T-Bone Rage & Drenched Dreams | We The People with Judge Lauren Lake

Added: 2026-05-11

[00:00:00]Good day everyone. I was born and raised in Detroit. Growing up there, I saw [music] people like me running things.

[00:00:07]This is a courtroom, not a circus. So, we going to calm down. I'm sorry.

[00:00:10]>> What I found there was a passion that I [music] didn't know existed. This is the bottom line. I'm excited to freef fall into the limitless possibilities with we the people. So many are fearful of the law. They think it's something that works against them. I think you need to begin to accept responsibility for your mistakes. We are the people.

[00:00:36]>> Jeremy Gupta claims his knee was fractured [music] and his car was totaled when the defendant t-boned his vehicle.

[00:00:44]>> All right.

[00:00:45]>> Dana Lewis says she has medical expenses of her own because the plaintiff was speeding. The defendant is counter suing for $1,900.

[00:00:56]>> Court is now in session. The Honorable Judge Lauren Lake presiding.

[00:01:00]>> You may be seated.

[00:01:01]>> Hello, your honor.

[00:01:02]>> Hello. Thank you, Sean. Good day, everyone.

[00:01:04]>> Good day.

[00:01:05]>> This is the case of Gupta versus Lewis.

[00:01:07]Mr. Gupta, you are suing Miss Lewis for $3,720 for personal injury. Uh, defendant, you're counter suing for $1,900. Plain.

[00:01:17]You say that the defendant caused a car accident and owes you for medical expenses. Defendant, you say that the plainif was equally at fault. And as a matter of fact, you're counter suing for $1,900 for your medical expenses. Is that correct?

[00:01:31]>> Correct.

[00:01:31]>> All right. I'll start with you, plainif.

[00:01:34]>> Yes. Uh good afternoon, your honor. Um, so it was about 7:45 in the morning here when I was uh running over to a meeting and I was just driving and thinking everything was going to be okay when the defendant here, Miss Lewis, negligently ran a stop sign. And what ended up happening was we ended up getting to a huge T-bone collision and I ended up having a broken knee. My car was totaled and despite to make matters worse here, Miss Lewis does not want to admit that it was her fault and it was my fault for rushing and is not taking any accountability.

[00:02:06]pause. I want to understand this. Do you have a diagram or pictures that can show?

[00:02:11]>> I do. I do. Your honor, >> let me see this.

[00:02:13]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:02:14]>> So, you're heading there. You do you have a stop sign as well? Is it a four-way stop? Do you have the light?

[00:02:20]>> No. I I had the rightway, your honor.

[00:02:21]>> You have the rightway.

[00:02:22]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:02:23]>> And you have the right away. You come through. M. Lewis was supposed to stop at a stop sign.

[00:02:28]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:02:28]>> I admitted to that, your honor. I'm so sorry, but I admitted to that. And he was speeding like a crazy man. Okay. So, you didn't stop at the stop sign, >> correct?

[00:02:36]>> Uh, and you admit that?

[00:02:38]>> Yes.

[00:02:38]>> You didn't stop. And then there was a collision.

[00:02:41]>> Yes, ma'am.

[00:02:41]>> There we go.

[00:02:42]>> A t-bone collision there, as you can see. And as you can see, I did have the the legal right of way. And unfortunately, because she blew through that stop sign, she caused this entire mess.

[00:02:51]>> I did not blow through the stop sign.

[00:02:54]Look at it. My car can't move this way.

[00:02:56]I'm at a stop sign. I'm turning left.

[00:02:59]And so you admit to not stopping at that stop sign and coming out into that intersection.

[00:03:07]>> Your honor, I made, you know, a really regretful mistake. I had a lot on my mind.

[00:03:14]>> Listen, everybody makes mistakes.

[00:03:17]However, [snorts] those mistakes sometimes have consequences.

[00:03:20]>> I understand that.

[00:03:20]>> So that's why we're here. And we want to understand, did you roll through the stop? Did you not stop at all? or you completely just >> I just had a family urgent matter and I just wasn't thinking. I know it's wrong.

[00:03:36]I wasn't thinking. But the difference between me and Jeremy was that I was going 25 miles hour on that street and when I turned I was going even slower so he could see me. Where were you heading?

[00:03:51]>> I was headed to the store.

[00:03:52]>> To the store?

[00:03:53]>> Yeah. So, is the store straight forward or is the store to the left?

[00:03:59]>> Your honor, I was turning left and you were coming down the highway.

[00:04:05]>> Yes, your [snorts] honor.

[00:04:06]>> Were you injured?

[00:04:07]>> Uh, yes, your honor, I was. My knee was badly bruised at the time, but I did go to the hospital about 2 to 3 weeks later when I realized I had a hairline fracture on my knee, which is extreme pain. I just couldn't take it anymore.

[00:04:19]But as I said, at the time of the actual incident, >> if it was extreme pain, why did you wait two or three weeks?

[00:04:24]>> I uh, you know, at the time, again, I just thought it was a little bit of a bruise. And I really wanted to get to this meeting, which by the way, I missed. It was a very, very important meeting.

[00:04:32]>> Did the police come?

[00:04:34]>> The police did come. I did call.

[00:04:35]>> Where's the police report?

[00:04:36]>> Uh, the police report, I believe it might be in that in that folder over here. I'm not sure if Miss Lewis has it, but >> Do you have the police report, Miss Lewis?

[00:04:44]>> Yes, I do.

[00:04:46]>> And thank you for the tissue. I'll take care.

[00:04:48]>> Okay.

[00:04:50]All right. So, the crash report says that Mr. Gupta was going an excessive speed. How many miles over the speed limit were you going?

[00:04:59]>> I really wasn't keeping track of that.

[00:05:00]As I said before, I was just expecting her to stop at a stop sign, which is what everybody is supposed to do. And by law, you're supposed to stop at a stop sign.

[00:05:08]>> You should be worrying about what you expect yourself to do, which is go the speed limit and quit trying to blame me for your injuries.

[00:05:13]>> Well, at the end of the day, PAY FOR YOUR ORDER. LET'S GET SOME ORDER. NOW, you're suing him, counter suing him for $1,900. Yes. You brought evidence of your medical expenses as well.

[00:05:24]>> Yes, you uh you have them there in the folder, your honor. It's for medical expenses and um harassment, the time of the incident, yelling at me. I was confused. I had severe whiplash, if I may. And then you may not. No, you may not. What are these text messages? So, this text message, your honor, shows, and explains how I texted uh Miss Lewis here two weeks later and asked her that, "Hey, look, this is what happened, and I was stuck with an additional $3,720 in bills that my insurance didn't cover for, as well as my lost wages." How would you like to respond, Miss Lewis?

[00:05:58]I'm like, I just I really don't even have a response. It's baffling how much accountability you're not taking. I'm taking my accountability.

[00:06:06]>> You're not taking accountability for the fact that you broke your >> honor. I'm talking now >> that you ran a stop sign.

[00:06:11]>> No, she actually led in her testimony with the fact that she ran the stop sign. So, she said that. Okay.

[00:06:15]>> And I got cited. So, we're done with No, we're done with that.

[00:06:20]>> Coming up.

[00:06:21]>> I said, "Yeah, we [music] got an accident."

[00:06:23]>> I'm so sorry. I'm just blinking. This is so stupid. The reason I'm not done if I may interject. The reason >> No, you're not going to interject cuz I'm not done.

[00:06:30]>> Yes, ma'am. And later, >> I was uh looking up at my ceiling in my bedroom and just getting ready to go to a Christmas Eve party and I started to notice that water started dripping from the ceiling.

[00:06:41]>> If you'll be in the Los Angeles area and want to bring your case to court, call 1888-552-6878.

[00:06:53]>> You're watching Emmy nominated We the People with Judge Lauren Lake.

[00:06:58]We're back with the case of Jeremy Gupta, who blames Dana Lewis for personal injury.

[00:07:06]>> So, let her finish cuz I said to her, "Do you want to respond?" So, I'm trying to give her a chance to respond. And I'll and I'll say it again.

[00:07:15]>> His reputation in our neighborhood for harass harassment and aggressive behavior is known. I got a text and you'll also see that your honor from my friend Anna who was uh saying you know what's going on. Jeremy is going around hobbling around telling everyone that I hurt him or got in an accident. I I don't know word for word. And then I said, "Yeah, we got in an accident." I'm so sorry. I'm just blinking. This is so stupid. The reason I'm not done if I may interject. The reason >> No, you're not going to interject cuz I'm not done.

[00:07:51]>> Yes, ma'am. I'll give you a chance to respond as soon as she can make a point.

[00:07:56]I want you to make a point and I realize why he right. I'm backing up the way he is.

[00:08:02]>> Anna told you around the neighborhood he always speeds through >> the neighborhood. So he's known for aggressive behavior and speeding back for being a driver that speeds.

[00:08:14]>> Yes.

[00:08:15]>> And so that's what this text message is saying in your evidence.

[00:08:18]>> Yes.

[00:08:19]>> All right. How would you like to respond, Mr. Gupta before I rule.

[00:08:22]>> Well, the reason I'd like to respond to that, uh, your honor, is that the only reason it got to that point, the only reason that I put the flyers up was because literally I was trying to, you know, warn everybody else in the neighborhood.

[00:08:32]>> HE PUT ANOTHER FLY in response.

[00:08:35]>> I was trying to warn every neighborhood and I was trying to find somebody to help me out to get the rest of my $3,720, which again, she blatantly refused to pay and keep saying that it's my fault and which is the reason she won't pay.

[00:08:46]So, push came to shove and that's what I did. And at the end of the day, I maybe look back at it and maybe that was not particularly the right thing to do.

[00:08:54]Maybe I should have just gone straight to harassment. But again, as well as I said before, if you had just $720, if I just would have paid you, what do you massage? I can't I'm not even going to go there.

[00:09:05]>> That's the reason why I did.

[00:09:06]>> All right. I've heard enough.

[00:09:10]as much paperwork as I just had to sit and look through [laughter] because of him. Because these pictures, you run around posting stuff in the neighborhood, text messages. You know, I can appreciate the fact that you were prepared for court.

[00:09:28]The issue for me as I look at this case is quite simple. Mr. Gupta was speeding.

[00:09:33]That's evidenced by the skid mark. The question becomes to this court is if you had stopped at the stop sign and he was speeding, would this accident had happened? It's about causation.

[00:09:50]>> Yeah.

[00:09:51]>> Both of you could have been negligent at the time and driving excessively or missing a stop sign. But who's negligent? or did both of your negligence cause the accident?

[00:10:10]I've looked at the pictures here. I've looked at the diagram that you presented and it shows me clearly that had you stopped in that moment while he was flying, he would have flown by you. So, at the end of the day, your lack of stopping at that stop sign is pretty much the cause of that accident, >> right?

[00:10:37]>> However, the rate of speed with which he was going did contribute to the amount of force that your car was hit with. And yet it doesn't show me from that diagram that your car would have been hit at all had you just stopped.

[00:10:57]>> Well, he probably would have hit and killed a child walking across.

[00:11:01]>> You may have, but that's not the case in front of me today. You've driven too fast. You might have had one too many, but somehow by the grace of God made it home. There's a lot of times on the road where we're doing things we shouldn't do, but that doesn't cause an accident.

[00:11:16]So, at that time, our negligent actions don't have the consequence. In this situation, Miss Lewis, after I've looked at it, it was your failure to stop at that stop sign is what really caused this particular crash. And for that reason, I'm going to award the plaintiff his $3,720 in medical expenses, and your counter claim is denied. Court is ajourned.

[00:11:44]>> Thank you.

[00:11:44]>> All right.

[00:11:46]Judge Lake has ruled in favor of the plaintiff. The defendant is ordered to pay $3,720.

[00:11:54]>> I think uh justice was served here today and uh I'm glad uh I'm glad the judge ruled in my favor.

[00:12:00]>> Uh justice was not served. [music] Your injuries are from your own negligence from speeding.

[00:12:06]>> Coming up.

[00:12:07]>> You're responsible for these things that happened in this apartment because the roof was broken and water got in. This isn't the first time I've had encounters with this tenant. I think I've had uh some issues in the past.

[00:12:25]>> You're watching Emmy nominated We the People with Judge Lauren Lake.

[00:12:30]Melanie Walsh claims her u tide cheer was dampened when her ceiling leaked on Christmas Eve and she wants the landlord to pay for her damaged belongings.

[00:12:42]Greg Vaughn says despite it being a holiday, his handyman was there within hours.

[00:12:49]>> Miss Walsh, you are suing Mr. Vaughn for $1,218 for property damage. That's correct, your honor.

[00:12:56]>> And Mr. Vaughn, you say the damage goes beyond what you are responsible for.

[00:13:02]I'll start with the plaintiff. Please explain to the court why you're here. I was uh looking up at my ceiling in my bedroom and just getting ready to go to a Christmas Eve party and I started to notice that water started dripping from the ceiling. So uh I immediately started to uh take photos and I took a quick video and after I did that I reached out uh to Mr. Vaughn to let him know what was going on.

[00:13:24]>> And you submitted to the court pictures of this leak?

[00:13:26]>> Yes. So when you called you got the call Mr. Vaughn about the leak, what happened? I told her that I would get in contact with our handyman service and he said as soon as the weather calms down that he would go to the apartment unit and survey the damage.

[00:13:44]>> All right. And did he come and survey the damage, Miss Walsh?

[00:13:47]>> He did, but it took about 3 hours before he had arrived. And then when he looked at the damage, he said that the uh it wasn't coming down hard enough to really do anything about it that night. And then he tarped the whole bedroom in plastic. And this whole area is where you see the water was coming down.

[00:14:05]>> The water [clears throat] that you'll see the core area there that's broken.

[00:14:08]That's where the where it was starting to really come in. But it was starting to leak and getting onto the bed too.

[00:14:13]>> And the leak was coming from the rain or from a pipe or what?

[00:14:16]>> We do not know. I know it was raining >> because what was the problem ultimately?

[00:14:19]You determined it was the roof.

[00:14:21]>> The weather related. There was a branch that caused the leak. I see you also submitted to the court a receipt for a down duvet and a white cotton duvet cover.

[00:14:35]>> Yes.

[00:14:36]>> And then also the queen bed.

[00:14:38]>> Yes. So you're suing for these amounts.

[00:14:40]This is what totals $1,218.

[00:14:43]>> Correct.

[00:14:44]>> You didn't bring copies of the ruined furniture.

[00:14:46]>> Well, I mean it's it's soaked with water right there. The bed right there in that photograph. But >> and the photograph is covered with plastic, >> right? but it had already been getting wet. Mr. Vaughn, how do you respond to Miss Walsh saying that you're responsible for these things that happened in this apartment?

[00:15:02]>> This isn't the first time I've had encounters with this tenant. I think I've had uh some issues in the past and I've addressed them quickly.

[00:15:11]>> Coming [snorts] up, >> he says that he's had a history with me.

[00:15:14]I I'd like to say that it's more the other way around.

[00:15:22]You're watching Emmy nominated We the People with Judge Lauren Lake.

[00:15:27]We're back with the case of Melanie Walsh, who brought Greg [music] Vaughn to court for property damage. So, I'm trying to understand again where do you feel like he was negligent or is it the mere fact that because the ceiling was leaking and it damaged your property, you believe he should be responsible to pay? I think it's a little bit of both.

[00:15:51]I really do. He tells he says that he's had a history with me. I I'd like to say that it's more the other way around. I follow the protocol. I reach out when there is an issue. Um, and I I I followed the protocol. He did not he did not indicate that somebody was coming for almost an hour and I so I was just continuing to make do with what I had. I was recovering from a neck injury. I was doing my best and um I understand it was Christmas Eve. I I'm the last person he probably wanted to hear from on Christmas Eve. He doesn't want to hear from a tenant. Um it's the last thing I wanted to do on Christmas Eve. I was >> Well, of course, this was unfortunate.

[00:16:30]It's it's a holiday. Nobody wants to be going through this.

[00:16:33]>> Exactly. But when he did get back in touch with me through that text, you know, he said that he was having having the the handyman come again. The handyman didn't come for another 2 hours.

[00:16:43]>> Well, I mean on Christmas Eve, getting someone there within 3 hours, I think, is more than reasonable. Don't you, Sean?

[00:16:49]>> Absolutely.

[00:16:49]>> On Christmas Eve. Do you carry renters's insurance?

[00:16:53]>> I do have renters's insurance.

[00:16:54]>> And you realize that this is the kind of damage the contents of an of an apartment, a rented apartment. This is the kind of thing that your insurance would cover.

[00:17:03]>> They did not cover it.

[00:17:04]>> And why didn't they cover it?

[00:17:05]>> Apparently, my policy did not was not structured to be able to cover.

[00:17:10]>> Did you bring a copy of your policy?

[00:17:12]>> Unfortunately, I did not.

[00:17:14]>> Judge Lakes's verdict when We the People returns.

[00:17:22]>> You're watching Emmy nominated We the People with Judge Lauren Lake.

[00:17:27]I'm not quite sure why your renters's insurance didn't cover it unless they feel like Mr. Vaughn's insurance company should have covered this, but I don't find here that this landlord has been unreasonable under the circumstances.

[00:17:43]With that said, I cannot award you, based upon the evidence you've presented today, uh, $1,218 because I don't even see a ruined comforter, a ruined bed, or anything.

[00:17:57]For that reason, judgment for the defendant. Court is adjourned.

[00:18:00]>> Judge Lake has ruled in favor of the defendant. The plaintiff's case is [music] dismissed.

[00:18:07]>> I did my best to accommodate Mrs. Walsh the best I could under the circumstances. I wish you the best.

[00:18:14]>> I'm disappointed, but she made a lot of fair points.

[00:18:19]>> Follow me this way.

[00:18:51]This has been a production of Allen Media Group.