Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of<i>
Lee v. France and Miller.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. ALL: Good day. Ms. Lee, you stand
before the court with a question you
say haunts you each and every day. Is the man who raised you
your biological father, <i> or is it another man
who is now deceased?</i> Yes, Your Honor. Now, Ms. France, you're here along
with your brother, who's waiting outside
of our courtroom. You say your father
claimed on his deathbed that he was the
biological father of
a child named Sonja. Yes, Your Honor. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) JUDGE LAKE: If indeed you've
now found the correct
Sonja, you believe the plaintiff, Ms. Lee,
is your sister. FRANCE: Yes, Your Honor. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) Now, Ms. Lee, how have
you handled finding out that your biological
father could be a deceased man that you'll
never be able to meet? Well, Your Honor, from
the beginning of this, this has been real confusing
and overwhelming for me, mainly because I only knew one man to be my father
my whole life until he died. <i> I was a daddy's baby.</i> <i> And me and my
father was very close.</i> I never heard of
Mrs. France's father
until I was 38 years old. So it's been real
hard for me. (SOBS) I understand. Take your time. So, for 38 years... It's hard for me to be here
even questioning my paternity, you know, because I loved my
dad so much and he loved me. But at the same time,
I know that the truth
needs to be known, because if I do have siblings,
brothers and sisters
out there, I would want to connect with
them and bond with them. You know? That's something
I've always felt. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE:
So, Ms. France, please tell me about this
search. How it came about. You say this was your
father's dying wish. Yes, Your Honor. I had, the whole time
I was growing up, I heard of Mrs. Lee, and I was always
told that I had a twin in Michigan the whole time. We went to the
same schools, we know the same people... (AUDIENCE MURMURING) We never even met. Our kids are even
best friends, and never even
knew they were cousins. Really? Yes. I even know
her grandmother. And her grandmother and my
grandmother are best friends. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) And I still never
met Mrs. Lee until I was
42 years old. How long have you known,
or had this knowledge, that she was
out there somewhere? Probably since I was
about five or six. JUDGE LAKE: Really? Yes. Wow. And Ms. Lee, you
never had any knowledge? Well, I remember when
we were in high school, I was at
the same school, and they would tell me
that it was another
young lady there that, like...
Our classes never... We never went
to classes together. Like, she went at
a time before I came. And they would say,
"There's a girl here
that looks just like you. "I think she's
your sister." This was the... Really? I dismissed it as gossip and
rumors. I had no reason to
think there was fact to that. I had no reason
to even question it. So when they would say,
"Y'all got the same eyes. "Y'all even got the same nose
and forehead," I'd be like, "Yeah, well,
people look alike." Everybody has a twin.
I didn't ever think
too much of it. Wow. So, Ms. France... Now, you say this was
your father's dying wish, <i> to find Sonja.
He gave you a name.</i> Yes, Your Honor. When we originally was told that she passed
away, and then they told us
that she passed away of AIDS, my dad, before
he passed away, didn't believe it. So, I need you
to explain that. You were told that
this daughter, Sonja, had passed away of AIDS. Yes. In probably
around '90, '91, we were informed that
she had passed away, that she had
been doing bad, and she had AIDS
and she passed away. And when I came
and see my dad, and I informed him,
he said he had no
recollection of it, <i> he wasn't told
and he didn't
believe it, so...</i> <i> He wanted us
to find her.</i> So you found her.
You began a search. I actually thought she
had been deceased. My sister,
Mrs. Davis, is the
one that found her. So, Ms. Davis,
please stand. And step up
to the podium. So, Ms. Davis, when you got this news,
your father said, "Find her." Yes. How did you go
about doing it? Well, I started
on Facebook, and I couldn't find
her on Facebook nowhere. JUDGE LAKE: And you
were looking at the name? ...gave up the search,
looking for Sonja Miller. JUDGE LAKE: Sonja Miller. We thought she
was Sonja Miller. But I couldn't find
her at all. And, by my dad passing away,
and wanting us to find her, I wasn't going to
stop my search. I was going to
keep on searching. And getting on
Facebook again after he passed away
it led us to put her in
the obituary as deceased,
and she was not deceased. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) 'Cause I got on Facebook, and one of our
friends is her friend. And a picture popped up
and I looked, I said, "She's right there!
She's not gone.
My sister's not dead." JUDGE LAKE: Oh my goodness. So I started Facebooking,
just Facebooking and
calling my sister, saying, "Sonja's not dead.
This is the Sonja right here
on Facebook." So what is this you're
holding now, Ms. France? This is the obituary that,
when we made the obituary out, that has her listed
as deceased next to my younger
sister, Diane. Jerome, can you please? So, when you initially
went searching for a Sonja, you were told
she was deceased. FRANCE: Deceased.
Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: <i> So right here is
a copy of a page from
your father's obituary.</i> <i> And, "He was preceded in death
by Sonya Miller."</i> DAVIS: <i> Yes, Your Honor.</i> FRANCE: <i> Yes, Your Honor.</i> JUDGE LAKE: His daughter. DAVIS Yes, Your Honor. So Ms. Lee, you received
what? A message? I started receiving some
notifications of someone
trying to reach me. <i> I didn't respond to the
messages for a while,
let me say that,</i> <i> because it didn't make
sense to me.</i> I didn't recognize
her picture, I didn't
recognize her name, and it was saying they were
looking for their sister, and so at this point
I'm like, "It can't be me." So I kept ignoring it. Maybe after three or four
messages I finally responded to where Ms. Davis,
I responded to Ms. Davis, and we exchanged numbers and
I called her, and she just
starts spilling the story out, and it was like, whoa,
wait a minute!
Slow down, you know? 'Cause there she is like, "I'm
your sister, I know you don't
know this or understand it, "but on our dad's deathbed he
had me look for you and
we thought you were dead..." I'm like, "Wait a minute."
So now I went from being
one man's child, whose name I carry, <i> to being dead and in
somebody's obituary from
a man I don't even know.</i> (AUDIENCE MURMURING) And I was told,
I don't even know what
the number is, all these sisters and
brothers, and it was just
like, wow, wait a minute. Slow down. So you had doubts. Doubts? I,
I rejected it, period. I just rejected
it because it didn't
make sense to me. And so I called my mother. When I first called my mom,
I was like, you know,
"Somebody just contacted me. "What does this mean?
Who is Mr. Miller?" And she was like...
First she just rejected me. She was like, "Ain't no sense
talking about that. I don't
know what you talking about." She denied, wouldn't even
discuss it with me at first. So I kept badgering
her about it, and I was like, you know,
I'd wait a little while,
and I'd talk a little more with Ms. Davis and then
it started feeling like there's got to be
something to this. Just like Ms. France
said, our kids
are best friends, already claiming
each other as cousins
without knowing nothing. Really? Without even thinking of
the possibility, they claimed
each other as cousins. I grew up in a small city,
and then to be this close to
my family and not know it, it did hurt me.
Yes, I had a father. But, so I kind of have some
resentment about that. They knew about me. I didn't know about them.
My mom knew, my dad knew. But nobody told me. And then even when I got
old enough to understand
and accept it, nobody told me. I missed out on a lot. What about sibling rivalry,
or bonding with my sisters, double dating, all the things
I might have, could have had. Or even not liking each other,
whatever the case may be. Because still today, there's
going to be some that's not
going to like me or accept this.
I get that. I know that.
It's been 40 years. As you stand here today, even though you talk
about the experiences
you could have had, you also still sound
doubtful, in a sense. I am. I don't have any proof.
I was born, and I have this,
I was born with one name
on my birth certificate. Jerome, please pass me
the evidence. When I was a child, my mom and dad adopted me
and put me in Mr. Lee's name, so now, then, here's
another man's name. You know, it's just confusing
for me, and I just want the truth
so I can freely reach out and bond. JUDGE LAKE: <i> So here we
have legal documents</i> <i> that confirm that your
name was changed...</i> LEE: <i> My birth certificate.</i> <i> ...from Sonja Annette Parker
to Sonja Annette Lee.</i> LEE: Yes. So, when you were adopted, your last name changed to Lee. Yes, Your Honor. Now, ma'am... WASHINGTON: Yes. Please state your name
for the court. Your Honor, I'm
Gloria Washington,
Sonja's mother. Okay. And so please,
Ms. Washington,
enlighten the court as to your recollection
or understanding
of this situation. Okay. Mr. Miller and I were involved years ago. And during the time when I was
six months pregnant with her,
he left me for Mrs. France. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) And when she was born,
Mr. Lee was there with me, and he took care
of me and her. Mr. Miller,
I never saw him again. You know,
it's just confusing for me,
and I just want the truth. I never told her because
I didn't think she
needed to know. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) I had a right to know. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) I did have
a right to know.
At the same time... Your Honor, I'd like
to say, at the same
time, they knew. If he knew,
why didn't the
man look for me? Why didn't he
come find me? (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) I'm right there. And I'm not...
I'm not trying to badger. I have total respect
for Mr. Miller, whatever the situation,
because I didn't have a
void for a father, I didn't. But why didn't you at least
want your kids connected
when it was soon enough? Well, I want you to know
that I have always
wanted to meet you. And my dad, he wasn't
in Michigan with us,
he wasn't. And one day he came to get us
and we stayed with him for
about a year and a half. And he wanted to find you
too, so you could stay with
us for a year and a half. We just didn't know
where you were. Well, what happened? I have no idea. I don't even know what
Mr. Miller died from. But your name
was in his obituary, but it said you had
preceded him in death. I didn't even find out about
Mr. Miller's existence until, I think, a couple years
after he had passed. Is that correct?
That they finally, that we... FRANCE: Yes. ...connected on Facebook and then I was told about
the obituary. I've never
seen the obituary. I was told about it,
and that my name
was in there. <i> I was shown pictures of
Mr. Miller and I was like,
you know, examining.</i> I was like...
I don't know. So when you saw
pictures of Mr. Miller,
did you see your face in his? Did you feel like this
could be my father? I mean, I guess I think
anything is possible. Because of my connection
with my father, I still have
my reservations. When you look at these
women and they say when you were in school,
they said you have a
twin, do you see yourself? I see some characteristics
in Ms. France that I always wondered
where I got them from. That they weren't in my
mother or in my... The man that I knew
to be my father. And so Ms. France
and Ms. Davis, I have to ask you this.
What if you're wrong? Sonja's going to always
be my sister. FRANCE: Yes, she is. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Ms. Washington, thank you
so much for your testimony.
You may be seated. How are you feeling
right now, Ms. Lee? I guess I'm scared now.
I want the truth.
And I'm scared. Because... JUDGE LAKE: What
are you scared of? I'm scared both ways,
I guess, 'cause if it's... If it comes back that it's
not, it's going to hurt me. 'Cause I already have love
for both of these women. DAVIS: And we love you, too. We love you, too. I'm scared to embrace it
because if it ain't real... And I'm scared to embrace it.
So that's why it
was so important for me to find
out the truth. People say, "Well, why go
through with it now? "Y'all are grown."
We got kids... That's right. ...with a lot of
similarities, growing
up with each other. I grew up with... Not knowing the brothers that
I have. Lord forbid that we
ever would have dated or something! (LAUGHING) BOTH: Amen. And one of those
possible brothers is here. LEE: I've never met him. And you've never, ever,
laid eyes on him. Mmm-mmm. Jerome, will you please
escort Mr. Miller into
the courtroom? Thank you. (SPEAKING QUIETLY) (LAUGHING) Come up here
on the left. Good afternoon,
Your Honor. Hello, Mr. Miller.
Thank you for
joining us today. I'd like to ask
you a question. If it's okay with
you and Ms. Lee,
could I give her a hug? This is my first
time seeing her. JUDGE LAKE:
Would that be okay? JUDGE LAKE: Thank you for
being here today, Mr. Miller. Yes, ma'am. Now, I have to ask you, what is your understanding
about this situation? We have heard emotional
testimony from
our defendants here. What do you believe? As I was sitting out
there listening... I heard it,
and it's emotional
to me too, because he was my father.
I'm the first born. Do you remember ever
hearing about
Ms. Lee, growing up? No, because I met
them 10 years ago. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) So as you look at Ms. Lee,
do you believe
she's your sister? Yes, I'm looking at them
too, right there, together. I'm just looking
at 'em, you know. You say they look just alike. Just alike. Just alike. JUDGE LAKE: How does that
make you feel, Ms. Lee? I don't know. I think I'm
a little nervous.
I just want the truth. JUDGE LAKE: Well,
you know what? That's exactly what
I'm about to give you. Jerome, may I have the
envelope, please? Before I open these results,
I know they will be emotional either way.
If anyone would like
to take a seat, you are more
than welcome. These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. I'm right there. JUDGE LAKE: In the case of<i>
Lee v. France, Miller,</i> as to whether Sonja Lee
is related to Ronald Miller
and Rachel France, and thus is the biological
daughter of the late
Ronald Miller, Ms. Lee... They are indeed your
biological brother and sister. (LAUGHING) Let's hug! LEE: I love you. It's all right. FRANCE: I told you. LEE: Now he can rest,
he can be happy. FRANCE: Yeah, he can
rest and you can be happy
knowing that we're here. Okay? I love you, honey. I knew it.
Yes, I told you! JUDGE LAKE: How
you feel, Ms. Lee? (LAUGHING) That's a lot of love that
came pouring in, didn't it? (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) I feel good.
It's overwhelming,
but I'm happy. It's so... Like a weight, so lifted. Wait till she meets
the rest of them. (LAUGHING) You've got a whole
group of family
just waiting for you. Look, this has been
a heartwarming day. This is, this is why
this courtroom exists. It's to reunite and reconnect
people that belong together. Yes. You're family. You know what? This is going to be
absolutely wonderful. Send me the family photo. (LAUGHING) JUDGE LAKE: All right? Please. BOTH: Yes, Your Honor. I know you all want to
hug and celebrate.
You're welcome to. Court is adjourned. Thank you. (GAVEL BANGS)
