Judge Joe Brown Case Was Over $420

By Alfred Branch, Jr.
TicketNews.com

A Bakersfield, CA man named Michael Freedman may have lost a dispute between him and ticket broker Pete Kennedy, owner of Pete’s Seats, for which he sought $420 in damages before television’s Judge Joe Brown Kennedy and Freedman are scheduled to appear in a segment of the show on May 11.

Ticketnews.com learned details of the complaint from Kennedy, but could not verify them with the show because it does not disclose the outcomes before the show airs. Freedman did not return a message seeking comment....

Kennedy said Freedman bought three tickets from him for $80 each, or a total of $240, for Freedman and his two children to attend a March 6 concert by the popular kids band the Wiggles. Freedman allegedly claimed that him and family were denied entry to the event, and he had to buy additional tickets for $35 each, or a total of $105.

Freedman emailed Kennedy later that night demanding a refund of the $240 and the $105 he spent on new seats. Kennedy said he planned to refund Freedman the $240, but was not prepared to pay the additional money because the original tickets had been used that night, according to the Rabobank Arena.

He called Freedman the next day and left a message, but Freedman allegedly never returned his call and instead filed a small claims suit that representatives of Judge Brown’s show discovered. The two taped the segment in April, about a month after the concert, and Freedman increased his damages claim to $420, which is the original $240 plus $180 for what Freedman said were three tickets at $60 each. Not including any handling fees, all of the tickets in question, the original ones and the second set Freedman bought, carried a face value of $35.

Based on what he said was Judge Brown’s incredulous reaction to Freedman’s claim, Kennedy believes he won the case. “I think he thought this would be an easy thing, because he had no idea what kind of businessman I am,” he said. “I’m proud to be a ticket broker and want to make people happy. This could have been resolved in a business-like manner.”