Unfortunate School Cases Worth Up To $350,000 🏫 | Double Episode | Personal Injury Court transcript

this is personal injury Court good day everyone this is the matter of Howard versus Stewart Miss Howard it's my understanding that you are suing Miss Stewart for a tattoo going horribly wrong you're asking this court for a thousand dollars for your past expenses two thousand dollars for your future expenses fifty thousand dollars for emotional distress for a total Award of fifty three thousand dollars is that correct yes your honor and Miss Stewart you believe you gave Miss Howard what she asked for had she been paying attention she would have gotten what she wanted but what she got is what she asked for True yes your honor well let's get into the legal sauce Miss Howard tell me why you wanted a tattoo I wanted this tattoo to commemorate the memory of my grandmother that just passed away a year ago she referred to me as her first born because that was her first born grandchild she basically raised me along with my parents when my parents weren't there she meant the world to me she's the number one person that knows absolutely everything about me and when she left me a year ago I was so hurt I've never felt pain like that before and I just wanted to do something nice to have of her memory with me forever what was your plan for the tattoo I wanted to get a tattoo that had her favorite flower which are roses and I wanted it to read I love Granny born first and I wanted it to be written the word granny in her handwriting that she left for me in a letter before she passed away and then I looked up the best tattoo shops around me and I Found queenie's Tattoo shop and had the best reviews and on her website it said a hundred percent satisfied customers okay Miss Stewart tell me about your shop I've been tattooing for 15 years I've owned this shop for 12. um like like she said even you know she looked me up online she saw that I have really good reviews I attached to a lot of celebrities and musicians Tattoos by me are not cheap I take my work very seriously and she came in wanting a tattoo for her grandmother and she made an appointment so what happened so I showed Queenie the design and I asked can you make this look pretty let me get Sheriff Matt just to get that for you so this is the design you went in with right yes that's just a rough draft of my writing which I kind of wanted it to look like but I wanted her to add roses and make it look pretty obviously and where it says granny that's actually your grandmother's signature yes you're on it so that's a beautiful thing and born first is what she called you yes your honor okay did you understand that Miss Stewart yes your honor I did okay and you remember seeing this document yes I do did you take this and turn it into a fancier design yes and everything that I I did she approved I went over everything with her um she every time I made an arrangement or adjustment she she said it looked great um when I so you were careful in trying to figure out exactly what you wanted yes yes so Miss Howard what happened she said come in a couple days after to get your tattoo so I went in and everything went great until a couple days later I had a staff party along with my second grade fellow staff teachers and some parents and it was my first time showing off the tattoo I was so excited I wear a low-cut dress made sure it showed my back I was hanging out at the party until people started pointing and laughing at me and I'm like what's going on do I have something on my face and I go to the bathroom quickly and I have a co-worker following me behind and she goes um why do you have a tattoo that says uh I love granny porn and I said granny porn I didn't ask for granny porn do I look like someone that would have profanity written on me I'm a second grade teacher I'm so embarrassed at this point so you think until you see it you think your tattoo is gonna say I love Granny born first not Granny Porn first yes I'm pretty sure my grandmother is rolling around in her grave right now looking at this granny porn your honor I showed her the design from the get-go I I drew it out I showed it to her she said it looks great I made a stencil I showed it to her she said it looks great I put it on her skin she said okay it looks great this is not my fault she approved every aspect of this design I'm not responsible for this she said this is what she wanted she was happy with it and she gave me the go-ahead okay so go through the process because I want to see what your safeguards are what do you say to her on the first day well on the first day she was asking a bunch of questions she brought in the design and then I went from there and so I when I when I brought this out and I showed it to her I said you know is this what you want so you showed her the design on this iPad yes okay and do you remember seeing this design she showed me the design one I'm laying on my stomach she showed me from behind she came up behind me with an iPad saying does this look right I'm laying down upside down how am I supposed from my angle that pee so you're on your stomach yes and you're looking back this way to try to look at the design to make sure it's accurate yes your honor she should have shown me the design when I was sitting up not laying down that's so unprofessional so when you're lying on your stomach and you're looking over your shoulder you look at the design and you think you're seeing I love Granny born first yes you're on and that's why you said yes yes your honor but instead the tattoo said I love Granny Porn first yes your honor and I would have never approved of something like that I do not look like somebody that wants something like that written on me so I showed you this from the get-go you approved it when I was laying down on myself so you put granny porn on her back and you say it's not your fault I went off the design that she showed me and she approved every aspect of it I am not responsible for this she had ample time to go through and tell me that she wanted changes or that she didn't like things and she never said a word are you illiterate can you not know the difference from a b to a p I ask you well hold on now doesn't that apply to you though don't you know the difference between a p and a b yes I do and if she would have showed me when I was sick stomach you don't know your ABC you're clearly ladies talk to me Miss Stewart who likes granny porn I mean how do you think I feel trying to go to a family Barbecue I can't even go outside now without wearing a jacket it's literally like 85 degrees outside and I have to wear a jacket read this with my kids this is so embarrassing I'm mortified I was trying to just honor my grandmother and now I have my whole family against me let's call this what it is Miss Stewart you knew that she didn't want the words granny porn on her back right right that is not what I wrote and if she wants to interpret it that way it was on her to tell me that she wanted changes wait a minute now you made a stencil some kind of transfer right yes and it's a granny porn it's a granny born okay granny born but you tattooed granny porn ah no no I did not okay I'm not responsible for this you can see on the plasma her note it says I love Granny born first that's a that's a big mistake that's what it says it says on your stencil it says I love Granny Porn maybe I'm missing something born and porn are two different universes I would ask you is this what you want and if you said yes then that's what's going on you she signed a waiver I mean I am not responsible for this I mean I I have to bring your waiver with you yes your honor I did all right Sheriff Matt will you get it for me thank you sir I got the best let's look at it and uh Miss Howard is that your signature at the bottom yes your honor all right so it reads I wave and release to the fullest extent permitted by law all claims action suits against any person of the best little tattoo shop from all liability whatsoever then it says best little tattoo shop and its employees have given me the full opportunity to ask any question about the procedure and application of my tattoo and all of my questions if any have been answered to my total satisfaction after such consultation I have agreed to have the procedure let me give you a legal lesson you must read legal documents when you sign them especially when you waive all of your rights in case something bad happens you sign this and if this taken in a vacuum this case is over and you lose now it is not in a vacuum because this court has to consider all the evidence but this waiver is very important you understand that yes your honor folks to understand tattoos in the business of tattoos this court has brought reality star and tattoo artist Kat tat is here today Sheriff Matt will you bring cat tat into the courtroom foreign [Music] ly opened your own shop tell me about that yes we actually just recently celebrated the one year anniversary for my shop um it's called Enigma tattoo we're located in Beverly Hills congratulations thank you so much now you've tattooed a lot of celebrities right yes like who I've tattooed Idris Elba Faith Evans Super Bowl champions um Von Miller Shane Ray um musicians young Ma I mean countless celebrities are constantly coming through the shop you've changed a lot of famous skin haven't you yeah you know I do it I can't and what are your most popular designs I'm more people come to me for my close attention to detail I specialize in really anything realistic so portraits flowers um I do a ton of cover-ups as well maybe like 80 percent of what I do is is cover ups people see that I specialize in these larger pieces and they think I can cover anything up so are there any rules that apply to tattoos yes there's a ton do your research make sure that you're in a professional shop make sure that you have researched your artists and they're capable of doing the type of work that you want double triple check um spelling you know have you ever been showing the tattoo to the client have you ever shown it to the client while they're lying on their stomach you know my process is I put the design on you and I say come on let's walk over to this mirror you look in the mirror if it's on your back I'm going to give you a handheld mirror so you can look at it like this and see what it looks like from that so I always take extra precautions it's a permanent procedure it's like mini surgery now you've brought along a video that you've submitted to this court let's put it up on the plasma screen and walk me through it this is a video of me tattooing myself right because what better person to practice on than yourself so um what I'm doing I'm applying my stencil basically from the image that I approved and once the stencil is on me I let it dry take a look at it make sure it looks like you know what you want and then you begin the tattoo and then no going back from there and you did that to yourself I did you mentioned that you do a lot of cover-ups yes what's what's the process of covering up another tattoo if it's a dark design then likely you're going to have to do something full color to saturate it so that it's really covered up now Miss Howard has a tattoo on her back that says granny porn that's unfortunate could you come over to the Monitor and show us how you would cure this problem yes so there's a clear misspelling I mean this typically you would think of b or a p could be turned into a b by adding an extra Loop but the spacing here is just off you know this would look ridiculous to try to put a small little Loop in here so this tattoo 100 you have to wait till it heals wait till some of this bruising goes away and then I'd be able to cover it and I would cover it with something similar to this oh my God that's really beautiful thank you so much fully saturated roses that completely get rid of what you have and then we can apply the correct spelling and the correct phrase that she wanted and just erase the whole mistake from your memory so Miss Howard that looks like a good fix I mean not not what you wanted but a good fit that's beautiful that's all I wanted something beautiful like that to honor my grandmother come on back here you can return to the witness stand Ms Stewart this is a permanent deal right yes your honor if she doesn't get this covered up she's got granny porn on her back while we chuckle about that this is something that haunts her you see that right this is really not funny my whole family my grandmother was a church-going woman I like can't even walk into church right now I went off the design that you approved you did not you did not I did not approve the word porn I'm sorry ladies I think I've heard enough I'm ready to render my decision [Applause] folks this like so many of the other cases that I've presided over is a personal injury case with three components you as the plaintiff have to prove that Ms Stewart was wrong and that Ms Stewart's wrong caused your injury and you've put up evidence that you did your best to make sure that this tribute to your grandmother would be perfect I love Granny born first and you trusted this professional to do what you asked her to do instead you suffered a very embarrassing moment you missed Stewart you went through the protocol to get her to approve what you put on her skin that you're not the Marshal of what's appropriate if she wants it doesn't matter what it is if she approves it and signs your waiver then you're going to give her what she wants well in this case everyone must be attentive to the details not just the professional but the client you got to make sure that what you want is what you're gonna get you are the backstop here the issue is whether a service provider such as a tattoo artist has a duty Beyond giving the service that you asked for the evidence shows you wanted born but you signed a waiver saying you're getting what you wanted you understand you had time to ask questions and you're ready to put the tattoo on and she put on what she showed to you the law requires me to find in your favor even though I think you should have asked her do you really want porn I find in the defendant's favor and against you because the law requires me to do that based on the evidence and that is my final verdict this matter is adjourned our attorneys Across America just viewed this case for the first time let's hear what Andrew Finkelstein has to say a tattoo is permanent the plaintiff knew this going into the procedure and should have made sure the artwork including the spelling was a hundred percent correct she did not do this she signed a waiver that released the defendant from all claims of negligence arising out of the tattoo process please read and understand what claims you may be waving before signing any release the repercussions can be permanent I feel terrible for the victim yes it's possible I would like to offer her my services for this Comfort free of service did you hear that yes your honor oh my God thank you so much that means the world to me and to my grandmother and my family thank you so much I got you girl okay she's taking care of [Applause] today on personal injury Corps it falls on him causing these injuries yes your honor Jason put his money in and didn't get a drink he did push the machine and the Machine proceeded to fall on top of him and the glass was everywhere I was probably the scariest thing that's ever happened to me to shake and attack the machine that's kind of a natural consequence to a behavior you are asking this court to award you three hundred and fifty thousand dollars rather die is your machine your campus these are your students their mom has entrusted them to you why wouldn't that be your fault judge Gino Brogden spent 10 years on the bench ruling on cases worth billions of dollars now he presides over some of the largest claims in TV history his personal injury Court good day everyone this is the matter of Turner versus Carrington prep Miss Turner you are suing on behalf of your son who sustained injuries while he was at school you believe it's Carrington prep's fault that your son was injured you're asking this court to award you sixty thousand dollars for past medical expenses forty thousand dollars for future medical expenses two hundred and fifty thousand dollars for pain and suffering for a total Award of three hundred fifty thousand dollars is that correct yes your honor and Miss Watson you're here representing Carrington prep yes Carrington prep's position that Mr Turner is responsible for his own injuries because he was engaging in Reckless Behavior right yes your honor all right well let's get into the legal Source now an injury to a child is an injury to a family Miss Turner tell me about your family well your honor I was blessed with two beautiful boys January 15th of June 2002 and they were a bundle of a little over 10 pounds that's a big bundle it is they're sweet boys they're caring boys they have tons of friends they're active and your honor my sons go to Carrington prep because it's a good school it has good academics and it's supposed to be safe it's got a good reputation it does have a good reputation and unfortunately our Public Schools just don't cut it in my eyes I want my sons to have a great future and go on to college and I also want them to be safe yes ma'am and unfortunately they were not my son is suffering and I don't think it's right and you know what it's like to send your son off to school and you know that they're going to be well cared for that's what I thought I had in my life and that was taken away well the biggest Act of trust for any parent is to send a child to school now I can't help but notice that your boys are twins two of my 10 brothers and sisters are twins my brothers Matt and Mark are you guys joined at the hip the way my brothers are sometimes your honor so Miss Watson tell me about Carrington prep I am the headmistress of Carrington prep school it is a private high schools most of the 845 students are boarding students we do have some day students the school has been here for over a hundred years and we have generations of families that continue a long successful history yes Jason and Jackson are seniors this year at our school they are very bright they do well academically they're in high academic classes they also take part in our physical education activities however you know how twins are boys are I do believe they get together I've been the victim of twins right right and sometimes they become a little bit Rowdy disruptive as a matter of fact Jason tends to have a little bit of a reputation as a Class Clown and so therefore we have separated the boys and they are in separate classes for most of the day my sons are not Rowdy and they're separated because that's the standard for twins you always separate them as you know you have twins in your family yes ma'am the world is safer when my brothers are in separate rooms exactly so they are please do not paint them as trouble making disruptive children because they're not they're good boys they have good grades they know how to act trust me I've raised them so take me to the day what happened the day of it was around 8 8 15 p.m we were just getting out of basketball practice went to the lounge to get some drinks but the vending machines are I would say probably in the near the back and uh Jason put his money in and didn't get a drink when he didn't get his drink he did push the machine uh the first time not so hard the second time a little bit harder and the Machine proceeded to fall on top of him after he had already fallen and the glass glass was everywhere the sound the sound of that machine hitting him was insane so he doesn't get what he's paying for he tries to push the machine and then it falls on him causing these injuries yes your honor Jason tell me about that honestly your honor um I was probably the scariest thing that's ever happened to me I I was just I guess after the practice I was flustered and I didn't really shake it that hard there was more give in this machine than I had anticipated and the next thing I know I hit the floor and I don't remember very much after that now Miss Watson uh Miss Turner talked about school being safe that's the expectation of every parent this kind of thing's not supposed to happen how does this happen especially at a school like Carrington prep your honor what we try to do is we try to to teach uh respect and responsibility yes ma'am if a person doesn't get what they want out of a machine is the solution to basically shake and attack the machine that's kind of a natural consequence to a behavior I guess it depends on what you want and what kind of mood you're in though I've I've seen some people do some crazy things with vending machines and what were the consequences well I didn't see any of them get the machine on top of them and destroy their face is your machine your campus these are your students their mom has entrusted them to you why wouldn't that be your fault coming up it was Jason's actions that caused this machine to topple over and he violated our code of conduct respect school and others property is shaking the machine respecting school property I don't feel that my son did anything wrong he wasn't using all of his mic seriously I think I feel a little bit more of a shake as you can tell with this kind of motion and Bennett topples on top of him [Music] I've seen some people do some crazy things with vending machines and what were the consequences well I didn't see any of them get the machine on top of them and destroy their face I don't feel like it's our fault because it was Jason's actions that caused this machine to topple over he didn't adjacent machine we have a code of conduct and he violated our code of conduct and I have this for you if you'd like to see it will you get the code of conduct one of the one of the items is to behave responsibly and another one is destruction of school property it reads students must one behave responsibly demonstrate courtesy to others be prepared for classes cooperate with Educators and school officials respect school and others property is shaking the machine respecting school property that's your honor he didn't push the machine that hard well that hard is relative isn't it I well he was there really he didn't he wasn't using all of his might seriously you actually submitted an animation to explain this all right will you cross over to the plasma and show me how your brother did this and how this happened um he put the money in it he didn't get what he paid for he becomes flustered uh start shaking the machine the first time uh not so vigorously the second time he gave it a little bit more of a shake as you can tell with this kind of motion and then it topples on top of him the glass everywhere everywhere I thought he was dead so that actual vending machine fell on top of your brother the whole thing and the front glass shattered and cut his face all up everywhere now Miss Watson that's not supposed to happen of course not it's not ever supposed to happen but sometimes things do happen as a consequence of a behavior I understand that after practice the kids are hot they're sweaty they're tired they want something to drink we have several water fountains in the Student Activity Center they don't work they chose not to do that no they don't bring their own drink to practice usually there is water provided at practice enduring practice there is a number on the machine that if the machine is not working properly that they can have this number to call and this was a number that if he didn't get his drink out of the machine and he needed help to call this number before he got to that behavior this is the customer service number right correct now I realized it was at night but isn't the fix just to have a machine that's not going to topple over on a kid next stop calling it a violent attack on this machine look at my boys they're not these big big muscly guys this machine didn't fall over because he blew on it what kind of safety precautions did you all put in place to make sure that these machines don't move like this we were going to have them vaulted all three together this court is consulted an engineer Andrea Brown milhisler once it is rocked past a vertical angle of 34.5 degrees the machine is going to come down thank you so he doesn't get what he's paying for he tries to push the machine and then it falls on him causing these injuries yes you're on them that was probably the scariest thing that's ever happened to me so that actual vending machine fell on top of your brother the whole thing things do happen as a consequence of a behavior your honor it was his choice and his decision that because he didn't get his drink you know he was going to try to force it could you stop calling it a violent attack on this machine look at my boys my boys are athletic but they're not these big big muscly guys this machine didn't fall over because he blew on it no right [Applause] Bill's totaling sixty thousand dollars just for the past yes you're asking this court to award you forty thousand dollars for future Medicals Jason tell me what this has been like for you we're talking around like you're not in the room what are you going through son honestly your honor the the bare pain is these are measurable I don't look the same anymore uh I'm having a hard time with school I know I'm not going to be able to graduate this year uh I can't drive and honestly I just don't feel like my mom and my brother look at me the same anymore it's like I'm just not here Miss Watson tell me this what kind of safety precautions did you all put in place to make sure that these machines don't move like this this is a fairly new machine it's only been there a couple of weeks the one in the middle is the one that toppled over the two on the sides are being replaced next week so we were going to have them bolted all three together so on the day that this happened none of these were were anchored to the wall or anchored to each other the other two were okay just the new the brand new one had not been bolted yet and how life would have it he pulls on the one that's not exactly the right this that one you know your honor we're not talking about children we're talking about students that are getting ready for the real world here's where I struggle with that it always kind of makes me ticklish when someone in your shoes being sued comes in and says well we were responsible for their safety but this is all their fault because they're 17 and not five we're not dealing with kids but we are dealing with minors right exactly you're right you're on them and having raised three boys seventeen-year-old boys are a little bit crazy the report that I saw of this incident okay stated that he pushed very hard on this machine for it to topple over he wins it was like 95 pounds how hard could he push that is my question and that's why this court has consulted an engineer Andrea Brown milhisler and she's going to explain how this machine can topple Sheriff Matt will you get Miss Mill Heisler yes your owner good day ma'am hello judge can you explain how does a machine like this topple over well it doesn't happen spontaneously you have a force coming across from the top of the machine once the center of gravity of that machine exceeds the angle of the Tipping Point the machine is going to come down so your typical machine weighs about 900 pounds when you add in the product that's another 225 pounds so you're looking at a total of 1125 pounds now at that weight if someone is rocking it once it is rocked past a vertical angle of 34 and a half degrees the machine is going to come down ma'am how is it possible that someone of his size can topple a 900 pound full vending machine if you go up and start rocking it the momentum created by the rocking of the machine would help it much more easily topple over and once it rocked past the 34.5 degree angle it would tip over onto someone thank you man we appreciate you absolutely thank you so Jason you pulled this giant machine over on yourself what did you think was gonna happen honestly your honor I don't remember being very aggressive I don't remember much at all Jackson uh you see this machine fall on your brother what did you do um obviously I panicked yes I thought I saw my brother die so Miss Watson you all actually had plans to tether this machine to the wall but you didn't do you wish you all had done it sooner well of course your honor but I still feel that that machine needed that force that pushing and pulling to knock it over that machine and that to be tethered it needed to be Tethered to the wall just like all the other machines on your property so that this does not happen folks I think I've heard what I need to hear I'm ready to render my decision the machine is not cooperating as much as you want you start to shake it it falls on you and injures you pretty badly you believe that if he hadn't been rocking the machine y'all would have never met me here today [Music] I thought I saw my brother die it needed to be Tethered to the wall I still feel that that machine needed that force that pushing and pulling to knock it over in every person or injury case the plaintiff has to prove three things the plaintiff has to prove that the defendant was wrong and that the defendant's wrong cause your harm my analysis is whether Carrington prep is responsible for your injuries here you've put up evidence that you and your brother your sons finish with basketball practice going into the student lounge gonna get a drink the machine is not cooperating as much as you want you start to shake it it falls on you and injures you pretty badly and you believe that Carrington prep should pay for every bit of what you're asking this court to award you Miss Watson you're here to represent Carrington prep and while your heart goes out to this young man in this family for these injuries you believe that if he hadn't been rocking the machine y'all would have never met me here today and as hard as it sounds you believe these injuries are his fault and Carrington prep shouldn't be responsible this is a classic premises liability case you have a certain responsibility to care for yourself Carrington prep has a responsibility under law to take reasonable measures to make sure that the property is safe now part of that responsibility to take reasonable measures is to anticipate likely harm or risk here you all had actual notice that these machines could fall that's why you had a plan to tether them to the wall under the law you have actual notice of this potential harm the other thing that adds to that notice is you're dealing with 17 year old high school students if these were fifth graders or second graders no they're not going to fool with the machines seventeen-year-old boys do and you all are in the business of nurturing 17 year old boys the law charges you with that kind of knowledge so here with that knowledge you should have tethered the machine to the wall so I find that you have proven that Carrington prep was wrong and that wrong caused your injuries so I'm going to award to you 350 000 I find in your favor and against Carrington prep that's my final verdict and this matter is adjourned on it [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music]