You Break It, You Buy It? | Part 1

>> Announcer: Scott Marsalis is suing his former friend, Patrick Edwards, for crashing his brand-new minibike. >> Judge Judy: Mr. Marsalis, you had a couple of minibikes, at least one that you purchased recently. You invited Mr. Edwards to ride with you on your minibikes. He did. There was an accident, and the minibike was damaged, and it was damaged substantially. Since it was a relatively new one, you want Mr. Edwards to pay for a new one. That's what your case is about. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Judg

e Judy: Mr. Edwards says that you asked him to ride, it was an accident, and he said you actually caused the accident. That's what he believes. Okay. When did you purchase the two minibikes? >> The one specifically that he rode was in September -- September 15, I think, 2018. >> Judge Judy: And how old was the one that you were riding? >> The one that I was riding was an older one. I had purchased that back in December '17. >> Judge Judy: How come you let him ride the newer one? >> First of all,

we were former colleagues, and he was one of my supervisors, so I guess we had developed a friendship from that point, and, you know, he was a pretty good guy, so he came over to my home, and when he came over on that day, I was riding the older one around my front lawn. >> Judge Judy: Had you invited him over? >> Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. >> Judge Judy: And you invited him over on what date? >> This was October 17, 2018. >> Judge Judy: It was a month after you bought the bike? >> Yes, ma'am. >>

Judge Judy: Okay. Came over and? >> And when he came over, I was riding my bike... >> Judge Judy: Around the neighborhood. >> ...around my front lawn. >> Judge Judy: Good. You were riding your -- Go ahead. >> And so when he came over, he said, well, he wanted to ride. I said, "Okay. Well, why don't you ride the old one?" 'Cause I had had the new one parked in my garage. And he says, "No, I wanted to ride the new one." And I asked him if he knew how to ride. >> Judge Judy: What difference does it

make? They're both relatively new bikes. So, you said, "Do you know how to ride?" and he said...? >> Well, one was an automatic, and one was a semi-automatic, and so he said he wanted to ride the newer one, so I said, "Okay," and he said he knew how to ride it, so he got on it, and, uh... >> Judge Judy: No, look at me. He got on it, and...? >> He got on the bike. >> Judge Judy: And? >> He started it up. >> Judge Judy: Yeah. >> He rode across my lawn. We went down the street, about a mile down t

o the gas station. >> Judge Judy: So you drove a mile. >> Yes, ma'am -- roughly about a mile. >> Judge Judy: So, you drove about a mile. And there was not a learning curve for him. He got on, started it, and you both rode down... >> Put it in gear. Yes, ma'am. >> Judge Judy: ...and you went. So, clearly, he knew how to ride it, because if you said to me, "Do you want to ride my bike?" or I said to you, "I'd like to ride the bike," I would get on it, and I would say, "All right. Show me where the

key is. Show me where I touch the button. Show me where the starter is. Show me how to stop it." I would say that to you because I've never ridden a minibike. So, if somebody gets on it and is able to ride it, they clearly knew how to ride it. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Judge Judy: Okay, good. So now you drive it a mile down to the gas station. >> Yes, ma'am. >> Judge Judy: You're together. Did you get gas for the bike that you were on? >> Yes, ma'am. We did. >> Judge Judy: Okay. Now the gas is in the b

ike. Go. >> And so he started the bike up, and soon as he started it up and put it in gear, due to overthrottling, the bike shot out from up under him, shot into the street, went up into the air, and crashed down, and he came down on top of the bike. >> Judge Judy: Okay. Is that what happened? >> Judge Judy: Is that what happened? >> Not exactly, no. First and foremost, when he called me to his house to get on the bike, I told the brother -- I said, "I never rode the bike before." I'd never ridd

en a minibike before. Never rode a regular bike before. I can't even draw a bike. So, I have no education on trying to function a minibike. So, he was fully aware of that. >> Judge Judy: [ Raps desk ] >> And -- >> Judge Judy: I don't believe that. "A," I don't believe your story, and, "B," you can't tell me what he's aware of. That goes to the operation of his mind. "C," if I had just purchased a minibike and it was brand-new, before I let somebody get on it, I would say, "Do you know how to rid

e it?" Because he seems like an intelligent person. He would say to you, "Do you know how to ride it?" and you say, "No, I never rode it before. I don't even know how to draw a bicycle before." Then I would say, "Huh. Ride the old one. I'm gonna ride the new one." So, I don't believe you. Do you understand what I'm saying to you? So let's start all over again and tell me something that I can believe. I'm 76 years old. Tell me something that my life experience will support.