Miss Franzoni, you say that you
believe in your heart, after three decades
of questions and doubts, that you know the identity
of your biological father. You claim your mother,
Mrs. Bailey, has misled you, abandoned you, and hidden the truth
from you your entire life. But today, you've brought
her to court to learn the
results of a paternity test. Now, Mrs. Bailey, you
argue that your daughter
is completely wrong. You say you're here
to open her eyes to a scheme that is
confusing her, and making her believe a lie. The man Miss Franzoni believes
to be her biological father is outside of the courtroom
and he'll be joining us
shortly. Now, Miss Franzoni,
please tell the court why you've asked for
the results of a paternity
test today. I grew up not knowing my dad, um, and I only had
two moms in my life, my godmother and my mom, and, it's just, at some point
there was some doubt about who exactly
was my father. And my mom had introduced
me to a gentleman, and I just did not
feel in my heart that
he was my father. You say you felt nothing.
What do you mean? I felt nothing, like, I just didn't feel
like he was my father. And I felt as if, if we
had met in a different
circumstance, he might even try to hit
on me, or take me out
or something. Really? I mean that's just
the way that I felt. You know, and I just
was not... I just wasn't satisfied. And also, you know, my late
grandmother told me a story that kind of sounded similar
to the other stories that
I heard, about a gentleman,
Mark Bomar, my mother met,
years ago, right around the time
of my conception, and nine months later,
here was me. JUDGE LAKE: So,
Miss Franzoni, specifically, why are you convinced
this man is your father? We have a lot of
similar characteristics, uh, even when I tell him things about my life,
things that I've had
happen in my life, I just feel we have
so much in common. JUDGE LAKE: So you feel
it's completely different than when you met the
gentleman your mother
introduced you to. FRANZONI: Right. And that's pretty much how
I've always felt ever since
I met him. JUDGE LAKE: And your
godmother, who is here
with you today, she believes he is
your father. All right, so let me hear
from the co-plaintiff,
Miss Hallums. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: Please
step up to the podium. Now, you believe
that Mr. Bomar is possibly her father and you
have that feeling that could certainly be
true, and you think
he's a better candidate. Yes, ma'am. Please explain. HALLUMS: For one thing, uh... When Miss Camille, uh, told me that she
was impregnated, I asked her who she was
impregnated by, she said Mark Bomar,
or the other candidate. BAILEY: I did not say that. She's making that up.
I did not tell her that. So you remember,
distinctly, her saying so? HALLUMS: Yes, yes, I remember. Explain. What do you remember? I remember, because,
uh, when she said it, I said, "I know Mark Bomar." I worked with him, under... FRANZONI: She said that. You told me that she said that
there was a possibility... If she remembered that, why
did she just bring it up
last year? If she remembered that
30 years ago, why did she
just bring it up last year? Is there a reason why
you just brought it up? To stick another dagger in
my back against my daughter. As for as stories people have
told her, that's just what
they were, stories. We don't get to pick
and choose our parents, BAILEY: I know
I wasn't the best mother. HALLUMS:
It ain't been for years. BAILEY: I know, and
I appreciate this woman, for being there,
'cause she was. But the meddling,
and trying to compete... And then remembering... For my daughter's love.
This is my child!
I had her! She wants to know who... And you need to stay
in your lane. HALLUMS: She need to,
she wants to know who
her father is. Well, okay. That's just the point. But you still need
to stay in your place. Well, they did a DNA. Okay, but you ain't the
daddy, that's for damn sure. Okay, you ain't been
no mother. So I been a... But she has! And both of you guys
have been there. JUDGE LAKE: Jerome, can you
go stand in between them? FRANZONI: I've been... You ain't never
been a mother. BAILEY: You should've
went and had a baby. That's right! Tell that! Listen to the judge. Ladies! Ladies! JEROME: Listen to the judge,
and you listen to the judge. Wow! Is it<i> Paternity Court</i>
or<i> Maternity Court?</i> <i>Paternity Court,</i>
that's what I'm saying. JUDGE LAKE: Listen! What is obvious is
that both of you love
this young lady very, very, much. Yeah. JUDGE LAKE: And both
of you have had a hand in raising her. Now, you all can keep arguing and fussing,
and rehashing your own
personal issues, 'cause I hate to tell you,
all this back and forth, it's obvious to me and
everybody in this courtroom, that it don't have
nothing to do with her. That has to do with some
unfinished business that
you two have to deal with, and that's really
not our business! Our business is making
sure Miss Franzoni understands, or gets the
opportunity to figure out
who her father is. And if she wants to test
man number one, two, three, 79 and 80,
and they all agree to a test,
why you got a problem with it? We understand that you
had a relationship at some time with
her mother, Miss Bailey. Yes. After a conversation
with Miss Hallums, you recalled
that perhaps you could potentially be
Miss Franzoni's father. Indeed. If you could
explain for us why you do believe
it's possible that
you're her father. I was a bounty hunter
back in the '80s. And I was looking
for someone, and I ended up in her
mother's building, and I was questioning
her mother. And you met her. And her mother said, "Listen, I have a beautiful
daughter that I would really
like for you to meet." When she came in,
I met her. And, uh, so, we talked for
a while, and took her out
to dinner, and we became intimate. I guess, maybe
the relationship lasted
probably a couple months JUDGE LAKE: Okay. At the most. And something happened.
I don't really remember
exactly what it was, but something happened
that drew us apart. And so, uh... And did you ever hear
about Miss Bailey being pregnant,
and if you did, did you think, "Oh, that could
be my child," or you just
never heard anything else, until Miss Hallums
reached out to you. Well, that's what I recall was when Maxine, she said
that she really didn't know, if that was
my child or not. So I ask her, I said,
"Does the baby look
like me, or..." you know, that's what she
was saying that I said, but
I don't remember those things. But by the same token, when she called me up
to tell me about it, I said, "Well, let's forget
about all of that, just tell
me what the situation is." Okay. And she said, "Well, this
young lady wants to know
if you're her father, "and it's a possibility that
you could be," and she said,
the reason why was because Rene had told
her that it was between me
and another fella. when it comes
to the paternity of 31-year-old Maxina Franzoni, Mr. Bomar, you are not her father. I'm sorry to you both. FRANZONI: I'm more sorry,
you know, to him. Because, you know, we just
had established
a great relationship. And I know he really wanted
to be, and I just feel bad
because... The time that we did spend
together, like, since we've
known each other, you know, he made me feel,
you know, like, a princess, like Cinderella,
like everything that every
little girl can imagine, and want,
and have from their father. So this has been
a great experience. I don't want it to change
either, anyway. So... Do you hear that, Mr. Bomar? BOMAR: I told Maxina,
if it did come to the point
where it was not, she could still feel
like my daughter. JUDGE LAKE:
Sometimes, out of the
denial, comes the blessing. BAILEY: All right. Do you hear me?
Amidst all of this confusion, meddling,
your side would say
an attempt to help, you might say denial, look what you've gotten! You're standing with
your mother now, you still have Miss Hallums
that loves you very much, and I'm hoping that your
mother and Miss Hallums will
take some time to sit down, and just talk these
things through. We going to be all right. Mr. Harper, you say you
are in financial shambles because you've been
stuck paying support for a
child you know is not yours. Yes, Your Honor. You claim previous courts have denied
your request for DNA testing because you allegedly signed an acknowledgment
of paternity. Yes, Your Honor. You now claim to have
evidence to prove you
never signed that document. Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Harper, you
and your son, Mack Jr., claim Mr. Harper
is denying paternity as an excuse for being
a deadbeat father. Yes, Your Honor. All right, so, Mr. Harper Sr., explain to me, how have you
been affected by all of this? Your Honor, I have
been affected by this by first ending up
in jail for 21 days. Really? And then... You spent 21 days in jail because of failure
to pay support or
you'd gotten behind? Yes, I had gotten behind
in my child support. Uh, I got a... The police came
to my house one day, knocked on my door, uh,
and told me that I was
behind in child support. At that time I didn't even
know I was supposed to be
paying child support. You never received a letter? I never received a letter. A notice? No. Nothing. Nothing,
Your Honor. They came, locked me up.
I went to court. Uh, they asked me if I could
pay the money, what I needed for court at that time. What they were saying
that I was behind then. How much did they
say you were behind? At that time, I think I might have been,
like, $500 behind. All right. In, uh, child support. And, from then on, I was
just working trying
to make enough money not to get locked up again. He just told a
story 'cause they... When they sent me a letter, they told me he
was $25,000 behind. I have doubts that Junior
is mine all because
of the fact that back when me and his
mother were...
Ms. Myrtle was together, I have family and
friends that told me that she, uh, had been
messing around with other
mens behind my back. Whenever I would go to work. Your Honor, that's not true. Whenever I would go to work.
I even got proof that says... That's not true. ...that someone texted me
and said or called me and said that she might even
have messed with one
of my family members. (AUDIENCE GASPS) So you heard rumors
that she was sleeping
with other people. Yes, Your Honor. When I read,
in the court papers, there was an acknowledgment
of paternity signed. It was... You say you didn't sign that. No, Your Honor. Whenever I got out
there to the hospital, after she had had him,
'cause she had him at home. You had Mack Jr.
at home, Ms. Harper? Yes, Your Honor. But Mr. Sr. came to
the hospital, took pictures. The nurse brought
the doggone... I came to the hospital... ...birth certificate up
there for him to sign... ...took pictures. I did not... ...and he signed
the birth certificate. I did not never see no birth certificate. JUDGE LAKE: And
did you witness it? I witnessed it. Yes. You saw him sign
the birth certificate? I did not sign
no birth certificate. You remember
having a relationship. He'd come get you,
take you with him. Yeah, yeah. Gave him
a birthday party. How old were you then? About seven to eleven. <i> Since 2005, out of 10 years,</i> <i> I've only seen
him three years.</i> His exact words. I hadn't seen him
in so many years because she wouldn't
allow me to. They moved out of town.
They moved out of the
town where I lived at. They moved so far away
I would have to catch
a Greyhound to get there. What was wrong with that? (AUDIENCE LAUGHING
AND APPLAUDING) Because I'm physically... Your Honor. Your Honor. Because I don't have the
money to get there with. Your Honor. Because child support
has taken all my money. Is this about the money you
feel like you do not owe or is this about the fact
that you truly have doubts as to whether or not this young man
is your biological child? I am. I have doubts that he
is my biological child. I mean, as far as the
child support money, if I find out that he
is my biological child,
I don't mind paying it. I been paying it
all this long anyway. Why is it you didn't do
more to make contact? He says he's seen
you three times. In 10 years. I mean that... In 10 years? Well, I don't have,
I don't have a car
to get around with because of the child support.
It's taken everything. You got a cell phone. You got a cell phone. I talk to him.
He won't talk to me. I used to try to talk
to him every day. I used to call
my sister every day or every other day trying
to get in touch with him. You did? Yes, ma'am. Because you wanted a
relationship with him.
You wanted to know him. Yeah. At the time, I actually
wanted him in my life. Mr. Harper, you say
your daughter from a
previous relationship... Yes. Yes. Your biological daughter, is here, is going to join us
in the courtroom. Yes, ma'am. Uh, via Skype, because
she could not be here
today in court. Yes, because she
just had a baby. But she has testimony to offer
that would further your claim. Yes. Ms. Harper. <i> Hi.</i> Hello. Thank you for
joining us today. Congratulations
on the new baby. <i> Thank you.</i> We appreciate you still making your court
appearance even
if it is via Skype. I see you're very
emotional, ma'am. Please tell me
what are you feeling? Do you believe Mack Jr.
is your brother? (SNIFFLES) <i> In a way, I don't.</i> In a way you don't? <i> I don't. No.</i> Please tell the court why. <i> Um, I've witnessed her</i> <i> flirting around and
engaging in, um,</i> <i> all different types of sexual
contact with other men.</i> Specifically, what happened?
What did you witness? <i> Well, for one, I was about
between the ages of 11 and 12,</i> <i> I was with her at
her sister's house,</i> <i> and I remember</i> <i> the night before there
were a bunch of men</i> <i> at that apartment</i> <i> and I remember going to bed
that night and I woke up
the next morning</i> <i> and I heard a man's
voice in that room</i> <i> along with hers</i> <i> and I went to sit up on
the bed and I leaned over.</i> <i> I couldn't see
who the person was.</i> <i> But I heard their voice
and I'm like, "That doesn't
sound like my dad's voice."</i> So what you believe
you heard was Ms. Harper either in the bed or in
the bedroom, at least, with a man that
was not your father. <i> Correct.</i> Ms. Harper, do you
remember this incident? No, Your Honor.
I sure don't. In the case of <i> Harper Sr. vs. Harper Jr.,</i> when it comes to
20-year-old Mack
Harper Jr., it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Harper Sr. Yes, Your Honor. You are his father. (APPLAUSE) <i> Wow.</i> All right. Now, will you please step up
and be a dad to your son? Yes, I will.
If he'll allow me to. If he'll allow me to,
I'll be there for him. You now have confirmed
that he's in fact your
biological father. And the things you've
felt all of these years
have been validated. And you deserve an opportunity
to tell him that directly. Tell him. It took... Twenty years for you to try
to figure out that
you was my dad. Where was you at
when I needed you the most? JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Harper? If you'll allow me, I'll
try to be in your life. If not, then I will just try
to keep in contact with you the best way I can, okay? "As best I can"?
That's not good enough! That's not good enough!
That's not good enough! He's not gonna allow me to... He's not going to allow
me to be in his life. That's not good enough! What you have to say... (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Mr. Harper Sr., is, "I will be right here. "I will keep trying to get
in contact with you. "I will not rest until
I am given the opportunity "to make up for
the time I've lost. Mr. Robinson, you and your wife say
you are not the father of the defendant's son,
Trevarus, but know who is. Yes, Your Honor. You claim she deceived you into believing you
were the father
to collect child support and as a result
of your inability to pay, your driver's license
was suspended and your tax return was taken. Yes, Your Honor. DORA: Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Today, you're
suing Ms. Grant for $124 for license reinstatement fees
and plan to return to court
in your home state to fight for $1685.10
in garnish wages? Yes, Your Honor. DORA: Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Grant, you
believe Mr. Robinson is denying your son
only because he was summoned
to pay more than $13,000 in back child support,
am I correct? Yes, Your Honor. So Mr. Robison, then how
has this situation
affected your marriage? Uh, we had got
a letter in mail saying that he was $13,000
arrearage and back-signed
on child support. So before this letter,
you didn't know he
was even the father? Well, when me
and him met and got married
in '09, Mmm-hmm. um, he told me he
had three children. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. And he was not
in their life. I made him get
in their life. Told him that you
doing for my kids, you need to do
for your own. Your Honor, that's not true. DORA: All of a sudden... JUDGE LAKE: You say that's
not true, Ms. Grant. No. My son never
went around there. DORA: Yes, he did. And Dexter did claim
my child 'cause I have proof here
when he went to sign
papers and everything. Yeah, he did
sign the paper, And then but he didn't sign
the birth certificate. I was in the hospital... JUDGE LAKE: You said
you have proof? Yes. He had the opportunity. What is this paperwork? That is where he
signed and say that that is his child
and he will pay $60
a month for his child. JUDGE LAKE: This is
an affidavit and
admission of paternity <i> which is basically an
acknowledgment of paternity.</i> <i> Did you sign this, sir?</i> <i> That's your signature?</i> Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: How old was Mr. Christian Trevarus
when this was signed? I think he was a couple
of months, Your Honor. So this was right
after he was born. Right. And during that time,
Dexter was acknowledging
that that was his child. I mean, he was coming there, we was going places together, he brought stuff, I mean,
we was like as a family. I mean, yeah,
he had another family also, but he played the role
as a father during then. A year after my
child was born, that's when Dexter
went his separate ways and his family started saying
he wasn't here and all that. JUDGE LAKE: So, take me back.
I want to understand this relationship
a little bit. You all met and you started
a sexual relationship? KATRINA: Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: <i> And how long after
that did you realize
you were pregnant?</i> We started dating
October the 7th, 1989 and, um... DORA: They were not
ever in a relationship. Your Honor, yes, we are,
and, as a matter of fact, where was you in 1989
when we was together? I'm with him now.
I'm with him now. Dexter, I slept
with you. I did not sleep
with your wife. Could you
please tell her that we was together? DORA: It's my responsibility
now. Weren't we together? JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Grant, how did this develop
into a sexual relationship? He asked me, he say,
"You know, my birthday
is next month," and I said no and
he say, "Yeah, it's
November the 28th." He say, "Can we get
together on your...
For my birthday?" So in November, we got together at my cousin's house in the back seat of his
burgundy Bonneville and that's where
Trevarus was
conceived. you went up and you signed the
acknowledgment of paternity, when did you become doubtful? Two years ago, when
this other man
approached him and told him that
he was the father. KATRINA: When they
had to pay $13,000,
Your Honor. So Mr. Robinson, at some point after you signed
this acknowledgment, someone came up
to you and said, "I'm Mr. Christian's father." Yes, Your Honor. And this was just
two years ago? Yes, Your Honor. So, all of these years,
over 20 years, you thought Mr. Christian
was your son, and you
were paying support? Yes, Your Honor. This guy, Mr. Eddie, <i> came and told me
Montez was his son</i> but outta all of this time, I really thought
Montez was my son. And then what
happened after that? Mr. Robinson came home
and told me about it. This man that they're claiming
walked up to him and said, "I'm really
Mr. Christian's father." Do you know who this man is? I do know him, Your Honor. And did you have a sexual
relationship with him? Prior to, um,
the conception of Trevarus. JUDGE LAKE: So before Mr. Christian was conceived, you were in a sexual
relationship with this other man? Yes. And that is Mr. Ellis? That is. Uh-huh. I want to hear from him. Mr. Ellis, thank you
for being here today. We are of course discussing
the paternity as it relates to Mr. Christian. Um, and we've heard testimony that says you approached
Mr. Robinson at some point and said, "I'm Mr. Christian's father."
Did that happen? No, that's a lie.
He approached me. He came to me and said, um, "I heard that, uh,
Montez was your son." I said, "Wait, man, hey, look,
I didn't tell you to go
and sign no papers. "So, that's on you." You know, I feel that he's my son because of, of his mom had approached
me and say it once. I never, Your Honor,
I never in my life Oh, yes. Yes. told him that he was... Yes, you have. Ms. Grant, I'm going
to give you a chance
to respond. Let me hear
his testimony first. Mr. Ellis, proceed. He used to stay
with my mom and all. He called me "Pops"
and whatnot, so, yeah,
I feel he my son, you know? So you acknowledge
that you had a sexual
relationship with Ms. Grant. And was it during
the window of time when
Mr. Christian was conceived? Do you believe that? Yes. What did Ms. Grant say
to you that made you believe
that you were... She told me go get
my son outta the tree, All right. So Mr. Christian,
who did you call or regard
as your father growing up? Eddie, most of the time. That would be Mr. Ellis? Yes, ma'am. When you thought about "Dad," when you thought
about "Father," you
thought about him? Yes, ma'am. Did you know that Mr. Robinson
was paying child support? No, ma'am. You never knew that? Neither one of them
actually did anything. I just, you know,
referred to him as more of a father because
his family, like he said, they reached out
towards me more. Mr. Ellis'? Yes. And what about your
relationship with
Mr. Robinson and his family? There was no relationship
with me and his family. So you got rejected
by his family? Yes, ma'am. And they would
tell you you're not? DORA: We sent him money. When did you send me money? DORA: We sent you money
with Western Union. When? When? Back in '09. You show me a receipt and
I'll tell you that I'm a liar. You say you've never
received any money? Never received money
from either one of them, throughout college,
throughout everything. Like, I got a full
athletic scholarship while running track
at Michigan State. (APPLAUSE) Everything for me
in college was paid for. <i> You know, although I thank
my mom for all she's done,</i> she went on to finish high
school, took college courses, been working at the hospital
since I was eight. But, like, it's like all
I ever had was my mom. Like, true enough, you know,
he, like, started trying to interact with me more like he said, like,
when I was around his family and that's Eddie, of course. But Dexter never
did anything for me. I never had a real father
figure in my life, like, you know, both of them,
basically, made bad decisions coming up, like,
true enough he stayed
in Michigan and he stayed, basically,
ten miles away and I never even had a, like,
relationship with him at all. In the case of<i>
Robinson vs. Grant,</i> when it comes to 24-year-old
Trevarus Christian, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Eddie Ellis, you are not the father. Mr. Dexter Robinson, you are not the father. Thanks, God. There's nobody else. JUDGE LAKE: There has
to be at least one more and I know that's a long
time to think back. I think you've got
some thinking to do. You have an amazing
young man here. It's about finding out
the answers for your child. He deserves that. Mr. Robinson, Mrs. Robinson, I need to inform you
that there is no guarantee that you will be released
from your obligation
to pay those arrears because, under the law,
when you sign that
acknowledgment of paternity voluntarily
you're responsible. Are you alright,
Mr. Christian? Ah, yes, ma'am, I'm fine.
I'm a grown man now. I moved on with life. It hurt, like, for him,
not for Eddie not
to be my father simply because his family,
they look at me more, like,
as a family member. I'm going to be still
be in your life,
either way you go. I appreciate that.
