User:Jetfire/Judge Judy: Deagle vs Anderson
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Paradise story universe |
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Works by Jetfire on Shifti |
I'm not setting a date for when this occurred, but I would guess it was probably in the '08 or '09 season most likely.
Judge Judy: Deagle vs Anderson
The scene opens on a courtroom's center aisle. First, a pair of nicely dressed young men walk down and take position at one table, sorting through their paperwork. A nicely dressed skunk-morph follows them in after a moment, seeming to watch the cameras nervously.
During the walk in scene, the voice over speaks. "22 year old Kevin Deagle is suing his roommate, 23 year old Richard Anderson, for damages to his car that occurred after a party. Richard Anderson claims he doesn't know how the damages occurred."
Byrd swears the litigants in, and turns to the judge as the music finishes. "This is case number 702 on the calender in the matter of Deagle versus Anderson. Parties have been sworn in, you may be seated. Please take a seat, sir."
Judge Judy looks the young men over and nods to herself. "This should be a quick one. Mr. Deagle, you are the owner of the car that was damaged?"
The plaintiff stands straighter and settles his hands on the table. "Yes ma'am"
"And you and Mr. Anderson had been at a party?"
"With our third roommate, Steve Banks." he indicates the third person seated next to him. "I was the designated driver."
The judge gives him a long look and decides she believed him. "And at some point in the party the three of you decided to leave early?"
"Yes ma'am. Richard didn't seem to be holding his drinks as well as he used to. Early on in the evening, he started going on about strange things."
"What sort of strange things?"
"It was very weird. He was going on about how annoying fur was, and something about a tail getting caught in doors and stuff. Steve and I decided it'd be best to get him back home."
"So you got him to your car and drove home?"
"Right, the incident occurred while we were driving home. We had just pulled off the highway, when he started... I dunno scratching at the door all panicked, like he had to get out now.
"I pulled over right there, and he pulled the door open and ran out. It was dark out and we were watching him, so we didn't notice the damage then."
"Anyways, after he took care of some... business on the side of the road, he crawled back in and we continued back home."
The judge looks over some paperwork, then back to the plaintiff. "You also have a complaint about cleaning a skunk smell out of the car?"
The camera flashes to Roger, shifting nervously, twitching his tail in the air behind him. It then cuts back to Kevin. "Yes ma'am, as we pulled into the driveway, we began to notice a skunk smell. We figured it was a dog sprayed in the neighborhood at first. But the next morning, we discovered the scent was in the car itself. I have no idea how it happened."
"Do you have pictures of the damages?"
Kevin nods and pulled out a packet of pictures. "Yes, Ma'am."
Byrd picks up the pictures and passes them to the Judge. She flips through them, and the view cuts to close ups of the pictures. One picture shows a car's back seat with long claw marks digging all the way into the padding. Another shows the side panel of a door, claw markings shredding the fabric and deep gouges in the armrest.
"Wow, that is really shredded. Have you had it repaired?" the judge asks.
Kevin shakes his head and pulls out another sheet of paper. "The seat and door panel no. I have estimates for that, but as long as the scent persists, there isn't much point in fixing the back seat. As for the scent, we've had the car cleaned 3 times and the scent is barely tolerable now."
"Ok Mr. Anderson, what is your story?" the judge shifts her attention to the skunk behind the defendant's table.
Roger squirms a bit and swings his tail around, almost like he wanted to grab it. He forces himself to move it back and keeps his hands down at his sides. "Last August, I got sick with what turned out to be a type of Sleeping Sickness. It happened in early August, so by September, I thought I was fully over it. But uhm..."
"Uhm is not an answer," the judge interrupts quickly.
"But the sickness has some long term issues, that I wasn't aware of. When I went to the party, I discovered I can't seem to handle as much as I used to."
"Fine fine, but how did you damage the car?"
"Uhm..."
"Uhm is not an answer, Mr Anderson. You shouldn't need to think about your answer," she snaps quickly.
The skunk gulps and flexes his clawed fingers but keeps his gaze looking at the judge. "I can not remember. My memory of the night is very fuzzy."
"Maybe if you hadn't been drinking while sick, you wouldn't have such a fuzzy memory."
"I guess so Ma'am."
"So was the seat damaged before you got in the car?"
"No ma'am."
"And it was damaged when you left?"
"Yes Ma'am."
"So you damaged the car seat."
"I guess so ma'am."
"And the scent, do you have any idea how that happened?"
"No ma'am. I have no explanation for it."
"Neither do I. It must have been quite the stench if it endured past three cleanings."
"It is Ma'am. I can still smell it."
"In any case, you admit that you probably did the damage?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Then you are responsible for it. Judgment for the plaintiff for 2,623$. I would suggest you try to sell the car and recoup what you can."
Kevin nods quickly and gathers his paperwork. "I plan on it ma'am. Thank you."
Byrd steps forward, passing back the pictures and the estimates. "Parties are excused, you may step out."
The camera shows the parties walking out of the court room, the skunk visibly relieved, then cuts to the post trial interviews.
Kevin smiles into the camera. "I'm just glad we've got this taken care of and we can put it behind us. We're still roommates, and friends."
Roger stares at the camera, then looks away, seemingly embarrassed. He rubs a silver chain around his wrist. "It was the first party I attended after my... illness. I didn't realize how much my tolerance had changed. I'm a LOT more careful nowadays. It won't happen again."
