Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of<i>
Caples V. Harris.</i> Thank you, Jerome. Good day, everyone! AUDIENCE: Good day. Miss Caples, you say you are 100% certain
that the defendant,
is your 15-month-old son, Jayceon's biological father, and today, he's going to put
his name on the dotted line right in front
of his girlfriend.
Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Harris,
you and your girlfriend say there is no way
you are Jayceon's father, and once the results
are revealed, you want the plaintiff
to leave you alone.
Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Miss Caples, why do you believe
that Mr. Harris
is denying your son? (SIGHS) Your Honor,
I am here today because Mr. Harris
is going to sign this
birth certificate today, right in front
of his girlfriend. She has a lot to do with
why he is denying my child. <i> She is very immature and has
a lot of growing up to do.</i> When were you
all even together? What was the nature
of this relationship? To be completely honest,
Your Honor, me and Mr. Harris
were never in... Never... Never a couple. JUDGE LAKE: Oh, you weren't...
Okay. Never in a relationship. We were never
in a relationship, let's clarify that now.
We were just... Sleeping together. Sleeping together.
That's pretty much it. JUDGE LAKE: Were you
in another relationship? I was not, no. I wasn't. Fine, now you pregnant. Obviously, you weren't
using protection if there's a question that
he's the biological father. Yes, Your Honor. You tell him... Did he immediately
deny the baby or, you feel like he's just
denying the baby now
because of his girlfriend? You're correct, Your Honor. Tell me the details. Me and Mr. Harris started
talking. We used to go
to high school together. HARRIS: I didn't go
to high school with her. And we were Facebook friends. Mr. Harris, I made him
my Man Crush Monday. He was a good guy.
Hard-working, good father. We messaged back and forth
on Facebook for a while. After that we exchanged
numbers. And after that we started
hanging out, getting up. And it kind of just
went from there. So, Mr. Harris,
do you remember finding out
Miss Caples was pregnant? She texted me,
and told me she was pregnant. But then, she disappeared
for months. When she texted you
and said, "I'm pregnant."
What did you think? I... That it could be yours? It was a possibility. Are you now with Miss Mayfield
in a relationship? Yes, ma'am. That's when I had got
with her in a relationship. She was around five months. She got jealous of what me... What is there
to be jealous about? I don't care about
you guys being together. Miss Mayfield, Miss Mayfield,
so go ahead. Well, basically,
when we started dating
he told me about the situation,
it was like, "You know,
I was talking to some girl. "I may have
a possible baby with her."
Whatever, whatever. So I, as a woman,
I just ended up
accepting that. We continued to date,
and we fell in love, have our own family and kids. One day, we're out
with the kids, bowling, she's wrote him and,
"Oh! That be..."
and this and that. Basically, it was always
her writing every
blue moon about me. And all of a sudden there's
another dude in the picture. So who's this other guy
that was in the picture? After me and Mr. Harris
were done and over with. You were already pregnant
at the point you started
dating the other man? Correct.
Yes, Your Honor. And I have an exhibit,
if I can show you. Absolutely! Please step
over to the podium. Your Honor, as you can see,
my son Jayceon, was born January 9th, 2016. Okay. Me and Mr. Harris were
intimate for nine months
all the way up... All the way up until May...
The beginning of May. Nine months? No! September. We started talking
around September, Mr. Harris. Anyways, like I said,
all the way up
until the beginning of May. If you go back nine months, one, two, three, four,
five, six, seven, eight, nine,
it'll bring you to April. And this is the window
of conception when
my son was born and... JUDGE LAKE:<i>
When he was conceived.</i> <i> Conceived, I'm sorry.</i> And this is within
the timeframe I was still
intimate with Mr. Harris. And this is the information
that you were given
at the doctor, and based upon the timeline
of when the baby was born, this is your estimated
window of conception. Full term. Yes, Your Honor. All right. Mr. Harris,
do you agree you were intimate
with Miss Caples
in the month of April? I'm not sure, Your Honor. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) I'm not sure. You don't know? You don't remember
the actual month,
so it could be true or not. HARRIS: It could be true. So, it could be. All right. All right. Thank you so much
for that presentation. So, Mr. Harris,
if you don't remember whether
or not you were with her, is it because
you were involved with
more than one woman? I mean, you don't remember. HARRIS: Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE:
So you were with more
than one woman at that time? Yes, Your Honor. Okay, so that's why you really
can't say for certain who
you were with on what date. Yes, Your Honor. Got it! Now Miss Caples, I have to ask
you, were you involved
with more than one man? No, I was not and he did not
tell me that he was dealing with other women
while me and him were talking. So I did not know that
he was playing... Men usually don't tell you
if they want to keep
getting it! She went through my phone and
texted other women back. I went through your phone,
I didn't text nobody back, but I did go
through your phone. He cut it off. Yeah. It got salty. Cut me off? Please! Yeah, that's the time
y'all stopped talking. I know, boo,
I know the whole story! I'm sure you do,
'cause you were there, right? And you were there... He don't even know
your real name! So, how was that? You laid up
with somebody who didn't
even know your real name. Yeah, I didn't... I didn't... Wait a minute!
Wait, wait, wait! Who didn't know
whose real name? HARRIS: I didn't know
her real name! JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Harris,
you were sleeping
with this woman for all these months and you
didn't even know her name? Not her real name. Well, I saw something about
this in my court papers and
I really couldn't believe it. Jerome, can you find
Dana Taylor, please, and
escort her into the courtroom? JEROME: Sure. Miss Taylor works
for this court and, uh... I want to ask her a question. Mr. Harris just testified
to the fact he didn't
even know Miss Caples' name, is that true? TAYLOR: When we
contacted Mr. Harris, and told him that
Miss Shanteri Caples
summonsed him for a DNA test, he said, "I don't know
who you're talking about." I said, "Muffin?" HARRIS: That is correct. I'm pretty sure
I told him my name. Would you remember
Shanteri or would you
remember Muffin? What I go by around town. JUDGE LAKE: If you're having
sex for that many months, with the same person,
without using any protection, you gotta at least
know their name! So, Mr. Harris, I want to
understand your doubts, because the truth is,
you've stated
in this courtroom, that there could be
a possibility that this
child is yours. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Why do you doubt,
specifically? Her best friend,
she told me that
the kid is not mine. On social media, I was getting
messages all other people
she knows, her friends... JUDGE LAKE: You said she told
you the child was not yours. She told me not too long ago
that she did have sex
with one guy. After the fact! She said it was only one time,
but that's all it takes. Why would I bring it up,
Your Honor,
if it was after his time? I was already pregnant
and I didn't even know
I was pregnant. That's nasty! JUDGE LAKE: Hold on now.
Let's let all the little
side comments go 'cause Miss Mayfield,
Mr. Harris was out there too. This is where we end up,
in this courtroom with a beautiful little baby,
trying to figure out
who the father is. Because there
was no commitment. No. No. There's no marriage,
there's no nothing. So, it's easy to blame
Miss Caples but you also
have to look at your man! He wasn't my man
at the time. JUDGE LAKE: It doesn't matter,
it's your man now. I was, I was actually there
in the beginning, like, buying Pampers
and clothes and stuff
but, like I said, Miss Caples had a problem,
she disappeared for months,
no calls, no texts. Okay, so this is another
interesting fact
I'd like to hear about. So, Mr. Harris, take me
to the point when
Jayceon was born. Did he get to come to
the delivery room? He didn't have a ride,
Your Honor. HARRIS: I was at work. "He didn't have a ride"? I was at the work when
she delivered the baby, the next morning
I came up there. You did? When I looked at him,
he didn't look like me at all. No, he does not. I had my doubt... I did have my doubts,
but like I said, everybody around town says
that she goes around saying
it's another guy's baby. So when you came up to
the hospital to see the baby, did you sign
the birth certificate? No, I did not. Because you did not want to,
or you were not even asked to? Well, I wasn't asked
and I had my doubts. JUDGE LAKE:<i> So you didn't ask
him to sign the birth
certificate, Miss Caples?</i> And why is that if you
knew he was the child's
biological father? He wasn't even
there for the birth. I was at work. So what? Were you at work
when she went into labor? Probably, but you were
at the hospital, right? I'm his girl and I wasn't
banging nobody else. I was at work when she... Is that an excuse? If I'm telling you
that I'm in labor,
two hours before time. And my friend had my cellphone
and she was texting him the whole time like,
"Um, she's in labor." So by the time he
never showed, you were angry
and so then you didn't say... I wasn't worried about him
signing the birth certificate
at that point. You wanna act like
you ain't the daddy,
we can act like that. But you are here today saying,
now he has to sign it
in front of his girlfriend. What does it matter
if I'm here or not?
What does that got to do? JUDGE LAKE:
But my point is this...
Hold on. If it didn't make
any difference to you then, do you know now
that that was an error? Yes, Your Honor, I'm sorry. So you've come
to the realization that
that was you being angry? And now that's why
you're here in court today because you know that
your child deserves to have mother and father listed
on his birth certificate? Yes, Your Honor. So now, Jayceon
is 15 months old. How many times
have you seen him? Not a lot.
She won't let me see him. Because of her! Your Honor,
let me take this. His family member
sees him all the time. His family members
see him all the time,
and we'll go over there and go see him.
She, "Oh no, I don't want
Alexis around him." I never even spoke
two words to her! You were in my hospital room.
No, I don't want you
around him. I have never had
a conversation
with this woman. Today is the first day! Hold on! Hold on.
What is this about the
hospital room, Miss Caples? I'm undergoing surgery,
getting ready to have
my tubes tied and she... MAYFIELD: That is my job!
That is my job! Could you say, Your Honor,
as a woman... I would not want
to be in a room with a woman that's having
my boyfriend's baby. Okay, so you was a patient. JUDGE LAKE: So,
wait a minute, Miss Caples. You work at
the hospital, right? MAYFIELD: Yes, ma'am. And then that is where they
told you your station or where
you were supposed to be, you were assigned to... We got our stuff to do,
yes, ma'am. You did not let anyone know
because it was your job and you were trying
to be professional. Yes, ma'am. If you say you were there
to get your tubes tied,
then what is there to see? She didn't know your name
either, so she probably
didn't know who you were. I go to work every day,
in the morning, and we
go start our routine. She was looking
for me, Your Honor. And we do that
and I went upon... And she
never said noting either. So I would think any patient
that had an issue they'd be like, "I don't feel
comfortable, "I don't want this person
in here." Yada, yada...
She didn't do that. Later on down the road
I find out that I'm messy,
and I'm in her business. How? What did I do
to be in your business? Okay, so now I want to know,
since 15 months has passed, and there's been no real
attempt to get a DNA test, have you allowed him
to be in Jayceon's life
in the meantime? Because the baby's
a year-and-a-half now. I did give him
the opportunity. But he was always working,
so if you're at work, then
my baby's at home with her, what's the point in that? Oh! That's why he wrote you
though, at nighttime! He would write me at nighttime
when my son's asleep,
10 o'clock at night! What you want to come over
and watch him sleep? That's the time he got! I'll send you a picture of him
if you want to see him sleep. Or do you want to
come over for me? Oh, you're saying
that he would write you
in the evening and say he wants to come
over and see the baby... CAPLES: What's the boy doing? 10 o'clock at night,
11 o'clock at night?
He's asleep! MAYFIELD: It's nothing new. HARRIS: It' nothing new. I have wrote her late.
I did that. So, it was kind of hard. So don't say that
I was keeping him that's
why you didn't see him. Because you a hard-working. MAYFIELD: All this time?
A year and a half later? Girl, you had weekends where
you would drop him off with
his family members all the time but he could
never see him. You would
never let him see him. He would go over
to the house... Don't give that excuse.
It's stupid. So wait a minute, Miss Caples,
you're letting his family
members see the baby? I'm close with his sister. MAYFIELD: 'Cause you guys
go out all the time! I don't go out... That's the only reason! 'Cause you could've
easily given him to him
when he did! He don't have to
drive from work! He would be out too! You at home with the kids!
What you talking about? No, he don't! (INDISTINCT ARGUING) JUDGE LAKE:
All right, one at a time! One at a time, ladies! Ooh-wee! What's disappointing is that,
you all and this
back-and-forth is getting in the way of us
finding out the answers and trying to achieve
some sort of resolution
for Jayceon, because if what Miss Caples
has asserted is true and you are
his biological father, y'all can't do this! Exactly, it shouldn't
even be this way! I mean, you can't do this
is front of this child. CAPLES:
She's playing innocent.
She's not innocent. What have I done this? "No, you can't do this!" I don't even know how
this is going on, they don't
even know each other. You're childish! I don't want to deal
with you. Period. JUDGE LAKE: All right,
all right, all right! Have I heard all your
doubts, Mr. Harris? A lot of people around town
telling me it's not mine.
As I said, that's her words. Her words. So, people are telling you
he's not yours, then she even says
he's not yours... So to keep pushing me away
when I'm trying to
be there for the child, it's kind of like he's not... But you don't think
he's yours! That is the reason for that! That's why I don't
want to include you, one minute you don't think
he's yours, the next minute
you do. JUDGE LAKE: All right,
that's what we're here
to solve today. That's exactly why
this courtroom exists, because you all going
back and forth on some
tit-for-tat nonsense and, "Oh, he don't think this
so I ain't gonna let him
see him and..." This is all nonsense! And you know what? I got the results and that's
what's gonna help us move
onto a better page. Jerome, let me
have that envelope. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Jerome, yes please,
stand there.
I don't want any drama. (JUDGE LAKE SIGHS) These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and
they read as follows. When it comes to
15-month-old Jayceon Miquel Harris Caples, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Harris... You... ...are not the father. (AUDIENCE GASPING) Thank you. MAYFIELD: You didn't
sleep with no one else? Baby, let it go, let it go. JUDGE LAKE: Miss Caples... I would like to publicly... ...apologize to Mr. Harris. I honestly thought that
it was yours. We messed around,
we were intimate a lot,
you know we were. It was a very big
possibility that it was yours. So, I apologize
from the heart, sincerely,
I'm sorry about that. I really am. I accept it. Do you know who
Jayceon's father is? CAPLES:
Absolutely, absolutely. Will he want to be
a part of his life? Yes, yes. So let's take a moment to
just learn from this lesson, because there's been
a lot going on here. I mean, I was annoyed,
I was disgusted by the behavior I witnessed
in this courtroom between
you two women. This has been two years
of drama for nothing! When I asked you,
Miss Caples, during the case,
"Could it be anybody else?" you said, "No." And yet,
when I read the result, you immediately apologized
to Mr. Harris, which was
the right thing to do, but at the end of the day
the mother always
bears the burden because we have the children. Yes, ma'am. That's just how we are.
That's just it. And so I think we're in
a situation now where I hope
that you all have learned. And I'm glad you're
in a good relationship. I hope you all
keep that going. But, Miss Caples,
I don't want this to ever
happen to you again. You're a beautiful
young woman. You shouldn't be
out here like this. All right? CAPLES: Yes. Yes, Your Honor. We have counseling and
resources for you all. Please take care
of that beautiful baby.
So precious. And I hope his father will
want to be a part of his life. Best of luck to you.
Court is adjourned.
