Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of <i>
Anthony Vs Pourciau.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Miss Anthony, you claimed you
had a short term relationship with the defendant,
Mr. Pourciau who was initially excited
when you told him
you were pregnant. But now, you are furious he is denying
your eight month old son,
Matthew. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Pourciau, you say you've
never taken Miss Anthony
seriously, and she herself confessed to sleeping
with other men during
the time of conception. You believe the only reason
Miss Anthony is pinning
her child on you is because you married
someone else, is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. So, Miss Anthony, what has Mr. Pourciau done
for your child? Not a damn thing, Your Honor. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Nothin', not, no... Not a diaper, no wipes,
no formula. That's only because she told
me that the child wasn't mine. I'm getting to that. I told him that, I did tell
him that the child was
not his but, Your Honor, he was not in a
very good place in his life. He was partying and I was
partying too, but once I
found out I was pregnant, I put all those things aside and did what I had to. And so wait, did you
tell him that he was
the father at first Yes, he was there when
I took the pregnancy test. or that he wasn't. But she told me that
I wasn't the father. Later on I did... She told me that, her
ex-boyfriend was the father, that she was pregnant
before she met me. JUDGE LAKE: And now you say,
he's denying the baby. But, you admit to telling him
that he wasn't the father. Um, yes ma'am I did, and
I understand that was me
being in the wrong. That was a 100%,
most of this is my fault. Take me back, I wanna
understand the nature
of this relationship. Were you all dating,
were you committed, boyfriend and girlfriend? Well, I was sittin'
at the bus stop and he asked me about one
of my tattoos and we just
clicked from there. We were, amazing when
we were together, we
didn't fight very much, we never argued, and then I
went away for a little while and it just got... We had mainly a party
relationship, to be
honest with you. That's true. Like that's what our
relationship consisted of. And... No, we didn't argue
and all that, but, neither one of us was ready
to be in a relationship,
nor have a child. HAROLD: Yes, it was. JUDGE LAKE: But it
was a sexual relationship. Were you using protection? No, Your Honor,
we were not. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) And he was there... So, that's why I'm
mainly upset. You
were there for the 25 minutes of pleasure, well,
it's been nine months, (AUDIENCE MEMBERS LAUGHING) It's been nine months, and
I've bought every diaper, HAROLD: Well,
if I was told that... I bought every baby formula. Well, if you were told... HAROLD: If I was told there
was a possibility that it was mine in the
beginning, I would've
been around HEATHER: I've tried to contact
him on multiple occasions. I have text messages
right here... I'd like to see that. ...that I attempted to... And that's from his spouse, that's not from him,
'cause he blocks me and doesn't allow me
to talk to him JUDGE LAKE: Ok<i> ay,
so now, you all were
in this relationship...</i> I'll get to that in a moment. You all were in
this relationship and it basically
was not committed... No. ...and you were having sex
without protection. HEATHER: Yes, ma'am. At some point you figure out
your pregnant, you take a test
and his with you. Yes, ma'am. But when you took the test,
and it came back positive, you immediately told him,
"You're not the father?" HEATHER: Oh no, not immediately. JUDGE LAKE: All right, tell
me what happened then. I-I, well, we went to
bed that night and I laid there all night and was
like, "I can't do this, my son
deserves better..." Or, "My child" at that point
I didn't know it was a boy, "But, my child deserves
better than this, I don't know
what to do." After she took the test,
she looked me dead in my face and was like,
"It's not yours." (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) That is a lie and you know it. Don't be lying up
in this court room. I ain't got no reasons. Uh-uh-uh, no. Let me finish. I just laid down and I thought
about it, and I realized, that this man ain't gonna
do nothin' but party, this man ain't gonna take
care of me or my child, he ain't gonna
do nothin' for me. So I decided...
What I thought was a
good decision for my child. It was not the
correct decision and
I understand that now. I was young, I didn't
understand, I was,
I was scared. I thought I was doing
the best thing for that
beautiful baby right there. JUDGE LAKE: And so once you
felt like he was not going to stand up for the child and
take care of the child, you decided to tell him that
he's not even the father. Yes. And so, were you having sex
with Miss Anthony, during the window of
conception Mr. Pourciau? I don't know what the window
of conception was, so honestly, I don't
have an answer for that,
Your Honor. HEATHER: Yes. I have a... JUDGE LAKE: Okay,
that's fair. I have pictures with dates on them right here. JUDGE LAKE: I'd
like to see please. Jerome will you hand me
her evidence HEATHER: And that was, that was, that was actually
on April, it was the, the first week of April
was my conception time. That was April fourth. All right. HEATHER: It's in that picture. First picture, you two look
happy together. (AUDIENCE MEMBERS LAUGHING) We were. Cute couple,
April fourth, 2015. Is that the window
of conception? HEATHER: Yes, ma'am. That's actually the day, the highest, uh...when they
give you the week window. JUDGE LAKE: Another
photo of you two together,
April 21st, 2015, still in the month of April and yet another one,
April 8th, 2015. HAROLD: And all this is after she told me that she
was pregnant with
another man's child and I wasn't the father HEATHER: No, those
were before, honey. I was trying to stay around to help her take care... Don't you sit there and lie. ...of the child. That April, 8th I offered to help her... and the April 4th were before. That middle one was after. HAROLD: Because I met you
in, wait, March. No, actually, late February
and you supposedly got
pregnant early March. No, I did not supposedly
get pregnant early March.
My due date was December 18th. You need
to learn some math there. We're gonna take you
back to high school. (AUDIENCE MEMBERS LAUGHING) HAROLD: All right. How did this relationship end
Miss Anthony? He cheated on me, with his spouse now.
That is how that happened. Actually, I cheated on
my spouse with you. And he begged me to stay... And now you're married
Mr. Pourciau. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: Happily. Yes, ma'am. (CHUCKLES)
Never mind I don't have
those text messages. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) Well, you were gonna
get a divorce two weeks ago. Mr. Pourciau, you have
brought a witness. HAROLD: Yes, ma'am. And would like to have Jerome escort the witness
into the courtroom. I'd like to hear from them. Thank you, Jerome. You're welcome. (HAROLD AND HEATHER
CHUCKLING) Look at that baby,
how are you gonna
to deny him? He looks, look at his nose. HAROLD: I only denied him,
because Look at his eyes. you told me, he wasn't mine. HEATHER: I know and I'm sorry
for that, that was me,
but look at him. How can you tell that he
don't look like you. HEATHER: Look at his smile. If he's mine, I'm gonna
take care of him. Thank you for joining us.
Sir, please state your
name for the court. Michael Pourciau. Mr. Pourciau you are what
relation to Mr. Pourciau? He's my husband. Yes, ma'am. I have
proof of that. He's is your husband. Please present it
to the court. All right, this is in fact
your marriage certificate,
certificate of marriage. MICHAEL: Yes, Your Honor. And so you all are married. MICHAEL: Yes, ma'am. I would like to know, what you know about
this situation. Honestly, Your Honor,
I wasn't there, obviously, when they did what they did. But, I was told from
Miss Anthony herself my husband had
gone away for a couple
of months. And I was holding down
things at home, I was holding him
down where he was, and I needed little bit of
help, 'cause I ran short. I called Miss Anthony,
she met me down in fact
at the very same place that they met,
at the bus terminal. Got a little couple of dollars
off of her, whatever I needed
for my husband. At that time, he
wasn't my husband. That is the point
Miss Anthony told me
to my face, "The baby is not Harold's." HEATHER: That is true.
I did say that. MICHAEL: "You have nothing "to worry about." "I am not gonna pursue this, "this baby belongs to my
ex-boyfriend." JUDGE LAKE: And you say... MICHAEL: "Period." You say that it's true. That is true. I did say that,
I was, I was, you have to understand
where I was coming from
as a mother. You have to... And it was
wrong of me. The decision
I made was not right in any way, shape, or form. I understand that. But at that point in time, I
thought I was doing what
was best for my child. I thought that I was making
the best decision, because he wasn't ready
to be a parent. Actually you... My husband
can attest to this, that all I wanna be
is a parent. Like I've, I've helped raise my nieces,
my nephews and I, I've been sober for... 16 months now? HEATHER: That's good,
I'm proud of you for that, (APPLAUSE) HEATHER: That is really good. JUDGE LAKE: That's great. He has been clean for close
to 16 months, no thanks to your relationship with him. I know that was wrong of me,
we partied together and I messed up his sobriety
and that was wrong of me. So please do not paint my
husband to be a monster. I am not making your husband
to be a monster, baby. I am not. What we're trying to
figure out, is he a father? (AUDIENCE CHATTERING) HAROLD: That's
what I wanna know MICHAEL: That's what
we wanna know. Well, let's find out. (ALL LAUGHING) JUDGE LAKE: All right. When Matthew was born
Miss Anthony, at that time, I'm so confused.
You told him he was,
he wasn't, he was... At the time
the child was born, were you telling him
he was the father? I told him he wasn't. JUDGE LAKE: He wasn't.
So he wasn't present
for the birth. No, he was not and I felt,
well, I stripped him of that
and that was wrong. And the man that was present
for the birth, signed the birth certificate,
and he is, HEATHER: Yes, ma'am. who I was told was the father. JUDGE LAKE: So... (SIGHS) ...there was another man
at the hospital? HAROLD: Yes. Yes, ma'am. Did he think Matthew
was his child? HEATHER: No ma'am. He knew the whole time that
he was not the father. That's not what
he was postin'
on Facebook. Yes, because we decided
not to go public with it. We decided to keep
it between us. JUDGE LAKE:
Is the Facebook public? and a few family. Yes, it is. HAROLD: Thank you, thank you. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Because we were
trying to keep... We were, trying to be a family,
didn't work out 'cause for whatever reason and I, I just felt guilty
and I'm trying to do
the right thing by my son and, you didn't want to quit
partying, that's why. I'm done partying. Honestly, if you take
a look at everything, the messages that you've
sent to Harold the phone calls, everything
that you've stated, the baby wasn't his and you tell me
the baby wasn't his. You have this, smiling happy image of you
and this other man, holding this child
on Facebook. You are right. I am not
arguing with you about that. All right, so Miss Anthony,
you submitted some messages
to the court. Yes. They're from Mike. JUDGE LAKE: I'd like
to review. That would
be Mr. Pourciau. HEATHER: Oh, yes, sorry
I forgot entirely. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. HEATHER: I'm sorry. (JUDGE LAUREN READING) Next message. (JUDGE LAUREN
CONTINUES READING) (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE: All right. Yes, ma'am. Your Honor, I did
write those messages but they
were in response to five messages in a row
unanswered from my husband. She messaged my husband first,
on Facebook. Those messages were
forwarded to me and he asked me
to ask her to stop and I asked her several
times nicely, "Please stop
messaging him" and instead of stopping
messaging him, she would message him and
say, "Why do you gotta get
your husband involved?" It's between us, So that when I lashed out. this is our child possibly. Our child, it's between us.
You weren't there
with a flash light. So, therefore... JUDGE LAKE: But now,
wait a minute. Miss Anthony, you said before
there were no other choices
and now you say "If this possibly our child." Oh, no, there's no
other child. I'm saying
possibly. That's what they're saying is,
"Possibly" that he's not his.
If you look at my son,
look at him. MICHAEL: I'll give you there
are some similarities but you cannot take away from
the fact that you have openly
declared to people HEATHER: You're right. ...that he may not be Harold's child. You have also
declared to other people of your sexual trysts
before Harold... "Trysts"? ...and after, to include a
three-way right after your relationship
with my husband. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Yup, you're right,
that did happen. (AUDIENCE MEMBERS LAUGHING) MICHAEL: Boom. Boom, boom. I'm gonna honest, I'm not
gonna lie, that did happen. But that happened before
and not after. That happened before
and not after. Then came up to be pregnant
and told me that it might
be that gentleman. How do you forget a threesome? Your Honor, that was
a very bad time in my life.
I was very... I partied very hard
at that point in time until I found out
I was pregnant. HAROLD: And that's all right. That was another part
of the reason I got sober
as well though. HAROLD: I make $800
every week, And I thank you for that. I wash dishes and I've just been waiting
to figure it out. And so what are
you hoping for? HAROLD: The best for him. If he's not mine, I hope he
does figure out who his
father is. If he is mine, he's gonna
have the best of everything. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Thank you for that.
Thank you. Are you hoping that you are
Matthew's biological father? I see this makes you
very emotional, it means
a lot to you? It does. JUDGE LAKE:
Tell the court why. I was raised in foster care. I'm not a dirt bag and I don't him to see me
as one if he is my child. Like, I've been in over 40
different foster homes. (TEARFULLY) Like, I've been
in and out of the system. I don't want that for him.
He doesn't deserve that, he didn't ask to be
brought in this world. If his mom, we consummated,
we made him, it's our job to give
him everything he needs
and to take care of him. JUDGE LAKE: Very well said. Miss Anthony, you maintain, that you believe
Mr. Pourciau is your child's
biological father. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: Well, let's see
what the DNA has to say. Jerome, the envelope please. Here you go, ma'am. These results, were prepared by
DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case of<i>
Anthony Vs Pourciau,</i> when it comes to
eight-month-old Matthew, it has been determined
by this court... Mr. Pourciau, you are the father. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) That's the first time
I've seen you smile
today, Mr. Pourciau. This is all he really wanted
is to have a child of his own and specifically a son, so on his end on and my end, basically makes the child
my step child. Well, it does. I work, I make decent money
and, I can't give him
a child. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Pourciau, have you ever
seen your little boy? I've not even met him yet. JUDGE LAKE: Have you ever? I haven't got to hold him
or anything JUDGE LAKE: You haven't? Like, this is probably the
best day of my life
right now, to be honest. JUDGE LAKE: Well, let this
court make it even better. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Miss Anthony, would you mind,
if Matthew meets his daddy
in my chambers? I have no problem, I would
actually enjoy that very much. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE: Beautiful. JUDGE LAKE: Well... Well, family, I will meet you all there.
Court is adjourned. JUDGE LAKE:
Oh, and there's Matthew! Sit down and hold him. What's up, baby. What's up my little man. You all right? (HEATHER LAUGHING) What's up. What's he gonna call you? I don't know what he's
gonna call me. Now that I'm holding you,
there's no doubt you're his. JUDGE LAKE: Do you
see these people! That big old head. Oh, he's safe with daddy. He's saying,
"Who's this big man
that look like me?" JUDGE LAKE:
This was beautiful. JUDGE LAKE: Let's
just continue down this
road family, okay? This is awesome. I wish you all the very best
of luck. He is precious.
