Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of<i>
Brown v Shenoster.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Ms. Brown, you claim
the defendant got you pregnant while on a break from his wife. His constant denials
have caused you to petition the court
for a DNA test. You say, once today's results
prove he is six-month-old
Ble'synn's father, you want him
to stop denying her
and step up. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Shenoster,
you and your wife claim you know you are not
the biological father
of her daughter, and the results
will prove it today. Is that correct? Yes, ma'am. Yes, Your Honor. So, Ms. Brown, you say
you are furious Mr. Shenoster
is denying your daughter. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: Explain. Okay, we were married, he lies, and he will lie
and say that we wasn't, but we were. Right. He lies about everything,
Your Honor. Who married us? Can I talk? Can I talk? Can I see the paperwork? What paperwork?
I ripped it up. I ripped it up. I'm not talk...
Where were you? You ripped it up? Where were you
when I got married?
Where were you? I wasn't around... You wasn't around, exactly. So, when were you
when I conceived my daughter? We never got married. You wasn't around.
You wasn't around. JUDGE LAKE: Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Ladies! Ladies! What I need to know is, how did you marry him
if he already had a wife? Because he didn't have a wife. Me and Ms. Douglas
were together,
but we were not married. We were separated. Take me to the beginning
of your relationship
with Mr. Shenoster. I want to understand this. ASHLEY: Okay. We met through a mutual friend, which, we basically had
a long distance type
of relationship. We talked on the phone,
we Facebooked, all of that. So, we don't court. We meet, we get married. That's how it go. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. Yes. So, before you can have
intimacy with somebody... ASHLEY: Yes, ma'am. ...you have to be married. Yes, ma'am. (LAUGHS) JUDGE LAKE: And was this before you actually met him
in person? Yes. How did you get married
if you've never seen him? ASHLEY: Over the phone. So you marry over the phone? ASHLEY: Yeah. JUDGE LAKE:<i> Which means,
you commit yourself
to one another.</i> ASHLEY:<i> Yes,
you're supposed to.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i> To be clear,</i> this is not a legal marriage
like we think about
through the State. ASHLEY: No, ma'am. Where you go to the... It's not that. It's a marriage
within the religion? Yes, ma'am. All right. Mr. Shenoster,
I understand this now. Did you marry Ms. Brown
before you... MICHAEL: No, Your Honor. ASHLEY: Lies. MICHAEL: No, Your Honor. I met her on Facebook. ASHLEY: Where were you? We had inbox... Around. We inboxed back and forth. And, she was living
in a shelter at the time. ASHLEY: I never. Exactly. Hold up. She was living
in a shelter at the time. I was not. She was about to move
into her apartment. Was not. Was not. ASHLEY: Was not. Once she finally moved
into her apartment, she said, "Come down,
so we can meet." Okay? I caught the train, got off the train,
got in the cab, and when I pulled up
to the block, I seen about eight guys
on her step. So I called her,
'cause I was confused, like,
"Where am I coming to?" When I walked in, she said, "Here is your<i> Abu."
Abu</i> is father. Talking to her three kids. To three of her other kids.
(LAUGHS) I've never met her
a day in my life. Come on. OMG. When I walked in, she say, "Here's your<i> Abu."</i> (MS. DOUGLAS LAUGHS) When I walked in,
the kids like,
"Hey,<i> Abu,</i> hey,<i> Abu."</i> She continues to walk
straight to
the back of the house. Two minutes later,
she comes out of the back, she no longer looks like
a Muslim. She has on a little shirt
and some tights on, and she's walking up the aisle, hiking them up like this, so I can see
her private parts. Let's get to the truth. Okay? (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) ASHLEY: In front of my kids? MS. DOUGLAS: Exactly,
'cause you're a (BLEEP) MS. DOUGLAS: She is. MICHAEL: Now she's jiggling. Now she's jiggling,
walking towards me. So, I did consider... JUDGE LAKE: What? Exactly! Your Honor, Your Honor,
I did consider marriage... MS. DOUGLAS: That's what
her friends told me! MICHAEL:
I did consider marriage
with this young lady. Right? But when I seen that... Uh-huh, uh-huh. ...the only thing
I could think about doing was, going to get a bottle of Henny,
'cause it was on
and popping now. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) That's it. Now, can I talk? MICHAEL: There wasn't nothin'
else going on. Can I talk? No! No! I was not going to marry her. Nobody's talking to you.
You don't like the man anyway.
Shut up. You shut up. Can I talk, Your Honor? Wait a minute.
Hold on! Hold on! You may! Wait a minute. You go from
meeting the Muslim woman
of your dreams, to a bottle of Henny,
and it's on and popping? MICHAEL: She was trying to get
popped off, that's it. She gave me temptation. With the hiking up,
with the thing. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) When I seen that... When I seen that... ASHLEY: Your Honor... Your Honor... No, no, no. Before I let you respond,
Ms. Brown... Ms. Brown, before I let you... You weren't doing like this, and start jiggling? You're lying. Listen... ASHLEY: You are lying. Your Honor... And I never seen her again
after that. But, listen.
Listen, listen, listen. MICHAEL: And then... No, no, wait. What I'm
trying to understand is, marriage or no marriage, you still say
you had sex with her. Yes. Yes, I did. I did have
unprotected sex with her. And it was unprotected! MICHAEL: Yes, unprotected. So, if I'm a... Would you have
unprotected sex with a (BLEEP) MS. DOUGLAS: Yeah, probably.
A dog is a dog, ain't it? MICHAEL:
I've got half a bottle... You're still married to him. When they single!
When they single! So what you saying then? When they single! You Honor, when he came
to my house, he came out...
He came out... (GAVEL BANGING) Let's get some order. Mr. Shenoster, how long did
this relationship last with Ms. Brown? Um, 48 hours. (LAUGHS) Exactly! And you still... This is exactly... Forty-eight hours, Your Honor. He lies about
every single thing. I got there on a Friday,
I left Sunday. Everything! So, Mr. Shenoster,
you said after that that was the end of
the relationship? That was it. I never seen her again. I've rarely spoke to her. I found out much later that she was pregnant. 'Cause I stopped
contacting you! MICHEAL: Why would you
stop contacting your husband? Because. You put him up on Facebook. You decided that
you wanted to leave. You put him up on Facebook. You married me
and had sex with me
on the weekend, why would you stop talking
to me? Because I did. Because I did. I know the sex was good. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) If you want more episodes
of Paternity Court Make sure to subscribe
and click on
the notification bell. How soon after
you ended the relationship
with Mr. Shenoster were you intimate
with somebody else? Six weeks after. JUDGE LAKE: Six weeks after? Mm-hmm. And how soon after that
did you find out
that you were pregnant? When I found out
I was pregnant,
I was six weeks and three days. I had sex with another man, three days before I found out
I was pregnant. And so,
when you found that out, did you immediately call
Mr. Shenoster? Yes. JUDGE LAKE:
And what did you say to him? I said I'm pregnant. JUDGE LAKE:
What was your response? She was six months pregnant. He said, "Congratulations." I was never
six months pregnant, I was six weeks and three days. I sent the ultrasound. Your Honor, the other man
that's in question, if you recall earlier,
when I said
I pulled up in a cab, that was one of the men
that was on the step. ASHLEY: No, he wasn't. MICHAEL: When I left
that Sunday... When I left that Sunday,
he was in the area, and he was basically
going in the house
while I was coming out, leaving to go back
to Philadelphia. I didn't even meet him then. ASHLEY: I didn't meet him until after I met you. MICHAEL: Your Honor,
can I please say something? I had to call her sister
Kate's phone to talk to her. ASHLEY: You are a liar. You lying about everything. Kate told me that
she couldn't speak to me, at the time, okay? I said, "Why?"
"She got company." "Okay." When I called back... Lies. ...she says,
"Her boyfriend is here." ASHLEY: Lies, lies. Lies. Now, the boyfriend
is the man
that she's talking about which is the same man
that's on her Facebook
profile picture, with the baby. ASHLEY: Your Honor... Your Honor... It's a family collage
of this same man. That's the only reason
I know who this man was, is because I've seen his face
on Facebook in that family collage. ASHLEY: You never saw him. When I looked at that collage,
I said, "Wait... He's a liar. "This is the same man..." You never saw him. I didn't even met him
until after I met you,
first of all. And if he was her father... You met him after you met me. Why would I have
a problem with saying... So you met him six weeks... ...that he's her father
if I'm with him? What sense would that make? I would rather him
be her father than you. You have yet to see my child. JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Douglas. ASHLEY: She's six months. Ms. Douglas, I know
this is difficult for you. If you need to leave
the courtroom,
you may be excused. JUDGE LAKE: So, Ms. Brown, has he seen Ble'synn? Never seen her in person, never touched her,
never kissed her, nothing. He treats my daughter
like she's nothing. Never. Like she's the scum
underneath her shoe. He wished death on my child. You know why
I've never seen her? He called her ugly. What? What? AUDIENCE MEMBER:
That's terrible. I don't believe this. ASHLEY: And then he wonder why when I finally talk to him,
I have the hatred I have
towards him. Because if you
want to keep it between me, let's go there, I'm grown,
I can handle that. But this little baby
don't deserve none of that. This is the same man
that's taking care of
this little girl right now. ASHLEY: And he is. This same man
is taking care of this girl. I'm with him. Your Honor,
would you not have taken care? Of Ble'synn, of the baby. ASHLEY: That's what
a stepfather is. When you step down,
they step up. He's doing what he's
supposed to do as a father. ASHLEY: Okay. All right. So, Ms. Brown,
what you're saying is, because Mr. Shenoster failed
to step up, this other man did. And that's why... MICHAEL: The same man... And that's why, maybe people
mistake him for being Ble'synn's biological father,
but he is not. He is the only one! Everybody knows! Everybody knows! Look at my child,
look at her forehead. I don't have that forehead. Look at her bridge.
She has the same bridge.
as you have. <i> Look at them lips,
I don't have them lips.</i> MICHAEL:<i> I was only with you</i> <i> for two days.
Not everybody know me.</i> ASHLEY:<i> Come on!</i> He was claiming her,
Your Honor,
until his wife... Well, she told me
she told him that
he wasn't the father. But you're the man, you... You're the household... First of all, Your Honor,
that's a lie. She told me to my... She reached out to her. She reached out to her
and told her... Yes, she did. ...that we were willing... No! ...to get the DNA test. She didn't reach out to me. I reached out to her! And that we were willing
to help with the baby... So, you say he... ASHLEY: She was with you, why would she talk to me? So you say
he accepted the baby. He did. So you submitted evidence
to the court. ASHLEY: Mm-hmm. You submitted text messages
that say the following. Mr. Shenoster says,
"Good-looking husband,
beautiful wife, "equals good-looking babies." <i> "I'm just saying I love you
and thanks you."</i> <i> Ms. Brown, you respond,
"I love you too. Why are you
thanking me?" laugh out loud.</i> Mr. Shenoster says,
"For carrying my child." (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) "Thank you." (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) ASHLEY: And again,
he lies about everything. Your Honor, Your Honor,
Your Honor... Mr. Shenoster? I did entertain the thought
of the baby being mine. "Entertain the thought"? MICHAEL: I did entertain it. I did entertain it. Let me tell you something. That's not a thought. That's a message. That is a thought, Your Honor. (STUTTERS) It is a thought. Because I've seen
this other man around, I've... I've... No. No. No. We gonna stay on this point. MICHAEL: Okay. This point says,
"Good-looking husband, "beautiful wife, "equals good-looking babies." That's some math we know about
in this courtroom. You said
you never married her. I never married her. So why you say
"Good-looking husband"? I chose wrong...
I chose my words, uh,
(LAUGHS) unwisely. JUDGE LAKE: You stutter now. Yeah, a little bit. So, let's just say,
at this point, we know you lying. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) And, let's go from this part. Wait, what am I lying about,
Your Honor? JUDGE LAKE: At some point... You're lying about
the fact that you gave this woman
an intention to believe that you all were married... Okay, but
what am I lying about? You're lying about
the fact that you did,
at some point say, that this was your wife
and this was your child. Whether I said that or not,
does not mean that... JUDGE LAKE: No, no, no, no. Mr. Shenoster... MICHAEL: Just because I used
"wife and husband..." That does not mean... Hey, hey, hey, hey! Let me tell you something. But you called me a liar. You called me a liar. JUDGE LAKE: Oh, oh. I feel offended by that. JUDGE LAKE:
Oh, you flaring up? JEROME: You need to... I feel offended by that... JUDGE LAKE: You flaring up? Take deep breaths, settle down,
or you're not gonna get the answer
you need today, okay? You're here for answers. Mr. Shenoster. JEROME: Just settle down,
okay? The problem is... JEROME: Take a deep breath,
let it go. Don't get upset, because we have this message. This message illuminates... MICHAEL: I'm not upset about
the message. Hold on.
When your wife stood here, and she testified to the fact, over and over again, that you all had established
a marriage, that you all
had had sex, unprotected, and that this child was yours, you acted like this was
the most far-fetched story she could've
ever conjured up... Hold on. Yeah, because... That she could've
ever conjured up. I don't even remember that. JUDGE LAKE: Your wife
clowned her, back and forth, <i> that this ain't no way...</i> MICHAEL:<i> It's not.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i> No?</i> Why then, do you say,
"Good-looking husband "and beautiful wife "equals good-looking babies"? That's how I talk. So, that's how you talk? Yes, that's how I talk... So, that's how you talk
to women? Obviously. JUDGE LAKE: And then
you also thank women
for "carrying your child"? Like I said, I did have
unprotected sex with her. I did. So why do you not say
there's a possibility that
she can be mine... Because when I walked up
the same man
was walking into the door, and he's living there. ...instead of you saying,
"She's not mine." You could still potentially be
Ble'synn's biological father, because you admit you had
unprotected sex <i> with her.</i> MICHAEL:<i>
The dates didn't add up.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i>
The dates didn't add up?</i> You felt like
the window of conception wasn't during the time
you were intimate with her? Not only the dates, Your Honor,
but me seeing this young man visible at the time
when I arrived. JUDGE LAKE: That's
gonna give any man doubt. Nobody... Look,
we do this too much. Any man... Listen. MICHAEL: He answered
the phone and told me that
that's not my daughter. This is the same man
that answered her telephone and told me that
that was not my daughter, do not contact them, that
he's gonna take care of her. Now, that's the testimony
you need to be giving. ASHLEY: Your Honor... You're saying that this man, was on the phone with you? Was on the phone with me. He answered the phone, and told you
this is not your child and don't come around? And not to come around. ASHLEY: Your Honor... MICHAEL: That didn't happen,
Ashley? ASHLEY: No. How can you see somebody
coming in my house
from Philadelphia? So I didn't see him? No. If he was living there
on the couch,
how I ain't seen him? No! JUDGE LAKE: All right. No! JUDGE LAKE: All right. 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>
Brown v Shenoster...</i> When it comes to six-month-old Ble'synn Brown, it has been determined by
this court, Mr. Shenoster, you are the father. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) That's your baby.
That's a beautiful little girl. She deserves her daddy. Not somebody standing up,
talking about, "She ain't mine,
she ain't this." Innocent babies
don't deserve that. Well, I... I know she my daughter now.
That won't happen. I take care of all my kids,
very well. I'm an excellent father. JUDGE LAKE: Your wife
had to leave the courtroom. And now, you're gonna have to explain to her
that this is in fact
your biological child. Bottom line is this... ASHLEY: Duh! Ble'synn is here,
you've never seen her, held her... ASHLEY: Nope. JUDGE LAKE: ...six months old. And Your Honor,
I invited him to the house,
I always have. I never told him that
he could not see her. Ever. Listen, this happens
all the time. It's unfortunate,
but it happens. And that is why we are here, because in these moments, I always give
the same opportunity and I hope people
take advantage of it. And if you are okay,
I would like to give Mr. Shenoster
an opportunity to meet Ble'synn
in my chambers, because it's important for me, that she begin to bond
with her father, to feel the love of her father, to be in her father's arms. That's what's important
for this court. Is that children get
what they deserve, and that is both parents,
if that is at all possible. So, Mr. Shenoster, are you willing to meet
in my chambers so you can see
your beautiful baby girl? Most definitely. JUDGE LAKE:
That's what I wanted to hear. I will meet you all there.
Court is adjourned.
