what do you do for a living?
>> I'm retired, Your Honor,
from the Department
of Corrections.
I was a canteen manager,
California Institution for Men.
>> Judge Judy:
When did you retire?
>> 2015.
>> Judge Judy: Now, you had
a brother, passed away recently.
Your brother was disabled.
The defendant lived with him
for the last 5 years.
He was a parental figure,
is what I'm gathering
from your papers.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Is that right?
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> Judge Judy: In your papers,
you say that you were
your brother's caretaker.
Am I mistaken about that?
>> Yes.
I...
>> Judge Judy: When you say
you were his caretaker,
were you his caretaker
because you were
his sister and loved him?
But did you also get paid
to be his caretaker?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Of course
you did,
and you got paid by the state
to be his caretaker.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Yes.
How did I know that?
Now, for how many years
had you been getting paid
by the state to be his caretaker
while you were also working for
the Department of Corrections?
>> About 20 years.
>> Judge Judy: And how much
were you paid each month
by the state to be his caretaker
while you were working for
the Department of Corrections?
>> Five hundred and some change.
>> A what, a week?
>> Every 2 weeks, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy:
So $1,000 a month?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: If your brother
was a paraplegic,
who was taking care
of him when you were not?
>> He would take care
of his self.
>> Judge Judy: How could
he take care of himself
if he's a paraplegic?
>> Well, Your Honor, he could
feed his self.
You know, he could bathe his
self, but I would
do other things, cook.
My husband would cook for him.
I would take him food,
pay his bills.
>> Judge Judy: Well, if he could
take care of himself,
what were we paying you
$1,000 a month for?
>> Well, Your Honor,
he was...basically had
plenty bedsores,
so he have to be turned.
He have to be cared for.
The bedsores had to be treated,
so there was various things,
Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: Who took care
of him
while you were working for
the Department of Corrections?
>> Well, my husband,
my daughters.
>> Judge Judy: What kind of work
does your husband do?
>> He's also retired from
the Department of Corrections.
>> Judge Judy: Now, this
is what your case is about.
She lived in your brother's
house up
until the time he died.
Your brother told you
that he had been saving money
for the defendant,
cash, in his safe,
which was in his house,
and I assume
it's a portable safe.
You could pick it up
and move it, correct?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Because you
did pick it up and move it,
and he also told you that he was
saving money for you.
>> No, Your Honor.
I did not know that
until after he was deceased.
>> Judge Judy: Really?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: So he didn't
tell you
he was saving money for you?
>> No.
He told my sister,
which is right here.
He told her
that he was saving it.
>> Judge Judy: But he told you
he was saving the money...
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: ...for her.
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Now, when you
came to take the safe,
where he was keeping
the money for her,
I want you to hold up in your
hands and show me
how big the safe was.
This big?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And this tall?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: Was she at home
when you came to take the safe?
That's a yes or a no.
>> Yes.
Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And who did you
come with
when you came to take the safe?
>> My husband and my daughters.
>> Judge Judy:
And was that the same day
that your brother died,
or was it the day
he was taken to the hospital?
>> It was a couple of days
after, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: After what?
>> After he had passed away.
>> Judge Judy: So 2 days
afterwards?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: And you knew that
your brother had put away money
in the safe for her,
who lived with him for 5 years
while you were working for
the Department of Corrections
and taking 1,000.
You didn't get any money
from the state for taking care
of her brother, did you?
>> No, ma'am. I did not.
>> Judge Judy: What?
>> She got room and board free,
Your Honor,
because he was secretly
saving the money for her
because she didn't know it.
He was secretly
saving it for her, Your Honor,
so she lived rent-free
for 5 1/2 years, not 5 years.
>> Judge Judy: Very nice.
Well, 5 1/2 years...
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> ...while you were working
for the Department
of Corrections
and she was living
with your brother in this house.
>> Not working, Your Honor,
half of the time,
she wasn't working.
>> Judge Judy:
You're not following me.
So far, the only scam
I'm seeing is yours.
Now my question is,
when I'm creating this picture
for myself, if you knew
that the cash was in the safe,
belonged to her, why didn't you
open the safe in front of her?
>> I tried several times,
Your Honor,
and couldn't get it open.
I was too nervous.
I was upset, Your Honor.
My brother had just passed.
I was upset.
>> Judge Judy: Not upset enough
not to go get the safe.
>> No, because I had
to go get the information
for his burial.
I had to get the insurance
policy, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: Oh.
So you thought that just
the insurance policy
for his burial was in the safe
in addition to the cash?
>> Yes.
>> Judge Judy: I'd like you
to tell me what you did
when you got
the safe home to open it.
>> Well, Your Honor,
I still couldn't open the safe.
I was still too nervous.
My middle daughter,
she opened the safe.
She's not able to be here,
Your Honor,
because she had to work.
>> Judge Judy: I don't care.
You have an idea where I'm going
and what I think of your story.
So you opened the safe, and,
according to you, in the safe,
for her, the only money,
according to you,
the only money in the safe
was $5,000,
just $5,000.
How much?
>> Seven, Your Honor.
>> Judge Judy: