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I was contacted by Judge Mathis' staff about being on their show yesterday for a small claims court case I filed and I'm wondering about opinions on whether it's a good idea or a terrible idea. Long story short here is my case: Towards the end of 2014 I tried to buy a gun off a guy online. None of the usual red flags were raised. Turns out he never had the gun and just took my money. Contacted the police and filed a lawsuit. Turns out several other people he took money from did the same. After the police searched his property and arrested him they found out that he had met a ~beautiful young white woman~ on an online dating site who was trapped in Africa with Ebola and needed to sell off guns to afford medicine. So "she" had him take the checks from people, cash them, and then Western Union the money to "her". You probably understand what is happening at this point. The guy that was the accomplice/patsy in all of this is a very overweight tattooed up man who has been on disability since before I was born. He has no job and no way to repay me the money he took from me and never will. If I win my small claims court judgement against him, I'll have to put a lien against his property and wait for him to pass away and hopefully I'll be able to collect it from his estate, but even that is iffy. Now I only sent him $520, and I've spent another $100 on court costs. I am not hurting for money in the least bit, and I'm basically just moving on with my life and waiting for a court date when Judge Mathis' staff reaches out to me yesterday. Their thing, if you aren't aware, is that they have a faux courtroom they put on TV where Judge Mathis hears cases which have been embellished somewhat and then he makes some jokes and stuff and rules on it. The results are legally binding. However, both defendant and plaintiff are paid, regardless of who wins. If I win, the man I'm suing who has no money would not have to pay me, and in fact he would receive compensation as well. I would get paid that plus the judgement from the show. If I lose, I would only get paid for my time on the show. Furthermore, the trip and (seemingly) all expenses are paid by Judge Mathis. So it seems to be a win-win and the only possible way I will ever see any of my money again. The main thing that worries me is how embellished these stories are. Since they're on TV, presumably anyone could see it, and it worries me if crazy people are going to try and contact me or something. Does that happen? My question to everyone is, has anyone been on Judge Mathis or similar shows before? How was it? Was it worth it? Anything important I'm not thinking of? Thanks for your opinions, goons.
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Apr 14, 2015 00:47
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 16:38 |
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I've got everything documented very well so there's no worry there. I reached back out to the associate producer and she's going to contact the defendant and see if he'll go for it. I should hear back from her tomorrow or the next day. She warned me though that typically they go for lawsuits between family members (IE personal drama), but I tried to sell my case to her more because it's pretty crazy with the whole African honey pot thing and the fact that I'm a fairly young clean cut city boy vs a fairly old and tatted up country bumpkin and there's a firearm involved. I'll let everyone know what comes out of it. Thanks for you inputs! e: I have no idea what Doobie's Dog House is
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Apr 14, 2015 17:10
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I completely understand that I could be made fun of and ridiculed for several things, including being a "gun-nut" and/or buying things over the internet. Hell, it has already happened. One of the officers I talked to who was less than helpful was a grumpy old guy who said "That's why you shouldn't buy things on-line!" Like, I realized I could have done some things better that might have kept me from getting sucked into this but it's 2015 and e-commerce is a real thing that's not just for internet weirdos. With all that said, I still haven't heard back from the person I've been speaking to. Hopefully tomorrow I will hear from her. I don't mind acting like a moron, being laughed at, or insulted on TV if it means getting some of my money back. The part I'm scared of is if the guy I'm suing is game with it. He's got a lot to be ridiculed for compared to me.
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Apr 15, 2015 23:24
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Did you skip the part where he thought some 20 something college girl fell in love him online but was stuck in Africa with Ebola while online dating? This is not a smart man. I haven't heard back from my contact at Mathis yet so I'm taking that as a bad sign.
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Apr 18, 2015 01:41
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Their love was that strong! e: They also texted, but the few times he tried calling her, the "doctor" answered and said she was unavailable.
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Apr 18, 2015 03:47
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Update! I finally got in contact with the lady I've been speaking to yesterday. She tells me they are still interested and that the defendant agreed to do it but there's a hangup. Since another person he scammed is taking him to court for criminal charges, he may not be able to leave his state to be on the show. They're going to see if they can work out a deal with someone in his state, and I should hear back in the next couple of days if this thing is going to work out or not.
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Apr 23, 2015 01:20
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| # ¿ May 9, 2024 16:38 |
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The other guy can't leave his state because of his other trial so it's a no go. fml
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May 20, 2015 03:29
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