You may be seated. Hello, Your Honor.
This is the case of<i>
Rainey v. Matthews.</i> Thank you, Jerome. You're welcome. Good day, everyone. Ms. Rainey, you are here, today,
requesting two
paternity tests and suing the man,
you say, is the father
of your children. You admit that you slept
with one other man during the time
of conception. But you argue, that was only
because Mr. Matthews refused to accept
his responsibilities. Yes. JUDGE LAKE: To that end,
you are also suing
Mr. Matthews for $4,663.50, his half of the expenses
for the children in question, Salih and Renaya. RAINEY: Yes. JUDGE LAKE:
Now, Mr. Matthews,
in your statement, you claim you have
every reason to doubt you are the father
of Ms. Rainey's children. You say she is known
to be promiscuous, and even named her son
after another man. Yes, Your Honor. You say you are confident
the children are not yours and that will be proven
when today's DNA results
are revealed. Yes, Your Honor. Okay, so Ms. Rainey, why did you name your son
after another man? He told me to. Yes. He told you to? Yes, and the reason is...
Okay, the situation is, when I thought
I was pregnant, I told him
and the other person that it was between
both of them. No, no. 'Cause you weren't sleeping
with anybody else during
the time of conception? I slept with him
and Rondale. Right. Mr. Matthews, what
do you have to say? I have to say that
it's not possible that this can only be
between me and one
other person. She is known to have
family trees in her. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Boy! When I say this,
I mean it's like... Mr. Matthews, were you
having sex with her all the way up until
the birth of the child? No, just a few times... RAINEY: We had sex
June 23rd. Just a few times. RAINEY: The day
I went into labor. When my child was born,
we sent him a picture
on the phone of my child. His words was that
it must not... Why did you text it to me? He don't look like me... What did you text me for? You might as well
name him Salih, and be with Salih,
so guess what I did? I named him Salih. Right. No, you tried
to give me... You tried to give me
an ultimatum like... So, what you're saying is... If you don't marry me,
then I'm gonna marry him. I'm like,
you need to hurry up
and marry him. 'Cause I'm not going to. I asked him several times
to marry me, but you
always chose not to because you were
worried about what
other people said. No, I was worried about... (RAINEY SPEAKING
OVER MATTHEWS) Wait, wait.
I want to get this.
I want to get this down because Ms. Rainey,
you are explaining
a lot of things. You're saying that
you all were together. Of course. Yes, I dealt with him
for eight and a half years. Yes, I did. I was
in love with this man.
Yes, I was. And so, he basically
was not going to do what you needed him
to do, and to step up and do,
so when he said, "Name him after
the other guy,"
you called his bluff and said, "And I will." It wasn't a bluff. Guess what? Why not? MATTHEWS: She tried to say,
like, "Oh, it was before you,
and it was, like, before then, "and this was still while you
was gone and I was messing
with this other person. "Yeah, I might have did,
but we used a condom." You know, all type
of stuff like that. Like, she really... So, I did have sex with
the man and I told you it was way before your time. So you admit, Ms. Rainey,
that there was another guy, but you're saying
not in the time frame. I kept it real.
But it's only
between them two. JUDGE LAKE: In terms of
the time frame of conception? Correct. So, Mr. Matthews,
you are admitting
that you continually sleep with her and
have, at least, a sexual
relationship with her. Sex is sex.
It ain't nothing
important like... Ugh. Well, it's important
when it produces people. Who's gonna have sex
with somebody for 8 1/2 years and don't have
no feelings, period.
Point blank. Let's be real. Me? RAINEY: Let's be real. Me? Let's be real. MATTHEWS: I would. Let's be real, you ain't
gonna deal with me for eight and a half years
off and on and don't have
no type of feelings. I've been dealing
with females
since I was 13 years old. And I don't got no
feelings for her. Please stop fronting. So what will make you think... (RAINEY SPEAKING
OVER MATTHEW) JUDGE LAKE: (BANGS GAVEL)
I need you both to talk
one at a time. I can't understand
your level of doubt,
Mr. Matthews. Why you have such
a negative opinion of
Ms. Rainey, a person. And she's making
this point and
I have to agree that you have had
a relationship with... Some type of relationship
for over eight years. I mean, we're not talking
about eight months,
eight weeks. Eight years! MATTHEWS:
That's nothing, though. There's females that
I've been having sex with
since I was 13 years old. And they don't mean nothing. She don't...
She don't stand a chance. RAINEY: But you done
live with me off and on... Like for real. In my apartment. You? Right. That your baby's
daddy was paying for. My baby's daddy didn't
pay for nothing. Anything I ever had,
I pay for. Lonniesha worked hard
for what I pay for. Yeah, look at my face, too. This is my face
when I'm serious. JUDGE LAKE: (BANGS GAVEL)
All right, let's...
Let's address the court. Ms. Rainey, so you had
your own place? Always had my own place,
until now. JUDGE LAKE: So you
made your own money? Own money. Doing what? RAINEY: Surviving,
getting it, whether it was
working on a pole, working at a restaurant,
working in a restaurant,
group home... Anything, I got it. MATTHEWS: Right. And you had half of it,
so what are you
complaining for? (AUDIENCE CHEERS FOR RAINEY) I wasn't complaining. I wasn't complaining
about it. When I was
getting half of it. Mr. Matthews,
what do you say to that?
She's saying that... Oh, yeah, she was giving me
her money now. RAINEY: I was taking
care of you. She was giving me
her money. JUDGE LAKE:
That's my point. So, you're criticizing her
and yet you openly admit
you were living off of her and letting her
take care of you? Listen, I don't care
if she was at the store panhandling, for money
all day, if she came back and gave
it to me, I'm a take it. RAINEY: That's because
he's nothing. He's nowhere. (AUDIENCE BOOING MATTHEWS) That's 'cause he's nowhere,
he's a loser. I got to drop a little
knowledge on you,
Mr. Matthews. If these kids
are yours today, you're going to
be paying for 'em. (AUDIENCE CHEERING) Oh, he already gonna
be paying for one 'cause he signed
the birth certificate,
so I ain't worried about it. MATTHEWS: Right. JUDGE LAKE: All right,
so did you, in fact,
sign the birth certificate? MATTHEWS: For the girl,
for Renaya. Not for Salih. Do you believe,
in fact, she's yours? Like I said,
she got family trees
and there ain't no telling. So cute. How can you
treat her mother and
talk about her mother and address
her mother this way? When you have
signed this child's
birth certificate, and have pretty much
owned up and said,
"I am her father." How do you disrespect
her mother on this level,
and think that it's okay? RAINEY:
He don't respect himself. You give respect
where respect's due. 'Cause he don't
respect himself. MATTHEWS: You'd know
because she don't
respect herself. Any time you
can take time out your day, talking about somebody
who you've got a child by,
you disrespecting yourself. MATTHEWS:
...like she be proud of it. Like you proud
that you had sex
with the whole family. Oh, yeah, I did.
And, so? How many people
you gonna have sex with?
How many people? I'm a dude. It doesn't
matter if a dude... So what? Because you a dude,
it makes you any
different from me? Yeah. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Ms. Rainey, I need to
understand from you. You stand here,
you're very strong,
you're opinionated, I can do this,
I got my own life,
I'm equal, I can sleep
with who I want,
I can do what I want, and yet your actions,
in staying with a man
that treats you this way for over eight years,
that don't add up to me. That's not what
a strong woman does. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) And I want to understand that. What is it? RAINEY:
I had a rough life. When you don't have nobody
and that's all you have is
somebody does really nothing, to lean on. When you can't lean on,
that's what you gotta do. Like I say, yes,
I did love him,
I wanted to marry him. I still love him
but I don't want
to be with him, because he can't
respect me, as not only the child,
his kid's mother. But as his Muslim sister,
as a friend, as a woman,
period. I've been dealing
with him off and on, and it's my fault because
I allowed him to do
the things that he did. And as long as I allowed him
to keep playing me the way
he keep playing me, he gonna keep
playing me that way. But at this point in time,
I'm done. I'm tired
and I'm fed up. Period. JUDGE LAKE:
When you say,
"I had a rough life," explain to me
what you're saying, because it sounds like
in between the lines,
I hear you saying, "I don't want my children
to go through what
I went through. "I don't want them
to feel alone." RAINEY: Yes. I had a... My rough life,
in and out of foster care. Being homeless. Fourteen years old,
on my own. Period. I'm 26 now, I gotta live
with my cousin, because
I don't have no help. And if I need help, a dollar, I can't even get $2 from him
to get on a bus to take
his kids to the doctor. Enough is enough. I'm tired of taking care
of these kids on my own. As a mother, you're
understanding that the love and support
of a father is valuable. Yes, 'cause my daddy
wasn't there. And where I'm staying now,
my daddy is around the corner. Do my daddy come around
the corner to see me? No, he don't. He right around the corner.
You come around the corner
to see them kids? No. You live right around
the corner from your father? Yes. Right now? Right now. And you say he never comes
around to see how you are? Mmm-mmm. And then you also live right
around the corner from
Mr. Matthews? Yes. And he doesn't come around
to see the children, even the one whose
birth certificate
he signed? So you feel like this cycle
is repeating itself? Yeah, but it's not going
to repeat. It's going
to get broken today. JUDGE LAKE: And I can tell...
I can tell it hurts. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) It hurts. It hurts.
It hurt a lot. It do. It hurt a lot
when you love somebody and they don't be there
for you, and all they do
is just doubting you. That do hurt. It hurt a lot
because I went through a lot
in my life. You are gonna have
to deal with me
while I'm here, and that's
how I feel. Period. So you feel like you have
loved him unconditionally? I loved him and never
got loved back. All I ever got was
being mistreated, talked about to his
other "females",
"baby mamas", or whatever he wants
to call them. I'm done. Period.
No, he ain't nothing. So, today's DNA results
are going to see whether he's responsible
for these children. You are suing him
for half of the
childcare expenses, in the amount of $4,663.50. Now, have you brought
the court any evidence of the moneys
you've spent thus far? Mmm-hmm. Jerome, can you hand me
the folder, please? So, tell me, has he
helped you at all? Well, he bought
a pack of diapers
and a can of milk. My daughter's
eleven months. JUDGE LAKE:
Mr. Matthews, is that true? Yeah. (AUDIENCE BOOING) Are these your only
possible children,
Mr. Matthews? No, I have six kids. You have six...
Six children? Besides these two? Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE:
Do you take care
of those children? RAINEY: No. MATTHEWS: I do what I can. I talk to them,
I tell them stuff. I teach them, like...
How to not be like me,
how not to... You know, like, for real.
And that's just real. But... I can't literally
come out of my pocket and
give something I don't have. JUDGE LAKE:
But, Mr. Matthews,
let me be clear. Six kids, maybe eight.
You need to be figuring out
how to make some money. MATTHEWS: You're making sense. JUDGE LAKE: Because you gotta
take care of these kids. Right. JUDGE LAKE:
Financially, as well. Now, Ms. Rainey,
I've got receipts here
for... RAINEY: Diapers. Diapers. Formula. Formula. Money that you spent
on the children. Correct. Since their birth? Yes. Half of that amount
comes to $4,663.50. Stop. Yes. And that's in two years. For real, stop it. 'Cause my son
is two years old. MATTHEWS: Stop playing it. RAINEY: All the way till now. JUDGE LAKE:
Two children? RAINEY: Correct. You mean to tell me,
in two years, it added up
to four thousand,
some dollars. The receipt don't lie.
She's not buying clothes. MATTHEWS:
I seen those numbers. And these are receipts for
baby-related expenses. Her kids have never
got clothes on. RAINEY:
They do have clothes on. They never got
clean clothes on. (RAINEY AND MATTHEWS
SPEAKING OVER EACH OTHER) Mr. Matthews. Mr. Matthews!
What I'm telling you
is that, these aren't receipts
where she's just
out at the mall, whiling out and shopping
and buying things
she doesn't need. These are receipts for
diapers and formula and food and things
that your children need. RAINEY: I'm not
including body wash, not including lotion,
not including diaper wipes, not including none of that. That is just diapers,
food and formula. MATTHEWS: Stop. JUDGE LAKE:
I see that.
I have enough. I need to get to the results
because your responsibility and her suit
is conditioned
on whether or not you are in fact the father. So, Jerome, if you could
please hand me the envelope,
I'm ready for the results. JEROME: Here, Your Honor. Thank you. JEROME: You're welcome. These results, as prepared
by DNA Diagnostics reads as follows. In the case of<i>
Rainey v. Matthews.</i> When it comes to... Renaya Matthews, Mr. Matthews, you are indeed
her father. All right, let's go
to the next one. Jerome. And this is the child
where you feel like
you have the most doubt. Right. In the case of<i>
Rainey v. Matthews,</i> as it pertains to... Salih Sanders, named after another man,
per your insistence. And this is the child
where you feel like
you have the most doubt. Right. In the case of<i>
Rainey v. Matthews,</i> as it pertains to... Salih Sanders, named after another man per your insistence. Mr. Matthews, you... ...are the father. All right, so,
the results are in now. Mr. Matthews, it was hard
to sit here and witness a man disrespect a woman, that's the mother of
his children, in this way. That's overrated, though. JUDGE LAKE:
I have to tell you (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) I don't care
what she's maybe
done in the past, the fact remains is
that she's the mother
of your children. You got to do better
on that level. That's overrated. JUDGE LAKE:
For your children's sake. If not, you're gonna
raise a son that treats women
the same way you do. And that's not cool. Ms. Rainey, as you allow them
to see you be disrespected
by him in this way, you are teaching them that
level of disrespect is okay. And it's not. RAINEY: That's right. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) I can see the look
in your eyes and if somebody treated
your children the way
he treated you, I wouldn't want to see you
on that day. Ain't nobody gonna
ever treat my kids
the way he treated me. Thank you.
And therefore, you must
require more for yourself and you must require
more of him. I'm not so certain yet
that he gonna get
his act together. RAINEY: He not. But he gonna take care
of those kids. Oh, yeah. Now, Mr. Matthews,
since you've been found
to be the father today, I am awarding Ms. Rainey the amount of $4,663.50, which is half
of the money
she has spent raising those children
without your help. Judgment for the plaintiff.
Court is adjourned. Thank you. I do got to take care
of those kids,
I'm having them. But I don't feel like
I got to respect nobody
that don't respect theyself. Point blank, period. I want him
in their life, I want... Material things,
they don't matter. Material things don't matter. All I ask for,
is the time. Teach my son
how to tie his shoes, teach my son
how to play basketball, teach my daughter
to not want to have
a man like you. Teach them. All the other stuff,
material things,
'cause they're good, they don't need it,
they got me and
they got God. So, they good. All I ask for is,
just be there.
