Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of<i>
Cayce v. Ewing,
Edwards and Hawkins.</i> Thank you, Jerome. Your welcome. Good day, everyone. Good day, Your Honor. Ms. Cayce, you say that for more than 25 years
your mother has told you that a deceased man, who is listed on your
birth certificate, is your biological father. Yes, Your Honor. Now, another man,
Mr. Edwards, is claiming he is your biological father. Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Ewing, you say, you are sure Mr. Edwards
is not your daughter's father. In fact, you say
you are 100% certain that a man named Otis Hawkins, who you claim
was shot and killed, is in fact, your daughter's
biological father. Yes, Your Honor. And, Mr. Edwards, you claim
that you and Ms. Ewing were still in a sexual
relationship at the time
her daughter was conceived and hope to prove
that you are indeed Ms. Cayce's biological father. Yes, Your Honor. So, Ms. Cayce,
please tell the court. What has it been like to spend
your life without a father? Actually, it's been hell, um, not knowing
where I came from. I built a bond with
Otis Hawkins, who's on my birth certificate, <i> even though he's not
ever been in my life.</i> <i> I do not know
what the man looks like.</i> I don't have a
picture of him. I don't have anything
about him, but he is on my
birth certificate. My oldest daughter, I gave...
I passed Hawkins on to her. So, I pretty much raised my kids
the way that I have
never been raised. I made sure that
the mother and the
father is in the home. And they know exactly
who their father is, whether he wants to
be there or not. Ms. Ewing, when you
hear your daughter talk about how much
it hurt to grow up... Mmm-hmm. ...without her father,
how do you feel? It hurts me to find out
that's how she feels. If I would've knew that that's
what she needed, I would have did my best
to help her. But I did not know. Ms. Cayce, you seem to kind of roll your eyes, like you don't
believe your mother. It's not that
I don't believe her, she has nine children. My other siblings had
their father in their life. Me, it was like a dark hole,
I was walking down a... A dark hallway
that it was never gonna have no bright light to it, and it was kind of rough. It was real hard on me. Ms. Ewing, what have
you told Ms. Cayce about Mr. Hawkins
and your relationship? Um, I called his cousin to see did she want to spend
time with Laconda and um, she informed
me then that he had been shot
in the head... (AUDIENCE GASPS) ...by his brother
and he was deceased. Laconda was seven years old when I was told that. I didn't want to tell her
until she got older.
I didn't know how to tell her. And I'm telling you
exactly what I
was told. And what was your
relationship like? Were you all
in a committed relationship... Yes, ma'am. We was until he came
back from overseas. You obviously were
in a relationship, had a sexual
relationship with
Mr. Edwards. Yes, Your Honor. And, Ms. Cayce,
when did you hear that Mr. Edwards
could possibly be your father? Mr. Edwards had
inboxed me and we had spoke. I had spoke
to his youngest child. And, he was like,
"You sound like me." I'd seen a picture
of you and my dad
in St. Louis with my sister,
which is his daughter. Um, she was like,
"You kind of look like me." Our face was just
similar to each other, like she certain that
I was her sister. So, to be clear, Mr. Edwards is your older
sister's father. Yes, ma'am. (AUDIENCE GASPS) Okay. Mr. Edwards, you weren't in
your daughter's life or Ms. Cayce's life, am I correct? Correct, Your Honor. So, you reached out
to her on social media? I was looking. You were looking. I was looking for them. And, you know... I... I'm sorry. I am so sorry. I felt like this. We lost one. We lost one boy. We ain't losing this one.
I'm not losing you. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) I'm not losing you. Why are you so convinced
that you're her father? I don't even understand
how I can tell. It's like the hair stands
up on my back. She looks so much
like my family. She's got everything
that my mom had. You know, what my mom
looked like. I got six other daughters. (AUDIENCE GASPS) And my youngest daughter... I mean, if you would look
at her and look at her,
you would... JUDGE LAKE: <i> They look
very similar, you're saying?</i> <i> Yes. Yes, ma'am,
they look.</i> And so, at some point
you hear from Mr. Edwards. Yes, Your Honor. You go meet him, what's going
through your mind? I did not have
a bond with him. Me and my oldest sister
had a conversation
about my mother, and she was like, "Well, what if he is
your father? "Since your mother lied
to us for so many years
about different things, "what if Mr. Edwards,
becomes your father?" And I said, I don't believe so, because
the bond that I had felt
with him, it wasn't there. It wasn't no daughter
and father bond that I'd felt. It was a blank feeling. So, Ms. Cayce, let me ask
you something. All these years, you've had Otis Hawkins
on your birth certificate. Yes, Your Honor. Eventually, I had,
when I got over the age of 18, me and my husband sat down
and we did a research. I got on a social network and I found Otis Hawkins and he was in
Natchez, Mississippi. They did not expose whether
he was alive or deceased, but they had gave
me two addresses
and three phone numbers. At that present time,
I contacted the three
numbers that I had for him. They was all disconnected. So, at that point,
me being frustrated, holding everything in
from being a child, I just blew up and let it go. If you had the opportunity to speak to him,
what would you have said? It would be like
a dream come true. Like, would anybody
would love to meet Jesus? I would love to meet him. It would be amazing. I would just ask him a lot
of questions, like, "What happened?
Why did you leave? "Is it something that she said
to you or did to you "that make you leave me "and not want to be
in my life?" He didn't leave
because of you, Laconda,
he left because of me. Not you. You had nothing to do with it. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) Well, I took a lot
of blame for that. Well... You need to stop
feeling like that.
He left me. I left him. And it had nothing to do... JUDGE LAKE: You were
an innocent child. You was a child.
You had nothing to do with it. Ms. Cayce, all this time, you've really been torn. Yes, ma'am. I don't believe
any child in this world should grow up
without a parent. Whether it's
the mother
or the father. I don't believe any child
should have to go
through that. And then, just... Not knowing where
you came from... That gentleman is...
Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Edwards
are African American. She is Caucasian.
Everyone said I look
Puerto Rican, which is Mexican
or something. How is that possible
if both of them is
African American? So, it's kind
of confusing to me growing up not knowing
where I'm from. Who I came from
but her. Well, Ms. Cayce... Yes, ma'am? You've been told for over 25 years that Otis Hawkins,
the man you believe to be your father, was dead. Yes, ma'am. But he's alive. (GASPS) Oh! (AUDIENCE GASPS) And we found him for you. Ms. Cayce? Yes, ma'am? You've been told for over 25 years that Otis Hawkins,
the man you believe to be your father, was dead. Yes, ma'am. But he's alive. (GASPS) Oh! (AUDIENCE GASPS) And we found
him for you. Jerome, please escort
Mr. Hawkins... GINGER: Oh, my God! ...into the courtroom. He's here, Laconda. JUDGE LAKE: You need
to sit down? You okay? JEROME: If you'll
go up to the witness stand. GINGER: Oh, my God!
Laconda, that's your dad! There's your dad! Don't worry. Oh, my God! That is me. Let me see. Oh, I got this picture
and my sister lost it. That's you! I have this picture. GINGER: Look at you, baby! This is the picture I had. <i> My teddy bear. My bear.
I loved that bunny.</i> <i> And Mr. Snuggles
was his name.</i> I used to always take
that bunny with me
everywhere I'd go. And, Mr. Hawkins, thank you, sir,
for joining us today. LACONDA: Oh, my God! You're welcome. I look at this picture
every night. I never stopped
loving Laconda. GINGER: Oh, my God, Laconda. I look at this picture
every night. At home, this picture been
in this frame, right here for the past
26 years, 27 years. It's been in this frame,
hanging up over my bed. GINGER: You look
just like him, Laconda. I love you. I never stopped
thinking about you. GINGER: <i> You see that?
You look just like him.</i> OTIS: <i> Yeah.</i> I never got to
see you,
ever in my life. I never got to lay
a eye on you or
even speak to you. You'd have forgot me. Here's a picture, Your Honor.
I took her to Mississippi
for Christmas. (LACONDA LAUGHS) I see you. JUDGE LAKE:<i>
With all your family.</i> OTIS: <i> Mmm-hmm.</i> So you've been keeping Laconda's picture... All these years... You remember the relationship
with her mother? Yes. Tell me
about that relationship. It was pretty good
at first and... It just, after some years,
it just went bad. When... I was overseas,
when Laconda was born and when I got back
she was like about maybe two or three months, and that was the
only Christmas that I didn't go back
to Mississippi to see
my parents. I stayed in California,
'cause she was just born. You obviously loved
this little girl. You carrying this
picture in the frame
for all these years. What happened?
How did you lose contact
with your baby girl? After couple of years,
I moved back to Mississippi. And, uh, the last time
I saw her when Ginger
brought her over to the house. I didn't see her no more
after that. But, this was your daughter. I mean, there were phones.
There was the mail... I don't know. She said
she tried to find me on cell phones. Everybody got away from
house phones. The number
they had was house phones. Did you ever doubt
Laconda was yours? No. No, ma'am. She mine. She mine. GINGER: I don't either,
Laconda. They just asked
me last weekend, when I buried my mother, in her obituary, 25 grandchildren.
You one of them
25 grandchildren. Oh, my... Did you ever hear that people
were looking for you? They were told you were
shot and killed. How did that incorrect
information get out? I don't know... I don't know
but I know one
thing for certain. Ain't nobody in my family
put that out. Did you make up
the story about hearing that
he had been shot
and killed? No. No. I did not make up
that story. RICHARD: Oh, man. That's what I was told
before I left San Diego to move back to Long Beach. That's what I was told. (AUDIENCE GASPS) Okay. So I think it's time
to get the results. And you have
another man that believes in
his heart that
you could be his. Both men have
been tested. If anyone needs
to have a seat, please feel free. We know this can be
very emotional. In the case of <i> Cayce v. Ewing,
Edwards, Hawkins,</i> pertaining to whether
Mr. Edwards is the father of Ms. Cayce, Mr. Edwards... I didn't see her
no more after that. In the case of <i> Cayce v. Ewing,
Edwards, Hawkins,</i> pertaining to whether
Mr. Edwards is the father of Ms. Cayce, Mr. Edwards, you are not her father. (EXHALES) In the case of <i> Cayce v. Ewing,</i> <i> Edwards, Hawkins,</i> pertaining to whether
Mr. Hawkins is the father of Ms. Cayce, Mr. Hawkins, you are not her father. Oh! (SOBBING) Laconda, in my heart,
you're still my child. GINGER: I know
who your dad is. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Ewing? Do you know who her father is? Yeah, I do. And it's... His brother. (AUDIENCE GASPS) LACONDA: What the... Mr. Hawkins' brother? RICHARD: Whoa! I didn't see that coming. So, you were sleeping with him and his brother
at the same time? He was gone. No. Not at the same time.
He was gone. He was out... Out to sea. And I had slept
with his brother twice. And I told his brother
I couldn't do this no more. And I was with him. When Laconda was... Was born, my brother wasn't
even living in California. No. My brother was not out there. Yes, he was. My brother came out
to California after I was out of the Navy. I can understand how you might
in denial and
disbelief as well. Is your brother
still alive? Yes, he's still alive. Okay. I was also told that Ginger was foolin'
around with the man
that ran the store, which is, Arabic. GINGER: Okay. Ms. Ewing, it's time
to lay it on the line. I don't know if what they're
saying is true... Mmm-Hmm. I don't know. But I will keep
it real in this way. If you sleep with a man's
family member, the man at the store
ain't too far-fetched. Mmm-hmm. We... (CROWD APPLAUDING) We at the point now where it can be no shame
in our game. GINGER: There is not. We just have to tell
it like it is. Mmm-hmm. This woman has grown up
her whole life thinking it was her fault...
Her father was shot
and killed. Off of a seven-layer lie. That's not acceptable. It's not. And you're her mother
and you can help
her right this wrong. I will be in touch with you. I want you to do
your thinking. Mmm-hmm. Do your research and see if you can get the other man or men to cooperate. Until that time,
court is adjourned.
