| THE PEOPLE'S COURT has been on since the 1981, but was taken off the air for a couple years. The original show was hosted by Judge Joseph Wapner, who is now on ANIMAL PLANET's show, ANIMAL COURT. Wapner was the first real judge ever to present real cases on television. He was born in California and went to the University of Southern California. Wapner hosted the show from 1981 until 1993, when he retired from it. THE PEOPLE'S COURT came back on the air 1997 with a new judge, former New York mayor, Ed Koch. A new baliff, Josephine Longobardi was added to the show, in place of Rusty who used to serve as baliff. Curt Chaplin was the in court reporter who took comments from guests after their cases have ended and Harvey Levin took comments from people on the streets of New York. Koch left the show in 1999, after two seasons. A picture of him remains hanging in the hall. In 1999, Ed Koch was replaced by Jerry Sheindlin, who happens to be Judge Judy's husband. Jerry grew up in New York and was a member of the Navy. He went to Long Island University and soon became a defense attorney. Judge Jerry hosted the show until March 9, 2001 when he retired from the bench. Judge Marilyn Milian, from Miami, Florida replaced him. Marilyn is the fourth host of the show and the first female judge to sit on the bench. She is married, has two kids and is fluent in Spanish. Milian attended the University oif Miami and studied law at the Georgetown School of Law. |
| SEASON TWELVE 2008-2009 10-10-2008 WRONGFULLY ARRESTED? Richie and his cousin had just left a bar after a night of fun when they were approached by a group of men who he says, "don't look like regular Jews." The group was part of a Jewish neighborhood watch program that reported suspicious activity to the police. The group thought Richie and his cousin tagged a car with graffiti. They called the police and Richie and his cousin were brought to jail. They spent 17 hours in jail before they were allowed to leave. They were never chaarged, but Richie still wonders if they were targeted because they are black. The defendant, Joseph, is part of the Jewish group. He says they patrol the streets and work closely with police. He said there's no way his group had anything to do with the arrest. Joseph thought another vigilante group was responsible. Since Richie couldn't prove he was targeted by Joseph's group, Judge Milian dismissed his case without prejudice. She encouraged Joseph to work with police to find out who was responsible for the arrest and then told Richie to return to court for his claim. Joseph agreed to work with police to get to the bottom of Richie's arrest. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEASON TEN 2006-2007 5-7-2007 BOTCHED RECONSTRUCTION SURGERY Dennese went through hell battling breast cancer. She had a masectomy and went to Dr. Peter Neumann to have her nipple reconstructed, but things did not heal as planned. Dennese told the judge that her nipple turned green and eventually fell off. She brought Dr. Neumann to court for $5,000. Dennese also claimed that the doctor told her that he should operate on her healthy breast for the benefit of the cancerous one, which the doctor denied. That was enough for her and she decided to never go to him again. Dr. Neumann told Judge Milian that she had done some things to contribute to her condition. He claimed she was a heavy smoker and went back to her construction job too early. In the end, Judge Milian threw out Dennese's case and ruled in favor of Dr. Neumann for the money she owed him from the surgery. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEASON NINE 2005-2006 11-7-2005 ARROGANT ATTORNEY KICKED OUT Michael brought Benedict to court over money owed from tenets after Michael bought Benedict's three-family home. Judge Milian clashed with Benedict when she passingly referred to him as "honey." Benedict told her he wished to be called "Doctor" to "create a tone of respect." Judge Milian told him that respect is something that's earned. To which Benedict replied, "Guess what? Where I'm from, you're born with it!" Later, as Judge Milian spoke to Michael, Benedict interupted telling Judge Milian to watch herself. Judge Milian exploded, screaming for Benedict to get out of the courtroom. As bailiff Douglas approached to escort him out, Benedict warned, "If Douglas touches me, you will not be happy." Judge Milian said, "If Douglas beats you to a pulp I'll be delighted." The audience applauded his exit. Of course, Michael won this case. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEASON SEVEN 2003-2004 10-31-2003 Teenage Punk's Internet Scam Jeff tried to buy an IPOD music player on Ebay from the 16-year-old defendant. He said he got a box full of newspaper instead of the item he paid for. Turns out the boy had scammed several other people from goods they paid for. Judge Milian screamed at him asking him what was wrong with him. His mother sat disappointed in the back of the courtroom. The judge thought it was pathetic that such a young person had already scammed so many people. She told Jeff that she was going to get the law involved and take care of the boy. After the judge ruled in favor of Jeff, the boy's mother ran out of the courtroom and refused to talk to Curt in the hall. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEASON SIX 2002-2003 9-5-2002 Old Flirts Bicker in Court The plaintiff said she lent some money to the male defendant for car work. The defendant said he already paid her, but their arguments where not what was notable about this case. The defendant winked at Judge Milian several times and said, "You are the most beautiful judge I've ever seen." Later, the plaintiff moved close to bailiff Douglas and judge Milian told her not to pick him up. The plaintiff won her case after all the silliness. Winter 2003 Used Car Salesman Needs A Straightjacket Michael brought his co-worker, Brian, to court claiming he did not fully pay him for a watch. The plaintiff remained very calm throughout the case, but the defendant was out of his mind. Brian jumped around and talked back to the judge so much that she angrily sat him down several times. The defendant even told a woman in the audience to stop talking to him. The judge asked him if she knew him and he said he didn't, but then she said she was his wife! The impatient defendant tried the judge's patience again before her ruling when he told her he wanted a judgment quickly so he could go eat lunch. With that, the judge jumped up and screamed at him, telling him to sit and calm down. She asked Douglas, "Do we have a straightjacket?" Judge Milian through out the case due to lack of evidence and the defendant headed for the door. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- SEASON FIVE 2001-2002 5-20-2002 Hallway Hell Breaks Lose Llwellyan and his wife, Tiffany, were doing some shopping on their New York vacation when they ran into trouble. They had to hand over their bags of designer clothing before shopping in one of the shops. They said that their stuff was gone when they came back to claim it and brought the owner, Harry, in front of the judge to get some money. Llwellyn was so rude, that he walked off the show when he realized he wasn't going to get much money. He yelled to Tiffany from the hall, but Judge Milian told him that she was not as impolite as him. Him and Tiffany told Curt that they were "pissed" about the ruling and listened in as Harry and his employee spoke to Curt. After the interview, Llwellyn angrily stepped forward in attempt to fight with the defendant. Security came out of everywhere and held him back! What a poor loser. 4-29-2002 Obsessed With Mariah Carey Chris was one of Mariah Carey's biggest fans, so he went to Franklin & Margaret's tatoo parlor to get her tatooed on his leg and arm. He brought the artists to court because he was not satisfied with the tatooes. Judge Milian came down from the bench to check out the tatooes and said that they weren't that bad. Franklin said the plaintiff was creepy and he did a good job with the tatooes. Judge Milian got silly during this case and burst out laughing after she said, "Did you ever touch up Mariah Carey?" Judge Milian asked Chris if he writes to her and he said he did (the audience laughed). Judge Milian only granted Chris $60 of the money he wanted, but he got to give a shoutout to Mariah in the hall. Court reporter Curt told the defendant that he should get a tatoo of Judge Milian. 4-9-2002 Laughing Witness Gets Tossed From The Courtroom Joseph said his former son-in-law, Thomas, owed him over $3,000 after he broke it off with his daughter. Judge Milian said that she could not grant Joseph the money because the claims were old, but thought Thomas was a liar. Things heated up as Judge Milian was walking off the bench because Thomas's witness, Larry, clapped at the verdict. Judge Milian turned around and yelled at him for disrespecting her courtroom. She had Douglas remove him from the courtroom and called him a "jerk." 2-18-2002 September 11th Scam Revealed! James was upset because Deborah would not pay her rent. Deborah said it was because there was a business above her that used loud sowing machines. The worst part of this case was that Deborah asked the Red Cross for money from the September 11th Fund because she felt she was a victim of the terrorist attacks. She tried to convince them that since she could not work for a month at her catering business because the tragedy stopped business. She tried to collect $5,000 from the charity, which she would have used to pay her debt to James, but she was denied. Judge Milian yelled at her for abusing the fund and told her she should be ashamed of herself. Judge Milian granted james all of the money he deserved. 1-31-2002 A Sweet Old Lady's Day In Court Ms. Green, 81, was being sued because she hit the plaintiffs parked car. Green was also hearing impaired, so she had to use a special device in court. The lady said that she did not hit the car enough to do damage and even claimed that the plaintiff was not the woman whose car she hit. The poor lady was in a sinking boat, but she buttered up Judge Milian with quotes like, "I seen you on TV, Marilyn." Ms. Green's daughter also appeared and said the plaintiff was trying to get money from an old lady. After a funny appearance, poor Ms. Green lost her case, but she continued being sweet in the hall when she told Curt she saw him on TV. 1-21-2002 A Surprsing Verdict For A Deserving Couple The plaintiff was suing for a refund on the defendant's yoga classes because she was not able to attend due to pregnancy complications. Her baby was born sick and would often "forget to breathe," so she could not attend any future classes because she had to watch the newborn. The defendant paid the plaintiff only $200 of the $900+ that she had paid and said she could not afford to give her any more because she was running a small business. Judge Milian did some research and found out that Connecticut had a law that said if businesses like the defendants did not refund the money, they could be fined triple the original amount the were given. Therefore, it was a big payday for the plaintiff and her husband, because Judge Milian awarded them with over $2,000. 1-02-2001 Lonnie: Career Criminal Lonnie was a piece of work who was mad because his wife of 22 years owed him money. He left her with 6 kids and NEVER paid child support because no one ever ordered him to pay! Judge Milian yelled at him and called him bitter. She told him he was not going to get a penny from her and man from the court, yelling that the judge was "one-sided." Judge Milian dismissed his case and told his ex to get a lawyer and sue him for child support. In the hall, Lonie said, " I've been in prison all my life and I know some fair judges. She is not a fair judge." What a moron! 12-18-2001 BUSTED: Go To Law School! The plantiff brought the defendant to court because he wanted money that was owed to him after the defendant played lawyer for him. The plaintiff thought he was a good paralegal, but Judge Milian thought otherwise. He lied to her saying that a lawyer checked out his work, but he hadn't worked with him in a few years. Judge Milian tracked down the lawyer who said he had never worked with the defendant! Judge Milian came back angry and told the defendant he was committing a felony. She screamed, "Go to law school!" and said it was her obligation to report him for being a fraud. 11-23-2001 Mentally Challenged Men Take It To Court Arthur and James were part of the same program that helped them because they were developmentally disabled. Arthur was suing James for $3,000 because James caused trauma to him by pushing and harassing him. Arthur said that James bumped into him on the street and said that he would have Arthur killed! Judge Milian granted Arthur $100 of the money he wanted because he could not prove trauma. Arthur told court reporter Curt that he wanted all of the money he requested. 11-16-2001 Suing For An Insane Amount of Money Angela went to the store with some rolls of pennies to buy some cigarettes. The clerk refused to count them and threw one at her, hitting her in the boob, which caused her to fall into a display case! She was suing Joel, a witness, for $15,000 because she claimed her filed a false police report against her. Angela wound up in court and had to do community service for what happened. Of course, Judge Milian dismissed Angela's foolish lawsuit because Joel did not act maliciously. Joel told court reporter Harvey that Angela just wanted to get some money. 10-12-2001 Don King Surprises Harvey This was one of the first shows aired after the WTC attacks in New York. Cases went as usual, but Harvey Levin was greated by boxing promoter Don King after the second case. Levin briefly interviewed him on the street. King, wearing a shirt with a flag on it and holding a flag, said he supported President Bush and gave his blessing to America. 10-4-2001 Woman Loses Her Dead Son's Ashes Carolyn said she gave Tiscelle with a home, but she walked in and found her in bed with two women! Tiscelle said the place was a drug-infested dump, but Carolyn still wanted rent money. Carolyn's husband tossed Tiscelle's stuff out on the patio- even Tiscelle's dead son's ashes. Tiscelle said she hadn't seen the ashes since and Judge Milian went wild! She yelled at Carolyn for moving Tiscelle's belongings and almost kicked her off the show. She asked Tiscelle how she could leave behind her son's ashes, while grabbing other possessions. Judge Milian gave Tiscelle under $3,000 for her pain. 10-2-2001 Judge Milian Goes Down Under For A Cell Phone Raquel paid Fun Zone Novelty to paint her cell phone pink, but when she got it back, the paint was chipping and it was all scratched. The defendant claimed that the phone was also supposed to glow in the dark. Judge Milian went underneath her bench twice to see if it would glow, but it didn't. After Judge Milian's attempts, the director dimmed the lights on the show to see if the phone would glow-- still nothing! The judge ruled in favor of Raquel because the defendant destroyed her brand new cell phone. 9-7-2001 An Angry Dog Breeder Threatens Judge Milian Theresa, a dog breeder, was being sued by a man who bought a dog from her. The dog died shortly after he got it from her. The defendant said she only sells dogs to articulate customers-- no "city people" who say "yo, yo." Judge Milian kicked her off the show and called her "ignorant" and "racist." The case was dismissed, but the drama poured out into the hallway. The woman came back out and began screaming during her interview with Curt Chaplain. She was screaming that she wanted Judge Milian to come out and confront her face-to-face! She said the judge didn't have the guts and she could take her ass out in Philly. She got so out of control thay Baliff Douglas and security had to bring her off the set! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SEASON FOUR JUDGE MILIAN ERA (Started March 2001) Running From The Court On Judge Milian's second show ever, a fed-up defendant got sick of the allegations and ran from the courtroom during the middle of the case. Judge Milian was mad because he disrespected the court, so she would not let him back in and she ruled against him. The Perverted Father In this very heated show, Vincent and his wife, Betty, sued Stephen, who used to be married to their daughter and had a child with her. Vincent and Betty wanted custody of their child because their daughter ran away from the relationship, while Stephen didn't care what happened to her. Vincent screamed at Stephen throughout the case and even made some obscene getures toward him. Vincent said he was a child molester who looked up little girls dresses and stalked young girls online. (Stephen looked like the type, which made the plaintiff's argument have merit.) Vincent even suggested that he made the moves on his own daughter...Stephen's response, "It was an accident!" Luckily, Judge Milian ruled in favor of Vincent and Betty, granting them the money that perverted Stephen owed them. Vincent and Stephen plan to adopt Stephen's daughter. Anxiety Attack Causes Disorder in the Court A guy was suing his brother for $5,000 because he had used his brother's ID when he was pulled over with possession of pot. The evil brother's wife was a witness, but was afraid to the courtroom because she was shaking of anxiety attacks. Suddenly, the woman burst onto the set and was shaking like a leaf. Judge Milian yelled at her for allowing her husband to drive while smoking pot and the woman lost control. After yelling at the judge, Milian had baliff, Davy, remove her from the court. She left with a huge fight, swearing, yewlling and throwing fists at Davy and her husband. They got her out in to the hallway and she wound up making even more of a scene. She slammed into the wall, knocking down the picture of former judge, Ed Koch. After a commercial break, the defendant did not return and Judge Milian happily granted the plaintiff the $5,000 he asked for. Loud-Mouth Lawyer Loses Andrew brought his former clients, Habib and Zorita, to the show because he claimed that they didn't pay him enough after he represented them. Andrew lost their case, which was aimed at a corrections officer who tried to rape Zorita. Andrew could not prove that he had a signed agreement with the defendant and only brought a blank copy. Habib said he never signed any agreement. Judge Milian scolded Andrew for not having an agreement because these agreements were part of "law school 101." Andrew tried to swindle the judge and would not stop talking over her, so Judge Milian had baliff Davy remove him from the court. After cooling off in the hallway, Davy brought Andrew back in. In the end, Andrew's case was dismissed because he has no evidence. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ SEASONS ONE - FOUR JUDGE KOCH & JUDGE JERRY ERAS Bailiff Josephine Loses Her Patience Josephine got pissed off at a male defendant who was interupting and causing a disturbance, so she screamed at him and then kicked him out of the courtroom! The New York audience could not believe that such a little woman had so much power and authority! Mom Has A Fit An older woman lost control during her case and began screaming and yelling. She had to be taken out of the courtroom by her son because she was making such a scene. 3000th Show To celebrate THE PEOPLE'S COURT'S 3000th episode, producer's brought back former host Joseph Wapner back to try a case. Rusty was back as baliff and Doug came back as court reporter. The case involved a man who thought that his signed jersey by hockey player Andy Moog was a fake. Andy Moog was in the audience and said the signature was authentic, but the jersey was not game-worn. The plaintiffs won their case and Doug closed the show with his old speech: "Don't take the law into your own hands, take 'em to court!" Stolen Dog A man decided he wanted to leave the show after Judge Sheindlin would not let him testify for his girlfriend. The man was arrested because he stole a dog from the defendant and since another trial was proceeding, the judge would not let him speak. After he got tired of listening to the defendants speak, he jumped up and left the courtroom! |
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| LATEST RATING -- WEEK OF MARCH 2, 2009 -- 2.0 | OFFICIAL WEBSITE -- peoplescourt.com |
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