Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This the case of<i>
Jones Jones v. Milan.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Mr. Jones, you and your mother
are co-plaintiffs who have bought the defended
to Ms. Milan to court to prove her
three-month-old son, Quinnill Jr. is not your
biological child. Yes, Your Honor. You claim you took Ms. Milan
and her other six kids into your home, and now she's trying to take
you for a ride by claiming this baby is yours. Yes, Your Honor. Additionally, you say,
when today's DNA results
prove you are not the father you are
seeking $1,500 for housing
and child care expenses. Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Milan, though you do admit to
cheating on Mr. Jones with
another man, you say you're unsure, if you
were already pregnant
when you cheated. Yes, Your Honor. You say, you're here
today to prove to Mr. Jones and his
meddling mother, once and for all that,
Mr. Jones is without a doubt the biological father
of baby Quinnill Jr. Yes, Your Honor. So, Ms. Jones, why do you feel Quinnill Jr.
is not your son's child? Well, Your Honor,
I contacted the court, three
days after the baby was born because I watched my son
break down at the hospital. You know, he was
gonna be devastated
if this child wasn't his. It doesn't make sense
to not know. And so, how did you two meet? Her mother and my mother
is neighbors. When she moved back
home with her mom... Her mom used to
talk to her about me
or whatever like that. And then, how did this
relationship begin? When I first, you know,
moved home with my mom, I noticed him, she was like,
"You know, this is Mr. Jones,
he lives next door." We started you know just on a friendly note, you know,
"Hey, how you doing?" We'd sit down, we'd talk,
laugh, joke. I'd go back in,
tend to my kids. Um, eventually
he started like, I could tell it was a little more flirting
going on, like, he'd be like "Why don't you
come and watch a movie
sometime?" Or you know. I wasn't takin' him very
seriously, because, it is
an age difference that... Between me and Mr. Jones. So, why were you
entertaining this? We started off, we were
just friends, I'd go outside, smoke, he'd
play with the boys. You know, my six other boys. Um, eventually, like,
at the most... So, he became close
with the... He would
play with the kids. Yeah, he became real close. And did you enjoy that
interaction? Yes, I did. Having someone there, a father
figure for your children? Yeah, I did. JUDGE LAKE: Did you all talk
about having a baby? Was this a committed
relationship? Was this
just dating? In the beginning, we were
friends, like I said, and then we just eventually
did have sexual relations. I didn't take it, you know,
seriously, at times I was with my ex, at the time. So... Oh, you were,
you were still with your ex? Yeah, so, that's when,
I kind of, you know... Leaned back off
from Mr. Jones. But, eventually, I seen
how I was feeling
about Mr. Jones. Even after we had sex or
whatever, he was like, he was looking at it
as a friendship. But my thing was, I don't
have sex with my friends, I thought it was more. Once, I did cut
my ex off, so... So, Mr. Jones, you thought
this was just, uh, what? I felt like once
I approached her, you know what I'm saying,
I tried to make her my lady. She chose her ex over me. You felt like you were, um,
a runner up. Yeah. See what I'm saying?
'Cause I came to her, I came
to her like a mouse. Like, "I like you and I'm
feeling you," or whatever
like this so, we can make something happen. Once I started sleeping with Mr. Jones, I was no
longer sleeping with my ex. You knew that
a likely consequence of having
unprotected sex would be that you would
become pregnant. Yes, Your Honor. Did you discuss that
with Mr. Jones? He always said
he couldn't have children,
said the doctor told him... Why'd you, why'd you say
you couldn't have children,
Mr. Jones? Because I used to
play sports in school
or whatever, so I had to, you know, have a
full body physical. And they told me that
I wasn't able to have kids. So during a physical they
told you, you would be unable to have children. Yes, ma'am. Judge, it was at a point,
where his... They had got
us to the point where they were serious to
the point enough for her
and her kids didn't have nowhere to go. So, I offered for her and
her kids to come to my house. This how I thought that
they were in a relationship
with each other. So, you thought they
were in a relationship? Yeah. Because when her... She and her children
didn't have anywhere to go, you said they could come
and stay with you. Yes, ma'am. And they did? Yes. When they came,
when they came and stayed
with me and mom we was then in a relationship,
when they came and stayed. In a relationship, yeah. Ms. Jones, in your suit, the suit you brought today,
you're suing for $1,500. Yes, ma'am. Because you say, she owes you
some rent money, 'cause she
was staying at your house. Yes, ma'am. But in your testimony, you
just stated that, you invited her to come
stay with you. Because she had... Because she had
nowhere to go. She had nowhere to go. The bottom line, and I wasn't
gonna leave her out there,
whether she had money or not. But eventually, you're gonna
get some. I'm gonna
look for you to reimburse me for,
for what I'm doing for you. And your son
was living there with Ms. Milan and the children at first? Yes, he left. When I left, I didn't come
back home from the bar... You know what
I'm saying? JUDGE LAKE: Wait a minute. She ended up going
through my phone. So now. Or whatever like
that, and she got... And she's seen that I ended
up conversing with my ex. So they started an argument,
so I left that day. And when I left, I went to
a bar with my friends, or whatever like them,
and my ex happened
to appear there. He didn't leave that day. JUDGE LAKE: Appear! He left the prior...
He left the day after. Those exes always appear. Yeah, they do. This was an ex... JUDGE LAKE: Never disappear. They only appear. He had the ex all the time.
She knew about that. They were... No, it was with my ex, when
we were together. There was so much going
on at that time. That's when I get so upset
when I seen the text. I hadn't even been
thinking about the ex. She had been out of the
picture, this time, for a...
The ex always appeared. So now, when you're living
with Ms. Jones, the baby is
born or you're pregnant? No, this is before the baby is
even conceived. You mean, before conception? ANNESHA: Conception could've
happened then but... JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Jones,
you took your one
girlfriend and her kids, moved them into your mother's
house, and then went with your ex. Yes, pretty much.
That's what he did. Yes, Your Honor. Like they say, I'm young,
it's a big age difference, I started to get a little... I, I got a little, you know,
stressed out, you know
what I'm saying? It's six kids, all boys. Plus, plus, my mom. My two, my two little sisters. You know what I'm saying?
It's... The house is packed,
it was crowded. I got frustrated,
I ain't gonna lie.
It started to get to me. LASHUNDRA: Come, come
morning, I have to go to work. So, I'm calling him
and I'm calling and I'm like,
where are you, where are you? You know I've to go to work. And he was like,
he wasn't answering at first.
And I was like, getting mad. So, I'm like, okay,
I need you to be here,
because I wasn't comfortable with leaving her,
and all of her kids in
my home unattended. Because she had
so many. And by him leaving, I was like
okay, why am I doing this,
and you're not even here and my reason for doing it
was for you. Yeah. Yeah. JUDGE LAKE: Right. And so, you say,
she's trying to trap your son. I felt like she was trying
to trap my son, because she stopped taking
her birth control. She said it was making
her sick and, but she should have
started another birth control instead of stopping
it all together. (APPLAUDING) What would be her motive
to trap your son? LASHUNDRA: She wanted
to be with him. JUDGE LAKE: She wants
to have him in her life? Is that true, Ms. Milan? Why did you stop
taking birth control? I was sick. They were just
making me sick. And so, how did you find out
she was pregnant? She called, she called and
told me, I was with my ex, she called and told me... Is it still your ex
when you're back with her? (INDISTINCT) Well, she's still my ex.
We weren't together. LASHUNDRA: Your Honor. When I was, when I was with
my ex, we weren't together,
it's just we had... ANNESHA: We separated.
We separated. We had a long
relationship. All right. So get to the
pregnancy part. BOTH: Okay. She calls, she says
she was three and a half weeks
pregnant, I was like, by who? You know what
I'm saying? She... She says there's
a possibility it's yours.
I didn't know that. And she was like,
"I had sex with my ex,"
or whatever like that, so... She was like, it was a
possibility, it could
have been him too. So, she tells you... She tells me... Right off the bat. Right off the bat. It could be yours... She was straightforward. It could be his. ANNESHA: Mmm-hmm. When I found out
she stopped taking
her birth control, the first thing I done was
I gave my son some condoms because she has
six kids already
and I know she's fertile. Use them. (APPLAUDING) Did you use them, Mr. Jones? QUINNILL: No. ANNESHA: No. So you should have. Sometimes. It could be his. Mmm-hmm. When you found out
she was pregnant, even though she said, it could be yours
or it could be my ex's,
did you step up? Yes, ma'am. You did. Yes, ma'am, I wanted
to make sure.
I wanted to make sure if it was a possibility
of it being my child, I wanted to be there.
I don't want to miss nothing. I want to be able to go back
and tell these stories and say I was there
doing this, doing that.
You know what I'm saying? Yeah. When he was being born,
I'm right there
holding her hand, watching everything. And you were there
as well, Ms. Jones? I was there at the hospital.
You know, like I told my son, just be there until
we find out otherwise. Because he... I raised him
without a father. And every child
needs their parents. And I don't want him to be
like the man that... His father. I want him to be
a better man so... (APPLAUDING) I understand. QUINNILL: While she
was pregnant... And that's good. She didn't have to
lift a finger. Your Honor, she
didn't have to lift
a finger for nothing. You know what I'm saying?
I did everything, you know. Take care of the boys,
make sure they
going to school. I was, you know, feeding her,
doing the cleaning. So did you ever tell the
ex that he potentially
could be the father too? I told him first. You know,
I was around him at the time. I was feeling sick
and I was like... I knew I hadn't been out there
that long also. But I did go to the store
and get a pregnancy test and it came out positive. I ended up telling
Mr. Jones also. And, you know, he did his
talking or whatever but he
ended up texting. And was like, okay,
regardless of what. You know if this is my child,
I do want to be around. Let me know
when you go to the doctor. So you were there
participating like the father. Did you sign
the birth certificate? No, I didn't. LASHUNDRA:
No, I told him not to. I didn't sign anything
because I wanted
a DNA test first. (APPLAUDING) Well, that was smart. Yeah, my son cried, Judge. My son, he cried.
He literally broke down
at this hospital. He literally cried
and broke down because he was going to be devastated.
And I felt his pain. I mean, I could literally feel
his pain, that's why
I contacted the court to help us. Because I wanted
him to be sure. And when you say,
he isn't sure, can you explain to me what the doubt is exactly? My brother passed in
July 16th of last year. And during that time,
is around the time
that she got pregnant. And she came to give her
condolences and everything but she came with another man. I drove. I was driving. And on another occasion, I'm at a friend's house
playing dominos. It's a guy, comes to
that house we, it's like
a different street. This guy comes knocking
on the door, looking for her and I'm like, okay,
you on the wrong side. Yeah, I had my doubts because, you know, the doctor
told me I wouldn't be
able to have kids. And so between you seeing
her with other men, her admitting that she also
slept with her ex, and then you being told,
Mr. Jones, that you were sterile
and wouldn't be
able to have children, that's a lot of doubt for you. Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Milan, you submitted
a calendar to the court? Yes, Your Honor. This calendar outlines, in red, the date you were
intimate with Mr. Jones. So that was June 28. Yeah, that's it. And then next it
shows, in yellow, where you went for
your ultrasound on August 8th. Mmm-hmm. They told you, you were... I was five weeks
and four days. You were five weeks
and four days. So if you count back
five weeks, and four days, all right, I see you've had
sex with Mr. Jones. Now your ex, did you have
sex with him sometime
during that window? I want to say maybe
two or three days
after the 4th of July. So if it was two days
after, the seventh. This is when
you had sex with ex. That's still
a very close window. Your Honor, I ain't never been
through this situation. And I do have seven
boys in all now. I always knew
who my kid's father was. JUDGE LAKE: You did
sleep with both men during the window
of conception. ANNESHA: Yes, I did. And so, Ms. Milan,
what are your hopes for today? I'm praying, like
when I first found out. And I was like, God,
please don't let this be you know, my ex's child. Even to the point where
I was like, I'm gonna
give it up for adoption. If I could just know
that it was his, you know? But I put it in God's hands.
I told Mr. Jones and he stepped up
immediately like... He was there the whole time.
Two months on up until now. He's been there. And you named
the baby Quinnill. Yes, I did. But gave him... Yeah, I always... Your last name
because he didn't sign the birth certificate. Yeah. So what are your hopes,
Mr. Jones and Ms. Jones? Do you hope
the child is yours? Yes, we've been... I pray that he's mine. Taking care of this child... I love him. Since the day
he came out, Judge. I love him. And we're gonna
I will continue to do that. I just want my son to be sure
that this is his child. If he's there, he's saying
mama this is my baby, that means me
as a grandmother,
I'm supposed to step up and take up
where he falls short. I feel like me and her kids
had a relationship
before I even met her. Okay. So they used to
watch me play ball and I used to teach them
how to play ball
and stuff like that so. I feel like they
was there before her. ANNESHA: He was their male role model the whole time like, you know. As far as them
being around a male
and him being young, like, I couldn't believe
the attachment myself. Like, they ask,
"Mom can we go out
and get Mr. Jones? "See if he wants to play
football or basketball." Even till when they was,
you know, having
trouble in school. You know... And so he was
always there for them? He was always there
for them even when
we were just friends. So in addition to the $1,500 you're suing for, you also have spent money on
diapers, wipes, formula... LASHUNDRA: Clothes. Onesies... Anything I thought he would
need and he didn't have. Infant care items. And you've provided the court
with these receipts today? Yes, ma'am,
those are just a few. I will deal with your
suit after I get done
with the results. First I'm going to go
to the results, are we ready? BOTH: Yes. (APPLAUDING) These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics, and they read as follows. In the case of <i> Jones v. Milan,</i> when it comes to
three-month-old
Quinnill Milan. It has been determined
by this court, Mr. Jones, you... Are not the father. (SOBBING) JUDGE LAKE: I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't know. You okay, Mr. Jones? I'm ready to go. JUDGE LAKE: I'm sorry. I hope you
will find comfort in knowing that you did
the right thing. No matter what you may
have gotten wrong or right in the relationship
with Ms. Milan,
you did right by this beautiful baby. As for your suit, Ms. Jones, for $1,500 for the room and board, and for all of the expenses
related to the child... You know something, Judge?
I don't need any money. She's gonna need everything that she has
to take care of those kids. (APPLAUDING) This is why it's an honor
for me to sit here. Because I get to witness
the power of forgiveness, humanity, compassion, on a daily basis. (APPLAUDING) Ms. Milan, you've got
seven boys right? Yes, ma'am. You want them to grow up
to be good young men. So find good
role models for them and good role models
for yourself. Yes, ma'am. We have counseling
for you, resources, we will help you through
this as best we can. And I know you can
do better, I believe it. Good luck to you all,
court is adjourned. I'm sorry.
I honestly didn't know
and I wanted to know. And I am sorry. It's okay.
