You may be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case
of<i> Lee v. Green.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Miss Lee, you have
come to court today
with one goal in mind, to prove to Mr. Green that he fathered
your 3-year-old son,
Kingston. You say, Mr. Green
has denied your son from the moment
you got pregnant. But today,
his denial will end,
is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE:
Mr. Green, you say you know exactly who
Kingston's father is, and it's not you. It's Miss Lee's sugar daddy,
who's more than twice her age. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) So, Miss Lee, you say
Mr. Green is denying Kingston. MISS GREEN: Yes, ma'am. Explain. Mr. Green has been
denying my child
since day one. He's been denying him
for three years. He has never came around
like he's supposed to. I have to call, I have to do so much
to get this man into my child's life. But at the end of the day,
I just want him to step up. And Kingston is
three years old? Kingston's three.
He just turned three
June 3rd. So this has... MISS LEE: And he
didn't do nothing
for his birthday either. I tried
to meet her
half-way, but her attitude
is just... My attitude has
nothing to do with you stepping up
for your child. It's messed up. I tried to
reach out to her
several times, but she don't want
to meet me
in the middle. She's always giving me
some run-around excuse, other excuse...
You know what I mean?
It don't make sense. JUDGE LAKE: And so,
you're saying, Mr. Green, even though
you have doubt, you still have
made an effort,
in your mind. In some way. I tried
to meet her half-way as far as, you know,
taking the DNA test
and things like that. But at a point,
me and her
was talking, it was back and forth.
We was never
in no stable relationship. She knew I had
a girlfriend already. (AUDIENCE GASPING) MR. GREEN: She tried to
break me up from that. And I told her... He moved into my home. So, if I tried
to break him up, why are you
in my home? MR. GREEN:
Your Honor, she knew
I had a girlfriend. She even tried
to call my girlfriend. He knew he had
a girlfriend,
so, that's his problem. She knew it too. That ain't got nothing
to do with me. That ain't got nothing
to do with me. So, how did you explain
to your girlfriend you live in the house
with Miss Lee? Oh, he couldn't.
I called her. She did. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Oh! MISS LEE: From his phone. So, yeah, I called the girl. Woke him out of his sleep,
and made him start talking. And then let him know
that she was on the phone until the end
of the conversation <i> to let her know,
"Hey, your dude's over here,
and I'm pregnant."</i> <i>You know, it is what it is.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i> Whoa!</i> So, in your mind,
you knew you weren't really
in a relationship with him, but you thought, he was
trying to play both sides. Right. Before I got there, she had already was... She told me she was
back and forth
between some other dude. She didn't know
if he was his
or mine at first. Okay, wait, wait, wait. MISS LEE: I slept
with another dude.
Yes, I did. I slept with another dude
one time with a condom. And only one time, there's no two men
wanting to do nothing. So at the end of the day,
yes, I did go out. MR. GREEN: Your Honor,
she's on Facebook making crazy posts
talking about
who want who? "Who out here
got the best D?" And talking
about other men's
stuff like that. Wait, you got... MR. GREEN: Your Honor,
I got evidence right here. JUDGE LAKE: Oh, let me see
this evidence, Jerome. MISS LEE: Oh, he's
just saying... (SCATTERED LAUGHTER) JUDGE LAKE: You've
submitted to the court Facebook post from
Miss Lee that say, (JUDGE LAKE READING) (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) MISS LEE:
That's a question. That was recently. That's not when
King was born in 2015. Okay, and you
submitted another... And you submitted
another question. (JUDGE LAKE READING) MISS LEE: I wanna know
who got it. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) MR. GREEN: Come on now. I'm single. I'm single. MR. GREEN: She's advertising... I wanna know who got it. MR. GREEN: I don't know
who she's with. Me and her were just
friends with benefits. So, I don't know. JUDGE LAKE: So, in your mind,
Mr. Green, when you see
these posts, you say, she's out with whoever
got the good "D." Yeah, basically. I was out with...
That was recently. And you admittedly say
"That's what I'm looking for," "That's what I ask"? I don't
sugar-coat nothing. It is what it is,
but I just want him
to step up, because at the end of the day,
he knows that he's doing wrong. I can count on my hands
how many times
he has seen his child. You wanna know
how I made him come? We end up sleeping
in a hotel together. You know what I'm saying,
so he can watch his child. I mean, I'm trying
to make him be a father. So you're at the point that
you've even had to
sleep with him... MISS LEE: Right. To get him to come around? That's not true,
Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: You got a smirk
on your face, Mr. Green. 'Cause he knows. No, 'cause I went over there,
but we didn't do nothing. MISS LEE: We did something. Your Honor, she just
wanted me to come... She said she wanted me
to come over and watch him. You know, keep
an eye on him, she wanted me
to spend some
time with him. In the position
I was in at the time, he couldn't come
to my place, because her
and my girlfriend
had problems. She don't like
nobody I'm with. She wants me
to herself.
Period. That's what
the boy's done too. He's more than
just a child. I'm not asking
for money from him, I'm asking
for time from him. He knows it. Right. So, Miss Lee,
I want you
to take me back. So, you find out
you're pregnant. What happens?
Do you tell him immediately? When I found out
I was pregnant,
I took a pregnancy test. And I told him
that I was pregnant. And then, I guess
he didn't believe me, so he took me
to the clinic. And, hmm,
they told him
I was pregnant. That paper don't lie. So, when he found out,
he denied right then
and there. She also had
some old dude
she was talking to, paying for the baby shower, he buys her
clothes and stuff, who does that
for nothing? He knew.
That was my father. MR. GREEN:
That was your father? MISS LEE: Listen,
when I came out...
I ain't gonna lie. I had came out
of my sugar daddy's
car one day. So, you do have
a sugar daddy? Yeah! I've got me
a good sugar daddy. My sugar daddy's
been there for 10 years, have never, ever
left my side. I would
never leave him. He come way before this. (AUDIENCE WHOOPING) MISS LEE: We'd never
had sex before. You know, he might
want some pictures.
(CHUCKLING) MR. GREEN: But... But, um... Oh! MISS LEE: Hey, pictures,
and something else
is totally... Sex and pictures are
totally different. So, yeah, I sent pictures. This sugar daddy paid
for the baby shower too? Baby shower,
he buys clothes for him, he does everything. Where were you?
You ain't bought nothing. You should be surprised
another dude is
doing something. Hmm. You should be happy,
applaud him. MR. GREEN: You know what,
Your Honor? On top of that, I knew her
three years
prior to this, She told me,
since I know her, she could never get pregnant
because she had a hernia. And so, all of a sudden,
you pop up pregnant. You're like,
where did this come from? And he believed it though. I did tell him that. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) Miss Lee! No, it must be God.
Hello. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) If you want more episodes
of Paternity Court Make sure to subscribe
and click on
the notification bell. You lied on purpose
to get him to... I told him that, because
I wanted to continue... Three years straight. ...doing stuff with him,
you know, without. MR. GREEN: Come on, man. MISS LEE: And I knew
I was on... Oh, so you didn't want
to use a condom? He didn't either. We did it
the first day without. AUDIENCE: Oh! Wham! Bam!
Thank you, ma'am!
And I got pregnant. 'Cause we didn't do it once.
We were doing it
for the whole month. So it wasn't like this was
the one, you're the only
person I slept with. He took me to work,
and brought me back home. So, what's his issue? So, Mr. Green... To me, all these
lies going on, I don't believe
nothing she's saying. It's too much. JUDGE LAKE: Okay! But at the end of the day,
I really was pregnant. I just feel like,
when you found out
I was pregnant you should've done more,
you know what I'm saying? So when you told him
you were pregnant, his response was what? "It ain't mine." (LAUGHING SARCASTICALLY) (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) That was your
first response? You didn't say it wasn't yours? I said, "I don't know,
it ain't mine." You don't know. Okay. JUDGE LAKE: So okay,
"I don't know, it's not mine." But you admittedly were
sleeping with her unprotected. Yes, I was, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: But you thought
she was also having sex
with other people because of the way
you knew her to be, very open about sex... I'm very open. MR. GREEN: Yes. JUDGE LAKE: But now, Kingston
is three years old. Why have you not asked
for a paternity test before? I mean, I have,
several times. Your Honor,
I got a chart
right here. This is an exhibit
that you brought? MR. GREEN: Yes, ma'am. Please, step over, and show me what this says. Please do. All right, first of all,
he was born in June 3rd. I went to the hospital, I asked the hospital,
"Can we get a DNA test
done or whatever?" So few days later,
going back, she's telling me,
"Oh, it's too soon
for him to come outside. "He was just born,"
and this and that. She refused right then,
Your Honor. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) I refused 'cause
he was a day old. Here comes November.
I'm still asking. I'm like, "Okay, cool,
I wanna see him. "Let's go ahead and
get the DNA results done." "Oh, I'm all the way
out here in Douglasville. "I don't have a ride.
You gotta come get me." I'm like, "Why do I have
to come get you? Why you can't
meet me half-way?" So refused then,
Your Honor, too. MISS LEE: I have
text messages... JUDGE LAKE:
And another refusal. MR. GREEN:
Yeah, another refusal,
Your Honor. Then comes June 3rd, it's just being going on
for me, and "What's up
with the DNA testing?" "Oh, I lost
his birth certificate. "You need to buy
another one." I said, "Hold on. "Why would I give something
for something that you lost? "It don't make sense.
That's your responsibility
to get it." He's your child. MR. GREEN: You're supposed
to keep up with it. That was his birthday.
She refused again. JUDGE LAKE:
Kingston's three,
refused again. Refused again. So, this was the last time
right here in 2017. When it got to that point,
she's telling me, "I'm about to go
out of town soon, "I'm fitting to go
leave the state." She kept playing around
for the whole time. At that point, I was like,
"I'm done with you. "I did most
of what I could do." JUDGE LAKE:
So June 3rd, 2017... She refused every time. Again. MR. GREEN: Down the road,
she refused every time. He's lying on that. Point blank,
I ain't refused nothing. I told him, "Let's go." What's up? It sounds like, to me,
you all are doing
a bunch of nothing. It doesn't
take this long
to get a DNA test. What he wanted me to do
was pay for it. I felt like,
we both had him, you pay half, I pay half. I told her
I'll pay half. But it just feels like,
both of you all going
back and forth. It's like a power play
after power play. I mean, Kingston wants
some papa play. MR. GREEN: Yeah. JUDGE LAKE:
He wants a daddy. So, I will say this, Mr. Green. Miss Lee has
maintained consistently. I mean, she has said
when she's lied, she has said when she did
what she did, but she's maintained,
consistently,
throughout this hearing that you are
this child's biological father. What makes you
so reluctant
to believe her? Like I said,
when he was
first born she was saying...
She did admit that
she slept with someone. You know, on top of that,
after he was born, she kept asking me,
"Oh, let me see
your baby pictures. "Let me get
your baby pictures,"
trying to compare 'em, and once she got
the baby pictures, that's when
she felt like she was 100%. MISS LEE:
Bingo! Bingo. MR. GREEN: She was 100% sure... MISS LEE: Don't they look
like the same baby? Look like the same baby. That's him in the blue,
and that's my son
right there. That's him. MR. GREEN: You can't
just go off the
picture though. Miss Lee,
at the end of the day, we know that the biology
controls it all. Really, it's about
who you slept with,
not who he looks like. Right. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: And you did admit
that you had sex. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: Why are you
getting upset? Because I feel like... He's been through this,
so, why would you do that
to your only child? You get what I'm saying? Me, growing up,
I didn't have a father. So I feel like
if you went
through all this, why would you
do that to your child? Why would you
do that to your first? I would at least
go through it first,
and then find out. Mr. Green don't do nothing. I do, Your Honor. Like I said, I tried
to reach out to her
several times. How many times
have you got your child? I done got him
a few times. How many times? Not as many
as I would... So, when I bring
the child to you, do I
bring the food for him? Do I bring everything
for the child when he comes? 'Cause I mean,
you ain't gonna do it. So I bring it so I know
my child's going to eat. So you're saying, Miss Lee,
you're comfortable to...
This isn't just about... "And I still wanna
be with him," this is, "I want my child to have
his father in his life, "I don't care
if I have to
cook the food, "bring the clothes, "get him over there to you..." Yes, Your Honor. That's how badly
I want my son
to have a relationship. MISS LEE: My other son
don't have that. The one that he babysat almost the whole relationship
we were talking, he nannied my child. So at the end of the day,
if he can do that with him, you should be
able to do that
to your own child. That's the thing
that's getting to me. So you're saying,
while you worked, he took care
of your oldest child. Oh, he did. Oh, he did,
and he did
a very good job. So I know he's capable
of being a father. He knows what I've
been through. Me, I've been
raised up in foster care,
you know what I'm saying? So, to have only... To only have two kids, where don't have a father,
but one lives 10 minutes
up the street from me... He lives up the street. We live in the same area. MR. GREEN: Your Honor... He knows he's the daddy. MR. GREEN:
The only time she... I feel like
she really hits me up. It's like, "Oh,
what you're doing? "Why you ain't
seen your son lately?" This, this, and that,
and then, she'll be like "Oh, I need a babysitter.
What you doing?" That's the only time for... I do. I have to go to work. Only time
she calls me up is when it's more convenient
for her to go to work. But it's not like, "I want you
to spend some time." (INDISTINCT ARGUMENT) You're not the babysitter.
You don't babysit
your own child. You watch your child. I'm not a babysitter. That's why,
I'm not a babysitter. There's a difference. But listen, Mr. Green.
Mr. Green, listen. I mean, it's not so far
out of the ordinary for her to say,
"Hey, Mr. Green, "can you watch
the child while I
go to work..." Or even if she
needed a break, I mean, let's be honest,
she stated
in the courtroom that she trusts you
because you were so good
to her other child. And I also
hear you, Miss Lee,
when you say, growing up in foster care,
there is a trauma
innate in that. And I see the tears
in your eyes. I believe now,
and I understand
even more why you are
so persistent
about this. I think it's your desire
to break a generational curse. And I see that. And I think every time
he doesn't show up
for Kingston, it reminds you
of the times when you wondered
why nobody showed up for you. At all.
And that's all
I want. I just want him to
be in the child's life. I was thinking...
I could've put him
on child support. Put an abandonment
warrant on him.
Did anything I wanted to do. And I talked to him
about that, and I said, I don't
wanna do that. So I gave you three years. I gave him three years
to get it together. How long? It'll be
10 years in a minute. How long does it
take a man to stand up? How long? I would do anything,
and I'll continue
to do anything just as long as he
takes care of his child. (APPLAUSE) Well, we don't wanna
make you wait
any longer. It's important for you,
and for Kingston
that we get the answers, and I have them for you. Jerome? Thank you. You're welcome. These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case of<i> Lee v. Green,</i> when it comes
to 3-year-old
Kingston Lee, JUDGE LAKE: It has been
determined by this court, Mr. Green, you are the father. (APPLAUSE) Told you! I told you! Look at him. Look at him! Three years. You are the father. MISS LEE: Oh, my God. Whoo! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. But you ain't
got nothing to say, do you? No apology?
No nothing? I apologize.
I'm sorry. That's who
you need to
apologize to. At the end of the day,
that's it. (APPLAUSE) I wasn't trying
to run or hide from
no type of responsibility, I just wanted little bit
more clarification,
you know what I mean? And the way
she was living,
I was uncertain. I can't make up
for a lot of time, but I could start now,
being more in his life. (APPLAUSE) JUDGE LAKE: Well, listen. And I think
it's important when we talk
about moving forward that we take accountability. And I think you saying
that I've missed time, and I will make up
for that time
is important. This is on you. I have taken you
as far as I can take you. You came here for answers,
I got those answers for you. What you do with that truth
is up to you. Now you can keep
bickering back and forth, and make Kingston's life
a living hell to where every time
he's around his mother
and his father, there's always
something smart to say, always some
smart aleck comment... And children know
when their parents
don't like one another. So we need to just
stop that lie that we
make to ourselves, or already where it's like, "Oh, well, they can't tell,
they're just a child." No, he can tell. Like he can tell
you ain't been around. All right? MISS LEE: Yes, ma'am. I wish you all
the very best.
Court is adjourned. (APPLAUSE)
