Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of<i>
Taylor v. Orr.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Mr. Taylor, you say
that you had a whirlwind two-week romance
with the defendant, and after it ended,
she called to tell you that she was pregnant
with your child. You say that another man
was at the hospital
for the baby's birth and therefore, your DNA test
will come back negative. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Orr, you say
you are insulted that Mr. Taylor is even asking
for a paternity test. You feel Mr. Taylor
is just trying to dodge
his responsibility and you are confident
you will prove he is your child's father. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. So, Mr. Taylor, you claim
this is not the first time you've tried to get a DNA test
from the defendant. Yes, Your Honor. Explain. Um, I have tried
to get a DNA test from the moment
I found out about Eric, and she has denied it,
dodged it every which way she can,
like, she's argued with me, she said that he looks
just like me, <i> why would I need DNA?</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i> Ms. Orr, are you
trying to avoid the DNA test
for Eric?</i> ORR: No, Your Honor. I believe that Michael,
if he wants the DNA test, he needs to get it done,
not me. It's not my job. And he does... Eric does
look like Mr. Taylor. She's lying, Your Honor. ORR: No, I'm not, Your Honor. All right. Take me back.
I want to understand how
this relationship started. TAYLOR: Well, we started... Where did you meet? ...dating on, uh, offline.
I met her offline. What's that mean?
You're on a dating site? TAYLOR: Dating website. Dating website. Okay, and then you all
decided to meet in person? ORR: Yes. Yes, ma'am. June 14th. Okay, and you had sex
with Mr. Taylor? Yes. Unprotected sex? Yes. After meeting him
on a dating site? Yes. And meeting him
for the first time? You all know
you're wrong. (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) Mr. Taylor, you said
the relationship lasted
two weeks. Yes, Your Honor. And how many times
did you have sex
within that two-week span? I had sex with her
for like that week, and I had had sex with her
a couple more times
the next week. And then... ORR: He kept coming back. We done slept
with each other maybe
more than 10 times. TAYLOR: No, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Ten times? And then, that's when
I found out I was pregnant. No, Your Honor. Was Mr. Taylor
the only man you were intimate with,
Ms. Orr? There's other men,
but, at the time, Mr. Taylor
was the only one
that I slept with when I was off
my birth control. No, Your Honor. Then, when I got pregnant
around August, Your Honor. Okay. Take me to the moment
where you realized
you are pregnant. I realized I was pregnant
when I went to my
doctor's appointment, September the first
of 2016. Okay. And when you realized
you were pregnant, do you tell Mr. Taylor,
do you call him? Are you all still even
in contact? Yes, I called. No, Your Honor. I called him. We were not in contact. I contacted him through Facebook
to let him know
I'm pregnant. No, she did not contact me... Wait a minute.
By the time... ...through Facebook to let me
know she was pregnant. She called me
over the phone to tell me
she was pregnant, okay? Then, again, I asked for DNA. That's when Mr. Taylor called up for a DNA test. Did you say the baby is yours
or could be yours? Could be yours. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) Could be? It is yours. No, Your Honor.
She's done nothing
but sit here and tell me this is nothing
but my doubt. I've been here. She has ran from the DNA. If there's such doubt
in everything,
if he is mine... Why do you run
from a DNA test,
I do not know. Mr. Taylor also told me
to take him to court. That's why we're here today. 'Cause I'm the one
taking him to court... I wouldn't doubt... ...to find out the truth... ...if you did not have
other possibilities. ...for my son. JUDGE LAKE:
Well, Mr. Taylor, hold on,
but I gotta give her credit. Ms. Orr did show up today. And that's not
an easy thing to do. 'Cause I'm going to ask
the tough questions. And I'm going to
demand answers. So, you just said
two different things standing right here
in this courtroom, Ms. Orr. You said, "I told him
it could be," then, you said,
"I told him it is." Which one is it? It is. Mr. Taylor,
do you remember
the story going that way? Um, she told me
it was mine, yes, but I did not agree
to them terms, no, because I myself
knew of three other different possibilities
she had been with. It's conception,
not a contract. (ALL LAUGHING) Jerome, he's saying
he did not agree
to those terms, okay. JEROME: Okay. (ALL LAUGHING) So, at that moment,
what you're saying is, is you did not believe
that you were the only possible father. Right, right. I didn't know. Did you believe,
Mr. Taylor, you were on one of
the possible fathers? I did. When did you find out
the baby was born? I found out the baby
was born a week after... JUDGE LAKE: Oh. A week
after the baby was born. Right. So, wait a minute, Ms. Orr, now, you're certain
Mr. Taylor is your child's
biological father. You go into labor
and you don't even
give him a call. Exactly. You reach out
on Facebook to say, "I'm pregnant
with your baby." You don't reach out
on Facebook to say,
"I'm having your baby
right now." Everything happened
so fast. I have health problems. No, Your Honor, she didn't. ORR: My son was born
six weeks early, <i> and I was gonna wait till
Eric got out of the hospital.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i> Okay, but still,
it took a whole week...</i> ORR: Yes. ...for you to get
in contact with him? Yes. For you to tell him... He's lucky I told him,
'cause he wasn't there
during the pregnancy or none of my
doctor's appointments. JUDGE LAKE: Okay, so, wait. I wasn't there
because she had told me about the other possibilities
that could be Eric's dad. Oh, what did she tell you
about other possibilities,
Mr. Taylor? Because I was told
by the nurse there was another man
in her room when she had this child. JUDGE LAKE: Really? He was a friend guy. A friend. Was this a friend
you've been intimate with in the past? No. So why was he up
at the hospital? 'Cause he was supposed
to have been, like, the godfather of my son. How did you have time
to notify the godfather and not the biological father? A family member
contacted my friend. You're accusing him
of not being there, and yet,
you are blocking him from being there at
the most important moment. I don't understand. Because the nurses
was talking to me
at the time. I couldn't really talk
to my family members. The nurses were talking to you
for a week straight? ORR: They were telling me
everything, pretty much. I don't know whether
she's testifying right now or testi-lying,
but we'll see in a minute. Your Honor, I have evidence. What is that you're holding
up, Mr. Taylor? This is evidence
from where I had first
found out about Eric. JUDGE LAKE: Let me see
that evidence. Jerome, will you
hand it to me, please? I was in the hospital with Eric
when I first went to meet him. This one says,
"Little surprise
for who didn't know. <i> "Met my son Eric
for the first time tonight.
So blessed.</i> "Keep negativity to yourself." And this is you
holding baby Eric. ORR: Your Honor. AUDIENCE: Aw! ORR: Your Honor. And in the next one, you say, "Father like son"
with a heart. <i> And you're holding the baby.</i> Right, Your Honor.
That was on her Facebook. JUDGE LAKE: And then,
the next one says,
"Love my son." TAYLOR:<i> Yes, Your Honor,
'cause I...</i> <i> And then, the next one says,</i> <i> "First time
me feeding him."</i> So, Mr. Taylor,
I will say this. The posts you put
on Facebook,
they look like you do wanna be a part
of this child's life. If you are
the biological father, you intend to be
a part of baby Eric's life? I've been here, since, like,
since I found out about him. I was not raised up
with my dad. I did not know of my dad
until I was 14 years old. I don't think any child
deserves to grow
without a dad. But the fact that
she did not tell me until Eric was a week old, I'm unbelievably shocked.
I do not know why. I do not know
why I deserve it. What I wanna
understand is, you're at the hospital,
you take these
beautiful photos... Right. ...post them up. What happens
at the hospital that would make you
retract all of this? For the fact that she had
made me have a doubt
that he was not mine... How did she give you
that doubt? Because she told me
to take the pictures of her son off Facebook. Your Honor,
she's basically harassed me. This is nothing
but my child. "I have known from day one
this is your child." She has
messaged me constantly, "This is your child.
Why won't you answer
the phone for your child?" And then you put the pictures
up of your child and she tells you
to take them down. Right. Oh. So, Ms. Orr,
wait a minute now. You are maintaining
here in court that he is
the biological father. Why would you tell him
to take the pictures
of your son down? Isn't it your son together? Because Mr. Taylor,
he was still hollering
DNA test. I'm sitting there
going to hospital
every night with Eric, staying there, feeding him,
making sure he gets well and get out of the hospital.
He's in a NICU,
six weeks early. And then, Mr. Taylor
sit here, DNA. "Oh, I love my son."
That makes... It's funny right there,
'cause you're putting
that stuff on Facebook. You're taking pictures
with Eric on Facebook. You take pictures with him
and then put them on Facebook, talking about,
"Oh, I love my son,"
and all this. Which one is it?
You want a DNA or do you wanna be
in Eric's life? What is that you're holding
up right there? It is a picture
of a comparison
that she had sent me of me... JUDGE LAKE: Let me
see that, Jerome. And Eric
and another possibility of the other guy. JUDGE LAKE:<i> That's you
on the bottom right,</i> <i> there's baby Eric
in the corners.</i> TAYLOR:<i> Yes, Your Honor.</i> And another man
is on the top left? Yes, Your Honor. Why did you send him
a collage of pictures with the baby
and another man? To let him know
Eric does not look
like another man. Where'd you pull this man
out of? Thin air? (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) No, Your Honor.
That's one of my ex. Your Honor,
the reason why
I've been asking for DNA... Okay. And this is someone Mr. Taylor was accusing you of having sex with as well, and he was saying
that this could possibly be <i> baby Eric's biological father.</i> ORR:<i> Yes.</i> I mean, look, that picture
was not gonna help
the situation. Uh, it didn't. Uh, I'm sure it only fueled
your doubt at that point. Your Honor, she even
went far as, like, saying the child had
a crooked penis, and I have
a crooked penis. (AUDIENCE CLAMORING) She asked me if
I have one. I said yes. She says,
"So how can you deny
that this is your son?" (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) All I have to say is I hope
nobody brought an exhibit. (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) Your Honor, my son
cannot get circumcised because he was
over 90 degrees. Ms. Orr, did you
say that your baby has a crooked penis and that was
a point of proof? No, Your Honor.
Not a point of proof. She's lying, Your Honor. To let him know
that his son is gonna be having surgery in August. Then why would she ask... JUDGE LAKE: Is that how
you took it, Mr. Taylor? Why would she ask? Why would she ask? Well, I thought
she would know. TAYLOR: Right? But... (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) I ain't one to gossip. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) Did you think it was a way
to avoid the DNA test again? I think it's what
I really want to know. Yes, Your Honor. Because you've maintained,
in this case, she has avoided this test
at every cost until now. Yes. So, do you feel like that was the last ditch
effort to say, "Now, look, you know
the baby has this
physical characteristic, "and do you, yes, you do..."
Okay now. That's what you're thinking? Yes, Your Honor. All right. Well, the court
wanted to know, honestly, whether or not
this physical characteristic is something that could be
tied to genetics. So, we'd like to call upon
an expert right now. Jerome, can you
please escort Dr. Eddie Richardson Jr,
into the courtroom, please? Thank you. JEROME: Hello, Doctor. Hello, Doctor. Good afternoon. Thank you
for joining us today. We are here
discussing the paternity of, uh, baby Eric. And his mother has indicated
that the child was born with a certain characteristic, and it would be
a crooked penis. Okay. She then asks
the potential father if he possessed
the same characteristic. The father indicated
that he did. This led the court to ask, what is this,
how does it happen, and is it linked
to genetics? Okay. Okay. Well, actually, there are
two different conditions we're talking about here. Okay. One actually happens
in babies and infants and the other one happens
in older adults. So, the first one is chordee,
which actually happens
in infants, which is actually a structural
and a developmental problem. The Peyronie's disease
actually occurs in
adolescents and older men. That's from micro trauma. Both have a little bit
of a genetic component, but it's sort of
when you're developing,
so it's a small component. So, if the father
and the son are both born with it, is it an indicator
of paternity? Based on my medical opinion,
it would be highly unlikely,
but possible, because the one is more
of a structural problem
that's actually occurring, and they haven't been
able to conclude
with any real evidence that both of these
are gonna cause this. But there are some,
as I said,
on the structural problem, the underlying
connective tissue problem, which would be
a genetic problem. But based on just
a curvature of the penis, it will be hard for me to
determine paternity from that. Not impossible,
but not necessarily
an indicator. Right. I'd agree with that. Understood, understood. Well, Ms. Orr, do you
still stand by the fact that Mr. Taylor
is your child's
biological father? Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE:
No other possibilities. No, Your Honor. Mr. Taylor, do you still
stand by your position that you believe you are not
baby Eric's biological father? Yes, Your Honor. Nothing you've heard
in this testimony today has changed your mind? No, Your Honor. I think we're ready
for the results. Jerome? JEROME: Yes. Here you go, Your Honor. Thank you. You're welcome. These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and
they read as follows. In the case of<i>
Taylor v. Orr,</i> when it comes to
six-week-old Eric Orr, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Taylor, you are not the father. (AUDIENCE CLAMORING) Get me out of here. JUDGE LAKE:
Calm down, Mr. Taylor. I know this
was disappointing. I could tell
from the pictures you had formed a bond
with the baby. TAYLOR:<i> I wish I never
knew her.</i> (SNIFFLES) I don't see how this... (MUMBLES) So, even though
you had doubts, it is obvious
you were coming here hoping to be wrong. Right. But you were right
to have questions. Ms. Orr, do you have
something you'd like to say? I'm sorry that
I got your hopes up
that Eric was yours. JUDGE LAKE: And I will
say this, Ms. Orr. This courtroom exists
because, too often, the mothers keep secrets
about other possibilities that lead to this level
of sadness, confusion
and real trauma. I mean,
Mr. Taylor's very affected
and I can see that. Do you know who
Eric's biological father is? No, Your Honor. Is there any chance
it was your ex, the other guy
in the picture? Possibly. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. So, what we're gonna
have to do is, and I tell young women
all the time, you know how to take
your panties off, now you've got to learn how to put your
big girl panties on. And that means... (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) ...you're gonna have
to face some things that may not be pleasant,
but for that baby's sake, you're gonna have to face
those things. He deserves that. I wish you all
the very best of luck.
Court is adjourned.
