Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello, Jerome. This is the case of<i>
Bido v. Bolton.</i> Thank you.
Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Ms. Bido,
you say you were furious when the defendant
asked you for a DNA test on your seven-month-old
daughter Iliana. Now you claim that request... Yes. ...has broken up
your happy home. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) Mr. Bolton, you state
you have reason to believe Ms. Bido's child may not be
your biological daughter. You say you are desperate
to discover the truth because you've already grown
to love her as your own. AUDIENCE: Aw. Yes, ma'am. Mr. Bolton, this is not your
first time in this courtroom. That's right. AUDIENCE: Oh! Here's what happened
previously. So how convinced are you now
that Mr. Bolton is? I'm very convinced,
'cause I only slept with three men
at that time. If he is mine,
I will step forward and do 100, 110%,
even better. I actually got myself involved
in this young man's life. <i> Most men wouldn't.</i> <i> I'm actually taking him
on the weekends when
it's available.</i> JUDGE LAKE:
When it comes to
four-year-old Micah, Mr. Bolton, you are not his father. Mr. Bolton,
so what has happened
since you were last here? Since last time
I was in court, and I was very
devastated to find
out the news about the young boy
not being mine, but in the same sense, I was happy because
Ms. Bido was pregnant
with a child... A child that's
supposed to be mine. See, Your Honor,
here's the thing. When the baby
was born, I cut the
umbilical cord. The doctors
wiped the baby off <i> and they gave Ms. Bido
the baby at first.</i> She was still fatigued
from delivering birth. JUDGE LAKE:
Understandably. So they gave
me the baby. The doctor that
gave the procedure
to deliver the baby, he handed me the baby
and he looked at me. He said, "Are you sure
this baby's yours?" (AUDIENCE GASPING) What? And I looked at
the doctor, I looked
at the doctor... And I'm like,
"What do you mean?" He said,
"'Cause this
baby's white." I'm looking at him like,
"What do you mean,
this baby's white?" Jerome, have you
ever heard of such? But... It's a first for me. This is the reason.
This is the reason here. JUDGE LAKE:
Let me see your evidence.
That's a picture of... This is a picture of Iliana
when she was first born, and when the doctor
made that comment, this is the reason
why we're here, right there. Okay, Your Honor,
let me just say this. We are...
That was stupid. We're mixed. I'm Dominican and black,
he's Puerto Rican and black. People in my family have
different color eyes. My eyes are hazel. My father's eyes are green. He told me that
when he was a young boy, when he was a baby,
as a matter of fact, his eyes were blue
and then they turned green, so I don't see
where the doubt is. The doubt began because
people continuously said, "Oh, she's white.
Oh, my God, she's so white.
Oh, she's so white." What's wrong with that? When the doctor asks you... BOLTON: Look... (APPLAUSE) ...you know,
before "Congratulations," "Are you sure
this is your child?" That's doubt. That's... They doubt.
She mine, I know.
She his, I know. JUDGE LAKE: But that's what
I'm saying, for the father, that can be overwhelming. BIDO:
It can be overwhelming,
it can be overwhelming, but you have
to know your mate and if you know
that you have a loyal,
faithful, loving woman, then anything anybody say... So Mr. Bolton, did you know
you had a loving, faithful,
loyal woman? I did, but that's
the relationship. I mean, if you look
at the baby,
the baby's, man... The baby's white
with blue eyes... JUDGE LAKE: <i> So until you were
in the delivery room,</i> <i> you had no doubts
about Ms. Bido.</i> You didn't feel
like she was cheating. BOLTON:
I didn't have any doubts until at first,
the doctor said something. When we brought Iliana home
from the hospital, we had friends and family
come over to see the baby. They looking at the baby like,
"Oh, she's beautiful,
she's beautiful. "Is she yours?" (LAUGHTER) BIDO: That's not what
they said, Your Honor. What they were saying...
Maybe on his side, but my side,
they did make some comments, but of course, I defended,
that's my daughter, you know, so I see him
all the time in her. I see a little bit
of my features, but mostly, I see him. Your Honor, maybe two weeks,
when Iliana came home, the same boss that
we work for, we both
work for him, he came to the house
and brought a stroller to the home as a gift. And he's from Alabama,
you know, he's... You know, country guy,
you know. But he looked at the baby
and he was like, "Rico, is this baby yours?" I look at him like,
"What you mean?" He says,
"This baby's white." So I'm like, "Wow." So now the doctor,
your family members, and your boss... Yeah, people in public. ...are all just
openly asking you. Yeah, is this
baby mine? Even when I go to
the grocery store,
Your Honor. When I go to the
grocery store,
they're looking at me. "Oh, it's a
beautiful baby, she's
gorgeous. Is she yours?" And it's only
because she's... The skin color,
the blue eyes, you know,
it's like, wow, but... BIDO:<i>
But how come nobody
say that when I'm around?</i> BOLTON: <i> Even still,
you know, this is...</i> This has, like,
happened before
all my life. This situation here
is like, when I
was younger, I was dating a
stripper and she had
a baby, all right? She disappeared. What reason, I don't know,
but when she finally
came back, we figured out that baby
wasn't mine. Got my name off
the birth certificate finally. Second time this has
happened in my life, a young lady got pregnant, but come to find out she was dealing with
somebody that I knew. She didn't know
we knew each other. She got pregnant,
we talked, me and the guy, we talked and we trying
to find out what's going on. She got an abortion
immediately because she didn't know
who the father was. And the third time
was when I came on the court to find out
the DNA test for Micah, and found out he wasn't mine,
so it's like, I have strong reason
to get a DNA test to figure out
what's going on. So in your lifetime,
three times... Yes, ma'am. ...someone has claimed you're
the father of their child. Yes, ma'am. But you weren't. I wasn't. And now, you're here again. JUDGE LAKE:
So, Ms. Bido, you tell me
you're a faithful, loyal woman and I have no reason at
this point not to believe you. He hasn't presented
any testimony that would say otherwise. However, I have to ask you. During the last couple
of years... How old is Iliana?
She's seven months? Last year and a half or so, have you slept
with anybody else? Um, we actually broke up
last year around August, and it was due to
infidelity on his behalf... But, Your Honor,
she as accusing me the whole time
that I was cheating. I got a couple of buddies
that I hang out with. He was. Before. I got a couple buddies
I hang out with. They do things on the side. Your Honor. Now, by my association
being with them... I saw the texts
from the females. ...being with them,
I'm getting accused daily. So it's like I felt like
I was pressured, getting
pushed to the point where I should cheat
just to make you happy, because this is
what you're doing, you're putting pressure on me. That was your logic? Yes, that was... I mean, that was my logic,
'cause every day she's saying, "Hey, you're a cheater,
you're a cheater." So look, I cheated,
I did and I admit to that. She left.
She... She left. She went to go stay
with a relative. BIDO: Your Honor,
he didn't admit to cheating. I saw the texts
from the female, all right, and I confronted him
like a woman should. She found the texts. I'm gonna confront,
I'm gonna confront, and when I found
the information,
and me and the woman, we also talked because
I believe that a man
will lie to you or anyone that's gonna play
that deceitful role is gonna make you
believe whatever, so I talked to the woman
and I believe her. And I gave him a chance
to tell his story. Yeah, but when she left,
she had sex with another guy. I gave him an...
That's right, I did sleep
with somebody, but I did it the right way.
I left you first.
I was single. (APPLAUSE) Hey, well, Your Honor... And during the time
you broke up and you left him, did you sleep
with someone else
without using protection? I did, I did, I did,
and let me tell you,
it wasn't like that. I left him and it wasn't like,
"Oh, hey, I'm single, let's go
party," you know? It was more like,
I was hurt, it had
been a month later. I just went out,
hanging out, and, um,
one thing led
to another. I saw a guy I liked,
but we actually slept
together twice. Your Honor? The first time was
unprotected, the second time
was protected, after that, as a matter of
fact, um, I spoke to him after that
but we never had any type
of relationship or anything. She wasn't answering my phone
calls for a while after we... Why should I? You know,
I cheated on her, okay? So now we're working
on something, trying
to get back together. When we finally
get back together, this is when she's admitting
that, "Yeah, I slept with
somebody." BIDO: Your Honor. 'Cause at first, she said it's none of my business
when I went to go see her. Exactly. Now she's telling me
out of mouth, "Okay,
this is what happened." Your Honor,
he continued to
badger me about it. She's admitted in open court
that she slept with
someone else one time, at least,
without protection. Right. And, Mr. Bolton, you believe that this man
could be the father. BOLTON:
Yeah. When she came back together,
we got together, we moved back in
the same house together. But in the midst of this, she's still going out there
to her family's house, doing their hair,
coming back home,
and guess what? Middle of the night,
I pick up the phone.
Text messages from this guy. So I have reason to believe,
okay, you tell me you stopped
messing with him, I still think that
you're still with him. You saw texts... Still messing with him. Your Honor, he saw
text messages from the guy, he never saw me respond. Even goes to
the point like this. And then I didn't... She delete... She delete pictures out
the phone, you know
what I'm saying, 'cause when you plug
a phone into a laptop, the USB charger,
the backup pictures are still in the phone. Pictures of him and his baby
are still there, together. So I'm like,
"Whoa, this...
What's going on?" Pictures of him and... His baby. ...his baby
are in her phone. In her phone,
and it looks
like this. His daughter looks
like my daughter. AUDIENCE: Oh! So... I mean, but how often
is it that babies
can look alike? But, Your Honor,
I just want to show you
this evidence right here. Let me see
that evidence, sir. But I don't think
she looks like the
other man's baby. BOLTON:
Okay, that's Iliana
and that's me. <i> Iliana's pink,
Caucasian, white.</i> <i> And you see me.</i> BIDO: <i> Really?</i> I'm brown.
No blue eyes. I mean, the only thing
I see is the nose. If he felt like that,
Your Honor, why stay
for seven months? Why even take
care of her? Why sign the
birth certificate? Your Honor... Why is it that every time
I call you, you run to her? If you felt like that,
you should've been said that. Your Honor... You don't wait seven months
and tell somebody like that. We supposed to get married
and everything. What you mean? Yeah, but... When he told me that,
we were in the bed and the first thing
he say to me is, "Oh, you know I love you,
right?" You know somebody gonna
say something messed up after
they something like that. And then after that, I don't
even know how we got to it. All I know is he was like,
"Oh, I don't think she's mine,
I want a DNA test." And, yeah, I lost it
and I wanted him to get out so we got to arguing... Not only did she want me out,
she kicked me out. I was like,
either I'm gonna leave
or you're gonna leave. Yeah, you right,
I did kick you out... She kicked me out. ...'cause I told him, either
I'm gonna leave, go to my
family far from them, he was like, "No, I don't... "I don't want y'all to be
that far from me." But she's not yours, right? You do understand
that after you admitted you slept with somebody else, that fueled his doubts. BIDO:
I understand that, but you can't always
be moved, Your Honor, by what other people say. You have to stand upon
what you see as a person. A lot of people felt
like he wouldn't make it, we wouldn't make it,
we wouldn't be okay. And, yeah, we're going
through something right now
and even him as a person, people felt like they
didn't believe in him,
but I believe in him. I believe in him
still to this day. I believe that, you know,
he is a good man and he
is a good person. Your Honor, when I first
asked about the DNA test, she was really,
like, really upset. Yeah, I went crazy. She did kick me out, she did do that. But since I'm staying
at other places, I come home to the house just to check on my daughter,
make sure everything is okay. She tells me,
"Put her down if you don't
think she's yours," okay? Yeah, of course. So I'm like... Every time I see your face,
I'm gonna get mad. I'm mad now. I'm like, why did
you get upset? I'm just saying. She's a loyal female,
like she said earlier. If it was such a problem,
why'd you catch an attitude when I asked for a DNA test and you knowing that
I went to court last time? Who wouldn't have an attitude
when you know for a fact that you've been faithful? Hey. Why not? Okay, that's fine. So, Ms. Bido, it's not just
about you being faithful. You have to take a person along with
their life experience. That's... So... No, no, hold on. When you're in a relationship,
that's how people come. Everybody has their
own baggage, or as my granny used to say,
that's his red wagon. I understand that. And you got your
own red wagon. I understand that, Your Honor. That's the things you pulling behind you when you
come into a relationship. I'm not saying
that is right, Ms. Bido, but I'm telling you
that is real. BOLTON:
I understand that, Your Honor.
Here's the thing, right? When she left, her and this
other guy was messing around. When she came back around,
we was living together, okay? And I feel like,
you know, maybe she still been messing with this guy. 'Cause all of a sudden,
like she said, we been
together five years, it's the first time
she ever got pregnant. She comes back around,
poof, baby. I'm like, "What's going on?" JUDGE LAKE:
All right, so the timing
felt strange to you as well. Yes, ma'am. So I've witnessed so much emotion and... And that's because
I know the stakes
are really high today. You even submitted a video and it really shows how committed he is to her. (ILIANA COOING) Muh, muh, muh, muh, muh, muh. (ILIANA SQUEALING) What else you wanna say? Say hello. (ILIANA COOING) Bye-bye. See y'all later. BOLTON:
I love Iliana. Ever since she was born,
you know, I always been there. From the time
she got pregnant, the day in labor
at the hospital. And I just really want
to be a father to... <i> To this child here.</i> <i> I've been there
since day one.</i> <i> The baby shower.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i>
You're worried, still.</i> I am, just because, yeah, my past,
and you know, this... And the last time
you were in court... It's like, the signs.
The last time I
was in court, I mean,
it came out,
"not yours." But the signs are there,
there's too many
people saying it. I need to be sure. And that's... That's
what's so heartbreaking
about this situation. I understand
about people's past. Everybody has a past. Stop pushing rewind. Stop making other
people pay for what
other women did. I'm not...
I'm not those women. If I was like that, then I shouldn't be
with anybody, 'cause just like you hurt me
and think about the five years we've been together,
Mr. Bolton. The things that you've done
to me before this. That wasn't the
only infidelity, but every
time you have a doubt, here I am proving myself. Why you signed
the birth certificate? Why did you stay so long
and then turn around and say, "Oh, she's not mine"? Do you have any idea
how that hurts? Of course I'm gonna flip out. I don't hurt you like that
and even when you hurt me, you know that I find
the strength to still say something to encourage. (APPLAUSE) Whose choice is it,
ultimately? BIDO: It's his choice. Yep. And who has to do that work? He does. Exactly,
so let's get to the results, because the truth is always
a great starting point. (BIDO SPEAKING SPANISH) JUDGE LAKE:
These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case of<i>
Bido v. Bolton,</i> when it comes to the paternity
of Iliana Bolton and as to whether Mr. Bolton
is her biological father, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Bolton, you are her father. AUDIENCE: Oh! (BIDO SPEAKING SPANISH) But what'd I tell you? BOLTON:
Your Honor, can I ask
Ms. Bido a question? Yes, you may. You don't got
no question for me. BOLTON: Everything speaks
for itself 'cause that's
what you told me. Actions... (APPLAUSE) You gotta say yes. Lorelein Bido,
will you marry me? Yes. Does it fit? Oh, yeah, and it's pretty. It's nice. This is beautiful to see,
I'm very happy for you. Marriage takes work
and I want you all to do it. Yes, ma'am. So happy for you. Court is adjourned. -(CHEERING)
-(APPLAUSE) I'll go ahead
and walk you all out. I'll walk you guys
all out together. All right. God bless both of you, man.
Congratulations.
