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00:00Grand larceny, trespassing, and criminal mischief.
00:03You go to prison for that.
00:05Now on Tribunal Justice.
00:07The defendant came to your shop
00:09and stole a beautiful live edge custom river table.
00:13This had a padlock on it, and we came to the store,
00:17and the padlock was on the ground.
00:18What she's telling you about a break-in never happened.
00:21Where is the table now?
00:22It's in my garage.
00:24So are you lying to us, or did you lie to the police?
00:33.
00:51Today's case was filed in Bushnell, Florida.
00:55Judge, this is case number 3078
00:58in the matter of Jill's unique creation versus Swanson.
01:02Thank you, Bert.
01:02You're welcome.
01:03If all these have been sworn in, you may be seated.
01:06Ma'am, have a seat.
01:06You are Jill Godin of Jill's unique creations.
01:10You make custom handcrafted furniture.
01:13We're here today because you allege that the defendant ordered a table from you.
01:17It was a handcrafted, live-edged dining room river table.
01:22But before it was done, the defendant came to your shop, cut the locks,
01:27and stole the table before he'd finished paying for it.
01:31So you are suing him for $8,000, $3,000 for the cost of the table,
01:36plus what you describe as additional damages of $5,000.
01:40I'm gonna construe that as a request for punitive damages,
01:43since what you're alleging here is that the defendant engaged in malicious intentional conduct.
01:50You maintain, sir, that the work that she did was so substandard
01:54that your new person was like, it's not salvageable.
01:57There's nothing I can do with this table.
01:58So you're countersuing the plaintiff for $3,300.
02:02And you also have interposed a request for punitive damages as well
02:06for what you claim was malicious and intentionally harmful conduct.
02:11Let's start with you, ma'am.
02:13Tell me about your shop. What does it look like?
02:15We have a store on the veterans' property for combat veterans.
02:20And we do a lot of pro bono work for them.
02:22So we rent three acres where we have so many tents.
02:26And my assistant here, really my partner, Michelle Batho, it's just the two of us.
02:31And we create about 200 tables a year.
02:34It starts with a log.
02:35Yeah, why don't you explain what a live-edged table means?
02:39If you look at this table here, this is a live-edged table.
02:43See the sides of it? This is the way the tree grew.
02:46If you look at this table, it has cracks in it.
02:48And we pour a river down the middle.
02:50This is called a river.
02:51And it's resin.
02:52And we match it to what the customer wants.
02:55It's the same sort of wood that you make Gibson guitars from?
02:59Yes, Your Honor. It's called karina.
03:01This is very expensive wood.
03:02And Mr. Swanson said he had a lot of money and he wanted the best.
03:05So he ordered the karina.
03:07And Mr. Swanson, I have to say that the back story to why you were so interested
03:12in this table is pretty interesting.
03:15You say that you spent 20 years obese?
03:19325 pounds, Your Honor.
03:21You lost 100 pounds after your wife left you.
03:23You had some heart issues.
03:25How did you lose 100 pounds, by the way?
03:27I had to become marketable.
03:29I wanted a beautiful woman like you to look at me.
03:32And at 325, not so good.
03:36So your wife leaves you.
03:37You say, you know what?
03:39I need to change some things in my life.
03:41And you've got some bucket list items, one of which is to have a beautiful live-edged
03:46custom river table like the plaintiff makes.
03:49Absolutely.
03:50Can we put up Exhibit 1, the reference table?
03:52Well, this is not the final table, of course.
03:55That's correct.
03:55But sir, was this kind of what you were looking for?
03:57Exactly.
03:58And sir, you give her $2,000 down payment with a credit card?
04:03She asked for $2,000.
04:04It actually wound up $2,114.32.
04:08You agree with that?
04:08$21, did you change?
04:09Yes, Your Honor, but that was tax.
04:11And I asked for $1,500.
04:13He wanted to give me $2,000 because I only require 50% down.
04:16How long did you estimate it would take you to complete the table?
04:19I told the defendant it depended on the weather because we do all of our work outside and resin
04:24cannot be poured under 60 degrees.
04:26So if it rains or it's under 60 degrees, the work stops.
04:30We try to get our tables done within four to six weeks, but sometimes it can be longer than that.
04:35So what I'm going to do is skip from October when the two of you make the original deal
04:40to November 22nd.
04:43She tells you that it's finished after sending you pictures.
04:46What's your response?
04:48Her text to me says the table is perfect.
04:51You've got copies of that.
04:53The table has no legs and I've paid for the legs.
04:56Secondly, the resin was bubbly.
04:58It looked like a candle that had fallen over.
05:01It just didn't look right.
05:03So November 22nd, you're not quite happy with it.
05:06But according to your complaint on the 22nd, you were like, it doesn't have legs yet.
05:11We had made an agreement.
05:12He wanted the table for Thanksgiving.
05:14The legs had not come in.
05:15I told him I could deliver the table for Thanksgiving and put it on saw horses in his dining room.
05:19And when the legs arrived, I would come to his house and put the legs on.
05:24And he was going to pay us $1,000 because we never let a table leave the shop without getting
05:27paid.
05:28Now, sir, you allege that she says, take the table and have somebody else complete the table.
05:34When do you allege she told you that?
05:36That was on November 25th.
05:38She said, if I don't like the surface, that the ripples on it need to have a carpenter plane the
05:44wood.
05:44I did not know what that term was.
05:46I am not a table expert.
05:48I relied on her as a table expert who supposedly builds 200 tables a year to have the proper tools
05:54and equipment.
05:55Did you tell him to have the table planed?
05:57Absolutely not.
05:58If a table ever needs to be planed, there's a place in Orlando that has a commercial planer that's bigger
06:03than these three desks.
06:04And I pay $100 an hour to plane a table.
06:08And the only reason we even talked about planing was because he wasn't happy with the smoothness of the table.
06:14And I said, if you really don't like it, then maybe we'll make it even flatter and it'll get more
06:18smooth.
06:18And he said, I absolutely don't want the table planed.
06:22And Michelle was there when he said it.
06:24Ask Michelle.
06:25Michelle, why don't you come help us?
06:28Tell me what you recall of the conversation.
06:30He came and he was complaining that it wasn't smooth enough.
06:35And Jill said, well, we can I can take it to Orlando and we'll have it planed.
06:40And he looked me and he goes, absolutely not.
06:43So that's when I resanded the whole table again.
06:47This is the 25th.
06:49Yes, I finished.
06:50The whole table was ready to go on Tuesday and he did not come back.
06:55Tuesday of Thanksgiving week.
06:56Correct.
06:57He doesn't come back.
06:58And I think, ma'am, Ms. Gooden, in your complaint,
07:01you told him that you were going to be closed for the balance of the week after Tuesday.
07:06After Wednesday afternoon.
07:07After Wednesday afternoon.
07:08But you returned to the shop after the Thanksgiving holiday.
07:11And what do you find there?
07:12This is the lock.
07:14This had a this had a padlock on it.
07:16And this wraps around the gate.
07:19And then this was one piece.
07:21And then it goes in here and we put a padlock.
07:23And I have a picture in my phone of the padlock.
07:25And that's how we lock up our store.
07:27And we came to the store at eight o'clock on Saturday morning.
07:31And this was on the ground.
07:32And the padlock was on the ground.
07:34Someone has cut the lock.
07:37Correct.
07:37And taken the table.
07:39Right.
07:39And we weren't feeling comfortable with what was going on.
07:44When you say you weren't feeling so good about some things.
07:46Was this because of the tensions with the defendant?
07:49Or were there other things going on?
07:50We had something really weird happen.
07:53Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
07:56Michelle said, don't touch me.
07:58And he smacked her on the butt.
07:59And that's not true.
08:01Yes, and Michelle's going to talk to you about it.
08:03What happened?
08:09Jill Godin is suing Brian Swanson for stealing a handcrafted dinner table
08:14Jill spent weeks making for him.
08:16She's seeking $8,000 for the table plus damages.
08:19But Brian says he took what was his.
08:21And is now counter suing for over $3,300 for the return of his deposit.
08:26Claiming the table isn't even usable.
08:28When you say you weren't feeling so good about some things.
08:31Was this because of the tensions with the defendant?
08:33Or were there other things going on?
08:34We had something really weird happen.
08:36Michelle's birthday was in November.
08:38And he told her she deserved a birthday smack.
08:41Who told her that?
08:42He did.
08:43The defendant told you, Michelle, that you deserved the birthday smack.
08:47And Michelle said, don't touch me.
08:50And he smacked her on the butt.
08:51That is not true.
08:53At that point.
08:54It's an allegation, sir.
08:55Yeah, so Michelle's going to talk to you about it.
08:57What happened?
08:59He said, you deserve a birthday spanking.
09:01And I said, don't touch me.
09:03And he just turned around and smacked me on the bottom.
09:05And I just walked away.
09:07And we were starting to feel very strange about his character.
09:11I'm going to leave it there for just a moment.
09:13And pass the case to Judge Domingo.
09:15Is that actually from his table?
09:17That is a piece of the end of the table.
09:20We cut that piece off the table.
09:22Before you?
09:23Before we started making the table to make it the proper size.
09:25Sir, would you go over to that table, please?
09:27And run your hand over it.
09:29Let us know whether or not you think it feels the way yours did.
09:33No, this is very nice.
09:35This is very nice.
09:36I wish my table was like this.
09:38I know that yours was 42 by 76, if I'm not mistaken.
09:42And that's a nice size table.
09:44So I'm going to stop.
09:44Can I back up one second, please?
09:46I just want to know, where is the table now?
09:48It's in my garage.
09:49It's in your garage.
09:50Correct.
09:50Would you have taken the table back?
09:52Yes, Your Honor.
09:52We went to mediation, but he was not willing to mediate because he wanted money.
09:56What did he want?
09:57He wants 30-some hundred dollars, but he refuted $2,000 of the deposit.
10:01And if you look at my page 17, you'll see it came out of my account.
10:04I haven't gotten anything for this table.
10:06He's got the table and the money.
10:07By the way, sir, do you know what circumstantial evidence is?
10:10I do.
10:10It appears, circumstantially, that this break-in to their premises was by you or some agent
10:18of yours because you actually have the table.
10:22Judge, can I show you evidence that she has falsified a police report?
10:25I would like to show you evidence that what she's telling you about a break-in never happened.
10:30I don't need to see that right now.
10:32How did you get the table?
10:33Well, on November 30th, approximately 8-10, the carpenter I drove on the property, she
10:40normally, when I go by the tent, she comes and pops out. Today, she didn't pop out.
10:44She didn't want to see you.
10:45Correct.
10:45You go and you take the table.
10:47But she told me to have planes.
10:48You take the...
10:49She didn't say, come and take the table from here and have a plane.
10:52No. You went on her property and you take something that's worth over $1,000 or $1,500 in most
10:59jurisdictions,
11:00you commit a grand larceny and a Burke III. You literally committed a crime when all you had
11:06to do was try to resolve this in mediation somehow.
11:09We did try. I showed her what the carpenter found was how uneven. And if you'd please look
11:15at this exhibit.
11:16I do know what you're talking about. And I can see on some of this here that it's not all
11:22level.
11:22Now, that's a whole nother issue, ma'am.
11:24That's another issue, number one. But number two, I don't know whether his carpenter
11:28did anything to that table. Because if you look at my pictures of the finished table,
11:32the table's totally flat.
11:33And that's a problem that you have. Because you have a carpenter who took this,
11:37who tried to do something to it. Now, it's almost impossible to tell whether it was something they
11:43did in breach of your contract or whether your man did something to it and made it now unusable
11:49as a table. What is it? Because I need to pass this.
11:51Because the police report about approximately two hours after he picked it up, the carpenter
11:56hadn't started any work. Well, I don't know whether he started it or not. And he's not
12:00here and you can't say. So the bottom line is, it's still difficult to determine who did what
12:05to your table. Judge Levy? So the police showed up at your place.
12:08That is correct. They spoke to you.
12:10Correct. They spoke to your carpenter.
12:12I did not want my carpenter to have an issue and have a problem. He's not a U.S. citizen.
12:18Did you say that there was anyone else there with you two?
12:21There was a third person, his helper.
12:22You told them you didn't steal the table.
12:24Correct.
12:25And you deny cutting the lock, right?
12:27Correct. And if you look at the edge of that lock, you'll see how corroded it is.
12:31No, I get all that. I mean, the reason that they're with you is because they just came from
12:35them with that lock cut. It's on the ground and the police asked you if you cut the lock. And
12:41you
12:41deny cutting the lock. Correct.
12:42And did the police find probable cause to arrest you?
12:46No.
12:47No.
12:47And that's also in the police report?
12:48Correct.
12:49Let's put up 06, because this is your evidence. That's the table. It's not even.
12:53Correct.
12:54Let's look at 07. That's the table. That's a gouge in the table.
12:58Correct.
12:58Let's look at 12. Bubbles in the resin. That was your point. That was his point. Now,
13:05I want to go over damages. I want to go over your counterclaim, all right? Because it may have merit.
13:09You say that you paid $2,000 deposit. And you provided us with a piece of paper that at least
13:15said that, right?
13:16Correct.
13:16The problem is that nowhere on this piece of paper does it have your name on it that's
13:20showing it's your account. So with respect to those questions that I asked about the
13:25police on November 30th, when the incident was fresh in your mind, you answered their questions
13:29honestly and truthfully, just as you did here.
13:32Yes.
13:33Officer asked Mr. Swanson if he remembered when he picked the table up and he said,
13:38quote, I don't know. Nothing about 810. You recall telling that to the police?
13:44I'm sorry?
13:45Yes.
13:46Right. Because what I just read to you made it very clear that what you told the police
13:49is absolutely opposite what you just told us. So are you lying to us or did you lie to the
13:57police?
13:59Coming up on Tribunal Justice.
14:02The money came out of her account because of the credit card dispute. Not only had you not
14:05finished paying for it, according to her, you may not have paid for it at all.
14:14Jill Godin claims Brian Swanson broke into her shop and stole the dining table she was making for him.
14:20She's suing for $8,000. The cost of the table plus damages. But Brian says he paid for the table
14:26and it's worthless because of the poor quality. So he's counter suing for $3,300.
14:32What you told the police is absolutely opposite what you just told us. So are you lying to us or
14:40did
14:40you lie to the police?
14:41Your Honor, I had just woke up from a nap. I was in a little bit of a fog. I'm
14:45sorry.
14:46When I asked you whether or not the police found probable cause to arrest you that day, you said,
14:51no. Let's go to page five of five. This is the police officer's recommendation to the
14:57district attorney's office. Quote, I find Mr. Swanson and the unknown person responsible
15:02in violating the following grand larceny, trespassing, criminal mischief for the lock.
15:08You read that before you came in here. No, sir. This is what I read. I don't have that page.
15:12I read page five. So you don't have that page. That's okay. Because I do have that page.
15:20So if you don't have that page, then the answer to my question, did the police find probable cause,
15:26would have been, I don't know what they found. I wasn't arrested. That's why I said that.
15:31No, no, no. The undersigned certifies and swears that the above named defendant,
15:38you committed violations of law, grand larceny, trespassing and criminal mischief. And in the
15:44great state of Florida, you go to prison for that. I have nothing further. Thank you.
15:48Thank you, judge. So let's put up exhibit seven and I want to talk to the plaintiff.
15:53So look at this gouge. He says that this is why the table was unusable. What's your response to that?
15:59That wasn't there when it left. I have no idea. But if it was there,
16:02I would have filled it with resin. I think that's a plane or a corner of a hand planer that
16:07did that.
16:07I don't know. Can I say something? Please.
16:09I do all the sanding. I would have never missed that. That would have been sanded smooth.
16:16Can we put up exhibit five? Now, sir, because you and your carpenter and his helper took the table,
16:24I don't know who gouged it. You didn't say, I'm not going to pay you for the table until you
16:29fix the gouges. You just took it. So why should I hold her liable for anything? And I know you
16:36were
16:36charged on October 22nd. That's the evidence you submitted. Several months later, after this dispute,
16:43she submitted evidence that on February 21st, the money came out of her account because of the
16:47credit card dispute. Not only had you not finished paying for it, according to her, you may not have
16:52paid for it at all. You just don't get to enter somebody's premises without permission. If she
16:56messed up as badly as you say she did, you still don't get to do it. You're correct. The carpenter
17:02had places to go. So you're just going to take the stuff. You're going to enter these women's
17:07premises. I thought I was doing what she wanted to do to get this plane so we could finish this.
17:12We're already much later. I never wanted this table for Thanksgiving. I just wanted it done.
17:16As I said, it defies logic that she would just say, ah, just come in whenever you want. That
17:21doesn't matter if I'm there. She doesn't know you from the ground. You can take anything else.
17:25At retrospect, you're 100% correct. I did not do it properly.
17:28Thank you very much. I have nothing further.
17:29I have some things because what I've noticed about you, you don't have boundaries. And that's
17:34why I believe Michelle, when she said you passed her by and said you deserve a birthday, Pat,
17:40she felt silly saying it. And you had the nerve to jump up as though that was not true. And
17:45it was.
17:46The second boundary issue you had was going on to their property. And this whole issue about who
17:52caused what damage, you know, in the law, we have a thing when somebody, when the police retrieve or
17:57recover property, it's very important that they label it, they beg it, that it's marked. Why?
18:02Because chain of custody is important. When there's a chain of custody that's broken,
18:07we can't say who did what to the property. So those are other problems that you have.
18:12Let me ask you, was anything else taken from your place?
18:17No. Nothing. Thank you. I'm done.
18:19OK, so what we have is proof from the plaintiffs that on February 21st, 2025,
18:27the money was taken out of their account. That was his deposit.
18:30That's correct. And there's no money showing it going back into your account.
18:33It did not. They told me they could not.
18:34Right. Because they had already taken it out.
18:36That's correct. So the way I see it, sir, you were in possession of information three weeks after
18:43your mediation showing that the money was put back into your account. And I believe the money
18:49was, in fact, put back into your account. You were credited that. And you allowed the lawsuit to
18:54continue knowing that you've already been made whole. It was. And then it came back out again.
19:00OK. And I can take notice of the fact that's not the way the credit card operates. I can also
19:04take
19:04notice of the fact that it's complete bad faith that you're with us right now,
19:08arguing for $3,100 and some odd dollars, despite the fact that you've been reimbursed
19:13by your credit card. Because, sir, I don't believe you. And neither did the police. I'm nothing else.
19:20We are going to retire you to deliberate. Thank you, Michelle. You could see.
19:23Court now stands in recess. This case will be recalled. Parties are excused.
19:35Let's start with the countersuit, if you two don't mind. I think we have to dismiss it. He can't tie
19:41any of the damage to the table to her. He took the table without permission before he'd even,
19:46I was going to say, finished paying for it. But the only evidence in the record is that that credit
19:50card payment to her was reversed. So he got the table, didn't pay for it and entered her property
19:55without permission. I think that the countersuit should be dismissed. I said, let's start with that.
20:00So why don't I just stop there? I agree. The whole chain of custody with this makes his case
20:04almost impossible to prove. And that's it. Case in chief, plaintiff's complaint.
20:09I think she's entitled to all of it. I think she's entitled to the $3,000. And I think she's
20:14entitled to punitive damages. This was an intentional act and he did it in wanton and willful disregard of
20:21her rights. Across the board on different levels as well. I mean, he to me is a man with no
20:25boundaries.
20:25He went onto her property. He committed at the worst burglary, at best a trespass,
20:30but definitely a grand larceny. And when you asked him, was he charged with a felony? He said no.
20:33But meanwhile, he was charged with grand larceny. So he really was very disingenuous about a lot of
20:38the things that transpired between him and the police department. She definitely deserves punitive
20:43damages here, just the way he behaved during the process and afterwards. So yes, she gets back
20:48everything. And I do believe her as well, that she did not get the money back. Yeah. Not only has
20:52she
20:52made out her burden that she's entitled to the full money back. If you look at the evidence on his
20:56side,
20:57number one, he lied to us and he lied to the police because he says he doesn't know what the
21:01police found. To me, it's disingenuous that he only comes into court with part of a police report and
21:08he conveniently omits the part where they find specifically probable cause that he committed the
21:13grand larceny, the trespass and the criminal mischief. I mean, he's a clown. He was lying through his teeth.
21:19The police wanted to speak to the carpenter guy, right? Obviously. So what we can do here is take an
21:24adverse inference from the fact that he did not bring in the carpenter guy to prove the cutting
21:29of the lock, to prove anything that he said in here. The whole story was just such nonsense.
21:33By the way, the police report said that there was only one other guy and he said that there
21:36were two other guys. He wasn't being honest. I mean, it's pretty clear. She gets what she's asked for.
21:42Yeah, I agree. Me too. Very good.
21:47Porter's back in session. I remind parties you're still under oath.
21:51Thank you, Bert. We've deliberated and we've reached a unanimous verdict. We're going to start
21:55with your countersuit. We're unanimous in dismissing it. You've identified what you claim to be were some
22:01faults and defects in the table. You can't prove that they happened at her hands as opposed to the
22:06hands of your carpenter. And by the way, since you went onto the property and took the table without
22:12permission and without paying for it, we certainly aren't going to sustain a countersuit. So your
22:18countersuit is dismissed. As to your case in chief, not only are you entitled to be reimbursed for the
22:24table, but we also find that punitive damages are assessed for intentional conduct that is taken in
22:32willful or wanton disregard of someone else's rights. And I think as we all made abundantly clear,
22:38that's your property. Nobody gets to just walk into someone's premises and say, you know what? Now I'm
22:44going to take it. She said I could take it. Now I'm going to take it. No one gets to
22:48violate space like
22:50that. We are unanimous in upholding your request for relief in the amount of $8,000. The work is in
22:56fact
22:56beautiful. Good luck to you and good luck to you, ma'am. That's the verdict of the court.
23:02This case is now concluded. Parties are excused. You may step out.
23:09It isn't a table. It's an unstable table. We've made over 200 tables. This is the first time this
23:15has happened. No lock was cut. She falsified a police report. I think he was trying to get
23:19something for nothing. It's all warped and you can't use it for anything. It made us sick that
23:25somebody would violate us like that. That's the violation that would hurt us the most. Totally
23:29unbelievable and not true. I've never prosecuted anybody in my life and I think that's something
23:33seriously wrong with him. Did someone break an agreement? Let Tribunal Justice decide your case.
23:40Find us on social media.
23:56Do you have any questions?
23:57.
23:57.
23:59.
23:59.
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