“With all due respect, Your Honor, nobody has conclusively proved my client caused this damage. There’s no video. There are no witnesses. There’s a voicemail that hasn’t been admitted and a father who, understandably, wants to help his daughter.”
The judge looked at him for a long moment over her glasses.
“Mr. Pruitt,” she said. “Your client remained in possession of the residence until the turnover deadline. Correct?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“He had the only other set of keys.”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“And there is no allegation that Ms. Harmon caused this damage herself?”
Pruitt hesitated.
“No, Your Honor.”
“Has your client offered any alternative explanation,” the judge said, very slowly, “for the running faucets, the damaged walls, and the destruction of an item that was specifically disputed during these proceedings? An item this court ruled on just three weeks before it was destroyed?”
Pruitt paused.
Ezoic
The courtroom was so quiet I could hear the clock on the wall ticking.
