Please, be seated. Good morning,
Your Honor. Good morning. This is the case of<i>
McGowan v. Martin.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Ms. McGowan,
you say, after the death
of your husband, you were trying
to find your way but ended up finding
a man on the Internet,
had sex with him, and two weeks later,
you discovered that
you were pregnant. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE:
Now, you claim the defendant,
Mr. Martin, is without a doubt
the biological father of your 8-month-old
baby, Cayden. <i> Is that correct?</i> MCGOWAN: <i> Mmm-hmm.</i> JUDGE LAKE:
Mr. Martin, you say, there's no way
you're Cayden's
biological father. And you claim to have
a mile-long list of doubts, that will clear your name
today, in court. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE:
One main reason is
that you believe the man she's
currently living with, who will join us shortly, <i> is Baby Cayden's
biological father.</i> MARTIN: <i> Yes,
Your Honor.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i>
So, Ms. McGowan.</i> So, you say,
he's done nothing
for the child. Nothing at all. JUDGE LAKE:
Absolutely nothing. MCGOWAN:
Nothing at all. When I met him online,
he misrepresented himself. He told me
he was a good man, he was a good father, he was into church
and everything. JUDGE LAKE: Baby Cayden
is eight months old. MCGOWAN: <i> Yes, ma'am.</i> JUDGE LAKE: <i> Any diapers?</i> MCGOWAN: <i> Uh,
he tricked me over,
the one time,</i> <i> and said he has
diapers for the baby,</i> but he didn't have any. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) No, he didn't have any. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Martin? Yes, Your Honor. You've done nothing
for the child? No, I did nothing. JUDGE LAKE: Why? Because some facts,
um... The first night
we had sex, the first day
we met each other
we had sex. And, um, the reason
why I don't believe it, believe this
is my child, is because she's
very promiscuous. And when
you have sex
with a woman... You're having sex
with a woman
the first day, that's a red flag
anyway. JUDGE LAKE: Did
you use protection? No, uh-uh. "No, uh-uh?" So, if you have
sex with a woman
on the first day, and you don't
use protection, you understand that
if it's in the window
of conception, you might be
her child's father,
right? JUDGE LAKE: No matter how... Yeah... No matter how promiscuous
she may be. MARTIN:
Well, first, um... As far as
my sperm count... As far as
my sperm count... It says low because
I have sickle cell, and it's hard for me
to make a baby anyway. And as far as
the sex thing? When the passion goes,
it goes. And you ain't got time
to be doing all that, but when you're in
the heat of the moment... JUDGE LAKE:
Are you suggesting you don't have time
to use protection? I'm clean.
I'm clean. I'm clean,
I trusted that
she was clean. It ain't that much
trust in the world. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) I'm sorry. So, you can
do all that. All that. MARTIN: Well,
Your Honor... And not do
anything for a child
you possibly created? Only reason
why because, after the fact
we had sex I went through
her phone. When I went through
her phone... Yes, the first night
he went through my phone. I went through
her phone, and I woke up and see... Saw a man
just came over
the other day, and gave you sex,
and was sending her texts. But you had
just met her! MCGOWAN:
Thank you. MARTIN: Yeah. MCGOWAN:
Thank you. MARTIN: But,
I had just met her... The first night, you...
Wait... MCGOWAN: He went
through my phone. JUDGE LAKE:
The first night
you're with her, you have sex... Mmm-hmm. Then you're looking
through her phone. You don't use
protection... MARTIN: Okay. 'Cause you ain't
got time for all that. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) MCGOWAN: Crazy. That's ludicrous. (AUDIENCE AGREEING) Explain to me, if this is, in fact,
is the sexual encounter
you've had, <i> as irresponsible
as it is,</i> <i> it's done now.</i> After it happens, MARTIN: Mmm-hmm. and then there's
a baby on the way, I need to understand
how you can doubt. Because there was
other men involved. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. But wouldn't you then be
one of the potential men? Okay, out of one of
the potential men... JUDGE LAKE: All right. There's others. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. So, therefore, I cannot be... I cannot be that one. I cannot. You know
what I'm saying? JUDGE LAKE:
What math are you doing? MARTIN: What
math am I doing? In your mind. 'Cause if you are one of
the potential fathers <i> how do you
exclude yourself</i> <i> from the number of men
that could potentially be
her child's father?</i> Because the next day
she had sex
with another guy. MCGOWAN:
Oh, my God. JUDGE LAKE: Ms. McGowan,
I'm gonna go to you. Thank you. I wanna give Mr. Martin
a little time to process. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) MCGOWAN: Yeah, 'cause
he's in La-La Land. He's saying,
there are other men. <i> And you were here.</i> <i> And you're convinced
he's the father.</i> MCGOWAN: <i> Yes, ma'am.</i> Did you have sex
with somebody else the next night,
after? No, I did not.
Not the next night. He had
all kind of men
in his head. He probably...
I went with the mailman,
the milkman... It's in his head. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 'Cause one minute he's nice,
and the next minute he's not. But he is the father,
no doubt. Why are you
so convinced? Can you just
explain that to me? Yes, because of
the conception date and my son looks
exactly like him. Exactly like him. <i> Even Ray Charles
could see that.</i> (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) JUDGE LAKE:
Do you have any proof... MCGOWAN: Yes,
I have the calendar
of the dates. You do,
I'd like to see that. Jerome, would you hand me
her evidence, please? All right. So you presented
a calendar... Mmm-hmm. that outlines the date
you were intimate with
Mr. Martin. MCGOWAN: Yes, ma'am. And that's April 2nd. MCGOWAN: <i> Yes, ma'am.</i> <i> So, you're intimate
with Mr. Martin on the 2nd,</i> <i> the doctor tells you
you're conception date</i> <i> is estimated
at April 3rd.</i> <i> Were you in
a relationship</i> with anybody else
at that time? MCGOWAN: No, ma'am.
I was not. Did you have sex
with any other men during the window
of conception? I did.
A couple of days later,
I did. JUDGE LAKE:
A couple days later. Mmm-hmm. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. Matter of fact,
three days. JUDGE LAKE:
Listen, this is court. I need you to be
honest with me. That's why we're here. Is to get the answers. MCGOWAN: Okay. So, a couple days later, you had sex
with someone else. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE:
Would that be
a couple days, as in April 5th? Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. <i> How about April 6th?</i> MCGOWAN: <i> Yes.</i> <i> The same person, though.
It was the same person.</i> Would that be Mr. Brodie
that's in our court? Yes, ma'am. So, why are you
so convinced it's Mr. Martin's child, when you had sex
with Mr. Brodie <i> so close in proximity</i> <i> to when you had sex
with Mr. Martin?</i> Did you use protection
with Mr. Brodie? No, ma'am. How do you stand here
and just point the finger
at Mr. Martin... Because... JUDGE LAKE:
When you know that you were also
intimate with another man without using protection,
a couple days later? MCGOWAN: Yes, ma'am. Do you have
a relationship with the other man,
Mr. Brodie? Yes, ma'am, I do. JUDGE LAKE:
What's your relationship? We live together. JUDGE LAKE: <i> You do?</i> MCGOWAN: <i> Mmm-hmm.</i> (AUDIENCE MURMURING) JUDGE LAKE: <i> So,
you live with Mr. Brodie.</i> MCGOWAN: <i> Yes.</i> But you truly believe
your child is Mr. Martin's? MCGOWAN: Yes. Wake up, really. JUDGE LAKE: But if
your child is Mr. Martin's, that would negatively
affect your relationship
with Mr. Brodie? Yes. Yet, you're here to prove that your child
is Mr. Martin's child? MCGOWAN: Yes. He don't want
Cayden to be his son, 'cause he don't want
to take responsibility
for nothing. He got other kids
he don't take care of. MARTIN: Well, I do. But, his sperm count's low,
remember? Remember, he said
his sperm count's low? (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) I mean... All my other kids
have got sickle cell. Where do you
get that from? Do he got
sickle cell? Your son does not
have sickle cell. JUDGE LAKE: <i> Who
was at the hospital,
Ms. McGowan?</i> MCGOWAN: <i> Mr. Brodie.</i> MARTIN: <i> Because
you wouldn't have
me come up there.</i> I called him,
he didn't come. He didn't
wanna do that. You say,
you called him? MCGOWAN: Yes. Did you get
that phone call,
Mr. Martin? MCGOWAN: I texted him,
matter of fact. She texted... He texted me
three days later. My baby was in
the NICU 12 days. MARTIN: Okay, well... At the hospital. He never visited
the baby? MCGOWAN: No. I texted him before
I went to hospital,
he didn't come. And Mr. Brodie's
been there for me,
since day one. MARTIN: He's been
dropping off money. JUDGE LAKE: So you said,
since he didn't show... I will take
the gentleman I'm with and let him support me
through this. MCGOWAN: He just
been supporting me
from day one. <i> Since my pregnancy
he's been supporting me.</i> <i> And I had
a hard pregnancy,
Your Honor.</i> <i> My baby was born
five weeks early.</i> His lungs was not mature. He stayed in NICU
for 12 days. He was around the corner. <i> He could've walked
to the hospital,</i> <i> that's how close he is
to the hospital.</i> <i> He did not come.</i> (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) I think it's time
we meet Mr. Brodie. Jerome, will you
please escort him
into the courtroom? JEROME: Careful,
going up the step. Mr. Brodie, thank you
for joining us, today. You're welcome. JUDGE LAKE: You know
we're here discussing the paternity,
as it relates,
to baby Cayden. BRODIE: Yes, ma'am. There's been testimony
by Ms. McGowan that you were in
a sexual relationship
with her during the window
of conception. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: So,
you could potentially be Cayden's
biological father? Yes, ma'am. Question to you... Uh-huh. Do you believe you are
Cayden's biological father? Yes. Do you believe you are
Cayden's biological father? Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: You do? I do. JUDGE LAKE: You want
to be this child's father? Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE:
Explain. Because
I've been there... Tina and I,
Ms. McGowan and I, had been messing around
since February. I just pray
that he's mine. AUDIENCE: Aw. I really do. BRODIE: <i> Now, because
when he was born,</i> <i> he looked like me.</i> <i> He was a little,
light-skinned, red baby.</i> He had my cowlicks
and everything. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) And I was the first one
to see that child in the NIC unit,
when they took him
from his mother, when he stopped breathing. I sent her
the pictures of him. I was there. When Ms. McGowan
was going through... Uh, she was borderline... Uh, diabetes. While she was
pregnant with him. I took care
of Ms. McGowan. I washed her clothes,
I fed her, her feet were swelled up,
I took care of her. I made sure she was
at her appointments. JUDGE LAKE: That's wonderful. I took care of Ms. McGowan. JUDGE LAKE: So, did you sign
the birth certificate? BRODIE: No, ma'am. Because one thing
I say, is this, before I sign
that birth certificate
his real father... If I'm not his father, his real father
should have the opportunity
to put his name on there and have his son
in his life. I left the birth
certificate blank. I didn't put the father
on the birth certificate. You have
the birth certificate? Yes, ma'am.
I sure do. Jerome, will you
hand me that, please? So, this is Baby Cayden's
birth certificate. MCGOWAN: Yes, ma'am. And there is... MCGOWAN: No father. JUDGE LAKE: <i> No father listed.</i> <i> And you did that
purposefully.</i> MCGOWAN: <i> Yes, ma'am.</i> Explain. I did that because
I weren't sure who
the father was, but I thought I should wait
and find out the truth before I put any
father on there. But I think if Marcellius
is the father, he needs to step up
and take care of
his responsibility. If he wants anything
to do with my son, I think he should
put his name on
the birth certificate. Well,
I did try to step up
to the opportunity. BRODIE: No, you didn't. After the six-week
checkup... After his
six-week checkup... She called me,
she said, "I've been going
to the six-week checkup. "I have to come by." She came
and spent the night,
we had sex... Oh, my God! (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) MARTIN: We had sex
after that six weeks... Six weeks?
She was at my house. I took care of her! She spent the night
at my house. Her and Cayden
was at my house. No, they were not. MARTIN: Oh, trust me. At her six-week... I took her for
her six-week checkup. No, she got
her hair done... Her and Cayden. No, she got her hair done
and came back home. 'Cause I done it! Roll and set,
I done that. Oh, you done that? Her braids, yeah. You do
a roll and set? Man, I took care of
this woman! What he talking about?
He don't know nothin'! He's sitting here
runnin' off his mouth. You had fun, laying down with
Ms. McGowan, but you can't have fun
taking care of Cayden,
if he's yours. That's your problem. Yeah! That's right! If I can do it, you can. He does nothing. BRODIE: 'Cause
if he's my son, you better believe,
we won't have to hear
from you no more. And if he is yours, we still don't have
to hear from you, because we ain't
hearin' from you now. But you runnin'
your mouth. You gonna hear
from me, brother. You gonna hear
from me, bro. Well, you better step up,
or step out. Which one
you gonna do? BRODIE: If he's yours
you better step up. I wanna step up. That's what I did! MCGOWAN: Oh, my God! JUDGE LAKE:
Let's get some order. JEROME:
Let's chill out
a little bit. MCGOWAN: Your Honor, you see his whole conversation
about being with me? That's his focus,
solely on me. He cares nothing about... He don't even know
my baby's middle name. You see me?
Right there. That's me. AUDIENCE: Aw. That's me and stinker,
right there. That's stinker man. MCGOWAN: <i> He knows...</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i>
Oh, he's so cute.</i> MCGOWAN: <i> He knows
no one else, but him.</i> BRODIE: <i> That's all he knows.
He knows me.</i> I don't know who this is,
so he don't know either. BRODIE: Your Honor,
this past Father's Day, Memphis, Tennessee,
saw it in them to award me with
Community Father
of the Year Award, JUDGE LAKE:<i>
Oh, that's wonderful.</i> BRODIE:<i>
In Memphis, Tennessee.</i> <i> The Mayor was there,
the City Council was there,</i> and the State Representatives
was there. So, Cayden
will not fall short on a daddy,
or a father, when it comes
down to that. (AUDIENCE CHEERING) JUDGE LAKE:
That is great to hear. I'm a single-father. I have
a 7-year-old daughter,
I've been taking care of. Since 2009. And when I was told
she was pregnant, 41 years old, me. It just blew my mind. And then,
when I saw him, in that NIC unit,
with those tubes
runnin' out of him. <i> That's my baby.</i> <i> He's mine.</i> I don't understand
how a man can
walk around here, and wonders
about the mother, instead of what's
laying in that basket, with them tubes
runnin' out of him. He's so worried
about Ms. McGowan, what has she got
goin' on with me, it's not about
Ms. McGowan and I. It ain't
even about him. It's about
that little baby,
right there. It's not about money,
followin' the money. I have no money. You know nothin' about me. But I got all the love, and I can make sure
he got a roof over his head
and food to eat. Make sure
he get his education. That's what I could do. Ultimately, it really
is about baby Cayden. MCGOWAN: It is. MARTIN: Most definitely. JUDGE LAKE: And
that's why we're all here. MARTIN: Yes. JUDGE LAKE:<i>
And I have the answers
you all are seeking.</i> Jerome, may I have
the envelope, please? MARTIN: Please do. MARTIN: And just note,
if it is my baby, I'm stepping up
to the fullest. MCGOWAN: Well, do that. And I hope you don't mind... Can you bring him
to the house? Can you bring him
to the house, to me? (MCGOWAN EXCLAIMS)
Never! You give me some
gas money, yeah! (ALL LAUGHING) MARTIN: I got you,
I got you, I got you. You on the same
thing I'm on. JUDGE LAKE:
Do you all wanna argue? Or do you wanna
get the results? I want the results. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. MARTIN: We'll
get the results. JUDGE LAKE:
These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and they read
as follows. In the case of<i>
McGowan v. Martin,</i> when it comes to 8-month-old
Cayden McGowan, pertaining to whether
his biological father is Mr. Martin,
or Mr. Brodie... I want the results. JUDGE LAKE:
It has been determined
by this court, his biological father is Mr. Martin. (MCGOWAN LAUGHING) That's what's up.
That's what's up.
That's what's up. When I get my rights,
I'm gonna spend time
with my baby, and teach my baby
how to be a carpenter. Mr. Martin, I just
wanna tell you this. You've missed eight months. Just bring him over,
I got the gas money. We don't need no more talk,
conversation over. But, I do thank you
for stepping up, buying him
all that stuff. And I told her, when
she came over to the house
after that six weeks. I told her. I said, this man
that did all this stuff, it has got to be
his child. Because ain't no man
in his right mind just gonna pick up
and just do that. But you did.
But you did. What kind of men
do you know? BRODIE: That's
what I wanna know. We see this... No, no, no, no. (ALL ARGUING) JUDGE LAKE: Hold on,
Mr. Martin. (ARGUING CONTINUES) Mr. Martin,
let me inform you. No, no.
Let me inform you
of something. I've seen plenty of men
step up for a child, that could not possibly be
their biological child. Because they recognize
that an innocent child
needs that. Now, you all trying
to outdo one another,
no. Instead of competition,
work in concert. How about that? BRODIE: Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE:
That would be more
powerful for this child. So, you three have got
to get it together. I wish you all
the very best of luck. Court is adjourned. (GAVEL BANGING)
