Please be seated. JEROME: Hello, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Hello. JEROME: This is the case
of<i> Ramos v. Edwards.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. COURTROOM: Good day. JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Ramos, you are in court to prove
that your ex-fiance,
Mr. Edwards fathered your one-month
old son, Xavier. You claim that after
sharing your news, that you were pregnant
with his baby, women he was secretly
cheating with started
coming out of the woodwork trying to convince him
he's not the dad. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Edwards, you say there's no way
you are the father, and claim the plaintiff
changed up her due date to cover up her own
infidelities. You say you brought
a bombshell witness
who will reveal the truth and seal your case.
Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Ramos, you say
you're fed up with his drama?
Tell me why. I am fed up with his lies,
his manipulation... He does this to other people.
I'm not the only one. I mean... How... <i> How can you deny
such a beautiful baby?</i> So what was the nature
of this relationship? I mean, you said
that you were engaged... We'd known each other
for years before. Then I seen him again
last year... You know, at first I was
kinda hesitant, but, you know, like,
in my mind I'm the type
that's like, gives the people a doubt,
benefit of the doubt that
they've changed after a while, and I gave him
that benefit of the doubt. But then that's when
he started doing
the cheating the whole time. And, you know, yes,
you know, I did have sex with an ex
of mine, but that was
after the fact. Me and him wasn't
actually in
a relationship, like, we were... In the beginning... JUDGE LAKE: Wait a minute. You all are in
a relationship... It was really
not that serious
in the beginning. It was just, like... Talking to... You know,
and I didn't know it's gonna
go on to this point. So how serious was it
when Xavier was conceived? Oh it was...
That's when it really
got serious. JUDGE LAKE: So you all were
in a serious relationship... Yep. But that, yeah, then that... JUDGE LAKE: But you admit you had sex with an ex
of yours. RAMOS: Right, but, um... When I spoke to my doctor and she told me the date
that I conceived was way before the time
I even had sex with my ex. So, Mr. Edwards, you now are
informed that she had sex
with one of her exes. Right. JUDGE LAKE: And this is
what leads you to doubt? That and other confessions. And so at what point
do you find out
she cheated? Well, at the beginning,
when she was at least,
like, a month, a month pregnant, that's when she had slept
with a relative of mine... I disagree. It's not even a...
It's not even a blood
relative, first of all, it was all through marriage. So I don't even... So it's a family member
of his? (BOTH ARGUING INDISTINCTLY) Well, no, we disagree
in this courtroom,
'cause we know that family has biological
connection and then family... There's no biological
connection. JUDGE LAKE: No, but next statement out of
my mouth is that family
comes in various forms. You have extended family,
you have your village
that's your family, and sometimes you have
family through marriage. So was this a family member
through marriage? But I also disagree
because them two don't even get
along, they've always
been beefing, they'd always been fighting,
they'd always argue. They talk about each other
back and forth. They wanted to... JUDGE LAKE: Okay,
so let's just... Let's just say for the record,
in this courtroom, that sounds like family. 'Cause families do that. RAMOS: Right. So now family or not,
it's still another
potential father, at least in his mind,
you believe that
there's a doubt. There was a...
It was a triangle. She slept with two people
at the beginning. RAMOS: I disagree. I wasn't, first of all... Excuse me, can I finish? Can I...
Can I finish? Okay, so, Ms. Ramos, listen.
I will give you a chance to refute the testimony,
but you've gotta at least
let them testify. Mr. Edwards,
what were you trying to say? At the beginning of our,
of our non-official
relationship, I was going through some,
you know, family issues
and, you know, I ended up eventually
moving into her apartment. Now, the relative of mine
is the person that she slept with when she was about a month pregnant. Her story was that
she was asleep and he was going in
and out of her. You know, that right
there was the story
that I was told. Wait a minute.
Ms. Ramos, so it's... Mr. Edwards testified
that you told him you were sleeping
and someone had sex with you but you slept through
the entire thing? RAMOS: First of all, no. Actually, I've been
broke up with that ex
in June, a whole month before
me and him even got reunited. So, yes, while I was sleeping,
he did started getting
into me. No, I wasn't fully asleep,
but I actually was not trying
to really participate. But I'm not going to reject
it either knowing that I had
a relationship with him. Okay, so the bottom line is
you were intimate
with this person. Yeah, and I'm not gonna
deny that. I'm not
denying that at all. And so, once you found
out she was intimate
with this person, that led you to believe she
had been intimate
with this person before? It's just too many times
where she slept with people, then the one time, you know,
she had texted my phone and said that she
had another confession. She wanted me to
meet her at the grocery store. So I met her
at the grocery store. You know, as I'm approaching
she's looking in the freezer
and stuff and she started to cry, and what she says
to me is that, um, while I was gone for
a few months or whatnot, she slept with a guy and caught two diseases. Oh, my goodness.
Ms. Ramos... RAMOS: Your Honor, EDWARDS: At this time,
Your Honor, she was pregnant. Oh, my goodness. Yes, Your Honor,
I do admit that I did
sleep with an ex at that time, but before he went away
for a while, he was in a relationship
with another female. You know, so, yeah,
I was going to first
work it out with my ex, and we did have intimacy,
which I do regret,
because of what I've caught... I wanted to fix it
and make it work with
him for our child because our child deserves
what we didn't have. Which was, we didn't grow up
with both of our parents. You know what I'm saying?
We didn't have a full,
complete family growing up, and we both decided
that we wanted to have
a complete family. He asked me to marry him. So after all this,
Mr. Edwards, you agreed
to marry Ms. Ramos? You asked her to marry you? Yes I did, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. Because you felt like
you really wanted
to try to make it work? Yes, with the child,
you know, in play, and things that
I've been through
in my life, I wanted to,
you know, show a difference,
be something better than
my mother and my father was. So, Mr. Edwards, when you
found out she was pregnant, did you believe
you were the child's
biological father? No. JUDGE LAKE: You didn't? Nope. I have proof right here,
Your Honor, with him being at the hospital
with this big smile
on his face. I'd rather that you not
come to the hospital
if you felt the way you felt, then coming to the hospital
and playing as this role if you're going to
doubt the role. JUDGE LAKE:
I'd like to see that. EDWARDS: Your Honor,
may I say something? Let me look at this
evidence first. You've presented the court
with pictures. RAMOS:<i> Yes I have.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i> Beautiful pictures
of, it looks like, a couple
who just welcomed</i> <i> their baby into the world.</i> RAMOS:<i> Exactly.
Look at that.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i> Mr. Edwards,
you look pretty happy.</i> He looks just like him,
that's what hurts. And Ms. Ramos,
this upsets you? Yes, it...
It upsets me bad.
It upsets me very bad. Jerome, I want you to give
Mr. Edwards a close-up
look at this picture. Matter of fact,
send him this one too. Mr. Edwards, I'm looking
at these pictures
presented to the court. That doesn't look
like a look of doubt. You look like a happy dad
in those pictures. What are you thinking
in that moment? Whose baby is this? (RAMOS LAUGHING) Really? So, Mr. Edwards,
did you sign
the birth certificate? RAMOS: Your Honor... No. 'Cause she never
told the hospital that I was
the alleged father. I disagree, Your Honor. When I told him, "Hey,
it's time to come
sign the birth certificate," it's, "Oh, no, I already
told you I wanted a DNA test. "I already know
that's not my baby." I said, "So why
come here and play daddy?" JUDGE LAKE: So he didn't
sign the birth certificate, but you still gave Xavier
his last name? 'Cause him and his father
told me to give him
his last name. They were both there. I did tell her to
give the child my last name. If you still feel like
that's a doubt
for the baby, then why, again, want me to put your last name? You could have still
continued to say, "Hey, put your last name,
put your last name,
put your last name "until we figure it out." We're not together now
and I continue to be the
strong woman that I am today. I have gone back to work,
I'm going to school, and I'm still doing
what I gotta do
for our son. What have you done?
You didn't help me.
You didn't try to help me. Mr. Edwards,
you've asked this woman
to marry you. You've shown up
at the hospital for
the birth of this baby, you've taken the
father photos, and gave him your
last name. I mean... Just go down the line.
You've checked every box that applies to father. But, after all of this,
you say you're not
the biological father. (STAMMERING) There was
just the doubts...
It was just the cheating... Mr. Edwards, you say
you brought a witness today. EDWARDS: Yes. I'd like to hear
from that witness. (RAMOS TALKING
INDISTINCTLY) Jerome, will you please
escort her into the courtroom? She's only been here
since around February.
She's a nobody. JEROME: I'm going to
bring you up to the witness
stand next to the judge. 'Cause you're sleeping
with her, too. EDWARDS:
That's what you think. RAMOS:
No, it's what I know. Go ahead and grab
a seat up there,
watch your step. Ms. Vaughn, thank you
for joining us today. We are here discussing
the paternity of baby
Xavier. What do you have
to add to this? When he said she was pregnant, there was already
a rumor going around that she was pregnant
before they started talking by somebody else. Disagree. Everybody knew about it. Well, that's because
everybody's always
making up lies because nobody likes me. Before I even seen you,
I knew about you. Everybody was talking about
you, "So, who is
this girl "that's sleeping
with everybody?" How about you answer
the question about
how the baby was born a month, a month and two weeks early? RAMOS: I can't help it
if he was born
a month early. Wait a minute now,
Mr. Edwards. You say the baby was born
a month and two
weeks early. No, a month early. So now, in your mind,
you're putting together
a month early and already pregnant
for a month... Is that where you get
your doubt from? There was just so much
going on, so it was like
a back and forth, I'm the father,
no I'm not the father, I'm the father,
I'm not the father. JUDGE LAKE: And this
kept playing in your mind, you're the father,
you're not the father. Are you all still
trying to be together? No. Okay, no,
Your Honor, actually no. I'm engaged and about
to get ready to get married
next month. (LAUGHING) He's irrelevant
to the case. I've been talking to this... Wait, wait a minute now. Wait a minute.
Wait a minute. All you all need to slow down. All of you...
You all need to slow down. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Y'all sound like
you're in the schoolyard. You all sound like... RAMOS: I don't
have time... No, no, no! You do have time for him,
because 27 days ago,
27 days ago... (TALKING INDISTINCTLY) JUDGE LAKE: Hold on, hold on. 'Cause I done let you
over-talk everybody, but you're not going
to over-talk me. Twenty-seven days ago
you had him up
in the hospital with his arms on your
brand-new baby. So in 27 days...
I'm going to tell you
something as a grown woman. Twenty-seven days ago
you had him in the hospital saying he's the father
of your child... I didn't tell him to come. It does not matter. The point is you allowed it. You brought the...
Hold on! RAMOS: I told... You brought the pictures
for proof to say that what he is
contending is not true. Right. So in this moment now, just because you've
gone off with your next
minute man... He's not a minute man. ...talking about you
getting married. Yes, it is, trust me. You're 23 years old,
it's another minute man. I bet you... It's not a minute man. Let's come back,
come back,
come back. Come back in five years
and we're gonna see
if you're married to him. Because let me tell you
something. Let me tell
you something, little girl. You've got a lot of mouth, but not a lot
of maturity. And that's the difference. You're talking,
you're talking but you aren't
saying anything. Twenty-seven days ago you
got him holding your baby
saying, "It's mine." Today you talking about,
"Okay, I ain't even got
nothing to do with him "because I'm marrying
somebody else." It doesn't go like that, because if he is the
biological father
of the child, the way you say he is, then he will have
a legal right to see
that child, and he's not going
to go away. RAMOS: Actually no,
he's not. He's not gonna have
no type of rights... EDWARDS: That's what she said
at the beginning, too. That I wasn't going to see
the baby and all that... JUDGE LAKE: Hold on. If it is Mr. Edwards', then the truth is
this child has a right
to know, and have a relationship
with his father. Which is why I am here. JUDGE LAKE: Exactly. So my point is, in the moment, even when you feel attacked,
don't start back-tracking
and back-pedaling from the very reason why
you had the courage to come stand
in this position
in the first place. RAMOS: Mmm-hmm. You came here
for your child because you believe
he's doubting your baby and, as a mother,
that doesn't feel good. You hurt. And you have a right
to be hurt. Even if it's your doing.
Even if it's true. And maybe you did
have sex with somebody else
during the... I don't care what it is,
to be 27 days out and having to deal with this
level of negativity... You hurt. And so at the end of the day,
let's just keep ourselves in a level of maturity,
let's keep a level
of decorum that allows you to get
the answer you need
for your baby. And we have that answer. Now, Jerome. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics
and they read as follows. JUDGE LAKE: In the case
of<i> Ramos v. Edwards,</i> when it comes to one-month-old
Xavier Edwards, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Edwards, you... Are the father. RAMOS: Thank you. Now I want you to apologize
to our son. I want you
to apologize to him. Because I told you
since day one. How do you feel
in this moment,
Mr. Edwards? I'm afraid. Why are you afraid? I just don't feel like she's
gonna allow me to be
in his life, that's all. Your Honor... That's not the point that
I want to take the baby
out of his life, but he already knows
the lifestyle that he has... Listen. You came here
to get the answer
for your baby that you knew to be true, and the DNA vindicated you. RAMOS: Yes. Right? Yes, it did. So now you've gotta
say to yourself, "Let me open the door, "so my child can have
a relationship with
his father." But, Mr. Edwards,
you have to walk through
the door. This little boy is going
to be looking to you
as his example in life. So if you've got to
clean up your path, I can't think of a better
reason than this
beautiful baby. I have no troubles
in this area as far
as family goes. Good. EDWARDS: I'm a family man. Even with the doubts
in my head. Well, I can see
the look on your face, that you appreciate
the innocence of this
beautiful baby. Now you just have to live up
to what it takes
to be his father. Just as, Ms. Ramos,
you have to live up to what it will take
to be his mother. We want Xavier to be
healthy and happy. I wish you all
the very best of luck. Court is adjourned. (GAVEL BANGING)
