Top 10 Stupidest Moments on The People's Court

The litigants’ failed dog breeding business was made all the more complicated by their romantic past, and so things got super messy. They were already demonstrating some ignorance by mixing business with pleasure. When the judge looked through their texts, though, she got a little more than she bargained for. If you’re gonna hand your phone over, you could give a fair warning that things were going to get super not safe for work. You should also think twice before mixing business conversations with very, very explicit ones because you never know. You may just have them read out loud on national television.

The plaintiff and her young daughter were crossing the street when she was hit by a car. However, the pair were jaywalking. It’s a horrible thing to have happened, but she seems unable or simply unwilling to accept the judge’s insistence that, despite her injuries, she was in the wrong. Even more, the judge tries to drill it through her head that she and her daughter could have both been killed. Stubborn and unwilling to hear otherwise, she can’t seem to understand why she’s not owed. But if she knows one thing, it’s that she couldn’t possibly be wrong. It’s a simple case, but so, so frustrating.

Defendant Nelson Raposo is being sued by plaintiff Donna Colado for doing a shoddy job redoing her patio. When only the plaintiff showed up for this case, we knew something was up. When Raposo finally does walk in, she realizes this guy, whose business she gave a one-star review, incessantly called and harassed, is not the same one who did her patio. Suing the right person has to be the lowest bar to clear when filing a lawsuit. Amazingly, even after hounding this man and dragging him to court for no reason, the plaintiff doesn’t even seem sorry for going off half-cocked.

Restaurants and bakeries make mistakes, and sometimes a refund is in order. That’s not good enough for this plaintiff. She insists her grown daughter’s party was ruined because the baker gave her a red velvet cake and not the rum cake she ordered. It’s a simple mistake that the baker admits to, but apparently, her adult daughter stormed out of the party because of it. The plaintiff expects the baker to refund her for the daughter’s party, not just the cake. This goes over with Judge Milian about as well as that cake did. The daughter who threw a fit had the good sense not to show up.

Plaintiff La’Queta Maxwell is well within her rights to expect good service for her money. However, her contention that she’s owed $5,000 because a salon owner removed a mole on her face without permission cuts no mustard with the judge. Maxwell insists her mole, which the judge thinks was a skin tag, is something she can’t get back. Therefore, she is owed. The judge respectfully disagrees. In fact, the judge even implies what everyone else is thinking. She’s trying to use the judicial system to get a big payout over a minor issue. No matter which way you slice it, it’s ridiculous.

A dispute about a copper pipe installation turned nasty, with the plaintiff going to desperate lengths to get his money back, including kicking the defendant’s car. The plaintiff vehemently denies this. However, when the judge only gives him part of what he’s suing for, he storms out, kicking the door on his way out. He might as well have confessed to the car damage. It showed just what he is willing to do when things don’t go his way. Things continued to get worse for him. The judge reversed her own verdict, and he left without his money and without his dignity.

Defendant Tamara Lynn Gall certainly lived up to her last name. The plaintiff is suing her for causing a car accident and for driving uninsured. Gall earns the judge’s displeasure when she can’t produce evidence of insurance, but her biggest lie is also her dumbest. She holds up an empty bottle of Hennessy and insists the plaintiff, who has two previous DUIs from twenty years ago, threw it out of his car after the accident. For some reason, she brought the bottle, but not her proof of insurance. The judge isn’t buying it, and once she starts her grilling, Gall can’t even make eye contact for long. Clearly, this isn’t going over the way she hoped.

This plaintiff is a 59-year-old cabbie who found a 27-year-old girlfriend and showered her with gifts and money. Now they’re no longer together, and he wants everything he gave her back, including all the money he loaned her friend, Rebecca, whom he still hasn’t met. So, where’s Rebecca? Well, the judge has a theory, and it’s that Rebecca doesn’t exist. She was just the defendant’s way of getting even more money out of him. The judge has no sympathy for the guy. He clearly had an agenda, and once it didn’t work out, he wanted the court to fix his mistakes.

Defendant Dorothy Henze insists her pitbull is sweet but very protective, and so when the plaintiff tried to touch her inappropriately, it was just defending her. However, she realizes once she sees the plaintiff, she’s got the wrong case. She doesn’t remember her until halfway through. Judge Milian is forced to assume this has happened before, and who knows how many times? Her daffy, noncommittal answers about the damage her dog had done are wild. It would be funny if it weren’t so alarming that this woman is the only line of defense between the public and a dog with a history of biting strangers.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Lying About a Warranty
Lying to the Judge Never Goes Well

No Remorse
The Vindictive Defendant Can’t Stop Laughing & Preening for the Camera Even After Losing

Wanted the Thick Crust!
A $3 Slice of Pizza Leads to Judge Wapner’s Courtroom

The Model Litigant
A Model & Her Mom Have a Shaky Grasp on What Constitutes Damages

No disrespect to the rum cake lady, but in the pantheon of bad decisions made by “People’s Court” litigants, Christopher and Melinda McManus really do take the cake. First, Melinda hid her son’s missing teenage girlfriend in her home even after a whole police and SWAT investigation took place. Then, Christopher, who asserts he did not know what his wife and son were up to, cops the biggest attitude with the judge. Honestly, you’d think he was on a mission to make this list. Well, he got his wish. There’s so much pain involved in the whole case, it’s difficult to take pleasure in how much the judge dresses them down. It’s not impossible, though.

Did these litigants leave you scratching your head? Let us know in the comments.