Aren't you glad you know me? Because I have some interesting tales to tell!
Remember
this?
Well...I didn't tell you. But I went to court. TODAY. Today at 9:00am.
There we are. Me, my coworker Vicki (& friend..THANK YOU), Billy and my dad (he's Judge Judy's biggest FAN!! If there were a Judge Judy fan club, he'd totally be the president. I think it's her quick one liners that drew him in. Well, that and the fact that she doesn't tolerate idiots too well. Like him.) Dad was there for the entertainment of it all and it was his suggestion to file the small claims court suit.
Anyway...there we are. Like on Judge Judy..we were in the audience gallery. All of my posse on one side (the left of the courtroom looking at the Judge) and Baboo and his daughter-in-law (DIL) who owns the company I'm suing on the other (the right). The Judge came in and goes straight to a chalk board and goes over the rules. Goes over the legal mumbo jumbo and that's when I realized we weren't in Judge Judyland anymore. Especially when he said "This is not Judge Judy and I'm not Judge Joe Brown". During the legal stuff I didn't understand I whispered to Vicki that I think I just lost my case. He went on to explain that the only person speaking was the person doing the questioning and the person on the stand (holy crap, I'm going to have to get on the stand? I'm going to have to question? This really ISN'T Judge Judy anymore). I asked Vicki if it would be totally wrong if we took a picture of ourselves with the judge in the background and she whispered "um..yeah..don't whip out the camera".. lol.
He went through the court docket and called my name and I stood and said my name. When he asked if I would like to go to mediation I mumbled a "um" to which he said "It's A YES OR NO QUESTION". NO I said...feeling VERY intimidated and felt like I was talking to the Soup Nazi (another Seinfeld reference). I just knew he was going to be mad at me for not trying mediation..so I felt relieved whenever the other 2 cases said no as well.
My case was first. I was called to the front and was sad that there was no swinging door like on the People's Court. I was the 1st witness. All I could think of a lawyer had told me once was not to babble. State the facts and say as little as possible. So that's what I did. I told my side of the story. I submitted my evidence: the broken key, the receipt from Tom Williams Lexus, and the bank account statement where they have debited my acct as payment for the battery. Which I had to take to the defendant's table for her to look at then to the judge. I then called my first witness, Vicki. I asked her name ( I forgot to ask her address...the judge asked her if she lived in the north or south pole, oops). I asked her about the events on June 18th and she told her side of the story. I then called my husband, asked his name & address and asked about the events on June 24th. He told about going to get the key replaced then paying Baboo a visit to where he refused to pay for the key. The defendant questioned him on if he ever tried to speak to someone other than Baboo about the key and his answer was no. I rested my case (I know..I'm so Elle Woods! Minus the pink and blonde. Add cotton mouth, stuttering and a shaky nervous voice. Oh and saying "um" a lot!)
Then it was the defendant's turn. She called Baboo to the stand. The story matched up until he said that he told me that the key was cracked and I needed to take it to a dealer. {no...he didn't say that and my key wasn't cracked before he got his hands on it}. My turn to cross examine (I'm such an attorney). I asked if he was sure about the conversation between him and myself about my key being cracked and needing to take it to a car dealer. He said yes. I then asked how he took the key apart..if he unscrewed it. He said no, I didn't unscrew it. I popped it open. Bingo...it cracked around the screw from where he popped it open. I told the judge I had no further questions.
After Baboo walked off I asked the judge if I could have a rebuttal. He said yes and I went on the stand again. He asked me how I knew about rebuttal and I sure wasn't going to tell him from high school debate, Legally Blonde or Law & Order so I said, "I have a sister that went to law school". So I state that the conversation that baboo just testified to did not ever happen. My key was not cracked and he never said anything about taking it to a dealer. It was a very fast transaction where he popped it open, put the battery in, shut it, and I paid him. I then called Vicki back to the stand and asked if she ever heard the conversation between Baboo and myself and him advising me to take the key to a dealer and that there was anything wrong with it. Her answer, No.
So..before Vicki could get back to her seat the judge says "I rule in favor of the plaintiff for the amount of $124.19 plus court costs. You have 14 days to either appeal or pay".
YEA!!! I did it. Billy & my dad carried me out of the courtroom on their shoulders celebrating my victory Elle Woods style. Ok, so maybe that last sentence was a true as Baboo's "I told her it was cracked and she needed to take it to a dealer" statement..but we were all pretty excited about me wining my case. I was waiting for Doug Lewellen outside the courtroom to interview me and he totally wasn't there. But still...over all sucess and I got my judgement to get my money back. YEA!!!!! I did pass go and I will get my $200!
PS...I totally dare you to go to the mall and ask the guy at the kiosk if he replaces batteries for Lexus keys...no don't.. I'm totally kidding.
