"The People's Court" can get surprisingly dramatic. Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the explosive and emotional moments that made “The People’s Court” look more like a soap opera than a court show.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00 "I'm going against the judge's order." "Do you hear what I said?" "Yeah, I'm talking about real judges in
00:06 Rochester." "I think I'm talking to a freaking wall!" Welcome to Miss Mojo, and today we're counting down
00:10 our picks for the explosive and emotional moments that made The People's Court look more like a soap
00:16 opera than a court show. "You, my dear, are a brave young lady to attack this head-on in my courtroom."
00:25 Number 10. A family in crisis. They're not the first family on The People's Court, but they are
00:31 one of the messiest. "Is it accurate that there's a restraining order for you to stay away from her
00:36 and uh well I guess that yes they're the parents so you know they have to say so but yes it's
00:41 active okay all right so then what's the next court action you folks have who files against who?"
00:48 While plaintiff Jerisa Taylor's story about cousin Roshonda Vick is compelling, it turns out the
00:53 defendant might be the real victim. In light of problems with her teenage son, the plaintiff seems
00:59 to have launched an assault of defamation on Vick, including allegations of drug use, child abuse,
01:05 and human trafficking. But she and her mother are the true instigators here, abusing child services
01:11 for their personal vendetta. "Did you call DCF on her? The Department of Children and Family Services?"
01:17 "No, they called me while I was at work." "Yeah, but they had to be calling you back, they don't know you."
01:22 That the plaintiff and her mother thought it was a good idea to bring this one to court,
01:26 let alone to national TV, just shows how warped their minds are. If anything, their outrageous
01:32 behavior vindicated the defendant. "I said the only one you letting fully explain anything." "That's not true."
01:38 "Well ma'am when I try-" "Yeah that's not true, it just looks like it's not going well for you, that's why you said that."
01:43 Number nine, kicking the door. It's not every day someone has a violent tantrum in the courtroom.
01:48 According to plaintiff Devin Johnson, he was just an innocent consumer who was led astray
01:53 by defendant Joseph Moretti. "You feel that he did a bunch of wasted work and as it turns out
02:00 all he had to do was use a key so you want to pay what?" "No, no." "What is it you want to pay? What is it you want?"
02:05 All he wanted was some copper pipes installed, but when the defendant determined he didn't need
02:10 those copper pipes, Johnson wanted all his money back. When he didn't get what he wanted, Moretti
02:15 alleges he kicked his car. "I put a big dent in the side of my car. I was actually telling the guy just to get him
02:21 mad at it. I was going to give him another 200 hours just to get him away." Well, when the judge
02:25 ruled that he'd only get half of his money back, Johnson kicked the courtroom door open and stormed
02:31 out, effectively proving the defendant's story. Judge Millian was not having it. "Never mind, I
02:37 changed my mind actually because-" "That's exactly the way it happened." "That's exactly the way it happened and so you go take care of your man and I hope you're going to be okay."
02:45 "And forget it." She rescinded her verdict in his favor and berated the man until he left.
02:51 Number eight, a cold mother. Plaintiff Lelani Cooper may have some ulterior motives in suing
02:57 her mother for money borrowed. It might just be the only way her mother will see her. "She sent me a text.
03:03 'Lelani, do not come over here. I will call the police and have you arrested for trespassing.
03:10 It's better to live it this way.'" Defendant Teresita Landry has all but shut her daughter
03:16 out of her life because she is not raising her children in the church. Even when Cooper holds
03:21 up a picture of the woman's grandchildren, her mother can't get past her disappointment
03:25 about them not being baptized. "The kids won't be, you know, not be going to heaven."
03:33 Judge Millian levels with her as a religious person herself. Even though her daughter is
03:38 clearly devastated, Landry is unable to hear reason. "Enough already because trust me there
03:44 is no god that I can envision that could be smiling upon your behavior." Number seven,
03:48 like mother, like daughter. A series of miscommunications and misunderstandings over a
03:53 rental car led to an all-out brawl in the street between the plaintiff, the defendant, and the
03:58 defendant's teenage daughter. "I told her show me what I owe and then I will pay and then she showed
04:04 up with two cars full of people that assaulted as well as Kareem that assaulted my 15 year old
04:09 and at that point I didn't want to talk." Defendant Kendra Lewis is clearly upset by the whole event.
04:14 However, when the judge starts grilling her daughter, she realizes just how involved the
04:19 young girl was in the fight. "He raised his hand to hit my mother. That's when I ran and I ran up
04:25 to him trying to hit him and then whoever she was with, he grabbed me and threw me against my
04:31 knee in his car." The judge has feelings about the defendant letting her daughter get into adult's
04:35 business, but Lewis puts all the blame on the plaintiffs. The kicker is the defendant literally
04:40 just storming out of the courtroom when she loses, leaving her daughter behind. "Would you admit you
04:46 owe the money?" "Yes, but once she came with violence, I'm not owing you anything. I owe
04:50 you something else." Number six, stealing a dog. Sarah Mako has fallen on hard times when she takes
04:56 her cousin, Christopher Colgan, to court over a dog she felt belonged to her. However, the fact
05:02 that the rest of her family is on the other side of the courtroom leads to some probing questions
05:06 about their tense family dynamic. "Because my grandmother's very spiteful and I didn't want my
05:11 grandmother to kick her out." "I thought you visited your grandmother every other day." "No,
05:14 absolutely that's why I'm confused as to why my grandmother would do this to me.
05:17 Um, but she's very, I didn't want her to backlash on my aunt and my cousins and kick them out."
05:22 Colgan presents himself as a good-natured, aspiring cop in court. However, his vicious
05:28 and vindictive private messages reveal a whole other side to him. "What kind of marine are you?
05:33 Because that's really one of the nastiest, most immature things I've ever seen in my life. How
05:39 are you even dating this guy?" "I didn't know he was that mean." The judge rightfully describes him
05:44 as the last person who should be behind a badge. Although Mako seems to be the outcast in her
05:49 family, given her cousin's true nature and her grandmother's equally vindictive tirade outside
05:55 of the courtroom, maybe that's not a bad thing. "She doesn't need the dog. They don't even live
06:01 in the trailer that they were given." "Watch your language, man." Number 5. Is your wife in the room?
06:07 Suing a family member is a sticky situation, but so is loaning money to them. "Are you sorry it's
06:13 gotten to this?" "Yeah, oh yeah. I've tried texting her countless times in the past couple months
06:20 to try to just be like, 'Get this over with, I give you this.'" "Do you love your brother?" "I love him so much. I hate that this is happening."
06:26 Plaintiff Timothy McDonald is suing his brother-in-law Darren McCormick Jr., who is a
06:32 recovering addict, for the return of a loan. The judge is shocked when the plaintiff lies about his
06:37 wife, the defendant's sister, not being in the room when she is in the gallery. She just didn't want
06:43 to be in the middle of it. "You just said no, you're under oath. She just raised her hand."
06:46 "You have to hit me for contempt, you know?" "What are you doing? Were you more afraid of her than me?"
06:51 From the jump, it's clear that there's less resentment here than just genuine care and
06:56 compassion. Instead of playing arbitrator, Judge Millian starts playing mediator. It's one of the
07:01 rare family cases where it seems like there's a way forward. "He gets that you have to live a little.
07:07 And that's so much more caring than most brother-in-laws would be. So figure your junk out, guys."
07:15 4. Hiding a minor Co-plaintiffs Zaul and Christina Vasquez's unruly
07:21 and emotionally unstable teenage daughter went missing for six days. A full-blown investigation
07:28 led police to her boyfriend's house, where co-defendant Melinda McManus was helping her son
07:33 hide the girl. "Do you understand how lame your answer to me, 'I thought I was protecting her' is
07:38 when there are police looking for her who could protect her?" "Yes, your honor." "She's hiding
07:44 under a bed of your 16-year-old son?" But even more disturbing is the emotional state of the
07:49 teenagers involved. Violent texts between the girl and the defendant's son spell a disastrous
07:54 and dangerous situation in the making. "As a therapist for youth, are you perhaps thinking
08:00 now that having her around your son may not be the best thing?" The defendants more than earned
08:06 the judge's ire, with Christopher McManus actually questioning her credentials right in front of her.
08:12 It's the judge's plea to the plaintiffs to not give up on their daughter that really hits home.
08:18 "This isn't gonna last. But you don't, you know, while you're working on this so hard,
08:22 the last thing you need are two unrepentant, smug other parents interfering."
08:29 3. Fighting over ashes The grown son of two ex-spouses passed away,
08:34 and the father sues the mother because she kept both the urns containing their son's ashes.
08:39 Judge Millian's courtroom becomes a family therapy session as the two unearth years of
08:44 resentment and regret. "She's not willing to accept that." "She doesn't trust you." "Right,
08:48 she says it's a lie, you know." "Okay, let me talk to you." Stories of drug addiction, crime,
08:54 and neglect come to light. The defendant can barely keep it together as she tells the story
08:58 of her ex's history with drug abuse and how their son headed down the same road.
09:03 "It's been an ongoing battle with trying to keep my son clean. And I feel like every time I reached
09:09 out to him to please help and do the right thing as a father should do, he never did."
09:15 By the end, little has been resolved. Instead, the two have resorted to blaming each other
09:19 for their son's death. "If she wouldn't have made his life so miserable all these years,
09:23 he would never have turned to drugs. That's the fact of it all." "You're the one who went to jail
09:27 for drugs." "But she's the one who made his life miserable."
09:29 2. Family Secrets
09:31 This case took a shocking and devastating turn halfway through. Judge Millian became frustrated
09:36 because no one in this case, between a grown son and his mother, was being specific about the
09:41 events that led up to his moving out. "I'm very frustrated. I'm trying to get a story out of it
09:46 and everybody's very cagey and doesn't want to say anything. No. I want to know exactly what he
09:51 said that would propel you to call the police when he went for a walk with a bat." It's not just a
09:56 case about missing property. She gets to the bottom of the family strife, and it's absolutely
10:01 heart-wrenching. "I've been going to therapy and to deal with it and to help cope. It has helped,
10:09 but it is still kind of a sore topic." The plaintiff paints a picture of himself as an
10:14 outcast and a victim, but that's all blown apart when his mother reveals that he preyed on his
10:19 sister years before. It's clear there's more to this family's pain than can be settled in court.
10:25 "Do you think a relationship with your son is possible at this point?"
10:29 "No, I do not. I think this is the straw that broke the camel's back, which is sad."
10:35 Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.
10:39 "Must be the sexuality thing. A litigant accuses Judge Millian of homophobia,
10:45 and it does not go over well." "Must be the sexuality thing."
10:49 "No it's not, and I resent that. And you know what? Get out of my courtroom."
10:52 "Hold up that pillow." Things threaten to get out of hand over a butt print on a pillow.
10:58 "Hold up that pillow again. Hold up that pillow." "Can I bend over for you two?"
11:02 "No, no." "Hey, hey, hey, walk back. I don't know where you think you are."
11:07 "I'm sorry. I apologize. I wasn't trying to be rude." "We don't have that happen."
11:11 "Uninvited guest." It's not every day you find a dead man in your apartment.
11:15 "I woke up Lee. I said, 'Lee, your friend's on the floor,' and I can't get him up.
11:19 Lee comes downstairs and he says he's not breathing. And I mean, I never saw a dead person
11:27 before." So much church, so little religion. A fight between an aspiring pastor and his cousin
11:33 gets violent. "Me, I'm just like enraged. I'm going crazy. Like, why did you bring
11:37 these people to my house?" "Okay, so much church, so little religion."
11:40 "Thank you. Thank you." "Well now, that was to you too."
11:43 Defamation and no character. A website developer posts outrageous lies for money.
11:50 "You're in control. You're not only in control, you're a horrible person. Because you're taking
11:55 pictures and making them look like something that you know they're not because you have the
11:59 real pictures." Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to
12:03 get notified about our latest videos. You have the option to be notified for occasional videos
12:08 or all of them. If you're on your phone, make sure you go into your settings and switch on
12:13 notifications. 1. Stepping in
12:17 Judge Millian had her hands full with 21-year-old Anthony "Gino" Martinson,
12:22 who secreted a teenager away from her parents under the guise of protecting her from their
12:27 abuse. He's suing them for ruining his name and for filing a false restraining order.
12:32 "What we're talking about is you persuading a 16-year-old that she should be with you
12:36 because you're a better parent, apparently. Are you out of your mind?"
12:41 Martinson's audacity in thinking he could care for a minor is bad enough. However,
12:46 when the parents allege he has been having a relationship with their daughter,
12:50 the judge begins to see it all more clearly. His unmitigated hubris leads him to sue for the motel
12:56 and travel expenses he used with their daughter, which gives way to a classic Judge Millian tirade.
13:03 "Where does this come from when what we're dealing with is a minor? I'm just, I'm floored."
13:10 Which of these cases had you on the edge of your seat? Tell us in the comments.
13:15 "Don't interrupt me, don't talk over me, don't roll your eyes when I'm looking right at you,
13:19 and take it down a few notches."
13:21 Do you agree with our picks? Check out this other recent clip from Ms Mojo.
13:25 And be sure to subscribe and ring the bell to be notified about our latest videos.
13:29 [Music]