Judy Justice

You had a physical fight.

I called the police.

'Cause my head was leaking blood.

You had hit him over the head with a speaker!

In self-defense.

We were arguing.

Had you both been drinking?

The two of you were clearly blotto drunk.

This is Judy Justice.

Christina Parra is suing her ex-boyfriend Lorenzo Jordan

for a dental bill and travel costs.

Court come to order. All rise.

Be seated please.

Hello, Judge. We have case number 1023, Parra vs. Jordan.

-Thank you. -Mm-hm.

Miss Parra, Mr. Jordan is your former boyfriend, and you claim,

over the course of the relationship, a series of loans.

Mr. Jordan has a cross complaint.

And his cross complaint is for a serious assault

that he claims he was the victim of at your hand.

According to what I've read, you met the defendant

in 2019 online. Is that right?

-That's not correct. - What year?

We met in January of 2019 in a restaurant

when he was working for a micro-wrestling team.

Okay, were you a customer at that restaurant?

-I was an employee. - And he?

He was an assigned vendor, I guess?

That they came in and set up and did micro-wrestling.

In what month did you begin living together?

-April. - And he came to live with you?

-You have three children. -That is correct.

According to your complaint, the first loan that you made to him

-was for dental work. -That is correct.

The second loan that you made to him was for travel expenses

to go to another jurisdiction so he could reconnect

with a child that he had from another relationship.

That is correct.

And you had never met that child or the child's mother.

That is correct.

And you were curious.

No, I was just trying to help.

Well, let's get to the first loan.

Because living as long as I have, it give you certain advantages.

Those advantages are that there are certain things that...

regularly happen when a woman is crazy about a guy

and wants to do everything to make it solid.

The first loan that you made to him

was in what year to have his teeth fixed?

December of 2019.

I want you to tell me your version of this loan for dental work.

Okay, so we had started dating.

He had told me that he had went to prison in the past

and that's why his teeth were all rotted out.

-And that was a lie, most of his teeth. -Look at me. Just a second.

Just a second.

You have to understand that I understand

casual conversation, pillow talk.

I know the difference between those things.

So I want you to tell me exactly when he asked you for a loan

to have his teeth fixed.

I don't know the exact date of when he asked me.

I mean, it had just been conversations that had been coming up.

Um, every time I'd make dinner, it would be really hard for him to chew,

he only had one tooth.

So, I mean, I'd have to coordinate my dinners on what he could eat.

So it would come up frequently in a lot of conversations.

"What are we gonna do about your teeth?"

And he was like, "Well, I need to get my teeth done."

No, just a second-- Ah!

"What are we going to do about your teeth?"

Keep going.

Right, and I said, "Well, we can research some things.

But you're gonna have to pay for this on your own.

That didn't happen. That last phrase didn't happen.

"We'll research it and see." That happened.

-Mm-hmm. - And who researched it?

He did.

Did you research where to go to have your teeth fixed?

-No, actually, she re-- No, I didn't. - Just-- Just--

Who found the place to have your teeth fixed?

Uh, the plaintiff did.

Who made the appointment?

The plaintiff did.

Did she discuss with you? I mean, she had to take you with her

so I want you to tell me what the discussion was.

She said, "I'll make the appointment." And she made the appointment?

Yeah, it was more of like a surprise to me. Um...

That's not true.

- Just because-- -Don't speak.

-Just because, I didn't-- you know, - I don't care what you thought.

Did she say to you, "I made an appointment for you to have your teeth done?"

- Yes. -Okay. Where were you working at the time?

-Part time at Cheesecake Factory. -Doing what?

Uh, dishwashing.

And what kind of work does the plaintiff do?

Usually restaurant work. Uh, server.

Other than working at a restaurant, Miss Parra,

tell me what other source of income you have. You have three children.

Does their father send child support?

At the time, they were, and yes, I always had two jobs.

-I had sales jobs and the restaurant. - Sales. Restaurant...

The restaurant was more like a side--

And you get child support.

And how much child support do you get for the children?

It was around $1,200.

- A month. -Yes.

When you were living with Mr. Jordan, living with him--

-Mm-hmm. - In December of 2020,

what kind of work was he doing?

-He was unemployed at first. And then... - Unemployed.

Now, just-- In December, he was unemployed.

-December... - 2020.

I'm not sure-- I can't keep track of all his jobs.

-He had so many. - Okay.

Okay. So either he was unemployed or had a series of...

He was changing jobs left and right.

So he was doing the micro-wrestling, then he went to Cheesecake,

then he went to another job.

But his employment history, let us say, was sketchy.

I wouldn't say "sketchy," just...

Well, what, you go from job to job, and sometimes you're employed.

- Yeah, okay. -I would describe that as "sketchy."

Sketchy, I guess, yeah.

-Yeah, trying to figure things out. - And you were working two jobs.

-Mm-hmm. - To support you and your kids.

And was getting $1,200 child support.

When he was living with you, was he paying any portion of the rent?

-He was supposed to be. -Not-- That's not my question.

You met in January, you moved in a few months later

in December 2020, which is almost a year later.

-Mm-hmm. -Between that period of time,

did he pay you any rent?

Not a set amount, no.

He just gave me a little bit towards utilities.

The answer is, "No, he paid no rent."

No, he paid no rent.

Now, did he go with you to the dentist?

-Yes. And he did pick one. -Shh!

And were you told how much the dental work would be?

- Yes. - How much?

Around $13,000. $13,376.

Well, certainly, Mr. Jordan didn't have that.

No, so we're doing-- we were going to do some sort of financing, so...

You were living with him for a year.

You know all the rules.

You know the rules, you know he had sketchy--

-I didn't know his credit score. -What?

I didn't know his credit score.

You were living with him. You sound like an intelligent woman.

You know that when you have a sketchy work history,

and are unemployed, and you knew that that was accurate,

you don't have much of a credit history.

So you signed on to allow him to get the dental work

with your credit card.

-That's either a yes or no. -Yes.

Now, in what month and year did you separate?

In October of 2020.

Between December and October,

when you separated, how many payments

did Mr. Jordan make on the credit card for his dental work?

-Zero. -How many payments did you make?

I have made every payment since.

Right.

Either the children, the older ones, testified,

or the counsel for the children reported to the court

that they have interviewed the children and the children

wish to remain with their father 'cause their mother...

is a nut!

Yes.

Do I look like I need any help from you?

Sorry.

Christina Parra claims former boyfriend Lorenzo Jordan

owes for a dental bill.

Lorenzo is countersuing for injuries resulting from an assault.

Now, after you went to the dentist,

after you knew he had no credit, after you put it on your card,

and after he made no payments on that card,

in what month did you arrange for this trip

to visit his ex-girlfriend and his child?

A couple months, maybe, after.

A couple of months after he got teeth.

-Possibly, yeah. -I know the story.

I've been here forever. So after he got new teeth...

-Mm-hmm. - ...looked a lot better...

-And could eat properly. Mm-hmm. - According to you--

According to you, you felt badly that he had not connected

with his child.

You felt badly.

Clearly, he didn't feel badly.

Now, am I reading these papers right?

You reached out to the ex-girlfriend?

-Yes I did. -Okay.

-Not him. - He asked me to, yes.

- Oh, did he? - Yes, he did.

-He wanted to see his child. - No, no, no.

I want you to tell me exactly how that happened.

That he asked you to reach out to his ex-girlfriend.

-Yeah. - I want to tell you

there's a certain common sense....