Ms. Clay Edmond you are in
court on behalf of your son,
De'Anthony, who tragically died in a car accident. RASHON CLAY EDMOND:
Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: You want
to prove that he is not
the biological father of the defendant's
two-year-old daughter,
Da'Bria. You say Miss Rudolph
is trying to swindle money
from the family and you have evidence to prove
another man is the father.
Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Rudolph, you say
this baby was planned by you and the deceased,
Mr. Clay and you are adamant
he is the father. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. So, Ms. Clay Edmond,
why do you believe
she's claiming this baby is your son's? 'Cause she's a gold digger
and she's looking for somebody
to take care of her baby. And that's the only reason? That's the only reason
I can see at this point. And so, elaborate, ma'am. The day my son died,
it was tragic. So, the next day,
I gets a call from
Ms. Rudolph, through Messenger Facebook claiming that my son,
which died the day before, that he was the father of her,
then, one-year-old, gonna be
one-year-old, at the time. Did your son ever say
anything about the baby,
a one-year-old? No, Your Honor, I didn't know
anything about the baby
or her, Ms. Rudolph. JUDGE LAKE: And were you
and your son very close? CLAY EDMOND: Yes, Your Honor.
We was very close. When she first came to me,
yes, I wanted to
accept the baby because she said
it was my son's baby. I'm hurting.
Anything connected to him,
I wanted to be a part of. So, when all of this
went about we accepted
the baby. We put her on the obituary. We bought her things
for Christmas,
we did all of that. Then after all of this
went down, that's when we started
getting messages from
different people saying that she was
doing this for money. That it was another young man
named on the birth certificate and the little baby
had another man's name. Okay, that was a mouthful. Ms. Rudolph were you
in a relationship
with De'Anthony? Yes, Your Honor. And you all were in
a relationship for about
how long before his passing? Four, five months. And you say he lived with you. Yes, Your Honor. Were you aware that your son
was living with a woman? No Ma'am. No Ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: Continue.
He moved in with you... And you say,
you planned this baby... Both of us planned
to have this baby. No, they were not around.
No, I did not meet them. We both planned this. He was already
in a relationship. It's an on and off thing
with the previous baby mama. They was at a off. And she just so happened
to be the one he dealt with,
I guess, as far as whatever. And this is...
These are pieces of the puzzle
you've put together now, after the fact,
because you're saying when your son was alive,
he never spoke
of this woman... CLAY EDMOND:
He never spoke of her. He never spoke of the baby. No, he never spoke of her. But you did testify that when
you first heard about Da'Bria you accepted her
because you felt like
that was a piece of your son. That's what, at first,
until the lies came about. JUDGE LAKE: And so,
when she first messaged you, you accepted the baby. Yes. You said you started
buying things for the baby? Yes. I bought her
stuff for the funeral. And then, we also
bought stuff for Christmas. JUDGE LAKE: All right. And at what point then... You have tragically
lost your son and I am so very sorry
for your loss. You lose your son, you find out he has a baby,
an almost one-year-old child, and you say,
"Well, this is a piece of him, "I am going to
embrace this child." CLAY EDMOND: Yes. At what point did
things turn bad? When I started receiving
phone calls about the other
guy being the baby's father. Who was calling you?
What happened? I mean, different people
that know of her, you know. Like I said, I don't know her,
so I can't say. I can only go with,
they was calling me. And then, also the fact
the guy that's supposed
to be the baby's dad... I heard a conversation that...
We was all on the three way, and he's telling me
about her telling him, she knew 100% sure
he was the father before he signed
the birth certificate. BRITTANY RUDOLPH: Excuse me. So another man said
he was the biological
father of Da'Bria? CLAY EDMOND: Yes. RUDOLPH: Excuse me. And your son was not? Yes. And he signed
the birth certificate. Yes. Ms. Rudolph how
do you respond to that? After I cut him off
I had no dealings with him. I got back
with my baby's father. And he knew that
I was pregnant... The only reason why you did it
because you wanna
get back with him. So that's why
you did what you did. No. You're not gonna stand here
and tell this judge, that my son
planned a baby with you. He did. He can't take care of himself, so why in the world would he
get with a young lady
whom he just met and plan a baby? He is not that baby's father
because when he asked her, she told him... Wait a minute,
you said you'd never
heard of Ms. Rudolph. Hmm? You said you'd never
heard of Ms. Rudolph. Not to say as for her,
it's just a baby. When I went to him
I said, "De'Anthony if that
baby is yours, "you need to step up
and be a father to her,
if it's yours." He said, "Mama, I've been
trying to talk to this girl "when she first said
something about the baby." He's not
referring to Brittany. He was referring to me as her. So, "her" can be anybody. All right, I'd like to hear
from your witness.
Ma'am please stand. State your name
for the court. My name is Ashley. Ashley, your last name. Clay. You are... De'Anthony's cousin,
first cousin. His first cousin. Sister, all of that. Okay. Best friend, everything. Okay... All right. Everything. I know that there is another
guy on the birth certificate. That is not De'Anthony's. Does anyone have
the birth certificate here? Yeah, here, I do. You do? JUDGE LAKE:
Jerome will you please
hand that to me. (JEROME CLEARS THROAT) This is the birth certificate
for Da'Bria Taylor Rudolph. Yes, Your Honor. And there is
another man listed? Yes, Your Honor. So, did you think about
putting De'Anthony's name
on the birth certificate since you believe he was
truly the biological father,
Ms. Rudolph? Um, to be honest,
I was gonna take that off
and put nobody up there. Yeah, and I also got a picture
of the other guy that's
supposed to be listed on the birth certificate. Holding the baby. He has a whole bunch
of pictures of her. Yes, a whole lot of them. He has a whole
bunch of them. But he's not the daddy. It don't matter. All right,
let me see this. Jerome will you
pass me this evidence... Where does my son
fit in all of this? Why didn't he
get that chance? Why didn't he get
a chance to hold her? Why didn't he get the chance
to say this was his baby... So, hold on, hold on. Ms. Clay I'd like you
to describe to the court,
what is this picture of? That's a picture
of Da'Bria as she was
an infant, look like, and it says,
"Daddy and princess." JUDGE LAKE: Why, oh... And that's not my cousin. What is a person to think
when they see something
like this after you did told me that
my son was the daddy? And then I get to see this, and all of this other stuff. So that's why I told her,
"Let's do a DNA." And that will cut out the lies
that he said, she said
that they said. Let me understand this. So you tried to get
a DNA test, you requested it? Yes. And you're saying Ms. Rudolph
would not respond. We was arguing
and she was saying,
"I will pay for it." They never came to me saying,
can they do the test. (ARGUING INDISTINCTLY) You did not
do the test. They never came to me saying,
"Let's do the test."
It came through an argument. I told them,
"Yes, we can do that test." What argument? Through Facebook. Okay, what the argument
was about? The lie. The child. The lie. It's never about the child.
The child is innocent. The child is innocent, baby. That's what
it's about. (AUDIENCE CLAPPING) The child is innocent. We're here because
you lied about who was
the daddy from the beginning. You just don't know
what you have done because for one, you've got
a whole 'nother family that thought this baby
was theirs. That they was taking
care of this baby... They never took care
of my child. It doesn't matter but you did
told these people that. So why would you put
his name on there knowing it? Because I was with him. Guess who do things like that. People who don't know
who their baby father are. I know who he were. People who don't know
who their baby father are. All I want is the truth.
And she's not gonna stand
here and tell you, my son planned a baby
when I know good God
doggone well he can't even
take care of hisself. I was taking care
of De'Anthony. All I want to know
is the truth. And the truth being... I'm here cause she's
not gonna downgrade
my cousin's name. He is not here
to support himself.
He is in the ground. And I wanna know,
if he was here,
would you have told him, "This is your baby"? CLAY EDMOND: No. You see, 'cause you
did not tell him that
when he was alive. All right, all right. Ma'am, I'd like to hear
from you, please stand. State your name for the court. I'm Kiara Gaston. Ms. Gaston I can see
you were very emotional
sitting there. ASHLEY CLAY: Why are you here? I'm here because I was
there the whole time,
that's why I'm here. CLAY EDMOND:
So you were there when he... I was there, Your Honor,
when De'Anthony told my cousin
he wanted to have a baby girl. He wanted Brittany to have
his baby girl. I was there. I was there when she
found out she was pregnant.
I went with her to the clinic. She called De'Anthony.
He was at her house. We all stayed together. He was at the house,
Brittany call him and
told him she was pregnant. He was happy at first. It's like when he
found out he had
another baby on the way and she found out
that he was talking
to other females, that's when he wanted
to switch to, um... Switch it up and make it seem
like he didn't want
the baby no more. That's why she said she didn't
want no dealings with him. And they don't even know,
they were not there. So at any point
did he accept this child? He was still on this earth
for almost a year, and the child was
here alive and well, did he accept Da'Bria? Did he ever see her, hold her,
spend time with her? No, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Never?
Never laid eyes on her? CLAY EDMOND: Never seen... He's seen a picture of her. We've all seen
a picture of her. I'm talking to the judge. He's seen a picture of her.
He wrote me in my inbox
before he died and was like, could he see a picture
of the baby. When I sent the picture
he said... And I have
the proof right here, if you want to see it. Yes, I'd like to
see that please. Jerome will you please
hand me that evidence. He sent you
a message that says,
"Hey, how you been?" "Um, straight." "Could you send me some pics
of your beautiful girl?" Response, "For what?" "I just wanted to see her
but never mind, Britt." You presented
this evidence to say he reached out to see
a picture of the baby. KIARA GASTON: Yes Ma'am. Did you send the picture
of the baby? Yes, ma'am. And if I'm, like I'm saying,
if it wasn't his baby and if he didn't care,
he wouldn't even want
to see a picture of her. He wouldn't be
studying her, period. Your Honor, I just don't
believe he got with her,
her, now, and to say,
"I want this young lady,
right here, "that got other kids,
not sure who
her baby daddy is, "to be the father
of her baby." Come on. Just like she said,
he contacted
her himself... Who wouldn't want
to see a picture... She says this man
can't take care
of himself. He's staying
with my cousin. We, we're teenagers. Of course teenagers
are gonna have sex. That's just normal
if they staying together. He told her he wanted her
to have his baby girl. Come on. He told her that. JUDGE LAKE:
All right listen. Can I say something? Yes, ma'am, what would
you like to add before we
go to the results? My cousin came to me. My cousin was at my house
everyday... I'm talking. She wasn't there. Twenty-four/seven,
seven days a week. When I got off work
he was at my house. JUDGE LAKE: Just a minute. Like I said, he was
my brother. He was there. One morning, I wakes up,
he's in the living room
sitting down. He was like, "Cuz." I'm like,
"What's going on, cousin?" He be like, "Man, this girl
trying to say she pregnant
with my baby." I'm like, "Well, did you
ask her is it your baby "or do you feel like
it's your baby?"
He said, "No." I said, "Okay, well, did you
ask her is it your baby?" He said, "She told me no." I said, "Well, okay what kind
of chick is she?" He explains to me what kind
of female she was. I said,
"That's what she is." But I told him, I said... They don't even know me. (ALL TALKING INDISTINCTLY) JUDGE LAKE:
But listen, listen... But at the end of the day...
Ladies, let's get some order. At the end of the day,
through this testimony, what I am finding to be true is that Da'Bria was born,
and on two occasions with you Ms. Clay Edmond,
his mother he mentioned that
there was a baby, CLAY EDMOND: Yes, he did. And with his cousin,
Ms. Clay, he mentioned there was a baby. ASHLEY: Yes, he did. He didn't believe he was
the father of the baby. Because she told him
that he wasn't... And that's why we're here,
Your Honor. We're not trying to say that
he could never be the dad
or nothing like that. JUDGE LAKE:
That's my point. Do you want the result? CLAY EDMOND: I do. I do. All right.
Let's get them, Jerome. And I want to know if
he was alive, would you
still let this man... CLAY EDMOND: We're here
just to see if this baby
belong to us or not. Go ahead, Your Honor.
Just be quiet, Ashley. Would we be here
if he was alive, Your Honor?
That's my whole situation. JUDGE LAKE: All right. That's my whole...
I'm like... Ooh... JUDGE LAKE: Do we want
to get the result? CLAY EDMOND: Yeah, we want to. All right. These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and
they read as follows. "Because there wasn't
a blood card available "to test the DNA
of the deceased,
De'Anthony Clay, "we performed a DNA test
with his surviving parent,
Rashon Clay Edmond." In the case of<i>
Clay Edmond v. Rudolph,</i> when it comes to
two-year-old Da'Bria Rudolph. It has been
determined by this court, the percentage of relatedness between Ms. Clay Edmond
and Da'Bria Rudolph is... 99.98% GASTON: Thank you,
thank you. Thank you. GASTON: Okay, okay. As are we. Okay well, good, I'm glad.
I have closure now. you are suing your mother for paternity fraud and are here to prove
that Mr. Moore is your biological father, even though your mother put another man's name on your birth certificate, is that correct? That's correct, Your Honor. Ms. Harms, you're certain Mr. Moore is not
your daughter's father and claim her case of
paternity fraud is outrageous. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: And you plan
to prove that today? Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Moore is currently
waiting outside the courtroom. We will hear from
him in a moment. But first, Ms. Robinson,
why did you wait 36 years to
come to court? Honestly, Your Honor, I don't feel that I'm the one that waited for 36 years. I feel that my mom
waited 36 years to help me find
who my father is. And I have always,
you know, tried to ask her about my father. I guess it was a part
of her past she didn't just wanna
bring up, so it always got pushed
to the back burner, or I was told, you know,
get the hell out of her face, leave her alone, don't ask any questions
about it, you know who your dad is. CATHLEEN: She's lying. I've always told her
who her dad was and to my
knowledge... JENNIFER: Who? Who was supposed
to be my dad? ...it's not Mr. Moore. I had already moved on. But the other guy
that she says
is my father, I look nothing like. And she doesn't
look like him either. JENNIFER: I look like him. CATHLEEN: I have never kept secrets from her, Your Honor. I've always been honest to the best
of my ability to her. That's not true.
We were supposed to
come here weeks ago and my mom,
for some reason,
she was nervous. It wasn't that I was nervous. I just didn't wanna
come here at that time to listen to any more
of their lies. Yeah. You, nobody
want to deal
with the past, but I'm the past. Because, Ms. Harms
in your mind you're saying, "I know who your father is
and I already told you." CATHLEEN: Yes, ma'am.
I had already moved on. He is not your father. When you say you
had already moved
on, explain that. You're saying you
moved on from... From Mr. Moore. I never thought
he was the father because I had already
moved on, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: So, you're
saying you got pregnant after you already
moved on away from him, so there's no way he could
be your biological father. So you didn't even feel like there was any reason
to entertain that? Yes, Your Honor. And Ms. Robinson,
why are you so convinced that he is a possibility? Your Honor, I'm convinced because I've heard
a lot of rumors in the small town
we're from in Arkansas. Everybody says
that this man is my dad. You know, he's always
came to me and said
he is my dad. JUDGE LAKE: Really? But the thing was I was always being sent
with the other man. So... CATHLEEN: Excuse me,
Your Honor, that's another lie.
She has never been sent... Yes, I was being sent... ...with another man. ...to another man's
mother's house. No, you are...
No, you were not. That is a lie, Your Honor. I don't know where
she's getting this from? Who is my grandma? Your Honor, what
is she saying? Rumor has it, that's... Oh, what? Does she think
she look like Mr. Moore? Yes, I do. Why? Because his nose? She's got a normal
nose, Your Honor. No. It's not a
normal nose, Mom. So, when did you first
hear about Mr. Moore being a possible
biological father? The first time I heard
about it was kind of weird because I was young
and I was just told that he's not you're father. CATHLEEN: Your Honor,
excuse me. If she thought that,
why would it take 36 years? Because no one lets
me talk, as you can
see right now. JUDGE LAKE: Wait, I want
her to finish
the story 'cause I... (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) Nobody lets me talk. I mean, never. What kid doesn't wanna
know their father? What little girl doesn't
wanna know her daddy? JUDGE LAKE: <i> So,
I wanna understand this.</i> <i> You were told specifically,</i> Mr. Moore is not your father? Yes, by my mother. Did you ask the question? How did this come up? She had just told
me one day because, you know,
I used to go back and forth from Michigan to Arkansas. So, I guess, she felt that
if I went down to Arkansas I might see him. JENNIFER: She came to
me and told... JUDGE LAKE: Let her finish. that, "If a Vernon
ever came to you "and told you
that he was your dad, "tell him to get out
your face, leave you alone, "and he's not
your father," so... JUDGE LAKE: And that's
Mr. Moore? Mr. Moore, yes. So, you were told as a child, if someone comes up
to you and says he's you're biological father, just tell him to get out
your face? Get out my face,
leave me alone, you're not my dad. And it's like, "Who is Vernon?
Who is Mr. Moore?" JUDGE LAKE: Did you
ask that question? Not at the time.
I was a kid. I just listened to
what she said. JENNIFER: My whole life
has been very ill it really has. JUDGE LAKE: I understand.
You know, I often say
in this courtroom, when people say to me
I did not have my father and I felt like there
was a missing piece. I say it because
I have had my father, and he is loving, and kind, and my number one fan, and I could not imagine
my life without him in it. And that's all I want. JUDGE LAKE: And when you say I never had that,
I feel for you, because I know what
you're missing, I really do. And I see the tears
in your eyes even at 36. JENNIFER:
Other people take it for... I'm glad that you can say
you had your father, but you have empathy to know how I can feel about it. JUDGE LAKE: Absolutely. Because a lot of people
that have their fathers, they look at me like,
"I don't even like my daddy." "Girl, you're better
without him." No, I could better with him, because I was looking for love in all the wrong places. I set up and got
with somebody at 17, about to get out school,
had a baby. That stopped me
from going to the Air Force, really just ruined
my whole life. I love my daughter.
She didn't ruin it. I did by making
a mistake like they did. I'm 36 years old. I deserve to have a father. My kid deserve a grandfather. My grandson deserves
a great grandfather. I never said she
didn't love me, but if you really
love your kid, my love is a little
deeper than that, and I'm gonna do
anything for mine. CATHLEEN: I'm sorry,
Your Honor, but don't believe that
sympathy role. Her and Mr. Moore
are compulsive liars. How am I a compulsive
liar when I never had a dad? I raised my daughter.
I got pregnant at 15. JENNIFER: How was that a lie? CATHLEEN: I raised you by myself, without a dad. Yes, she has the right to know who her dad is,
Your Honor, ma'am, but I don't think
it's Mr. Moore. Okay. I wanted to submit
some evidence, Your Honor that I think helps me prove that he is my father. Okay. JENNIFER: First I have... The gray hair. JENNIFER: A birth certificate. This is a birth
certificate, you said? JENNIFER: Yes,
that was my original birth certificate right there. On the father spot,
it has a signature. <i> Now, when I looked at that,</i> I seen that the signature
looked new. It didn't look as
old as my mom's
signature on there. But I'm a kid,
so I went along with it. Last year I needed
to get a new ID. <i> So, I go to get a new ID</i> and they told me
that my original birth
certificate there was not good enough.
I needed to get the new one. When I got the new
birth certificate, it did not have a
father's name on it,
not at all. JUDGE LAKE: Really?
So, that lead
me to believe... Your Honor, where is this
new birth certificate? JENNIFER: I sent it in. Because I've never
heard of it until now, Your Honor. JENNIFER: I sent it in. CATHLEEN: She's lying again. So, that's the...that's the
other man's signature on
that birth certificate? CATHLEEN: <i> I know</i>■<i>
that handwriting.</i> It looks like... He told me
he did not sign a birth certificate
for me. Who are you saying
forged it, Ms. Harms? Ms. Robinson. Oh, you think your
daughter forged a name? Yes, ma'am. You gave me the birth
certificate when I was 12. I didn't give
you that with no
signature like that. Mom, it had a signature
on it when you
gave it to me. I didn't give you that when
you're 12, You Honor. When they got to a
certain age, 18 and up, that's when I start
giving my kids their birth certificates... So, wait,
when you gave it to her, does it have a signature
or doesn't it? Yes, it does. No, ma'am.
Whatever. And I also have evidence why I think we look alike. JUDGE LAKE: <i> So, this is
a picture of...</i> JENNIFER: <i> Me and Mr. Moore.</i> JUDGE LAKE: <i> You on the lef
and Mr. Moore on the right.</i> And I also have another
picture of our noses,
Your Honor, when I was younger. JUDGE LAKE: <i> This is
side by side.</i> <i> Every time
I look in the mirror</i> ever since I looked
at his pictures, I feel like Mr. Moore
with a wig on, so if that ain't what it is, I need to be proved
wrong today. And Ms. Robinson,
you have premature graying. JENNIFER: Yes, that's why
I covered it today. JUDGE LAKE: And you say
Mr. Moore had it. All over his head ever since the first time
I ever saw him when I was 12, that man had gray
hair already. And so you submitted
evidence that states, "Individuals who have
a family history "of premature gray hair
have a higher risk "of having premature gray
hair themselves." JENNIFER: I don't have a daddy
to compare that with. I don't know his history, so how would I know
it came from my father? So, I want to know who my father is. I feel this man is my father. He's saying he's my father. God, I look like him. What more do you want? How did this relationship
with Mr. Moore begin? What was your relationship
with him? Young, dumb, stupid. My mother was never there, and I'm running around young like a chicken
with her head cut off, searching for love,
and got caught up in a web that I'm regretting
to this day because throughout all this, Your Honor,
my daughter has suffered and I'm here today
just to try to help her out and stop some
of this suffering. But she don't think
he is my dad. CATHLEEN: No. Not at all. JUDGE LAKE: <i> But you admit
to a sexual relationship
with him.</i> CATHLEEN: <i> Yes, ma'am.</i> How long was
this relationship? Oh, Your Honor,
I'm so old now. JENNIFER: You know,
this is the thing. Your Honor,
this is what it is. Everybody put it
to the back of their minds. CATHLEEN: It wasn't that long.
I would say maybe couple of years
at the most. Actually, Mr. Moore has
joined us today. JENNIFER: Thank God. He is here in court and Ron, I'd like
to have you escort Mr. Moore into the courtroom. RON: Yes, Your Honor. CATHLEEN: You shouldn't be. JUDGE LAKE: Thank you. The witness
stand over there. JENNIFER: Don't think
you're just a miss. He always told me
he was my daddy. CATHLEEN: The gray hair you
have like your dad. Right. JUDGE LAKE: Hello.
Thank you for joining us. You know, we're here
for Jennifer, Ms. Robinson, and she's indicated
through her testimony that you believe you are her
biological father, do you? Yes, ma'am, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: You do? Yes. Tell the court why. Well, Your Honor, she used babysit
my sister's kids, and I used to go there a lot,
and we were having sex a lot. It wasn't no little bit,
it's true. And so, a few months later, I noticed a pouch
on her belly. I said, "Are you pregnant?" She said, "Yeah." I said, "Could it be mine?" She said,
"It could be, maybe not." Because I already
knew about somebody. That is a lie, Your Honor.
I'm sorry. How do you mean about pouch? Boy, please! (INDISTINCT CHATTER) What are you
talking about? Hold up. Hold up. She ain't yours! And that gray hair you got
don't make her yours either. Okay, Ms. Harms, let him finish his testimony. Later on, I heard
her father say whoever got her pregnant he was gonna do
something to him. I kind of backed
off a little bit. I wasn't afraid,
but I backed up. I wanted to be in her life
but she took her away when she was
like four or five. Then got married, ran off. I always have said
she was my daughter because she looked like... JUDGE LAKE: You just
believed it? I believed it because
I was there... Because you were there, and when she got pregnant, you knew it was
around the time that you all were having
all that sex as teenagers. I was there a lot. Young and dumb. Young, and
dumb, and wild. Okay. That's enough
of that testimony. We can move on
to the next point. I get it. VERNON: Yeah. So, the point was
you remember the timeframe. VERNON: Yeah. Yes, ma'am. I hate that I wasn't in
her life a lot, you know. I missed it,
you know what I'm saying? Because I really
missed you... JUDGE LAKE: And I can see
that that hurts you. Yeah. Did you try to be involved
in Ms. Robinson's life? VERNON: Yes, I did. How? VERNON: I talked
to her grandmother a lot. Like, one time she...
I said, "How Jennifer doing?" And she said... When she need something,
I gave her $50 then. I wasn't making a lot of money
but she, you know, had to, you know,
to back me up. And so you would inquire
about Ms. Robinson? VERNON: Yeah, I would. JUDGE LAKE: So, earlier in Ms. Robinson's testimony, she said that
at seven years old or so, her mother basically
said to her, "When you're in Arkansas, "if a man named Vernon,"
which is you, Mr. Moore, "comes up to you and says "that he's your
biological father, "tell him to get out your face
and leave you alone." JENNIFER: Uh-huh. Hmm. JUDGE LAKE: Why do you think
she'd say that? Because I didn't have anything
to do with her no more. JENNIFER: And when
I'd seen him when I was 12 that's exactly
what I told him. JUDGE LAKE: You
remember that day? VERNON: Yeah. I remember. JENNIFER: He
pulled up on me. I was walking to the store, he said, "Hey, girl,
I'm your daddy." You said,
"I'm your daddy"? Yeah. I said, "What's your name?" He said, "Vernon." I'm like, "Oh, that's Vernon. "You ain't my daddy.
My mama told me "to tell you to
leave me alone." He said, "Girl, I'm your dad,
your mama crazy." (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) He handed me like
200 something dollars. I went and bought
fireworks and pizza. VERNON: Ms. Harms... That was a lot of money
to me. VERNON: Because, like I said,
I broke her heart, okay? That's what it's all about. You say you broke her heart? VERNON: That probably
what caused that. I moved out with
somebody else, you know? And plus, I'd been
hearing about she was sleeping with
this and that, you know. I was, too, so, I... Hey, I just moved on. And so how were you feeling
when you hear this testimony? When you hear, this man, your whole life he thought
he was your biological father. He even rode up on you
and said, "I'm your daddy." How does that make you feel? I feel happy about it
because somebody's actually trying to claim me when I feel like I was just
a piece of trash on the side nobody wanted to claim. And I feel like I
look like you. VERNON: I agree. Clear as day. And I'm sorry
I wasn't in your
life a lot. And I really
wanna know. I really wanna know. And we have
those results for you. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) JENNIFER: Oh, Lord. VERNON: Good. JUDGE LAKE: Yes. VERNON: And they'll
match for sure. JENNIFER: Oh, nervous. I'm nervous. Oh, Lord. JUDGE LAKE: The envelope,
please, Ron. (SOBBING) Yeah,
I hope he is my daddy. I really do,
because I really need a dad. I really, really do. These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case of<i>
Robinson v. Harms,</i> when it comes to 36-year-old Jennifer Robinson, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Moore, you... ...are not her father. VERNON: Mmm. Oh, my God. Then who is my daddy? CATHLEEN: Who'd I tell you
it was? Oh, you think his gray
hair was gonna do it. (SOBBING) (INDISTINCT) JENNIFER: Are you serious? I can't believe this. CATHLEEN: You don't know
what my life is so don't speak on it, because I wasn't
with no whole lot of men. Oh. You were just
the first one way down
the road at 15. I cannot believe
he's not my dad. CATHLEEN: I tried to tell,
he ain't your dad. But, no, I'm the lying. So, let's go get done with it
and come right back here, and do this again. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) JUDGE LAKE: Listen. My courtroom is always
open for you, Ms. Robinson. If there is someone else
you'd like to... JENNIFER: Are you serious,
Vernon? So, I'm really
just nobody's child. I still will help you
like I said I would. Oh, my God.
I cannot believe this. JUDGE LAKE: We have counseling
for you and resources. I wish you all
the very best of luck. Please help your daughter. CATHLEEN: Yes, ma'am. Help her. Oh, yes, ma'am. Court is adjourned. Jennifer, can you come up
to the bench, please? Come up to the bench,
sweetheart. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) Ms. Robinson, take a breath. I saw in your eyes
you had convinced yourself and you really wanted this
to be true, sweetie. I know.
