I Won In Court Today...Well...Sort of....

Without going into the full-blown play-by-play, suffice it to say that this was an exhausting experience. Plus, I was so nervous about getting there due to the flooding in Houston today, that I took out 2 hours before I was due in court. Missed my lunch as a consequence and since my case was number 16 on a docket of 19 cases I had to sit and wait a lonnnnnnnnnnngggggggg time!

She did show up, along with her husband. So mine was one of 14 cases that were sent to mediation. If one of the parties didn't show up, the judge called the one party to the case up to the bench and gave a summary judgment in his/her favor. Judge Burney wasn't there today - it was a visiting judge whose name I don't recall. He was an Hispanic male (you'll see why that was important at the end of this story.)

My case wasn't called for mediation until 3:30 and this meeting lasted until 4:15 -- it's an attempt with a mediator for the 2 parties to agree to a settlement. Our mediator was a fairly decent facilitator. He also told me that I had a very good chance of winning if we took the case back in front of the judge. But I chose to settle instead. And I settled for less than I thought was really fair. That's why I titled this post "I Won...Sort of..."

Bottom line, I didn't have all the facts. First, her dog killed the poodle AFTER it had attacked Porch Boy. It was the same day, but the poodle was attacked around noon, while Porch Boy was attacked at 6:30AM. This was corroborated by the poodle's owner - but not until just yesterday.

When the woman who had witnessed the attack on Porch Boy had identified the Pit Bull as the attacker, and told me it had killed the poodle "after Ike" I presumed that it had happened sometime back in September. That's why it made me so mad when Ms. Evans told me that they were still dealing with "separation issues" and hadn't gotten rid of the dog. I didn't realize at the time I confronted her that it had only been 5 days that they had been dealing with the reality that their dog had murdered another dog.

Second, her confession that her dog had gotten out of the back yard when I told her that the witness had identified her dog as the one that attacked Porch Boy, was referring to the attack on the poodle. Not the attack on Porch Boy. She insisted that she had not known about the attack on Porch Boy until that Thursday morning I confronted her, 5 days after the fact. And she continued to say that her dog was in the house until they put him out in the back yard right before noon on Saturday - the day of the attack.

I also found out that they had wanted to take the dog to a shelter to get him adopted out, but no shelter would agree to take him for adoption. She said that because he was a Pit Bull all the shelters in Harris County said that they would euthanize him. She said that when they got him as a puppy they had agreed if he ever "drew blood" they would destroy him. But then after having him 2 years it was hard to go through with that plan. I told her I understood that, and hadn't really wanted him to be put down although I was scared of encountering him again. And very angry that he had attacked Porch Boy and the poodle, of course.

Oh yeah, she also said that they had returned Judge Alex producer's call and left a message to learn more about it, but the producer never called them back. So that mystery was solved. Most importantly, I was able to express that what I had wanted most was an apology and a sense that she was empathizing with my situation. That it had been extremely traumatic for both me and Porch Boy to be attacked and that what I had gotten was defensive denials and a seeming lack of concern from her. She offered me a genuine apology and, when I teared up a little bit, I could tell that she did understand my pain. She also said that she wasn't purposely ignoring my certified letters, but because both she and her husband worked full time it was hard to get over to the post office to sign for them.

So, then we got down to the actual negotiation of a settlement. I immediately offered to eliminate everything relating to my medical costs, keeping the focus on the $1195 expense for the vet bills. She, on the other hand, still unconvinced that it was her dog that had attacked Porch Boy, balked at paying $1200 for someone else's dog's behavior. She mentioned the other 2 Pit Bulls that lived on our block and that it could have been a stray dog as well. I admitted that I could not say with 100% confidence that it was her dog, as I had only seen her dog on 2 occasions, and because the attack itself was so traumatizing for me that all I really could say was that it was a sandy brown big dog that I thought was either a Pit Bull or a Boxer. I also was certain it had a black collar on because it's head was what I was most focused on - as it continued to shake Porch Boy - and she had told me that her dog had a black collar.

The mediator asked if I had a statement from the witness and I told him about her backtracking on her story and not wanting to be involved. So, he turned to them and said "Well, you do admit that your dog did get out the day that the chihuahua was attacked and did kill the poodle. It's likely that the judge will take that into consideration as a pattern of behavior. So, would you be willing to split the cost of the vet bills 50-50?" To which she replied, "We'd need to discuss that. We don't have $600 right now because we just lost our car in the flood (this was referring to their Honda that was left in the street when our neighborhood did flood last week -- I know because I saw the car being towed away) and my daughter turns 2 years old tomorrow." So I suggested that they pay part of it now and part next month. She requested we leave the room so that they could discuss it privately.

So the mediator and I walked out. He was telling me all about what I already knew would be a difficult collection process if they wouldn't settle. He also mentioned the $100+ I would need to spend to even try to get the full judgment. After about 10 minutes she called the mediator back in and the only thing I heard was her say, "But she SAID it was a boxer - not a Pit Bull!" Then a couple minutes later I was asked to return to the room.

She then offered to pay $200 as a settlement. I was surprised and said I didn't think that was fair since I had to spend $95 just to file the case, but she wouldn't budge. I asked what the collection process was if I accepted her offer and the mediator said that he would write a statement on our agreement that would be a legally binding contract. I asked if that meant I was going to have to file ANOTHER case if they reneged and he said that if they didn't pay the $200 my current case would be refiled and we'd both have to come in and start it all over again.

So I said, "To heck with it. Let's just get it over with. I'll take the $200 but I want it paid today." She agreed to write a check and I really pissed them off when I said I preferred a cashier's check because I had no assurances that she wouldn't stop payment after I walked out the door. So the mediator put a stipulation in the agreement that if the check didn't clear my bank within 7 days, they would have to pay me with a cashier's check. She also had a statement put in that they did not admit it was their dog that was responsible.

Now the final step. Had to go back in front of the judge for him to sign off on our settlement. When we got back into the courtroom there was a man & woman at the bench just yelling at each other. It was like a scene out of those reality court shows. He told them to grow up and act like adults, but they continued to snipe at each other. Then he said, "Do you remember when Rodney King got the crap beat out of him? What did he say?" She said, "I don't remember." And the judge stood up and said, "Can't we all just get along? That's what he said! And if he can say that after getting beat up why can't you two get along?" They CONTINUED to argue with each other and the judge turned to the clerk and said, "Reset their court date. I've heard enough. Let Judge Burney deal with it."

Another case had a settlement agreement and they approached the bench and he signed off on it and thanked them for being mature - said it loud enough so that the bickering two would hear - and then called us up. By the time we got up there he was even smiling. He read the filing first and said "Ms. Root you were suing for over $2000 and you're settling for just $200?" I said, "Yes sir." He then read the initial complaint and said "So your dog attacked her dog. Wait! This was a Chihuahua that got attacked? Your talking about the national dog of my Mexico! That's my people's dog! I don't really like dogs but when it comes to Chihuahuas..." Mr. and Mrs. Evans had a look of stark fear on their faces so I lightened the moment by saying, "Darn! I should have come back in here rather than settle! Who knew the judge was going to love Chihuahuas?" The judge and the clerk laughed and the Evans did, too. The judge signed our agreement and it was over. I immediately took that check to the bank. It better not bounce!!!!

All in all, I am satisfied with the outcome. Even though I think it would have been more fair if they had paid at least $300, I am pleased that I don't have to mess with this whole thing any more. By paying me $200 they did take at least some responsibility, and Porch Boy is completely over the whole thing. If he can forgive, so can I. In fact, on the way out of the courtroom I wished their daughter a happy birthday.