Sadly, iPod girls will not get publicly berated by Judge Judy

In what is slowly snowballing into the Trial of the Century (and being only 2006, we can safely say the Trial of the Millennium), the dispute between the families of Shannon Derrick and Stephanie Eick over a stolen iPod will not, unfortunately, be resolved in the hallowed halls of Judge Judy's tough-but-fair courtroom. Amusingly, the plaintiff's mother originally saw the show as a quick way to resolve the matter on a level playing field, even though this whole incident could have been put to bed weeks ago had said mother not rejected a free iPod and associated swag donated by an anonymous do-gooder. As much as we'd love to hear JJ's take on this silly matter, since Eick's parents have been dropped from the suit and now only the piggybank of 14-year-old Stephanie is being pursued, it's up to her to approve a change of venue from Illinois to California. According to dad Steve, young Stephanie -- now a high school freshman -- doesn't want to go the Judy route because -- get this -- she'd have to miss two days of school and diving practice. (Who says kids these days lack ambition? When we were on the swim team, we would have given up our favorite pair of goggles to miss class and those grueling after-school torture sessions). Anyway, the next chapter in this saga will be played out on October 18th, when a DuPage County judge will attempt a last ditch effort at ending the debacle amicably through a settlement hearing. And after that? The high-profile case will most likely end up going to trial, and regardless of the final resolution, there's a good chance that Apple's legal team will swoop in and sue both families for besmirching the good name of their precious little cash cow.

[Via The Beacon News, thanks Ricardo]

[Ruler of Brinstar @ Sep 29th 2006 12:09PM]

Anyone missing some coffee table doilies? If you are, have a word with Judge Judie.

[strider_mt2k @ Sep 29th 2006 12:17PM]

Anyone missing hope for humanity?

-besides me?

[az @ Sep 29th 2006 12:27PM]

Judge Judy is pure evil - she actually said that the government should supply inner-city needle exchange clinics with HIV-infected needles to "cure addiction"

[Rikko @ Sep 29th 2006 1:42PM]

Ya know, here in Vancouver we actually have Safe Injection Sites. Yup, in addition to swapping needles, THEY'RE ACTUALLY PROVIDING THE JUNKIES WITH DRUGS TOO!
They claim it reduces ODs (who cares?) and reduces property crime (don't think it has).

So far still spiraling toward hell...

[Brian @ Sep 29th 2006 12:29PM]

Someone get the dumb stick out and beat the parents with it.
Then have them take an ethics class.
And finaly teach the girl why normal people DON'T borrow out expensive items to school mates...
When this type of information leeks its way onto FOX news, it makes me laugh at how screwed we all are as a society.

[What the... @ Sep 29th 2006 12:30PM]

This is so stupid... I can't believe this is the second time I have heard about this "case"...

But when I heard about this for the first time a few weeks ago, they said they weren't going the Judge Judy route because they didn't want to embarrass their kids on television... which makes more sense that what is written above...

[Will @ Sep 29th 2006 12:33PM]

This story is so stupid that Engadget is a now a dumber site for mentioning it, I am a dumber person for commenting on it and you are a dumber peron for reading my comment.

[Jason. @ Sep 29th 2006 12:46PM]

Just updated - Stephanie Eick is now countersuing Shannon Derrick. citing public humiliation, slander and liable as the reason for the suit. When asked for a comment, Eick would only say that Shannon called her a poopoo head in the school cafeteria. No calls were returned from Derrick or her lawyers at the time this comment was posted on Engadget.

More on this as soon as any news comes in.

[SubGenius @ Sep 29th 2006 12:46PM]

I wish they all lived in Thailand(judge judy included)
They would all get a good beat down with the pain stick.

[Scott C. @ Sep 29th 2006 1:12PM]

this is stretching it for being "gadget" worth news.

[zoara @ Oct 3rd 2006 8:32AM]

Rikko, I care. Drug users are people too. Wouldn't you support safe injection sites if (say) your brother was a junkie? Or would you not care if he overdosed?

[Volitile_Itch @ Sep 29th 2006 5:53PM]

Oh man, that is hillarious, i cannot believe people would go on television for things such as this, i've seen one or two Judge Judy programs and to be honest they all seem to be pretty meaningless things that are brought up.
I may just have seen some seriously lacking shows though...

[Jim @ Sep 29th 2006 9:21PM]

Wow... And to think, I live in the same county as these morons... Well, I'll say this much. If I ever see either of them at the local Denny's, I think I'll tell them both to shut the hell up and stop being so frickin childish.

Oy.

[whatsaname @ Sep 30th 2006 2:37AM]

I have a suggestion for the kid...

become an hero!

[Joel @ Sep 30th 2006 10:45AM]

Ditto to the others that don't think this is Engadget quality news. Keep this crap to the tabloids.

Thanks a lot Ricardo.

[Melanie McCarthy @ Oct 10th 2006 10:13PM]

I'd like to comment on this story as I believe your readers are entitled to something a little different than what I usually read on your web-site: THE TRUTH. I file the lawsuit against the minor Stephanie because the law firm her father retainied forced me to. I had to word it the way they felt it should be worded so that I could get the only thing I've ever asked for..the Ipod Stephanie borrowed from my daughter and lost. I was informed by the Judge Mathis show that the Eick family signed a contract with their production a few months ago and wouldn't release them from the contract. They wouldn't allow the Eick's to go on any other show but theirs. This crap about leaving it up to their daughter and she didn't want to miss school is just that - crap. I didn't accept the donated Ipod because I believe now as I have believed my whole life that a person needs to step up and take responsibility for their own actions. Having an anonymous donor who blatantly said they believe I am right pay for your daughter's mistake is pathetic.