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Judge Judy
  • 2 days ago
Transcript
00:00John Harkness wants his former best friend, Stephen Cutler,
00:03to give him back the $3,000 he loaned him.
00:06Stephen claims the money was a gift.
00:09So tell me about the $3,000.
00:11So as time went on, we were in the basement together.
00:14And he said, Steve, he said, remember when I told you
00:16I was going to give you $5,000?
00:17I said, yes.
00:18He said, well, I can't afford to give you $5,000.
00:20He said, I spent a lot of money.
00:21He said, but I could afford to give you $3,000.
00:23You mean that just came out of the blue?
00:25Yeah.
00:25Just hanging out in the basement?
00:27Yeah, we were, yes.
00:28Did you say to him, what happened
00:29to the backpacking that we were going to do,
00:31the traveling we were going to do?
00:32No, I never brought up Europe.
00:33I wasn't going to be greedy.
00:35I figured whatever he was going to give me,
00:36he was going to give me.
00:37So it just came out of the blue?
00:39To be honest with you, it's been a few years.
00:40I don't remember the exact conversation,
00:42how it was brought up, to be honest with you.
00:44Go ahead.
00:45It never took place in my basement.
00:47Yes, it did.
00:48When he was living in the house and he was getting kicked out,
00:51that's when the money transpired, actually.
00:54Mr. Alt was present.
00:55He was present?
00:56Step up here, sir.
00:57Your Honor, he's lying, Your Honor.
00:59Just a second.
01:00That's my strong suit, sir, to tell who's lying.
01:03What makes sense?
01:05Common sense.
01:07Yes.
01:08How are you doing?
01:09Your name is, I'm doing fine.
01:10How are you doing?
01:11Good.
01:12Pleased to hear that.
01:12Your name is?
01:13George Waltz.
01:16Basically, me and Steve talked about getting a loan
01:18from John.
01:20Actually, it wasn't a loan.
01:21We wanted to receive $5,000.
01:24Steven ended up asking him.
01:25I just kind of stayed off to the side.
01:27A short time after, Steve came back and said,
01:30he's not going to loan this $5,000.
01:32He'll let us borrow $3,000.
01:35Why were you looking to borrow money?
01:37Because I was in debt at the time and I had a lot of bills.
01:41So did Steven.
01:42Steven said, you know, I asked him, he would loan me $3,000.
01:47I said, I don't want a loan.
01:48If he's going to give me $3,000, I'll take the $3,000.
01:51I don't want another loan to get out of debt,
01:52to get back in debt with a friend.
01:55So I said, it's not even worth it.
01:56Why would you think that your friend, Mr. Harkness,
01:59would give you money?
02:01Like, we grew up together.
02:03I would.
02:04You've got to understand our circumstances.
02:06You know, we've been through a lot since little kids.
02:10I thought maybe we can get some money from him as a friend.
02:13Sure, step up here.
02:14Who are you?
02:14My name's Joseph Smeltzer.
02:16I know all three of these men here for well over 15 years.
02:20When John received his lawsuit for years,
02:23well before he received it,
02:24Steve and George had been his best friend,
02:26lifelong best friends.
02:28John had bragged countless times and specifically
02:31that he was going to take care of them financially
02:34and give them a gift.
02:35That's a lie, Your Honor.
02:36Just a second.
02:37Were you present, sir,
02:39when you heard any discussion about $5,000 and a trip to Europe?
02:44Yes, I was, many times.
02:46He made a lot of promises to a lot of people,
02:47not just Steve and George.
02:49I mean, he bragged that he was going to take care of a lot of people.
02:51A lot of people.
02:52Shh, shh, shh.
02:53Just a minute.
02:54A lot of people do that.
02:55Yes, they do.
02:56Absolutely, they do.
02:57A lot of people do that.
02:58But you've got to consider the fact when best friends of this nature,
03:01they're considered like family.
03:02They grew up all their lives.
03:03It's more like family.
03:04It's like if I came into a million dollars tomorrow,
03:07I'd have no problem giving Steve $5,000.
03:10.
03:15.
03:18.
03:22.
03:28.