>> Judge Judy: Ms. Murray, when
and how did you meet
Mr. Campbell?
>> We met online.
>> Judge Judy: On what date?
>> March 2017.
>> Judge Judy: And at the time
you were online, Mr. Campbell,
you were married but separated?
>> Legally separated, yes,
ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: For how long?
>> I would say approximately
9 months.
>> Judge Judy: Do you have
children?
>> Two, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: How old?
>> Nine and six.
>> Judge Judy: And you are still
married?
>> Legally, on paper, yes,
ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: Is there any
reason why you weren't divorced?
>> It's in the process, ma'am.
We went from family court into
supreme.
>> Judge Judy: In what state?
>> New York.
>> Judge Judy: So, in family
court, it didn't start out being
a divorce.
It started out being custody or
visitation or something else.
>> My wife was trying to do it
through family court, which I
got an attorney, who advised me
that --
>> Judge Judy: You can't get a
divorce through the family
court.
>> That's what he advised me,
and he took me to the supreme
side, and we went from there
with filing for the divorce.
And then the judge --
>> Judge Judy: What did she file
in family court?
>> Just for the children.
>> Judge Judy: For support.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
So, she went to family court
seeking an order of support.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: You got a lawyer.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: And your lawyer
said, "You just don't want to
pay support.
You want to be free.
So, in order to do that, you
have to go to the
supreme court."
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: And then the
family court refers all matters
of support over to the
supreme court.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: Or vice versa.
All right, fine.
And when did you get the lawyer?
>> That was in January of 2016.
>> Judge Judy: What was that
lawyer's name?
>> The first lawyer -- I can't
recall his name.
>> Judge Judy: Did you pay him?
>> I did, yes.
I did a retainer with him for
$5,000.
>> Judge Judy: Did you use up
the retainer?
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: And then you ran
out of money?
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: Okay.
When you met Ms. Murray in March
of 2017, you were still not
divorced.
>> That's correct, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: And Ms. Murray
laid out money for a lawyer.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: How much?
>> I was told she laid out --
>> Judge Judy: No, no, no.
I don't want to know what you
were told.
What you were told is hearsay,
unless she told you.
>> She sent me an e-mail saying
that she paid $5,000.
>> Judge Judy: Who found the
lawyer?
>> I went online. I did, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: Had you saved up
enough money for the lawyer?
>> At the time, I was asking my
family members and everyone, and
at the time, no one could come
up with the money to retain the
lawyer.
>> Judge Judy: So, what did you
do with Ms. Murray?
You had just met her.
>> I didn't do anything with
Ms. Murray.
Ms. Murray ended our
relationship prior to our
conversation by driving from her
home to when I came home from
work, and she dumped all my
stuff --
>> Judge Judy: Shh.
I'm asking you about the money
for the lawyer.
>> But what I'm saying to you,
ma'am, is that I had a
conversation with her, telling
her that when she called me to
see where my status was with the
divorce, and she wanted the
divorce done before we go any
further.
I said to her, "I thought we
were done.
You dumped all my stuff on the
front of my house.
You drove to my house.
You dumped it all off."
>> Judge Judy: You mean you had
an argument.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Before she paid
for the lawyer.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And when was
that?
>> April 2017, I think.
>> Judge Judy: A month later?
>> Like, two months, yes.
>> Judge Judy: A month later --
you met March 2017.
So, in April 2017, you had a
fight, and you were upset
because his divorce wasn't
progressing.
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: He had some
things at your house.
You drove to his house, dropped
his things off, and then?
>> We talked further.
He apologized.
He said he would make it better.
>> Judge Judy: Make what better?
What was wrong?
>> Our relationship.
He would move the divorce
forward, and he promised --
>> Judge Judy: What was so
pressing?
You only knew the man for a
month.
>> We spent a lot of time
together.
>> Judge Judy: I don't care if
you spent 24/7 together for a
month.
Keep going.
>> And in June, he told me that
he had a workmen's comp check
coming for him for $15,000, and
he would use the $5,000 to pay
me back.
So, I contacted his attorney,
and I paid the money, and he
agreed he would pay me back with
the $15,000 from the
workmen's comp check that was
coming in a few weeks.
>> Judge Judy: Go.
>> That was not the
conversation, ma'am.
The conversation on the phone
was, and I was sitting in my
den.
I was panicking because at the
time they served me a couple
days before to go back to court.
My wife at the time was alleging
I was doing things with the kids
so that she can get full custody
instead of joint custody.
I was advised that --
>> Judge Judy: You mean that you
were abusing your children?
>> No, she was saying that I --
she didn't believe that putting
your kid in the corner for two
minutes, she said that that was
corporal punishment.
>> Judge Judy: So, she was
alleging corporal punishment.