Forget Judge Judy. Glendale has its own fearsome judge on the bench, and she’s at the top of her game.
Glendale resident and TV judge Cristina Perez received the Emmy for Outstanding Legal/Courtroom Program for her show, “Cristina’s Court,” during the National Television Academy’s 35th Annual Daytime Entertainment Emmy Awards last week at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood.
“I’m a judge,” Perez said. “Every case is real. They are Small Claims Court cases, and we issue real, binding decisions.”
The former host of Telemundo’s “Family Court” said getting the honor is an exhilarating feeling.
“It’s amazing, truly amazing,” Perez said. “It’s one of the most incredible experiences ever. Who would have thought? Just aside from being married and having a child, it’s really an exhilarating feeling. For me, it’s evidence of the hard work our incredible producers have been doing.”
The show was up against “The People’s Court,” “Judge Judy,” “Judge Hatchett” and “Judge David Young,” she said.
The winning episode was called “Requiem for a Pit Bull,” and it was a small claims court case with a legal issue of loss of property, she said.
“The paramount issues were animal rights activists vs. gun control activists and animal cruelty vs. defense of property and self,” Perez said.
A man had shot and killed a pit bull because he claimed the dog was attacking him, but he had no evidence that the dog was violent, Perez said.
“He shot the dog five times with a .22-caliber gun, knowing that gun doesn’t kill the first time,” she said. “He was able to walk into the house twice. He should have gone in and stayed and called authorities.”
The man instead took the dog’s body and threw it in a dumpster, Perez said.
“Any dog has the potential to be dangerous, but in this case, it didn’t make sense,” she said.
Winning the Emmy was a big surprise to the show’s executive producer, Peter Brennan.
“I’m in shock,” he said. “I started the ‘Judge Judy’ show in 1996 and for six years we went to the Emmys.”
But they always came home empty-handed, he said. Then, this year, a new category was created. In the past, they were in the Special Show category and lost to the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, he said.
