(THEME MUSIC PLAYING) JUDGE LAKE:
Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of<i>
Graham v. Scott.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day everyone. ALL: Good day. Ms. Graham, you are here
to prove to your on again off again fiance,
Mr. Scott <i> that your four-year-old
daughter Taylor
is his biological child.</i> You say his paternity denial
is destroying your relationship and you need today's results
to save your family. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Scott, you state
that the timeline
for conception does not add up
so you can't be
Taylor's father. You say your engagement
is on the line
and you want the truth. Is that correct? That's correct, Your Honor. So, Ms. Graham, you say
you need today's results
to save your relationship? Tell the court why. Um, basically
we're planning the wedding and we're getting
into arguments every day
about the paternity. He knows he's the father. He has no sense, I've told him several times
that he is the father He still tries to deny it, and I just want this
resolved today. Mr. Scott. Your Honor, I'm not the father. Look at her nose,
look at her eyes,
look at her ears. <i> I'm not the father.</i> Your Honor,
I asked her for a test
over and over again. I keep getting... JUDGE LAKE:
Okay, take me back... How did we get to the point
where,"Okay, will you
marry me?" "Yes I will,
but we need a DNA test." I mean how did we get...
How did we get from
being engaged and being happy,
planning a wedding, to all of a sudden
this DNA thing
looming over our heads? Because I want to
move on with it but not if Taylor Rose
is not my daughter,
I don't want to move on... So, if Taylor's
not your biological child,
you're not getting married. Hell, no! Excuse... GRAHAM: Oh! JUDGE LAKE: That's news to you? That's definitely news to me. So, Ms. Graham, you admit
that this is an on again
off again relationship. Yes. When you're off, were there other men
you were sleeping with... SCOTT: Yes. Yes. JUDGE LAKE: Dating. Yes. No. Me and him have had sex
constantly unprotected through these times
when we were not together. Your Honor, that's a lie. So even if you're on
or if you're off,
you're still having sex. We had a very active sex life.
Very active. What happened during this
on off thing that... Produced this
paternity question? It was him.
I know the night
that I conceived. I definitely know
the night I conceived. We went down to Orlando,
we got a room, we had sex for about a week,
non stop. He knows exactly which weekend
I'm talking about... Your Honor that's a lie. It's like... After I got pregnant,
like I said he just flipped the script. That's not true, Your Honor. Were you engaged during then? No. We got...
We were engaged before then. JUDGE LAKE: All right.
So you were engaged
before then. Yes. Once I told him
I was pregnant, that's when the issues came up. But why, if you gonna
marry her anyway? GRAHAM: Right. Your Honor, I found out
that she was pregnant
prior to her telling me. The reason how I found out
was when I went back
into the house, I was searching through
paper work, cleaning up and when I cleaned up
I saw something from
the doctor's office and it said that
she was like
six weeks pregnant... GRAHAM: Uh-huh. And we've only been
back together
for like two weeks, so how is it possible that
Taylor Rose is my daughter? JUDGE LAKE: Okay! Okay. So now I understand
what's happening. You all were on this
on and off again thing. SCOTT: Yes. When you got back together,
you're at home, some mail comes you see it on the table,
you read it and you see, "Oh, she's pregnant." SCOTT: Right. JUDGE LAKE:<i> But six to seven
weeks pregnant.</i> SCOTT:<i> Right.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i> When you
count back, you're saying,
"We were off then,</i> <i> "and not having sex then."</i> (EMPHASIZES)
We were way off then,
Your Honor. Way off! So when you saw it,
what did you do
with the information? I didn't say anything to her
about the paper work until she approached me
about being pregnant. So what happened
when you approached him,
Ms. Graham? What did you say? I approached him because
this was like my first time
being pregnant. I never... This is my first child. So, of course
I was a little scared, I didn't know
what my options were. So after I told him
I'm expecting him to be excited and he just,
"Oh, that's not my child..." It was just like a big mess. The one person in the world
who I was expecting to
embrace this turned into my enemy. I had to do this
completely alone. And I mean like... No mother, no woman
should have to do that. He completely left me, no support at all. <i> He added so much stress
to my pregnancy.</i> <i> So much unnecessary stress.</i> That's not true, Your Honor. Did you break up
during the pregnancy? We just separated
before the pregnancy,
we got back together... We were always on and off again
so the timeline
is a little sketchy. But we did break up
several times. But the bottom line is
we never stopped having sex
throughout this entire thing. Your Honor, ask her this... If I'm the father
of Taylor Rose, why did I find that paperwork
that says six weeks? Well, that is an issue
that he's having and I'd like to give you
a chance to explain that,
Ms. Graham. He says, when he found
the paper work, he found it
before you even said
anything to him. So, you obviously
waited some time before you even told him
you were pregnant. MS. GRAHAM: I did. And his point is,
if the hospital has
informed you you're pregnant and we are engaged
and going to be married, what reason would you have
not to tell me, if it is
undoubtedly my child? MS. GRAHAM:<i>
I just wanted to have time.</i> I had just graduated,
I just wanted to have time
for myself, to see what my options were
before I had him... You know, down my throat...
Do this, do this, do this! So, once I
did make the decision
to keep the child, I brought it to him. You know, I was very afraid. You know, like I said,
I had just graduated I'm just...
My life was just beginning
to take off. I did not know
if I wanted to take on
the stress or hardship of being
a parent at that time. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) If you want more episodes
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the notification bell. Mr. Scott is saying,
that during the window of time when this baby
would have been conceived you all were on the out. Just because
you were still having
sex with him doesn't of course
change the fact that you could have been
having sex with somebody else. Was there someone else
that you were dating or seeing? Not before...
Not before I was pregnant. No. JUDGE LAKE: But after
you were pregnant there was. Yes. So who were you with
when you gave birth to Taylor? He came up to the hospital, he caused a dramatic scene... What happened at the hospital? MS. GRAHAM: He cursed me out. He said he was never
going to sign
that birth certificate because my daughter
wasn't a twin. He knows that the child
was not his, I'm a cheating... At the hospital
when you just had the baby? At the hospital when I just had my child. That's not 100% true. The security had to remove him. No... I left on my own,
Your Honor So wait a minute, Mr. Scott. You went up,
you looked at the baby and just got infuriated
and enraged? I did, Your Honor. GRAHAM: Basically. What I'm trying to understand
is that, were you there
for the actual birth? As like, this is my child... So you weren't?
You came up there after. After. And I honestly
feel like, even though
he tried to deny this, I really feel like
he came up there... She didn't even call me
and tell me that she was in the hospital
and had the baby. I didn't want that stress. I had to find out
from someone else. I did not want that stress, and I was right. Which stress? Which stress? I was right. He came up there
and he did every single thing
that I knew he was going to do. Which is why
I did not call him. I did not tell him at all... Your Honor, she did call me
and she said,
"You are not the father." That's her exact words. MS. GRAHAM: I did not... When was this? Did you call him and tell him
he's not the father? No. That's not... That's why
I came to the hospital angry. When did she call and tell you
you were not the father? It night have been...
It might have been a day
after she had Taylor, and that's the day
that I went there that security
supposedly escorted me off. Did you tell him, Ms. Graham,
he was not the father? No. Not at all, Your Honor. She did, Your Honor. So, when she told you
you are not the father,
you came up there anyway? SCOTT: Right. Why? She even told
the people at the desk
not to let me back if I was to come up there. Well, she's admitting to that.
'Cause you said what?
You didn't want the stress? Yes. So if that's my daughter why can't I
come to the hospital? Because... I'm not the father, Your Honor. It's your testimony, Mr. Scott,
that Ms. Graham has said to you
in your face "You are not the father." Yes. Plenty of times. JUDGE LAKE: Plenty of times? Yes. Plenty of times. Do you have any evidence
to show this? Any evidence of your doubt? SCOTT: Yes. MR. SCOTT:
I was paying daycare, there's one particular day
her mom could not
pick up Taylor, so she called and said,
"Hey, could you go get Taylor?" And I was like, "Sure." So, I go and get Taylor, and as I...
I went to pay daycare
that particular day and the daycare lady was like, "Hold up, her dad already paid
daycare for this week." (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) Her dad? SCOTT: Her dad. Ms. Graham,
who paid the daycare? First of all,
he paid the daycare
just one time that he's referring to. SCOTT: That's not true. There was...
There was as I told you, when I was pregnant
I did start seeing someone
shortly and he did pay the daycare
several times. He came just one time when... SCOTT:
This guy was introduced as
Taylor's father to the daycare lady. The daycare provider
didn't know who the father was. No. The whole point is,
is who's the daddy
that paid the daycare? SCOTT: Thank you,
Your Honor. That's what I'm trying to understand.
Who is this person? It was... It was my ex. JUDGE LAKE: So, it is your ex? Yeah. When he does not step up,
he does come in
and do things that I need. But wait,
is there any possibility
that this ex could be Taylor's
biological father? (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) Yes. No. See. She's questioning herself.
Look. Why you contradicting yourself? I'm not contradicting...
Do you know
what contradiction means? But you hesitated
to answer the question. I'm not contradicting myself,
at all. Ms. Graham,
is there any possibility? I mean, the fact
that you're pregnant you all of a sudden
hook back up with an ex,
right after you get pregnant. I mean,
it's very easy to believe that you could have
hooked up with that ex before you got pregnant. That small lapse in time,
could make a
paternity question. <i> I mean, if a woman is pregnant
with your child,
and it's his child,</i> you all get into an argument,
you break up and
the next thing you know, you already off with an ex. I mean, that doesn't even... That doesn't seem like
what a pregnant woman would do. How did this ex just reappear
all of a sudden? He was always there. He was not always there. We met,
I was very stressed out, He reached out to me
and I did, you know,
vent to him about a lot of stuff
I was going on... JUDGE LAKE: Going through... Stuff that was going on. Going on with Mr. Scott? MS. GRAHAM: Right. So he was kind of
your shoulder to cry on,
which lead to... Right. He was there,
and he did stay there
after the child was born. And, you know, he continued to
help me with her when my fiance did not. That's not true. So Taylor's four now... Do you want to know why
this has been four years? Because he knows
that this child is his, and he knows after today
he will not have an excuse to just run out of the house
whenever he wants to. Your Honor, twins run in my family, Taylor Rose is not a twin. (HESITATES) Well... (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) Every child born in a family
that has twins won't be a twin. Well, I know
my sister didn't have any twins I know I will be the one
to have twins. Taylor Rose is not my child. Where you getting
this information from
Mr. Scott? SCOTT: This is what I know. How do you know it? From my family history.
I know. (GRAHAM CHUCKLES) JUDGE LAKE: Oh! You have a family history
that, what, every generation has a twin? MR. SCOTT: Yes. Have you checked that against
biology? (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) To be honest, I haven't. JUDGE LAKE: That would be a no. But I'm... (HESITATES) JUDGE LAKE: Okay,
it's all right. The fact that Taylor
is not a twin
does not preclude her from being
your biological child. Well, Your Honor, Ms. Lake,
you are not going to make
Taylor my child my fiance is not gonna make
Taylor my child. I want the test results. (LAUGHS MANIACALLY) Bless your heart. Um... (ALL LAUGHING AND APPLAUDING) I love how you try to get
a little back bone. But let me tell you something, Um... The truth is... You made this mess, So I'm not trying to make
Taylor be yours, that serves me no purpose. What I'm trying to make sure
is that you understand
how you got here. Because that mess
you all made. Her mess. JUDGE LAKE: I'm just here
to help you all sort it out. Because I'm gonna be
honest with you Ms. Graham, the timeline
that you talk about
with this one ex, it does concern me. The fact that this man
so whole heartedly steps up,
pays day care stands in the gaps
whenever Mr. Scott
isn't around. Up at the place,
her daddy already paid this. I mean, I've known
some nice men in my life, I see nice men
in this courtroom all the time. But that looks like a man
that's trying to do something for a baby that he might think
might be his. No, that's the man
waiting for him to mess up so I could leave
and get with him. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. And that could be true too. Well, he can have you. Don't do that. 'Cause I'm not the father. At the end of the day,
this is about Taylor. I have the results for you,
and I want to give them
to you, because I want to figure out
in a healthy way,
in a positive way, where we go from here. Jerome, may I have
the envelopes please? SCOTT: Could I say... (AUDIENCE CLAPPING) No. These results were prepared by
DNA diagnostics and they read as follows... MR. SCOTT:
You are not the father. In the case of... Graham v Scott... When it comes to
four-year-old, Taylor Graham, It has been determined by
this court, (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYS) Mr. Scott... You... Are not the father. Thank you Your Honor. MR. SCOTT:
I already knew I wasn't. Jerome, can you go see
if you can try to get
Ms. Graham? MR. SCOTT:<i> Could I
speak with her for a moment?</i> JUDGE LAKE: No.
Just let her have a minute. Let her have a minute. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: You gotta
get all silly, MR. SCOTT: Yes, ma'am. If you know
something in your heart, and that's what you truly feel you stand respectfully as a man
and you just get the results. JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Graham... Yes, Your Honor. So, obviously,
the part of this story
wasn't true... There were some details
that were not... But in a way, Your Honor,
I'm from the bottom of my heart happy that I really
don't have to put up
with this foolishness. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Your Honor, I still look at
Taylor as my child and I still want to be
in her life, but not in Renada's life. You don't have to be,
'cause you're not
her biological father. And so, at this point, you need to
reach out to the person
you believe is... Is that your ex? That is... Oh, please don't do that. JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Graham,
is that your ex? It is. Okay, so we can see that coming
a mile away, and you need to
reach out to him, if he needs confirmation
this court is here for you. But at this point
you need to figure out how you gonna be
the kind of woman
you want Taylor... To look up to. Right. JUDGE LAKE: Every step you take
and every move you make, she's four years old. She's looking at
what her mom does as an example of
how she should live. And I know
you don't want to see this baby in<i> Paternity Court,</i>
20 years from now. Right. JUDGE LAKE:
Repeating your mistakes. Right. JUDGE LAKE: So you have to do
something about it. There's counseling
resources for you, I wish you all the best. Court is adjourned.
