You may be seated. Hello, Your Honor.
This is the case of<i>
Coe v. Coe.</i> Thank you, Jerome. You're welcome. Good day,
everyone. Today we have the case
of<i> Coe v. Coe,</i>
mother versus daughter. Miss Coe, you say
you're here today
because your daughter is an out-of-control
teenager and
she needs help. Furthermore, you claim that
you have serious doubts that your daughter's
boyfriend, Mr. Boyce, is the father of
your seven-month-old
grandson. You say Mr. Boyce has
been a good father
to the baby, but that your daughter has
numerous sexual partners and so he needs
to know the truth. Yes ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: You've also
petitioned the court
to demand that your daughter attend
parenting classes. Now, Miss Coe,
you dispute
your mother's claims. You say you are positive
that Mr. Boyce is
your baby's father, and say today's results
of the paternity test
will prove your mother wrong. You've asked the court
to order your mother to
stop meddling in your life, once and for all. Now, Miss Coe,
please tell the court
why you're here today. I'm here because my daughter
is out of control. She has an issue
with authority. She doesn't want to be told
what to do, how to do
or why to do it. Give me
specific instances. Okay... From fights at school,
hitting a police officer,
not once but twice... (AUDIENCE GASPS) JUDGE LAKE: Hitting a
police officer? She punched a
police officer twice. Twice! I get the phone call
to go up to the school,
I get there, I was thankful that I knew
this police officer. He looks at me and he says,
"This is your daughter?" He says, "I could take
her to jail right now.
She could have a felony." JUDGE LAKE: Wow. (APPLAUSE) The officer got in the way. In your petition to the court,
you've stated something about damage to your home.
Please tell me that. She made a phone call saying
that I and my girlfriend
had jumped on her, because she still
did not want to
follow house rules. All I asked her to do
was not disrespect the house. Don't bring the drama
to the house. I feel like
that's not the truth.
That's not the truth. You brought
drama to the house. That's not the truth. You made a phone call saying
"My mother and her girlfriend
just jumped on me. "You come mess them up." I said her girlfriend had
jumped on me, and I did have
somebody come over there. But that wasn't true.
She made that phone call. Them guys, they loaded up,
they came to my house,
they busted out every window, they busted out my car,
they destroyed my house. This was one week before
I was actually... JUDGE LAKE: That's your car? That's my car. They broke out every window.
That's my house. That's me standing
on the porch trying to
take a picture, because now I'm upset,
and I'm like, "You know what? "I cannot believe my daughter
is gonna allow this to happen
instead of her saying..." And I couldn't believe
your girlfriend jumped on me
when I was pregnant, so... But she didn't jump on you. They broke our windows,
car, they hit me with a brick, I got hit in the
back of the head. JUDGE LAKE: What? ZIAIR: And I also
stopped them. I didn't think
they were going to do
that do the house. I didn't say,
"Mess the house up." They took that
into their own hands. Ziair, I'm so disturbed by
what I'm hearing right now. This is excessive,
over-the-top, and dangerous. I want to know,
how did you get here? Well, most children
grow up with their
mother, not their father. I grew up with my father
because due to the fact she abandoned me when
I was two years old. I did not abandon you! ZIAIR: I was told she dropped
me off when I was two years
old and never came back, and the reason I believe this
is because I haven't seen her
until I got in my teen age. JUDGE LAKE: You didn't have
so much as a visitation? Oh yes. I had
visitation rights,
she came over on weekends, I never missed a beat. And so did you ever have
a positive relationship? JEANETTA: No, not really. With my mama? JEANETTA: She's always
been resentful.
Always been resentful. I feel like I had
a good relationship
with her sometimes. I'm not here to...
You know, you move
them boys in our house. If y'all had a problem,
y'all would've put'em out. If y'all had a problem,
y'all would've enforced
the rules, and put them out,
did something. JEANETTA: When I found out
that they were there... Like you say, I'm a child.
If there was a problem,
you should have put'em out. If I'm a child... JUDGE LAKE: I need to
clarify something on this. Miss Coe, mom, you're saying
that Miss Coe, daughter, moved
a gang into your home? Yes! Into your house.
You pay the bills. If you wanted them out,
you should've put'em out. I work from 7:00 at night
until 7:00 in the morning,
seven days a week. How many people were there
living down there? ZIAIR: They weren't
even living down there. Seven. Seven people!
Were you the only
girl in this? It wa three girls.
It was me, another girl
that lived with us and another girl
that lived with us. Everybody was living there.
That was the hangout spot. That's where you go.
You running away or you ain't got nowhere to stay,
you gonna come there. Now, you're hanging out
with these guys. Are you
hanging out just as friends, or are any of them
more than friends?
Are you dating? One of them was
the guy I was dating. The other ones was just
friends. They was dating
my other two friends. So that brings us to why
we're here, because now
you have a grandchild. But it's not
just one guy. See, that's what she's saying,
but it's not just one guy. There was somebody else
in the picture. So, Mom, you're saying
she was sleeping
with multiple guys. I know that there was
someone else. Now, how many more it was,
I'm not for sure. But I do know that there
was someone else. So, when I find out
she's pregnant,
I go to the guy. I go to Larry,
I say to Larry, "Look, as Ziair's mother,
I'm gonna keep it
real with you, "I've got to be 100,
I say you need to
get a DNA test." But as the girl, me,
I was being real,
and I said, "I'm not gonna lie, but there
is a possibility this baby
could be someone's else." I didn't just say,
"You're the father,
you're the father." I said, "It's a possibility,"
because I did mess up, and I did slip, and
mess around with
somebody else. So, you have
a boyfriend now. Mm-hmm. And that boyfriend
may or may not be
the father of your child? Yes, because I did
have a boyfriend, and I only messed with
Larry when me and my
boyfriend got into it. I went over to
my best friend's house
and he was there. So, now, what I believe,
and you can tell me
if I'm right, Mom... You're worried now about
this cycle repeating itself. Exactly. JUDGE LAKE: And I know you
still love and are concerned
for your daughter. You've made that clear today. JEANETTA: Really, because
even after she had done
all of that to me, I move out to Arizona,
she calls me, two months later,
after I'm in Arizona, and she says,
"Mom, I need you.
I don't have anybody." You know, she's
about to have my grandson. What do we do? You seem emotional.
What do you feel?
Tell me. JEANETTA: The only rule
I had for her... JUDGE LAKE: It's okay. Let her
speak, Mom. What do you feel,
sweetie? Tell me. (SNIFFLING) JUDGE LAKE: You needed
your mom? That's okay.
We all need our moms. You don't have to
feel ashamed about that. JEANETTA: And I
was there for you. Are you worried
for your baby? You don't want your baby
to have to grow up and
feel the things you felt? (SNIFFLING) What are your hopes
for your son? What do you
want for him? I just want him to have
both of his parents. And I don't want him to
grow up like I did, and I don't want him
to run the streets
like I did, 'cause I don't want him
just walking out to the store,
anything can happen to him. Well, today we are
gonna determine who his father is. And we're also going to
help encourage you. Your mom
feels your pain, and I know you may feel
like she doesn't love you, but if you look over
at her right now, she's crying your same tears,
because just like you love
your child, she loves you. I know you brought
a witness today,
Mr. Boyce, am I correct? Jerome, could you please
escort Mr. Boyce into
the courtroom for us? I want to
hear from him. He's your boyfriend, right? Yes, ma'am. And one of the
potential fathers,
am I correct? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Mr. Boyce, please come
and step to the podium. We know that today
we're here to determine the paternity of
this particular child, but we also know
that this child is
very important to you. Yeah, he
really is. Am I correct? Yes. Please tell the
court about that. I feel like from the
beginning I knew it
was a possibility, but at the same time,
know what I'm saying, he made me grow more,
know what I'm saying, since he's been around. 'Cause my mom,
she passed away, and once I
told her about it, know what I'm saying,
she just, "Oh, that's
my grandbaby." She was buying him
everything... So your mom... She passed away
in February. JUDGE LAKE: And so
you're hoping today,
what are your hopes? I'm hoping that he's mine. (CHEERING AND APPLAUSE) That's wonderful. Mr. Boyce, I have to say to you
that this court has seen countless instances where
a young man stands before me and you can tell they're
wishing they aren't
the child's father. And I first want to
commend you before
we get any results, of the man that you are,
the man that you are
growing and becoming, the fact that you can
give love to a child that does have uncertainty
as it relates to
who their father is, but that you
understand that love can come from all forms,
fashions and people, (APPLAUSE) and that you can be the
father figure that that child
needs, regardless of that. I want to commend you
for that. And he's making you
a better man. Yeah, he made me
feel like I got
more to live for. After I lost my mom
and my brother, I felt
like I had nothing. That's my mans. JUDGE LAKE: You're looking
at pictures of you as a child,
and him as a child. That's my son. JUDGE LAKE: I can see
in your eyes you love him. I'm really, really
proud of you. I really am.
I want you to know that. And you know who else is? Who? JUDGE LAKE: Your mom. Yeah. JUDGE LAKE: She is. (APPLAUSE) And as much of a
stand-up man you're being
in this decision, in this situation,
I should say, you're being
a really mature individual, I don't think we can discount
the fact that as you
walked into this courtroom, you may, and you should
naturally have some doubt. You have that right,
where you don't know. I have doubts,
but... Why in particular
do you have doubts? Because the only time
it happened, it was like, we wasn't together, she
was in a relationship
with another guy. And I've always got a rubber
in my back pocket, a condom.
I keep that. JUDGE LAKE: Even today. Yeah. Okay. So... JUDGE LAKE: Good, good,
I'm glad to hear it. I can't really say if I
used it or not, cause I was under
the influence, like, tough. So you don't remember
if the sex you had
was safe sex? Yes. It wasn't. LARRY: How do you know? And the defendant I know it wasn't,
'cause the first time, even when you wasn't
under the influence,
you didn't use it. Was you drunk? What about the first time?
What about the first time? Was you drunk? No. Okay, the first time,
that was something
else, though. Did you use one? No.
The second time? No.
The third time? No. He didn't use it. I use condoms. Not with me. Yes I did. No you didn't. Ah, okay. You're ruining
his reputation,
right here. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) Yes I do, though I
probably ain't used them
as much as I should, but that was because
I was with you. Exactly. You didn't
use'em with me. Okay, but I used them
after the first time, though. And it only take one time, so. No? Okay, okay. ZIAIR: He didn't use them. LARRY: All right. Miss Coe, but you have told
this court that you think it could possibly be Mr. Boyce
or maybe someone else. Okay. Let's go to the results, okay? Jerome, do you
have the results? Here you go,
Your Honor. Thank you. You're welcome. Are we ready? ZIAIR: No. I'm ready.
I'm ready. When it comes to
baby Christian, Mr. Boyce... You are... ...not the father. (SIGHING) JEANETTA: Yes you are. You're his father. LARRY: Yeah, I am. Yes, yes you are. I'm still his father. (APPLAUSE) JUDGE LAKE: You okay? I know this was
not the way that probably any of you
wanted this to turn out, 'cause I can see it
in all of your faces. (SOBBING) JEANETTA: Can I just... JUDGE LAKE: Jerome, can you
give him a tissue, please. Can I just, I just,
I just wanna... JUDGE LAKE: Hug him?
Absolutely. Can I please?
It's okay, Larry. It's okay. You lost everybody,
but you're not alone.
(MUFFLED) I am so sorry,
but it's okay. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Boyce... It's okay. If you need
to sit down, it's okay. All right. I know the news is gonna
take a minute to sink in... It's okay.
It's all right. JUDGE LAKE: And I know
it's hard to accept, but if you can hear me now, and potentially just
think about this, in weeks and years to come, that families are more than
just biological connections. They are love connections. (APPLAUSE) Biology determines the father,
but love determines
who the daddy is, and... (APPLAUSE) The court is going to
encourage you and provide you with
resources towards parenting. I want you guys to learn about
how to be great parents, so you can do this
for that little boy.
Are we clear with that? I wish you all
the best of luck, and you know what? At the end of the day,
no matter what happens, look into that little face,
and do the right thing. (APPLAUSE) Good day.
Court is adjourned. Shall we bring in Christian?
You guys want to see him? Here we go. There we go. Hey. Still feels good,
doesn't it? Yeah, it does. For him, you are
his daddy. And don't forget that. I'll always be. I believe you all
can do this.
