Ms. Jefferson, you say you're
here today to end the
neighborhood rumors, and lies about your sexual
history. You've asked the court for the
results of a paternity test on
Sir Javion, your two-month-old son,
to help you prove you were faithful to the man
you say is his father. Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Singleton, you argue that
Ms. Jefferson is not to be
trusted or believed. Yes, Your Honor. And you contend that not only
did she once lie about being
seven months pregnant, but you claim you also
have physical proof that two
other men could've fathered her son. Yes, Your Honor. Additionally, Ms. Jefferson,
you are suing the defendant
for $2,000. Yes, Your Honor. You claim Mr. Singleton took
baby clothes and furniture from you
without your knowledge or
consent just three weeks before you
gave birth to your son. Yes, Your Honor. That's correct. So, Ms. Jefferson, let's
start with the $2,000 in baby items
you claim Mr. Singleton took unlawfully. What happened? Okay, three weeks prior to
that, ma'am, me and Mr.
Singleton had got into it. Mmm-hmm. It was about some Facebook
stuff I'd seen on his page. So I asked Mr. Singleton,
when he goes, take all his
clothes and don't come back. So, I was at my sister's
house. So, I went to the doctor and
they said my pressure was up. So, they were like, due to a
preeclampsia, you're going to
have to have your baby early. Okay, so I was in the
hospital, I had my baby.
It was three days, we had to stay in the
hospital for three days. Okay, so I come home, and I go in my house and
the first thing I notice was
my rug messed up. JEFFERSON: I said... I object, Your Honor. JEFFERSON: Excuse me,
Your Honor. You object? Excuse me, Your Honor.
When I put out my... When I
looked at my rug, it was paint on my rug. So, as I pursued to go in
the room and opened my door, everything was on the floor. He messed up.
I looked in my closet, all the baby clothes
were gone. So, I went in the other room,
it was a box with three junior
outfits in it. It was six to nine months and
my baby was a newborn. How can my baby wear
six to nine months, um, junior outfits, and they
was too big. But, no... Matter of fact,
Your Honor, I have, um, a picture where the clothes
was on. Let me see that, Jerome. And also I have...
I broke down what Mr. Singleton
purchased and what I had
purchased. Purchases and receipts
and stuff. Your Honor, I object. So, Mr. Singleton, fill me in.
You took the baby's clothes? I... You know, she put me out
three weeks before the baby
was due, and she went on Facebook and
told... I mean, I have... Your Honor, there's a reason
why I went on Facebook. Can I talk, please? I went on Facebook and my
friend called me and said, "Man, did you check your
Facebook page?" I said,
"No, what's going on?" He said, "Your baby mama
on there saying you can stay
in New Orleans." So, I looked and I said,
"Really?" I say, "She three weeks,
about to be three weeks "with the baby. How is she
telling me that?" Your Honor. Okay. Can I talk, please? No, because you is not
being truthful. So, when I did... It don't matter, you shouldn't
have took your son's clothes. When I did talk to her,
Your Honor... What man would take
his son's clothes? When I did talk to her... What man would take their
son's clothes? JUDGE LAKE: Okay. You're right. (ARGUING INDISTINCTLY) I wanna get to why you took the baby's
clothes. What I want to understand is did you take the baby's
clothes? Yes, I did. All right, now, that's the
answer to the question. I'm gonna be a man and I did
take the baby's clothes, because she told me to get
all your belongings. You're the reason why you got
put out. I bought the clothes, so I was taking all of my
belongings. Okay, so hold on. This evidence you presented,
ma'am. Yes, Your Honor. These are the clothes that
you had. Yes, all them clothes. Them all the clothes that
I purchased and he purchased. All these clothes I see here <i> were clothes purchased for the
baby by the both of you.</i> And the reason
why I put him out of my house,
Your Honor, because he was messaging a girl on
Facebook when... He was supposed to
went out of town with
his friend, Mr. Williams, to New Orleans, and he said
when he get there he wanted to
see the girl and I seen it. So, guess what I did?
I went on Facebook
and I told him, "When you leave,
take all your clothes." You post on Facebook and tell
him to get out? Yes, I did. And when you got home, he was gone, but he also took
the baby's clothes. Everything was gone. And your clothes. Even the baby bag,
he took. He didn't take my clothes,
he took the baby bag. (AUDIENCE GROANS) He took the baby bag. So, just the baby bag. Baby bag and the baby clothes. So, these
receipts that you presented, are for
all the things you say
that he took. Yes, Your Honor. That's
correct. All right. Your Honor, I object,
I really do. I object. I object because she went on
my Facebook page, I was messaging my friends... That wasn't your friend. I wanted to hook up
with them. I wanted to hook up with
my friends when I went to
New Orleans. She's a jealous female. Hold on, now, Mr. Singleton,
just give me a minute. I'm looking through these
receipts and I see receipts
for all these outfits. SINGLETON: That I purchased. You purchased and I
purchased, too.
It don't matter who... She purchased it with
my money. JUDGE LAKE: Well, we have... JEFFERSON: <i> You don't take your
baby clothes, that's wrong.</i> <i> It don't matter what we're
going through,
you shouldn't have took...</i> JUDGE LAKE: <i> You purchased
$1,005 worth of outfits,</i> Polo outfits, Puma outfits,
all these outfits. You got
newborn baby shirts. I feel she didn't deserve it
because she put me out. No, you put... You know... No. She told me to leave three
weeks before. Your Honor... How can you... It's not about me, it's about
my newborn baby. It's not about me, it's about
my newborn baby. She should've thought... She should've thought about
that, Your Honor, before she went on Facebook. I'll be a fool if I allow you
to stay in my house when you
talking to other females. I could do better by myself.
What you think? She could have told me... You honor, I could do better
by myself. She could've came to me. I also have other kids at the
house, too. JUDGE LAKE: Okay,
let's calm down. SINGLETON: She could've
called me on the phone
and told me that. Let's calm down. Now, at this point, I've seen the receipts.
They total $1,955.99. JEFFERSON: <i> That's correct.</i> JUDGE LAKE: <i> So, Mr. Singleton,
I've gotta ask you.</i> SINGLETON: Yes, Your Honor. What would possess you to come
into a house and take clothes from a baby? SINGLETON: That I bought. You, obviously, were going
through something, in terms
of your thinking. Were you doubtful this child
was yours? I was, Your Honor. In November, she lied about
being seven months pregnant. JEFFERSON: No. That's not correct. Can I finish please,
Your Honor? That's false, Your Honor. She lied about being seven
months pregnant. I had relocated to
New Orleans, so I come back to her city
to support her. I come to fine out she's not
even pregnant. I asked her, "Well, what about
the sonogram?" She said, "A sonogram
comes in the mail." Your Honor, You Honor... JEFFERSON: Your Honor,
no. Sonograms do not come
in the mail. Period. Excuse me, Your Honor.
Can I speak? No, you can't speak. SINGLETON: It's my turn. That would be a fact. Move on. Right. So, when I find that out, I'm
like, "Okay, now, we need to
go to the doctor "and see what's going on." When we go to the doctor,
she's actually pregnant. Now, I'm like,
"Whoa, hold up,
hold up. "Hold up, you told me you
seven months pregnant, "but now you're actually
pregnant?" That's why I have
doubts, Your Honor. Okay, so the bottom line is,
while you're out of town she
told you, "I'm seven months pregnant."
So you... Just to get me back to
Jacksonville.
Just to get me back. So, you came on back
to be there for her.
You came back, there was no sonogram picture
when you asked for it.
It was in the mail. Right. And then you said, "Let's go
on to the doctor." And when you do, she really
is pregnant, but they give you a date as to
how pregnant she was? Exactly, Your Honor. And I'm like, "Wow!" JEFFERSON: Your Honor,
that's not how it happened. I'm like, "How could this be
the date when she already
told me "she was seven months
pregnant?" JUDGE LAKE: So, now,
Ms. Jefferson. Yes, Your Honor. I'm glad I
could speak now. Your Honor, that's not how
it happened, Your Honor. This is what happened,
Your Honor, I went to
St. Vincent's, and they said that, "Teresa,
you had a miscarriage." But I had conceived in
September, again, because we had slept together
in September. Whoa, whoa. Two weeks after my birthday. So, that's when I conceived. Whoa, Your Honor, hold up. He already knew this. I object! So, let me translate. SINGLETON: Yeah, please
translate that lie. You say you were pregnant. Yes, Your Honor. And then you had a
miscarriage. Yes, and I did not know I had
a miscarriage. And then you conceived another
child with him. Yes, Your Honor,
in September. When you confirmed you were
pregnant the second time, how far along did they say
you were? (STUTTERING) I was like, uh,
I think I was... I went in... She's lying. (STUTTERING) A couple of
weeks. I was a couple of weeks. Your Honor,
she's lying. I was a couple of weeks
pregnant... Okay. Your Honor... JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Singleton? Yes, ma'am. When you
figured out, for the second time,
she really was pregnant. She really was pregnant,
this time. You had doubts that you were
the father. Correct. Why? I was, Your Honor. She don't tell me where she's
going, she takes the kids, she don't call me,
she don't text me. So, in a man's mind, in a man's...
A real man's mind, when your woman is gone, for three, four days without
no phone call, without telling you...
That's some type of doubt,
Your Honor. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) That's some
type of doubt. JEFFERSON: Your Honor,
the reason why I leave,
Your Honor, because he's disrespectful.
I leave because he's
disrespectful. Are you spending time with
other men when you... JEFFERSON: No. You're not with any other guy? If I didn't love this man, I
wouldn't have gotten his name tattooed across my chest,
I wouldn't do none of that,
Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: So, you've never
been with another guy. I'm faithful to him,
Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: You've never been
with another guy. No other guy, no. She's lying. JUDGE LAKE: All right,
hold on. Mr. Singleton, you have
a witness. Yes, I do, Your Honor. Please, stand, sir. State your name for the court. Darnell Williams. Mr. Williams, thank you for
joining us today. What do you
know about this situation? Well, I've been knowing Mr.
Singleton and Ms. Jefferson
for almost 10 years, now. So, when Mr. Singleton left
initially, I told him I was gonna
look after his baby mama to make sure
they don't need nothing. So, you know, we don't knock
on each other's doors. We just
walk in to each other's doors. So, one day, I was cooking
some fish. So, I had some mustard,
but no hot sauce, so, I went down... (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) JUDGE LAKE: Got to have the
hot sauce. Got to have the hot sauce. JUDGE LAKE: Okay, go ahead. Excuse me. So I went downstairs and just
walked through the door. And so, when I walked in
the door, the lights was off, so... JUDGE LAKE: You walked into
whose door? Ms. Jefferson's door. Okay, keep going. So, when I walked in the
lights was off, so I hit the
light switch and to my surprise, I'm like,
"What the holy heck is
going on?" She was trying to pull her
shirt down, I don't see no
shorts or nothing, and there's this dude sitting
on the sofa, you know, he's trying to fix
his clothes. So, she's like, "Oh, DJ, you
just gonna walk in my house?" I say, "We always just walk
into each other house." We don't never knock
on the door. So, I was like,
"Oh, who was that?" She was like,
"Oh, that's my cousin." So, I was like, "Okay, really?
That's your cousin?" It already been rumors
going around that she's been messing
with the maintenance man. (AUDIENCE JEERING) Whatever's going on in that
apartment, I hear about it. And I can see everything that
goes on downstairs, to the left of me,
to the right of me,
in front of me. And so, as you're sitting up
there, you see the maintenance man spend a little too much time
down in her unit. Yes, ma'am. A whole lot of things broken. Uh, Mr. Williams, look, I mean, if he works in
maintenance and there's something that
needs to be repaired in her
apartment, he can go in there and fix... You're right, Your Honor. But, I will say this now, if we need repairs three and
four times a week, now, we might have an issue.
Thank you for your testimony,
you may be seated. JEFFERSON: Your Honor,
can I speak? Now, listen, bottom line is, you're getting
all this news, and you're starting
to feel like, "What's going on here?"
She's sleeping with other
people. SINGLETON: Correct,
Your Honor. "She was pregnant,
but not pregnant." Correct. So, you were completely
confused as to whether or not you were this child's father. Correct. And if I'm not the
father of this child, I want
my name back. And yet, despite your doubt, you still... You admit to
purchasing this child a lot of clothing. You were getting ready for
the baby. <i> You were supportive in
that way.</i> SINGLETON: Of course
I messed some things up,
but I purchased, I also replaced everything
that I messed up, Your Honor. I replaced our carpet,
I replaced our television. I replaced everything that I
messed up... Did you replace the clothes,
too? I replaced the clothes.
She has more clothes
for the baby, even though I doubt that he
is mine. I still support him, even
though I still doubt that he
is mine. Ms. Jefferson,
let me ask you this, did he replace the
carpet and the clothes and the
things that he destroyed? No, he did not replace the
carpet. Um, he did, two weeks ago,
when he seen my baby, he bring me my baby clothes,
that's the only thing. He did not replace my carpet. What he did was cruel
and hurtful and that's really
stressing me out, to the point I had the baby
at 37 weeks and six days. This is my last son that I
feel that I'm gonna have and she knew how passionate
I felt about cutting the umbilical
cord and she told me, she told me,
actually two days before she had the baby,
"Don't even come here." And I'm like,
"Are you serious?" And I'm like, "Are you
serious? This is supposed to
be my child." And I can't come share this moment with you? I mean, look at that little
boy, it hurts. <i> He's a beautiful little boy
and I would want him
to be mine.</i> But, Your Honor,
if he's not mine, I gotta take my name back, because I'm tired of being
deceived, lied to and ran over just because
of it. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) He took all my baby's stuff. My baby ain't have nothing but
three outfits and they was too big. It stressed me out and he knew
it stressed me out. JUDGE LAKE: And so you felt
so overwhelmed... And then he texts my phone
and laughs about taking my
baby's clothes. Soon after he did that, I changed my number and I
haven't talked to him. Two weeks ago, I let him
see my son and then he
brought my baby's clothes, but he still left the other
clothes down there. For, um, six to nine months
and 12 months. And my baby is growing,
so I have to... I don't have a job
so I gotta see how to get
him some more clothes. SINGLETON: I have to support
her, that's what it is. She just said she didn't
have a job. All the clothes that she
purchased, she was purchasing
with my money. Okay, let me be clear on
something. You took the clothes, but then
you brought the clothes back. I did, Your Honor. He brought half of them back. Okay, so he brought half the
clothes back. Yes, Your Honor. So there's another half... There is another half that's
for the 12 to 18 months,
I feel she don't need that right now, because I still wanna know if
this is my child. That's why. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. JEFFERSON: You're trying to be
so nasty, but there's
an innocent baby, we're bickering and arguing
over nothing and we got
an innocent baby here, that's stuck in the middle of
all this foolishness. And it's not about us, it's
about him. He needs his stuff. He needs his stuff,
Your Honor. SINGLETON: She's right. I'm tired of bickering and
arguing with him. I'm sorry. If this kid is not mine,
yes, I will be hurt, and yeah, I do want some of my
money back. With that said, I think it's
time to alleviate this doubt. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) And I think it's time
for the results. Thank you, Jerome. These result were prepared by
DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows... as to whether or not you
are this child's father. These result were prepared by
DNA Diagnostics and they read
as follows. In the case of<i>
Jefferson v. Singleton,</i> when it comes to
two-month-old Sir Javion Singleton. Mr. Singleton. Yes, Your Honor. You are his father. Thank you, thank you. Thank you. I'm thankful that these
results have squashed everyone's doubts. SINGLETON: Yes, it has, and I do wanna apologize to
Ms. Jefferson from taking the clothes and
for any doubt that I have, but I do want her to
understand, she's the one
putting the doubt, but I'm glad we got the
results and now we can move on
as parents. So, as for your suit, and suing for this, would you
like to just drop your claim and know that now that he
knows it's his son... No. So, you don't wanna drop
your claim? No. All right, so,
let's do the math. You originally sued for
$2,000. JEFFERSON: Yes, Your Honor. And so, you admit that he returned half of it. As the parents of this child,
you both are responsible to care
for this child equally. JUDGE LAKE: Right? SINGLETON: Right. So, with that said, I'm gonna order you to return
the clothes to Ms. Jefferson, or pay her $500. SINGLETON: Yes, Your Honor. All right? Yes, Your Honor. So, the judgment is for the
plaintiff. Ms. Clary, you are petitioning
the court for a paternity test to prove to the defendant that he is the father
of your son, Gage, who has multiple
medical needs. You say Mr. Asenato owes you
$15,000 in child support. And you demand he pays you,
what he owes. Yes, Your Honor. Now, Mr. Asenato,
you say there's no reason to pay any money for a child
that you know is not yours. And claim to have
bombshell evidence to prove that
you're not the father. You state that
when you returned home
you'll go back to court to have the $15,000 you owe
erased from your record. JUDGE LAKE:
So, Mr. Asenato,
I have to ask you. You owe $15,000
in child support? ASENATO: Your Honor. No way that I owe $15,000
on a child that's not mine. He signed
the birth certificate. She basically roped me into
signing a birth certificate for a child that
she told me was mine and has taken me
to court for child support. I've paid almost
$15,000 in child support. So you admit you do
owe the child support? Not on a child that's
not mine. No, ma'am. But you said you signed
the birth certificate. ASENATO: I did sign
the birth certificate. She made me believe
that the child was mine by saying
she was only with me. You did sleep with her? I did, yes, ma'am. You thought you were
exclusively together, girlfriend,
boyfriend, committed. No, ma'am, she was
married at the time. JUDGE LAKE: Oh! Your Honor,
when we first met... ...we both were married. When we both met
we were separated. I wasn't with my husband
for a year and a half, whenever I conceived my son. ASENATO: Your Honor,
that's not true. Take me back to that... CLARY: I was divorced... ...let me understand
this relationship. ...from my husband. When you met
you both were married. I was separated from my wife
and I moved into a townhouse which was next to
her and her husband. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. And my husband and I were
going through issues
and were separating. Okay, so you all began
a sexual relationship... ASENATO: Yes, ma'am. ...but both of your marriages
were not completely over at the time. Correct. Tell me about the first night
you all were intimate. How did
this relationship begin? We were hanging out next door,
and we were all friends. Hanging over there
shooting pool, drinking,
watching movies. Then everybody left,
except for me. One thing kinda
led to another,
he made a pass at me. CLARY: And... Correct. JUDGE LAKE: So you began
a sexual relationship. And how long did it continue
before you found out
you were pregnant? That was in 2007,
my son was born in 2011. Oh, four years! CLARY: Exactly. So you all were living
next-door to one
another for four years and... No, ma'am,
that's when we first met. We lived together on and
off over the last eight years. When my son was born,
we were living together. She was not living with me. CLARY: Ah, yes I was. And I was also pregnant. When she got pregnant,
she moved in with me. When she got pregnant
because I wanted to
do the right thing. Well, she said that
when her son was born,
she was living with you. That was right.
That's correct. Yes, ma'am. That is correct. Okay, so what you're saying is
when her son was conceived, she was not living with you. No, ma'am, she was not. But I spent six out of... JUDGE LAKE:
So your point is... ...seven days a week
at his house. ...you don't know, if she was sleeping with
someone else or not. I do know for a fact that
she was with somebody else. Oh, what do you know? I know Crystal. Crystal was married when
she came into my house
on the first night she slept with me. But you know, Your Honor. This other gentleman
he's talking about, while we were not together
I was dating somebody else. And we split up two months
prior to me getting pregnant
with my son. That's not true,
Your Honor. And then... I know for a fact that
on a specific night that she said that
she was going out
with this gentleman, I called her, Crystal never
answered the phone. Not a text, nothing.
All day, all night. Next day, I get a hold of her, "Crystal, where were you?" "Oh, I went out
to dinner with this guy "and I got sick
and I was in the hospital." He knew I was seeing
somebody else, and what I done at that time
was none of his business 'cause we were not together. ASENATO: Your Honor,
we've never been together, it's just basically a fling. CLARY: Really?
We got eight years together. CLARY: We lived together
multiple times. So wait,
let's get to the birth. I want to get
to the birth. It was at the hospital. You say after she found
out she was pregnant, you wanted to
do the right thing. ASENATO: I did. You had her move in. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE:
When Gage was born,
you were living together. ASENATO: Yes, ma'am,
she moved into my house. So you were... Did you go to
doctor's appointments? No, he did not, Your Honor. Did you support her
through this? Did you go to the hospital
when Gage was born? ASENATO: I did. He was at the hospital
when the baby was born. CLARY: My son was five weeks
premature, and seven-five. She there right there,
there's a picture of him
with the baby. JUDGE LAKE:
Mr. Asenato, this is you! Yes, ma'am. In this picture right here,
you had no doubt that
this child was yours? No. You thought you were having
a child with your girlfriend that lived with you and you
all were gonna be a family. No, ma'am. Crystal got pregnant because
we were fooling around. I was doing the right thing. We were never
just fooling around. We were together. We were not gonna
have a relationship. I left a relationship
and a marriage also
for this man. On multiple occasions,
on and off for eight years. That is not true. JUDGE LAKE: So you believe
you're paying child support
for a child that's not yours. ASENATO: Absolutely. And you think that's unfair. But you do realize
under the law that once
you sign a birth certificate, you are considered
the legal father. I do. And you are responsible
for child support. Yes, ma'am. And I have been responsible. CLARY: Thank you,
Your Honor. I have the payments
right here. Jerome, will you
please pass me
Mr. Asenato's evidence. JUDGE LAKE: What is
this evidence pertaining to? This is all my payments
that I've made, except for the eight months
that I'd been out of work. ASENATO: Being that I had been
paying $1000 the first... First year I was at my job
working in the oil fields. CLARY: First four months. It was $1,026 a month
for one child. One child. I'm not an NBA player. CLARY: But you know,
I was paying... I'm not a movie star. I was paying $123 a week. I work in the oil field. Anyways, regardless of that, she's always
making accusations that... Because he quit his job. ...I'm a deadbeat. I don't
pay my child support payments. He is a deadbeat.
He don't pay, he just started
in the last six months. You can see
I've made all my payments... Because I got... ...except for that
first eight months. I got back in court because he was not paying. He's only denying our child
because of child support. JUDGE LAKE:
So at some point you filed
a petition in the court. I told him my son
needed diapers, he's like, "You're such a whore,
go work the street corner
for diapers." So I turned around and
went filed child support. That's when he started
denying my son. When did your doubt
set in and why? Gage had a lot of medical
problems when he was a baby. He had colic,
he had ear infections. He had multiple,
multiple problems. He had ear infections. CLARY: Two weeks
in the hospital, Mr. Asenato,
never once called. Never once showed up.
He called maybe
twice the two weeks. I have a 20-year-old son,
okay? My son's never been sick. My son was born nine pounds
eight ounces, okay? This child was born
at six pounds. CLARY: My son... He didn't look anything
like my other son. No, Your Honor, that's a lie. My son has never been sick. My son was
five weeks premature... We don't have any of these
sicknesses in my family... ...at seven, five. ...going back centuries. We don't have any disease,
any sickness. But also the doctor... Any of that. The doctor also stated this
medical issue my son had... Mr. Asenato, I hate to say but
that evidence is irrelevant. My son has Thalassemia,
which is a medical condition
that comes from Italian. It's a Mediterranean descent.
He is full-blooded Italian. CLARY: I'm Native American. Hold on, Ms. Clary, go back
and explain this to me. Your son has a medical
issue that he deals with
which is called... CLARY: Thalassemia. JUDGE LAKE: Thalassemia. And it's an inherited... It's a genetic blood disorder. And it comes from people
of Mediterranean descent. JUDGE LAKE: You brought
evidence to explain that? Jerome, please
hand that to me. Todd is full-blooded Italian. What evidence is this?
She prints it up off online? Really? Is that evidence? And this is what I have...
We're fighting. JUDGE LAKE: Thalassemia. All of a sudden
my son is not his. When we're getting along,
he loves his son. That's his son. It's when
we're not getting along
or the child support. That's the whole issue,
it's child support. No... All right, let's get some
order. Let's get some order. This evidence says that
Thalassemia is an
inherited blood disorder. Which, um, basically the body
makes abnormal blood. But it's most frequently
found in people of
Mediterranean descent... CLARY: Correct. ...African Americans and
people of Asian origin. Now, Mr. Asenato,
you're not African American. ASENATO: I am not. You're not of Asian origin. I am not. But are you of
Mediterranean descent? I'm Italian. I don't know...
I believe so, right. CLARY: Which is Mediterranean. So the answer would be yes? Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: So this is
one of the main issues
that you feel like, you don't understand why
he's denying that Gage
could potentially be his. JUDGE LAKE: Are you of
Mediterranean descent? No, ma'am,
I'm Native American and Irish. But the gentleman that she was
with is of Mediterranean... No, the gentleman that
I was with two months prior to conceiving
my son is Hispanic. Hispanic. You just listed off
a series of medical issues that don't preclude you from
being the biological father. I need to hear more
about your doubt. ASENATO: My doubt is
the child looks nothing
like me, at the time when
I had this doubt. This was last December. Your Honor, my son
looks just like me. ASENATO:
Last December, I took... I mean, last I checked
I was his mother. See, that's my beautiful...
How can you not
love that baby? CLARY: (STAMMERING)
A friend of mine
sent me an app to try that shows you the comparison, of how much
Gage looked like Todd. ASENATO: Your Honor, I could
pull up apps online and
just send them to... I have it here. ASENATO: It doesn't
mean anything. JUDGE LAKE: What is this app? CLARY:
You pull up the parents,
it does a comparison. And it shows
who he looks like. He has... So you submit photos. You put them in this app and
then the app will calculate
the percentage of likeness. Meaning this one determined
that Gage looks 68.3%... ASENATO: Of me. ...like his father. CLARY: Yes, ma'am. ASENATO: And 31.7%... JUDGE LAKE: And
then 31.7% like you. ASENATO: Mmm-hmm. So I'm sure if I picked out
somebody from the audience, and sent that in
with her and Gage. Your Honor, he's talkative. Very charming. It would be
the same percentage. He's one of these types
that can con an alley cat
out of a tuna dinner. I mean, he's very...
He's very charming. He's very, you know... He's gonna make you believe
anything you want to believe. I loved you for
some stupid reason. Regardless, Your Honor,
this is what's come
to the point of that. The only thing is our son
is the one that's suffering. The only reason
I agreed to this, is because my son is four. Now he wants to do this
because of child support. My son does not deserve this. ASENATO: I don't want to do
this because of child support. ASENATO: I want to do this... It's all, but you
know he weighs... My son is four.
My son knows him,
that's his daddy. And then now
he wants to do this. Gage knows him as his daddy. And this is really
upsetting to you because you feel
that it's about money. Yes, Your Honor. And you don't believe
it's about Gage. CLARY: Yes,
Your Honor, exactly. And you believe Gage
is hurting because of this. CLARY: Exactly. Because in his mind
that's his daddy. Exactly, that's his daddy. So what is your relationship
like with Gage? Oh, I love him.
He's my little man. I'd do anything for him. CLARY: Then why are we here? I'm here because
if that child gets sick, and he needs something. And an organ or
blood or whatever, I'm not his biological father. You are his biological father. His biological father needs to stand up. When he was first born
you said... He needs to know who
his biological father is. ...he looks just like you. Then when he was
a couple weeks old... And if something
happens to him, and he needs something,
we need to know
where to go get that. And he tells me constantly,
"He's not my son." He has told him before. He is not my son. He is your son.
He is your biological son. Biologically, he's not my son. He's made comments
to Gage before... I have never said that
to that boy ever once. She's the one that says it,
when she gets pissed. Yes, you have. No, I do not. He denies him
in front of me. She always says it. But let me ask you this
though, Mr. Asenato, and I understand, if you're
not Gage's biological father, I, of course, understand
why you would say you prefer not to be
paying child support
for a child that isn't yours. But you do understand that
the care that you provide, the financial support you
provide is an important part
of his quality of life. And legally you've signed
his birth certificate. So on his birth certificate,
when he looks at the name, that's you. CLARY: Exactly, Your Honor. But that's... That should be up to me. That's his daddy. It shouldn't be
governed by her. It shouldn't be
governed by the state. It was up to you.
You signed it. Voluntarily. JUDGE LAKE: What I want you
to ultimately understand, and this is
an important legal lesson. Not just for you,
but for men in general. When you sign
that birth certificate... When you sign it,
you are the legal father. You are responsible
for the child support. And it's not as easy
as waking up and saying, "Oh, you know I signed
this birth certificate,
but now I have a doubt." It's not that easy.
And you're living that now. And you understand that now. I do. So, Ms. Clary,
I have to ask you, I must ask you, respectfully, are there any other
possible fathers? No, Your Honor. Anybody? (STAMMERING) No, ma'am. Like I said, the guy
he keeps claiming
we were on a break-up. And I was with the guy,
I slept with him
one time protected two months prior to
my son being conceived. That's the only person
I was with. And that was two months before
my son was conceived. I don't sleep around. You're the one
that I've been with. I have not been with
no one else still to this day. I'm still with you. I mean two nights ago
we were together. I mean, honestly? I'm not, I'm not denying that. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) But yet you still call me up
wanting to get together. And we weren't in
a relationship, we had a kid. 'Cause I ain't got time
to meet anybody else. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) How's that? Mr. Asenato, come on now! I'm just keeping it real,
Your Honor. I don't go out to bars. JUDGE LAKE: Come on! I don't go out on dates. I caught him
messing around, when I was pregnant. This is just convenient. Both of you! Both of you!
If you gonna keep it real,
let me keep it real. Everybody in this gallery,
including me and Jerome can see that you all have
some type of bond, chemistry, relationship, that's not going
anywhere anytime soon. You will argue,
fuss and fight but somehow you still
end up together. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE:
What I'm most concerned
about is this little boy. I want him to know the truth. CLARY: That's what
I've been telling him. I'm concerned that
he looks at you every day. You're his dad. He calls you that,
he regards you as that. Yeah, mmm-hmm. You love him. Absolutely. And yet you run around
all the time with
doubt in your mind, and carrying a level
of anger and animosity
towards his mother, which isn't healthy for him. I don't let him see that. JUDGE LAKE: And you still
sleeping with her anyway. (AUDIENCE CLAPPING) So with that said, I think it's time for us
to get to the truth in hopes that we can find
a healthy way to move forward. Jerome, may I have
the envelope, please? (AUDIENCE CLAPPING) These results were
prepared by DNA Diagnostics
and they read as follows. In the case of<i>
Clary v. Asenato,</i> when it comes to
four-year-old
Gage Asenato, Mr. Asenato... In the case of<i>
Clary v. Asenato,</i> when it comes to
four-year-old
Gage Asenato, Mr. Asenato... You... Are not his father. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) CLARY: I did not sleep
with anyone else. I slept with somebody
two months prior. Ms. Clary, you had
me convinced. Your Honor, it was
two months before. JUDGE LAKE: We say
in this courtroom, plaintiffs lie, defendants lie, but the DNA... It doesn't lie. It doesn't. (AUDIENCE CLAPPING) But then I did not
sleep with anyone. It was two months before. Your Honor, that
doesn't change anything
for me or that child. It needed to be put on paper. I love him to death,
I'd do anything
for that little boy. I'd give up everything. And he will always have
a father regardless who it is. (AUDIENCE CLAPPING) JUDGE LAKE: Thank you
for that, Mr. Asenato. Ms. Clary,
you have the opportunity
while he is still young, to figure this out for him, figure out who
his biological father is. Find him, take the test.
Let him know. Let him get involved. Mr. Asenato says
he'll still be involved. And he's young enough, that he can accept this.
