You may be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of<i>
Galloway v. Harris.</i> Thank you, Jerome. Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Ms. Galloway, you say you
became pregnant with your
first child at 14 years old. And even with
that young start, you maintain that all your children know
and have been accepted
by their fathers until now. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: You've petitioned
the court for a DNA test
to prove that Mr. Harris is the father of
your nine-month-old twins
Shakina and Malakai Galloway. Mr. Harris, you state
that you're a family man, who first became a father
at the age of 12 going on 13. Although that child was yours,
you're certain that
Ms. Galloway's twins are not. HARRIS: Yes, Your Honor. You all go started having
babies way too young. JUDGE LAKE: How did you
get together? Well, Your Honor,
actually, it wasn't
a relationship, Your Honor. It was just one-night stands
and here and there
pleasurable moments, to be honest, Your Honor. I mean, when I met her
it was in church, like the rest of her
baby daddies. (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) HARRIS: I'm being real. First off, I was dating
someone that he knew. HARRIS: A musician. Yeah, a musician
that he knew. GALLOWAY: We ended up needing
a ride home on
a particular day and the guy that I was dating
called him up, and, so, um. He came and gave
us a ride to
my apartment complex. The guy I knew,
he walked down the street
to drop his kids off, and Mr. Harris here,
helped me to the door
with my groceries. And he said,
"So, when are you gonna
let me in the house?" I said, "What are you talking
about?" He said, "When are you
gonna let me come over?" I said, "The only
time you're gonna come up That is a lie. "is if
we're having a bible study." Okay, so you know, as time
goes by, you know, I do occasionally see
him in the church,
just playing or whatever, so you know, I do start
to conversate with him. And then there was
a situation where
he was going to be walking. He said he was walking from,
um, Children's Hospital
in Jacksonville to, um... Not even knowing
where he was gonna go, and this was Christmas Eve and I said, "Well, I don't
have my kids this evening, "and you know,
it's cold outside. <i> "You gonna
be walking by yourself.
You know what, I'll meet you."</i> So we walked to a van where
he knew that the doors
were gonna be unlocked. So we go in the van... HARRIS: Your friend's van
you're talking about? We go into the van and we
sleep in the van that night... We didn't sleep
in the van. We had sex
in the van that night. We slept
in the van. We slept
in the van that night. And, you know, he didn't touch
me or anything that night. So, you know,
I felt comfortable, Like, everything
was gonna be okay. So you know, the next morning,
is when you know, I'm waking up. I'm feeling
him, you know. I'm... (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) Um, okay. GALLOWAY: I'm... Go past that part. Okay, so you know, we, um,
end up getting involved. We did get involved
in that van the next morning
because, you know, that night I felt
comfortable with it. I felt
like it was okay, or whatever. JUDGE LAKE: You met him
in church. GALLOWAY: Yes. And the next thing you know,
you having sex with him
in an abandoned van? Yes, ma'am. You did not use protection? HARRIS: No, ma'am. No, and it was only, like,
maybe three minutes. And he was like... It weren't
no three minutes.
45 minutes. You mean four to?
Four to five minutes? You're saying... It was not
no 45 minutes. Well, it was long enough
to potentially produce
two beautiful babies. GALLOWAY: <i> That was just
the first occasion.</i> <i> There was actually another
occasion because after
the first time,</i> you know, it only being
that short, you know. Maybe he could do
a little something more. So maybe, you know,
that short period of time
wasn't all that. Was he auditioning? GALLOWAY: No. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) I believe so, Your Honor. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) He wasn't auditioning,
but that night, once again,
we did get involved. But that was another
short-lived experience of five minutes. But he did... We didn't use
protection that night. But on January 3,
is when my cycle was supposed
to show and it didn't. Um, and, like, it was... Well, I guess it wouldn't. All this unprotected sex. Do you all understand
when you don't use protection
you can get pregnant? You do understand that? Yes, ma'am. But you're still doing it? Yes. So you come up pregnant.
What do you say?
What do you tell him? Okay, so January 18
is when I took
the home pregnancy test, and that's when I send
him the text messages
and the pictures. Now, right after that
I went to the emergency room, and she said,
"You have two babies." And I'm like, "Two babies?
You got the wrong person." She's like, "No, this is you.
You're 10 weeks along now. <i> "And this is two babies,
right here, I see."</i> So, I'm picking up the phone,
I'm calling him.
I'm hysterical, like, "Hold on now,
she said we had two babies." HARRIS: That's why
you called me. When I found out about these babies, Your Honor... In fact, Your Honor, it was on Facebook. With a picture of... Jerome, let me see
that evidence, please. With a picture of the babies
and my other two daughters that I do take care of,
I'm not a deadbeat, too, and her saying,
"You are the father." JUDGE LAKE: <i> Why would
you just post this?</i> I mean, 'cause you're
not just posting Mr. Harris
to embarrass him. You got your kids'
faces up there. Look, right after I told him
that I was having twins, shortly after he ended up
leaving Florida. He stopped calling
like he used to... HARRIS: You cost me my work! GALLOWAY: She's not here
today, as a witness,
but, you know, the lady that I stay with,
she saw everything
that happened. <i> She was the one who was
listening to the phone calls.</i> <i> She was like, "I don't know
why you're doing this."</i> Even my friend, Lonny
was telling me, "You don't
want to mess with him." Your ex-boyfriend you was with
before you was with me? You don't wanna...
That's a lie. That's a lie? HARRIS: <i> You was with
him at the same time.
How you gonna say it was me?</i> <i> You're lying.</i> <i> Lonny played the keyboard
with me if you wanna be real.</i> That's a lie, um... Natasha divorced Lonny due to the fact
that he was cheating, and going behind women I had.
So let's be real.
Don't hide that. So hold on, hold on.
Let me understand this.
Let me understand this. Mr. Harris, you're saying
that Ms. Galloway also slept
with some other musicians that played
at the church with you? Lonny is a musician.
He plays the keyboard... JUDGE LAKE: And Lonny
is Mr. Samuels? HARRIS: Right.
Mr. Lonny Samuels. And he's here in court
with us, as well. HARRIS: Oh, I'm so glad. (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) HARRIS: <i> Because
Mr. Samuels, actually...</i> <i> Me and Mr. Samuels was cool
until we fell out
behind a woman.</i> And due to the fact
that Mr. Samuel going behind, chasing behind three or four
other girls I was with,
Mr. Samuel was married. His wife divorced him due to what he was doing. During the time that me
and Ms. Galloway had,
what we had going on, she was showing me
Facebook messages
from Mr. Samuel. "Oh, baby I miss you.
You need to let me
come back." So you believe the twins'
father is Mr. Samuels? Did you sleep
with more than one man Ms. Galloway during
the period of conception? No, no. I was only
talking to him. That's why... We wasn't talking. No, that's what you all
should have been doing,
was just talking. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) GALLOWAY: You're right. You're right, you're right. You have no doubt
in your mind. GALLOWAY: Not at all. Not at all because during
this time like I said... JUDGE LAKE: Did you sleep
with Mr. Samuels, too? No. HARRIS: That's a lie. No, that is not a lie. That is not a lie. You and Mr. Samuels
slept together. You told me. You told
me out your own mouth. Just like your boyfriend
you had before you met me,
had sex with me, that was a musician... You are trying to throw
everything... There ain't no case.
You only want child support. Are you serious? Your Honor, I know my proof
and my facts, Your Honor. GALLOWAY: <i> Not even two weeks
after he had your pictures
on Facebook...</i> HARRIS: <i> Your Honor,
first of all, Your Honor...</i> JUDGE LAKE: <i> Yes, sir.</i> When they come to claim me,
I'm far from a deadbeat, I
take care of anything I make. I went on and did
my research. First of all, if you say
they're my kids, you ain't got
nothing in the father space. You can put, "alleged father,"
and in Florida, they will get
you, Your Honor... These are both babies'
certificates. On top of that, Your Honor... JUDGE LAKE: What is
this research
and what is this evidence? If you know for a certain fact
that I'm the father, one thing's for sure,
like I always said,
"Where's my last name?" 'Cause if you want
to uphold some... And so what you presented
to the court, here, are copies of the children's
birth certificates... HARRIS: Correct, Your Honor. where the father's
information is blank. HARRIS: <i> Correct.</i> JUDGE LAKE: "Space
intentionally left blank." Right. She had the opportunity
to put the name
right there and then. Duval County would
have contacted me and said,
"Mr. Harris we need you "to come do a DNA test
for these children because
you're listed as the father." And your thinking is she did
not put your name or list your
name as father because? HARRIS: She's not even sure
if I'm the father. DCF has been trying
to get in contact with him. That's a lie. I call him, "When are you
gonna take a paternity test?
They're looking for you." "Oh, you can just give
them my number."
"Give them your number? "No, they need your address
and know who you are." That's not true. You've been calling <i> my other baby mamma
in the inbox on Facebook.</i> GALLOWAY: <i> "We sent this
to two different addresses.</i> "We been trying to get to him,
but we can't get to him." Your Honor... All right, I want to hear
from Mr. Samuels. Jerome, can you please escort
him into the court room? JEROME: Certainly. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Harris, you
contend that Ms. Galloway
slept with Mr. Samuels. Ms. Galloway,
you say that's not true. GALLOWAY: Exactly. JUDGE LAKE: Let's hear
what Mr. Samuels has to say. That's the father. HARRIS: Mr. Samuels,
that's the daddy. Yeah,
that's the daddy right there. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Samuels,
we've heard testimony today, Mr. Harris has indicated
he believes you had a sexual relationship
with Ms. Galloway. Ms. Galloway says
that's not true. Mr. Harris contends
that you are in fact
the father of the twins. No, ma'am, I am not
the father of the twins. Look, look at them,
Your Honor. There it is.
Come on now, look at him
and look at the babies. (GALLOWAY GIGGLES) SAMUELS: Ray is known
as being a ho, okay? JUDGE LAKE: Let's speak
respectfully. Say it nicely. SAMUELS: I'm sorry,
Your Honor. Okay, well,
he's known for being a dog. I'm a dog? What are you?
Does your wife know you're
here now? Does your wife even know
you're down here right now? Okay, we had the same past. We did, we did... How many of my women did
you chase? Come on, Lonny. You got a score? How many
women of mine did you chase? JEROME: Calm down. Come on. I chased it. I chased it. Didn't your ex-wife
leave you because... We got divorced. No, you got divorced
because you slept with
the woman I was with. Okay, listen. Mr. Samuels,
you say you've never had
a sexual relationship with Ms. Galloway. SAMUELS: No, ma'am. What is your relationship
like with the twins? SAMUELS: Basically,
when she had the twins,
like, I got remarried, so me and my wife went
over there to the house. and you know,
we seen the babies, and then when I picked
them up, I said, "Oh, yeah. <i> "I know who's the father
of these twins."</i> <i> Basically, they look
just like him.</i> You know, he can't deny it.
Especially the little girl. He cannot deny
that child, Your Honor. When the kids got sick
she told me. I be like,
"Where's Mr. Harris?" Lonny, if you knew that
why you ain't never hit me
in the inbox, Lon? (STAMMERING) Now you... You know we was cool.
We fell out over a woman. Come on.
Let's be real. Okay, let's talk
one at a time.
I want to understand this. You say what,
Mr. Samuels? When the twins got sick,
I asked, I asked Ms. Galloway, I said, "Where's Ray?" She said, "Oh, he's not doing
nothing for the kids, he's
not trying to do nothing." Based on all this,
I went to the store
and I got the Tylenol because the babies
had a fever. I love kids.
I got kids myself,
I got three. So basically, (STAMMERING)
she called me, and be like, "Oh, they're sick
can you help me out?" "Okay, if I got
the money,
I'll help you out." So you pretty much stepped up,
like a father would,
for these twins. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Harris? Your Honor, I've never denied
none of my children. I have two other daughters... GALLOWAY: You're doing it now. I have two other daughters
and a son. They had been
to church with me. The same pastor
who was slandering my name
and costing me the work. JUDGE LAKE: It affected
your livelihood. HARRIS: Yes, it did. Explain to the court how. HARRIS: Okay. I do private security
and I also was a musician. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. And a lot of my contracts
came through different pastors
and other people. One day
I was sitting at home
and a pastor called me, He said, "You ought
to be ashamed of yourself,
doing your girl like that. "Ain't taking care
of them kids, just running
around. Got her out there. "She already got five kids.
What kind of a man is you?" So I told the pastor, I said,
"Look here, "first of all, I have
made attempts. "I ain't getting nothing
from it, don't call me
with that." Just like that. "If you wanna know something,
tell her to give me a DNA test
and we can go from there." Then I hung up
the phone on him. A gospel rapper called me
and asked me, "Man, what's
going on with you and her? "Man, you're denying
the kids like that,
you're going in like that?" <i> It made me look
like a bad person.
The person felt like,</i> <i> "Why should I pay you
money,</i> <i> "if you ain't
even taking care of
your own responsibilities?"</i> How much money,
specifically, have
you lost because of this? HARRIS: All together?
About $3,900. It cost me shows,
people didn't want me
to be their musician no more. GALLOWAY: He claims
that I'm the one that's
slandering his name, but then he also says
that all these women are
trying to pin babies on him. The other two girls
that he claimed that he was
taking care of, He says, "Oh, they slept
with another person,
they slept with somebody else, "so they should get
a paternity test, too.
They slept with..." Both of you are doing a lot
of research and you need
to be doing a lot less sex. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) Everything is, now,
you gotta research somebody. You supposed to research
somebody before you ever have
sex with them. GALLOWAY: You're right. JUDGE LAKE: Where do you
work, Ms. Galloway? I'm a full-time student.
I'm unemployed. JUDGE LAKE: You're
a full-time student? Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: With no job? Not anymore. Now, Mr. Harris? HARRIS: Yes, Your Honor. You think she, Ms. Galloway,
should be responsible for
this $3,900 that you lost because you're saying
you lost jobs because she went around
talking about you were
a father to her twins, and you were not stepping up
to the plate, and you were
a deadbeat? Yes, Your Honor. And that is your countersuit? Yes, it is. All right. I can rule on that,
but only after I get
the results, you understand? Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: All right. Not to put the blame
on anybody, I grew up
without my father in my life. And so it was hard for me to
identify with dealing with men
and knowing whether or not a man actually loved you
or cared for you and wanted
to take care of you... JUDGE LAKE: And you're
looking... Listen. You didn't even have
to tell me that story
for me to know that. 'Cause there's no way
a beautiful young girl
like you should be running around,
giving away herself, for free over and over and over again,
and make no mistake, (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) you shouldn't be getting paid
for it either. Yeah. JUDGE LAKE: That's not
the point I'm making. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE:
What I'm saying is, that's your body,
that's your temple, that's
your spirit, that's your soul. You laying down with men,
and when you try to find them, they're running all around
the country, marrying
other people and here trying to deny
children that they've
produced with you, and you're left
not holding the bag, but holding
five children, with no job. I'm happy you're getting
your education 'cause
you gonna need it. (AUDIENCE MURMURS) Yes ma'am. Jerome, I'm ready. These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics, and they read as follows. JUDGE LAKE: In the case of<i>
Galloway v. Harris,</i> pertaining to
nine-month old twins, <i> Shakina and Malakai Galloway,</i> it has been determined
by this court... JUDGE LAKE: In the case of<i>
Galloway v. Harris,</i> it has been determined
by this court. Mr. Samuels, you... are not the father. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Mr. Harris, you are the twins' father. (AUDIENCE CHEERING
AND APPLAUDING) Well, my research says (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) that you're, in fact,
the biological father. How many children
do you have? HARRIS: Nine, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Nine children.
(SIGHS) (AUDIENCE GASPS) JUDGE LAKE:
I'm so frustrated,
I really am. This is not how you live life. GALLOWAY: You're right. Your destiny
and your purpose is not
to be baby-making factories. What are you doing
with your life? You all better stop
having babies. Both of you. (AUDIENCE AGREEING) Now as for your countersuit, the defense to
defamation of character
is the truth, baby. You are the father. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) You haven't
taken care of them. She's not lying. Therefore,
your countersuit is denied.
Are we clear? GALLOWAY: Yes, ma'am. Yes, Your Honor. Court is adjourned. (BANGS GAVEL)
