>> Judge Judy: Your daughter and
the baby had been living with
you, and then she took off
with this new boyfriend.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And you were
miserable about that.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: And you probably
went to see a lawyer about it
or spoke to somebody about it,
and somebody explained to you
that you couldn't get custody
of your granddaughter,
but her father could.
>> Yes, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: See how I know
the story?
And so you reached out
to the defendant and said,
"We'll pay for the lawyer.
We have the lawyer,"
because you found
the lawyer, right?
You found the lawyer?
>> Yes, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: That's not in
here, see?
I've been through this before,
not my first time
around the mulberry bush.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: You found the
lawyer.
He doesn't have $0.35
to rub together.
The lawyer was $3,500
who you paid.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: And they found
your daughter, and temporarily,
the court gave him custody.
>> Yes, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: When the court
gave him custody...
So far, I'm not doing a bad job
right?
>> Go ahead.
You're doing good.
>> Judge Judy: When the court
gave him custody,
he hadn't seen his daughter
in a while, but the whole,
really, idea was for you
to get custody of the baby,
not for him.
I mean, we both know that.
We both know
that your whole idea was,
"He's not able
to take care of the baby,
but we have to use him
to get custody of the baby,
and then, eventually, he'll say,
'This is too much trouble
for me.'"
But Mr. Martinez said,
"You can see the baby
every other weekend."
>> Yes, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: And you didn't
like that.
You said, "Well, give us
a little more time with her."
And he said, "Well, I really
want to get to know her.
You know, I haven't seen her."
So far, correct?
>> Correct.
>> Judge Judy: Right.
And then all of a sudden,
your daughter
started to look better to you.
She left the boyfriend,
and right now, as we speak,
your daughter
and your granddaughter
are living with you.
>> Yes.
>> That was the agreement
of the court, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
Your daughter and your
granddaughter are living with
you.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And she's living
with you, and there is an order
that says she has to live with
you for 2 years with the baby...
>> Yes, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: ...which means...
Court said she can't live
by herself with the baby.
She must live with you.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: He wasn't happy
about that.
>> No, he wasn't.
>> Judge Judy: And now, you want
him to pay for the lawyer that
you found and then used, in
effect, the whole situation
so that you could get custody
of your granddaughter.
>> No.
No, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: Yeah.
>> We met with Mr. Martinez
and his parents at his house
because he had some concerns.
He had called us that he wanted
to see his daughter,
that he had some concerns.
So we agreed to meet with him.
>> Judge Judy: That's very nice.
>> And at that time --
>> Judge Judy: Yeah. Yeah.
You had no use for him before.
>> We always had
contact with him, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: He may have been
a better option
than the new boyfriend.
>> We've always had contact with
him since the baby was born.
>> Judge Judy: What does
Mr. Martinez do for a living?
>> At that time, he was working
in a restaurant, washing dishes.
>> Judge Judy: He was washing
dishes, and where did you expect
him to get $3,500 from?
>> He's always been
working, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: That's fine.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: You know
how long it takes a dishwasher
to save up $3,500?
>> Yes, ma'am.
But he's also been
posting pictures on Facebook
holding wads of money, showing
that he does have money, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: He's not paying
you any money.
This was a scam.
It wasn't really a scam.
You had to use him
because grandparents don't have
the right to seek custody.
That's very, very hard.
You have to prove your daughter
is unfit to take care
of her child
and that he would be unfit
in order for you to get custody.
>> Your Honor, we have
documentation showing that he
agreed to pay us the money back.
>> Judge Judy: Yeah.
You're not getting
the money back.
Do you understand?
You want me to dismiss the case?
Go take it
to small-claims court.
If you have documentation
that he signed a promissory note
to pay you back $3,500,
go take it
to small-claims court.
>> Your Honor, we also have
proof that he has other
documentation showing that he
does tell people that
he's going to pay off tuition,
and he hasn't paid on the
tuition because of the agreement
of the lawyer.
>> Judge Judy: He's not paying
you.
What you did was you used him,
and then when he didn't give you
the custody --
>> Your Honor, he had just as
much concern
about his daughter than we did.
He would come to us and ask us
throughout family events if we
heard from my daughter or have
even seen his daughter.
And we would tell him, "No."
>> Judge Judy: So tell him to go
get a lawyer.
>> We did tell him
to get a lawyer.
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
He didn't.
>> We told him to get a lawyer.
>> Judge Judy: Just a second.
He didn't. You did.
You went to the lawyer.
You found the lawyer,
and you paid for the lawyer.
>> No.
He agreed that he would pay us.
>> Judge Judy: Ms. Dela Rosa,
he's not paying you any money.
Your daughter, your
granddaughter are now living
with you, which is exactly
what you wanted to happen.
>> We wanted to make sure
our granddaughter was safe.
And Mr. Martinez
also had those same concerns.
>> Judge Judy: Mr. Martinez...
Your granddaughter
was unsafe with Mr. Martinez.
>> We did not say
that she was unsafe with him.
It was the court's decision
to have her live primarily
at our house.
>> Judge Judy: Goodbye,
Ms. Dela Rosa.