incident that brings you to
court happened a little over
two years ago.
And the reason, according to
what I'm sort of surmising from
your papers, is that this is
sort of a case of road rage.
And you were injured.
You were riding a bicycle back
in July of 2015.
And you were riding in a bicycle
lane.
>> Yes.
>> After the incident, you hired
a lawyer.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And you were
suing Mr. Hope.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And that process
took a while.
>> Yeah, a long time.
>> Judge Judy: And the attorney
walked away.
The attorney said, "I'm not
gonna see any money from this.
I'm not gonna put in any more
work."
That's what happened.
And then you took over.
Mr. Hope, Mr. Connolly hired a
lawyer...
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: ...to sue you.
Did you hire a lawyer to sue
him?
>> No.
>> Judge Judy: No. Okay.
Now we're gonna get back to that
July day.
You were on a bicycle.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And you were
riding in a bicycle lane.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Mr. Hope, you do
not dispute that.
>> I do not dispute that he was
riding his bike in a bike lane.
>> Judge Judy: And you're in a
car.
And you had stopped, with your
car totally stopped, in a bike
lane.
>> No.
That is absolutely not correct.
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
So, you were not stopped in a
bike lane.
>> I was stopped where cars
would be parked.
>> Judge Judy: Is that a bike
lane?
>> No.
>> Judge Judy: It is not.
>> There's a bike lane adjacent
to it.
>> Judge Judy: Had you just
stopped your car at that
location?
>> No. My car had been there for
a couple minutes as I --
>> Judge Judy: And just -- So,
you had stopped the car for a
few minutes.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Give me a number
of "few."
3 minutes, 2 minutes --
>> 5 minutes.
>> Judge Judy: 5 minutes.
>> It's irrelevant, actually.
>> Judge Judy: What?
>> It's irrelevant.
>> Judge Judy: I'll determine
the relevance.
>> Okay.
>> Judge Judy: So, when you
stopped your car, sometime
within 5 minutes, you exited the
car.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: You exited the
car, and I assume you didn't
exit the car through the roof of
the car.
I assume you exited the car
through the driver's door.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And when you
exited the car to the driver's
door, the driver's door may have
protruded into the bike lane.
Is that a fair statement?
>> All cars that open a door on
this street will open into a
bike lane.
>> Judge Judy: I don't care
about all doors.
I'm talking about your door,
when you opened it.
Now, then you went in and you
dropped something off in a
building or dropped a friend
off?
>> Dropped something off with a
friend.
>> Judge Judy: Great.
And then you got back into your
car.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: When you got back
into your car, you had to open
the door.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And, as you said,
when you opened the door, the
door opened into the bike lane.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And at about that
same time, you were riding along
in the bike lane.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Did you see
Mr. Hope walking towards his
car?
>> I --
>> Judge Judy: You never know
where I'm going.
>> Yes, I did.
>> Judge Judy: Did you see him
walking towards his car?
Before he got into it.
>> He actually didn't walk.
He kind of ran across from the
sidewalk, which this is the
picture --
>> Judge Judy: Oh, no, don't
show --
>> He ran across the front to
open the door, it almost seemed
like, as exactly as I was
getting closer to his door.
So I had to go into traffic.
>> Judge Judy: So, you are
going -- According to the
diagram that I see, your bicycle
was going in the same direction
as Mr. Hope's car was facing,
correct?
>> Same direction as this.
>> Judge Judy: I said -- That
would be either a "yes" or a
"no."
Your bicycle and Mr. Hope's car
were going in the same
direction.
>> Yes. Eastbound.
>> Judge Judy: And you saw him,
either in the front or the back,
walking towards his car.
>> Kind of quickly, yes.
>> Judge Judy: I don't care
"quickly."
I don't care if he was
sprinting.
>> Okay.
>> Judge Judy: You saw him.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And when he got
to his car, it was at about the
same time that you were passing
him in the bike lane.
>> About -- Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And he opened the
car door.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: What he didn't
do, at that point, was either be
observant and see you -- You saw
him.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: So, what he
didn't do was hold up and wait
for you to pass.
>> He looked right at me and
then opened his door.
So he made eye contact with me,
moving eastbound.
>> Judge Judy: And he opened the