You may be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case
of<i> Moore v. Scott.</i> Thank you, Jerome. Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Mr. Moore, you came
to court today to prove you are
the biological father
of four-year-old Aly'Leuna. You and your
current girlfriend
claim the defendant has played on your
emotions for four years, and has allowed another man
to raise your little girl. You are desperate
to put the defendant's
doubt to rest so you can finally be
in your daughter's life,
is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Scott, you say you
are positive Mr. Moore is not your daughter's
biological father. Once the test
proves you're right, you want Mr. Moore to leave
you and your child alone,
is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. All right, so, Mr. Moore, you say you've always
believed Aly is your daughter,
tell me why. Yes, Your Honor. I've never seen my child
a day in my life. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) JUDGE LAKE:
You've never seen her? A day in my life. But you're convinced
she's your daughter. Yes, Your Honor. So why hasn't he seen her? If he feels that way,
why hasn't he
tried to see her? I've tried to see her,
Your Honor, she blocked me... All sources of contact,
she even changed
her number. I tried to reach out to her
on social media, I couldn't even get
to her on that. So you have reached out? Yes, Your Honor. Through social media, then tried her phone number
but she changed her number. SCOTT: Never. No. MOORE: Yes, Your Honor. Never about seeing her,
never, he only... Only thing he ever said was,
"That's my child,
that's my child." Never about seeing her,
that's not true, I swear. You've never tried
to see her, ever. And I don't mind
because that's not his kid. So why do you believe
she's denying you're
the father, why? Because she had sex
with another guy at the time. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Well, that's reason
to doubt, right? Yes, Your Honor. But not deny,
that's what you're saying. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: It still remains
that you are a possibility. Yes, Your Honor. Okay. So, now, what was
the nature of your
relationship, Ms. Scott? We met on a dating site. Um, he was kind of like
an escape plan for something
that I was going through. That I wanted to... JUDGE LAKE: An escape plan? Yeah. MOORE: Escape plan? So, I wanted to get away... I was more than
an escape plan. I was your boyfriend. I wanted to get
away from that. I wanted to get
away from that. So, you know,
I kinda led him on. I wasn't trying
to pursue nothing, you know, be no family
or anything with this man. We met together, he asked me
to move in with him, I moved in with him, we maybe stayed together
maybe a month and I left. And when was this? That was in July 2013. In July? Mmm-hmm. Your Honor, we had sex
the first night I met her. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) (CHUCKLES) SCOTT: We so did not. We did not.
We did not. It was not the first night.
It was early but it
wasn't the first night. But when you did
have sex, Ms. Scott,
did you use protection? No, it wasn't protected. Okay. So you moved in for a month. Right. Were you faithful
during that month? You all were
only seeing one another? Um, I was still, like, I was currently
in a relationship when
I met him, originally. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) When you moved in with him? Right. So why would you do that? Because he was
my escape plan, he was my dummy,
basically. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) All right, well,
I want you
to be honest but I think you might
have just taken it too far. MOORE: This is my
first love, Your Honor. I cared about her. You did? Yes, Your Honor. So your feelings were genuine? Yes, Your Honor. So when she said
she would move in, you thought she cared
about you as well. Yes, Your Honor. And you thought you guys
were going to be a couple? Yes, Your Honor. What happened
once she moved in? Uh, once we moved in, I mean, we just kinda,
we was hanging out,
and talking, and I was kinda playing
the role as if I wanted
a relationship with him. And we had, during that
time of us living together, <i> we had sex a few times.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i> Just a few times?</i> Yeah, a few times. She left with another man,
Your Honor. She left with another man? Which was the man that I was
in a relationship with,
which is my child's father. So what happened
when you found out
you were pregnant? Um, I found out
I was pregnant
September, 2013, I was going to the clinic
for yearly, monthly
women's exam. Um, they came in and said,
"Ms. Scott, you're pregnant." And, I told... Your Honor... ...my daughter's father... ...she called me
and told me... ...that we were
gonna have a baby. ...she was pregnant. I never told Mr. Moore
that we were gonna
have a baby together. I never told him that. Your Honor, she called me
and told me she was pregnant. JUDGE LAKE: She did? Yes, Your Honor. SCOTT: Never. And how far along was she
when she called to tell you? She was a couple of weeks,
about three to four weeks,
she said. Three to four weeks,
and your response was? I might be
the possible father because I was having
sex with her, unprotected,
multiple times. And at the time,
she was messing
with the other guy. <i>But she kept telling me,
"Oh, you're not the father."</i> <i>But I know I'm the father.</i> SCOTT:<i> Right,
'cause he's not.</i> He's not, and I wasn't three
to four weeks when I told him. Did you ask her to be
involved in the pregnancy? Did you say, "I'd like
to support you through this, "I wanna come to the doctor,
I wanna see my baby be born." No, none of that. Yes, Your Honor, I tried to. None of that. SCOTT: Her dad, he was going,
that was there, he took me to appointments,
every single appointment. And he took me there,
took me home, he was supportive
the whole way. Did you tell him that
he was the only possible father or did you tell him
Mr. Moore could also
be the biological father. I told him he was the daddy. She told me I didn't need... He was the daddy... ...to worry about it,
Your Honor. ...no other daddy. He was the daddy. So, is he on Aly'Leuna's
birth certificate,
your boyfriend? He is mentioned on
all of her hospital paperwork,
and she has his last name. She said I was
the father, Your Honor. And he's listed as the father
on the birth certificate? Right. Yes. So the court was
able to get a hold
of her birth certificate, <i> Under child's name,
it reads "Aly'Leuna Janelle"</i> <i> And then for father's name,
there's no name listed.</i> Right, but they allowed
me to give my daughter
her dad's name, even though his name
isn't on there because
he physically wasn't there. And I don't mind
because that's not his kid. So, Ms. Scott, what I don't understand
is if you admittedly carried on this affair, this relationship
with Mr. Moore, It wasn't, it didn't carry on. You moved in with him,
you said July or August... It was only a month,
it lasted one month. But you know it only takes
one time to get pregnant. Yeah, but... So what I don't understand... (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) I mean, it does,
you know that. You know that. What I'm trying to understand
is why you automatically
discount him like... Because, at the time,
when I found out, I was already
two months pregnant. I messed around with
Mr. Moore a couple times
in a month's time frame. I was two months pregnant
when I found out
I was pregnant. So when you found out
you were pregnant, they said you
were eight weeks along. Right. And you had just been intimate with Mr. Moore
within the month. In August, I found out in September, yes, in August. I wanna understand
this, hold on. Let me get my
conception calculator. So when was Aly'Leuna born? April 25th. April 25th. Okay. If I hit "Calculate," <i> the window of conception
is July 28th to Aug 3rd.</i> And you claim you were
in a relationship
with Mr. Moore in July. We had sex, Your Honor,
in July and August. Not from
my remembrance, no. It happened in August. But you met Mr. Moore in July? Yeah, we met... But online. You hadn't met
in person yet, until... August. That... No, until July. We moved in together in August,
we had sex together in August. After you moved in with him. Right. We didn't have sex
when we first met each other. It was... And he said... Okay, and this is
where the testimony
differs significantly. Because you say you
had sex with her
the first day you met her. Yes, Your Honor. He's wrong. He's wrong. We didn't have sex
the first day we met, we had sex after
we had moved in
together, in August. Gotcha, so you're saying
you were already pregnant... Right. ...from the other guy when you moved in
with Mr. Moore. I was, but I didn't know. I didn't find out
until September. Okay. But when I went
and got the test done, and they told me
how far along I was, and then, that's when
I figured out that, at the time of me
and Mr. Moore
having sex together, I was already pregnant
because I was two
months pregnant. The window of conception
is July 28th to Aug 3rd. This is what baffles me. I mean, two young people
who can stand up here and articulate
with great detail everything about
a sexual relationship, but in four years,
you haven't been
able to communicate in any way about this baby... SCOTT: Because
he's not the dad. He's not the father. ...even to get
the DNA test done. You've never met the child. MOORE: Never. WILLIAMS: Your Honor,
can I speak? (SIGHS) Uh, my thing
about it was when...
How I heard of Adriana, and this is why
I say he's the father, because when me
and Mr. Moore
first got together, like two months
after we had
got together, I had posted Dontavious
on social media. And Ms. Scott here, she commented on there
and it was like, "I hope you got money
for baby wipes
and food and diapers," and stuff like that. I never, never,
never did that. Why would I do that?
He not her daddy. And, then, on top of that, right off the hat
when I had our son
together in 2016, Mr. Moore here posted
my son on social media. Ms. Scott, she
took it out of her
own perspective and put my baby
and her daughter
in a collage, and sent it to Mr. Moore, and was like,
"We need to get
a DNA test done." Really? So, yeah... SCOTT: Never did that. She, like, she did that. Never did that.
I never did that. JUDGE LAKE:<i> And photos of your
son and Ms. Scott's daughter
were submitted to the court.</i> <i> And on the left side
is Mr. Moore's other child</i> <i> with you, Ms. Williams.</i> WILLIAMS:<i> Yes.</i> And on the right side
is Aly'Leuna. SCOTT: They don't look alike. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) <i> His baby looks like him,</i> <i> my daughter looks like me,
and she resembles her dad.</i> MOORE: She looks like me. She got the same
pointy ears just like I do. Pointy ears, lot of people
have pointy ears,
her dad has pointy ears. MOORE: And she has the same
forehead that resembles mine. SCOTT:<i> Child has a big old
forehead and my head.</i> Got my hair, my forehead,
look like me, my child. WILLIAMS: They were supposed
to do a DNA test when we were staying
in Arkansas back here in 2015
but it never got done. They were communicating
at one point, then they would stop. Because he kept saying
that he was her dad. If you her daddy, take a test. So you were open
to the DNA test
because you knew he wasn't the father. That he wasn't her daddy. MOORE:<i> Your Honor...</i> SCOTT:<i> Never denied a test.</i> MOORE:<i> ...she told me don't
even worry about her.</i> So when you said,
"Fine, let's do the DNA,
she's not your child." Why didn't you ever
get it done? She's four. He didn't make no effort, you feel like she's yours
even though she's not,
which I know. Come on, let's go
take the test. WILLIAMS: No, you weren't... That is not what happened. She... So I can prove she's not. Every time he
prepared to do it, she always informed
him that her daughter was with her family member
and all of these... So you feel like she was
trying to avoid the test? Yeah, that was
my perspective. And before she
commented and posted, he never spoke of her
in any form or fashion or way. I'm not gonna comment
and post that I... And he never mentioned
that, "I have a baby
with my first love." He never said nothing
about a baby, nothing. 'Cause he's not the daddy. And then, I asked him,
I said, "Are you..." When I went to him,
and I asked him about it, he was like, "Oh, she was
messing around
with someone else, "and you know,
it's a possibility
but I don't know." That's what he was saying. SCOTT: He didn't tell her
in all those years.
She four. Why are we
just now here
at four years? JUDGE LAKE: So, exactly. Should have told him
all of this.
It's four years later. Because you didn't want me to. If you felt that way, why didn't it happen? She didn't want him to. She... It didn't happen on my end 'cause he's not the daddy
but I never denied him
taking no test. And why are you
upset, Ms. Scott? Because it's four
years later, four. And that makes
you feel like what? Like, if you...
Like I just said, if you felt that way,
you and your girlfriend,
why are we just now here? Why we didn't take a test? She's four. Your Honor, yes, we did. I was there. And you feel like now. SCOTT: I raised her. You ain't send no money,
You ain't send no clothes, no shoes or asked
what size she wear. None of that. A real man would've said,
"Okay, even though
you deny her, "deny that I'm her dad, "I believe she is. "Let me send
her some things. "Let me send money for this,
let me send money for that." I probably would
have said "We don't need it
because you're not the dad." (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) But that was
never made, those type of efforts
were never made. Because she stopped me
from not being there
for four years, she blocked me out completely. And she's four, and now I... JUDGE LAKE:
But you don't know her. No, and she's four... So it's your testimony today that you are going to be there for support
and take care of a child who's four years old
whom you've never met, and the mother has moved on. I know she's mine. You know she's yours? I know she's mine. And, Ms. Scott, she's four,
does she call anybody daddy? Yes. She has a father figure
in her life? Yes, she calls the man, whose last name she has... That man. The man whose
last name she has... Is daddy. ...she calls him dad, yes. In the end. And have you thought about what if Mr. Moore is
her biological father, where do we go from here? I have. You have thought about it. Right, I have. And what was your answer? If a test, which
it shouldn't, there's no way
a test should say
that he is the dad, but if it does then,
hey, we will make efforts to have some type
of relationship built
with them two. Because it's not for me,
it's for her. Right. Good. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Jerome, the envelope, please. JEROME: Here you go. These results were
prepared by DNA Diagnostics
and they read as follows. In the case of<i> Moore v. Scott,</i> when it comes to
four-year-old Aly'Leuna, it has been determined
by this court... it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Moore, you are the father. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) You are the father, Mr. Moore. (SCOTT SNIFFLING) That's your little girl. Last four years I missed out,
but I'll make it up to her. I promise. JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Scott... (SNIFFLES) What are you feeling right now? I feel bad that, to know that that is his child and she has not known
him for four years. And I've never... I'm 23 years old,
I've never had my dad, I always said, I wanted, if I ever had children,
I wanted to always make sure my children had their
biological daddy and whether that man
and I was together or not, to be in their lives. And now I feel like
it's my fault because it's been
four years, and I feel like I've
wronged my daughter
of four years with him. JUDGE LAKE:
Listen, I see your pain. But what is so great about each
and every day we live, it's another opportunity
to do better and get it right. Neither one of you
have handled it the best. Mr. Moore, I'm happy for you. I know you have lost some time but like you said,
you can make that up. And you can break
the generational curse that has happened to you
by having Aly'Leuna know the love of her father
consistently from here on out. We have counseling
and resources for all of you, I hope you take
advantage of it, and take care of that
beautiful little girl. Court is adjourned. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
