Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is a case of
McGhee v. McGhee. Thank you Jerome.
Good day everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Miss McGhee,
you've petitioned the court for a DNA test to prove
to your estranged husband,
Mr. McGhee that he is in fact the father
of your 4-year-old
daughter, Sir'renity. MISS MCGHEE:
Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: You claim
your husband vanished
four years ago after the birth of your child,
and has denied fathering your daughter. Yeah. JUDGE LAKE: And refuses
to help you financially. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: You're also suing
for child-rearing expenses in the sum of $3,617. Yes, Your Honor. Mr. McGhee, you say,
you wanted to be a family and that's why you
married Miss McGhee. Only to discover that after Sir'renity was born
your wife cheated on you and that you may not be
the father of the child? Yes, Your Honor. So Miss McGhee,
tell me about your struggle
in the last four years? Okay well, the last
four years of my life with my daughter
has been pure hell. I've had to pay for
medical expenses
for my daughter, I had... My daughter
was born with slight autism. <i> That I had to struggle to
take her to therapy sessions</i> <i> and everything.
He left us homeless</i> with my newborn child. And he just vanished
and left us. I did everything
by myself for the last four...
Almost five years. You haven't helped,
Mr. McGhee? Your Honor,
I don't believe that
Sir'renity is mine. So I didn't see
any need to help. MISS MCGHEE: How you
not feel she yours when you know me
and you were messing around the time
I conceived. No, because you were messing
around with multiple people. MISS MCGHEE: You was too! And you talk about
multiple people before I even had her. I let you know. It ain't like I kept it
a secret from you. So... JUDGE LAKE: When
did you let him know? I left him know
it was a slight possibility he wasn't my
child's father. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) I'm not going to sit up
here and make it seem like I'm such a saint,
like I didn't do no wrong. Cause I did. JUDGE LAKE:
If you let him know there was a slight
possibility how do you stand
before the court today and say you know
he is? MISS MCGHEE: Because
the dates don't add up and I thought
that I was pregnant, me and he were
messing around. We were still
messing around. Even though
he had moved on. Why he sitting up here
making it seem like I was just
out there? He was messing around too! Your Honor, we were
not together when she had
been pregnant so... But that's neither
here nor there. I know he's my child's father. She could've been
messing with anyone. No. And he need to step up
and help take care of her. Cause I can't continue
to do this on my own! (APPLAUDING) Mr. McGhee, you do admit
you were in a sexual
relationship with her? MR. McGHEE:
Yes, Your Honor. You do admit you were having that sex
without protection? Look at that little girl. MR. McGHEE:
Yes, Your Honor. MISS McGHEE:
Look at that little girl. So, why don't you believe? I don't believe
because not only her but multiple family members
of hers is informing
they think that <i> I'm not the father
of the child.</i> <i> It so happened that
we had a Super Bowl party.</i> <i> So, we were drinking
the stuff.</i> <i> She ended up
falling asleep.</i> Sittin' on the edge of the bed
her phone ended up going off. So, pick it up... I'm going
through the messages I see a message
in there from another guy telling about "how's my baby,"
referring to Sir'renity. So that was like
the first indication that I think that somebody
else is the father. Then I'm looking
though pictures, she got naked pictures
showing other men's genitalia. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) So, she supposed to
be my wife but that's not me. So what am I
supposed to think? We both were
committing adultery with each other. He was cheating on me,
I was cheating on him. I told him it was
a slight possibility he wasn't my
child's father. I was honest with him. But that still don't
change the fact even after I had her,
you married me. So if you had
all these doubts, why did you marry me? Why didn't you request
the DNA test before
you married me? (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE: So... Now, a question, why not
request the DNA test
before this? I thought I was
in love with her. So... You thought you was
in love with me? Yeah. Being in love with me don't have nothing to do
with you not taking care of your responsibilities. MR. McGHEE: She is not
my responsibility. She is your responsibility. There's about three or four
other guys that can be
her father. Your Honor... I'll pay 25%. Then they can pay
the other 75%. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) MISS McGHEE: (LOUDLY)
Are you kidding me right now? JUDGE LAKE:
Excuse me! This is why I want
my divorce, this is why I want him
to sign over his rights, and when the tests come back
he is my child's father, I want him to help me
support the costs that I had to deal with almost
five years with my child. Don't you make it seem like
that I'm just all out here when you was the one
committing adultery too, did you not forget
that I walked in on you
at our home? (AUDIENCE GASPING) JUDGE LAKE: Whoa. Um... Not a good thing,
Mr. McGhee. Your Honor, I'm not
claiming to be perfect in this situation. MISS McGHEE: That's true. Yes, I cheated. That ain't... But I didn't
father a child... Yes, you did. So, it is possible that... Yes, you did. Sir'renity is not mine. So, dealing with that now
from her own admission... MISS McGHEE: Yeah. She tell me that I'm
possibly not the father. MISS McGHEE: Throughout our
relationship he cheated on me. Who told you? Her mother told me
that I'm not the father. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) She told... JUDGE LAKE:
Her mother told you... Yeah. You are not
Sir'renity's father? Yes. Who is she to sit up here
and tell you that you not my child's father when the
last time I recalled it was me, you
in a van. JUDGE LAKE: <i> Now
wait a minute, Mr. McGhee,</i> <i> let's stop right there.
You say her mother</i> <i> told you that Sir'renity
is not your biological</i> child? MR. McGHEE: Yes. Now, where I can see
from the court papers, her mother is here. Jerome, would you please
escort Miss McGhee's mother into the courtroom? JEROME: Hello, ma'am. Careful going
up the steps. You got nerves. (AUDIENCE MUTTERING) JUDGE LAKE: You need to
realize who you gave birth to. I'm your child,
he's not your child! That's your
grand-daughter. Miss Justice? Thank you for
joining us today. We have established that
you are Miss McGhee's mother. And yet,
Mr. McGhee has testified that you told him
that Sir'renity was not
his biological child. So do you think
Mr. McGhee is your
grandchild's father? No, Your Honor,
I don't. JUDGE LAKE: You don't? No, my daughter
was out there. MISS McGHEE:
I was out there? MR. McGHEE: Slut! (YELLING)
Excuse me? JUDGE LAKE:
Let's be respectful. Excuse me? JUDGE LAKE:
Let's be respectful. Was I a slut
when you married me? Was I a slut
when you slept with me? (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) MR. McGHEE: Yes. JEROME: Mind your language. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Ma'am, you say
you don't believe Mr. McGhee is your
grandchild's
biological father because... Your Honor,
they were in and out
of relationship. And my daughter
was just out there. We have relationship
and she talked to me. Okay, and so no,
I do not believe
that he is the father because I knew
my daughter was out there. And I knew that
she had made mistakes. During the time of
her conception doesn't match up
with him being the father. So why do you think
she's saying that he is? I raised her up in a good
Christian environment to honor marriage,
okay, and my daughter does not
want my family or no one to know that she
was out there. So if I'm against her,
talking against her, then she's going to
go against what I say. We have... When this test come back
he is my child's father, I want an apology from you,
and I want one from you. Because if I was out there,
how I know who
my child's father is? I admitted to him
that I made mistakes
throughout our relationship. MISS JUSTICE: Your Honor,
we have a relationship and my daughter talked to me. MISS McGHEE:
We had a relationship until you betrayed me. MISS JUSTICE: It's not that
I betrayed her, Your Honor. I only can go on... You did what you want! What my daughter
said to me. That's it! And what did she say? She told me, she said,
"Mom, I made a mistake. "I went out there
and I did this
and I did that," and I immediately
got upset because that's not the
background setting
that I brought her up in. I brought her up in a
Christian environment
and to honor marriage. She had no business
stepping out of her marriage. I can't live her life but
I can raise her a certain way, and that's the way
I raised her. And it's not my fault
that she stepped out and opened up to me. And she won't
change my belief. I'm not going to change... Was I the only one
who stepped out? MISS JUSTICE: (YELLING)
No, you was not. Then how dare you say...
If he stepped out, and I stepped out, how dare
you sit up here and tell him he ain't my
child's father? (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE: Well, Miss McGhee
you do understand that we're dealing
with a paternity issue relating to Sir'renity. So, if you did have sex
with someone else, unprotected, while you were
married to Mr. McGhee and you also
had sex with him, there potentially could be
more than one father. MISS McGHEE: Your Honor,
I was honest with him. I've never, I slept
with one person unprotected while me and him
was together. Just one. And other guy
that I slept with, I used protection. I know he is
my child's father. JUDGE LAKE:
Miss Justice, who do you think
is Sir'renity's
biological father? (EXHALES DEEPLY)
Well, Your Honor, you're not going to believe
what I'm going to say. But I'm going to
say it anyway. Cause I can't continue
to do this on my own! (APPLAUDING) I believe that it's my
daughter's future fiance is the father
of my granddaughter. MISS McGHEE: Are you kidding
me right now? MISS JUSTICE:
That's what I believe. Fiance? How can you
be married with a fiance? She actually said,
"Future fiance." MR. McGHEE: That mean
that they already
in a relationship. Yes, we are. And I've been
in a relationship with him for the last
past four years. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) He stepped up... And so... Hear me out. He stepped up and helped
me take care of my child, while this one
left us bogus. So of course, I'm going to
move on with my life, I'm not going to sit up there
and keep being bitter. <i> That little girl mean
more to me than anything!</i> <i> And that's why
he stepped up.</i> JUDGE LAKE:
So I have to ask you,
Miss McGhee, your mother says,
your current boyfriend,
future fiance... She believes
he is the father. Were you intimate with him
during the window
of conception? MISS McGHEE:
(STAMMERING) Once. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING LOUDLY) With protection
or without? Without. (MR. MCGHEE SCOFFS) JUDGE LAKE:
Without. So that's two guys now. JUDGE LAKE: Jerome, I would
like to meet this gentleman. Could you bring Mr. Coley
into the courtroom, please? JEROME: How're you doing, sir? I'm doing good. There you go. Mr. Coley, thank you
for joining us today. MR. COLEY:
How're you doing? JUDGE LAKE: Uh, you
understand we're here discussing the paternity <i> as it relates to Sir'renity?</i> <i> She said you all had sex
within the window of
conception,</i> <i> unprotected.</i> MR. COLEY: <i> Yes, ma'am.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i>
You agree to that?</i> Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: Do you believe
you're Sir'renity's
biological father? Uh, I say, it's a slight
chance that I am. JUDGE LAKE: Slight? MISS McGHEE: I say
it's a 1% chance. Why 1%? How did you
do that math? MISS JUSTICE: Because... (AUDIENCE CHUCKLING) I'll tell you
how I did that math. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Because me and him
were intimate more than
me and him was. JUDGE LAKE: But you understand
that it is not about the quantity, as it only
takes one time. One encounter. You're right, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. Let me just understand
this though. You were intimate
with Mr. Coley. MISS McGHEE: Mmm-hmm. You were intimate
with Mr. McGhee. MISS McGHEE: Mmm-hmm. JUDGE LAKE: Wasn't there
another person as well? They're not even a part
of this equation, 'cause I used protection
with them. JUDGE LAKE: With that person
there was protection? Yes, ma'am. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. Your Honor, if Sir'renity
is mine, which I highly doubt, I have no problem
taking care of her... MISS McGHEE: Excuse me? He wasn't even there through
the birth of my baby. You know he left me. My appendix ruptured while
I was four months pregnant with my child,
and I almost lost my daughter. You know what
he said to me? (SOBBING) "I'll be back.
I'm going to the store." You know, I didn't see him
till a month later. And I'm pregnant
with your child. Don't be there one day,
and the next day don't! Be there consistently,
be there for her, not for me! (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) You went to the store,
Mr. McGhee, and never came back
for a month? I was in the process
of moving into South Carolina. I was in South Carolina. He risked our child
that could "possibly" and I quote that
loosely like he saying, could be yours? You'd rather bail on me,
pregnant, and take the chance
let me lose my life and my child's life
for moving? That don't make no sense. Step up! If she is mine, then I will,
but I don't believe she is. (MISS MCGHEE CLAMORING) So why should I step up and
take care of someone else's responsibility? If he has so much doubt, and I stand on this, you should have waited,
you should have been there
at the paternity test. <i> You shouldn't wait till now,
four years later.</i> <i> My baby got real bad asthma,</i> <i> she could stop breathing
in my arms.</i> (SOBBING) He was not there! If you had any ounce
of this 25%, like you say, that she was yours,
you should have been there whether you thought
she was or not. You still should
have been there. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Don't wait till now! When I did everything. (AUDIENCE AGREEING) MISS McGHEE:
I petitioned to court to sue him for half the costs
I had to spend taking care
of my child. She's talking about I haven't
been done anything for her. But I have receipts
to show every week... They're money gram
receipts that I'm sending to her
every week. JUDGE LAKE: Every week?
I'd like to see that, sir. Jerome, will you hand me
that evidence? I'll tell you the real truth
behind that. He saying it's been
multiple money orders, he sent me one
for $40. And that's because he called
me saying, "You're my wife. "I want some sex." So I said, "I need
some transportation." He sent me $40 to get to him
so we could have sex. And you know
what I did? I took that $40
and spent it on my child because she deserved it more than you deserve
some of me. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) MR. McGHEE: Your Honor, no... MISS McGHEE: Yeah. MR. McGHEE: That is
not what transpired. She tells me that
I'm Sir'renity's father, or not her father as much
as the sun rises and sets. She said that Mr. Coley,
who's supposed to be
such a great father, <i> gets mad that she didn't
spend the money on him.</i> MISS McGHEE: <i> What?</i> MR. McGHEE:<i>
He's such a great father...</i> <i> And no, you are not a father,
you are a leech.</i> MR. COLEY: <i> Your Honor?</i> Mr. Coley, how do you
respond to that? MR. COLEY: Mr. McGhee,
he's really not
into Sir'renity. If they wouldn't
have presented
the birth certificate, you probably wouldn't know
your own daughter's full name. MISS McGHEE: There you go. You don't even know what your
daughter get up and asks for when she wake up
in the morning. You don't know
her favorite color. MISS McGHEE: <i> Mmm-hmm.</i> <i> Instead of hating me you
should have congratulated me
or loving me because...</i> MR. McGHEE: <i> Congratulate
a leech, why?</i> MISS McGHEE: <i> How you go
calling him a leech?</i> MR. McGHEE: <i> You're a parasite.</i> MISS McGHEE:<i>
And what are you?</i> And what,
you're deadbeat. JUDGE LAKE: Okay, the only way
we're going to be able to move forward is to
get the results. MR. COLEY: Oh, yeah. MISS McGHEE: Yup. (AUDIENCE AGREEING) JUDGE LAKE: Jerome? (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE: Let me
have the envelope. These results were prepared
by DNA diagnostics and they read as follows... JUDGE LAKE: In the case of<i>
McGhee v. McGhee,</i> pertaining to 4-year-old
Sir'renity McGhee, and whether Mr. McGhee
or Mr. Coley is her biological father, it has been determined
by this court... The biological father is... Mr. McGhee. MISS McGHEE:
(LAUGHING RAUCOUSLY)
How you feel now? Bet you feel stupid now,
don't you? (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE:
Miss McGhee. You missed all them years. JUDGE LAKE: Miss McGhee,
let's be respectful. Because now we've determined
that's your child's father. MISS McGHEE:
You know what? That's her father,
you said it all along. I know and I was right
and I want him and my mother, my own mother,
now how you feel? (SOBBING) I feel that I owe you an apology,
I'll give you one. Yeah, yeah. But you got to understand... You can say because
I didn't have to suffer,
she had to suffer. Miss McGhee,
I can only imagine what it would feel like
for you to hear your
mother doubt you... It hurt me. Well, you can't confide
in somebody and then tell them all your business,
and then be mad when they form their own opinion. MISS McGHEE:
It's my mother. JUDGE LAKE: No! (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) MISS McGHEE: That's my mother. She just formed
her own opinion. JUDGE LAKE: I hope you two can
work through this. But most importantly, there's
this beautiful little girl. Mr. McGhee, you're
her biological father. You doubted that. 25% turned into 99.9%.
What you're going to do? (MISS MCGHEE AND
MR. MCGHEE CHUCKLING) I have no alternative
but to step up and to provide for my child, be in her life
as much as possible. JUDGE LAKE: Yes. And do that. Miss McGhee,
you came to court suing for $3,617. MISS McGHEE:
Yes, Your Honor. Because you said you
incurred these expenses raising Sir'renity
by yourself. If we give him credit
for that $40, the total is $3,577 that you owe her. Judgment for the plaintiff.
Take care of yourselves. Court is adjourned. MISS McGHEE:
Thank you, Your Honor.
