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Tribunal Justice - Season 3 - Episode 11: Racist Road Rage Wreck
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00:28¡Ah, no!
00:44Today's case was filed in Bridgeport, Connecticut.
00:48Yeah, this is case number 3013 on the calendar in a matter of St. Raymond versus Gonzales.
00:53Parties have been sworn in.
00:55You may be seated.
00:56Thank you, Bird.
00:57What a case, or shall we call it a cautionary tale.
01:00Mr. St. Raymond, you are suing Mr. Gonzales because you allege that he intentionally crashed his vehicle into yours.
01:08Correct.
01:08And your claim is for $4,931.
01:12Correct.
01:12And that's for vehicle damage, towing and storage fees, and attorney's fees.
01:17Mr. Gonzales, you say that you owe the plaintiff nothing and that he caused his own damage after he engaged
01:23in a hate crime against you.
01:25Correct.
01:25Mr. St. Raymond, you say that before the collision, Mr. Gonzales was trying to run you off the road.
01:33Can you go to the chart and show us what happened?
01:36And you'll have a chance to, sir.
01:38Well, this King's Highway here is a four-lane highway.
01:41It's two-way.
01:42These two lanes go this way.
01:43These two lanes go that way.
01:47And we were both on this side, and the defendant, we crossed over this way, almost backed me into this
01:56lane where oncoming traffic was.
01:59And I pulled back, I put my brakes on, I honked my horn.
02:02Both ended up turning, and we ended up here.
02:05Okay, I'm going to pause you right there.
02:06Mr. Gonzales, you say in your answer that you were trying to get over, he gave you a dirty look
02:12and did not want to let you over.
02:14Yes.
02:15You show me what happened.
02:16Absolutely.
02:19So as our cars were headed on King's Highway north, we were eventually going to take a left on Villa
02:24Avenue.
02:28The plaintiff was on the left-hand side, ready to take a left turn as well.
02:33I was on the right-hand side.
02:34I needed to merge in.
02:36He did not want me to merge, so he essentially tried to speed up to prevent me from essentially getting
02:41into that lane.
02:41So I'm going to go ahead and move these other vehicles just to illustrate that St. Raymond is behind me.
02:48Now that I've been in, now that I've, now that I was successfully able to merge into his lane, I
02:54take my left turn.
02:56St. Raymond is as well behind me.
02:59However, he instead takes the left-hand turn, giving the impression that he's going to enter the plaza that is
03:05on the left-hand side of Villa Avenue.
03:07He never had any intentions of entering.
03:09Well, I'm going to stop you right there.
03:10I don't think you know.
03:11And there's no evidence in the record as to what his intentions were.
03:14I'll ask you to go back to the podium, sir.
03:16Sure.
03:16And I will note for the record, the fact that you were aware of the fact that he wasn't trying
03:22to let you over, but you kind of said, I'm going to come over anyway, is a little bit troubling.
03:27So, 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 him?
03:34Well, first of all, he was right.
03:37I was ahead of him.
03:39And he was trying to pass me.
03:41And then he comes over like this.
03:44And we ended up here.
03:45At this point, the defendant and I were having words.
03:48You had a war of words.
03:49Your Honor, he was looking me right in the eye.
03:51He turned his wheel like this and then slammed his door to the accelerator.
03:55And then, bam, runs into a car and does $5,000 worth of damage.
03:59Very good.
04:00So, Mr. Gonzalez, you maintain that the collision happened because you wanted to make sure he didn't get away.
04:06Yes.
04:07So, you go to the chart.
04:08Sure.
04:08And I'd like you to show me your version of what happened.
04:11So, as both vehicles are basically on Villa Ave, as he rolls his car directly next to mine, he starts
04:19screaming.
04:19I can't hear what he's saying, but I simply start laughing because I know that he's visibly upset that I
04:25overtook him in the lane.
04:27So, as I roll my window down, I can hear him screaming.
04:29That's when he decides to spit in my face from his vehicle into mine.
04:32So, after he spits in my face, I essentially just park my vehicle in front left fender first.
04:40However, my vehicle in no way, shape, or form touches his vehicle.
04:44The only reason his vehicle ever makes contact with mine is because he makes an attempt to try to flee
04:49the scene.
04:50All right.
04:50I'll ask you to go back to the podium.
04:52And the police did, in fact, find you at fault for the accident, but that's not really the end of
04:57the interaction between the two of you because you called 911, sir.
05:00Did you not?
05:01Yes.
05:01Can we play the 911 tape, please?
05:04Oh, he's lying.
05:06In front of the gas pump.
05:07He's lying.
05:07It's a stupid angry who just f***ed up my car.
05:10What?
05:11It's a stupid angry who just f***ed up my car.
05:12He's over here, you f***er.
05:14I'm the cusp over here.
05:16He's about to kill me.
05:17He's going to kill me.
05:18He's going to run me over.
05:20I'm going to kill me.
05:20He's going to have a f***ing weapon.
05:22He's going to have a weapon.
05:24He's going to have a weapon.
05:25He's going to have a weapon.
05:27Mr. St. Raymond, that was your voice rather saying, he's about to kill me.
05:31Yes.
05:31But there was certainly no evidence that he was trying to kill you.
05:34In fact, can we look at video number two?
05:37Because the police showed up on the scene, and they caught very good visuals.
05:42And that's you, sir.
05:43Is it not approaching the defendant, Mr. Gonzalez?
05:46Yes.
05:46And you can see where his car has hit mine.
05:48And your car, Mr. Gonzalez, you can see it is over the line.
05:52Yes.
05:52At the time, he gave me signs that he was literally going to leave as he was entering back into
05:56his car.
05:56You have a phone.
05:57You have a cell phone.
05:57You could—I introduced this case as a cautionary tale because this happens all the time.
06:06And sometimes people get shot.
06:08Sometimes people are subject to much greater damages than either of the two of you had with respect to your
06:14vehicles.
06:15Yes, I agree, Your Honor.
06:17When he hit me, when he slammed into me intentionally, yes, I kind of lost it.
06:22I was very mad.
06:22And where he lied, he said he was—he thought I was going to get away.
06:26I had to stand in front of his car so he wouldn't drive away.
06:30So—
06:30That's when I said, he's going to kill me because he was saying, I'm running over, I'm running over.
06:35The defendant's position is that that collision occurred as part of an exchange that you escalated,
06:43spitting on someone as an assault, so that perhaps this was all a part of an unfortunately violent exchange
06:49that you are in some part responsible for.
06:51And then you were, in fact, arrested by the police and charged with a hate crime
06:56because I note that among the damages that you're seeking against the defendant were towing fees.
07:01But you were arrested.
07:02Didn't the police tow your car?
07:04Can we please put up the body cam video inside the police station?
07:07You were being booked.
07:10My car was not drivable.
07:11It had to be towed.
07:12I don't know if the car wasn't drivable.
07:14Well—
07:14Or if, in fact, the car was towed into the police tow yard
07:18because you decided to spit on somebody and commit a hate crime.
07:21I spit on him after he spit on me.
07:24We both spit on each other.
07:25That wasn't in the police report, but again, no evidence of that.
07:29But what I will entertain are some of your damages.
07:32You've submitted this $4,000 estimate.
07:34Yes.
07:34But when I looked at your damages, one, there was no picture,
07:38and you didn't submit any evidence of damage.
07:40You submitted an estimate, which refers to, my goodness, a myriad of things,
07:45including damage to the roof.
07:47Like, what did he do?
07:48He used his superpowers to evade your spit and then jump on the roof
07:52and start jumping up and down?
07:54No, ma'am.
07:54He slammed into my car, and I—
07:56A week after the accident, I brought the car into my auto repair person,
08:00and they came up with the estimate.
08:01How do you explain the claim for damage on the roof?
08:04That was in your estimate.
08:07I don't know.
08:08I just took the car into my mechanic, my body shoppan.
08:11And why didn't you submit any pictures of the damage?
08:14You know, I wish I had taken pictures, but they put me in handcuffs,
08:17so I couldn't take pictures.
08:18Judge Domingo?
08:19Well, I have to say, the reality here is, is that this incident on the street
08:23was the confluence of two immature men getting in each other's face.
08:28And the reality here is that if any one of you had a gun,
08:32you don't know what would have happened next.
08:35And you didn't even have car insurance, did you?
08:39Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
08:42How did his spit hit you in the face?
08:44I mean, you guys are like a car-length apart.
08:52Steven St. Raymond claims Brian Gonzalez intentionally slammed into his car,
08:57so he's suing for nearly $5,000 in damages.
09:00But Brian says Steven is the one who hit his car,
09:04then spat on him because of his race.
09:07The reality here is that if any one of you had a gun,
09:10you don't know what would have happened next.
09:13And that's the scary part.
09:15And you didn't even have car insurance, did you?
09:18No, I did.
09:19When an officer approaches my vehicle, he asks me for my identification,
09:22which included my license and my insurance.
09:25Anybody can hand an insurance card over.
09:28I have insurance cards in my car that say I'm insured till hell freezes over.
09:32But the reality is when you call the insurance company,
09:35they'll say it's not always paid or not.
09:37I don't know if you have a letter from your insurance company,
09:39but the point is just two people on the road doing what they shouldn't be doing,
09:44and that's playing chicky, basically.
09:45So now you're next to each other.
09:47You both stopped.
09:48You admit you spit.
09:50Now, how did his spit hit you in the face?
09:53I mean, you guys are like a car-length apart.
09:56So when he spits, does he hit you in the face with the spit?
09:59Yes.
10:00No.
10:01We're yelling, he spits at me, I spit back at him.
10:03All right.
10:03So now one of two things could happen.
10:06You could let him go, take his license plate, call the police.
10:09What do you do instead of that?
10:11You cut him off.
10:13Now, you already know he's hot and agitated, right?
10:16Yeah.
10:16And you are, too, because you think it's funny that he's hot and agitated.
10:20At the moment, absolutely.
10:21You think it's a step.
10:22You think it's funny.
10:23So now you're engaged in this.
10:24This is why I'm saying you're like two immature kids.
10:26So now you put your car in front of him.
10:28And now your fear is, I'm doing that because, God forbid, he should get away.
10:32I did not try to get out of there.
10:34That's incorrect, Your Honor.
10:35I got out of my car.
10:37I was afraid he would drive off.
10:39And you heard me on the 911 call.
10:40Yeah, you were a lunatic on the 911 call.
10:42I was, because he was yelling, I'm going to run your ass over.
10:45And yes, I was afraid.
10:47Did you at any point, Mr. Gonzalez, did you at any point say, I'm going to run you over,
10:50get out of the way?
10:50No.
10:51That's a lie.
10:52But there's a criminal act here for which you were arrested and charged with harassment.
10:56And I'm not proud of it, yes.
10:57And you went to your diversionary program.
10:59With regard to you, Mr. Gonzalez, your incident where you cut in front of him, your car is hit.
11:06And you're given a summons for moving into the wrong lane.
11:09Is that correct?
11:10Yes.
11:11By the way, sir, there's no request by you for any damage to your vehicle.
11:15The insurance company covered your damages, sir?
11:17So for that incident, he actually had hit the door and obviously the mirror in that angle.
11:22But I did not file a claim for it because I was simply going to fix it myself.
11:26Or is that because you didn't have insurance covered?
11:28No, no.
11:28Because you could have sued his insurance company.
11:29I could have, but I really just wanted to put this whole situation behind me because it was right after
11:34work.
11:34Did you have to pay a fine or anything for the traffic summons?
11:37No, I pleaded not guilty.
11:38It was dismissed.
11:39You pled not guilty to being in the wrong lane?
11:42Absolutely.
11:43You were in the wrong lane.
11:45Judge Levy?
11:47When I first reviewed all this material, because, Mr. St. Raymond, that this whole story about you spitting in his
11:53face was just not true.
11:55Unless you are a watermelon seed spitting champion, cars are about seven or eight feet wide.
12:01You got to go through the entire vehicle between the two vehicles and nail you, your little head, all the
12:09way in your car.
12:11And I thought to myself, and I thought to myself, number one, there's no evidence that you actually did spit.
12:15But now you admitted that you did.
12:16Maybe you did hit him in the face.
12:18May I comment?
12:19Yeah.
12:19Okay.
12:20Both spits didn't hit either person.
12:23His spit didn't hit me.
12:24My spit didn't hit him.
12:25But he's saying it hit you in the face, right?
12:27Yes.
12:28Well, he's lying.
12:29Well, it doesn't make a difference if he's lying or not, because even if it's true, it gives him all
12:32the motive to ram into your car.
12:34Anyone would be furious if they got spit in the face.
12:38Let me ask you this, Mr. Gonzalez.
12:40Did you ever threaten Mr. St. Raymond prior to the police coming?
12:45Did you ever threaten to kill him?
12:46No.
12:47What about before they arrived?
12:49Before they arrived, he was on my vehicle in front, banging on the hood of the car as the car
12:53was neutral.
12:54I put it in neutral.
12:55So I said, do you want me to kill you because the car, he's in front of the car and
12:59it's in neutral.
13:00Now, I didn't say I was going to kill him.
13:01And you remember denying that to the police when they interviewed you, right?
13:06Yes.
13:07Yeah.
13:07So you lied to the police because you knew that it would make you look bad, right?
13:11I know how the cookie crumbles.
13:13I know you do.
13:14Let's listen to that 911 clip again.
13:16Clip one.
13:18Officer, he's lying in front of the gas pump.
13:20He's lying in front of the gas pump.
13:21It's a stupid anger and s***er just f***ed up my car.
13:24It's a stupid anger and s***er just f***ing s***er.
13:26He's not a stupid anger and s***er.
13:28Sir, I can't-
13:29You're a f***ing kid.
13:30Do you hear?
13:31There's a customer here.
13:32He's about to kill me.
13:34He's going to kill me.
13:35He's going to win me over.
13:36I'm going to kill me.
13:37You're a f***ing weapon.
13:39Sir, you're a f***ing weapon.
13:40He's on my weapon.
13:42He's on my weapon.
13:43Do you want me to do it?
13:45Do you want me to do it?
13:46What were you going to do?
13:48The car could have easily gone forward or I could have, in anger, accidentally pressed the gas pedal.
13:51So he was in a dangerous position himself.
13:53That 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 due in
14:01part because you claim that the defendant did something that got you arrested, right?
14:06No.
14:06No, sir.
14:07I got myself arrested.
14:08You got yourself arrested.
14:09Let's see what you did to get yourself arrested.
14:12Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
14:15I didn't see the accident, but obviously you need the breathalyzer.
14:18I've been in health here for over 30 years.
14:20You need the breathalyzer.
14:26Steven St. Raymond is suing Brian Gonzalez for nearly $5,000 in damages after ramming his car, then threatening to
14:34run him over.
14:35Brian says Steven hit his car out of rage, committing a hate crime against him.
14:40Let's see what you did to get yourself arrested.
14:43Stop running in the street.
14:47Calm down.
14:50Calm down.
14:52You can call me a **** all you want.
14:53It doesn't change that you hit me.
14:55Calm down.
14:57Calm down.
15:00I'm okay right now.
15:01I'm doing it with somebody right now.
15:03Calm down.
15:04You don't want to make a bunch of guys.
15:06Just tell me what happened.
15:08First of all, I'm going to get rid of this thing.
15:09Are you hurt at all?
15:14I'm not hurt at all.
15:15Are you hurt at all?
15:16No, but you did ramming to my car after spitting in my car.
15:19Hold on.
15:19Hold on.
15:20Hold on.
15:23I appreciate it.
15:24You can hang up.
15:25No, no, no, no, no problem.
15:27I'm concerned about the collision.
15:28Let me stop right here.
15:29I stopped because I heard a whole **** spit in my face.
15:33How can you justify just like it from that lane to this lane?
15:36How can you justify that?
15:37Come here for a second.
15:38No, no, no.
15:39One more outburst and you're coming with me.
15:44So we're clear.
15:45The police report filed by the officer on the scene, the first one, put in that report that
15:50you, sir, committed no action that contributed to the accident.
15:55So 1723 clip two.
15:58Let's play the video.
16:11Stop it right there.
16:13Stop that.
16:13Just so we're clear.
16:14The police report, they indicated there was no alcohol or drugs that affected you in any
16:20way.
16:20You were not at fault at all.
16:21Correct.
16:22Keep going.
16:24This is where the problem.
16:26There you are on the ground.
16:28Stop.
16:29That was you on the ground.
16:31May I comment on that?
16:31Yeah, you can.
16:32How'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 a little official owner.
16:47That's not appropriate.
16:48You know that's not normal behavior.
16:50He got out of his car in front of that car, yelled at the gentleman.
16:53The gentleman got out of his car.
16:55He got in front of the man.
16:57The gentleman got out of his car.
16:58He hit the top of his car and said, you tried to run me over.
17:01Yeah.
17:01Did you hear him spit?
17:02Did you see him spit at all?
17:04Cool.
17:05I did not see him spit.
17:08How'd he call?
17:10I told you that was it.
17:13That's it.
17:14I'm going to get arrested.
17:15That's it.
17:16You're under arrest.
17:18Come on.
17:19Get in there.
17:19And there you go.
17:20You 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
17:28to make it.
17:28You said, Mr. Gonzalez, that one of the reasons why you don't think you owe the plaintiff anything
17:33is because the 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
17:46motivated.
17:46Do you remember giving a statement to the police during their interview of you when
17:51you said the reason that he was so upset, you said it was because you cut him off?
17:56You know what?
17:57Don't answer that.
17:58Let's play it.
17:58All right.
17:59Go for it.
18:07So that's why he was infuriated, because of how you drove prior, right?
18:16Right.
18:16Nothing to do with your skin.
18:18Right.
18:18Okay.
18:18Sure.
18:19So we're clear.
18:20The police report found you to be the cause of the accident, and it also included a policy
18:25number 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
18:38against the defendant.
18:39Read the highlighted portion.
18:41The 2013 Volkswagen GTI had no policy with any member of the Progressive Group of Insurance
18:47Companies at the time of the accident.
18:49Thank you.
18:50And that's the reason why you couldn't get his insurance company to pay for the damage,
18:54which is why you had 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.
19:32And 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
19:50be troubled to submit a picture of his damaged car.
19:53At least then we would see some correlation between the accident, between the repair estimate
19:59and the car.
19:59Right now we have a repair estimate and he says, well, I just took it in and they told
20:04me a bunch of stuff.
20:04I just don't find that all persuasive.
20:06Well, that was visible on the video at the time.
20:09Here's the accident report.
20:10And 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
20:23four.
20:23Correct.
20:24Which is on the passenger side.
20:25That's right.
20:25It's exactly right.
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 sideswipe and minor damage.
20:38But the bottom line is, assuming that we find the damages, assuming we recognize that the
20:43fault was with the defendant, because it's pretty clear that it was, where are we with regard
20:47to other issues?
20:49I believe the statute of limitations in this case is 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
21:07of him getting arrested 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.
21:14And 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.
21:36Mm-hmm.
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.
21:47Like, 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.
22:19My colleagues didn't feel the same way.
22:21They 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.
22:32However, they found that they cannot do that because you filed your case too late.
22:37You missed the statute of limitations by 21 days.
22:40And I would also join in that assessment.
22:43So your case is dismissed.
22:46It 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.
22:57This case is now concluded.
22:59Parts are excused.
23:00You may step out.
23:04$4,000 to damage my car.
23:06And 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.
23:22And people can hitch a car and have no insurance.
23:28And that's fine with America.
23:30God bless America.
23:31Just watch out for road rages.
23:32And watch out for that plaintiff in particular.
23:35Have you been scammed?
23:37Let the majority rule in your favor on Tribunal Justice.
23:41Find us on social media.
23:43And on social media.
24:12See you next time.
24:19Gracias por ver el video.
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