Please be seated. Hello,
your Honor. Hello. This is a case of<i>
Herrin, Medley,
Johnson v. Medley.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Three different adults with two different mothers brought the same
defendant to court today in an effort to
prove paternity. Mr. Herrin
and Mr. Medley, you are here
to prove to
Mr. Medley Sr. that you are
indeed his sons. BOTH: Yes, your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: And say, "Results of today's
DNA tests will
force him "to stop denying you." BOTH: Yes, your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Johnson? You grew up
without a father
for 26 years and claim that
when you finally
found the defendant, he claimed
he didn't know
you existed. Yes, your Honor. (AUDIENCE GASPING) JUDGE LAKE:
Now you've petitioned the
court for a paternity test to prove
he's your father. Yes, your Honor. Mr. Medley Sr.,
you say the results of today's paternity
test will confirm you had every reason
to doubt all three. Yes, your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: All right,
I'm gonna hear these
cases separately, starting with Mr. Herrin, and Mr. Medley Jr. Please explain
to the court how difficult your life
has been without
having a father. It affected me in life. I wanna know why
he wasn't in my life, why would you give me your full name as a junior, why would you sign
my birth certificate, if you deny me
as your child. It hurts me like
all get out. JUDGE LAKE:
So, Mr. Medley Sr., you submitted
a whole list of doubts. Yes, your Honor. Explain. When I met her,
I met her when
I was playing in a band, which was about
maybe three blocks
from where she lived. She would come,
she would be there,
you know... <i> And after about
four weeks, she came up</i> <i> and introduced
herself to me.</i> <i> But as time went on,
I started hearing rumors</i> that she was having sex
with other men. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. That's a lie. JUDGE LAKE:
So, in your statement
to the court, you claim you went
to your pastor once you learned
she was pregnant. MEDLEY SR: Yes. JUDGE LAKE: And what did your
pastor tell you? Do the right thing,
make her an
honorable woman. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE:
So, basically, you married her
even though you
had doubts. MEDLEY SR: Yes. JUDGE LAKE: And then, you also claim
you heard from another
band member. Yes. I went to, uh, audition for a band. JUDGE LAKE: Yes. MEDLEY SR:
The trumpet player was
acting kind of strange, like he didn't want me and
I knew everything went well. And as I was leaving,
packing the kits up, he came to me,
and he said, uh, "I know this guy is tripping
and everything, but "I think the reason
he's tripping "is 'cause he thinks
you're here to start
some trouble." I'm like, "Why would I
wanna start trouble?
I'm a drummer, "I'm not here
to start trouble." He said, "Well,
she has been with him, "but he didn't know
that she was married." (AUDIENCE GASPS) JUDGE LAKE: Oh. So... You two men are here... Why do you even think
he's denying you? What... What is the reason? The reason why
I think he's denying me is because,
when his mother die in 2007, he was nowhere
in our lives before then. His mom came down
for Christmases, birthdays, everything. Gave us everything. And she treated us like
we was her grandkids. And she told us,
"No matter what... "No matter what
your daddy say, "you guys are always
gonna be my grandkids." And that hurts
me so much to hear this man
sit here in this courtroom and lie to you
like that. Look at me.
Do I or do I not
look like you? Honestly. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) Spitting image.
100%. And you're gonna
sit up here and say
that I'm not your son? I don't know. How you
not know, man? You looking at yourself
right here. Not the way
I see me. MEDLEY JR: Can I say... What would you
like to add, Mr. Medley? Why were you never
there for us? That's what
I wanna know. Me and my brothers
and sister wanna know why were you
never there for us. Let me ask
you a question. If you had a child with a woman
you didn't believe
it was yours, would you be there? MEDLEY JR: Personally,
if you ask me that, I would.
I would be the man and I would take
a DNA test and I would not
wait 30 years to do it. Right. While they grown. Now... You wait till we're grown
to do all this. HERRIN: You could've done
it when we was young. This was in the 80s, and in the 80s,
we did not have DNA,
we had blood tests. I tried to get
blood tests. Grandmother kept saying,
"It's painful, they've
been through enough." She would not
allow me to do it. But now, it's just
a swab of the mouth, so there's no pain
in that. JUDGE LAKE:
Well, there is a lot
of pain here. I have to say,
I see it. In these young men's... Their faces. And whether you are
or you aren't their
biological father, you have to recognize
that they've been
through a lot. MEDLEY SR:
I've been through
a lot also. JUDGE LAKE:
And so, well... MEDLEY SR: Yes, I have. JUDGE LAKE: Respectfully sir,
I have to say, as the older gentleman
in this situation... Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE:
I need to defer
to the children. Can I Say something,
your Honor? JUDGE LAKE:
Yes you may, sweetie. You messed my life up,
I'm sure of that now. Because... I... (SNIFFLING) It's all right. JUDGE LAKE:
Take your time. (CRYING) I died three times
in the hospital
because of you, man. And I hate you for that,
I wanted to let you know that. MEDLEY JR:
And on top of that,
what he just said, I remember
when I was about one, and I remember
his mom being
at the hospital, my family was there, and I remember
somebody
picking me up showing me him
in an incubator, not even one yet and with tubes and stuff
all over him because somebody
burned him, and we still
don't know who did it. He said it was
a babysitter that we don't even know about, we never seen
this babysitter. And then on top of that,
he didn't even come
to the hospital until way later. (CRYING) My grandmother
took me in, making sure that
me and my brothers wouldn't get split up. That's how
they got divorced, was after that. Because of me, after I got burned. After he got burned, that's when
they got divorced. Oh, my goodness. There is so much hurt. The only way
to move forward is to get the truth. MEDLEY SR: Yes. JUDGE LAKE: And I want
that for you all. I have the results. In the case of<i>
Herrin, Medley v. Medley,</i> pertaining to whether
Victor Medley Sr. is the biological father of Maurice Herrin, it has been determined
by this court you are the father. Knew it. JUDGE LAKE: Moving on, to the results for
Victor Medley Jr. In the case of<i>
Herrin, Medley, v. Medley</i> pertaining to whether
Victor Medley Sr. is the biological father
of Victor Medley Jr., it has been determined
by this court that you are the father. So now you know. Yes, I do. JUDGE LAKE:
Do you have anything
to say to your sons? I'm glad that
the truth has
come out. And I'm glad
that they are. If, um... Your mother hadn't
led such a promiscuous
lifestyle, we wouldn't even be here. First of all,
my mom is not
promiscuous. Second of all,
my mom loved you. That's why she had
kids with you. MEDLEY JR:
You need to rethink
your morals and values, how you think, sir. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Medley Sr., it's taking all
of my energy right now to not come off
this bench and just hug 'em up. But what I do see in these young men is that if you would just take an honorable step
in their direction, they would receive you. Yes. Yes. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) I love you, son. I'm sorry that it
come to this. (SNIFFLES) JUDGE LAKE: Yes. Love you, man. Miss Johnson? I know you've been
waiting patient... Oh. Honey, I'm sorry, you're
overcome with emotion (CRYING) and you've been
waiting so patiently. Can you stand?
Are you okay? JOHNSON: Yes, your Honor. All right. JUDGE LAKE:
Ms. Johnson, in your statement
to the court, you indicated you grew up not knowing who your
father truly was. Yes, your Honor. Tell me about that. (JOHNSON SIGHS) JOHNSON: Um, I grew up
in and out
of foster care but... I had asked my mom... One day I was looking
into my mirror when
I was a teenager and I didn't
look like her anymore. And I'm like,
"I don't know
who I'm looking at. "This stranger
that I'm looking at "in the mirror,
I need to know." So I was like,
"Mom, this is... "This is enough,
I just need to know "what's the name of my dad." So she told me,
"His name was
Victor Medley. "But you are not
to contact him while
you are in my house." I'm like, "Okay, well, "I can't contact him while..." JUDGE LAKE: Did you
ask her why? JOHNSON: Yes, I did. She told me that... JUDGE LAKE: It was
a bad relationship? Whatever was...
No, there was
no relationship. It was just a bad thing
that happened
between them two. Okay. JOHNSON: So, when I was 26, I finally found him. I set up
a Facebook page and I finally found
Victor Sr. on Facebook. I sent him
a message, I said, "This may seem strange "but, you know, I had
a conversation with my mom, "and my mom
told me that "you are my dad." He said,
"Oh, really?" At first I told him
my mom's name, and I asked him,
did he know her,
he said, "Yes." When I told him
that he was my dad, he was like,
"Oh, really?
Oh, my daughter. "Can you please
send me your number "and I'll give you a call." He was happy.
So this was
the first time I've ever heard about
him denying me 'cause to me,
he never denied me. He denied my brothers,
but he never denied me. JUDGE LAKE:
So, Mr. Medley Sr., up until this point, had you heard anything
about you having
a daughter? No. But I did
not deny her. We didn't get
into this DNA test
until... On Mother's Day, when I had her over
for Mother's Day. JOHNSON: Mmm-hmm She... Kept talking about, "I need a
DNA test." No. Yes. JOHNSON:
That's not true. I never asked you
for a DNA test. MEDLEY SR:
No, you told my friend that you wanted
a DNA test. No, I didn't. I've even got a picture
of you crying afterwards when
she's hugging you. JOHNSON: Yeah, and I
got pictures, too. What is that evidence
you're holding up, ma'am? Right here, um, when
he was talking about
Mother's Day, there's one picture.
He made me this card and he took a picture of me,
and he took a picture of him and Photoshopped it
and put it in the frame. And he also took, you know, once I
got him as friends
on my Facebook, he was taking pictures
that he seen of me and me and him
looking similar, he was putting together,
side-by-side, there it is. JUDGE LAKE: <i> And so,
Mr. Medley Sr.,</i> you claim that it was her
asking for a DNA test? JOHNSON: That's not true. So you had accepted her... Yes. JUDGE LAKE: But you claim she wanted
the DNA test. Yes. JOHNSON: That's not true. MEDLEY SR: She got upset...
Well, this is what happened. She was having
problems with her van. And I had said, that I would
help her. Because at my job,
they was gonna give
us a retro pay. But... JOHNSON: Get to the point.
Get to the point. Child support... Child support
took the check,
I didn't have the money. So... I didn't have it. And I'm not rich,
and then, then she
told me that... That she had been
lied to before,
everybody lies, take her off, uh... Lose her number,
take her off my Facebook... Your Honor. MEDLEY SR: Take the kids
off the Facebook. That's not how I remember it. JOHNSON: That's not how
I remember it. That's how I remember it. How do you
remember it, ma'am? JOHNSON: I'm gonna
tell you how it went.
It went like this. I asked you, "Could you help me
with my van, 'cause
my van broke down." Right. You know I got a
special needs daughter. Right. You send me a picture
of you on your bus. "Oh, I drive
a special needs bus,
this is such a coincidence. "Oh, I'm so happy." You go to
send me a picture. I asked you,
would you help me? I text you,
you didn't text back. I called you,
you didn't answer
the phone. I left you a message,
you didn't leave
me a message back. I sent you a message
on Facebook and I waited
for at least a week, and you did
not answer me. So then
I told you, "Delete them pictures
off of Facebook, "take my kids
off Facebook. "We don't want
none to do with you." Because when I found
out about my brothers
and they told... And you denied
my brothers to me, and when I found out
about my brothers and you told me
they weren't your kids... <i> I can look at Maurice
right now</i> <i> and see me and Maurice
look alike.</i> So, Mr. Medley,
what happened? Why didn't you
come through? Why did you answer
her calls, her texts, her messages? I did. Why leave her hanging? MEDLEY SR: Before we got
the check, she had already said
all these things,
and I didn't have it. I couldn't give her
what I didn't have
and I didn't get it anyway. Well, then,
why didn't you say,
"I don't have the money "right now.
Can you just wait?" I... I told you
to wait. I could've waited! I already waited a year
before my van got fixed! And it's broke down again!
Can you help me now? (AUDIENCE LAUGHING
AND APPLAUDING) My baby gotta get
to the doctor. She need... She need
to go to therapy. Can you just buy me
a new van? With a lift on it,
so I don't have
to carry her? I wish I could,
but I can't. JOHNSON: Okay. I wish I would've got
an answer like that
the first time. Ms. Johnson,
why are these results
so important to you? Um, because it'll
give me a closure. I mean, I... I... I know. I... I look like him.
Look at the picture. I look like Maurice.
I look like Victor. I'm the oldest,
and he's talking about people being promiscuous. I'm 30, Maurice is 30.
I'm five months
older than him. (AUDIENCE GROANS) MEDLEY JR:
She's not lying. Well, on that note, Jerome, I think
it's time for the results. These results
were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics, and they read as follows. No. In the case
of <i> Johnson v. Medley,</i> pertaining to whether
Victor Medley Sr. is the biological father of Christian Johnson, it has been determined
by this court Mr. Medley Sr., you... Are not her father. (AUDIENCE GASPS) JOHNSON: Okay. Mr. Medley, what are
you feeling now? You... I don't know. I... I thought
she was my daughter.
(SNIFFLING) Ms. Johnson,
if you didn't know before, somewhere underneath
all of that tough exterior, he really cared. I see. JUDGE LAKE:
And at this point, when I asked him to take
one step towards you despite everything
that happened, he did. And in this moment,
I just wondered if you all could take
one step towards him
in this moment. (SNIFFLING) I'm sorry, it's... MEDLEY SR:
I'm here for you, baby. I'll be your dad
if you want me to. It's you choice,
no pressure. I love
all of y'all. Love y'all. Well, family, y'all done broke
me down now. I tried to hold
the tears back. I'm proud of this moment. Because it was
as if Mr. Medley
came in here today as almost the villain. That's true. JUDGE LAKE: He was wrong. But the power of love
and forgiveness, can overtake any wrong. And that was a moment that I witnessed today. And you all
created that moment. I wish you all
the very best of luck. The court is adjourned.
