Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is case of <i>
Whittaker v. Schrull.</i> Thank you. Good day everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Ms. Whittaker,
you've summoned Mr. Schrull, to court to prove
that he is the father of your two-year-old
daughter, Brinleigh. WHITTAKER: Yes, Your Honor. You say that
Mr. Schrull has doubt only because of his conniving
and manipulative mother and you want him to
man up and take care of
his responsibilities. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Schrull, you claim,
you're not Brinleigh's father and once you
prove your case, you never wanna see or hear
from Ms. Whittaker again. Yes, Your Honor. So, Ms. Whittaker, why do you blame
Mr. Schrull's mother
for his denial? Because he's a mama's boy. She has never done anything but come in
between our relationship. Even when we were having
fights in our relationship, she was always
in the middle of it. It was never just me and him,
it was me, him and his mother. Are you a mama's boy,
Mr. Schrull? Yes, Your Honor, I am. I know that's right. Say it loud and proud. So, do you believe
your mother has... Come in between
your relationship
with Ms. Whittaker? There were times
that she would but... Explain. It was just to protect me. How long were you all dating? Two and a half years. Really! Take me back
to that relationship. We fell in love
from the beginning. We were never separated. <i> We probably spent</i> <i> three days apart
in the entire</i> almost three years
we were together. From the time
we started dating, our parents let us
spend the night together. We were either staying
at my house... They, wait, wait, wait! They what? WHITTAKER: Yes. They let us stay
the night together JUDGE LAKE: When you
started dating, your parents let you
spend the night together. Yes. At each other's homes? WHITTAKER: Yes. At one point, we were
completely living together. Him and his mother
moved into my house with me and my mother. And we... What! They moved into the house
with you and your mother? Yes, ma'am. And you were all having sex
and both mother's knew it? Yes. I've never heard of such. Several times a day. What in the world! This is horrible. WHITTAKER: Yeah. Do you go to school? Well, (SNICKERS)
yes, we were going to school but we both
ended up dropping out our junior year
in high school. WHITTAKER: I dropped out... That's it. Classic case.
Babies having babies. This is it. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) These are not the type of
extra-curricular activities you need to be engaging in
when you are in school. I completely agree
but since then
I've gotten my GED. I'm very proud of you
for getting your GED. Thank you. But I wanna understand
something because you said... Mr. Schrull's mother was getting in the way
of your relationship... If y'all were all living
together why do you say
she doesn't like you and she was interfering
in your relationship? Sound like
she was putting it together. She was always in the middle
of our relationship. She even made
the comment one time that "I can't wait till you're
18 'cause I'm gonna beat
your..." And then when she found out
I was pregnant, she said, "I guess I can't
do it anymore now." Mr. Schrull, did you know your mother didn't care
for Ms. Whittaker? She cared for her. I don't know where that
she didn't care for her comes from because anytime Ms. Whittaker needed
to talk to her, she'd come to my mom,
she would call her "Mama." JUDGE LAKE: Really?
Did you call
his mother "Mama?" WHITTAKER: Yes, because we
were together for
two and a half years. Our families were
each other's families. So, was this
a committed relationship? We were together
for three years, yes. JUDGE LAKE: Together
or committed? SCHRULL: I end up... JUDGE LAKE: That's two
different things. I had proposed
to her the same day that her Dad had
proposed to her Mom the same way and everything
that her father had done it. JUDGE LAKE: Well,
that was romantic. <i> So you had planned
to marry her?</i> SCHRULL: <i> Yes, Your Honor.</i> We were actually gonna get
married in May, the year that I found out
I was pregnant and had bought his ring
and my ring and everything. And I can see that makes
you sad to think about that. Yes, we were really happy
at one point. And I thought
it was gonna be forever. Both of you are acting like
you were committed. SCHRULL: It was. But if you were committed
and nobody did anything outside the relationship,
you wouldn't be here. So, let's get
to the real details. SCHRULL: I know. What happened... What had happened,
her mom had passed away. Okay. And she got put in a foster home, and once she turned 18,
she got, went with family. JUDGE LAKE: I'm sorry to hear
that, Ms. Whittaker. Very sorry. Thank you. Thank you, Your Honor. And so... At that time,
you all were separated. You were no longer
living together? I was fed up with it. I was getting constant
accusations of cheating and I never
once cheated on her and I would always say the person with
the guilty conscience is the one
who had done it and... Then that would come up. What's that? SCHRULL: She had cheated
on me. How did that come up? It took a little bit
for it to come out but eventually
it did come out. She admitted it? Yes. Did you admit it,
Ms. Whittaker? Yes, I did.
First, Your Honor...
(SNICKERS) No, that's not how
all this happened. That's not how we separated. Okay, let me
hear your side of it. When my mother died, I got taken into DHR custody.
I was only 17. I was eight months
from being 18. Anyway, they
put me with my aunt and me and Christian
were fighting all the time. I was hormonal.
I was pregnant. His mother refused
to let him come to my
doctor's appointments. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. Hold that story right there,
I wanna get to it. So, you were pregnant
at the time
when this fighting? Yes, I'm pregnant, I found out I was
pregnant exactly one month after my mother
had passed away. Okay. I was already in DHR custody when I found out
I was pregnant. JUDGE LAKE: All right.
So you are... Dealing with all of that then you find out
you're pregnant? Yes, ma'am. You let him know? Yes, I let him... At that time you let him know how did you let him know?
Phone call,
you saw each other? My social worker put me
in a room and let me call him and tell him I was pregnant and he was
actually very excited. He said, "I love you. "We are gonna get through
this, no matter what. "I'm always gonna
be with you." I said, "You know,
you have to tell your mother." Now, I was told
I couldn't get pregnant and I thought I was
never gonna have a family and I just lost the last
bit of my family 'cause my father passed away
when I was younger. <i> I was so happy
because now I had a family.</i> And when he told his mother, I could hear her screaming
in the background. "Oh God, no. Why?
Kill me now, why?" JUDGE LAKE: Really? No. WHITTAKER: She was screaming
to the top of her lungs and she took that moment
from me. She took it from me
because I was so happy. I finally had a family
even though I just lost mine and she took
my happiness away. Let me hear from your mother. BLACKWELL: Thank you. Please stand, ma'am. And step up to the podium. Ms. Blackwell,
you're Mr. Schrull's mother, give your side of the story. Them, staying together
and sleeping together was never okay with me. This started at her house, and I begged her mother "Please, don't
let this happen." It's not happening
at my house. They were too young
for this kind of relationship. Her mother couldn't
do anything with her. WHITTAKER: Please, don't bring
my mother into this 'cause she's dead and
she can't defend herself and I would very much
appreciate if you
kept her out of it. Well, she has
something to do with it. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) She's not here so
we cannot... How can I not get... ...talk about her. ...a point across
if I cannot speak of her? All right, when you found out she was pregnant,
did you think the baby was your grandchild? BLACKWELL: I did because
my son believed... At the time... WHITTAKER: No, you didn't. You told me from the beginning
that's not his child. Not until she
admitted to me seven times that she cheated. JUDGE LAKE: Seven
times cheating? BLACKWELL: Yes. She told me there
were seven possibilities. Seven possibilities! Oh, God! JUDGE LAKE: Other fathers? Oh, my Lord. There is only one other man
that I slept with
the month that I got pregnant. In our entire relationship, I didn't even sleep
with seven other people. No. That's a lie, right there. What's a lie, Mr. Schrull? That she only slept with... WHITTAKER: You can say
whatever you want to say,
Christian, but you know
because I told you before I even
knew I was pregnant. I told you the day
after I cheated on you what happened,
why it happened, how I felt about it,
why I was sorry about it... Well, tell me.
Tell me what happened. Tell the court. It wasn't something
I was proud of and he's not even a possible
factor for the father. I have my conception day,
right here. I'd like to see that evidence. Will you hand
it to me, please? I conceived at the beginning
of August, I didn't sleep with him
until the end of August. JUDGE LAKE: So,
let me understand this. You prepared
a calendar for the court. WHITTAKER: <i> Yes, ma'am.</i> <i> I slept with Christian
every single night.</i> <i> Sometimes two or three times
a day.</i> SCHRULL: I don't
remember all... Wow! I don't remember all that. These days are outlined. <i> Completely every day...</i> WHITTAKER: <i> Every day.</i> <i> From the 2nd...</i> SCHRULL: <i> I don't remember</i> <i>
any of that.</i> <i> To the 31st, you had sex
with Mr. Schrull?</i> You don't remember that? We lived together
for three years.
We had sex every single day. How do you not remember that? SCHRULL: Okay. How do we sleep together when you're either
in a foster home, or you're at a girl's home,
or you're living... I wasn't in a foster home
at the beginning of August. I wasn't in a foster home
until August 30th. My mom didn't die
until August 28th.
I think I would remember this. This is why I remember this
so clearly because it was the most traumatic event
I've been through. You showed that
you had sex with Mr. Schrull all of these days, <i> but then you had sex
with another man</i> <i> somewhere around the 14th.</i> Yes. You also have the 8th circled. Explain this, that is you're
alleged conception date? Yes, ma'am. Explain. Um, I have a picture
of a sonogram. It said 20 weeks and one day. And we counted back
20 weeks and one day, and it was August 8th. SCHRULL: Okay. JUDGE LAKE: You refute
this calendar, Mr. Schrull. You don't believe
this went down this way? SCHRULL: No, I don't. And you also believe
when you say she was here or there
or everywhere, is it your assertion
that you believe she was also having sex
with other people as well and that fuels your doubt? Yes, because it came out... Explain that to me. It came out to me
after she was pregnant. It came out that there are
more than one possibility. JUDGE LAKE: When did this
come out? This came out
when she was, maybe three, four months pregnant. How did it come out?
Who told you that? BLACKWELL: She told me. She told her. And that's a load of crap. Y'all just having sex,
y'all don't know
what you doing. Exactly. You have no clue. Just kids engaging in
adult activity. Absolutely no idea
of the consequences. And you don't even
understand your body, how it works, or how
conception is formulated. So the real truth is you can tell that,
that 14th date... That's in the window, baby. Did you use protection when you had sex
with the other man? No, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Okay, moving on. Was he there the day
the baby was born? BLACKWELL: Yes. SCHRULL: No. What happened is, I get there and your little boyfriend
at that time wants to talk all big
over the phone and say how he's gonna...
He's gonna kick my butt
and all... My boyfriend never threatened
you at all. Wait a minute. When did we get a boyfriend? WHITTAKER: After we
had separated, I had started dating
someone else. Are you on the
birth certificate? BLACKWELL: No, ma'am. SCHRULL: No. I go there, he cuts the umbilical cord, he's on the birth certificate. WHITTAKER: He didn't even cut
the umbilical cord. The boyfriend's name
is on the birth certificate? Yes, Your Honor. I have her
birth certificate right here. JUDGE LAKE: So hold on,
this is a birth certificate, "Certificate of live birth,
Brinleigh Anne Smith" <i> and father's name is
Nicholas Dewayne Smith.</i> WHITTAKER: <i> Yes, ma'am.</i> What I wanna understand is if you are certain
Mr. Schrull is the father, on the day Brinleigh's born he does show up
to the hospital. Only because his mother
made him. I don't care how he got there. I don't care if he
was following... SCHRULL: I wanted to be there. ...the sun and the moon
and the stars, he got there. He got there, and you say
he's the father. Why put another man's name on your child's
birth certificate if the man that
you are so certain is the father is there? Your Honor, when I woke up
from my C-section, he wasn't even there. I woke up the next morning,
and on Facebook, Christian had posted stuff
all over Facebook about my boyfriend,
about my family, saying, "Baby mama
drama already." I told him, "I don't want you
to come back." SCHRULL: I wouldn't have even
got to hold the baby if it wasn't for the doctor's,
I don't know the name
of the room. My aunt let you in
because she's the... BLACKWELL: The nurse. SCHRULL: The nurse. My aunt is a nurse. So you got to hold Brinleigh
that day? SCHRULL: Yes. Did you feel a connection,
did you feel like,
"This is my child"? No. Not at all.
I looked at her and... I'd told the nurse that
I'm like, I don't know. WHITTAKER: I've got a picture
of the both of them. Tell me this is not his child. Will you pass that evidence
to me, please. They have the exact same nose, their eyes are shaped
the exact same. How is that not his child? Thank you. It's a picture of Brinleigh
on the left, <i> and Mr. Schrull on the right.</i> <i> You believe there's
a similarity?</i> WHITTAKER: <i> Look at
their noses.</i> It's a blurry picture
that they've got but they have
the exact same nose. They have the exact same
eye shape. JUDGE LAKE: And so... How about since Brinleigh's
been born, Mr. Schrull? Have you built a bond?
Do you see her? I honestly don't care
to see her
until I know for a fact she's mine because there's multiple possibilities
to it that's... WHITTAKER: In other words,
I've been on my own for the past two years
doing it all by myself. From 18 to 20,
I've been doing it by myself. This is why you have to be
responsible for your own life. Honestly. Because you're learning
a tough lesson that a lot of young women,
women have had to learn. Yes, Your Honor, I know. Mama's baby, Papa's maybe. And now you stand
in front of me. I've heard enough.
I'm ready for the results. SCHRULL: Thank you. Is there anything
anyone would like to say before these results are read? I just wanna say
that if he is the father I hope he finally steps up
and is in her life. And I will. 'Cause she needs a father,
and... Ms. Whittaker, I must say
this testimony of yours has kind of changed. You came into this courtroom asserting that
he is the father. You are certain.
There's no other possibility. And now you're saying,
"If he is the father." He is the father,
I know he is. But like I said he has doubt.
I know he's her father. Let's get the results. These results were prepared by
DNA diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case of<i>
Whittaker v. Schrull,</i> when it comes to two-year-old
Brinleigh Smith, it has been determined
by this court... Babies having babies. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Schrull,
you... Are her father. I'm her father. WHITTAKER: Thank you. BLACKWELL: Oh, God. Thank you. SCHRULL: Then I...
Then I apologize. I apologize for everything,
I really do. I'm sorry I put you
through this. I'm just so happy after two
years that you finally... You finally know you can
finally start being there. And I will be. BLACKWELL: Just give
her a hug. Would you be willing
to give me a hug? Can I give you a hug, Lyndsi,
please? SCHRULL: I'm sorry. I will definitely be there. (SOBBING) Thanks, baby. JUDGE LAKE: That's really
nice to see. And I see tears in your eyes,
Mr. Schrull, you feel... You feel emotional
looking at your little girl? (WHIMPERS) I'm kind of upset about
missing that little bit and putting her
through what I did. Definitely gonna be there now.
That's a fact. Good. Well, listen, and Mom, that's beautiful
to see, Ms. Whittaker, that's wonderful
to see you all. Have a moment. You all been
through a lot together. (WHIMPERS) And I'm sure two years
has seemed like an eternity. Doing this alone,
it's not easy being a mother. By yourself, is a whole
different story. WHITTAKER: No. But now you've been
very blessed, and that's why
this courtroom is here. But I would like to ask
an important question. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Brinleigh's daddy
has not seen her since the day
she was born. Do you think it's okay if he got a chance
to see her right now? I want him to. JUDGE LAKE: Awesome. I will adjourn court and then I will meet you all
in my chambers. Court is adjourned.
