Top 10 Judge Judy Cases That Escalated Quickly
#10: Family Affair
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Plaintiff Joshua Pritchard’s foolish and vindictive protective order against his fiancée’s brother-in-law is full of twists and turns. Molly Nolan was weeping before they barely even got started. Usually, it takes a few minutes of grilling for someone in Judge Judy’s courtroom to give in to the pressure, but since this case involved her fiancé suing her relatives, we can’t say we blame her. Still, the judge expected calm and had Nolan collect herself long enough to give a statement. This set the stage for what was a very personal, dramatic, and ultimately ridiculous case. After the working over he got from the judge, it’s unbelievable that Pritchard didn’t start crying, too.
#9: Liar, Liar, License on Fire
Plaintiff Chris Pasquarella prepared an elaborate little story about how defendant Daniel Martinez – his soon-to-be brother-in-law – stole his rental car, which led to the car being impounded. Judge Judy had trouble believing his story from the beginning. While he tried feebly to plug up any holes she was poking in his story, the moment she called his partner to take the stand and witnessed her lie, he folded like a cheap accordion. The truth was, he asked the defendant to drive the rental car, despite him not having a valid driver’s license. Judge Judy treated this case like a game of chicken, practically daring Pasquarella to lie to her. He fell right into her trap, and she ate him for lunch.
#8: “My God! She’s Got a Knife!”
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Neighbors Jaja Azikiwe and Lydia Wilson got into a dispute over loud music that quickly turned physical. We’re barely a minute in when Wilson admits that the plaintiff’s story about her having pulled a knife on him is true. She would go on to explain that she did this because she was scared of him. Immediately, Judge Judy asks why, if she was scared of him, she went out to confront him at all. This would become a recurring question throughout the case which, let us tell you, got off to a rollicking start, and never let up.
#7: A Crazy Request
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Judge Judy immediately sussed out the lie this defendant was telling. She told the judge, under oath, that she only asked her mother and stepfather to watch a friend’s baby for a few hours. But this was a lie. Because what she actually asked was insane, and she knew it. The judge got her to admit she was asking them to step in and raise her friend’s baby completely. The lies didn’t stop there, but the judge’s patience sure did. Being denied her ludicrous request led defendant Valencia Carroll to break their television and vandalize her stepfather’s car.
#6: Your Fault
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This case was won and lost in under a minute. The rest was really just a back-and-forth for our entertainment. Defendant Monika Lahai was accused of pouring bleach on her ex-boyfriend’s clothes. Her story was that she only intentionally ruined one pair of pants but that, due to him trying to grab the bottle, she accidentally spilled it over the rest. The judge contended that, either way, it was her fault. Lahai immediately launched back but, as we know, arguing with Sheindlin never goes well. The plaintiff didn’t even have to say much. This defendant lost the case all by herself.
#5: “You’re a Fibber!”
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It’s a simple question. Where was defendant Aida Nunez living in May? Nunez had a few different answers. She lived with her friend. Actually, wait, she lived with her mother. Actually, wait, your honor. Whatever’s better for her case is where she lived in May. Slippery as she is, the judge had Nunez pegged as a liar from the get-go – and she didn’t even need all the plaintiff’s interjections telling her as much. It was obvious that the rest of the case was just going to be the judge burying her in her own lies.
#4: “Learn How to Behave Yourselves!”
A case from early in the series’ run finds the plaintiff’s witness sparring with the defendant over some unseemly allegations. Even the background of this case was so full of drama, the judge had to stop defendant Ruby Washington from getting in the weeds about who she was dating and how they all knew each other. Already, it had the makings of a soap opera. The insults and accusations flew, and only continued outside the courtroom. To think this all erupted over airline tickets is kind of amazing, considering they hardly got a chance to get into that part of the case at all.
#3: Objection, Irrelevancy
The judge opened plaintiff Glenn Hazelton’s case against his own mother with a series of questions. These questions were purely for information-gathering purposes. Well, Hazelton didn’t appreciate the information she was gathering. He asked what his previous arrests for assault had to do with the case at hand, but we think he knew exactly what the pertinence was. This case revolved around him being arrested for theft and assault, after all. Either way, it’s obvious Judge Judy touched a nerve with her questions and he got so heated he actually told her to dismiss the case. Well, ask and ye shall receive. His case was recalled, but it only meant he had to answer the same questions he wanted to dodge before.
#2: Fugazi Officer
Usually, a police report is the end of the story in Judge Judy’s courtroom. In this case, it’s only the beginning. Plaintiff Kyley Jones’ heartbreaking story is one of the show’s most tragic. According to Jones, her ex-roommate Octavia Camby poured boiling water on her while she slept. For some reason, Camby wasn’t arrested. Jones insisted it was because the police officer who responded and wrote the police report was a fake. Her contention is one of the most confusing things ever heard in Judge Judy’s courtroom. It soon came out that the cops didn’t take her complaint seriously because she was simply under the influence, and they considered her an unreliable witness.
#1: Tupperware Lady
When the judge asks a litigant’s version of events, she doesn’t necessarily require the most entertaining reenactment this side of “Unsolved Mysteries.” After all, they don’t give out Emmys to court show litigants. Someone needs to tell Karina Roy. Forever cemented in the culture as the Tupperware Lady, Roy’s testimony is one for the ages. From the jump, Roy was determined to terrorize the courtroom with her theater kid antics. She wanted the judge to know every dramatic nuance of the situation. How else could Judge Judy understand the trauma, the stakes, and the tremendous emotional toll this Tupperware attack had on her?
Do you have a favorite “Judge Judy” case? Let us know in the comments.
