You may be seated. Good morning, Your Honor. Good morning. This is the case of<i>
Phillips v. Williamson.</i> Thank you, Jerome. Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Ms. Phillips. You claim that you
are certain the defendant's
deceased son, Phillip Daniels, is the father of your
three-month-old daughter
A'Miracle Phenomenal Daniels. You say it wasn't until
after his tragic passing that Ms. Williamson began
to deny her grandchild. Yes. JUDGE LAKE: You believe
today's results will prove
what you already know, that A'Miracle is her
grandchild. Is that correct? Correct. Yes. Ms. Williamson, you claim that the plaintiff
is both a liar and a cheat. You say your doubts began
the moment your son
told you himself that he was not the father,
and you're here today
to defend his honor. Is that correct? Yes, I am. 'Cause she knows
she's a liar and a cheater. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) All she do is lie.
She lie about everything. What don't you
lie about, Larissa. When did he ever tell you
that he wasn't the father? JUDGE LAKE: All right. Hold on. Before I get into
the case, Ms. Williamson, I do want to acknowledge that I'm allowing you
to wear sunglasses
in the courtroom today, because you are dealing
with an issue, a medical issue
with your eyes,
and that is okay. I just want you to know. Thank you. All right. I wanna start
with you, Ms. Phillips. Why are today's results
so important to you? Tell the court. Because my daughter
needs the death benefits
of her father. And she needs the help. What death benefits?
There's no death benefits. He didn't have a job. So what you're saying
is, Ms. Phillips, that your child
is in need of support? PHILLIPS: Yes. Even... I could
support her myself.
I have a job. I could support her myself. But you believe if there
would be death benefits,
it would be owed to her? It will be death benefits. There's no death benefits. He's not the father,
Your Honor. (SCOFFS) All right. So let's get
to the paternity question. You say he's not the father. Why don't you believe
Ms. Phillips' daughter is
your son's biological child? WILLIAMSON: Because he said
he caught her... She brought another
guy to my house. PHILLIPS: When? He answered the phone
plenty of times where there was another
young man on the phone
talking to him. When?
He was doing the cheating. There was no commitment. He was the one going
back and forth from... All right. So what did he tell
you about the relationship? I mean, she was at my house
a couple of times. She was there or whatever,
but he dipped and he dabbed. Okay, but... Listen, wait.
Let's be clear. Him dippin' and dabbin'
wouldn't land us in paternity
court regarding this child. PHILLIPS: Thank you. JUDGE LAKE: So,
while we understand that maybe
he was cheating as well, I do wanna understand further,
Ms. Williamson, why you believe Ms. Phillips
may have been
"dippin' and dabbin'?" Because, I was there the time
she'd brought a young man
to my house, and he got very upset,
and also I was there when a
young man called to her phone, and he answered the phone. And they have... They were bickering
over the phone,
stuff like that, so he hung up. And he
was asking her like,
"So, who was this guy?" And she was like,
"Ain't no guy call my phone. "That wasn't no guy."
So he went back to the number. She was like,
"Well, I talk to him
every now and then." That man was about
40 some years old. What am I gonna do with him? WILLIAMSON: Another lie. Forty years old?
You can still make a baby
at 40 years old! Not with him. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Not with him, I wasn't. Not at all, Your Honor.
This man was like this tall.
What am I gonna do with... Short men make babies too. What am I gonna do
with the man this tall? Nothing. JUDGE LAKE: You can still
make a child, let me
tell you that, but listen. Ms. Williamson,
what I wanna understand is, you say your son
saw Ms. Phillips
with somebody else. WILLIAMSON: Yes. Tell the court
what happened. WILLIAMSON:
My son came outside
and just asked her, "Why would you bring
another man into my house?" She was like,
"I just came over here,
do-do-do-do, boo." (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) Do-do-do-do, boo? What is that? It was just like
a little conversation. She was sayin' what
she had to say to him, and he was sayin' what
he had to say to her, so. Yeah. Oh. Okay. So,
that's conversation. WILLIAMSON: Yeah. When your son found out
Ms. Phillips was pregnant, what was his reaction?
Did he tell you? Was he happy? Did he immediately say,
"I'm happy I'm having a baby!
This is my baby, Mom?" No. He was just saying
that she's claiming that
she's pregnant by him. It's never good
when they say "claim". When I took the pregnancy test
at her house, when she
was asleep, in her bathroom. And you showed me... That's
how I found out 'cause you
showed me the pregnancy test. And I took it outside
to him and showed him
that I was pregnant. JUDGE LAKE: And
what was his reaction? He was happy. Did the test tell him,
or I told him that
she was pregnant? He was happy. You're so hilarious. You are too. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) JUDGE LAKE: So, Ms. Williamson, you say his response was
"She's claiming
she's pregnant by me." Right. 'Cause he didn't believe
that she was pregnant. JUDGE LAKE: That's a whole...
Hold on! Oh, first he didn't believe
she was pregnant? No. What does he say to you? He told me that
he don't believe
it's his child. JUDGE LAKE: And why
did he tell you that? When? 'Cause she'd been
dippin' and dabbin'. When? Did he ever find out
for certain if she was
with another man or not? No. 'Cause I was
with him every day. I'm asking the question
to Ms. Williamson! Ms. Williamson, did he ever find out
that she had slept
with somebody else? Yeah. 'Cause she told him. How can I sleep
with somebody else
if I'm with him every day? Well, you can, trust me.
In this courtroom... This is the thing though. Did you ever say
he wasn't the daddy? I never said it! I never said
he wasn't the father. So you never said
he wasn't the dad? I never said it. You never put this up,
that he wasn't the dad? What is that,
Ms. Williamson? Now let me
tell you about this. Let me tell you. Ms. Williamson! What is that? A fake page that they made
when I was first pregnant. Oh, you're saying
I made this page? JUDGE LAKE: Jerome,
hand me that paper. I made this page
for real? Please. You believe with your heart
that I made this page? One of y'all made it. JUDGE LAKE: So wait. This is a post from
Rissa Phillip. (JUDGE LAKE READING) (CHUCKLES) Let me point something
out to you, Your Honor. You see how
"Phillips" is spelled? Why would I go make
a fake page and spell
my last name wrong? Please, tell my that. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Please tell me
why would I, though? That's not good. She put on her status
that she don't want me
to be his baby's mom. Well, guess what?
It's too late. I don't! And the baby
is already here. I don't! It's too late.
What's gonna happen? And I'm not gonna
deal with you. You don't have to. I'm not gonna deal with
that baby because of you. Okay. That's fine. That is very fine. And you did that.
Remember that. And let me tell you,
Your Honor. (GAVEL KNOCKING) If you want more episodes
of Paternity Court Make sure to subscribe
and click on
the notification bell. This is ridiculous. I don't like her. JUDGE LAKE: We can tell that. I don't like her. And we can tell that too.
But guess what? The baby, A'Miracle, that's who I'm here for. And that's exactly
what she is. Because you all can
go on and on and on and on about you don't like her,
and you don't like her. That's obvious
to everybody in the room. But what we're trying
to find out is are you
A'Miracle's grandmother? And that's why she'll
never be her grandmother. JUDGE LAKE: Well,
no, Ms. Phillips. I hate to tell you but... I got six other grandchildren. And that's great. JUDGE LAKE: Hold on! You talkin' about,
"I don't like her," and her talkin' about,
"I don't like her either." That's petty and that's silly
'cause that has nothing
to do with A'Miracle. Nothing! Because
she's already here. She's already a living,
breathing person. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) It has nothing to do with it. And we're already at a point
where we have a tragedy. This young man lost his life. Your son has lost his life. If this baby is his,
if it is...
So now you don't care? She never did. Never did. Say it again.
One more time. She never did. And that is the truth. Oh, is this my grandbaby? You just said
I wasn't the grandmama. Now you don't care. What? No, hold on! Too many people talking. I wanna go back to the fact
that, Ms. Williamson, are you saying to me,
honestly... You know a lot of the reason
why I let you all go back
and forth for a moment is because I couldn't
imagine, as a mother,
being in your position. And I feel for you. I really do. And I know a lot of the hurt
and the anger that you feel is because you have
endured a tragedy that no mother, no mother,
would ever want to have
to endure. I don't care what
she say about you, you don't wish that
on your worst enemy. Losing a child. It's all right. Sometimes you just got
to take a moment
and let the tears fall. Ms. Phillips, take me
to the day you gave birth. I didn't even wanna
give birth to her. JUDGE LAKE:
Why do you say that? Because he wasn't there. JUDGE LAKE: 'Cause
he wasn't there. I tried to hold her in there,
inside me. I was waiting for him to walk
in through the doors. I loved that man. I always loved him. He knew that. If she didn't know it,
she know it now. I just want her to know
this is her grandchild. JUDGE LAKE: You say the day
you were in the hospital you were trying to wait. You didn't want
the baby to be born 'cause you really wanted
him to be there. PHILLIPS: Even though
I know he was gone, I was waiting. Because you just had
not processed the grief
of him being gone. I still haven't. Oh, I can tell. Did any of the family members
come up? Did any of his family members,
his mother... PHILLIPS:<i> His brother came
after I had her.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i> In the hospital
to see A'Miracle?</i> Yes. He held A'Miracle
and looked at A'Miracle. Just staring at her like, "This is my brother's baby!" WILLIAMSON:<i> You can play
with your man. That baby
don't even look like my son.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i> So, you're saying
that his brother looked
at A'Miracle and...</i> PHILLIPS:<i> He was
just holding her.</i> Him holding her,
just sitting there
and holding her. Didn't wanna lift
his head up. JUDGE LAKE: All right. That's telling you
this is my brother. When she first came out
she looked like him
and his brother. All right. Well,
I'd like to hear from
Mr. Daniel's brother. Jerome, will you please
escort Daniel Randall
into the courtroom? That's what
that baby look like. Could be somebody
in the audience's baby. Is this your baby? JEROME: Let's bring you up
to the witness stand. JUDGE LAKE: Let's not start
clowning again, ladies. WILLIAMSON:
(WHISPERS) Could be your baby. RANDALL: Good morning,
Your Honor. Good morning, Mr. Randall.
Thank you for joining us. I'd like to say first
that I'm sorry for your loss. Thank you. We're here talking about
the paternity as it relates
to baby A'Miracle. And she says you looked
at the baby and you said,
"This is my brother's child." Is that, in fact, true? Um, no, Your Honor. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) I don't know
if that's my brother's baby. But that's why we're here now
to get the answers. 'Cause looks is deceiving. So at that time, you didn't
make a decision as to this
is my brother's child or not? No, because my brother had
his own doubts in his head, because of the things
he told me and the things that
were sent to him, Your Honor. What was sent to him? What did your brother say? The words that
came out of his mouth is, he don't know
if that's his child or not. Because he had
a picture of Larissa, naked, that she's supposed
to have sent to somebody else. Hey, Your Honor.
I could tell you about that. He took that picture 'cause he
was laying in my bed that day. But wait. His testimony
was that you sent that
picture to somebody else. How can I send it to
somebody else if he took it? Well, I mean, you could. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) No, I'm saying. He took the picture, though,
in his phone. 'Cause you was in his phone
plenty of times. You ain't
never went through his phone? I went through his phone. But I'm saying did you send
the picture to somebody else? Never. Why would I send myself
a naked picture of myself
to somebody else? But, Mr. Randall,
so your brother
did have doubts that he expressed
to you explicitly that he didn't know
if this child was
his biological child. Yes, ma'am. But, you know,
we all have our doubts, so that's why we're here now, so we can get
to the bottom of this. JUDGE LAKE: So the stakes
are very high
for this baby. If your son is her
biological father,
she'll never know him. MR. RANDALL: Correct. Correct. What are your hopes? Are you hoping that A'Miracle
is your brother's child? (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) MR. RANDALL:
If it is his baby,
you know, I'm gonna be in that baby's
life, for sure, you know, if Larissa gives me
the opportunity to. All right.
What are your hopes,
Ms. Phillips? It ain't a hope, I know. I know it's his baby.
It's no hope. I was with this man every day. You can look that he spit her out. (STUTTERING) What? He spit her out. Like... Look. PHILLIPS: The nose, the eyes... WILLIAMSON: But you
can see that. This little girl... When I say this little girl
looks just like this man,
she used to look just like him. When I say her attitude... JUDGE LAKE: And,
Ms. Williamson, before I go to the results
Ms. Williamson, I want you to have
a chance to respond. What are your sincere
hopes for today? What are you feeling
in this moment? Nothing. I'm not dealing
with Larissa. I'm not gonna deal with her.
I'm not gonna deal with her. If I... So let me ask you this. WILLIAMSON: If I got to be
in that baby's life, I'll figure out some
other kind of way, but she don't
understand, it's called
grandparent's right. So she cannot stop me
from being in that baby's life, if I want to be
in that baby's life. I most definitely can. Grandparent rights. I don't care
what it's called. JUDGE LAKE: All right, listen! See what I mean? Guess what? PHILLIPS: I don't care. JUDGE LAKE: Listen,
let's not go there.
Let's not go there. After listening
to the testimony, I do understand
that you all have
a contentious relationship. It's not about the baby. It's about this relationship,
and that's what paternity
issues do. Jerome, I'm ready
for the results. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics, and they read as follows. WILLIAMSON: Dear Lord. JUDGE LAKE: Because there
wasn't a blood card available to test the DNA
of the deceased,
Phillip Daniels, we performed a DNA test
with his surviving mother,
Toya Williamson. With that being said,
the results determine if there is a viable
relationship between the child, A'Miracle Phenomenal Daniels,
and Toya Williamson. In the case of<i> Phillips
v. Williamson,</i> when it comes
to three-month-old
A'Miracle Phenomenal Daniels, it has been determined
by this court the percentage of relatedness between
A'Miracle Phenomenal Daniels and Toya Williamson is 99.8%. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) I told you,
I know who my baby daddy is. I don't care.
I've never been
in that baby's life. I don't wanna be in that...
I'm not gonna be
in that baby's life. You don't have to. JUDGE LAKE: Listen. Hey, hey! We're not going dark
when we just got to the light. It is your grandbaby. What do you want me to do? JUDGE LAKE: Listen! I just want you to understand. Take all the drama aside. I don't want you to miss
the miracle in the moment,
I don't. And I know this is hard. I truly hope in time
you will reconsider and be a part
of A'Miracle's life. She's going to
need her village. And she's gonna
need her grandmother. Mr. Randall, I wanna give you
the opportunity to step into her life as you
said you were going to. I know it's emotional for you.
I know, honey. I know. (SNIFFLES) Losing your brother and losing
your son is... That's enough to take anybody
over the edge. Everybody in here
is hurting on a level. There are no words
to describe. And to be honest
with you, Mr. Randall, I am so proud of you 'cause you're gonna
be the closest thing she'll have to her daddy,
and you know that, right? So, I ain't got no choice
but to make sure his kid
is straight. 'Cause if he was here,
and I was in his place,
he'd do the same. JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Phillips,
you okay, honey? Look at me.
Are you all right? I just miss him.
(SOBS) JUDGE LAKE: Okay. I hope that you will
give Ms. Williamson some space in this moment
and also some grace. I wanna help you do that
by sending you off
to Dr. Jeff now, so that you can
begin to talk through this. Honor your pain,
honor your hurt, and most importantly,
figure out how to move forward
in a more positive way
for A'Miracle. I wish you all the very best. Court is adjourned. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
