Please be seated. Good morning, Your Honor. Good morning. This is the case
of <i> Leigh v. Leigh.</i> Thank you, Ron.
Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Leigh,
you and your siblings claim the defendant
was not fathered by your dad, Charles Leigh, Sr., a former
professional football player and two-time
Super Bowl champion, who sadly passed away
10 years ago, Correct, Your Honor. is that correct? JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Patrick Leigh,
you are tired of the plaintiffs denying
that you share the same dad, and today's DNA results
will prove your case that football star,
Charles Leigh, Sr., was in fact your father,
is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. What did you know
about your mother's
relationship with Charles Leigh, Sr.? My father used to come
by the house all the time. You've known him
all your life? All my life. It wasn't revealed to you at 10 or 12... No, ma'am. That this is your father? No, ma'am. You've known him
since you were born? Yes, ma'am. Did you know that he was a football star
Super Bowl champion? Did you know these things
about his life? PATRICK: In the beginning,
I didn't know. People would come over to me
and tell me, you know, "Your father is..." CARLA: Excuse me. If you... "Your father..." CARLA: Wait a minute. If he had you
all your life, and you didn't know, and you
was hanging out with him? Oh, my father
was the type of person he's gonna tell you... PATRICK: As I was saying... ...about the story. PATRICK: If you're
asking me... He's gonna telling you. My father... CHARLES: Everybody know... Everybody at home,
they know my father. So, if you're he's son,
you don't know... You didn't know at first? CARLA: You didn't know? JUDGE LAKE:
So, Mr. Charles Leigh, Jr., your father died 10 years ago. Um, why come to court now? CHARLES: Well, actually,
Your Honor...
(CLEARS THROAT) My father died 10 years ago, but my mom just passed away
nine months ago. My mom died September
the 24th of 2015. JUDGE LAKE: I'm sorry
to hear that. CHARLES: Yes. And we were,
sort of estranged from Patrick after my father had died. And there was never a blood test done. JUDGE LAKE: Okay.
I wanna hear from Mr. Leigh. Why is it that you feel like
they're questioning this now? I have no clue. If you ask me, it may be
having to do something with the will or just anything going on
within our family. I don't know. He never really
looked like us, and people even
in our own family would always say to him. And I felt bad sometime when they would say to him "Oh, Tinky ain't your father," or "You've got that wrong." And he ended up coming
to live with my mom. My mother and father
when he, I guess, he's about 11 or 12 years old, his mom had...
He was giving her problems. She drops him off
to my father basically. My father was
renovating the house
or something, he stayed down
in that house down there until my father
had the courage to go home to tell his wife
that his outside child had been dropped to him. And when my mother found out, she told him to go get him. He is a child. And then my mother allowed him to go there. CARLA: And he was bad. And my mother took him...
He called my mother... PATRICK: Excuse me,
Your Honor. That's not true. ...ma and everything. How did you come
to live with them? I have been having
problems with my mom. CHARLES: Uh-huh. Okay? Due to the fact that, you know I didn't have
a male figure around me. So, I'm arguing,
fighting, tearing up. So my mom's like,
"I don't know what
I'm gonna do with you." So she called my father. My father came to the house. She said, "Tinky,
I'm having problems with him. "I don't know
what I'm gonna do with him." He said, "Well,
I'm gonna take him with me. "Let me take him
and let me see
what I can get done." CARLA: And, Your Honor... PATRICK: Now, listen... I can say this, my father
would bring home a stray dog and raise the dog. JUDGE LAKE: Well this is
not a dog. CHARLES: Yeah. CARLA: Uh, right.
But what I'm saying was... This was what I'm trying
to say to you. JUDGE LAKE:
I get what you're saying. Your point is
it wouldn't surprise you whether he knew
definitively or not that this was
his biological child. He basically would look at him
as a young man in need. CARLA: That was him. If it was a question then, why is my father's name
on my birth certificate? Your father's name
is on your birth certificate? PATRICK: Yes, ma'am. CHARLES: We're not... Do you have a copy of that? PATRICK: Yes, I do. We're not saying... JUDGE LAKE: Ron,
can you please hand me? We're not saying that he...
Listen, we're not saying that because at that time my father was having
an affair with his mother. And my father did sign
the birth certificate because back then,
when he was a baby, you don't, you don't look
like nobody. It was until
he started getting older. He didn't look like any of us.
Then it became a question. Thank you. CHARLES: My father
didn't deny him when he was a baby. So, what are you trying to do?
You're not making no sense. And you're trying to make me
look like I'm crazy. And I don't know
what (INDISTINCT) You had to go to school. All right.
Let's get some control. Patrick, when you,
just a moment ago, presented
your birth certificate
with your father's name on it, you presented
your original
birth certificate, and it is signed and it is your father's name is listed as "Father." How are you feeling? CHARLES: I didn't know, he felt like that... CARLA: It's... JUDGE LAKE:
Don't start talking. PATRICK: I don't feel... (INDISTINCT)
you brought this to me. I didn't bring... In fact, I should be standing
where you at. (SCOFFS) JUDGE LAKE: Patrick, I can see
this is hurting you, too. CARLA: Hmm. CHARLES: Like I said, we gonna... (BEATING GAVEL) JUDGE LAKE: Sir,
you're not gonna
outtalk me here today. CHARLES: I'm sorry,
Your Honor. No, let's get something straight. CHARLES: I'm sorry. You're not gonna run
this thing, I do. CHARLES: Okay. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Now, in order for me
to give you a chance to respond to his story, I have to hear it. Okay. Mr. Leigh, was there ever
any conversation, and I need to ask this, about the fact
that he was a married man? PATRICK: No. She didn't know it. CHARLES: Whoa. She didn't know
he was a married man. Jesus. PATRICK: Now this is how I'm gonna tell you...
I'll tell you everything because obviously these people
first and foremost... These people?
We're your
brother and sister. I'm sorry.
Excuse me, excuse me. Now, we these people?
You're raised up
in the house. My mother raised you. Mr. Charles Leigh... and Ms. Carla Leigh don't know the story, okay? Because myself and her got
into plenty arguments, "Your mother is a slut "because she messed
with a married man." "You ain't nothing, but this,
that, yada, yada, yada." So, I'm like, "Oh, really?"
I'm like, "I don't know this." I don't know this though. I'm a baby. I'm a kid. She knew my... She knew my father
was married. Everybody know. They've been together since
they were 12 years old. But most importantly,
most importantly, my father knew
he was married. Exactly. Okay? So, therefore,
for him to tell my mother otherwise, who's to blame? You can't blame my mother. Okay.
Let's get some order. CHARLES: My father took care
of his kids. Yo, drama queen,
take it somewhere else, okay? We have nothing
to do with this. (PATRICK SOBS) Nothing to do with it. JUDGE LAKE:
Well, you know what? As much as you have been
talking, Charles Leigh, Jr., this morning... Uh-hmm. I will say what
you just said was so correct. I see you all. It's an emotional day. You're dealing with the legacy of your father, you're dealing with things
that adults created, situations adults created, and now you, the children,
are living it out in the next generation. And it's not easy because
you don't understand how all this happened
and what it all means. That's what I'm trying
to help you understand. CARLA: Now, I'm gonna tell you about this situation
right here. No, I don't blame
his mother, okay? And I had a real big issue
with my father because I was a daddy's girl. And if you look
at that screen, I look just like
my daddy, okay? I haven't seen Patrick since 2007 when they named
Bleecker Stadium
after my father. Before that,
I couldn't tell you how long I had seen him, but I'll tell you
the most hurtness feeling is when my father died. My brother had to make him go get in the car with us. He left my father's funeral... In the middle of it. ...in the middle of it. Got up and walked out. Who in the world does that? PATRICK: That is a lie.
The reason why I had to leave or I didn't get
into the limousine with them was because I drove
someone else's car out to the house to make sure
everything was right. I had to bring that car back because that person
did me a favor, and they had to go to work
and to school. So for them to do me a favor, I have to make sure they get
their vehicle back. I wasn't refusing anything. That's what I'm saying.
People put words in my mouth and make it seem
like I'm the bad guy. CHARLES: That whole thing
is your father's funeral. JUDGE LAKE:
Well, what he said... Well, if you listen to what he's saying,
he's saying... He's lying. JUDGE LAKE: Once he knew he was invited
into the car
and he could go... CHARLES: He'd been
coming there making
arrangements with us. What do you mean,
now all of a sudden... You're acting like
he was not...
He was in the paper. JUDGE LAKE:
So, let me ask you this. Let me ask you this. Okay. But this
doesn't make sense. So guys, this is why
and this is exactly why
I sit here. Because I hear the testimony and I can hear
when it's inconsistent with the point
you're trying to prove. If he trying to be all up in the family,
I'm one of the kids and "Y'all gonna
recognize me..." CHARLES: Yeah. ...he'd have been
the first one in the limo. JUDGE LAKE: He had somebody
else's car. JUDGE LAKE:
Earlier in your testimony, you mentioned the obituary, and I wanna understand that. JUDGE LAKE:
If you take a look... it says "Charles Leigh, Sr.
died peacefully "and he's survived
by four children." And their four children
mentioned. Yes. JUDGE LAKE: And then there is an additional line, "Also survived
by Patrick Leigh
of New York." CHARLES: Yes. And yes. And that one's a error. But wait a minute.
No. No. No, no, it wasn't an error. Everybody did not know that my father
had outside children. JUDGE LAKE: Listen, everybody
that just looks at this screen can understand why the writer
wrote it that way. CHARLES: Uh-hmm. Now, I wish they would've consulted me because I could've given them
better verbiage. Right. And then they wouldn't seem like, "And also these people." Because that's what
it reads like intentionally or not. CHARLES: We didn't do
that intentionally. JUDGE LAKE: No,
I don't believe you did. At all. Now speaking of
the fact that you
have to figure out how to list outside children, there is another child
in question that was born outside
of your parents' marriage. CHARLES: Yes. JUDGE LAKE:
I'd like to hear from Kyle. Ron, can you
please escort Kyle
into the courtroom? Yes, ma'am. You're gonna go up
to the witness stand
right next to the judge. KYLE: How you doing, ma'am? JUDGE LAKE: Hello, Kyle. Um, thank you
for joining us today. I'd like to ask you,
when did you find out that Charles Leigh, Sr. was your father? Well, when I was
six years old, um, I walked in on my mother basically having sex
with my father. AUDIENCE: Oh. KYLE: Mother brought me to the side and told me that that was my real father. JUDGE LAKE: Oh, my goodness. Did you all ever ask
your father about Kyle? CHARLES: I got on the phone
and I called my father, he told me, "Hell no." So he told you Kyle was not his biological child? Did you grow up having
a relationship with him? KYLE: From six to 12, like he was coming to get me, taking me out places
and stuff, like, he would give me
school clothes and stuff, like, he was there for me
basically, that I know of. Is Charles Leigh, Sr.
on your birth certificate? No, ma'am. I only got evidence
that my birth certificate, my stepfather signed it. Let me see that, sir. So listed
on your birth certificate is your stepfather's name. KYLE: Yes. And until six years old, you thought that was
your biological father until your mother told you? KYLE: Yes.
They had a parade
for my father when they named
the field after him. He got his own field
in Albany. I was there most
of the...
Mostly all the time. CHARLES: We didn't even know he was there. He didn't... JUDGE LAKE: You never came up and addressed the family,
you just went? KYLE: Uh-hmm. Your Honor. Oh, yeah, I mean,
I only, like, I've been to my other brother, Dev, like, before I even knew
he was my brother, like, we used to
always see each other
in the neighborhood. JUDGE LAKE: Really? KYLE: Just as friends
though, like... Ever since...ever since
me and him met, it's always been...
He knows people that I know, and then we'd chilling
the same circumference. We all have been chilling,
and I never knew... JUDGE LAKE:
So you all were friends and knew each other from
the neighborhood
and never knew you were brothers? DEVERREN: Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: And so
it's interesting to me and almost ironic that this young man who does not have
your father's name listed on his birth certificate... DEVERREN: Yeah. You readily accept and yet the gentleman that your father brought home to live with you all, raised him with you all, and his name
is on his birth certificate... CHARLES:
Because he thought he was. JUDGE LAKE:
...you have questioned. Right. It wasn't... Because... Why is that? CHARLES: Because of how... The resemblance. If you, Your Honor,
I'm just gonna say it
right now. CARLA:
If you look at one, two, and three, and four,
oh, you know we related. You kind of look over there,
it's questionable. I have been questioned this
for since he was a baby, when he was a baby. You understand? Because, like
he said, I live in that house. JUDGE LAKE: You don't see
the physical resemblance or the features? The older he got, the more he start looking like somebody else's grandson. Well, maybe he looks
like his mom. BOTH: No, he don't look
like her either. JUDGE LAKE:
Listen, it seems obvious that you all have
a level of resentment towards Patrick probably because that you knew what kind of pain
your mother had to internalize to be able to raise him, forgive your father,
and go on about her life because as much as you all say
you invite him in, if you sat where I sit,
you can see the energy that goes across the aisle
towards this young man. I mean, it... You can feel it. No, I'm done. I'm done here in testimony because I know
that the only way we can figure out
how to move forward, we got to get the results. Ron, the envelope, please. DEVERREN: That's my brother
and I love you, okay? These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics. Now in order to determine
if Kyle Lane is the brother of Charles
Leigh Jr. and Carla Leigh, we performed
a DNA siblingship test and these are the results. In the case
of <i> Leigh v. Leigh,</i> it has been determined
by this court that Charles Leigh Jr. and Carla Leigh are related to Kyle Lane. CARLA: Thank you. CHARLES: Oh, thank you. CARLA: I knew that. (APPLAUSE) Thank you, Jesus. The next result are for Patrick Leigh. In the case
of <i> Leigh v. Leigh.</i> It has been determined
by this court that Charles Leigh Jr. and Carla Leigh Yeah! Oh, thank you, Lord! are not related
to Patrick Leigh. Lord Jesus! Lord Jesus. CHARLES: No. No. No. We're not doing this. But I love you. We're not doing this. We're not doing this. JUDGE LAKE: Patrick. RON: No contact.
Please step over there. JUDGE LAKE: Give him a minute. That was tough. And Ms. Leigh, I know your "Thank you, Jesus" was not to be evil, but I think it hurt him. It wasn't for evil. It's the... JUDGE LAKE: <i> No,
it's the stress of not knowing
all these years.</i> CARLA: (INDISTINCT)
That my mother went through. Just give him a minute. I'm very sorry. (PATRICK SOBS) You know. Life goes on. I mean, you know,
ain't nothing I could
do about it, but I'm good.
I just wanna go home
to my boys. JUDGE LAKE: I want you
to understand that for a man to take you as a child into his home with his other children
and his wife and jeopardize
the family he had built, that means he had a lot
of love for you. Can I give him
a hug, please? JUDGE LAKE: Just ask... PATRICK: I don't want. JUDGE LAKE:
He doesn't want a hug
right now. I'm good. I'm good. JUDGE LAKE: He doesn't want
a hug right now, and that's okay. This is where I think we begin the healing process. We have the truth. We have counseling,
we have resources for you all, and we wanna start helping
you all walk through this. One thing's for certain, your father has left a legacy on the field
and off the field. Patrick, I wish you
the very best of luck. Court is adjourned.
