Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This a case
of<i> Grimes v. Davis.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Ms. Grimes, you claim
that you have always believed
your ex-boyfriend is the biological father
of your 10-month old
son, James. He has loved your son
and taken care of him. But now he is
denying paternity. You are hoping today's
results prove your case.
Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Davis, you say
the plaintiff's lies not only ended
your relationship, but also led you
to doubt paternity. You claim that two other men
could be the father
of her child. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. So, Ms. Grimes, what was
the nature of your relationship
with the defendant? I was in a relationship
with him when I found out
I was pregnant. How long had you
been together? Me and Anthony
had been together
for about three months. And about three months
into that, you realized... I was pregnant. All right. AUDIENCE: Ooh. So take me to the day
when you found out
you were pregnant. The day I found out
I was pregnant, I went to the store,
bought a pregnancy test 'cause I kept on up it
the same time every day. And, um, came home
and it was positive. I came in there
and showed him,
he was happy. He was like, "I'm ready
to take on the baby." So you took
the pregnancy test and you went right
to Mr. Davis and said,
"Look, I'm pregnant." GRIMES: Yeah. And he was happy about it. Mr. Davis, do you remember
being happy about it? Yeah, I was happy at first. I didn't have a doubt,
you know what I mean? I thought that possibly
it would be my baby. GRIMES: It was yours. So take me to
the day she told you, and in your own words,
tell me what happened. When she told me
she was pregnant, at first I didn't know
what to think. But you know, thinking
I might have a baby. You know, it made me happy
to know that I was going
to have another baby. But then, that's when
I started finding
stuff out, you know. What did you find? Well, I found out first off
that she is a real good liar. She lies all the time. You're lying. She lies all the time
about everything. Specifically,
what did you find? I found her telling
another man that
it might be his baby. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) JUDGE LAKE: Wait,
you found what? DAVIS: I found
some text messages... JUDGE LAKE: Oh, you did? ...on her phone, yeah. When I started noticing
she was a liar, it kinda
made me suspicious. JUDGE LAKE:
What did you notice? Well, she'd lie about
little stuff, you know. Little white lies?
Little lies. Exactly. But doing it
like it ain't nothing.
You know what I mean? So that kinda
made me suspicious. GRIMES: I don't be doing that. Did that cause you
to then look in her phone? You looked in her phone. I looked at her phone. And when you looked
at her phone,
you found a message. I found two messages
from two different people. But you cheated, too. Oh, two messages? GRIMES: But he was cheating,
too, so... AUDIENCE: Oh! We was even. Ms. Grimes,
I want to understand
what you're saying. You said... You admit
you were cheating
'cause he was cheating, too? Yeah. I admit I was cheating.
I cheated one time. Because he was cheating? GRIMES:
Yeah, to get back at him. JUDGE LAKE: So when you saw
these messages, Mr. Davis, what was your reaction? I got mad at first. You know, I wanted to
confront her about it. And she basically
just tells me
she was lying to them. But she lied
to me all the time.
I couldn't really believe that. Oh, she told you,
"Don't worry
about these messages. "I'm lying to these guys." DAVIS: Exactly. But why were we even
texting messages where
you were lying to guys? Exactly. Because I... Me and Anthony
were gonna break up and I didn't want
to be alone. I wanted... I wasn't trying to be alone.
I was trying to
get Jelani back. We already got a kid together
so it made it easier. DAVIS: There were
text messages from
two different men. Two of them. So she texts
two different men,
not just one? She was telling one
that it was his baby and telling the other one
she didn't know whose
baby it was. So I assumed
it could have been his, too. (AUDIENCE GASPS) JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Grimes! Yes? What were you
running around here doing? I was just dodging my ex.
He wasn't... He was nobody.
I didn't mess
with him or nothing. I just didn't want
to be alone. I was
trying to get... But wait a minute!
You're not gonna tell a man
you hadn't slept with that he... Who? I didn't tell him
he was the father. The one I hadn't slept with.
I just told him I didn't
know who was the father. Okay, so you told
the one you don't know
who the father is, you told the other one,
your ex, that he may
be the father. Yeah. But I know
he's not the father.
I know Anthony's the father. JUDGE LAKE: So take me to
the day you gave birth. I mean, after all
of this did you... Did you have support
through the pregnancy?
Was Mr. Davis there? Yeah, he was there. He went to
doctors appointments? Yeah, he went to a couple. And then,
on the day you give birth,
what happens? He's at the hospital,
he stayed the whole time.
He was with me. Um, he was like,
"I can tell he's mine. "He looks just like
me and my family." So you said that, Mr. Davis? No. I didn't say that. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) I told her that he didn't
look like none of my kids. You know what I'm saying? GRIMES: No, he didn't. He did not say that
and he looks
like his kids. So the baby comes, you look at the baby
and you say he doesn't look
like any of my kids. He looked just like him. Y'all don't see
the resemblance? He don't look like me.
He got blond hair
and blues eyes. GRIMES: But that can come
from my side. I do got
a white father. You got brown eyes,
I got brown eyes. My father is white, though. Listen, even if your
father wasn't white, black people have
blue eyes, too. Oh. We gots to educate
this courtroom, Jerome. We got to educate
the babies. If you want more episodes
of Paternity Court Make sure to subscribe
and click on
the notification bell. Do you sign
the birth certificate? No. You don't? No. I wasn't sure. That's the right thing
to do when you aren't sure. DAVIS: I can't
trust her word. And so, meanwhile,
you've just had a baby,
Ms. Grimes. Yes. The father is saying
now I don't believe. Yes. Whatever happened
to this ex? Um, he's still around.
He's the father
of my first child. (AUDIENCE GROANS) Okay. So, is there any chance he believes he's James' father? Yes. And let me ask you this
for clarification. Is that the truth?
Could he actually
be the father? He could possibly
be the father. But I know he's not.
We only slept together
one time. I know Anthony's the father. He looks just like him,
he got his nose. His eye shape,
his forehead. DAVIS: The text message
was telling him that
he was his baby. They did not say that.
They said it could
potentially be. I got some evidence
right here. JUDGE LAKE: I'd like to see
that. Jerome, will you hand me
the evidence please? So, Mr. Davis,
you're saying that
after Ms. Grimes told you, "We are having a baby,"
you said, "I was excited "at the thought that
I was gonna potentially
have another baby." And the next thing you know
you see text messages. You submitted text messages
to the Court. It's from Ms. Grimes
to her ex. Says, "I need you
because I cheated
on Anthony with you "and it's possible
James is yours. "I got pregnant with James
around the same time we
blanked." It was possible.
I didn't say
it was his, though. They weren't my words. "James is yours"
did not come out my mouth.
It's possible. We slept together one time,
around the time I got pregnant. That's a good enough reason
for me to have
doubt, though. JUDGE LAKE:
Well, that's plenty of reason
for you to have doubt. And once you read a text
message like that,
that's an admission. You basically have said
this is what happened. The truth is you just
said that to me a minute ago. Yes. So, you are now at a place
in your life where you
are admitting it. Yes, and I just want
Anthony to know that
he's the father of James. I want the doubt
and everything to stop. I want all the questions
about who's the father
of James to go away. I just need him to know
that he's the father of him. JUDGE LAKE:
You know what, Jerome? I think I can learn more
if I hear from
Mr. Warren myself. Please escort him in. You got it. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) On this side. You know we're here
talking about the paternity
of James, baby James. And I want
to know from you, do you believe you are
James' biological father? WARREN: Well, yeah. JUDGE LAKE: Why is that? 'Cause around the same time
she had, you know... It all add up. JUDGE LAKE: The timeline? He don't look like you, though. (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) He don't look like me
but I can believe, you know, there is a question,
you know what I mean?
I just want to know. I'm hurting to find out also. He look like you. So the point is that
you don't know either. But you believe
he is your child. You have an older
child together,
am I correct? WARREN: Yes, we do. JUDGE LAKE: And so, you all
have obviously kept an ongoing
sexual relationship? Yeah, something like that.
Not for real, but
something like that. (ALL LAUGHING) You either have sex
or you don't.
I don't know. Yeah, we did but... GRIMES: We do, but we don't. We do, but we don't.
Me and Jelani,
we got a friendship. If I'm single
and he's single,
we mingle. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) If you're single
and he's single
then y'all mingle? Yeah, I mean... That's pretty much
how it happens. JUDGE LAKE: So, when you got pregnant
you told Mr. Davis that it was his child. Yes. But then you were
texting Mr. Warren saying, "I slept with you
and cheated on Anthony." So it sounds like y'all were mingling
but wasn't single. 'Cause the message said
"I cheated on Anthony
with you." GRIMES: Yes. So what is the truth? Um, the truth is
I did cheat one time
on Anthony with Jelani. JUDGE LAKE: Okay.
So the truth is... There's a chance. There's a chance
he could be Jelani's.
But I don't see it. JUDGE LAKE: Okay, so the truth
is he very much could be
Mr. Warren's biological son as well as Mr. Davis',
and you really don't know. You're just going
off of appearance
and what you feel. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: All right. So, Mr. Warren, you say
you believe the child is yours. Yeah, on the fact that
Jamie, you know, says things that
make me believe so. JUDGE LAKE: What does she say? Uh, "I feel like, you know, "he yours,"
you know what I mean? "I want him to be yours."
She even told me that. So she's told you
she wants the child
to be yours? GRIMES: I didn't say that. She told me that
a couple of times. It's just facts. I didn't say that
I want the child to be yours. To be honest... You don't take care
of your first child, why would I want
the second one to be yours? I mean... (AUDIENCE GASPS) To be honest... Come again? But Ms. Grimes,
you just testified
15 minutes ago that if it wasn't gonna
work out with Mr. Davis,
you didn't want to be alone so you figured you'd tell
Mr. Warren the baby was his
as well, or could be his, because you could get back
with Mr. Warren because you had
your first child. You know, that's what happens
in paternity situations. The woman's sexual
behaviors, relationships, they're on trial.
That's really what it is. Because at the end of the day,
you can't make a baby
without a mother. You can't make a baby
without a man neither. JUDGE LAKE: But my point is
you can't make the baby
without the mother. But the mother can always have had sex
with more than one man, which is what you did. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) Hence the phrase,
"Mama's baby..." "Daddy's maybe." Yup. That's why we're here. But I know
he's Anthony's son. And you say you know, but the truth is
you've also been saying
things to Mr. Warren. And I can tell...
I can tell when he testifies
what he's saying is true. I have said stuff to him
before in confidence. This is my best friend. I tell him everything.
We've been knowing each other
for six years, so of course I'd tell him
stuff in confidence.
I talk to him. This is my best friend.
I tell Jelani everything about my life.
He knows every
single thing that I've... Everything about me,
he knows pretty much. 'Cause that's, like, my friend. So, of course, like,
we slept together around the time that
James was conceived and I told him
it was possible. I messed up.
I was young. I'm trying to get it
right for my son now. That's what
I'm talking about. Jelani knows who his daddy is
and James don't. So I'm just trying to
get it right for James. That's what
I'm talking about. I'm gonna meet you
in this place. I'm not gonna meet you
with the silliness
'cause this is not a game. So, Mr. Davis,
how are you feeling
in this moment? I just wanna make sure
I ain't making no mistake. I want to make sure
that's my baby and if not,
I'll be on my way. You know? JUDGE LAKE: So you
have not developed... So if he not your baby
you're just gonna leave? You just not gonna
take care of him no more?
Just gonna be on your way? If he's my baby
I'm gonna take care
of my baby. I'm gonna take care
of my responsibilities. But if he's not
then what I'm supposed to do? Take care of
another man's baby? GRIMES: No. JUDGE LAKE: All right. Do you hope James
is your biological son? I hope my time
hasn't been wasted. You know? So,
in a way, yeah. JUDGE LAKE: And Ms. Grimes,
what are your hopes? I hope James is Anthony's. All right. Jerome,
let's find out the results. (AUDIENCE CLAPPING) These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case
of<i> Grimes v. Davis,</i> pertaining to whether
Mr. Davis or Mr. Warren is the father of
10-month old James Davis... It has been determined
by this court the biological father
is Mr... ...Davis. (ALL CLAPPING) So I wasn't lying. JUDGE LAKE: You are
the father, Mr. Davis. And how does it
feel to hear that
and know that for sure? I mean, it feels
pretty good, you know. Now I know.
I'm gonna be there for her. You know what I'm saying?
For him. Good. Would you like
to try to figure out how
to work it out with her in terms of
having a relationship? I mean, we just gotta
work on ourselves.
We'll figure it later. JUDGE LAKE: Focus on
the baby right now. Yeah, focus on the baby. Yeah, and on ourselves. If she can do better,
I can do better, then maybe we could be
in a better place, you know? So now, we can't
just talk the talk. Right. True. Right? We gotta walk the walk. Yes, ma'am. We have counseling
and resources for you. I want you
to talk to Dr. Jeff
and I want you all to do it,
just live your best life. There's more to life
than just making kids
all over the place and having sex for sport. Get out there,
find your passion, live your dream,
make something of yourself so these children
can do the same.
You hear me? GRIMES: Yes, ma'am. Court is adjourned.
