Ms. Edelen, you say
there is no way your
deceased son, Quintin, fathered the
defendant's daughter. You claim Ms. Thomas
is a promiscuous hanger-on who slept with many people
other than your son including your own
family members.
Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Thomas, you say that after
tragically losing Quintin,
the love of your life <i> Ms. Edelen has made
your life miserable
with her paternity denial.</i> You say her son is undoubtedly
Savannah's biological father and you intend
to prove that today. Ms. Edelen, why are you
so sure your son did not father
Ms. Thomas' child? I strongly believe that because
Quintin had confided in me... more than once
or twice about... People she slept with. JUDGE LAKE:<i>
So your son actually said this?</i> LUCILLE:<i> Yes.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i> Ms. Thomas?</i> <i> Yes, Your Honor.</i> You said Quintin was
the love of your life. Yes, Your Honor. Were you cheating on him
during the relationship? Actually... What actually
happened was we had a split-up
for a little minute. And it was a possibility,
and I brought it
to his attention, around the time I had conceived
with his child that it could have been
a possibility that, like,
she was somebody else's child. So you did tell him that? Yes, I did. So your testimony is that
you were honest. Yes, I was 100 from the jump. JUDGE LAKE:
And you said to him
this may be your child... This may not be
your child. Yes. ...but it may not be. ALEXISS: Yes. LUCILLE: So that's what
I'm saying, Your Honor, is that Quintin,
out of my three children, Quintin and I were the closest.
We talked about
any and everything. All types of things. And he confided in me...
It was almost like he knew
he was about to die. Because he told me things
three months before
he passed away. What did he say? This one time he said he was
getting off of work from
working one of his two jobs. And he goes by
his best friend's house and he sees his white Cadillac
parked in his
best friend's driveway, which is the car that he would
let Alexiss drive
while he was at work. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) So Quin tells me he had
to knock on the door
to get his best friend... Please... To tell him... "Where's Alexiss,
why is my car over your house?
Where is Alexiss?" And he said... His friend's my... And he said that Alexiss
let him use the car. Oh, the friend said, "Alexiss
let me use the car." And he said,
"Why would Alexiss
let you use my car?" He said,
"Man, where is Alexiss?" And he said, "Brah,
I ain't gonna lie to you." Alexiss is hiding in the closet
in the house. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Really? Why would I be hiding
in the closet? Actually I was over at school.
I was at school. And we were supposed
to go fix the car. And why had you taken
the car to that house? ALEXISS:<i> Because he told me
to meet him there,
'cause the tags were bad.</i> LUCILLE:<i>
So why would you even
move the car?</i> Now I'm not gonna lie
on my dear child. I love him. His ashes is with me
on this pendant right now. You were lying the other time. No, I don't. Yes, you do. You've been lying on me
my whole life. You've been lying on me
the whole time I've been
with your son. (ARGUING) I've been with your son
five years. You lie on me. You never
liked me from
the beginning at all. You never liked me
from the beginning. That's right, because
you always wanna be
in some man's face... I've never been
in no man's face... Yes. Yes. You... (BOTH ARGUING) JUDGE LAKE:
Okay, let's get some... (ARGUING CONTINUES) Let's, let's get some order. Let's get some order.
Let's get some order. I wanna understand this. What your conclusion was,
Ms. Edelen, is your son
was trying to say that he believed Ms. Thomas
was in the house cheating with somebody else. Correct. Let's understand the nature
of this relationship. Ms. Thomas, can you
tell the court about you
and Quintin's relationship? We met, uh...
Like, October 2014. <i> I'll admit,
while I was going to school.</i> <i> And he basically
was there for me.</i> <i>Like, he motivated me.
He pushed me to finish school.</i> And basically, he was there
when I needed him the most. And he really cared about me. He... My son was
an upstanding young man. He was no drug dealer,
no thug... He was a good man. Okay. Finish telling us
about your relationship,
Ms. Thomas. He made me very happy, to the point
where he got...
We got engaged. And we was gonna
follow through with the whole getting married
process after... Like, the whole situation
with me and the baby. And that's what
he told me as well.
He wanted to marry her. 'Cause he was
the best thing in her life. They wanted to be a family. He made me happy. He was there. He was there for me when nobody else was.
Like, I don't have family so he was basically my family. And then we also had intentions
on getting the DNA done. We just didn't get
a chance to get to it. Because that's consistent with
your testimony that you were
honest with him. And you were honest with him
because you truly loved him. I can see in your eyes.
You are very passionate
when you speak about him. So this was someone
you loved very much. Yes. So what happened
that you told him that... You said you were 100.
You told him the truth. What happened that you ended up
feeling like you needed
a DNA test? ALEXISS:<i> It was a time where
I had, like, messed around
with somebody.</i> I was drunk.
And it was just a drunk night. And I flat-out just told him,
like, this is what happened and this could have
been a possibility. I just brought it out there
'cause I didn't, you know,
I was just trying to be honest. And that's why, Your Honor,
I'm standing here today. Because my son told me
that story as well. He confided in me many things
that his friends
had told him about. What she had done,
what she could have done when he wasn't...
When they weren't together. So she's telling you herself
that she wasn't faithful. Basically, you're both
testifying that there truly
is a doubt. There is a reason to question. LUCILLE: Yes. Even though, Ms. Thomas,
you believe he is your
child's biological father the truth is
you don't know for sure. Correct. Let's talk about the pregnancy. When Savannah was born,
was Quintin there for you? Did he go to appointments
with you? Was he there
at the hospital with you? Yes, he was there
every step of the way. LUCILLE AND ALEXISS:<i>
He even signed
the birth certificate...</i> ALEXISS:<i>
...which I have a copy of.</i> JUDGE LAKE: I'd like to
see that. Jerome, will you
please hand me that evidence? Yeah. (CHUCKLES) (JEROME CHUCKLES) So this is
the birth certificate... ALEXISS: Yes. ...for "Savannah Marie
Thomas-Edelen. <i> "Father's name...
Quintin Phillip Edelen."</i> Signed the birth certificate,
gave her his name... ALEXISS: Yes. ...even though
he had paternity doubts. Because you were
honest with him and told him that you had slept
with someone else
on a drunk night. Yes. Did he tell you he signed
the birth certificate? Yes, he did. And I said,
'That was a stupid move
on your part. "Because if you had that doubt,
Quintin, you shouldn't have
signed that birth certificate." I said, "You should
have waited. You should have
left that blank. "Because we already know
there's a question
if this is your child." But he's a good man. He's a responsible young man.
He's a loving man. He loved her. He loved that baby. <i> He said, "mama, I just,
I just don't feel
that she's mine."</i> <i> I wanna know
because if Savannah is his</i> <i> I want her in my life.</i> If not, they can move on. And to point out another thing,
about her promiscu... Her sexual activities
with other people... And, and it just hurts my soul
to even bring this up, she slept with my oldest son. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Years... JUDGE LAKE:<i> She slept with
your other son as well?</i> LUCILLE AND ALEXISS:<i> Yes.</i> Way years before... That's bringing up
the type of character that she has.
That's a pattern, you see. Had. A pattern.
Yeah, people can change.
We all can change. But we're trying to build up
why there's a doubt that Savannah is his. This was two years...
Way before
my daughter happened. This was when we first
got together that happened. In 2014, that's when
that happened. So you are admitting you did
sleep with Ms. Edelen's
older son. Yes. I did do it
and I'm not gonna lie. JUDGE LAKE:<i>
All right. That son is here?</i> LUCILLE:<i> Yes, he is.</i> <i> And I'd like to speak
to him directly.</i> Jerome, will you
please escort... Yes. ...him into the courtroom? Go up and stand
next to your mom. This was two years...
Way before
my daughter happened. Mr. Edelen, thank you
for joining us. We're here today having
a hearing concerning
the paternity of baby Savannah. One of the issues that
we've been discussing
is unfortunately your mother believed that
your younger brother Quintin,
your late brother, believed that Ms. Thomas
had been having relationships
with other men. But your mom also testified
that you had
had a sexual relationship with Ms. Thomas
in the past as well. Is that true? Yes, Your Honor.
But I just wanna say
for the record... She came on to me.
Like, I was just chilling,
you know. (AUDIENCE CHUCKLING) I mean, like... That's, that's just what
I wanted to add, like, you know, I was wrong
for it, but... My daughter had told Alexiss,
"Stay out of Edward's face. "You're going with
my other brother. "You need to go
and leave Edward alone." Oh, so this was
during the period,
the four years or so that she was with Quintin. This wasn't before she ever
started to date Quintin. This is while
she was dating Quintin. LUCILLE: Yes, ma'am.
Yes, Your Honor. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) So, Ms. Thomas,
how did you end up sleeping with two brothers
at the same time? Do you know why? No. Was it another drunken night? JUDGE LAKE: And, Ms... (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Well, listen, before you are
too condescending to her it takes two, Ms. Edelen... I understand that. And so I have to ask you
as well, Mr. Edelen. Why would you sleep
with your brother's girlfriend? LUCILLE: I didn't understand
that either. I was just going through
a real time, you know, um... I was wrong, you know, but also nobody knew
what I was going through
at that time. And nobody can really
judge me but God. So you all can feel what
you wanna feel about that. What are you feeling,
Ms. Thomas?
Why are you so upset? Can we just get this over with? (SNIFFLING) I'm concerned
about you right now. I want you to... I just don't feel comfortable
being around her. Ever since she put
my daughter out,
me and my daughter out, I just ain't really
spoken to her and it's been six months
since he's been gone. And I really ain't had time
to really be by myself
and grieve. I've been out here
trying to make sure
my daughter is straight. I've been working to go
to school, try to go hard,
for her. She's everything
I got right now. And don't nobody
understand that just
going through all this is just making me, like, look at her, like, dang,
you looked at me like this
for what? We couldn't sit down
like grown people... and discuss... LUCILLE: We tried to do that. I'm and adult and she's...
We tried to talk about this. We wanted to get the DNA
before this happened. <i> We even talked about, let's
just go right in and go get
a DNA test from there,</i> <i> go from there.</i> <i> But no, we decided
to come here.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i> I'm glad you did
because Savannah needs answers
and you do too.</i> LUCILLE:<i> Yes, ma'am.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i>
You both are grieving.</i> And I know losing
a son, a child... Ms. Edelen, I know
there's no greater pain. None. None. JUDGE LAKE:
And I feel for you,
I truly do. And you're grieving as well,
Ms. Thomas. Right, wrong, or indifferent,
you have expressed
that this was your... Your truest love. And your young girl... LUCILLE: The best thing
that happened to her in her life. And she has admitted
how much she did for her. LUCILLE: Yes. Inspired her, motivated her. Do you feel
after this testimony after listening to how
beautifully she spoke
about your son, their relationship,
do you feel any differently
about Savannah? Do you believe that
she is your son's daughter? I'm gonna
express this, Your Honor. He signed that
birth certificate
with that doubt. He helped raise that baby
still with that doubt. He said, "Mama, if she ain't mine
I'mma still raise her "like she's mine." (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) That's how open and loving
he is 'cause that's how much
he loved her. And the time
when they lived with me and Savannah lived with me she knows I showed her child as much love and affection
as I show my other grandson.
Did I not? Yes, you did. LUCILLE: I have love for her
even if she's... She's like the mama
that I never had. (VOICE BREAKING)
And I do somewhat
care about her. And it breaks my heart for her to feel that way
about me and look at me
like that. And I changed my life
ever since I'd known
that she ain't liked me. (SNIFFLES) I tried my hardest
to prove her wrong. And I want her to be
in Savannah's life... If she's not hers
then I'm just gonna exit. (SNIFFLES) But I know for a fact
that it's his baby. And now let me finish
what I was saying. As much as Quintin
had a doubt in his mind that that baby may not be his,
his was still willing to be
with you and that baby. And he asked me to do the same. Mmm-hmm. That you need help. You need somebody that's firm,
strong and who's gonna
help you as well. I helped you get jobs,
when y'all was in less
didn't I? Yes. LUCILLE:
If I can do one thing,
I help somebody get a job, get on their feet
and get up out of my house. (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) (ALEXISS CHUCKLES) Yes, Mom. Yes. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) So I have these results
in my hand, Ms. Edelen. And I have to ask you
before I open them, given the attachment
your son had to Ms. Thomas, <i> the way in which he embraced
this baby regardless
of his paternity doubts</i> <i> and asked you to do the same,</i> do you truly want me to read these results? I want awareness. And that would bring
more awareness of the situation we're in. And, yes, obviously
I would like to know. And so you are prepared
either way. Yes. JUDGE LAKE: All right. These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and
they read as follows. In the case
of<i> Edelen v. Thomas...</i> When it comes to 16-month-old
Savannah Thomas-Edelen it has been determined
by this court... The percentage of relatedness
between Ms. Lucille Edelen and Savannah Thomas-Edelen is... 99.98% You are related. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Come here. I'm sorry. (CRYING) Oh, yes. Oh, yes. Oh... Oh. Oh, Alexiss. (ALEXISS SNIFFLING) I'm sorry. People make mistakes. I'm not walking on water yet. But, um, people change. She knows I love her. I love her through my son.
But now we know. I wasn't lying. I told you from the jump. I had no...
Like you had, Alexiss... You had Savannah yourself. She don't,
she never darkened up. You see me and my son? (LAUGHTER) I'm happy for you all.
I really am. I know this has been
such a journey. And it feels so good after all
you've been through. The tragedy, the loss,
the hurt, the pain... LUCILLE: Yes. Yes. Yes. ...to be able to bless you
with this truth that I know
you both wanted Yes. There is a piece of your son
still in this world. Yes. And what's beautiful
about getting this truth is because we have no more doubts Ms. Edelen will be there
to support you and cheer you on because that good nature
we see from Quintin he got that from her,
from his family. LUCILLE: Yes, ma'am. And you'll be able
to have them to support. Today, two people with two different mothers are here claiming
the same defendant could possibly be their
biological father. (AUDIENCE GROANING) Mr. Moore, you claim
you've known Mr. Taylor
for most of your life. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: But he has
never acknowledged you
as a son. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: And he even left
you in foster care. MOORE: Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Everett, you say
you weren't even introduced to Mr. Taylor until
you were five years old. Then you claimed
you didn't see him again until you were sent
to live with him
as a teenager. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: But you say
it went so badly, you actually ended up putting
yourself in foster care. Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Taylor, you say
you deny paternity of both plaintiffs and you have good reason
with each. That's correct,
Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Now, I'm gonna
hear the cases separately, starting with Mr. Moore. Mr. Moore,
your aunt is here and she says her testimony will change everything
in this case, but, first... JUDGE LAKE: How did you
end up in foster care? I ended up in foster care
because he let me rot
in foster care. He didn't care about
nothing about me. Oh, that is a
strong, strong accusation. Please describe
your childhood. How did this happen? I went to juvenile hall
because my mom, my mom was addicted to drugs. So, when I got out...
When I was in juvenile hall
at the age 14, my mom came in there
to tell me that Mr. Taylor
was my dad. So I walked out on her
because I was upset, because, "Why are you
telling me this now?" Like, and, he, he
was never there for me. And now you're telling me
this is my dad, so then, I get sent
to foster care. And he never came
and got me. I think that
if he was there for me, I would be a better person
than what I am now. I can't even read or write
or anything. And if he was there for me
to help me out... JUDGE LAKE: You're saying, you can't... You said
you can't read or write. Is that because... MOORE: No, I can't read
or write or nothing. ...because you dropped
out of school? No, because I didn't have
a father or mother in my life. I didn't have neither one.
I had to take care of my little brother
and my older brother. (SIGHS)
That's just so very sad. Mr. Taylor, do you hear
what Mr. Moore is saying? I do, Your Honor. And what is your response? I wasn't sure ever
that this was my son. You still could
find out though. TAYLOR: I honestly didn't know and then,
all of a sudden, "He's your son,
he's your son,
he's your son." No, Your Honor,
I didn't know. So, I went and I, I did
a little investigating and I do have, right here
a birth certificate. My name is not even on it. His name's not on it... Jerome, let me see that
evidence, please. ...because I had another dad,
because my brother
and them's dad, was the dad that I was
raised up with. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Taylor,
I have to say though, if you knew
there was a possibility that he was your son, why wouldn't you go
get him out of foster care or at least start
some type of proceeding. MOORE: And, and, Your Honor... JUDGE LAKE:
To be able to determine... Excuse me, I never went to
court for no child support. I was always in doubt
of his mother,
God rest her soul. Very promiscuous. It was really confusing. JUDGE LAKE: And so this
evidence that you presented you say further validates... TAYLOR: Convince me. MOORE: Excuse me, Your Honor,
I got evidence too that me and this man
look exactly alike. JUDGE LAKE: I'd like to see
your evidence. We look exactly like, we've been looking
exactly alike since
we was babies. JUDGE LAKE: Did you bring
that evidence? Yes, Your Honor. Can I present this to you? We got the same chin,
same nose, same mouth, same eyes,
same hair structure, all that. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE: On the left,
of course, is a picture of you and on the right,
a picture of Mr. Taylor. MOORE: Yes, Your Honor. And you see
a striking resemblance? MOORE: Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Taylor, do you
see the resemblance? TAYLOR: I see a resemblance
as far as us being
the same complexion. Mr. Taylor, what did
his mother say to you? TAYLOR: His mother... JUDGE LAKE: What did she
tell you? ...said to me...
Now, this is years later. This isn't when
the child was born. This is year...
"That might be your son." Were you ever told
she was even pregnant? She came and told me...
She was living with me. She left and she went back
to her man or whoever she was...
The relationship she had. About a month later, she says,
"You know I'm pregnant." "Yeah, and?" You know what I mean?
"You done went back with "the guy that you left
to be with me. "Now, you're back with him. "Now, you're coming back
and you're telling me
that you're pregnant?" MOORE: If he knew that
I wasn't a biological child my mom told him 'cause my mom
would not lie to me. And tell me in jail.
She told me in jail that
he was my dad. And, then I got locked up
and my mom comes to me and tells me, "Gregory Taylor
is your dad." TAYLOR: But at
the same time... In jail, I walked out on her. But she don't come back... She came back to me. And told me,
"That's not your son." So, Mr. Moore, you're saying, as you're lost out
here in these streets, you're doing things young men
shouldn't have to do. MOORE: Yes. You are longing
for a father figure. Yes, yes. And I don't have
one of those. So, now that I've got my kids, I'll make sure
that I'm their father figure. That's exactly
what you should do. I'd like to go
to your witness now, if I may. Ma'am. TWYMAN: Yes. Ms. Twyman. Yes. Please tell us
what you know about
this situation, Mr. Moore's upbringing,
and how can you add. Mr. Moore's mother
is my sister. Okay. Okay. My sister told me that
Mr. Taylor could not be the father
of Mr. Moore. Literally out of her mouth. And, she told you this
in what context? Because I guess
when she got pregnant, she was also sleeping
with other gentlemen. She's always done that. And also, I have seen
gentlemen come out
of her house. Why would your sister, at the position
this young man was in, go to him and tell him,
"Mr. Taylor is your
biological father." I can't speak on that. JUDGE LAKE: You don't know... I wasn't there when she
told him that. Well, the only way
we can move forward
is to have the results. Jerome. The envelope. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE: We will
get to the second part of this case in just a moment. These results were
prepared by
DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. JUDGE LAKE: In the case of<i>
Moore/Everett v. Taylor,</i> pertaining to 31-year-old
Eugene Moore. And as to whether
Mr. Taylor is his
biological father, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Taylor... ...you are his father. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Taylor, I can see you have
tears in your eyes. What are you feeling
right now? I'm feeling
that I finally know instead of doubting
for all these years... Thirty-one years old. I could've been in his life
so much earlier, if I wouldn't have let situations and people
talking to me interfere with what I had to do
as far as being a father. I wanna try my best
to make it up. As best as I can. Would you like
to give your son a hug? I sure would. (MUFFLED) Love you too, man. JUDGE LAKE: So, I think
it's time we move on to the second part of this case. JUDGE LAKE: Ma'am, please explain to the court what was life like
for you, growing up? I never had a father
figure in my life. I didn't meet Mr. Taylor until I was five years old. He came to my house
in Philadelphia. I came outside,
my mom was like, "Somebody wants to meet you.
Your dad wants to meet you." I said, "My dad?"
He was like, "Yeah." So, when I went to the car, he was like, "I'm your dad." And he said, "Oh, I'll be back
to see you again." I never seen him again
until I was 14. And so, when my mother
sent me... Mr. Taylor, do you
remember this? I always... I remember it vividly. I doubted her
from the beginning. The way that I met her mother. The relationship
that I had with her mother, which was a very brief
relationship. Uh, to begin with, let me
explain in the beginning. The mother, her mother
lived with me for a month. She left and I didn't see her no more
and then the next time
you see me, you've got a baby
and you're saying
it's mine? Right after that,
I was incarcerated. I was gone. For five years. Okay, can I say
something? When I came home... Yes. And just, just
one moment, ma'am, what I wanna understand
from you, sir, is, when she was five years old,
you still had doubts, the same doubts you had
when you saw her
when you were a baby? That's correct. Because, was this relationship with her
mother exclusive or were you aware... No, it wasn't
exclusive at all. JUDGE LAKE: Did you know
if her mother was sleeping with other people? Yeah, I knew she was
sleeping with others. How could you know that? I know that because
friends of mine... Long story short,
after I met her mother and she stayed with me
for that month, I was getting all kinds
of feedback from my friends,
from people I knew. "Oh, you're dealing
with her now? "You know about her?
You know what's up with her?" They were kinda like
laughing at me. For even dealing with her. Because they knew
how promiscuous she was. And then the next thing
you know, I'm tagged with this child. I don't know nothing
about it. I go to jail,
I come out of jail. She is five years old. I go past to see the mom... She tells me,
"This is your daughter." JUDGE LAKE: Okay.
For these five years, were you aware, made aware
of anything about him? No, all I knew was that there
was a man named Greg. EVERETT: I didn't have
a father, a daughter-father
relationship. I didn't go to amusement parks when my friends went to
amusement parks. I didn't go to parks. I didn't go
to family reunions. I didn't go to
no type of anything. He was nowhere
in the picture. Your Honor, the reason... From five to 14 years old. ...I wasn't in the picture is
because I had all the doubts that I had
as far as the mother... And so when this next
encounter happened at 14... EVERETT: Right. What happened? I was sent on a Greyhound bus to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. My grandfather, well,
his father gave me his number, I called him and said,
"I'm at the bus station." He came and picked me up. From the bus station. Took me to the same woman's
house with his daughter. Cheating me,
neglecting me. Didn't enroll me in school. TAYLOR: Enough. TAYLOR: No, no. Enroll me in school. Didn't buy me school clothes. He didn't buy me sneakers. He didn't buy me
school supplies. He didn't buy me food. Your Honor, she was... And at times... Your Honor, she was
in high school... ...we didn't even have food. We didn't have food. And she turns around... Every five minutes,
I'm going... I go up to the school,
she's playing hooky... So why is it you decided
to take this girl in at age 14? TAYLOR: She didn't have... I cared.
I wanted to reach out. They said that
this was my child. She takes and calls me
on the phone. "I'm at the bus station." I'm not gonna leave her
at the bus station. I'm not gonna do that
to nobody. So, when she called...
Wait a minute. When she called to say,
"I'm at the bus station," did you know
she was coming? No. What? TAYLOR: No. The next thing I know,
here she is. I gotta enroll her
in school. As soon as she got there, I could see why she came. She was disruptive. She tore my household apart. She was playing
hooky from school. She was staying out
all night and right after this year
that she was there, when she goes back,
she's pregnant. I'm up there saying to myself,
"Now, this is my child." So she say. So her mother say. So I take and go,
and I take in, look out for this child
the way I do, and then she's gonna
turn around and say some craziness
like that when I stuck up for her? I know why
you're so passionate. It's 25 years later. EVERETT: Right. And look, I feel your pain. EVERETT: He's on my
birth certificate, but when I went to go get
my birth certificate. It was two people
on the birth certificate. When I took that
to the state building, the state building
said to me that it was a computer error. So... A computer error nothing. JUDGE LAKE:
Wait a minute. Wait. There's two people
on your birth certificate? It was two people at the time.
There's a word named Michael on the birth certificate
under Gregory Taylor. So do you have that
birth certificate? When I went to apply for
my birth certificate again, they said...
(STAMMERING) ...the system's changed
in Philadelphia. So, you've got to
apply for it, then you got to go
back and pick it up, they don't do it,
same day thing. So that's why I don't have
the birth certificate
with me today. Have you ever
seen this birth certificate? TAYLOR: I've never seen it. I don't know nothing about it. I don't know... I know that
my name shouldn't be on it. EVERETT: Well, his name on it. Simply behind the fact that
she has a selection of people she could have put on it. And I'm just being
honest about that. And it's not that I'm
disrespecting her mother, I'm just telling you
how her mother was. The only way to figure out whose name should rightfully
be on that birth certificate is to get the results.
Jerome, I'm ready. In the case of<i>
Moore/Everett v. Taylor,</i> pertaining to 43-year-old
Nyia Everett. And as to whether
Mr. Taylor is her biological father, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Taylor... ...you... ...are her father. TAYLOR: Can I have a hug? Sure. (PEOPLE CHEERING) JUDGE LAKE: Dad, you got your hands full
with your little girl. (LAUGHING) JUDGE LAKE: But you know what? You're a man that has
lived a long life of experience, life lessons. TAYLOR: Mmm-hmm. JUDGE LAKE: Just do the work. Because honestly, you can
fulfill for both of these. Young man, please stand up. Alongside your sister. And I do have a
beautiful brother... Yes, you do. JUDGE LAKE: Oh, my goodness,
my day is complete. I have gotten a smile out of
the beautiful Miss Everett. I'm so very happy for you. This court has resources for you
to help you begin to
work through this. We want you to take
advantage of it. And I wish you all
the very, very best of luck. MOORE: Thank you, Your Honor. Court is adjourned.
