Ms. Cherpes, you claim
you and your grandmother have been given no choice
but to drag the defendant
into court today because you say he moved away
and abandoned your nine-month-old
daughter Aryah. You believe that the DNA
results will prove that he is
her biological father and you demand
he stops running from
his responsibilities. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Mr. McQueen, you claim that
Ms. Cherpes' relationships with multiple other men
is what drove you away and you believe
that today's result will prove baby Aryah's father
is another man. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. So, Ms. Cherpes, tell me, what has Mr. McQueen done
for your daughter so far? He has bought her
one box of diapers and like, two things of wipes. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) So, she's eight months old,
nine months old. Pretty much nothing? Yep. And I can see that
that really hurts you. You're very angry about that. Yes. Tell the court. It's hard because,
I don't know, I didn't ever
see it like this. How did you see it? CHERPES: Like he had promised. JUDGE LAKE: And how was that? (SOBS) Definitely not
like this. I had moved out
to go live with him and we had actually
planned on having her. And everything went
downhill from there. Mr. McQueen. MCQUEEN: Yes, Your Honor. So, have you done
anything for this baby
besides just these diapers? Yes, Your Honor,
I actually have. What have you done? The first day I met her,
I brought her diapers. The third time
she let me see Aryah, I also brought her
diapers and wipes. And the last time
that I was trying
to see her before I did leave
the state of Michigan, I dropped of clothes
and boxes of diapers and three packs
of wipes to her grandmother. So you don't believe
Aryah is your biological child and you're saying you
still stepped up anyway to the best
of your ability? Yes, Your Honor. What is your position
right now? You have doubts. Yes. Explain to the court. I have doubts
because I didn't have
her full attention. When we were together,
she had... Was more interested
in getting other men's
attention than mine. So, tell me.
What was the nature
of your relationship? Were you committed?
Were you boyfriend
and girlfriend? Yes, we were committed. Yes. So, you were boyfriend
and girlfriend in a committed relationship. MCQUEEN: Yes. You were boyfriend
and girlfriend, Ms. Cherpes? Yes. Mr. McQueen? Yes. On our porch, I asked you if you wanted this baby
and that this baby was yours. And you just told me yes,
that you wanted the baby and you wanted this family,
and now, you're standing here. Explain yourself, please. How did it change? MCQUEEN: Yeah. It changed because
I wanna know
if it's mine or not. CHERPES: The only reason
you're questioning me is because you were
unfaithful. MCQUEEN: I was
unfaithful, yes. And so, you caught him
cheating on you. CHERPES: Yep. And is... How did this lead
to the paternity question? I mean, if you say
you were faithful,
he cheated on you, that still has nothing to do
with Aryah's paternity. It's because he doesn't
trust himself, so he thought
it was all right, so he assumes
I thought it was okay
to be cheating on him. So you're saying
because he was out there
doing the wrong thing, he thinks you were as well. Yep. While you were not. No. How did you find out
he was cheating? I set him up. Not necessarily
"set him up." I had told him
I was going to my dad's
for about four days. I had only went there
for a few hours. And I told my dad that
I just had this
weird feeling and as soon as
I pulled in the driveway, I just instantly knew. And he came
to the window,
looked out, and I told him
to unlock my door. He had unlocked it
but stood in front
of the door to where I couldn't
open it all the way, and he was like,
"You're gonna be mad." And I played dumb.
I heard her talking. So you open the door
and someone was there. Yep. JUDGE LAKE:
What happens
from there? I asked him
to make her leave and they were both
smirking at me the whole time
like it was a joke. And I had... I did not at all,
Your Honor,
think it was a joke. I had my
three-year-old daughter
with me, too. So I didn't want
confrontation in front of her and I ended up
kicking him out and took him off
my lease the next day. Do you believe,
at the end of the day, he thinks you're
cheating because he's
the one who's cheating? Yes. Mr. McQueen,
is there truth to that? Are you just out there
doing the wrong thing and you think she is, too? What evidence do you have
that she's even cheating? I have heard numerous times
and have seen her phone from the corner
I view of walking by that she is getting attention
of other men, she's getting money
from other men while I'm working
12 hours a day, six days a week,
trying to support our family. What did these messages say? I'm not too sure. I know she did lie
to me, and actually, she did tell me
she was going to her father's
to do laundry and instead,
I actually found out that she went
to another man's house
and spent the night. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) Is that true, Ms. Cherpes? Yes. So you did. You went
to another man's house
and spent the night? Yeah, because he had brought
a woman to our house. So I, to kind of
avoid the fighting,
I had left, yes. And so you find out
he's cheating. Is this before or after
you had this episode where you go to the house
and there's another woman
in the house with him? This was before. So before... It's been numerous occasions. It wasn't just once. Your Honor... There's been about three girls
in my house, yes. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) Now, at the point
you realized you were pregnant,
what happens? We were excited, actually. And then,
about two weeks after I'd found out
I was pregnant, that's when I caught him
cheating on me. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) JUDGE LAKE: Two weeks after? CHERPES: Yep. JUDGE LAKE: So you find out
you're pregnant and you're supposedly
a happy couple. CHERPES:<i> Yep.</i> <i> You're happy about
the baby coming.</i> <i> He assures your mother
he wants this child.</i> CHERPES:<i> Yep.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i> And then, two
weeks later, he's cheating.</i> CHERPES:<i> Yes.</i> I'm mad at Mr. McQueen because the responsibility
is falling on me and her,
my husband. It should be his
responsibility for the baby,
not ours. JUDGE LAKE: How is
the responsibility
falling on you? 'Cause she's...
They're staying with us. I'm the one who cares for
the baby when Mommy can't. She's been doing
really good. But there's times
she's one person, and she's by herself, so, you know, I've had
to step up to the plate. I don't
understand this.
I guess I'm just... Older generation
or something, but I don't understand
how a father can
do this to their child, 'cause I know
she's his baby. She was so happy
when she got pregnant because they
had planned it,
and he knows that. And then, now,
he's doing this. WOMAN: Wow. Why? I mean,
I don't understand it. So, Mr. McQueen,
did you plan
to have Aryah? Yes, we did plan
on having Aryah. So, now she's here.
What's the problem? The problem is that,
when I was at work, she was doing what,
I don't even know, talking to all
these other men
during all of this, and this was, you know,
not okay with me, so... She was talking to men
or she was sleeping
with men? I don't know. I was
working 12 hours a day,
six days a week. It's all in his head.
All of it. JUDGE LAKE:
You say you planned
this baby, you were excited
for this baby. Two weeks later,
you were making babies
with somebody else. What is going on? That I didn't have
her attention no more, and she was trying
to get the attention
of other men. How? How? She was
texting other men, she was going to see
other men, she was using me, like... Using you for what? Using me for a place... I didn't need
to live with you. I was living with my dad. Yeah, and I took you
out of there so you didn't have to put up
with the bad situation. I could've stayed there. To what?
Put her in a worse one? That was not the plan.
It takes two to tango. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) All right.
So, we've established that Mr. McQueen
wasn't up to no good. But I wanna know about you. Were you getting back at him? Were you saying,
"You know what, "I'll just talk to
some other people "since he's on the phone
and he's texting Jessica "and he's sleeping
with women." No, I was talking to my...
I have guy friends.
I'm allowed to have friends. So you have guy friends. Yep. None of whom
you've been intimate with? No. A week after I left my house,
she moved her ex-boyfriend in, the one she was
getting money with before. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) A week after that,
I heard she was sleeping
with another man and then,
three weeks after that,
she chose another one. And if I was... Who, what are their names?
Let's, I mean... If, you know,
I was the child's father, then why did she
refuse me to come to the delivery room because she had
another man there. 'Cause you were
arguing with me
about her last name and I had informed you
that I'm not arguing
while I'm having our child. MCQUEEN: But yet,
there was the same man that you were getting
money from when you were living
with me and
we were together before Aryah was born. And he was there. Yeah,
as a support system.
I have friends. Mr. McQueen,
is this other man
named Glen Gerber? No, it is not,
Your Honor. 'Cause this court
has identified a man named Glen Gerber who Ms. Cherpes
was intimate with. That would be the man
she stayed the night with when she told me
she was at her father's,
doing laundry. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) Is that true,
Ms. Cherpes? Yes. So you told him
you were at your father's
house doing laundry, but really, you had
spent the night
with another man. Yep. That man is Mr. Gerber. Yes. And he's in
our courtroom today. He's at court
and I'd like
to hear from him. Jerome. Will you please escort
Mr. Gerber in? Yes. Go up to the witness stand
right next to the judge. Thank you so much
for joining us, Mr. Gerber. Yes, Your Honor. I'd like to ask you. Did you have
a sexual relationship
with Ms. Cherpes? At one point in time, yes. And so,
how did you all meet? Online. And it quickly
developed into
a sexual relationship or... She was a single parent,
I was a single parent. It was, kind of, just getting
to know each other,
to begin with. So, was it
an intimate relationship? Yes. At one point, yes. At one point, it was. How often were you intimate? Not very often at all. Do you think
there's a chance that you could be
Aryah's biological father? I do not. I didn't see or hear much
about the baby nothing's ever been said to me
about being the dad until now. So, Mr. McQueen, you're saying
that Mr. Gerber's testimony that he was also intimate
with Ms. Cherpes further validates
or fuels your doubt... Yes. ...as to what she was doing... Yes, Your Honor. ...while you were working. MCQUEEN: She also told me
on Facebook that I was not
her father and that said man
that was giving her money and was at
the delivery room,
was her father. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) Did you say that,
Ms. Cherpes? Did you say someone
else was baby Aryah's
biological father? I may have agreed
with him, yes. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) What do you mean
"agreed with him?" He made the assertion
and you said that's true? He wasn't there anyway.
I was doing it on my own, regardless of who
was the dad. Your Honor,
I asked her for a DNA test
from day one. And she's refused me
up until this point. CHERPES: I never know
where you're at. So, Ms. Cherpes,
tell the court. What has this
been like,
as a young woman raising this child
on your own? CHERPES:<i> It's hard
because she's not
my only kid.</i> (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) JUDGE LAKE:
How many children
do you have? I have two children. I had my own house.
I was living in the house that we had originally
gotten together. And I struggled
for the whole year
to keep it. I was working
12-hour shifts,
going to school, I was talking Aryah
to school every day
with me. And where were you at,
Nate? MCQUEEN:<i> I was trying
to get my life together
so I can...</i> But why didn't you
think of that before you
wanted this baby, then? Why didn't that
come into play first? I did. No. Yes, I did. Because she did not realize
that I was working my... No, you didn't. Tail end off. Because why are you
saying that now? You had the baby.
You should've known
ahead of time, to have gotten
yourself together
before you impregnated her. You're gonna dip it?
Pay for it. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) I worked every day. Do you think your daughter's
gonna care about you being gone
and working on yourself or the time that
you spend with her? I don't get to choose
when I wanna be a mom. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) Mr. McQueen,
Ms. Cherpes' statement
is true. It's not a matter
of convenience, when it works for you,
when it doesn't work for you. You said to this court
you planned this baby. And you do understand
that it could be your
biological child. MCQUEEN: Yes. Why not be more present? Because me and her
don't get along
and she's refused me... This isn't about us. Be an adult.
This is for her... You refused me... ...not you and not me. ....numerous times, to even see her. You tried to make me choose
between my other child and her when I know my other child
is mine 100%. I just tried to take Aryah
to you, to go see you, but I couldn't because
your baby mama was there
with your son. Like you can't...
It's always about you. All right.
There's only one thing
to do at this point. Let's get the results. Jerome. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and
they read as follows. In the case of<i>
Cherpes v. McQueen,</i> pertaining to whether
Mr. Gerber or Mr. McQueen is the father of
eight-month-old
Aryah Cherpes, it has been determined
by this court, the biological father is Mister... McQueen. CHERPES: See? (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) You are the father,
Mr. McQueen. Thank you, Your Honor. Where do we go
from here? Back home and I'm there
100%, Your Honor. Thank you.
Yes, I'm tired. JUDGE LAKE: I can tell
she is just that. For eight months, she's
had to fill in your shoes. And my husband's disabled
and I'm taking care of
my mother with Alzheimer's and then,
I have the baby because he wouldn't
step up and it's his child,
and I knew it. Well, I'm sorry. Thank you. I really am. Thank you. So, now that
we have the truth, let's do something
about it. <i> Your blessing,
and only blessing
in this now,</i> is that at eight months,
she really won't
remember this. is that at eight months,
she really won't
remember this. Yes. And you have to
take that blessing now
and run with it, meaning you gotta
step in there, and you've got
to make sure
she understands that she has a father
and you're there for her. Let's try to clear
the slate now. Mr. Pace, you say you
will be crushed today if DNA results reveal you are not the biological
father of your son, Prince. PACE: Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: You maintain that
the defendant betrayed you by cheating with Prince's
second possible father, your best friend. Yes, Your Honor. Now, Miss Fobbs, you say
you were caught between
the man you were in love with and his best friend. Yes, Your Honor. You admit you made
a horrible mistake when
you slept with both men but you say you're still
hoping with all your heart that Mr. Pace is your son's
biological father? (AUDIENCE MURMURING) Mr. Randolph, you're Mr. Pace's
best friend... Yes. ...and the second potential
father of Prince. AUDIENCE: Oh! Yes, Your Honor. All right, Mr. Pace? Yes. So, what's at stake for you
and your family today? Well, what's at
stake would be I would say,
three relationships, the relationship that
I have with Miss Fobbs, as well as the
relationship that I
have with Mr. Randolph, also the relationship
that I have
with Prince. So there is a lot
on the line for me. That's my little
man, uh... <i> We watch TV together,
you know, I'm feeding him
cereal in the morning, uh...</i> <i> We're just like...
He's just like my real
little buddy and, uh,</i> <i> he looks up to me
and I don't want to
let him down basically.</i> So take me back. How did the two
of you meet? Well, we met while
I was actually driving, uh, it was a hot day, she had on short
shorts, I'm a leg man. (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) Um... JUDGE LAKE: Okay. So I pulled over
actually and we had a
conversation, I ended up getting
her phone number, we went on a few dates,
we kind of bonded
real quick. Um, she ended moving in
with me and Mr. Randolph. Shortly after her
moving in, she became pregnant. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) Um... Once we found that out, being that, she wanted
her own space, we ended up moving
in to another spot together. And that's where I've
been ever since as far as in the relationship with her. All right, so you were
in a real relationship with Mr. Pace? Yes, Your Honor. When did this love triangle,
this cheating begin? And how? I wouldn't necessarily
call it a love triangle
because the situation with me
and Randolph only
happened once. Uh, apart from me being
in the house with Byron, the thing is he works at night so he's never really
home with me and I kind of took that
as a feeling of neglect. The situation with
me and Randolph was a mistake, a big mistake, the worst mistake
I think I ever made because I've never
intentionally set out
to hurt Byron in any way.
I just want this to be okay. I want everything
to stay the way it is, I don't want us to separate the situation
or anything. So, when you say that
you took this as neglect, was there anything else
going on in the relationship other than he's just
going to work? Basically, what we were arguing about was past.
It was just me feeling
neglected at home. I do work a lot.
I promote clubs
and parties so I am out and
I am around a lot of, I would say, women.
And she kind of, I guess, takes that
as me being unfaithful. So were there trust issues? At times but not
at the time that the
situation occurred, no. So, Mr. Pace, how did you find out
that she slept with
your best friend? Well, that's interesting. Uh, we were actually
in a heated argument, at the time that it occurred but it kind of just
got blurted out
to me that Mr. Randolph could be
a potential father
for Prince. Wait a minute. So,
you're in a heated
argument as a couple, and just out of
the blue she yells, "And by the way,
your best friend could
be Prince's father?" Correct. I... AUDIENCE: Oh! I was... Prince was
two and a half
at the time, so it was very
emotional for me being that it's
my best friend and
this is my woman. Understandably. Um, so, when I found out initially,
like I said, I was hurt,
I felt betrayed by actually, both
parties at that point, but I wanted to assess the situation
not being upset 'cause I initially called
Mr. Randolph to find out
what was going on, I wanted to meet
with him face to face,
to find out what's going on, but I did take a few
hour break as far as...
Before we met 'cause I didn't want
to do anything
out of anger. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) Upon meeting
with him we kind of all agreed,
me and him agreed that we definitely needed to
find out what was going on
as far as the DNA of... So when you met
with Mr. Randolph... (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) ...you asked him point blank, "Have you slept
with Miss Fobbs?" Yes, I did. And he said yes? Look, strangely enough,
he did say yes. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) Uh... So, Mr. Randolph,
I just have to ask, how could you sleep with your best friend's girl? Well, uh, to answer
that, Your Honor, I wasn't in the
right state of mind, we both was intoxicated. AUDIENCE: Ugh! You know, he was out promoting clubs, and she used to come home
from the club intoxicated, and, you know,
looking for him. He's not there, and me and her
talk and talk and, you know, one night the talk
led to something else. And so was this sex
unprotected? Honestly, Your Honor,
I was intoxicated, and I really don't recall. Was it only one time? Honestly that I can
recall, yes. That's it, just one time. One time is one time
too many for me. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) PACE: Uh... I'm very confused
at this point. It's really hard for me
to be standing here and in front of you and I'm kind
of nervous as far as what
I'm about to hear, I just,
I don't know, really want
to move forward with... AUDIENCE: Aw. I understand. ...a positive outlook. I understand. So, Mr. Randolph, you submitted to
the court a childhood photo
of yourself... Yes. ...and Prince. RANDOLPH: <i> Yes, Your Honor.</i> <i> And you think you look
pretty much exactly alike?</i> RANDOLPH: <i> Uh,</i> <i> little characteristics,</i> <i> forehead maybe.</i> <i> Mouth. But, uh...</i> JUDGE LAKE: <i> When you look
at this picture, Miss Fobbs,
do you see any resemblance?</i> FOBBS: <i> No, I don't.</i> JUDGE LAKE: None? None. Do you see a resemblance
to Mr. Pace? Yeah, he looks like Byron
more than he looks like
Randolph. PACE: <i> I see
my nose, a little,</i> <i> as well as maybe
my upper lip,</i> <i> a tad bit.</i> <i> Kind of... The nose
kind of flares out like mine.</i> <i> We have the same lines
towards the upper lips so...</i> <i> I'm hopin' that,
that it's me.</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i>
Both men now know</i> and the secret
is basically out. Was it a secret you were
holding and during
the argument, you just had to let it out? Yeah, at the moment,
Your Honor, I was contemplating
on how I was going to
get the information out because I do want
my son to know who
his father is, <i> I don't want to hold
that secret in.</i> <i> It was something
that was weighing
heavy on me.</i> So maybe it wasn't
the right approach
for me to give it to him
at that, that way, but I just felt like
now we're at the
point of no return, so I have to do
what I have to do. So you say it was
weighing heavy on you? Yes. And Prince
is how old? FOBBS: <i> He's four.</i> JUDGE LAKE:
Four years. I didn't tell him
when he was four. I told him when
he was two. Two and a half. Like two and a half. So, when you look at
this picture of Prince, your beautiful
little boy, <i> what do you
want for him?</i> FOBBS: <i> I just
want him to have
a dad.</i> That's my main thing.
I want him to grow up better than I did. I didn't have a dad
in my life so... I'm not justifying that or
using that as an excuse because I did do wrong. And, um, I just feel
like he doesn't deserve it. Is Mr. Pace
the only person
that's stepped up and really been
a father to him, or has Mr. Randolph
helped as well? FOBBS: No, Sam is
not in Prince's life. As far as it goes,
Prince knows... Just... ...Randolph as... Like an uncle. ...an uncle. And he knows...
He knows Byron as his dad and that's the way
I want it to stay. I don't want him
to grow up confused and later on down the line
ask me questions as of why didn't I
disclose this to him and him to feel hurt
and him to be feeling
like he's neglected and he grew up
never knowing. That's why I am here. And so, you, Mr. Pace
and Mr. Randolph, you all have tried to reconcile and keep
your friendship... PACE: Correct. ...despite this? Correct, Your Honor.
We, we... I've been
knowing Mr. Randolph over 10 or 12,
15 years almost. So I don't want to say bros before, but I do want
to say that I understand that men kind of have
a bond that women don't have. So our relationship is under wraps (STAMMERING) but it's
a stressful situation 'cause I look at him
and I see different
situations. This kind of would leave
the resentment that
I have for him on the table. AUDIENCE: Aw. Technically, we're all grown
so it really just leaves
down to the kid. Um... JUDGE LAKE: So... (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) And that's absolutely true and that leads to
my next question. How are things between
you and Miss Fobbs? Are you trying
to work that out
with her as well? Well, it's been
difficult. Um, I
love her but it's just
been difficult when you're caught
between two people
that you care about. Why do you feel
caught between them because it's over? There's no relationship,
they say. Well... But you still
have doubts. Like I said, I see this
man on a daily basis as well as I see her
on a daily basis. So when you have a
small thought at the
back of your head that this may have
occurred and you don't have the
initial proof to find out
that it's not true, then you still kind of
look at people with a little edge on
your shoulder,
I would say. So you're saying, even
though they said it
only happened one time, every time you see him
and then you see her, it's always still
in the back of your mind is it really one time or
is it still happening? Correct. I kind of
don't leave 'em alone. You know, things... That's understandable
and a good idea. PACE: Eh. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) So things like that to where
it kind of makes me out of the character
of the person that I am.
I have to... Because you want
to be trusting. I want to be... You don't want to
have to worry about that
with the people you love. Yes, because, you know,
I stress enough in
the streets with work and business
and things of that nature so when I get home,
I don't really want that to be my most
stressful place,
I should say. Yes. So, Miss Fobbs? Do you want to work
on the relationship
with Mr. Pace? Yes, I love him.
I love him very much and I'm never going to
take from him that. He is a good... He's an
excellent father. He's... I couldn't ask for
a better person to be a father for my son. I just want him to be
able to understand that I... I did make a mistake
and I am woman enough to admit
that I made that mistake and I want us to go
forward from this situation regardless of the results,
regardless of... Even though in my
heart I hope that it does show that
he's the father, I just want us to
still be able to be a family, as we are. Do you fear if it's determined that
Mr. Randolph is Prince's
biological father, this relationship
won't survive? PACE: No. Yeah, I do. I don't. I mean... I feel that way. For me, it would
kind of hurt me
a lot. Uh... So there's a lot
riding on
this result? Yeah, it is. There is a whole lot
riding on these results. Jerome, I think it's
time for the results. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and they
read as follows. In the case of<i>
Pace v. Fobbs, Randolph,</i> when it comes to
four-year-old Prince Fobbs and whether Mr. Pace or Mr. Randolph is his biological father, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Pace, you are not his father. AUDIENCE: Ugh! Oh! (EXHALES) RANDOLPH: My bad, bro. PACE: (GROANS) Oh, man. Uh... So sorry. (CRIES) That's not what I
wanted to hear. Uh... I'm so sorry. This is not fine. Um... Do you need to sit down,
Mr. Pace? Are you okay? PACE: I'm okay. Continuing on with
the next result. It has also been determined
by this court Mr. Randolph, you... Continuing on with
the next result. It has also been determined
by this court Mr. Randolph, you are not... (AUDIENCE YELLS) Um... I apologize. JUDGE LAKE: Miss Fobbs? Whoo... I don't know what to say. Do you know who
Prince's father is? No. It's me. AUDIENCE: Ooh! I'm Prince's father. There's somebody that
may be his dad but
I'm his father. Mr. Pace,
I commend you, given the news
you've gotten today, for still standing up for that
beautiful little boy. And it shows what
kind of man you are. Thank you, Your Honor. Mr. Randolph... (EXHALES) ...you made a mistake, as it relates to your
best friend's girl, a huge mistake. Big mistake. And I'm hoping you've
learned that life lesson. I learned,
Your Honor, I have. And it seems as if you two
do have a friendship and a bond that can overcome
even that level of betrayal. Right. And it's nice to see two men
be able to talk through
something and maintain a friendship
that means so much
to you both. Yes, that... I wish you all the
very best of luck. Thank you, Your Honor. Most importantly, I wish Prince a very,
very happy life and I'm counting on you all
to provide it for him. I will. Court is adjourned. Now, it would be different
if you were just a young man, sowing your oats... I am! And you had let all these
women know that, "Listen, I'm a dating man,
I'm single!" But you're not single! I am. You're not single! You are married to her! That was an accident!
That was... No! So, now it was an accident?
So, now it was an accident? And so, I hope
you are not suggesting that your relationship
with her is an accident because you have
three children with her
and a family as well. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) In addition,
you have another child
with Ms. Austin. RONYELL: The kids... I love my kids dearly,
but I shouldn't have
gotten married. JUDGE LAKE: You just don't
love their mothers. Correct! JUDGE LAKE:<i> So,
let me ask you this...</i> (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) Correction! He's lying
because he was texting me
couple of weeks ago, telling how he
still loves me. So, you honestly still love me
it's just the relationship
is just over with. JUDGE LAKE:
You're married to him! Yes, but we're trying
to get a divorce. I want nothing
to do with Ronyell. Well, I'll give you
all this newsflash, you're still married
until you're divorced. And you have three children
who are counting on you to handle that maturely
and respectfully. Unlike how you
acted in here today. Now, let's go back
to Ms. Austin. Have you gotten
yourself together? You okay? Step on up here.
I want to hear
from you. Now you say, you are
the soon-to-be
Mrs. Wallace, even though
that's technically
still his wife. What are you thinking
that you're engaged
to a man that's still married? That don't make no sense! And then, he's going to be
in a relationship with you
and say the same thing, he cheated
'cause he's bored
and you can't cook. So, why would you
do the same stupid
thing that I did? Ms. Reed, give
Ms. Austin a chance. I really want
to know from you,
what are you thinking? Probably just falling
for what he tells me. What he's saying. JUDGE LAKE: You're falling
for what he tells you? But if you hear what
he's done and all of these
accounts of these women... Do you realize all
of y'all are telling
the same story? It's the same story! (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) What're you thinking?
Why would you say
you want to be Mrs. Wallace? I thought Ronyell
got himself together. I thought he pulled himself
together to be in
a relationship with me. That's what I thought. You did? Why did
you think that? He stopped doing everything.
He stopped cheating,
he even gave me his phone. But did you know that
Ms. Reed said that he just texted her
a couple of weeks ago
and said he wanted
to be with her? That's news to me.
I didn't know that
he texts Dominique. I didn't know that
he texts Kendralyn. I didn't know.
This is all new
to me today. That's false.
I didn't text them. DOMINIQUE: Your Honor... JUDGE LAKE: So you're
a changed man? WOMEN: No! Yes! DOMINIQUE: Your Honor,
the cycle never... The cycle is not going
to stop right here. It's not. JUDGE LAKE: All right.
You know what? I'm going to get
to the paternity results
in a moment, but first I need to read
the results of Mr. Wallace's
lie detector test. Jerome, could you hand me
the envelope, please? JEROME: Here you go. Thank you. You're welcome. Mr. Wallace, you
were administered
a lie detector test. In advance of taking
the lie detector test, you admitted to having sex
with four other women that were not involved
in this case during
the past three months. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) Before you were
ever asked a question,
you just admitted it. So during this test,
you were asked, "Other
than what you told me, "have you had sex
with any other women
in the past three months?" You had admitted in
advance that you had sex
with four other women that weren't
involved in this case. And the lie detector indicated
that you were telling... So during this test,
you were asked, "Other
than what you told me, "have you had sex
with any other women
in the past three months?" You had admitted in
advance that you had sex
with four other women that weren't
involved in this case. And the lie detector indicated
that you were telling the truth. So, this means,
you had sex with
four other women, not Ms. Austin,
not Ms. Roberts,
not Ms. Reed, in the past three months. That's what you admitted to
and the lie detector
confirmed it. Now, Ms. Austin, do you still want
to be Mrs. Wallace
knowing this? (SOFTLY) No. JUDGE LAKE:
I can't hear you. No. It seems like it almost
hit you by surprise, like, you weren't
expecting to hear that. Look at me!
Don't be ashamed! Look, first of all,
let's really keep it real. You're not the first
woman nor the only
woman in this room that has loved
the wrong man
for too long. So, that right there...
Let's just be
honest with that. Look, and Ms. Reed
is clapping for you on that. So, you don't hold
your head down.
Lift your head up. So you made
a bad decision. You loved somebody
that didn't love you back
the way you wanted them to. That's human nature.
We go through that as women. But I want to understand is,
do you understand clearly what I've been
trying to say to you? Yes. That you've got three women
in this room telling
the same story of lies. About one man. Now, he's admitted,
in advance of taking
the lie detector test, "You know what?
Why even take
the lie detector? "I'll just tell the truth." What I don't understand is,
Mr. Wallace, you tell me
all the truth, but you don't tell anybody
you're sleeping with
any truth. But you're standing here,
when I ask you something, you just say,
"Yeah, that's correct." (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) "That is correct." They know what I am.
They know what I do. JUDGE LAKE:
So, listen... (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) I'll tell you
what you are... A liar. Thank you. A cheater. You was, too. DOMINIQUE: A heartbreaker. No! Don't say...
I am nothing! RONYELL: I cheated on you
because you cheated on me. (STUTTERS)
No, that's a lie. If I could
go back in time, I would've done
more things
when I was with you. Is that the lies
you tell? So, what you're saying is, if you could go back
in time, you would cheat
on your wife more? Yes, I would do it again! Because you feel... Because she's a whore! She cheated on me.
She slept with my friends. She is a whore! JUDGE LAKE: Listen...
Let's get some order! (POUNDING GAVEL) Let's get some order! You don't come up here
and try to act like
you're so perfect. Hold on, Mr. Wallace! You're not going
to address a woman in
this courtroom that way. You better pipe
yourself down. (AUDIENCE CHEERING) (TALKING INDISTINCTLY) JEROME: Listen to me. You don't flip people off.
You don't use profanity
in my courtroom. Do you understand me? No! Do you want to go out of here? Yeah. Mr. Wallace,
get out of the court.
Get out of the court. You know what?
You're sorrier than
I thought you were. Get out the courtroom,
Mr. Wallace. Mr. Wallace,
leave the courtroom. Your gun don't scare me. Go out of the courtroom. Leave the courtroom,
Mr. Wallace. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Wallace, I know you had
to have a moment. Sometimes we have
to have that in life.
But I'm glad you're back. I'd like to apologize
to you and the court
and the bailiff. And to Ms. Reed
and Ms. Austin,
Ms. Roberts as well. The thing is... Where I'm from... JUDGE LAKE:
Go ahead, baby.
Talk. Tell me. I came here for my kids. I never had a father. (SOBBING) JUDGE LAKE:
Take your time. I never had
anybody to show me
how to treat a woman. Or to be a man or...
I'm just here for my kids. Where I'm from,
the way that
I treat women... It's the only way I know. That's the only thing
that's accepted
from where I'm from. I just need help, Your Honor.
I just need help. And that's why you're here. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) What do you want from this?
Because, let's be honest,
you didn't have to come. I just want to be a better
father and a better
role model to my kids. JUDGE LAKE: Yes. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Now, I need to say something
to you, now that you've
made your apology. As I sat here earlier
and watched you,
I said to myself, "Wow! This guy is really
acting like a jerk." But I think the important
word in that sentence
was "acting." Because what we see now is,
you're really not that jerk. That's a tough exterior
you put on to mask a lot
of the hurt that you've felt. It's from the things
and the issues
you've been a victim of. Your childhood,
not having a father, <i> and I want to say to you
in front of everybody,</i> that you could've
walked out that door
and never come back, and that's what
a boy would've done. And what did you do? You walked back in. (APPLAUDING) I'm proud of you for that.
I'm so proud of you for that. Because when you say to me,
"I've never learned how
to treat a woman," or how to be
in a relationship, that's the truth,
and that's what this
courtroom is about. Sometimes you've got
to lay it on the line. Because when you tell
the truth, that's where
people know where to meet you. I want to meet you
exactly where you are. You say, "Judge,
I don't have a clue." And I say, "You know what?
Ronyell, I got your back." And we are going
to make sure
you have the resources to become the kind of man
and the kind of father
I know you want to be. Okay? (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Now, it's time for
the DNA results.
Are you ready? Yes, ma'am. Okay. Mow, Ms. Austin... Because things
were so volatile,
it was an emotional time, I'm going to ask that
you leave the courtroom. And, Jerome,
if you could escort her. Sure. Through that door. Thank you. And I'm going to ask
Ms. Roberts back in. Welcome back, Ms. Roberts.
You all right? Mmm-hmm. Okay. Like I told Mr. Wallace,
sometimes in life
we have a moment where we let our anger
get the best of us. But I think it's
a wonderful thing that you were woman
enough to walk back
through that door and come and get the truth
you came here for. Okay? Are you ready
for the results? Okay. Jerome, would you hand me
the envelope, please? JEROME: Certainly. Thank you. Mmm-hmm. Here you are.
You're welcome. This report, as prepared
by DNA Diagnostics,
reads as follows, in the case of<i>
Roberts v. Wallace,</i> when it comes to baby
Donyell Wallace, Mr. Wallace, you... In the case of<i>
Roberts v. Wallace,</i> when it comes to baby
Donyell Wallace, Mr. Wallace, you are the father. I got to go. (SNIFFS) Mr. Wallace,
how do you feel? I'm glad that he's my son. <i> And I apologize for all
the pain and suffering
that I caused.</i> All three of these women,
for, like, the past two years,
it's been going on every day, and I apologize. You know, there are times
in life when you have to just
look at a situation and know, "I have just done
everything possible
that I could do wrong." You blew it!
Okay, now what? You stated your truth,
you've made
an earnest apology, and we know it's earnest,
and look what we have here. Thank you, Ms. Roberts.
Come on back in. I believe Mr. Wallace wanted
to say something to you.
He said it when you left. Mr. Wallace,
go ahead. I apologize to you
for everything
I put you through. You're a great
mother to my son, my other kids that I have
with everybody else
and to the rest of your kids. You've been nothing
but nice since I met you. You're a good person
and a great mother. And I apologize. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE:
Very good. Ms. Roberts,
is there something
you'd like to say? (SOBBING) Yes. I just felt like... You know, it ain't been
nothing but, like,
favoritism with my son ever since I had him. <i> From the stuff
they done said about him,
he is an innocent baby.</i> <i> Like, I ain't have
a father in my life.</i> So, I don't want my kids
to grow up not having
no father in their life. And all the times
he wasn't around him just because if he was
with her or Demiral
or whatever, I felt like
that wasn't right. I felt like,
if you were to get one,
get the other. No matter what they say
or how angry you think
they're going to be. And I felt like my baby
didn't deserve that. Period! (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE: He didn't.
And you know what? While you were outside
of the courtroom, Mr. Wallace has already
said that he intends
to right his wrong. And he wants to be
the father to his children,
all of them. <i> So, now, for
your child's sake,</i> you have to encourage
his father, you hear me? Ms. Reed, can
you support that? Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Wallace, looks like
to me this day turned out
a lot better than you thought. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) I'm counting on you.
Those children
are counting on you. Get it done!
Nowhere to go
but up from here. Right? Yes, ma'am. Good. Court is adjourned.
