Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of<i>
St. James v. Esaw.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. ALL: Good day. Ms. St. James, you claim
for the first 33 years
of your life you were a daddy's girl <i> from early childhood,
all the way through</i> <i> your dad walking
you down the aisle.</i> But just six months ago,
after an argument, your father dropped a bomb
on you and said, "You are not my daughter." You and your brother
have opened a case to prove paternity today.
Is that correct? Yes... Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Esaw, you state
you have always believed Ms. St. James was not
your biological daughter, but could never find
the right time
to tell her the truth. You state this
33-year-old secret
has been haunting you for way too long. And you are ready
for the truth
to set you free. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Ms. St. James. Yes, Your Honor. Tell the court
what happened
six months ago. I wrote my dad a letter. Um, right before Christmas,
couple weeks before Christmas. I just told him how I felt
about him not being
in his grandchildren's lives, and how he's not been
the father that we need since we lost our mother
at a young age. <i> And that was his response.
"The reason why I haven't
been in your life</i> "is because...
The reason why..." He didn't answer
any of my questions. That is not true. JAZMINE: He didn't
answer my questions. He basically responded
three days later with "The reasons why you
went through the things
you did as a child "is because you're
not my daughter." That was his response. That is not what I... So that was the first time
you had ever heard of a paternity question,
anything. JAZMINE: Ever. You just wrote
your dad a letter. And this is the father
you've known your whole life. JAZMINE:<i> My whole life.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i>
What happened, Mr. Esaw?
How did this all start?</i> It's something that
I've always wanted
to talk to her about and tell her, you know. And it just never
was the right time. Is it your testimony
that for 33 years you have known
that Ms. St. James was not your
biological daughter? Correct. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: What did
her mother tell you? She just, basically,
told me she was pregnant. This was not something
you knew for certain? No, it wasn't 100%. And that's why
he should have never
said anything. That's why he shouldn't
have did this to me. Timelines... I've been through so much
stress and anxiety because of what
has happened. KENNETH: Based on the doctor... JAZMINE: You don't do that. I went to his house
every summer, Christmas. You couldn't have me swabbed?
You couldn't do anything? All these years?
I'm 33 years old. It seems... I mean,
I understand your stress,
Ms. St. James. I can see it in your eyes, and it truly is palpable. It breaks my heart. Tell the court, what has this
six months been like? (SOBBING) I've been
throwing up every day. I have anxiety,
I have stress. I have an autistic son
that I'm trying to raise. I mean, just... Ever since, I can't eat.
I'm losing weight. I'm just torn apart. He's just trying
to kill me, I guess.
I don't know. I feel like
I'm going to die... JUDGE LAKE: Oh, honey. Of heartbreak. JUDGE LAKE: Oh, honey. So this has completely
rocked you to the cores? JAZMINE: Yes, it has. Because you felt like whether the relationship
was good or bad <i> you knew that families
go through ups and down,</i> <i> but you believe
you had your daddy</i> <i> and you knew
who he was.</i> JAZMINE:<i> And my dad...
The letter that I wrote him</i> had nothing to do
with my childhood. He kept texting me,
"I'm gonna write to you
and tell you about..." I said, "Why do you
want to tell me
about my childhood? "I'm grown now,
what are you talking
about my childhood? "I'm asking you why
you're not in our lives today." And he says to me, "I'm gonna call you in a few
and let you know why." And he did.
"I'm not your dad." JUDGE LAKE: Let me be clear. Did you say
to your daughter "I am not your
biological father," or did you say
"I may not be." He said, "I'm not." I'm not, and I
explained to her why. It wasn't in a mean way. And he also offered
two more men... Two more men that could
possibly be my father. And, Mr. Esaw,
I want to be clear. Ms. St. James' mother,
she's always talked to you about you being the father. Correct. And she never wavered
on the fact that you were
the biological father. KENNETH:<i> Correct.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i> What was your
relationship with her mother?
Can you take us back?</i> Um, from the beginning?
Uh, she transferred into
the school that I was going to. I'd seen her that morning,
and, you know, she looked good, so everybody is kinda like,
"Wow! Who's that?" And I asked her
if she wanted
to go to the party, and she said, "Yes." Picked her up
and we, uh... You know, that's when
we first had sex. And it just kind of
went on from there. And so, you started
a relationship? Yes. (STAMMERS) JUDGE LAKE:
Okay. So take me
to the pregnancy. When her mom found out
she was pregnant,
were you told? KENNETH: She told me, yes. So, take me back to that time. Basically, she told me
she was pregnant
and I was like, "Okay." Um, you know, you're 18.
You're like, "Okay." I was like, "Wow!"
You don't know how
to really react, but I was like,
"Okay, wow.
She's pregnant." And it wasn't until the doctor
told her how far along she was, and doing the math,
it was, you know, before me. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) And... You know, so it wasn't
like she was cheating on me, 'cause we had just started.
She was already pregnant
prior to us meeting. So he said. That's what you believe
at the outset. As soon as she told you
she was pregnant, you did the math
in your mind and said, "She must have been pregnant
before she met me." Not right away, I mean,
that's not something
you think of right away. She's telling you
she's pregnant, so there's other
emotions going on. If you want more episodes
of Paternity Court Make sure to subscribe
and click on
the notification bell. But at some point, Mr. Esaw, you continue a relationship
with her mother because you all end up
having her brother KJ. Right. Later on, yes. They got married
after I was born. He... He named me. How huge could
the doubt have been if you ended up
continuing a relationship, getting married,
having another child? What's happening here? One of the things is,
I was also talking
to my mom. And she explained
the time frames, okay? She sat down and talked to me
and was like, "Okay. "When did this happen?
When did that happen?
When did this happen?" And he probably told her
whatever she needed to hear. KENNETH: And what
the doctor said. JUDGE LAKE:
All right. And your
mother is here? I would like to hear
from you, ma'am.
Please stand. Step up to the podium. And state your name
for the court. Helene Reese. Ms. Reese, thank you
for joining us today. I would like to know
how is it that you determined that there was truly a doubt
surrounding the paternity
of Ms. St. James? And what did you convey
to your son about that doubt? She and her mom
came to my house with this piece
of paper that had, uh, terminations
could be done through 24 weeks
in California, and through 20 weeks
or something like that
in Colorado. So, when I looked
at this piece of paper and when I talked
with him later, I asked him when was he
first intimate with her. And what did
your son tell you? He told me that it was
right before Valentine's Day. And based on what
he told me, I said, "Okay. "This should not be 20 weeks." So, you asked your son
"When did you meet
this young woman?" Right. "And what date did you
become intimate?" Your son gave you the date, and you determined
through the paperwork the window of conception
was before when your son claimed
he even met Ms. St. James's
mother? So then, for the past
33 years you've been grandmother.
You've been that. Yes. And once your son married
Ms. St. James's mother, they went on
to have a family,
another son. You're the grandmother. Yes. Mr. Esaw, KJ, I want
to hear from you because I know
this is difficult testimony and your sister
is very emotional, and we understand why. This is not easy. Your entire life,
were you ever told
anything different? That your father was not your
sister's biological father? Uh... Through my whole life
I thought that Jazmine was my sister. We were the only ones
that came from our mom and him, so... So that's all
I've known, him being my father. So to get this news,
um, like this is just, you know... Hurting. It's hurting. As far as, you know,
the allegations put upon
my mother... JUDGE LAKE: Yes. You know,
it's just like... Why now? You had so many
other opportunities, you know. And it just feels like
this is out of spite. Um, it feels like
this is out of anger because of the words
that she said to him, you know, bothered him. And so you believe
that, truly, your father doesn't have
any reason to doubt
your sister. You believe this is
maybe out of anger because she challenged him <i> about his level of involvement
in the family.</i> And basically said,
"I need you to do better." Definitely. And he didn't
take that very well. JUDGE LAKE: You have
never heard anybody say that Mr. Esaw, you father
is not your sister's
biological father? Well, my dad did
call me one time,
in 2009. Um, he had a little
liquor in him. And he was crying. And he said that Jazmine
might not be his. And what did you say? I said, "What?
What are you
talking about? "What are you
talking about?" And then he called him back
and told him, "I was drunk," and he didn't mean
what he said. JUDGE LAKE: Did you
call back the next day,
Mr. Esaw, and say, "I'm sorry, I was drunk.
I didn't mean what I said." I did. I was
in my emotions. You know,
there's those moments
where they say a drunk man's words
are a sober man's thoughts. And that says to me that
whether you have a reason
to doubt or not, why 33 years? I mean, we are now... We've progressed so much
in the realm of paternity and all of these things. Why is it
just now... My daddy was
in the Air Force. He lived a nice life,
you know. He had money,
he could have got
a test done any summer, any Christmas
that he had us, when I was a child. I wanna understand that
from you. What happened? How does life
just keep happening? It's the hardest thing
I've ever had to do
in my life. It's hard. I mean,
it's never the right time. I always had... I'll take full
responsibility for that 'cause I should have. And I've told her
that many times,
"Yes, I should have." Uh, "Your mom should have. "Your mom was gone,
it was my responsibility. "Yeah, and I should have." But there's never
the right time. You know, like I said,
I always made excuses <i> 'cause it was
so hard to do.</i> <i> I've always...
Like she said,
she's a daddy's girl.</i> <i>It was... That was
one of the hardest things
I've had to ever do in my life.</i> I always made excuses.
Well, it's her birthday
coming up. Uh, here's a holiday
coming up. And I always made excuses
'cause it was hard
for me to do. I didn't know
how to do it. So, Ms. St. James,
what are your hopes
for today? Your father,
he's walked you
down the aisle. He's... You said
you're a daddy's girl. This has been... He better not
be my daddy. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) The last six months
have been hell. Hell on earth for me. Since December 8th
or whatever date it was that you decided to say
you're not my daddy no more. If you don't want
to be my daddy,
you don't have to be. Jazmine, tell the truth
about how I told you. You make it sound
like I just came and said,
"I'm not your daddy." You said,
"I'm not your father,"
just like that. On the phone. I picked up the phone and said
"You're not my father"? You said, "I have
something to tell you. "I'm not your daddy." And I said,
"You're lying. "We look just alike.
We both have booty chins." You said, "I'm not the only person
with a booty chin. <i> "The other guys have got
booty chins, too."</i> <i> I went looking
for both of the men.</i> <i> That is not
how I told you.</i> <i> I found one of them</i> and he said that
my mom and dad, uh, told him that he didn't need
to worry about it because I was his child. So you actually went
to find one of the other
potential fathers? I found one of them. And that man told you... No, his son told me, 'cause I didn't talk to him,
I talked to his son. Okay. So you talked
to the son, and the son
of this man said "My father was told
years ago "that he didn't have
anything to worry about. "Mr. Esaw was your
biological father." Yeah. That's what
that man told his son. Which then reaffirmed what you had been told. Yep. So, the truth is
nobody really knows. There has been
a paternity secret brewing for over three decades, and nobody really
knows the truth. And nobody can even
understand how I feel and what I've
been through, Like, I don't have
enough stress. I lost my mother
when I was 18 years old. <i>I'm raising a son with autism.</i> And me... Whether
he's my father or not had nothing to do with
the letter that I wrote. So, why are you
telling me this? Answer the questions
in the letter. Ms. St. James. KENNETH: And I did. JAZMINE:
No, you did not. Ms. St. James. Have you prepared yourself
for these results? Yes, I have. I'm ready. You're ready? I'm ready. Because I have
the truth for you. I need the truth. JUDGE LAKE:
As you stand here
in this moment do you still believe
Mr. Esaw is your
biological father? I do. You do. Jerome, let's get
the truth. These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics
and they read as follows. In the case of<i>
St. James v. Esaw...</i> When it comes
to 33-year-old
Jazmine St. James, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Esaw... Yes, Your Honor. You... Are not the father. Can I give her a hug? That's better. I can accept it. I'm sorry I waited
so long. It's my... I'll always
take responsibility
of not telling her. It was her right to know. And she should have been told
a long time ago, and not when
she's 33 years old. Plus, you never understand
how hard that is. It truly is why we do this, because we want people
to have the truth. Can you tell the court
in this moment, just, what are you feeling?
What are you thinking?
What do you need? I need my mama. I need my mama.
I need my mama. That's all I need. I can't get no answers without her. Only she knows
who she slept with. Only she knows
who she was with. I appreciate him
for raising me
and being my daddy, but I'm still hurt. Somebody should have
told me the truth. And, listen,
we're here now, and I want you to understand
your dad has said he had two additional names. If these gentlemen
are still alive, we are here for you,
because that's what
we do here. JAZMINE: Thank you. Okay? So, I don't want you
to think all is lost, because you still
have your family, and now, you got
me and my staff. Do you understand? So, this is not over. HELENE: And I've
told Jazmine, no matter what comes
out in this court she's always going to be
my first grandchild. And I'm still
her grandmother. All right. I'm gonna
send you off to Dr. Jeff, and I wish you
all the very best. Continue to stand by
your sister. She needs you
even more now.
All right? I wish you all the very best. Court is adjourned.
