Please be seated. Hello,
Your Honor. Hello. This is the case
of<i> Johnson v. Walters...</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Mr. Johnson, you admit you engaged
in a sexual relationship with the defendant,
while you were traveling
for work, but deny her claims that you fathered
her 2-year-old daughter,
Ameir, because you say
Ms. Walters
is a "shady manipulator," (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Walters,
you say, you are fed up
with Mr. Johnson's
paternity denial and want him
to "step up to the plate," when you prove to him
that Ameir is his daughter, is that correct? WALTERS:
Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Johnson,
why did you question
Ms. Walters' character from the moment you met her? Because things was shady
from the first day
when I met her. I mean, I met her
back in 2015, November, and I was just out of town,
just looking to have some fun, and probably three days later,
we met. And we end up
sleeping together. So... So, how did you meet? We met over a dating app... Yes, ma'am. So you were
on a dating app, Yes, ma'am. So, you took her
out to dinner, what happened? Uh, no, I didn't take her
out to dinner. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) No, no. One day I told her
I was going on a lunch, and we end up
going back to her room, and, uh,
her wedding ring
fell out of her pocket. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Yeah. Wait, what? I was taking her jeans off
and her wedding ring
fell out of her pocket. He lying.
That's not true. Hmm, no. So, wait a minute, you meet on a dating site,
you talk, you all decide
to meet up at lunch. You meet up at lunch,
you all decide to have sex while you taking
her jeans off... Yes, ma'am. And I left it
on the night stand. Ms. Walters, you had your wedding ring
in your pocket? The particular date
that he's talking about, my wedding ring
did not fall out of my pocket. (AUDIENCE MUTTERING) The day that my wedding ring
came about, it was me
and two of my friends... Well, one of my friends
I brung over for his friend, and I had my wedding ring
in my pocket, and I pulled it out
and put it back on and he was like,
"What is that?" Exactly. So, you met on a dating site but you didn't have any idea
she was married? No. It still say she single
on the dating site. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) On the same
dating site. And she was on there,
seven days ago. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) You got all the receipts, huh? Mmm, I got all of them. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) All of them. So... Every screenshot. Was Mr. Johnson the only man you were dating
at this time? JOHNSON: No. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) 'Cause every time
I was in the car with her, she would tell me
to hush up while she's on the phone
with another dude. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Wait a minute, um,
I want to hear more about this. What happened? What happened? (STUTTERING)
I just sat there... I was... Phone rings,
you're in the car. Yes. The phone rings, I'm just...
I'm cool, I'm chilling. Because the whole time
I'm married, too. See, that's
what she didn't know. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Okay. Then I had
a whole girlfriend. (EXCLAIMING)
And a whole girlfriend? I'm married
and I got a girlfriend. (AUDIENCE GROANING) Oh... Where they do that? Maybe... Lots of places. JEROME:
I guess. That's why they
end up in<i> Paternity Court.</i> (LAUGHING) Um, so anyway... So... When she gets a phone call
in the car, what do
you hear her saying? She talking to folks,
you know what I'm saying? She getting money
from folks and stuff, that's why,
you know what I'm saying, when she hit me up
talking about sending money
for the child and stuff, I'm like,
"I'm not going
to send you no money "and I know what you..."
You know,
I already know what's up. I already know
what's up with you. What do you know? I know what's up. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) So, you knew... She getting money,
she getting money
from another dude, and spending...
And messing with me with it. So, why would I... So, when you're
sitting in the car and the phone rings,
you just sit quietly? Yes. Yeah, sit quietly. WALTERS:
That time, Your Honor... Wait, so you sit quietly,
or she tells you to be quiet? She be like, "Shh."
And I be like, "Okay." (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) JUDGE LAKE:
That's how she... The only time
I ever told him
to be quiet, Your Honor, the incident
that he's talking about, I got money
from someone. He was calling to see
where I wanted to meet, I couldn't meet him
when he wanted to meet,
'cause at the time I was with Mr. Johnson. JOHNSON: Where the heck
the money go? All right. So, Mr Johnson, JOHNSON:
You in court. Mmm? tell me how you found out Ms. Walters was pregnant. She called me,
or whatever, and she said
she was pregnant.
I told her, "Congratulations." (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) And she was like, uh,
she was like... She was like,
"I'm telling you,
'cause it might be yours." I'm like, "What?"
'Cause I bought
a box of condoms, soon as I got
to the city. Know what I'm saying? So, you're saying it was protected sex
for you, That don't mean we used them. because you had
already decided... Yeah, 'cause I had
a whole girlfriend and a wife. Why would I not use protection? You know what I'm saying? I'm sleeping
with my girlfriend,
unprotected, why would I be sleeping
with you? You know... Why would I be
sleeping with you? JUDGE LAKE: Why would you be
sleeping with her,
if you got a girlfriend and a wife? Uh... 'Cause that relationship
was about over with. All right.
So, you knew
you had condoms, you had come prepared
to have protected sex. Mmm-hmm. And it is your recollection
and your testimony today, you had protected sex
with Ms. Walters. Yes, Your Honor. So, when she calls you
to say, "I'm pregnant." Your response is,
"Congratulations." Hmm? And then, Ms. Walters,
do you say to him, "Okay, but this could be
your child"? Yes, Your Honor.
I called Mr. Johnson
after I spoke with my ex. And I let
both of them know,
like, "Hey, "I messed
with both of y'all
around the same time. "I'm pregnant,
I'm not telling you
that you're my child's father, "but I'm telling you
it's a possibility." If you want more episodes
of Paternity Court Make sure to subscribe
and click on
the notification bell. I had never lied
to Mr. Johnson, I was a 100% honest
with Mr. Johnson
about the whole situation. I never told him, like,
"Hey, I'm a 100% sure "this is your kid,"
or anything of that nature. I just told him to be honest,
because I didn't want to go, two or three, four,
five years
down the line and then be like,
"Well, here you go,
Mr. Johnson, "you got a kid by me,
here in Arkansas, "that I never
told you about." So, you decided
to be honest? Yes, ma'am. But he said,
"It's not my child." Um, no,
he said,
"Congratulations." And then, I said,
"Congratulations?" As if asking
a question. No. And he said, then,
"Are you for sure, you know, "that it was just me and him?"
And I told him, "Yes." And then he said,
we would go from there. No. And that was that? Yes, Your Honor. From that point on,
what happens
during the pregnancy? Does he go with you
to any doctor's appointments? JOHNSON: No. Was he at the birth? No. He stays in another state
than I stay, but he did contact me
a few times, Your Honor, in regards to my pregnancy. When I informed him
that I was giving birth, he asked me to send pictures
after I gave birth. And that was that. JUDGE LAKE:
Mr. Johnson
gets the pictures. WALTERS: Yes, Your Honor. What do you think
when you get the pictures? Are you getting
the pictures to see,
"Does this baby look like me?" I thought about it.
I mean...
Yeah, I thought about it. Yeah, I thought about it. She's a beautiful
little girl. So, when you saw her pictures,
what did you think? Yes, I thought about it.
I stared deep and hard. But at the same time, she is like
a whole other dude
that she was messing with, probably at, like,
the same time. Your Honor, he is lying.
He's lying. At the same time. Initially,
when my daughter was born she didn't look
like nobody. She was born early,
for one, and, well,
she wasn't born,
technically, early, but she was only
three pounds and eight ounces
when she was born, so, she was really small. So, she didn't look
like nobody. She looked
really swollen
and really wrinkly. So, I mean,
I can't say
that she looked like me, she didn't look like him,
she didn't look like nobody. I got that picture
of that other dude,
don't tell me... (SCOFFS)
There's another dude. What "other dude"? The whole dude
you had,
three years ago. Okay, three years ago. Three years ago. Okay, my daughter's only two, Dang... So, what does
a picture of a guy
from three years ago... Who is this other guy
he's talking about? (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) JUDGE LAKE: Who is this
other guy he's talking about? Mmm-hmm. Uh... Well, I had... I was dating this guy... Some dude she ain't
messing with no more. I was dating this guy
in the summer of 2014... Probably the dude who called. And Mr. Johnson
went digging
in old Facebook photos, and screenshotted
old pictures Mmm-hmm, sure did. of old guys. At the end
of the day... Okay, Ms. Walters? Yes, Your Honor. Let me ask you this. Why are you so convinced Mr. Johnson is the father,
if there was another guy? Because I had a DNA test
with that other guy,
Your Honor. And it came back
that he was excluded. One other dude? JUDGE LAKE: Oh. It came back
that he was excluded. JOHNSON: One dude.
Who? When? Did you bring evidence of that? Yes
Your Honor. Let me see that, please. When? I can see... Thanks, Jerome. You're welcome. Ms. Walters,
so this is evidence of? JOHNSON: After the day
you DNA test somebody... A DNA test. JUDGE LAKE: A DNA test
you had with the other guy? Okay. Where the probability
of paternity was determined
to be 0.00%. WALTERS: 0.00%. Yes, ma'am.
Yes, Your Honor. And around the time
when I felt
I was pregnant, I found out
I was pregnant,
December 27th. When I went
to my follow-up
appointment, they put
my date of conception as around December 2nd
and December 5th. I was only seeing Mr. Johnson
at that time, every single day. Mmm-mmm. Every night. No. Every single day?
No. I went back
and looked at the dates, (SCOFFS) and on December 5th,
we were at my house,
drinking tequila. (AUDIENCE MUTTERING) And partying. And so, you remember
the dates specifically? And you know
that's the window of time I remember the dates. that Mr. Johnson
was in town, on business. Yes, Your Honor. But, Mr. Johnson,
it's your testimony that you did spend time
with her that week? Did you use protection
the entire time? Yeah... That's gonna be a "no." No, you didn't.
No, you didn't. That means no. No, he did not. We only used protection, like,
the first three times
we had sex. After that, the condoms went
out the window. First three times? Yeah, the first three times. (SCOFFS) When you started
spending the night
at my house, we were not using...
We used condoms,
like, once. While all
the other times,
we did not. Hey, now I took...
I might have
took one off, but no. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) If you took one off, then there's a probability
of a baby. That was after the fact. Well, first of all,
Mr. Johnson, Uh-huh. birth control is not 100%. Yes, Your Honor. So, that's one thing. The other thing
is you've got a wife, (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) a "whole girlfriend"
in your own words, and now a fling. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) (CHUCKLES) And you run around here,
taking condoms off. That don't make any sense. WOMAN: That's right. Well, he called me
a manipulator and I'm shady. Come on, now. Now, I want
to hear about Ameir.
This beautiful little girl. Have you developed
a relationship with her at all? Have you... Have you,
I mean, she's two, so, have you started
to get to know her? Have you said to yourself,
"Well, if she's my child, "I at least want to know her,
I want to have
a relationship with her"? What's happening? I mean, yes, Your Honor,
I reached out like a thou... I reached out whenever I, uh... I mean...
Like she said, we live
in two different states. So, I reached out and... But that was after I made
a long Facebook status about him
not reaching out to her. If he felt
like my daughter
was not his, why do you feel
the need to reach out? Why do you feel
the need to text me
and say, "Oh, how's the princess?" Or, "How y'all doing?" Video chatting and all that,
if you'd knowed
that this is not your kid? So, you feel
like he's accepted Ameir,
but he's just not stepping up? He has never,
not one time, said,
"Ameir is not my child" to me. He has never,
ever said that to me. I haven't? You have never
said that to me. Why are we here, then? JUDGE LAKE:
Wait a minute. Ms. Walters, I want to know,
what have you told Ameir
about her dad? What do you say? I have not
told her nothing,
Your Honor. I have a boyfriend
that I've been with
for quite some time. And that's who
she calls her dad. But he could not
biologically be her father? No, no. He probably is. I have my baby... So, what are your hopes,
Ms. Walters?
What are you hoping for today? JOHNSON:
Dude problems in the past... That we can just
get the results today and get this over with,
and hopefully Mr. Johnson
will step up, and start trying
to establish a relationship
with my daughter. Because even though she has
a male role model in her life, she has other siblings
that she needs to know. Mr. Johnson,
are you prepared to step up if it is determined that Ameir
is your biological child? Of course, I got a son,
I ain't got no daughter.
Of course. Of course. And have you prepared yourself?
You thought about it? You'll say this is my child,
I'm going to do what's right. Yes, Your Honor. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) And why does that seem
to make you emotional? What do you feel
when you look at the baby? You know,
I want a daughter, but I don't want it like this. I don't want it like this. You mean like that,
that you've missed out
on two years of her life, and that it happens
under an umbrella
of a paternity saga, that you wanted
to be there? I don't want it out of... me just hanging out,
kicking it with somebody. I didn't want it
like that, but if it, I mean,
if that's how it goes,
it goes like that. And when you look at her,
you feel like you've missed
a lot of time? Yes, Your Honor. All right, I don't want
to make you wait
a moment longer. Jerome. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case of<i>
Johnson v. Walters,</i> when it comes to
2-year-old
Ameir Walters, it has been determined
by this court... Mr. Johnson. You, are not the father. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) JOHNSON: Mm. Ms. Walters? Mr. Johnson is not
Ameir's biological father. So, clearly
there is a third guy. The dude that looks
just like her. What dude? Do you know who Ameir's
biological father is? Well, the dude
she don't mess with no more? Well, after Mr. Johnson left, I did establish
another relationship
with someone else. So... And so, why didn't
you testify about that
in court, today? Because I don't recall us
ever having sex
without a condom, or anything like that. (JOHNSON SCOFFS) Do you know
where this man is? Yeah. Your bae? Are you still
in touch with him? The one you said... Hold on, Mr. Johnson. You got very serious,
the moment
before I read those results, when you thought that baby
might be yours. I mean... Look at her... Don't clown now...
Hold on! Don't clown,
now that she's not. Look at her... Because at the end of the day,
this proceeding is about her and for her,
because we want her to know. If you need this courtroom
to help you figure that out,
we're here. And at this point,
I'm going to tell you
the truth. If it's more than one, bring 'em all at once.
Let's get this done. I saw someone pick 'em up. JUDGE LAKE: No, no, no.
I mean... (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) The more years you wait,
the more traumatic it is. Trust me, we do this every day. Do you understand? I wish you all the very best.
Court is adjourned. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
