Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello! This is the case of<i>
Hannon v. Dorsey.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone! ALL: Good day! Ms. Hannon,
you grew up believing one man was your father
until the age of 13, when he said,
"I am not your daddy." FALON HANNON: Yes, ma'am. Your mother then told you
on her death bed, that another man,
the defendant, David Dorsey, is your biological father. You are here
to prove paternity
and gain closure. And you have never spoken to
or laid eyes on Mr. Dorsey, but will meet him for
the very first time today. Is that correct? Yes, ma'am. So, Ms. Hannon,
you initially believed another man
was your father? Yes, ma'am. Please explain it
to the court. Well, I believe David Dorsey
is my biological father, but I grew up with
my grandparents
and my mom. Like you said,
I was known for a man
named Kimball to be my dad. I called him one day
for the daddy-daughter dance, and instead of
his response being,
"Yes, I'll be there," it was,
"your mother's still
lying to you. "I'm not your dad.
You need to go find
your real dad." (AUDIENCE GASPS) How cruel! (SOBS) (EXHALES) JUDGE LAKE: I know
that had to be hard. Yeah, I mean... Yeah. At what point did
your mother tell you
about David Dorsey? My mom, we were
having our heart to hearts,
you know, when she got sick. She was sick
my whole entire life. You know, she would
talk about Kimball, she would
talk about David. And on her death bed
she told me, "I thought
I picked the right one for you, "but David's your father." And... So just before
your mother passed,
she says to you, "I thought I picked
the right one for you, "but David Dorsey
is really your
biological father." Yes, ma'am. Wow! After my mom's passing,
I had... I moved away.
My grandmother got sick
so I came back. I was actually at work,
walking down the hall, and she was
calling me "Melanie." Walking down the hall,
"Melanie, do you hear me
talking to you?" She got all the way close
and I'm like, "Ma'am,
that's not my name." Melanie...
But you're talking about
Melanie Dorsey, right? And she's like, "Yeah."
I said, I heard it
in high school. I look just like a girl.
I need to meet her. It's my sister.
We need to find out. And the friend
that said it, you know,
he approached my mom, like, "Hey,
does she have sisters?"
She's like "No. "She's the only child.
She doesn't have sisters." And shut him down about it
and I just left it alone. But to this day,
you have never met, laid eyes on
David Dorsey. No, ma'am. Are you ready
to meet the man you believe you've been told
is your true biological father? Yeah. All right. Jerome, please escort
Mr. Dorsey in the courtroom. Please. (SNIFFLES) (SHUDDERING) To tHe left side there. Mr. Dorsey. How you doing? Thank you for
joining us today. This young woman has
waited many many years
to meet you. She's been told that
you are her biological father. Yes, ma'am. You walked through the doors,
you walked past her, no hug. You didn't even really
look at her, acknowledge her. I acknowledged her,
I looked at her. You don't believe
you're her biological father? Not really.
No, Your Honor. Why? 'Cause I don't remember
her mother at all. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) You don't
remember her mother? I don't know her mother. You don't know
her mother? No. So, you are standing here
at the defendant's podium in this courtroom
today saying, you know you cannot be
Ms. Hannon's
biological father because you have never
met her mother. No, I haven't, Your Honor. You don't know her? No, I don't. Ms. Hannon,
do you have a picture
of your mother with you? Yes, ma'am. Show that picture
to Mr. Dorsey. Do you remember that woman? No, ma'am. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) Ms. Hannon,
what have you been told about your
mother's relationship
with Mr. Dorsey? From our conversations
that we used to have,
it was like they talked, like they weren't in
a relationship, I guess. Like they talked
here and there. I know that he worked
at a fast food restaurant. He was the manager at
a fast food restaurant and, like I said, you know,
talked, mingled,
here and there. Mr. Dorsey, were you
a manager at a
fast food restaurant No, ma'am,
but I worked at
a fast food restaurant. You worked at one? Yes, ma'am. Ms. Hannon, you brought
a witness with you? Yes, ma'am. I believe it's your
godmother. Yes, ma'am. Please stand, ma'am. And state your name
for the court, please. My name is
Cassandra Alexander, and I am Falon's godmother. And I was a very good friend
of Falon's mother,
Veronica Hannon, JUDGE LAKE:
And what information
can you provide today? Well, Your Honor,
me and Falon's mother,
Veronica, we worked together, and Mr. Dorsey, I have seen him
come to the job to bring her mom lunch. Her mom would talk about
her baby daddy being David. He still looks the same, but he had just got
a little heavier. You don't remember
any of this? Your Honor,
I never had sex
with this woman. You worked at
a fast food restaurant though? Yes, ma'am. What else do you
remember, Ms. Alexander? This is bizarre! (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) Well, me and Falon
was out one night and so then,
she said, "Godmom,
I gotta ask you something." And I said,
"What is it, Falon?" And she said,
"Do you know
David Walkins?" I said,
"That's your dad!" If you want more episodes
of Paternity Court Make sure to subscribe
and click on
the notification bell. Because I remember
her mom talking
about a David. "That's your dad." But, wait,
this is David Dorsey. You said David Walkins. My name used to be
David Walkins. I was a... (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) I was adopted, and he changed
my name to Walkins. And then when I got grown,
I changed my name
back to my dad's name. So, now, it's getting
even more closely
connected to you. I mean, well,
I was well-known
in the Northend. I mean,
everybody knew my name. JUDGE LAKE:
So what are you thinking? You're thinking
this woman just
made this up? Your Honor,
I don' know this woman. JUDGE LAKE:
But it's such
a coincidence that Ms. Hannon
has been called
your daughter's name. DAVID DORSEY: Yeah,
she resembles my daughter. Oh, you admit
she resembles
your daughter. When she was younger, yes. JUDGE LAKE:
Her godmother
remembers you. She remembers
where you work. She remembers the woman
talking about you and saying
it was David Dorsey
or David Walkins. Yes, ma'am.
I don't know her mother. All right.
I think we need to hear
from your daughter. Jerome, will you please
escort Mr. Dorsey's daughter
into the courtroom. Yes, ma'am. (AUDIENCE MURMURS) Watch your step
going up the stairs. I love you, too. Ms. Dorsey, thank you
for joining us today, MELODY DORSEY:
Thank you for
having me. You know we are here
discussing the paternity
as it relates to Ms. Hannon. Yes. I'm here to claim
my sister. That's my sister. You know,
I don't mean to
disrespect my dad but my dad was
a Rolling Stone, okay. So, he was the man. And like,
he was very known
on the Northside for being "David Walkins,
you know, the slayer, of woman, you know. So... (LAUGHS) So... The "Slayer of Woman."
Okay. At a wedding
of a cousin of mine, he kept following me.
She's like, you know, "There's this girl
that looks like you. "She looks
so much like you. "Can you please just
get in contact with this girl? Please 'cause
you look so much
like her, you know." So I went
onto Facebook, you know, and I
looked up her name, and when
I seen her face, I was like,
if that's not me or maybe about
a good 50 pounds ago... (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) When the first time
I told my father, he was not
in the state, you know. He was fighting
his own demons
at the time to even really want to...
He's like, "I don't know her." It was just so blatant. No! "Don't know her.
Never seen her. "I don't know her,"
And I'm like, "Well, Dad, you know
you had the little party days. "Can you not remember?" And he goes,
"I know who I was with.
I don't know her." So I said,
"Okay, that's my sister." Like I said,
I'm just here
for my dad to get clarification
on his own. But that is my sister. So you feel like
you have no doubts? No doubts. Ms. Hannon, listening
to the testimony
of Ms. Dorsey, and also of Mr. Dorsey, have your feelings changed? Do you have doubt?
Are you still confused?
What do you feel? I still feel like
she's my sister 'cause we look
so much alike. I just, you know,
I just want to know
for sure because I don't know. Like, if he is my dad, and I really hope he is, I have sisters,
I have brothers,
I have nieces. If he's not, it's just
me and my three kids. So... I love you. Okay, stop.
Just don't cry. Don't cry.
It's gonna be okay. Like I told you before.
You are my sister. Period. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Ms. Hannon, as you listened
to Mr. Dorsey consistently say "I don't even
know this woman, "I've never even met her." And yet you see
this uncanny resemblance
to Melody, does it make you
feel torn, confused? Or in your heart
you do believe that is your father
and this is your sister? FALON:
It makes me feel torn 'cause he says
he doesn't remember. But who all remembers
every one night stand they had
when they was a kid? So I can't fault him
for saying he don't remember... Because you were told
it was a fling, and so maybe... Maybe he don't
remember that fling. It wasn't the best fling. It just might have
not been the best for him.
He didn't remember it. I'm sorry. I just...
I don't remember
having sex with your mom. I'm sorry. That's fine. And so, you both submitted
childhood photos to the court. Yeah. JUDGE LAKE: And I'd like
to look at those. When you look at it,
do you see a resemblance? FALON: Yeah. JUDGE LAKE:
How about you,
Mr. Dorsey? DAVID: I see a resemblance. JUDGE LAKE: You do? Yes, I do. What was it that
made you want
to come today? I mean, if you never
met this woman, and you have
never had sex with her, and you don't know
what is going on, why did you come? I want closure for Falon. And I see
that makes you emotional
when you talk about her. Why is that? (SNIFFLES)
I feel sorry for her. Is there any part
of you that says, "If she is my daughter, "if it was an encounter
I just don't remember, "I've missed out on 30 years
of this woman's life. "This young woman,
this beautiful,
smart young woman, "I've missed out on her life"? Yeah. I feel... I'm torn that way too though, I feel one kind of way
but then... I feel bad, you know, I've missed out on her life
if I am her father. JUDGE LAKE: (SIGHS)
This is fascinating! I think we need to go
to the results now
because I feel like... Truly, Mr. Dorsey,
I can't get much testimony
out of you because you honestly
don't remember. No, I don't. And I see the beautiful bond
you, Ms. Dorsey, and Ms. Hannon have
formed as sisters. You believing and accepting
and loving her as a sister. Have you prepared yourself? Have you said to yourself where do we go from here? MELODY: That's my sister. I don't know about her
mother's infidelity or what she did
or anything like that. Only thing I know is that
Falon is my sister. That's all I know
and that's all I care about. And I think it's important
to note that Ms. Hannon is standing there
because she does want to know
where she came from. And for those of us
who do know who our father is, and we've had that
all of our lives, we know we can
never take for granted that there are young woman,
beautiful young woman and men all over this country,
all over the world that don't have
that answer and have to live
with that every day. And I have felt your pain
today, Ms Hannon. Your tears, I see you. And I know
this has been difficult. Yeah. JUDGE LAKE: Because
your mother's no longer here. HANNON: Yeah. With that said,
I think it's time
for the results. Jerome. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics
and they read as follows. This is the case of<i>
Hannon v. Dorsey.</i> When it comes to
30-year-old Falon Hannon, it has been determined
by this court, JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Dorsey, you are not the father. Come here. I'm sorry. Don't be sorry. You are my sister. (SOBBING) Uh, I know I'm not
your daughter and all, can you still
just be my dad? (SOBS) Yes. Yes. And I can be
your sister. (ALL LAUGHING) Just got yourself
another daughter. Yeah. He ain't got no choice. (LAUGHING) Number three. It has been determined
by this court. Okay? Biology creates
one family for us, right? Right. But love and connection
creates a family with beautiful unbreakable
bonds as well. You're very blessed today. I want you all to take
advantage of the counseling
and resources we have for you. I want you
to talk through it, figure out how you can
best support Falon. And it's gonna be all right. Yes, it is. I wish you all
the very best. This court is adjourned!
