matter of Corns vs. Hensley,
step forward.
>> Announcer: Richard and
Susan Corns are suing their
neighbor, Charles Hensley, for
damage to their property caused
by his negligence.
>> Judge Judy: Mr. and
Mrs. Corns, you are neighbors of
Mr. Hensley.
And Mr. Hensley has a wall that
separates your property at some
point.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: What construction
was the wall?
Was it a metal wall or was it a
concrete wall?
>> Concrete-block wall.
>> Judge Judy: And was it there
when you purchased the house?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: How long have you
lived in your home?
>> Since 2005.
>> Judge Judy: And you, sir?
>> About nine years.
>> Judge Judy: When did you
decide that you wanted to make
some alteration in your
backyard, sir?
>> When you walked out my back
porch, it dropped down about
4 feet, and there was a wall
between the neighbors's wall and
that.
Brought in probably about
70,000 pounds of road grade and
had it compacted.
>> Judge Judy: Because you
wanted a level yard.
>> Right. Yeah, my dogs were
jumping down and hurting
themself and stuff, so I made it
flat across.
>> Judge Judy: And, in the
course of doing that, changing
the topography of your
backyard...
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: ...it caused the
wall to become damaged between
the two properties, something
that you repaired or redid
because the wall collapsed.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Is that right?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: He replaced the
concrete wall.
>> It was replaced, yes.
>> Judge Judy: Not "was
replaced."
He replaced it...
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: ...at his
expense...
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: ...as he should.
>> Yes.
>> Right.
>> Judge Judy: So now what do
you want?ell, I'd like him to ce
over and finish cleaning up the
mess that was left in our
backyard.
>> Judge Judy: Let me see
photographs of the mess that was
left in your backyard.
>> Those are some of the
pictures.
>> The first photographs show --
>> Judge Judy: Shh.
Is this dirt on your side of
the --
>> Both: Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
And it wasn't there before.
>> No.
>> Judge Judy: What was here
before?
>> The dirt level is about
6 inches higher than it should
be, 'cause the dirt level should
be about 6 inches below that
wall, where there is drain lines
and sprinkler lines.
But it's all the way to the top
of the wall, so the drain lines
and the sprinkler lines don't
work right.
>> Judge Judy: This stuff.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Is that still
there today?
>> Both: Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Well, are you
giving him permission to come on
your property to do it?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And you want him
to remove 6 inches of dirt all
the way around and you want him
to get rid of all this concrete
stuff that came as a result of
the other wall exploding.
You want him to do that.
>> Yes, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
Tell me why you shouldn't do
that.
>> Those pictures are not even
right.
I took these pictures yesterday.
I'd like you to look at them...
>> Judge Judy: May I see,
please?
>> ...of the wall and that.
There's none of that debris that
I can see from here.
That looks like when the wall
just before we cleaned it up.
Those were taken last night.
>> Judge Judy: Is this the same
area, sir?
>> Yes, it is, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: Show these to
the plaintiff, please.
>> Yes, the rubble at the bottom
of the hill and the dirt -- If
you look farther down the wall,
it's lower than it is at the
this point.
>> Judge Judy: May I see it,
please?
>> It's hard to see in the
picture.
>> Judge Judy: It's not hard to
see in the pictures at all.
This is a totally different
picture than this.
>> Yes, it is.
That's looking down from his
wall.
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
What I want to know is -- Be
very careful of your answer.
>> I will be.
>> Judge Judy: When did you take
this picture?ast month.
>> But it still looks like that
today.
>> Judge Judy: I don't believe
you, because I see a major
difference between this
picture...and this picture.
And this picture was not taken a
month ago, because the apricot
tree is in full greenery in this
picture, and in this picture, it
is not.
And this picture was taken
yesterday.
So what you showed me is -- what
does it look like now? -- is
deceptive.
Your case is dismissed.
Goodbye.
>> What about the damaged ladder
and the damaged planter?
>> Judge Judy: And goodbye.