Ms. Short, you
and your mother opened
your case today because your first love,
the defendant, denies he fathered your
21-month-old son, Jabari. You are a single,
teenage mother who needs help,
and you demand Mr. Johnson step up
and be a father.
Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Johnson. You are in court
with your mother
and say you might have been
the plaintiff's first love, but you weren't
the only one. You refuse to do anything
for her son until
the DNA results prove you are his biological
father, is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Short, you say
you need help. Yes. Explain. Yes, because he's
the father of my son. And my son, as a boy,
needs a father figure. And I need extra help,
like while I'm in school. (CRYING) We got to do this
for Jabari, stop. SYLVIA:
She just needs to know,
is he the father, so he could step up
and do the right thing,
hopefully. You know,
we can't make him but we need to know
because I did... I did stop him
from coming over because I didn't
want no feelings
to get involved. Like, them get attached
if he wasn't the father, because she did tell them it's a possibility
he may not be the father. JUDGE LAKE:<i>
Jabari is almost
two years old.</i> How did you meet? Well, it was on Facebook, and we used to text. He was my first kiss,
first everything. Okay, so after you met,
you all started having sex,
and at some point you find out
you're pregnant. Yes. Me and Mr. Johnson
had sex, April 23rd. I see him on Facebook with another female. And he was like,
"I don't want you,
I want her." He was talking about
the other female. And I was like,
"He just left.
He just left me." After that happened,
it was May 3rd. I went out eating
with some friends. Okay. And at night, I had
met the other boy. And this is not
my first time meeting him but it's the first time
we ever had sex. SYLVIA: Mm-hmm. So, I'm like, "Well... "Mr. Johnson don't care
about me. Why not?" Okay, so, did you
confront that other guy? I sure did. Did you say, "I'm pregnant
and you're the father"? I said, "A possibility." She really believed
in her heart,
it's Mr. Johnson. JUDGE LAKE:
All right, and she... SYLVIA: I'm hoping it's not. Mr. Johnson, at what point
did you realize Ms. Short was
even pregnant? See, Your Honor,
I was away. I found out she was
pregnant six months
into her pregnancy. Okay. And were you
informed that you were
the biological father? Yes, ma'am.
She told my mom
that she was pregnant and I could be the father.
So, at the time I'm thinking
that the baby's mine. But at the end of the day
when I come home
from being away, I got her friends coming
to me, talking to me
about the other dude. So, you know how
that making me feel, I was there
to see the baby. I was doing the hair
of the baby. I was there, when she
called me and asked for help
I was there to help her. All right, I want to hear
from you, Ms. Mabry. Because, you remember
having this conversation
with Ms. Short? Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: You did. And you said to her,
"If you need anything,
just let me know." Yes, and it also went
further into a blood test. They wanted me
to do a blood test because this other dude
saying he wanted to know
if Demarzyea was the father, if Demarzyea's not
the father, that makes
him be the father. I'm not gonna
go through all that. And another thing
about the baby, <i> when we try to get
the baby, she have to
come and sit with us.</i> We can't get the baby,
and she's talking about flexing
and fronting and all of this... We was trying to
be involved with
this baby even though we know
it was a possibility that it's not
my son's baby. And I could back her up
on that. There was times that
I tried to come see the baby but her mother
wouldn't let me
come to the house. He's still trying
to do things
for the baby. Her mother
wouldn't let me
come to the house. You'd always have
someone with you
when you'd come. Your homeboys,
you could never
come by yourself. JUDGE LAKE:
So hold on, ladies. Ladies, before we go there
and all that, this is the issue
I'm having at this point. I need to establish
a connection. I need to establish
a reason why Ms. Short, you decided that Mr. Johnson <i> is the biological father
of your child when you said</i> <i> you also had slept
with another person
as well.</i> I'm going by the dates. My due date
was January 14th. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. I had him
on January 8th. I had sex with Mr. Johnson,
April 23rd. And May 3rd
is just too close. JUDGE LAKE: So Ms. Short,
the bottom line is, is the other person
that was a possibility... You reached out
to them as well to say that it is
a possibility that he could
be the biological father. You also know that
Mr. Johnson is a very
real possibility because of the
close proximity of the time you had
sex with Mr. Johnson and the time you
had sex with the
other guy, right? Yes, Your Honor. All right. I'd like to
see your evidence. Hand it to me,
please, Jerome. So this is
a communication between you
and Mr. Johnson. Am I correct? SHORT:
Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE:<i>
And this is something
he wrote to you?</i> SHORT:<i>
Yes, Your Honor.</i> <i> He writes...</i> (JUDGE LAKE READING) So he wrote that letter and promised you
in that moment that he was gonna be
a good father
to his child. And believed, it seems,
that it was his child. Do you remember
writing that,
Mr. Johnson? I remember
writing that letter, but at the time
I thought that
Jabari was mine. Me, growing up
20 years, I never
had a father. If he's mine,
I'm going to be there. Blink, end of
that discussion. JUDGE LAKE: So when you
wrote that letter,
you had no idea the other guy existed? I didn't know
nothing about it. It wasn't until
you got back home and then people told you
there is another guy, and then once you
confronted her about it she admitted that,
yes, there was. Yes. And there is another
possibility, and there is
a question of paternity which is why
you're here. And what is troubling me
in this moment, I have done my best
to be patient. I have been frustrated, I have been trying
to be compassionate because you all
are young people, and now you've
gotten yourself into this whole big drama with adult situations
and adult problems. You can't even string
two good sentences together
in this courtroom about the situation, much less be prepared to take care
of a living child, <i> this beautiful little boy,
almost two years old.</i> <i> And this is babies
having babies,</i> and this has got to stop. (APPLAUSE) Now... Mr. Johnson, you say
you got more than
one child. How many children
do you have? I have four...
With Jabari,
I have five in all. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) JUDGE LAKE: So you got
four other children... Yes, ma'am. ...and Jabari would
make five? Yes, ma'am. And you're
20 years old? Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE:
It has been determined
by this court, Mr. Johnson... You are the father. (APPLAUSE) Like I said... I'll be there for him. JUDGE LAKE: Good. I'm glad you will. This is all I wanted,
you know, to get all the
extra stuff outta the way. It shouldn't have
took this. JUDGE LAKE: You had to. But no, no, Ms. Short, this happens in life. It should not
have taken this. But it did. SYLVIA:
Yes, Your Honor. And we're here now. Yes, Your Honor. And now you
at least have the answer. Yes. So now we've got
to figure out
how to get you two on the right path
to be able to raise
this child together. So let's get real. You all are gonna
have to work out,
together, when and how
you all will see the baby, <i> when Mr. Johnson
and his family will be
able to see the baby.</i> And you can do this
in your living room or you can do this
through the courtroom.
It's up to you. Because if not, the court
will order him to pay support, and they will also set
guidelines with which
he can see the child. And the best example
you can set for
Jabari in this moment is to go after your dreams. But there's more
to being a father than just running around
and taking pictures
for Facebook. Hello, hello. JUDGE LAKE: I'm just telling. JOHNSON: I don't even
get on Facebook. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) But you know
my point. Yes. It's more than just
pictures and this
and sneakers. It is food, it is care,
it is time, it is setting
the example, right? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Ms. Mitchell, you are
here in the court today
because you claim your childhood sweetheart
stole your virginity, got you pregnant, and is now denying paternity
of your two-month-old
daughter, Ryalynn. HOPE: Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE:
And Mr. Robinson,
in your defense, you claim you doubt paternity
because after Ms. Mitchell
told you she was pregnant, you found out
she was sleeping with four other men. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: All right,
so Ms. Mitchell,
explain to the court, how did you get yourself
in this messy situation? Well, Your Honor, um,
we hung out a few times and he, like, pressured
me to have sex with him. And I said
I wasn't ready yet. HOPE: And, so then, um... I was hanging out at, um,
these apartment complexes and we hooked up, and had sex,
I lost my virginity, and I found out
I was pregnant
three weeks later. JUDGE LAKE: Wow. So, Mr. Robinson, is that account true? ROBINSON:
Um, no, Your Honor. We hooked up.
One time. That was it. HOPE: One time? One time. JUDGE LAKE: Well, that's about
all you need is one time. Yeah, that's about it. JUDGE LAKE:
Did you use protection? HOPE: One time... Did you use protection? ROBINSON: No. No protection. All right. So that's...
That's a recipe for... Disaster. JUDGE LAKE: Well,
no, for baby making. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) In her case, disaster. JUDGE LAKE:
And for responsibility
and consequence. In your case, disaster. JUDGE LAKE:
Hold on now, ma'am. Hold on one second,
I'm gonna get to you
in one moment. So you tell him
you're pregnant. Yeah. I... JUDGE LAKE:
And what was... ROBINSON: She didn't even
tell me she was pregnant,
Your Honor. ROBINSON: She had
one of her friends
she grew up with, inboxed me and her
on Facebook and said, "I'm not trying to start
no drama here, no drama. "I thought I'd let you
know that she had sex
with four other guys." ROBINSON: Okay? JUDGE LAKE: Let me get
this story straight. You start getting
messages... ROBINSON: Yes. ...from the peanut gallery... Yes, Your Honor.
From her best friend. JUDGE LAKE: ...telling you... My best friend
wouldn't say that. JUDGE LAKE:
...they just wanna
give you the heads up that she was sleeping
with other people. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: So you don't
think you're necessarily
the only potential candidate. Yes, Your Honor. And you don't have a doubt
at that time until you
get Facebook messages. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Okay.
That's it from you. Ms. Mitchell, you say
he took your virginity... HOPE: Yeah, he did. But did you have sex
with somebody else... I never had sex... JUDGE LAKE:
...right after he took it? No! No, not at all! Did you have sex with
anyone else during the
window of conception? No. Who are these people
telling him these stories? I don't know.
They don't tell me,
so I don't know. JUDGE LAKE: So,
people just lying on you? HOPE: Yeah.
It's him lying.
And her. Oh, so you don't
think he even ever
got the messages? No, not at all. Okay. So let's fast
forward to the birth. You have the baby. Is Mr. Robinson with you? HOPE: No, but his sister was. JUDGE LAKE: His sister came. ROBINSON:
Yes, I sent my sister... JUDGE LAKE:
So he wasn't at the...
You sent her... ROBINSON: Yes, because I had
got arrested the night of... (HOPE LAUGHING) I'm not gonna lie,
I'll be 100% honest
with you, Your Honor. So, I said, "Erika," I said,
"Would you do me a favor?"
She said, "What?" I said, "Will you
make sure you go to
the hospital for me?" She said, "Yes, I will."
And she went. JUDGE LAKE: So, Ryalynn
was born on May 7th, and you, Mr. Robinson, you were arrested on May 9th. Um, Your Honor, no.
I was arrested 05/08
of 2014. In the morning! HOPE: Okay, but she
was born on the 7th. At 10:00 on that morning
I was arrested, okay? And that was the
day the file... I have more than just
one charge that they
picked me up on. Trust and believe,
I ain't gonna have
no shame on my game. I was picked up on
more than one charge. And I was lying in a bed
for 14 hours in labor. He literally... (ALL ARGUING) Okay, but... DIANA: He cheated... HEATHER: He didn't
cheat on me, sweetie,
we wasn't together. I've never done
anything to this
girl, ever. I've never
disrespected her... She's immature and
childish, Your Honor. She's 18 years old and
she's immature and childish.
That's my point. She updated her status
about me all the time,
claiming that I was on Facebook
talking about her,
and I wasn't. Oh, who cares?
Who cares? Who cares? (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE:
I'm so sick of...
Who cares? Who cares? This is just
getting ridiculous. You all and this
Facebook, and this... If you all would have
just stayed in Facebook, instead of laying down in
the bed with no protection,
we wouldn't be here! DIANA: Amen. But, now... JUDGE LAKE:
Now, you all wanna talk
about Facebook all day. And I want you
all to understand... DIANA: Oh, there's
my baby. Your Honor,
I take care of her. JUDGE LAKE:
...that beautiful little
girl is what matters. DIANA:
This is a beautiful baby,
this is an intelligent baby, and it is about her,
and that is why
we're here today. Ryan... When Hope come
to me and told me that
she was pregnant, first of all, I never
believed it was her. The very next day
I took her to the doctor. Yes, she is pregnant,
I wanna meet this man. I met him, he took me
to his mother's house. It was a good time. I mean, it was
a nice day. I thought, okay, well,
maybe he's gonna be okay. Well, then... Evidently... He's back with Heather,
or whatever, and
everything changes. Have you told Mr. Robinson that he can come and see
Ryalynn only if he leaves
Ms. Hitchcock at home? Leaves her to come to
my house to visit her, but not leave her
relationship-wise. Your point is, you don't want
Ms. Hitchcock at your house? HOPE: No, and I don't
want her around my
daughter, either. ROBINSON: She doesn't
even look like me... JUDGE LAKE: Okay. She looks like...
I got evidence. She doesn't even look
like me, or my son,
who is a spitting image. My son, and when
I tell you he's a
spitting image of me... She looks just
like Hope here. My son is a spitting
image of me, like, and
when I tell you that... JUDGE LAKE:
Hold on, what is this
evidence you have? Jerome, will you please
hand me this evidence? ROBINSON: Look at my
son and look at her.
They look nothing alike. HOPE: She looks like me. ROBINSON:
That is my identical twin. (BOTH ARGUING) So, you submitted these
photos to the court... ROBINSON: Yes, I did. Yes, I did,
Your Honor. And this is a picture
of Ryalynn, which is Hope's daughter. JUDGE LAKE:
And your son on the right. ROBINSON: Yes. HOPE:
That looks like Heather. ROBINSON:
No, it looks like me.
Just like me. And you're saying,
you don't see a resemblance
between these two children. ROBINSON:
No, honestly, I don't. Well, they have
two different moms.
She looks just like me. JUDGE LAKE:
Now, this picture... Is of me and our three kids,
which, two of them are
biologically not mine. But I've been there
so much to them that they look up to me
as a father figure. JUDGE LAKE: In the case of<i>
Mitchell v. Robinson,</i> when it comes
to two-month-old
Ryalynn Mitchell... Mr. Robinson... You are the father. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE: So, now... Before I ask, Ms. Mitchell,
if it would be okay, if you meet your daughter
for the first time, I have to say, concerning the arbitration,
where you were asking the
court for... $337.50, that's what
you would be entitled to, if it was determined that
Mr. Robinson was, in fact, Ryalynn's
biological father. It has been determined
that you are. And so, I am awarding
Ms. Mitchell $337.50, which is half of the
childcare expenses, for, uh, baby Ryalynn's
two-and-a-half months
she's been here. That she's spent
and she's presented
receipts for. So, you owe her
that money.
Do we understand? Yes, Your Honor. All right, so the judgment
is for the plaintiff on that. And now, I have to ask you. Can this man, please,
see his little girl? Please, that's all I want. I will meet you all
in my chambers.
Court is adjourned. Mr. Johnson you say
the defendant, Mrs. Carr has been playing an
emotional DNA game with you over her daughter's paternity
for the past 18 years. You've brought her to court
to finally end this game
and prove you are not her daughter's
biological father. Is that correct? Yes, ma'am, Your Honor. Ms. Carr, you say that Mr. Johnson has
been dodging a DNA test and his responsibilities
as a father since the day you told
him you were pregnant. You claim the only
reason he is denying her is because you are
married and will no longer sleep with him,
is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Johnson, what upsets
you the most about this? The lies. The up-and-down
roller coaster. One minute I'm not her father.
The next minute I am. It's been a burden with
this paternity, you know. Ms. Carr, you say this is not
true, what he's saying. Your Honor, Mr. Johnson
has always acknowledged my daughter
and he has always <i> attempted to be in her life.</i> JOHNSON:<i> Your Honor,</i> <i> that's incorrect.</i> When her daughter
was first born her father came
to my house, sat me down on my couch and
said that they had a DNA test with another man and I was not the father.
He was the father. Take me back to the nature
of this relationship. You all used to be
boyfriend and girlfriend? No, ma'am. My uncle
married her aunty... JUDGE LAKE: Okay. And they adopted her. I used to go over
to their house and help him out
like cutting grass and
things of that nature. And I would stay the night.
And they would allow us
to sleep in the same room. AUDIENCE:<i> Oh!</i> We had sex one time. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. One time. It was a lot of
touchy feely before, and the one time
we had sex it was, you know,
wham bam thank you, ma'am. Your Honor, that's not true. Yeah. Well, do you agree
that you had sex with him
just one time? I agree that we had sex
on multiple times. We have had sex... And at some point you
realized you're pregnant. Yes, ma'am. At the
time I was young. I was just coming on
my menstrual, so this was still new to me. So it was brought to
my attention that my
menstrual was late or it had not come on
when it was supposed to. So I was taken
to the doctor and later on determined
I was pregnant. I then called
Mr. Johnson and told Mr. Johnson
that I was pregnant. And Mr. Johnson's
response was, "I'm going to
Dayton, Ohio." Right. I was moving back
to Dayton, Ohio at this particular time. Uh, family members
were there. It was an emotional day.
She gave me a call,
"I'm pregnant. "Do you think
it's yours?" Wait, do I
think it's mine? Do you think it's mine
is the question.
You know what I'm saying? We never had the
conversation about, "Do you think it's
yours?" It was just, "I'm moving to Ohio." Your Honor, I remember
this conversation verbatim. You hear me? This is something
I cannot forget. I remember the whole day
like it was yesterday. Crying and snotting. I told my family member
after I got off the phone
with Ms. Carr, "I could have
a baby on the way." Okay, okay, let me
understand this. At that
time you had a boyfriend? I did tell him.
I pursued it with him and it went nowhere. JUDGE LAKE: When you say
you pursued it with him,
what do you mean? When you pursued it with the
other guy, what did that mean? Yeah, what does that
mean specifically? She told him
he was the father. That's why they came to
my house two years later and told me they
had a DNA test with another guy. There was no DNA test. There was never a DNA test. When you found out that you were pregnant,
you told Mr. Johnson and
you told the boyfriend. Yes, ma'am. I left that
part out. I apologize. JUDGE LAKE: Okay.
Now this is coming together. So you got the boyfriend
and you told both. I told both. Mr. Johnson said,
"I'm moving away." So at that point when the
baby was born you still
had your boyfriend, right? There was no one
involved, no one. No one's name went on
her birth certificate. So why would you get excluded from
the equation? No one was involved. And you never did a DNA
test with the ex-boyfriend? We had a DNA test within
the last three years. JOHNSON: Wow. Me and the other father. And you did not know
this, Mr. Johnson? No, ma'am, I didn't. Mr. Johnson has been active
in her life periodically. At one point of time after her father came to my
house and said that I wasn't the father,
I move on with my life. Maybe about five,
six years later, <i> I had my first daughter.</i> They see how I'm, uh,
interacting with her and so I guess they say,
"This is your daughter now." No, this is not true. JOHNSON: Let me tell you.
I've seen the daughter in a grocery store.
She runs up to me. She ran up to me. Like, "Daddy."
Uh, I'm, I'm shocked at the
moment, like, "What?
Wait a minute. Daddy?" When I tell you, I'm looking
for cameras to pop out. I thought I was on a
prank show or something, like... How old is she? She's about five or
six at this time. Your Honor, this is my first
time ever hearing this
story about the grocery store. JUDGE LAKE: Okay,
so let's hear it. She run up to me like,
"Daddy." You know
what I'm saying? And I'm like, "Oh, wait
a minute. Okay. "Uh, hey." I wanna say,
"I'm not your daddy." But I can't tell this
little girl this, you
know what I'm saying? I recognized the
family members so I just assumed this
was Ms. May, but... That it was her. I'm confused as to why
she's calling me Daddy. So I'm asking
for a DNA test. Like, "No, you can't
just say that "she's my daughter without
me getting a DNA test." So what happened when
you requested the DNA test after the run-in at the
grocery store, Mr. Johnson? It never happened.
So about three to four years
later, I move in with a family member
that they are close to. And, uh, Ms. May is constantly interacting
with these family members. So she comes to the
family member's house and like, "Your daughter
is coming." Like, this
is not my daughter. I, I... Your Honor, that is not true. Can I finish my story?
I said I need a DNA test. And all the family, like,
"No, she's yours. You don't
need to get a DNA test. "She look like another
family member when
she was younger "and..." So I'm just
full of emotion and so against my
better judgment, even without the DNA test, I started accepting
Ms. May as my child. What memories do you
have of Mr. Johnson
being in your life? Memories with Mr. Johnson. Um, my tenth birthday he threw me a party
at the water park. I remember that.
And then there was the time from summer at
the fifth grade. I remember that day
because he made me
stay in the house while all my cousins
playing outside. There was a lot of boys out
there. She was the only girl. (LAUGHTER) I was not.
I was not. And so when's the last time
you saw Mr. Johnson? Last time I saw
Mr. Johnson was the fifth grade summer. Was probably around... Hmm. ...2010. So you have not seen her
or laid eyes on her? No, ma'am, she's extremely
beautiful... (VOICE BREAKS) (CLEARS THROAT) JUDGE LAKE: Yes. (APPLAUSE) JUDGE LAKE: Ms. May,
what was your understanding as it related to
your paternity? What were you told? I was told by
family members that he was my father
and they would show me
pictures of him and they were like,
"Oh, you look just like him." <i> And so I was like,
"Okay, that's my dad."</i> And growing up my mother had told me that
he was a part of my life and so I don't have that
many memories with him. Well, at there,
Mr. Johnson, like, left me, that's when the man
I call my father,
Mr. Carr over there, that's when he came and
stepped up and took his place. And so all these
years I was like, <i> "Hmm, okay, so you know,</i> <i> "he doesn't want to
spend time with me."</i> And so I recently
got in contact with him and over social
media and asked, "Are you going to come to
my graduation or are you gonna
lie and say you're coming "and then not show up?" JOHNSON: Yeah. I have copies
of text messages. Jerome, let me
see that, please. This is not the whole
conversation, but it's just the part that really
stood it out. She said, "What, you don't
want to talk to your first
born that you abandon?" AMBER: Because he
actually contacted my mother. <i> He has told me to tell
my mother to call him.</i> And so you said,
"I did abandon you. <i> "I take responsibility
for my actions.</i> <i> "But it's a lot
you don't know."</i> And then Amber writes back,
"Well, I'm of age, please
enlighten me, Brandin." <i> And then you say, "You
may not be my daughter.</i> <i> "We were supposed
to get a paternity test</i> <i> "about four or five years ago</i> <i> "but your mom never
went through with it."</i> JOHNSON:<i> Correct.</i> And when you reached out,
all you wanted was your biological father
and the man you know to be your father figure
in your life. You wanted them to be
at your graduation. In the case of<i>
Johnson v. Carr/May...</i> JUDGE LAKE: When it
comes to Amber May, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Johnson, you... ...are her father. (APPLAUSE) MR. CARR: I knew that.
All the time. May I go hug
my parents? Absolutely, honey. Okay. It's okay, honey. It's okay. (APPLAUSE) JUDGE LAKE: We
came here for a beautiful young woman who deserves to know
who her biological father is. And now we have that answer. Yes, we do. And I am so thankful
that you have Mr. Carr in your life
and I am so happy that your mother has
been there for you. Every girl needs
her daddy. And you've been
blessed with two. (APPLAUSE)
