Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of<i>
Foster vs. Fields.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Ms. Foster, you've
petitioned the court
for a DNA test to prove that the defendant
fathered your
17-month-old daughter, Cionna, a beautiful
little girl <i> born with extreme
medical needs.</i> You've dragged
him to court to order he pay
the support he's
been neglecting. Mr. Fields, you say
you're 100% certain that you are not
her child's father, because she was
pregnant before you met. Yes, Your Honor. You claim to have proof
to support your case. Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Foster, tell
me about Cionna and what exactly has
Mr. Fields done for her? He has done nothing. Nothing? FOSTER: Nothing. He bought her
about three onesies
and two pair of socks. JUDGE LAKE: And she
has medical needs? I'm sure you have extreme
financial hardship associated with
maintaining her health. FOSTER: <i> Cionna
had three surgeries.
She had open heart,</i> <i> she had diaphragm
and a G-Tube.</i> <i> Right now, um,
she's having some
development problems</i> so we're just having
follow-ups in Syracuse, with
all the rest of her doctors. And there's just
been no support? FOSTER: He came to
the hospital probably
about four times, but when he was there
it was just to have
relations with me. (AUDIENCE MOANING) I think that's a lie,
Your Honor. I think that's a lie. I met Shaniya
on Facebook,
you understand? Um, Shaniya proclaimed
to be a virgin. She came to see
me about the 31st
of May that month. JUDGE LAKE: What
happened the first night? FIELDS: She came to
my house, you understand? I... She had bought
some new shorts. I was trying to
be respectable
and I asked her, "Do you want to go
in the bathroom and
change your clothes?" She tells me "No." Take of her pants right
there in front of me, I'm still sitting
in the bedroom. One thing led to another... JUDGE LAKE: This is the
first day you met her? The first day I seen her. You had sex that night?
On the night she
got dropped off? The day she got
dropped off I had
sex with her. Her mom came
and picked her up. 'Cause her mom
came to my house
and picked her up. Oh. Yeah. Yeah. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) Yeah. JUDGE LAKE: I thought
you said she...
Well, she was a... She was a virgin? She was not
a virgin, Your Honor. I had multiple stories
of her telling me how many dudes she'd...
You know, slept with
and all that. JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Foster,
he said that you were saying you were a virgin
at that time, were you? I was practically. Before
him there was one other guy. FIELDS: "Was practically"? FIELDS: How can you be
practically a virgin? There was some other guy before him and I don't
count that as a partner. That's impossible! You said you were prac...
Practically a virgin? SHANIA: Yeah. Yeah. You can't practically
be a virgin. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) JUDGE LAKE: What does
practically a virgin mean? Practically means it
didn't go all the way. What do you mean... JUDGE LAKE: So,
wait a minute. Let me understand
this, Ms. Foster. What you're saying is, is you had intercourse
with someone previously, but you did not
finish the act? Yes. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. Is that written somewhere
that that's called
practically a virgin? I've never heard that. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) Thank you, Your Honor. I'm not even laughing,
I've... FIELDS: Thank you. Have you ever heard
of that, Jerome? I've never heard
of that one. If I was in Syracuse
and Jayquial had a phone and I called him
and told him where I am,
he would come to me. How long ago was that? I don't know this whole
front that he's on... That he's on right now,
but I think it's 'cause
his girl is here. Whatever, wife. Whatever
she wants to be. FIELDS: Your Honor, I got
evidence that Shaniya
just called my mother asking her for
my phone number. If I was on him. JUDGE LAKE: Wait
a minute, Mr. Fields, you say you have
evidence that says... I have evidence
that my mom just
called my phone saying that Shaniya
called her, asked her
for my phone number. What would be wrong...
What would be
wrong with that? Inboxing my little
brother on Facebook. What is wrong with that? There's no need for it.
We were already coming here. What was the need for her... So you're saying
that she was inboxing your mother
and your brother... FIELDS: Uh-huh. Trying to chase you
down because she... FIELDS: She even... She was even texting my wife. Listen, if he was...
Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: She's texting
your wife, trying to get
in touch with you. I never texted his wife.
I never texted his wife. She was texting my wife. I have never known of her
until three days ago. We got evidence. JUDGE LAKE: Let's
get some order! You're saying that
Ms. Foster was trying
to get your number and was texting your
brother and your mother, trying to get your
phone number. Yeah. I'm asking you,
why is this out
of the ordinary if she believes you're her
child's father? Because... Of course she would try to
get in touch with you. You think she's trying to
get in touch with you because
she wants to be with you? No, no, no, no.
Listen, I'm married. I'm well... Really
happy married... Where's the ring? What it is, is Shaniya... Where's the ring?
Where's the ring? Bring evidence of that.
Where's the paper? Where's the marriage
certificate? Where's that? JUDGE LAKE: So, so, so,
what is the problem with her trying to get
in touch with you? FIELDS: What it is, is, Shani... I don't know what
I did but Shaniya is like
really, really, like obsessed. Obsessed? I left you. And she's texting my wife. I left you. You were
crying to me begging
to come back with me. How you want your family. FIELDS: Oh, really. So, why would you make
my life a living hell? You tell people... I don't even talk to you.
I haven't talked to you in
a while, I don't understand where he's coming from.
He just was talking to
me two days ago... No, I wasn't. Telling me how
he loved me, how this is not
going to work because... Well, wait, time out,
'cause now you lying. Now you're lying. And I have evidence
right here actually. JUDGE LAKE: You do? Yes, I do. Jerome, let me
have that evidence. FIELDS: Show me evidence. You... This evidence shows
what, Ms. Foster? That this is not going to last with her,
this is temporary. Where is that coming from? JUDGE LAKE: What is this? A Facebook message. JUDGE LAKE: A Facebook
message that says, "I still have love for you
that will never change. "I wish we would have
had a longer relationship "even with my girlfriend
now our relationship
not going to last long." (AUDIENCE GASPING) This is from Mr. Fields? FOSTER: Yes. Yes. I haven't had a Facebook
in six months. You're saying you didn't
write this post? Listen, I didn't write it. I don't be...
I don't get on Facebook.
I don't... He's lying so bad,
this is a whole
front right now. I swear to God,
I'm telling you Jayquial
knows I'm that woman, if I wanted him
I can have him. You couldn't. You couldn't. You couldn't. I can have him
and he knows that. This is a front right now. Did you ever have sex
with Ms. Foster
without protection? No, I had protection,
I had protection,
Your Honor. This girl said she
was on the Depo. Never. The Depo shot
is birth control. Approximately 99%
effective from not
getting pregnant. I don't know what he's
talking about but I have
not became on the Depo. And I haven't even dealt
with him since January,
until last month. When I was with him
I was on the pill. (MUMBLING) And I lo...
I didn't take it
that day. We talking about
the night before
the baby was born. Were you... And he was there
at the hospital. He was there
at the hospital. So, Mr. Fields, you came to
the hospital for the birth? FIELDS: Uh-huh. Mmm-hmm. And why was that?
If you didn't think
the child was yours. Because in the medical
condition that the baby
was in, you know, I didn't want to
just up and leave. He was there through
the whole pregnancy basically un...
Except a month. And I just feel like,
if you were there and
you thought of denial of... If I was already
pregnant or whatever, then why were you there
through the whole time?
Why did you come into my home? My mom accepted you,
you're staying right
at my house. Your mother's here, right?
Please stand, ma'am. Step up to the podium. Thank you. Okay. What would you like
to add to this? And what do you know
about this situation? He was involved
in the beginning
of her pregnancy. He was there,
he went to doctors'
appointments. When we went to
Syracuse he would come... He would meet us at
the doctor's appointment. He would stay there.
He would be there. He'd comfort my daughter. He was worried...
You know he was asking
questions about the baby, <i> because they found
three holes in her heart.</i> <i> Because he was involved
with my daughter,</i> and because he was
concerned about my
gr... My grandchild, you know I accepted him. Me and my husband
accepted him. I sat down with him.
Me and my husband, my daughter,
and Jayquial all sat
down in my living room. And we said,
"Do you want to
be with her?" "If you don't want to be
with her don't think "because of this baby
you have to be with her." He said, "I promise you,
this is the girl I am
going to marry." That's what he said. FIELDS: I... I did not tell
you nothing like that. That's what he said. Mr. Fields, you're saying
you don't believe you
are Cionna's father? Nope. JUDGE LAKE: But
you've been present for so much of
the pregnancy. I was. The pregnancy. Even in the beginning
of her birth. Why is it that you
decided to just leave the entire
situation alone and
turn your back on it? Because it wasn't
left up to me, that's
the reason why. So, it would have
been your choice
to stay and to support the child? FIELDS: I mean, I was... I would have did what
I had to do for the
baby, but I mean, it wasn't left up to me
so I mean, like I said,
well, why would she put me through this, so
I said you know,
this is not my baby. I would tell him to
come to the hospital
and he wouldn't. He would not show up.
And the three times
he has came, like I said he would be
on the... He would be
on the Xbox, or he would be
trying to have... So, what do you think
happened, Ms. Foster? Why... Why all of
a sudden this young man
that's going with you to doctors' appointments
and sitting down and... Family. Having family meetings... His family got into his head. My mom was in Texas! Me and his mother actually
had a good relationship, so I... I honestly
don't know what happened. Towards the end,
I'm not going to lie,
I would be... I was really rude
to Jayquial during
my pregnancy because I was underneath
a lot of stress. I was living an hour
away from him and it
was like he wasn't... You know what I'm saying?
He wasn't there. So when I go to an appointment
I expect you to show up
to the appointment because you live
down the street. If I tell you two weeks
in time that my appointment
is on this date, then you can take off
of work and be there
to my appointment. That's the least you can do. Is you going to take off
work, come to my appointment? JUDGE LAKE: Listen. Listen. She was pregnant
with twins. You know, and
she lost a baby. FIELDS: Not at that time. And when she lost
the baby, you know, he was... He was there,
you know what I'm saying? He was not there actually. I mean, I'm not saying... When I told him
I lost my twin... When I told him that
the doctor said the twin
was gone he said, "Suck it up
and get over it." That's what he
told me to do. (ALL GASPING) Life goes on, man. Mr. Field. Mr. Field,
(STUTTERING) I'm trying
to work with you, because I really
do see through this ignorant attitude
you're displaying today. I see through it.
So, but, um, but now... Now, you're getting
on my nerves. I'm telling. I'm telling you.
Your little cavalier... (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) I mean... No, no, hold on.
Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. Hold on. This cavalier,
"I don't care." Everything's a shrug
of the shoulders,
"Nothing matters to me." When we're sitting here
talking about a child that literally is fighting
for her life to have
a healthy life, and everything is,
"Life goes on.
I don't care." This, that... And from where
I sit, it's so fake. I mean, it really
is irking me. Because what you're
acting like is so fake macho nonsense! I can probably
do more push-ups
than you right now. (AUDIENCE CHEERING) I don't think so. Now, hold on.
Hold on. Hold on. This fake. This fake stuff
you're doing right now... No. No... When a child
is at stake, sir,
this isn't good. You know good and well
you talked to these people. You know you cared
about this child. When this mother sits
here and talks about
the conversation she's had with you,
I keep coming back
to your eyes to see, "Well, is she lying or
is she telling the truth." "Did he have
that conversation?" Oh, we did. "Was he there."
And everything your
body language says... We did have
that conversation. That you were there. What I want to understand
is why would a young man that cared enough
to sit down in these
family meetings, go to appointments,
sit here through
the birth of this child, all of a sudden now stand
in this courtroom and act
like nothing matters. What happened? And I'm telling you
I need the answer
to that. Because it's important
to the child. They happened. They happened. What happened? They happened. JUDGE LAKE: There
was a point in time <i> at her birth...
After her birth,</i> <i> 'cause you're saying
when she was born
he was there.</i> He was there,
but before that,
Your Honor, we were not on a good page.
I actually told him
don't even show up to the hospital
and I want nothing
to do with you. And then he came anyway? FOSTER: He came. Which then furthers
my argument of why
I want to know, would a young man
that you say
you're mad at, you're under stress,
"Don't even come.
I'm sick of you. "We're not getting along."
He comes anyway. FOSTER: Yeah. That only furthers
my point that this thing that you're
doing right here is
not jiving with me. The man that's
acting the way you're
acting right now when she said
don't even come... FOSTER: I don't know him. You'd have been like,
"Oh, well, I'm not going." It was because of
my mother that's the reason why I came. JUDGE LAKE: But
you came anyway. My mother is
the reason why I came. JUDGE LAKE: Right,
so what I'm trying
to figure out now, there's something now
that created a distance, when you started
being with your wife and... And your girlfriend
or whatever your
relationship is, did you feel support
in terms of helping in figuring
out what was going on
with Cionna, <i> or did you just decide,
"I need to move on"?</i> At the hospital
it just went from... Like she just went
zero to 100 like, and there was just...
Her mother calls me going bananas, telling
me what she's going
to do to me. Da, da, da,
this and that. So, that... That right
there is what actually
started this distance... Started the distance. Then, you know,
I started talking to
different females and then I'm
getting, you know. "Yo, so, who's such
and such?" And they're
talking about Shaniya. And I'm like, "Well...
It's my baby's mom." "Well, why is she
inboxing me on Facebook "telling me that you
talked to this person,
you doing this..." That never happened. Never. "You're a liar.
You're a cheater." You also stated
earlier in your testimony, you felt like
Ms. Foster was
obsessed with you, that just really
she can't get past it and she's calling people
and trying to reach you. FIELDS: Mmm-hmm. Does this interaction
cause a problem in your new relationship
with your wife? Every day. JUDGE LAKE: That's
what I'm thinking. Your Honor... I did have some type
of feeling for Shaniya, but then when I went
and found somebody new, it was like I told
Shaniya I was happy
somewhere else and then my life
just went like... He never told me that. He never told me that. It went from here to
like all the way down here. And so is the distance
furthered now? FIELDS: Yes. Because of your new
relationship and what
you say is a difficult back and forth between
you and Ms. Foster, which only separates
you further from Cionna, which you acknowledge,
could possibly be your child. Correct. All right, now I understand
the distance. And I'm ready
for the results. Jerome. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and
they read as follows. In the case of<i>
Foster vs. Fields.</i> When it comes to
17-month-old Cionna Foster, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Fields, you... Are her father. I'll step up to
take care of my child. Can I hold her? I want you to
hold your daughter, and I want you to help
take care of your daughter. And be there for her
and support her. You gotta work together. I... There's just
no other way. You all have talked about
a lot of things that have
gone on in the past, that have kept you apart. But this little girl needs
you guys to figure out
how to come together. Start talking about
this thing and working
it through. You guys can
figure this out.
Mr. Fields, I knew something
about you I was
just not buying. This thing you were...
This attitude you
were having. No matter how hurt
you get, and how often
you're misunderstood, or even how often
you get it wrong,
you can begin again. You started off
the right way, doing
right by this little girl, step back into the
picture and be present
again, all right? Don't let anyone
or anything stop you,
that's your baby. I will meet you
in my chambers where you can hold
your beautiful little girl. Court is adjourned. Beautiful. Beautiful baby. Hey, girl. Oh, look at this dress. With a big smile. Hey. You see your daddy? Oh, she's beautiful. Thank you. How does it feel? Feels good. Yes. Hey, girl. Hey. (CHUCKLES) She's beautiful.
