Please be seated. -Hello, Your Honor.
-Hello. -This is the case
of<i> Hardin v. Nelson.</i>
-Thank you, Jerome. -Good day, everyone.
-[audience] Good day. Ms. Hardin, you have opened
your case today in hopes of saving your relationship
with the defendant. You say, due to
a misunderstanding, he is now denying your
two-month-old daughter, Sophia Nelson. You are certain
he is the father and, once proven,
you want his help raising your daughter.
Is that correct? -Yes, Your Honor.
-Mr. Nelson, you refuse to lift a finger
for a child that isn't yours. You say you are 1,000% certain you are not
Sophia's biological father and claim that you know who is. -[Nelson] Yes, Your Honor.
-All right, so, Ms. Hardin, you say you need help. Delonte doesn't help
me with anything. He doesn't help me
financially. He won't pick up a diaper.
He won't watch her
for 15 minutes while I go to the store.
He won't watch her
for 15 minutes while I get in the shower.
He walk past her
like she Casper. When she cry, he be like,
"Hey, get your daughter.
Your daughter crying. Your daughter wants you.
Get her, get her." He don't help me at all. One, I don't see why
I should have to do all of that if I'm not 100% sure
that I'm the father. My baby look just like you.
You denying her, she look
just like you. Y'all cheeks,
y'all face structure,
your forehead. -Your eyes. No,
she don't look like me.
-Like you. I look like my mom. Mr. Nelson, you are basically
saying that Ms. Hardin's
testimony is correct. I really want to
understand the nature
of your relationship, -how y'all met.
-I met her when I went down to Louisiana
with my family. I thought she was cool.
She wanted to move <i> with me to Arkansas.</i> -[Judge Lake]<i> Wait, how did
we get there?</i>
-[Hardin]<i> Right?</i> <i> No, that is not
how it went.</i> -[Nelson] Yes, it is.
-So, how did it happen, -Ms. Hardin?
-When he came down to visit with his family members,
we became friends first. And then when it was time
for him to go back to Louisiana with his family, he asked me,
"Do you want to come with me -or do you want to stay?"
-No. How long was he there? [Hardin] He was there
for a couple of months. I said you could come
if you want to. I said, "But the best choice
for you is to stay home
with your people." -That's what I said.
-[Judge Lake]
"With your people." So... -But you went, anyway?
-[Hardin] Yes, I did. -[Nelson] Yes, Your Honor.
-All right. And then soon after that,
you find out you're pregnant. [Hardin] Yes, Your Honor. Tell me what happens
when you find out
you're pregnant. At first I panicked,
'cause I didn't know
how he would respond. <i> He didn't seem like
the person to want
to have a kid.</i> He didn't seem like
a kid person. But, I mean... -That's true.
-So, why were you having
unprotected sex with this young man, and you didn't think
he was the kid type? And why are you
following behind him? I didn't really have anybody. My mom died when I was 12,
my dad's not in my life. My grandmother, she's not really there, either. Okay. Now, I understand
what's going on. [crying] [Judge Lake] It's all right. We come here to tell the truth. And if that's your truth,
you say it. -Yes, ma'am.
-So, you were feeling alone
in the world. Yes, and I never really had
nobody in my life talk to me, you know? Nobody...
They would talk,
but they wouldn't listen to where I was coming from.
They didn't listen
to what I had to say. And he was there for me.
And I gravitated towards it. So, you wanted
to have his baby because, "This was
a person, now, -that I decided--"
-I thought that
I was gonna -be with him
for the rest of my life.
-Right. So, take me to the birth. [Hardin]<i> He was semi-there,
I call it.</i> -At least I was there.
A lot of dudes...
-That don't count. -...wouldn't even be there.
-He watched her be pushed out, he waited for my daughter
to be weighed and wiped off, and he told me,
"That's a white man's baby," and he walked out
of the hospital room. -[audience gasps]
-[Judge Lake] What? [Nelson] 'Cause she came
out, really, like... -[Hardin] That's how
she came out.
-She didn't look like that -when she came out.
-[Judge Lake] She'd been
in the womb! [Nelson] Come on.
I'm black, though. A black baby gonna come out
with some type of blackness
on 'em. Babies come out
in all different shades
and colors. -[Nelson]<i> That wasn't the real
reason why.</i>
-[Hardin]<i> That's not an excuse.</i> So, Mr. Nelson,
did you sign the
birth certificate? No, ma'am. No,
Your Honor, I didn't. [Judge Lake] So you came there
to support, but in your mind,
you were like,
"This isn't my child, <i> so I'm not signing
the birth certificate."</i> -[Nelson]<i> Yes, Your Honor.</i>
-[Hardin]<i> No.</i> -[Hardin] That's not
what happened.
-[Judge Lake] What happened? When we were on our way
to the hospital, I called him
multiple times to say, "Hey, make sure
you grab your ID. You need your ID
to sign her birth certificate." He left his ID at home
on purpose, brought
an empty wallet. Well, on purpose. -[Hardin] On purpose.
-[Nelson] The same thing, yeah. [Judge Lake] So, Mr. Nelson, you say that you didn't sign
that birth certificate
purposefully. Because you have doubt. -Yes, Your Honor.
-And you've brought an exhibit to outline that doubt.
Am I correct? -Yes, Your Honor.
-Please, step up
to the monitor. Okay, Your Honor.
It all started, we went back to Arkansas,
got our own place together. <i> Around that time,
her ex-boyfriend John
and his baby mother,</i> which is Rachel,
at the time, didn't have nowhere to go
so they wanted to come
stay with us. But that being
her ex-boyfriend,
I thought it was disrespectful. I said no. She still went along
with it anyway. And I thought
that was suspicious.
'Cause if that was your ex and y'all had relations,
why would you want to
be under the same roof as him with me? So,
I got mad and I left
during that time. But if he was with
his new wife or girlfriend,
or fiance, why would it matter
if they needed a place to stay
for a moment? Because, before I even
knew her, they, all three of them,
had sexual relations
with each other, -so, I wasn't...
-Oh. -[Nelson] I'm not stupid...
-So, they had threesomes
together? Yes, Your Honor. Oh. -Okay.
-So, if I'm not there, -what's to stop them
doing it again?
-[Judge Lake] What is goin' on? [clears throat and stammers] Yes, Your Honor. Eventually, they left.
I came back. Everything was cool,
I thought everything's fine. I wasn't suspecting nothing,
'cause I had no proof. Until... I went through her phone.
And I found text messages of John texting her,
"Hey, baby, -you want some more?
How you doing," this and that.
-[Judge Lake] What? -Yeah.
-"You want some more?" [Nelson] She denied it.
Um... Three weeks later,
I find out she pregnant. [Judge Lake]<i> And then
three weeks after that...</i> [Nelson]<i> Went to the doctor.
The doctor said she was
two months pregnant.</i> -Mmm-hmm.
-[Judge Lake] Oh, so when you
calculated that, that put you back
to that time -when you decided you
were gonna leave the house.
-Right. The time when you thought
she was having the threesomes. -Yes, Your Honor.
-Okay. You may step back
to the podium. So, now, you believe
the ex-boyfriend, John, is really Sophia's
biological father. -[Nelson]<i> Yes, Your Honor.
-Now, Ms. Hardin,</i> when we were going
over that testimony, you were not vehemently
denying anything. -Correct.
-So, you do admit that you were intimate
with this couple. Yes, I do. And you admit
you were intimate
with them -when Mr. Nelson
left the house?
-No. So, you weren't intimate
with them then? -[Hardin] Not at all.
-John will comment on her Facebook,
"When am I gonna see my baby?" This and that.
It got personal when he
actually texted her number saying, "What are we gonna
do about our baby? You know that's my baby."
So, then, -he called her.
-So, you say the ex was not only sleeping
with her when you were gone, -he's now claiming the baby.
-Yes. The Facebook post
that he's speaking on, he didn't necessarily
claim Sophia. He made a statement,
which, he was like, "How my baby doing?" And I don't necessarily
think he was-- That's saying that
that's his baby. I mean, we're from Louisiana.
That's how you talk.
"Hey, lil' baby. Hey, baby. What's up, baby?"
That's how you talk. John called my phone,
so I put it on speaker and John was like,
"So what are we gonna
do about our baby, bro?" And I was like, "Huh,
what baby? My baby does not
belong to you."
He was like, "Come on, now, Pinky.
We both know
what happened when Delonte left." -And I was like,
"Nothing happened."
-[Judge Lake] What? So, the bottom line is, your ex got on the phone... -And claimed my daughter.
-...and claimed your daughter. -[Hardin]<i> Yes, ma'am.</i>
-[Judge Lake]<i> Well, I wanna
see if he's gonna claim</i> your daughter
in this courtroom.
Jerome, please escort Ms. Hardin's ex
into the courtroom. -I wanna hear from him.
-[audience cheering
and applauding] I'll have you come
up to the witness stand. -Hello, sir.
Please, have a seat.
-Hello. -State your name
for the court.
-John Patterson. Do you think you are
Sophia's father?
That's what I wanna know. -It's impossible.
-[Nelson] Yeah, now you don't. -[Judge Lake] So, why
are they testifying...
-[Hardin] Why deny it now? ...that you were on the phone saying, "What are we gonna
do about our baby? You know
that's my baby." I never said that.
They're both delusional. You never claimed this child? No. Actually, I got
text messages and screenshots with Pinky texting me,
asking me to take
a DNA test for the baby because
she thinks that
the baby's mine. No, you... I text you, -after the fact--
-You have that in your hand? -Yes, ma'am.
-That's what...
Let me see that. So, this is a text message
exchange between you and
Ms. Hardin. [audience exclaiming] "So, can you do
a DNA test for me, please? <i> We talked before</i>
and you said you think<i>
she's yours.</i> <i> I just wanna know.
I mean, the timeline adds up."</i> No, that's not true. When she conceived or whatever,
I was in Louisiana. No, you weren't.
You were there,
but I didn't have sex with you. -Like, I left...
-You were staying
in my house. [Judge Lake] But wait a minute. If Mr. Nelson's the father,
why do you need
a DNA test with Mr. Patterson
if you said you didn't
sleep with him? I was trying to prove
to him that he wasn't
the father. His family members
kept coming and was like... No, that's not what
the text message said. No, no. [Hardin] I asked him
a question. You were sleeping
with me behind
Rachel's back, -at one point in time.
Stop it.
-I've been going through this -for a very long time.
-[Judge Lake] What did you say? He was sleeping with me,
at one point in time,
behind Rachel's back. Since you want
to be up here and
bat for everything, -tell the truth.
-This is while
you were with Delonte. -[Judge Lake] Hold on, now!
-[Hardin] No, it was not. Me and Delonte
were friends. We had
just started talking. -Y'all met through us.
-The last time-- Whoa, whoa, whoa.
No, no, no... -[all arguing indistinctly]
-[Judge Lake] Wait a minute! Hold on. Hold on. This is getting interesting. I would like to
hear from Rachel. -That would be
Mr. Patterson's wife.
-[audience] Ooh! Please step up, ma'am. -[Davis] Hi.
-Hello. I'm Rachel. Okay, so, I went...
The back-and-forth calls with Pinky. Pinky's called me
a week and a half ago, telling me that John was
obsessed with the fact of thinking that her kid
is his. -I guess trying
to make me jealous.
-[Hardin] Nope. [Davis]<i> 'Cause me and John
got in an argument one time,</i> and he was being petty
and was like, "Ha, ha
the baby is mine." He told me that. But we were arguing.
We were arguing about it. -He was being petty.
-Yes, I did say that,
Your Honor... But this was after
she kept calling me,
telling me... -lies after lies.
-I have two screenshots
though of him telling me-- You would tell me one thing
and tell Delonte
something different every time. [Hardin] He knew.
He has the password
to my phone. All right. Ms. Davis, thank you
for your testimony. It was very enlightening. Now, you say your husband,
Mr. Patterson,
said he's the father. Mr. Patterson, you say
Mr. Nelson is the father. Mr. Nelson, you say
Mr. Patterson's the father. Ms. Hardin, you've told
Mr. Nelson he's the father and Mr. Patterson
he's the father. No, I did not tell John
he was the father of my child. [Judge Lake] That's not true,
though, because I've got
a series of text messages where you're asking him
to have a DNA test because the timeline adds up. Those messages were after this was all brought up. I didn't claim
he was my baby's daddy. If you sent a text
to Jerome and said, "Jerome, so, can you do a DNA test
for me, please?" What would you think
at that point? That I slept with her. Okay, well, I know
who the baby daddy is,
and it's not him. [Judge Lake] Okay, so,
here we go.
This is a mess! I say this in this courtroom
all the time. Sex is not a board game. It's not like<i> Monopoly</i>
where it's better
if you play with more people. -It's not!
-[audience laughing] It really isn't. It just gets messier. And at the end of the day,
y'all just all up here,
arguing, so, "all of us sexting,
and now we gonna
have a threesome, and now we're doing this"? No. That's not really
how it works. And, listen, if that's
what you wanna do, that's your business.
But protect yourself. Because how dare you
bring an innocent baby into this nightmare? And I know you don't want this
for your child, Ms. Hardin, after what you testified to
that you've been through. -Do you?
-That's the reason I'm here. Jerome, I'm ready
for the results. [audience applauding] These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case
of<i> Hardin v. Nelson...</i> It's not! Pertaining to whether
Mr. Patterson or Mr. Nelson is the father of
two-month-old
Sophia Nelson, it has been determined
by this Court, the biological father is... Mr... Nelson. You are the biological father. First off, I just wanna say
I apologize to you for accusing you. But you
gotta see it from my
point of view, my shoes. I just wanted to know
the truth, 'cause if I'm
gonna be here, -and we gonna do this...
-Can you get a relationship
with her now? -Can you help me with her?
Provide for her?
-Of course. -Of course.
-Watch her while
I get a shower? Of course. You already
know how I get down. Of course. I don't
play that. But he know what he
was doing
to cause all this. To stir all this up,
my doubts. Can't make a mess,
then be mad it's messy. That just don't
make no sense. I was... I just wanna say,
I was brought
into this mess. -[Judge Lake] Hold on.
-I didn't start nothing.
I don't do drama. [Judge Lake] This is
the lesson we have
to learn here. If we don't get better,
then Sophia grows up and 20 years from now
she's standing up here
talking about, "Well, my daddy did this
and my mother did this and I was looking for love
in all the wrong places. And now I don't know
who my child's father is." You know it. I know
you know it, Ms. Hardin. And I know that's why
it pains you so much. But you had the courage
to come in here today and talk about the ugly truth so that we could
get to the real truth. Which is, you and Mr. Nelson
are the parents. You gotta grow up,
now, for this baby. You have to ask questions, and there's no shame
in just saying,
"I need help." And we gonna get you some. I wish you all
the very best of luck.
Court is adjourned.
