:10And part of your lawsuit is for Trey to reimburse you for the out-of-pocket monies that you came
07:18out of pocket for this car that you signed so Trey could drive it.
07:22Correct.
07:23Judge Domingo.
07:25So let me ask you, why do you take such care of him?
07:27He's not your son.
07:29My sister.
07:30Where is your sister?
07:33Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
07:36That was a scary accident, right?
07:37Yeah.
07:38Who else was in the car with you?
07:39It was me.
07:40Just you?
07:41Yeah.
07:41Tell me what happened after that crash.
07:48Sheila Jones is suing nephew Trey Robinson for $10,000 after he backed out of a family trip, then wrecked
07:55a car she co-signed for him.
07:57Trey claims he never committed to the trip and the car is not in his name, so he owes nothing.
08:03Why do you take such care of him?
08:05He's not your son.
08:06My sister.
08:07Where is your sister?
08:09In Florida.
08:10So you just decided to take him on as an extra mouth to feed, basically?
08:16How did this relationship between the two of you develop so that you became pretty much his mom, in a
08:22way?
08:22I'm the deep pockets.
08:24Can't go to my sister for it.
08:26But he doesn't seem to be coming to you.
08:28I completely understand that.
08:29My mother, her grandmother.
08:30His grandma.
08:30Correct.
08:31That's the, could you please help?
08:35Oh, so grandma loves you so much that she goes to deep pockets and says, please get it for him
08:42because he can't.
08:43Is that true?
08:44No, it's not that.
08:45It's just, I told her from the beginning I couldn't afford the trip.
08:49And then she went out her way to purchase the ticket.
08:51That's out of my control.
08:52As far as the vehicle.
08:54I see, it doesn't make sense to me.
08:56What do you do for a living?
08:57I'm an executive career coach.
08:59Yeah.
08:59I can't imagine that someone in that particular job would want to just go out and spend 30-something hundred
09:06dollars on a ticket,
09:07not believing that you're going to go or wanting you to jeopardize your new job.
09:12Did he have a new job?
09:13Didn't have a job at the time, actually.
09:15Okay, so the job came around after the ticket.
09:18Correct.
09:18So it was almost like an ex post facto kind of, now I can't come, and now you're like,
09:23but I already relied on you telling me you can come.
09:26Would that kind of be the way that played out?
09:28Well, because the real reason, got a new girlfriend and decided not to go.
09:33That did happen, but that wasn't the reason.
09:35I told her multiple times I did not want to go.
09:37Yeah, I mean, I think there's a series of things here, but you know what I found?
09:40The most interesting was your statement in this courtroom, which was that you didn't want to go
09:44because it wasn't something that came from your heart.
09:47It was that she asked you to do this, and you don't like to be basically asked to do these
09:52things.
09:52I would do for my grandmother out the kindness of my heart.
09:55But it's like you're being paid to do this, basically.
09:58You're getting a trip.
09:59So you now lay out this money.
10:01Something I don't understand, because you said you were out of money from the airline ticket.
10:04Generally, with an airline ticket, they'll say, well, you can't get your money back,
10:08but we can, you know, keep the money in your account, so the next time you fly, you have credit.
10:12Why didn't that happen here?
10:14Because I took the cheapest options out of all the tickets, because I bought 10 people's tickets,
10:20so $32,000 worth of tickets, I went the cheapest options for all of them, so they were non-refundable.
10:26So you bought 10 tickets?
10:27You paid for everybody's trip?
10:29Brother, other nieces, nephews, grandnieces and nephews going.
10:34What job did you get that you couldn't take the time and explain this to someone?
10:37What were you doing, and are you still doing that?
10:39I was doing warehouse work for Icon, and also I was working a second job at night for Coca-Cola.
10:46Now, the car, you're saying it's not your car.
10:48The 2016 vehicle wasn't yours.
10:50It was really hers.
10:52The bottom line is, you took that money that you got back from a car you bought,
10:56and you put that money down on the 2016 Jeep, correct?
11:01Yes, that's correct.
11:02So were you doing that for her?
11:04No.
11:05Of course not.
11:05You were doing it for who?
11:07For me.
11:07Why?
11:08Because it was going to be whose Jeep, yours or hers?
11:10My Jeep.
11:11Your Jeep.
11:12You can't pay for it outright, can you?
11:14No.
11:14Even with your two jobs.
11:15So the only way you get this Jeep is if she cosigns for you, correct?
11:20Mm-hmm.
11:20So when you don't pay, or somebody doesn't pay for that Jeep, who are they going to come after for
11:25the money?
11:25After her.
11:26Yes.
11:27Because she's the one that picked up the slack for you, and you agreed to make payments for her.
11:33Now you want us to believe that you never agreed to go on a trip, you never agreed to make
11:37payments,
11:38but we have text messages where you say, my plan is to stay on time with the payments, that's for
11:43the vehicle,
11:44then pay the tags and the tolls, then the alternator.
11:47After I'm caught up, I'll only be one month behind, because you knew you had to make payments to her.
11:52Because the vehicle was whose vehicle?
11:55It was my vehicle.
11:56All right.
11:57Judge Levy.
11:59Were you working at the time of the accident?
12:01Yes.
12:01And what were you doing?
12:02I was doing DoorDash.
12:03On November 6th, that was the date of the accident?
12:06It was the 5th.
12:08And when did you stop working?
12:09Around like 10.30 p.m.
12:11That was it?
12:11Yeah.
12:12And you have an independent recollection of that.
12:14You specifically remember, because that was a scary accident, right?
12:16Yeah.
12:17Who else was in the car with you?
12:18It was just me.
12:19Just you?
12:20Yeah.
12:20Tell me what happened after that crash.
12:24Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
12:26You were called out to the defendant's girlfriend's house by the police.
12:30Defendant was drunk.
12:31Defendant had smashed a brick through the window of their house.
12:35Whose house?
12:36The girlfriend.
12:38Why not let him deal with his own problems?
12:44Sheila Jones says nephew Trey Robinson owes for a cruise that he flaked on because of
12:49a girlfriend.
12:50Sheila's $10,000 lawsuit also includes a car loan that Trey reneged on.
12:55Trey says he never agreed to the trip, and the car's not in his name, so he owes nothing.
13:01Who else was in the car with you?
13:03Just me.
13:03Just you?
13:04Yeah.
13:05Tell me what happened after that crash.
13:07So after that crash, my phone had just died.
13:11So I didn't know how damaged the vehicle was, so I kept trying to drive it to get it out
13:16of the way.
13:17And then the radiator fluid went everywhere, so then the car just started smoking.
13:22And then I got out, and then I had to walk to the house.
13:25And then I pretty much called my aunt and told her what happened.
13:29When did the police arrive?
13:30The police arrived, I think it was the, like they arrived that day, but I told them that
13:37I had somebody come in, like a tow truck come in.
13:40So then they just left.
13:41Yeah.
13:42You would have no reason to believe why the police would lie in their paperwork, do you?
13:46No.
13:47You know what's important for the police when they prepare accident reports is indicate
13:51the time that the crash occurs.
13:53Okay.
13:53Right?
13:54And whether or not there were witnesses.
13:55And what you just told me is that there was no one else in the car.
13:58No.
13:59And that there were no witnesses.
14:01No.
14:01And that it happened at what time?
14:03Like 10.30 p.m.
14:04Okay.
14:05You remember that.
14:06So let me read to you the police report.
14:07Okay.
14:08Have you ever seen it?
14:09No.
14:09Police report on November 6th at approximately 4.11 a.m., trooper responded to a report of
14:15a hit-and-run accident.
14:17The officer shows up there right after the crash at 4.11 a.m.
14:21You don't remember that?
14:22It wasn't 4.11, but...
14:24Upon arrival, the officer observed a white Jeep Patriot with significant front-end damage.
14:29The driver was identified as Ashley Robinson, and that was you.
14:33And that's the information that you gave to the officer at the time, correct?
14:36Yeah.
14:37Yeah.
14:37The officer reported that a dark-colored SUV struck her vehicle while racing with an
14:42unidentified sedan.
14:43The collision occurred when the SUV attempted a turn at a high rate of speed, then fled
14:49the scene.
14:49A witness corroborated the driver's account.
14:53Who was in the car?
14:54Nobody was in the car.
14:56Did the police officers lie when they prepared their police report?
14:59Yeah.
14:59Would it be fair to say that if you knew that such a report existed, you wouldn't have wrote
15:03that in the complaint and then come into court and testified to it under oath, right?
15:08Sure.
15:09I got it.
15:10Here are some things I want to discuss with you from your complaint.
15:13You say on January 23rd, he drove the SUV from Florida, Indiana, broke down in Georgia,
15:19and you, quote, had to send a mobile mechanic to fix it and get help to get her back on
15:26the
15:26road.
15:27That's what you wrote in your complaint, right?
15:29Yes.
15:30Why did you have to send a mobile mechanic?
15:33He's 30 years old.
15:35Family.
15:36I wasn't going to leave them stranded.
15:38Enabler.
15:38You go on.
15:39There was an incident where you were called out to the defendant's girlfriend's house
15:44by the police at 3 a.m.
15:47This is your complaint.
15:48Defendant was drunk and belligerent and was causing a disturbance.
15:52Defendant had smashed a brick through the window of their house.
15:56Whose house?
15:57The girlfriend.
15:58You talked the police out of taking her, your complaint, to jail.
16:04Why not let him deal with his own problems?
16:06He's 30 years old.
16:07Oh, I would have been fine with that.
16:09But you didn't.
16:10I didn't want the vehicle being impounded.
16:13That was the...
16:13They could have taken him to jail.
16:15I wouldn't have had a problem with that.
16:16So why didn't you just tell him to take him to jail?
16:17Wouldn't that have been a better lesson for him?
16:20To finally take responsibility for himself instead of coddling him?
16:24I blame you.
16:25I think we're done.
16:26Ms. Jones, let me clarify a couple of items with respect to your damages.
16:32Now, part of your $10,000 claim against Trey is for the cruise.
16:37$1,499.
16:39Correct.
16:40Now, what do those monies represent?
16:41Is that money that was used for what was intended to be Trey's cabin that somebody else used?
16:48Correct.
16:48And didn't somebody else, the person who you hired, ultimately use that cabin?
16:52Correct.
16:52You were going to have to pay for that cabin, irrespective of whether or not Trey used it or the
16:58other person used it.
16:59So you're not really out of pocket.
17:01But I am out the fact that I had to now pay this person to...
17:04Separate issues.
17:05Correct.
17:05Those are two separate issues.
17:07I'm clear.
17:08Thank you for that clarification.
17:09I still need something.
17:10I guess we're all kind of walking around it, but you refer to the defendant as she, and you go
17:17by Trey, and you are a man.
17:19Yes.
17:20I mean, you have to recognize that if you love him to the extent that you say that you do,
17:24I think you have to acknowledge certain things.
17:27Such as?
17:28Such as he's Trey.
17:30You know, you wrote this all up as Ashley Shee, and in fact, that was a complaint that you had
17:35as well, correct?
17:36Yeah.
17:37That she doesn't recognize your transition.
17:40Correct.
17:40That's why you don't want to go on the trip.
17:42Trey, is that right?
17:43That has something to do with it.
17:44Yeah, it did.
17:45Yeah.
17:45Yeah, it did.
17:46I mean, we're walking around that in the case, but I wanted to put it out there because I think
17:49that to some extent, you know, you have to be comfortable if you're going to be 10 days in a
17:53room with people and spend time with people.
17:55But in any event, that may or may not go to the case, but it is a point.
17:59Anybody have anything further?
18:00Nothing.
18:01Then we're going to retire to deliberate.
18:02Thank you both.
18:03Court now stands in recess.
18:04This case will be recalled.
18:06Parties may step out.
18:16That exchange at the end was interesting.
18:18Look, there's no doubt that the aunt used the wrong gender in the papers, but I think that she was
18:24also trying to be respectful.
18:27I didn't really want to conflate that with some of the key legal issues in the case because, to me,
18:32they're quite simple.
18:33I don't think that she's entitled to reimbursement for the cruise because the room was used by the person who
18:40she hired to take care of her mother.
18:42So I would remove that item of damage.
18:45I believe her on the airline ticket.
18:47I mean, she bought tickets for people, so of course she's going to choose the cheapest option.
18:50And I'd certainly reimburse for the car that the plaintiff signed for for Trey.
18:55So I'd give her everything except that $1,400 for the cruise.
18:59Which really doesn't matter because she's suing for $14,000.
19:02So no matter what we subtract, she's still going to be up at $10,000, which is what I think
19:06she's entitled to.
19:07I think the whole point at the end with the issue was, first of all, throughout the papers, it reads
19:13she, she, she.
19:15Throughout her testimony, she occasionally referred to him as Ashley.
19:18I never heard her refer to him as a him or a Trey.
19:21And it was not for that purpose other than I thought on some level, in my mind, I'm thinking maybe
19:25it was difficult for him to put himself in a situation with his grandmother.
19:29But the way he phrased it, his grandmother's his best friend, it was clearly not an issue in this particular
19:35case.
19:35So bottom line is, I think that she made out her case very clearly.
19:39I don't have any doubts here.
19:41Yeah, I'm a little different in one sense, but I agree in the other.
19:45I think that when we go back and we listen to the testimony, the plaintiff did in fact say and
19:50refer rather to the defendant as a she.
19:52I wrote it down because I knew that that was an issue.
19:54Yeah.
19:54And it was a contributing factor to the defendant's decision not to go on the trip.
19:59Throughout the complaint, and that's why I highlighted it every time I said it.
20:03The aunt could not have been more disrespectful, and she couldn't even help herself when she was preparing the complaint,
20:09knowing that Trey identifies as a man, and she still put she in the complaint.
20:16I don't blame Trey for not wanting to go with the aunt, who clearly is the quasi-matriarch of the
20:22family, because everyone's going to look up to her.
20:25And it's not a comfortable position for Trey to be in.
20:28So while Trey may have agreed originally to go, there is no doubt that based upon communications they would have
20:34had between the date that he said I would go and the date that he told his aunt to go
20:38pound sand, that the aunt continued with the she, she, she.
20:42And he said, you know what?
20:43He even said it.
20:44Yeah.
20:44In the papers.
20:45He said she never really respected the fact that I was transitioning.
20:48So I would give her nothing on the airline ticket.
20:50I'd give her nothing on the cruise.
20:51The car, I agree with you.
20:53He agreed that it was his car.
20:55He was willing to take on that financial responsibility.
20:57So I say that she gets back those car payments as well as the remaining balance on the car loan.
21:02Even based on your analysis, no airline ticket, no cruise, she's still over $10,000.
21:06Yeah.
21:07Yeah, he gets it.
21:07Very unanimous.
21:12Court is back in session.
21:14I remind parties you're still under oath.
21:16Thank you, Byrd.
21:16Mm-hmm.
21:17Ms. Jones, what's the defendant's name?
21:20What is the defendant's name?
21:22What do you call the defendant?
21:25I don't.
21:26And the reason why is because, again, that is a religious belief thing or whatever else.
21:32But I don't, I don't call, I just say you or go by the name or whatever else.
21:41But I don't usually call, we don't actually discuss it.
21:44You have a hard time calling him Trey or referring to him as a he.
21:48My colleagues thought that that really bore very heavily in terms of Trey's reluctance to be a part of the
21:55trip, and they took some issue with that.
21:58I was trying to give you some grace.
21:59Well, the reason why I disagree is because I would not, if I had a problem with the lifestyle, I
22:05would not have invited her girlfriend to go as well.
22:07But it's one thing to be included.
22:10It's another thing to be treated fairly.
22:13And perhaps my colleagues were right, and I was maybe giving you a little more credit on that than I
22:18should have.
22:19Trey, however much this dynamic may play into your reluctance to have gone into the trip, and however much you
22:27may wish that your aunt was coming to terms with your transition, that doesn't relieve you of certain of your
22:34legal obligations.
22:35Do you get that?
22:36Yes.
22:36You know, Judge Levy, ma'am, would not have compensated you for the cost of the airline ticket or for
22:42the cruise.
22:42He thinks that Trey would have just been too uncomfortable being around you and credits that discomfort.
22:48But lucky for you, it's neither here nor there because Trey owes you $10,000.
22:54The car for which your aunt signed, the car fees that your aunt paid, and even though Judge Levy wasn't
23:02on board with respect to the airline ticket, Judge Domingo and I were going to give you the money for
23:06that airline ticket.
23:07So you caught a break in that Trey owes you so much money, you're going to win.
23:13I appreciate it.
23:13And you'll be awarded the full amount that we can.
23:16But if you really love people and you want them to be made to feel welcome, you accept them for
23:21who they are and you love who they are.
23:23And I do.
23:24I hope so.
23:26Good luck to you both.
23:26Judgment in favor of the plaintiff for $10,000.
23:30This case is now concluded.
23:32Bodies are excused.
23:33You may step out.
23:37She is difficult for her.
23:39I have no problem with my nephew, niece, whatever they wish to call her.
23:44I just want to be myself.
23:46We'll continue to be family like we are now.
23:48I just hope that she's happy with the outcome and we can still talk.
23:52Oh, there'll be no more loans.
23:54Got family drama?
23:55Let Tribunal Justice decide your case.
23:59Find us on social media at Tribunal Justice.
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