you pay child support?
>> I pay her child support.
>> Judge Judy: How much?
>> It's about $260 a month, I
believe.
It's pretty minimal.
>> No, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: Don't interrupt.
Do you adhere to the visitation/
custody arrangement?
>> I take him.
There are some Fridays I work
late and and she chooses -- In
our court order, it's left to
where the parent who can't have
him has to let the other parent
have first rights of refusal.
So, occasionally, on Fridays, I
don't have him, but I take him
all the other times.
>> Judge Judy: You're a
musician?
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: That's how you
support yourself?
>> That's my largest source of
income.
>> Judge Judy: What kind of work
do you do?
>> I'm a IT consultant.
I work with other businesses to
help them with their data
systems.
>> Judge Judy: Is that how you
support yourself?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Are you an
independent contractor?
>> That's right.
>> Judge Judy: Did you file
taxes last year?
>> I did.
>> Judge Judy: How much did you
earn?
>> I don't remember.
I don't know. $20,000?
>> Judge Judy: Who do you live
with?
>> I live with my son.
>> Judge Judy: What other
subsidies do you get to exist?
You're not existing on $20,000 a
year.
>> I am, actually.
I mean, I live in -- It's not as
expensive where we live as it is
here in California.
And sometimes we eat beans and
rice, but we do okay.
I get the $200 from
Mr. Knutson -- $216 from
Mr. Knutson every month.
I don't know.
You know, some months are
tighter than other months, and,
I mean, we're certainly not
rich.
>> Judge Judy: You drive a car.
>> Yep.
>> Judge Judy: What kind of car
do you drive?
>> It's a Subaru.
>> Judge Judy: What year?
>> It's a '05.
I was given it by my mom.
When she bought a new car, she
sold it to me for...
>> Judge Judy: You live alone
with your son, and you pay rent?
>> Yep. Mm-hmm.
>> Judge Judy: "Yes" is the
answer.
And what's your rent?
>> $975 a month.
>> Judge Judy: You have
insurance for your car?
>> I do.
>> Judge Judy: And how much is
the insurance a month?
>> $40 or $50 a month.
>> Judge Judy: With
$1,000-a-month rent, I'm not
figuring out how you're
working...
I'll let it go.
If you can see that there's a
frustration, there's a
frustration that I have with
your answer and with the scene
that you caused when you brought
your son to his house over $200.
Do you understand?
>> $200 is...a lot of money.
>> Judge Judy: I don't care if
it's $200.
I don't care if it's $3,000.
If you love your child, in an
exchange of custody, you don't
create a scene, which is exactly
what you did -- which he's gonna
tell me about, which is what
this case is all about.
Now, this is what the case is
about, as far as I gather, from
the complaint and the answer.
You say that he had agreed to
give you $200 towards some
daycare expense.
According to what I'm reading,
there was some discrepancy as to
what time the child was to be
brought to his father's house.
There was texting back and forth
between the two of you that day,
which I'm sure one of you has to
show me...
>> I do.
>> Judge Judy: ...where it was
clear that there was not an
agreement with regard to the
$200.
That be a fair statement?
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: What time was the
child to be brought to your
house that day?
>> 12:00 on Sundays -- on Sunday
visits.
>> Judge Judy: What was the
date?
>> It was the 12th of June.
>> Judge Judy: And the
arrangement is that you bring
the child to his house on
Sunday?
That's either a yes or a no.
>> No.
>> Judge Judy: It's very easy
for me to figure out.
Now, is he supposed to pick the
child up from your house?
>> There's no formal arrangement
as to who picks up and drops
off.
>> Judge Judy: On June 12th,
were you to bring your son to --
>> Yes, I was.
On June the 12th, I volunteered
to bring him.
>> Judge Judy: So, on June the
12th, you were to bring him to
his house at noon.
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: Did you bring
him?
>> We were running late that
day.
I did bring him, but we were
running late.
>> Judge Judy: How late were you
running?
>> By the time I got there, we
were...17 minutes late.
>> Judge Judy: That's not a big
deal.
12:17.
Were you at home at 12:17?
>> Judge Judy: Your Honor, I was
not.
I asked Ms. Harrison if I could
pick up our son the night before
at her house because we had an
engagement with the rest of our
family an hour away at 1:00.
>> Judge Judy: 1:00 on Sunday?
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: Can I see that
text?
>> The texts I have are just
about her being late, and it
actually does say that I offered
to pick him up -- somewhere
here, I guess.
>> Judge Judy: Well, that's what
I -- So, you wanted to pick him
up on June 11th at night?
>> No, I wanted to pick him up
at 12:00 noon on that Sunday.
>> Judge Judy: You wanted to
pick him up from her house at
12:00 noon?
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: Did she respond
to that text?
>> She did.
She was running late.
And I told her that I had to
leave, or I'd miss the -- I
would miss the family event.
>> Judge Judy: Can I see those,
please?
Okay.
So, whatever it was, on this
particular Sunday, based upon
these things back and forth, you
were clearly annoyed with each
other.
>> Yes.
And I'd like to add, Your Honor,
that she was late so many times
I had to take her to court for
contempt.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
Well, 15 or 17 minutes late
doesn't mean anything unless you
had to be someplace, and then
you can always be 15 minutes
late.
I'm not suggesting that that was
a grown-up thing to do, to leave
if s