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Courtroom episode featuring Judge Judy handling emotional family disputes and legal conflicts with sharp judgments.
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00:00You said he took money and some of your belongings when he moved out.
00:06Laundry baskets, cutting boards, lamps, and tables, kitchen stuff, like washcloths and hand towels.
00:12Forget it. I don't do that. I didn't go to school for 10 years to do washcloths.
00:18Next!
00:19This is Judy Justice.
00:54This is Judy Justice.
01:00The defendant and you were involved in a relationship for a while.
01:04According to what I read, you met while both working in the same nursing facility.
01:11Subsequently, you moved in together. When was that? Month and year?
01:15December of 2022.
01:16And did you, Ms. Walker, move in with the defendant, or did he move in with you, or did you
01:21take a place together?
01:22He moved in with me.
01:24And did you have a lease on an apartment, or did you own something?
01:27I had a lease on an apartment.
01:28And how long was that lease for?
01:30Until March of 2023, I think.
01:33Now, you didn't come alone.
01:35Because according to what I read, you have a younger brother.
01:39I assume that's you.
01:41And when you and the defendant moved in together in December 2022, your brother came with you?
01:49Not at that time. We had him on the weekends only.
01:52And where was he living prior?
01:54In a foster home in Nacusa.
01:56How long had he been in a foster home?
01:58I think just for that month, and then when I got guardianship of him in February of 23.
02:02And your parents are where?
02:06Not in the picture?
02:07Yeah.
02:07Not in the picture. Okay.
02:09So, your brother came to stay with you in February of 2023. Is that right?
02:16Yes, Your Honor.
02:17And when your brother came to live with you, it appears from your papers that you both petitioned the family
02:24court for guardianship of him since he's a minor.
02:27That be correct?
02:29Yes.
02:29Does anyone have those guardianship papers with them?
02:33I'd like to see them.
02:44Who's Elisa Fulkerson?
02:46That's my legal name, Your Honor.
02:47That's your legal name?
02:48Yes.
02:49Okay.
02:50So that both of you were granted joint guardianship.
02:53Your name is Dakota?
02:55Yes.
02:55Of Dakota.
02:56Okay.
02:57So, now that we understand that you were living together, Dakota, you went to live with your sister and her
03:03mate.
03:03Yes.
03:04Great.
03:05And then, according to you, things started to take a turn in February of the next year.
03:14Yeah.
03:15Kind of the entire time we were together.
03:17Well, if I'm correct in reading, it was February 2024.
03:22So you were together with Dakota, living together for a year until February of 2024, when, according to you, you
03:31discovered that the defendant, according to you, had taken some money out of an account of yours.
03:38Yes.
03:38And you decided to leave.
03:40And you left, and you left Dakota with the defendant.
03:45No.
03:46You took Dakota with you.
03:48No.
03:49You decided to leave.
03:51That's what you say in your papers.
03:53Yes.
03:54Not you and your brother.
03:56You decided to leave.
03:58And where did you go?
03:59Stayed with a friend.
04:01What friend?
04:02A family friend for a little while, and then I went back because of Dakota.
04:06No, you stayed with a family friend.
04:08In what place?
04:09What city?
04:10Stevens Point.
04:11And did you have to travel to Stevens Point?
04:14Yes.
04:14How far away was it?
04:1630 minutes.
04:17But you didn't stay there.
04:18No.
04:19Okay.
04:20I'm reading you what this says.
04:22It says,
04:22In February 2024, I found out that he had stolen $2,445 from me after accessing my phone without permission.
04:30I broke up with him and went to stay with a friend until he could move out.
04:35I ended up leaving town for a while to visit my dad when I came back in July.
04:41So you were gone February, March, April, May, and June.
04:44When I went down by my dad, that was only for the month of July.
04:50So you were with a friend February, March, April, May, and June?
04:54No, I just stayed with a friend for a couple of nights, and then I went back to my house.
04:57Then you went back to live together?
04:59Mm-hmm.
05:00Okay.
05:00And when you went back to live together, did you share the same room?
05:04Did you live together as a couple?
05:06Yes.
05:07Yeah.
05:07And what happened with this alleged money that he owed you?
05:11He told me that he put it in his savings account for a trip that we were taking in April.
05:16And then when we went on that trip and we came back, he told me that I owed him $2
05:20,000
05:20because he was negative in his account, $2,000.
05:23Did you pay him?
05:25No.
05:26Of course.
05:27Ridiculous.
05:27So I'm not entertaining that part of it.
05:30You said he took money.
05:31He says it was for a purpose.
05:33You had an argument.
05:34You stayed with a friend.
05:35Then you came back and you lived with him.
05:37Right?
05:37And you went on the trip in April.
05:40What's this?
05:41Yes.
05:41That's a yes.
05:42Yes.
05:42All right.
05:43So let's forget about this money.
05:44It's nonsense.
05:48He took the end tables.
05:49Yes.
05:50Who bought the end tables?
05:51I did.
05:52You have proof of that.
05:55Do me a favor.
05:56Don't waste my time.
05:57You know what's in your packet.
06:08Cassidy Walker claims her former boyfriend, Leo Fulkerson, stole her money and belongings.
06:16Leo is countersuing, claiming Cassidy wrongfully kept government money meant for her brother.
06:22Now, you say you went to visit your father and came back.
06:26He ultimately moved out.
06:29Yes.
06:29And you claim took some of your belongings with him when he moved out.
06:35And, by the way, when he moved out, he moved out.
06:38And Dakota chose to stay with him.
06:41Yes, Your Honor.
06:41OK.
06:43Now, let's go through the items, because Mr. Fulkerson says any items that he took, he separated your stuff from
06:50his.
06:51Any items that he took, he actually purchased for the house.
06:54That's what he says.
06:55OK.
06:56So let me hear what you think he took that belonged to you.
07:00I read it here, but let's have it for the record.
07:02There's kitchen stuff, laundry costs.
07:04Kitchen stuff.
07:05What's kitchen stuff?
07:06Like washcloths and hand towels.
07:08Forget it.
07:08I don't do that.
07:09I didn't go to school for 10 years to do washcloths.
07:12What's next?
07:13Laundry baskets, cutting boards, lamps, and tables.
07:16Hold on, hold on.
07:17A gift card.
07:17Hold on.
07:18I don't want to hear about kitchen stuff.
07:21Lamps.
07:22Do you have photographs of the lamps and receipts for their purchase?
07:26Yes.
07:27I'd like to see photographs of the lamps and receipts that you paid for for their purchase.
07:32Lamps.
07:33You know what lamps she's talking about?
07:35I do not believe I have.
07:37What?
07:38I don't believe, so no.
07:40Did you take any lamps from the house?
07:42Yes.
07:43Do you recall what they looked like?
07:46Black, small lamp I thought was Dakota's.
07:49It was in his bedroom on a nightstand in his room.
07:51Okay.
07:52So a lamp from Dakota's room?
07:54Mm-hmm.
07:55By the way, where did you go when you moved out?
07:57I moved to an apartment about 20 minutes away from where I had previously lived so that I could be
08:01in Dakota's school district.
08:03Okay.
08:03Do you have the receipt and do you have the pictures of the lamp?
08:06I don't have the receipt.
08:07All right.
08:07So let's forget the lamp.
08:08What's next?
08:09He had stole a $300 Walmart gift card.
08:13A what?
08:13$300 Walmart gift card.
08:15When did he take that and from where?
08:17When he moved out.
08:18When he moved out.
08:19And where was this Walmart gift card?
08:20Somewhere in the house.
08:22Oh, next!
08:24Mixing bowls.
08:26Don't give me kitchen items.
08:27I'm not interested in kitchen items.
08:29All right.
08:29A tool set.
08:31A cube organizer.
08:32Tube organizer.
08:33What is a tube?
08:33A cube organizer.
08:35It's just an eight square thing that you put storage containers in.
08:41Let's move on fast.
08:42The water fountain for my cats, their food, their...
08:46Just a second.
08:47You have a cat?
08:48Do you have a cat?
08:49You both have a cat.
08:51And Dakota has a cat.
08:52And Dakota has a cat.
08:54So who took care of your cat when you went to visit your father?
08:57Leo, I think.
08:59Next!
09:00The sheets for my bed, two different white boards, the shower curtain, a bunch of different
09:09tapestries, a lockbox that I had that I put my meds in, and then the skateboarding wall
09:15decor that I had.
09:16A skateboard?
09:18No, it's...
09:19There are picture frames that had wall decor in them.
09:21Let me do this for you.
09:23When he moved out, was there furniture left in the apartment?
09:27My bed and the couch.
09:28That's a yes.
09:29There was furniture.
09:31Yes.
09:31How many rooms was in this apartment?
09:34Three.
09:35Living room, dining room, and kitchen bedroom?
09:37One bedroom?
09:38There's three bedrooms, and then there's a kitchen.
09:41Oh, three bedrooms?
09:42Yep.
09:42Okay.
09:43One you shared.
09:45When he moved out, did he leave the bed?
09:48Yes.
09:49Were there dressers?
09:50Yes.
09:51Did he leave the dressers?
09:52One of them, yes.
09:53He left one.
09:54Now let's go to the living room.
09:56Was there a couch?
09:57Yes.
09:58Did he leave the couch?
09:59Yes.
10:00Were there end tables?
10:01No.
10:02Well, there was, but he took them.
10:03He took the end tables?
10:05Yes.
10:06Who bought the end tables?
10:07I did.
10:08You have proof of that.
10:11I don't see any invoices there for end tables.
10:16Okay, stop looking.
10:17If they're there, they're there.
10:19Do me a favor.
10:19Don't waste my time.
10:20You know what's in your packet.
10:21All right, so the end tables, we have no proof of who purchased them.
10:26Now let's go to Dakota's bedroom.
10:28Did Dakota have a bed?
10:30Yes.
10:30Did he take that bed?
10:32Yes.
10:32Because Dakota slept on it.
10:34Yes.
10:34Did Dakota have anything else in his room?
10:37Yes.
10:38What?
10:38He had a cube organizer, a bunch of gaming stuff, and all of his clothes.
10:42Did Dakota take those things?
10:44Yes.
10:45Now there was a third bedroom.
10:46What was in the third bedroom?
10:47A bunk bed.
10:49Did he take that or leave that?
10:50It was left.
10:51I...
10:52Now, when the lease was ultimately up, you moved out, or did you stay?
10:58He moved out.
10:59I stayed.
10:59Okay.
11:00Are you still there?
11:01Yes.
11:02Do you have the couch?
11:04Yes.
11:04And you have the bunk beds?
11:07No.
11:08No.
11:08Did you get rid of the bunk beds?
11:10Yeah.
11:10There was no reason for me to have them.
11:12So you got rid of them.
11:13You sold them.
11:14Yeah.
11:14Okay.
11:15And what about the bed that he left in the room that you shared together?
11:20I still have that.
11:20You still have that.
11:21You use it.
11:22Okay.
11:23Now I'm going to what I consider the more pressing part of this case, which is when you applied
11:30for guardianship of Dakota, since Dakota is underage, Dakota receives a certain amount
11:36of governmental assistance.
11:38Who does he receive governmental assistance from?
11:41Do you know?
11:42What is first thing?
11:44Do you know?
11:44Do you know what agency?
11:46I think it's just the county that he was living in at the time.
11:51Okay.
11:52And that's since he was released from foster care to your custody, to yours and the defendants.
11:58Yes.
11:59And do you know how much Dakota receives every month?
12:03Would you like a picture?
12:04No.
12:05Not yet.
12:05I do.
12:06What?
12:06I do.
12:07Of course you do.
12:08How much does he receive every month?
12:10$3.75.
12:11And he's been receiving that since the two of you separated in July.
12:17Yes.
12:18Actually, he's been receiving that even before, but since July.
12:23Yes.
12:23July, August, September.
12:25And Dakota has stayed with the defendant.
12:29He's been going back and forth between our houses.
12:32That's not true.
12:32Is that right?
12:33Yes, Your Honor.
12:37Have you been keeping the $375 a month that's Dakota's money?
12:43That's either a yes or a no.
12:45I've put it in my bank account and spent it on things for Dakota or things we've needed for our
12:49house.
12:50For whose house?
12:50Mine and Dakota's.
12:52Dakota doesn't live with you.
12:53He lives with the defendant.
13:05Cassidy Walker has accused her former boyfriend, Leo Fulkerson, of stealing her belongings.
13:12Leo claims Cassidy is taking government money meant for her brother.
13:17Now, who does he stay with when he goes to school?
13:22Um, Leo.
13:23Okay, so five days a week, he stays with the defendant.
13:28Yes, Your Honor.
13:29Is that correct?
13:30Yes.
13:31Does he spend every weekend, overnight?
13:33What does he spend?
13:34He just decides when he wants to come to my house because Leo thought that giving a child decisions was
13:40a great idea.
13:41That's not a decision that I make.
13:43That's a decision that you have to go back to court and resolve.
13:46I don't know whether you're doing that or not, but you have to go back and resolve that.
13:51Because it is clear to me that, well, first of all, let's make it clear.
13:57Since July, have you been keeping the $375 a month that's Dakota's money?
14:06That's either a yes or a no.
14:08No.
14:09Who has been keeping it?
14:11I've put it in my bank account and spent it on things for Dakota or things we've needed for our
14:15house, because that's what they're for.
14:18For whose house?
14:19Mine and Dakota's.
14:20Dakota doesn't live with you.
14:21He lives with a defendant.
14:25So this is what you have to do, because you have a counterclaim.
14:28Your counterclaim is for the money that she's been retaining for these three months, which clearly there's no question based
14:34upon what she says.
14:35She did $375 times 3 equals $1,125.
14:41There was a few times that she had taken his checks before as well.
14:46I don't care.
14:47Okay.
14:47Then you'd have dealt with that, but she lived with you in the house, and you shared a room together.
14:54You were a couple together, so I'm not interested in the before.
14:58I know very clean, it's at least since July that she's been keeping his money, and she shouldn't have been
15:05if he's living with you.
15:06They should have gone with you.
15:08That's $1,125, but this is what you have to do, sir.
15:12You have to go back to court and get her name removed as guardian.
15:18Do you understand?
15:20Yes.
15:20If Dakota decides that he wants to live with you, and most courts, unless there's some overriding reason, will defer
15:27to what Dakota wants, because you're 16 or 17?
15:3116.
15:33At 16, the courts are going to defer to what he wants, unless there's some overriding reason not to.
15:40So you have to get her name removed, and you have to get those checks issued just in your name
15:45as long as Dakota is living with you,
15:47so that you're using those government funds to support what the government intended those funds to be used for, for
15:55that support, which is Dakota's.
15:57Do you understand?
15:58Yes.
15:59Other than that, you can't put the government's money for your brother in your savings account.
16:03So your claim, actually, Ms. Walker, it's pretty straightforward for me.
16:08Your claim is dismissed, and your claim is several-fold.
16:12You want furniture.
16:13He left you with most of the furniture.
16:14He took washcloths and a lamp that was in your brother's room.
16:18Who cares?
16:19That's nonsense.
16:20And then you claim this money that he took out of your account.
16:23You were a couple.
16:24He said it was for a trip.
16:25You actually went on the trip.
16:28So we don't regulate the lives of people who are living together when they're no longer living together.
16:34You had money.
16:35You went on a trip.
16:35Some was yours.
16:36Some was his.
16:37I don't get involved with that.
16:38What I do get involved with is public funds that are not being used for their intended purpose.
16:43And the intended purpose of these public funds was to take care of your brother.
16:48And you weren't doing that.
16:50So on your counterclaim, I'm awarding you $1,125 and strongly urging you, sir, to go back to court with
16:59Dakota and ask the court to have her name removed as guardian if Dakota elects to live with you.
17:05And if the court finds that in his best interest, does that sound reasonable to you?
17:10Yes.
17:10Perfect.
17:10Do you understand that?
17:11Yes, Your Honor.
17:12Very good.
17:13We're done.
17:14This court is adjourned.
17:20He stole everything from my house but a bed and a couch.
17:24I don't know.
17:24She seemed to struggle with a lot of things in her own personal life, finances, things like that.
17:29And she thought she could make her money this way instead of having a job.
17:31I had to come back to here with no job because Leo refused to allow me to have a job
17:35when he found out that I was trying to leave him because he wanted me to suck with him.
17:39She's a grown adult.
17:42Go get a job whenever you want.
17:43Because he was abusive and controlling.
17:45And I don't want to be in a relationship with somebody who's abusing me and having my 15-year-old
17:48brother watch that.
17:49That's not fair to me or him.
17:50No, I mean, Dakota's here as my witness as well.
17:54I mean, obviously, her brother wouldn't come live with me if that was what was going on.
17:57That didn't occur in the home.
17:59I'm going to try to take Leo back to court and get him off of the paperwork because there's no
18:01reason for somebody who's not related to him to be on the paperwork and go from there.
18:05That'll be up to him.
18:07He's old enough to make that decision if he wants a relationship with her or not.
18:10Ready for a better tomorrow.
18:12It's just better separate.
18:14What I always find interesting, Sarah, whatever governmental agency it is, whether it be the federal government, state government, or
18:22local government,
18:23as a significant part of its budget, helping people who really are in no position to take care of themselves
18:31at least for a while,
18:31as in the case of this young man, Dakota, who's 16 years old.
18:35I understand from looking at the papers that parents are not in the picture.
18:40And as a, you know, as a giving community, we say we have to help take care of him.
18:46Sister is under no responsibility financial to take care of a sibling.
18:50But what I found over the last 40 years is so often those funds don't end up with the intended
18:59recipient or used for the benefit of the intended recipient.
19:02And sometimes it takes very long to correct that.
19:06And it would be so wonderful if there was a fast mechanism where it went fast because right now he'll
19:12go to family court maybe to have her name removed.
19:17She will contest that. Dakota will probably be 18 by then.
19:24Ultimately...
19:24There should be a faster check to make sure that the funds are being used for the child they were
19:28intended to support.
19:29Absolutely. Absolutely.
19:31And, you know, the way government works, it's so slow that it often works...
19:36It'll be moot by the time they get it figured out.
19:38Right.
19:39But at least he got a portion of it back today of what was supposed to be given to him
19:42over the past three months.
19:43The past three months.
19:44So, a little silver lining.
19:45Best we can do.
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