Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of <i> Richeal v. Harris.</i> Thank you, Jerome. You're welcome. Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Ms. Richeal, you are
desperate to determine
the biological father of your four-year-old
daughter Jazmine. You confess that one man
signed your daughter's
birth certificate, yet another man
is paying child support. Now, Mr. Harris, you're the
potential father who was
paying support for a child you believe
is not yours. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Furthermore,
you and your wife are furious that you spent
two months in jail for $6,000 in delinquent
support payments. Yes. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Now, we'll address
the potential father
number two in a moment,
but first, Ms. Richeal, how did you meet Mr. Harris? RICHEAL: I was living
across the street from him. And I seen him standing out
there, and I was like,
"Ooh, he is fine." JUDGE LAKE: Okay, so
you guys met. RICHEAL: Mm-hmm. And at some point you started
a sexual relationship. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Okay, so you were
in just a sexual relationship or you all were boyfriend
and girlfriend, a committed
relationship, what was it? Well, he had said that we
could be together, so therefore he had me
thinking we were together,
but... No, it was just a hook-up,
that's all it was. JUDGE LAKE: All right, so
Mr. Harris, you claim this was not a relationship. It's not. JUDGE LAKE: But you do admit
to having a sexual
relationship with Ms. Richael. I do. And so, at some point, you
found out you were pregnant. Yes, Your Honor. So, tell me a little bit
about that. Well, I was over
at a friend's house,
and I was feeling nauseated. And so, she kept saying,
"You're pregnant, you're
pregnant." I was like, "No I'm not,
don't do that to me." And so, therefore, I went
over to the house and I took a pregnancy test.
And it turned out positive. JUDGE LAKE: And so once you
had a positive result,
did you contact Mr. Harris? No, I did not. JUDGE LAKE: You didn't. Now
let me ask you this, did you
contact anybody else? RICHEAL: I contacted
the other guy. JUDGE LAKE: And so, did this
other man sign the birth certificate
when the baby was born? RICHEAL: Yes, he did. Oh, Jerome, let me see that. So this other man was with you
through the pregnancy? Yes, he was. And he was there
at the birth, too? RICHEAL: Yes, Your Honor. And signed the birth
certificate? RICHEAL: Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: All right, so were you hoping here
Mr. Harris was the father? I was actually hoping
that the other guy was, because I know that Mr. Harris
was not going to be there. That is not true, and I am not
the only guy who should be
tested, anyway, because, if you remember,
I lived across the street from
you but you also had numerous other guys
going in and out your house. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Harris, I want
to hear a little bit more about how you ended up
paying child support for a child when you're not
listed as the father, but
you're paying child support. How did that happen? I really don't know. You missed your
appointment for
your DNA test. Yeah, I missed...
That's how it happened. I missed my DNA appointment. I rescheduled it, because
I didn't have a way
to get there, so I had another appointment,
but I didn't make
that one also. So they just deemed me as
the father without
actual evidence... JUDGE LAKE: Yeah. So, you were
named the father by default, because you failed to show up
for your DNA test. HARRIS: Yes, Your Honor. And I have judgment
of paternity. JUDGE LAKE: Oh, let me
see that. Jerome? What an adorable little girl. <i> So this is your
judgment of paternity.</i> "Found to be the father
of minor child." There it is. So you didn't show, and you
were deemed to be the father
by default. So now, you get hauled off
to jail? At some point? HARRIS: Yes. What happened? They came to the house, at
first I thought I was arrested
because of traffic tickets, because that's what
the police told me, but once I got to the jail, they actually pulled up my
record and said that I owe like, $6,000 back
in child support. So, I guess I owe for over a couple years or so, I guess. And, um... JUDGE LAKE:
Jazmine is four. Yeah, she's four. JUDGE LAKE: So you got
arrested, and you spent
how long in jail? Two and a half months.
I was a month and a half
in Georgia, then they moved me
from Georgia
to a hold in Kentucky, to where I was there, and also while I was there, I met a person,
a mutual friend, that told me that she's out, leaving
the child at home, while she's going out and
partying, she'll drop the child
off on other people and stuff like that.
And then...
And he also told me that it's a possibility that
I could not be the father. JUDGE LAKE: So, Ms. Richeal,
is it a possibility that he's
not the biological father? You yourself let someone else
sign the birth certificate. For one, there was not a lot
of people going in and out
of my house. JUDGE LAKE: But you did admit
that there was one other guy
because that's the person that you let accompany you
through the pregnancy. It was the other guy
and him. That's it. There's
no one else. Excuse... Your Honor?
When I first met, well... When she first started
contacting me on his phone, it was on Father's Day last
year, June 15. That's the day after
he went to jail. She kept on writing,
"Happy Father's Day,
love, Jazmine." And I was like, who in
the heck is this person? You know, I'd never seen... JUDGE LAKE: Because you'd
never heard anything
about it. I'd never heard anything
about her, at all. JUDGE LAKE: And you're
his wife. Yeah, well, I wasn't then,
but we were dating
at the time. JUDGE LAKE: You were dating. Yes, but I'd never
heard of her. Never heard of a Jazmine,
at all. I just...
I'm tired of all this. JUDGE LAKE: Do you think
he's the father? My honest opinion? I don't
even know, because she
looks like him, and she looks like
the other guy. JUDGE LAKE: Are there
any other
possibilities, any other men? RICHEAL: No, there's not. MIRANDA HARRIS: She said
there was one, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: She told
you there was one other? Yes. When we started
talking last year, when he was in jail, she never told me who,
but she said, one other guy besides my husband. So where's the third guy? RICHEAL: There is only two. JUDGE LAKE: Did you
tell her three? No, I did not. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: So this
conversation didn't happen? No, it didn't. Yes, Your Honor, it did. So, Mr. Harris, have you
developed a relationship with
Jazmine at all? No. I've only seen the child
maybe once, and
that's when I... JUDGE LAKE: One time? Yeah, that's when
I was living, actually, in the
state of Kentucky. The other guy said that he
would step up and take care of her. So therefore, you know, I'm letting him
take care of her. And him pay child support,
too. So you've got two men. But see the thing is, is that I want him to take care
of his daughter. Your Honor? That's all
I want. Is for him to take care
of his daughter. How can you take care of
a child that you're not even
bonded with? When you have the child
and a guy there to take care of your child
and who loves your child
as his own? Why would you want
to break that? RICHEAL: I want Mr. Harris
to be in her life. JUDGE LAKE: Understood.
With that said, I think it's
time to go to the results. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics,
and they read as follows: "In the case of<i>
Richeal v. Harris</i> as it
pertains to four-year-old "Jazmine Owens, Mr. Harris, "you are the father." (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) All right. I just, I don't want to deal
with her for 14 more years. She harasses us on the phone,
she calls us, she calls us all the time. Jerome, get me my violin... I just, I just don't... JUDGE LAKE: ...so I can play
a tune to this. Are you really sitting up
there, Ms. Harris? I thought you burst out
a tear for this baby because now she finally
knows who her father is. Mr. Harris. You have
a beautiful little girl. Yes. JUDGE LAKE: It's time for
you to step up to the plate. Do you understand?
And you have to say, "I'm going to be there for
my child, regardless."
Are we clear? HARRIS: Yes, Your Honor. Court is adjourned. Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of<i>
Epstein v. Roberson.</i> Thank you, Jerome. Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Ms. Epstein, you admit that
since finding out you were
adopted you've spent your entire life
feeling misunderstood
and out of place. AUDIENCE: Aww. Now, 27 years after your
adoption, you say you may
have found your birth father. Today is the very first
time you'll meet him. Now, Ms. Epstein... (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) If you're ready, I'd like
to have Jerome escort
the man who may be your biological
father into the courtroom.
Are you ready? Yes, Your Honor. All right. Jerome? Hello, sir. Come in. You're going
to be up on the left. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE: You all right? Yeah. JUDGE LAKE: All right.
So, take me back. Ms. Epstein,
tell me about your childhood. Okay, so, when I was born,
I was adopted. I was
adopted before birth. I was raised by a very loving,
very caring family, who I'm still very close
with today. And everything was great
as a child, and then at around
teenager age <i> I started becoming very
rebellious, refused to go
to school,</i> refused to listen to my
parents. Anything they said,
I wouldn't do, and I got sent to
a boarding school. So, their escort service,
an escort service came, they handcuffed me,
put a bag over my head,
and, um... And brought me to a van
where I was brought
to boarding school. Oh my goodness. So at 18 years old I decided
to leave the boarding school because I had graduated high
school, and you can leave if
you graduate high school and you're 18, you can leave
and not stay for the rest
of the program. So I left and I was sent
to a homeless shelter in
New Hampshire. So I met my boyfriend there,
we left and we went
to Oregon together, I had a child,
we got married, and then, I want to say a year
or so later, I ended up
being homeless again, and I adopted both of my
children out to
a wonderful family. Okay. But, like, I'm following
the same steps as my
birth mother, and I don't want to.
So that also is really hard, I know that they're in a
better place just like I know
that I was in a better place. But it's still hard to give your children
up for adoption. JUDGE LAKE: Oh, absolutely. So it's not...
Going through that... (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) Mr. Roberson, I have
to ask you, you know, knowing that
this beautiful young woman
might be your daughter, how does it hear, just
finding out all that she's
been through? ROBERSON: Tears me up.
Hurts me inside that she
went through so much. Because if she was with me
it would have never happened. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) So, Mr. Roberson,
at some point in your life,
in this time, do you remember having a relationship
with her birth mother? ROBERSON: We had a one night
thing, and it was at a party, and to be honest with you,
I can't remember if I was
drunk that time, or if I'm just getting old, but I really don't remember
it too good. But um, I guess we did, and I was, right back then,
I was getting custody of my six kids which I've raised
all by myself from eight months old to eight
years old, till now. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) So you are a father and you've
raised children? ROBERSON: Yes ma'am,
I have eight other children, I mean six other children
I've raised by myself.
Knowing that she... JUDGE LAKE: Did you know
anything about Ms. Epstein
being born? ROBERSON: No, ma'am.
Not a thing. I was never told from beginning till now,
until, her mother, even facebooked me about a year ago and still hadn't told me.
I was friends with her... Really? I was friends with her brother
for all my life, and he was on Facebook,
and I asked him, "Why didn't you tell me I had
a daughter?" He says, "I didn't know
until a few months ago." Um, we've got a good
relationship now, her and I do,
over the phone, I think she looks a lot
like the family. JUDGE LAKE: You do? And I'm hoping she is mine,
yeah. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) You're shaking your head,
Ms. Epstein, like this.
What are you feeling? All of it. I didn't know they
were friends a year ago
on Facebook, no one told me, no one told me. And you know,
I've talked to Paul before,
and he said that he saw my mom pregnant
at the grocery store
or whatever, so, and he always
doubted it, so, it's not like he had
no idea that I was around or that I existed. He never
asked my mom about it. Mr. Roberson, did you
admit this to Ms. Epstein? I told her that...
(STAMMERING) Me and her mother
worked in the same place. She worked in another part
of the area where I worked. I had seen her mother walking
across the parking lot, and I could see a little
bit of a belly on her, I'm not sure how far
along she was, or nothing. And the thought went through
my mind that, is this my baby?
But she... JUDGE LAKE: Back then? Yes. But she never come to me,
and I was working
at the time... And you never went
to her, either. ROBERSON: No.
And I never seen her again. But you never confronted
her, either. And you were friends with her
brother this entire time, so
you could have asked if there was a baby
born, or asked if she
was pregnant. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) So, when you got in touch
with your birth mother, and you asked for
Mr. Roberson's name, did she give it
to you willingly?
How did that happen? EPSTEIN: She forgot his name,
but then she told me she asked her brother
what his name was and he said
it was "Paul Robertson." His name is not
"Paul Robertson,"
it's "Roberson." Oh, my goodness. So you went looking for
Robertson, too? I mean, I'm friends to this
day with almost every
Paul Robertson on Facebook. JUDGE LAKE: Poor girl. So, do you see yourself...
Do you have doubts? EPSTEIN: I don't think I look
anything like him or any
of his family. JUDGE LAKE: You don't. Not at all. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Roberson,
are you concerned this all
is not true? Yes ma'am, I do. I do feel
concern that it might not be, because the fact is,
I was never told. Nobody's ever
brought it up to me. JUDGE LAKE: Jerome,
I think it's time
for the results. These results were prepared by
DNA Diagnostics, and they read as follows: "In the case of<i>
Epstein v. Roberson,</i> "pertaining to whether Mr.
Roberson is the biological
father of Ms. Epstein, "it has been determined
by this court "that Mr. Roberson "is her father." ROBERSON: So good, baby. EPSTEIN: Thank you. I know that has to be
wonderful to hear. And I'll tell you this. When we reconnect and reconcile families after all of these years,
it's beautiful in this moment. I'm so excited, and I know
you all are as well. I wish you the best of luck. ROBERSON: Thank you. Okay? EPSTEIN: Thank you. I'm so happy for you. Court is adjourned. So, when I heard the results
today, I was pretty much shocked, I didn't believe, for this
entire time, that he was
definitely my father. And I had a lot of questions that, I guess, were answered. I was definitely surprised
and relieved.
