Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of<i>
Patterson v. Knight.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. ALL: Good day! JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Patterson, you opened your case today to prove that
you are four-year-old De'Marcus Patterson Jr.'s
biological father. You named him and have cared
for your Junior since birth, and are furious the defendant now claims
another man is his father. Is this correct? (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Knight,
you testified that even though your son
has Mr. Patterson's name, it does not change the fact
that you are unsure he is De'Marcus Jr.'s
biological father, and another man could be.
Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: So, Mr. Patterson, you testified you've
been there since day one. Please explain. I've been there
since birth, you know, since he came out the womb, since he entered this world. When the doctor first, you know, held him up
and finally gave him to me,
I witnessed him. He just completely quit crying
and looked me dead in my eyes, and at that moment I knew I became someone's father. AUDIENCE: Aw. So, at that moment, like, all the doubts
that we had before, I just knew, like,
they were just out
the window, and just... he was gonna leave
with a happy family, but... JUDGE LAKE: But it didn't
happen that way. PATTERSON: Not exactly. And when that baby
came into the world, you were there to receive him, you gave him your name. Yes, Your Honor. But now there's doubt, as it relates to the mother. So, Ms. Knight, you contend that Mr. Patterson is not
De'Marcus' biological father? I let De'Marcus know, when I got pregnant,
that there was a possibility that I could be pregnant
by someone else. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) JUDGE LAKE: So you were
honest from the start? KNIGHT: From
the beginning, yes. JUDGE LAKE:<i> Do you remember
this conversation,
Mr. Patterson?</i> PATTERSON:<i> Uh, yes,
Your Honor, in a way.</i> When she first told me
she was pregnant,
that's when was, like... I guess, you... I guess,
you could say, doing
the house-hopping thing, 'cause like... JUDGE LAKE: Doing the what? The house-hopping thing, 'cause when she moved out
of her parents' house she ain't have nowhere
to go, so I let her live
there too. KNIGHT: I mean, that's how we
started our relationship. We were together
every day since then. De'Marcus ended up
cheating on me within the time
we were together, and I ended up leaving
with Ledarrius, uh, with the alleged father, <i> and, um...</i> <i> Basically, we didn't
work out at all.</i> So, I called De'Marcus
to let him know, "Hey,
I could be pregnant "by Ledarrius and you." And De'Marcus was like,
"Well, I wanna be with you." And that's where I went. PATTERSON: That day
that she left, I ain't hear from her
for a month or two... JUDGE LAKE: Wait, you're saying
she just left the house, and you didn't hear from her
for a month or two? PATTERSON: Yeah, I was
supposed to pick her up
from work, but... My grandma made me
feel worse about it
'cause she was like, she knew she was too fast
for me anyways, but... (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) (INDISTINCT CHATTER) JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Knight,
where did you go? What is going on here? I decided to leave because
I wasn't over the fact that he
cheated on me with this female. So, yeah, I did that. But I found out I was pregnant
while I was with Ledarrius... JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Knight,
I wanna go step-by-step 'cause I wanna understand. When you left, you ended up
with Mr. Sigler. KNIGHT: Right. Which is the other
possible father. KNIGHT: Right.
We ended up having
protected sex that night, and then ran out of condoms, and while we were...
doin' it, I told him to go ahead
and get me pregnant,
that's what I told him. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) And as soon as I found out
I was pregnant, I called De'Marcus
and let De'Marcus know, "I'm pregnant right now, "and it's a possibility that
it's Ledarrius' baby
or your baby." De'Marcus told me
to come home... So, you got back together
with Mr. Patterson... 'Cause, like, me and Ledarrius
were like oil and water,
and we could not do it, so I told and begged him... I didn't beg him, I said,
"De'Marcus, come get me." And De'Marcus pulled up
in the car, and he was like, "Where's your stuff?"
He carried my stuff
on his back, and got in the car,
and we went on about our way. Him knowingly knowing
that I could be pregnant
by somebody else. He was okay with the situation. And at this point,
you're testifying that you believed he was the father, based upon the time frame? I believed it was
a possibility. So, take me to the day
you actually gave birth. Who was there? What happened? KNIGHT: De'Marcus
was there. He was there
when my water broke. Like, I woke him up, said,
"Baby, my water broke. "Time to go to the hospital."
He hopped up, "All right, let's do this." So, we was in the hospital
that whole day, had the baby. AUDIENCE: Aw! He didn't get to cut
the umbilical cord because the doctor took it
upon his self to cut it. Yeah, he did do that. But that was it.
When he had the baby,
De'Marcus looked over, said, "That's my baby.
We ain't naming him
no Christian. "We naming him
De'Marcus Patterson." Did you say that, Mr. P... PATTERSON: That ain't exactly
how it happened. How'd it go? (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) Well, I looked the baby in
the eye, I was like, "Dang,"
you know, he completely just... Be quiet, just quit crying
and everything, like,
he was at peace. Then I looked at him,
that's when the doctors left
the room, and she was like, "What name should we give him?"
I was like, "I don't know, just that
I always wanted a Junior." And I was like,
"You'll do that?" And then that's when the name
came about, De'Marcus
Laterious Patterson Jr. Well, when you tell this woman,
"I've always wanted a Junior." KNIGHT: He ain't say it like... PATTERSON: I ain't really get
to pick the name 'cause, remember,
it's always up to the woman
to pick the name... Please. De'Marcus said,
"I don't care what you think, "This is my baby, "and we're naming De'Marcus
Laterious Patterson Jr." (INDISTINCT CHATTER) If she named him De'Marcus
Laterious Patterson Jr., you definitely had to
agree to that. So, you signed
the birth certificate? Yes, Your Honor, I signed
the birth certificate. JUDGE LAKE: Willingly? Yes, Your Honor. Without a doubt at that time,
you went on and signed it? Yes, Your Honor. I mean,
I was gonna do the DNA test... JUDGE LAKE: Okay, right. Then I looked at him, and that's when
I threw the DNA test
out of the picture. At that moment, De'Marcus said,
"That is my baby, "his name is gonna be De'Marcus
Laterious Patterson Jr. "And I don't care
what y'all gotta say. "
And that's what... So, but... Okay, but if you
know the real truth, and you know that he might not
be the biological father, why give in to the name, and name this child
after him... Because I'm in love... ...knowing that
there is a possibility? I was in love with him.
We were together all the time. I mean, he demanded it that
that's what he wanted.
He denied the DNA test. So, I'm like,
"You know what? Sure." JUDGE LAKE: We're gonna
roll with this. "Let's go with it." (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) In my heart,
I so solemnly wanted it
to be De'Marcus' baby. Right, and in your young mind, this is how you clean up
this whole mess. And so, in the last four years, has Mr. Patterson been there
for De'Marcus? He... He's been there. JUDGE LAKE: He has. Does De'Marcus Jr.
call Mr. Patterson "Daddy"? KNIGHT: Yeah. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) (PATTERSON LAUGHING) JUDGE LAKE: Oh,
he's so handsome. At what point did you realize
that it wasn't all working out? That... That it really
could potentially be the other man's child. Well, it was a conversation
between me and De'Marcus
we had often. I mean, De'Mar... DJ... turned about three months,
and I looked at him one time, and I was like, "Wow,
he kinda looked like
Ledarrius." JUDGE LAKE: Oh, so, you all
were open about this? KNIGHT: Yes.
We were always open. We would take rides
to the gas station, he'd show me pictures
of Ledarrius, like,
"You sure this ain't... "You sure this ain't his?" I ain't gonna lie... KNIGHT:
And we were open about it,
all very open about it. I started seeing his ears
slanting out, and I was like,
"Hold up," you know? Just, like, I don't know,
though. JUDGE LAKE: But he's four now. PATTERSON: He's four now,
so I look at him now... KNIGHT: Right. And the conversation about
DNA test, this is not the
first time I've brought it up. I done set appointments, no one wants to help me
with half the payment. I'd help you with that.
Now, see, I know you're evil. If they say that I don't get to
take my name off if I have
the DNA test, you'd put me on child support,
if you could.
I'm being real. Look, you know
it's a possibility
that you're the father. and Ledarrius knows
it's a possibility that
he's the father, and ain't none of y'all
givin' me nothin' anyway. So, you think you don't
deserve to go on it? I bought his first pair
of sneakers. I buy him everything,
you can't say
I ain't doin' nothing. I take him to the park,
I do stuff. When I ask De'Marcus... To do something,
he will, when I ask. But the only reason why he
stopped doing the things, like, he used to come in
and just do it, without me
having to ask. But because I chose
to allow Felicia
and Ledarrius in his life, De'Marcus told me, "I'm goin' ahead to take
a step back and let Ledarrius
step in since that's his dad." I ain't say that, if I say
that, I was just talkin'. Yes, you did. JUDGE LAKE: Felicia... Hold on! You gestured and said
you decided to let Felicia, that is your witness here... My... My godmama. That's Mr. Sigler's mother? Right. So, that's
the other guy's mother? KNIGHT: Right. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) And so you said Ms. Sigler
is your godmother? Right. So, the other possible father
is your godbrother? Right. Ledarrius. PATTERSON: Oh... You're making this look bad. Lord! You decided to let her
and the other guy in De'Marcus Jr.'s life,
as well. So, you didn't want
either guy to be left out
until you knew for sure? I guess. I mean... That's kinda crazy. Look, my godmama ended up
sending me pictures of it. And me and De'Marcus actually
were in the same vehicle at the same time when she
sent this one picture. And I looked
at De'Marcus, he looked at me,
and he was like,
"Oh, "(SCOFFS) that's DJ's family." JUDGE LAKE: And you submitted
that picture to the Court. Right. Let's take a look at that.
This is a picture of Ms. Sigler as a baby. KNIGHT: It's the other one.
That ain't do much for me,
the other one did. JUDGE LAKE: And this is
De'Marcus Jr.? KNIGHT: Right. That's the one she sent me, and me and De'Marcus
sat in the car and was like,
"That's DJ." And when you saw
those pictures,
you felt like... That's when I really started
letting him in DJ's life. That's when Mama came
and got him every other day when she can
or when I needed her to. He'll go pick him up,
drop him off over there. All that. This... We are a big,
happy family. I don't know
why he pretends. Oh, so this is...
This is a whole village. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) PATTERSON: Hey, to be honest... No, I'm serious. KNIGHT: We eat
as a family, and all. JUDGE LAKE: All of you all,
together? KNIGHT: Right,
we never had
no problems. The reason why, in my head, I strongly wanted De'Marcus
to be the biological father was because they told me
I got pregnant August 28th
to the 2nd or the 3rd of, um, September. I was with De'Marcus,
August 28th, but by the 2nd of, um,
September, I was
with Ledarrius. So, I didn't know. I honestly did not know. Oh, girl,
that's crazy. JUDGE LAKE: So, it was
that soon after? Don't act like it's crazy.
You knew. (AUDIENCE MURMURING) Before we go any further, I think it's time
I hear from Mr. Sigler. Jerome, can you please escort
Mr. Sigler into the courtroom? JEROME: Yes. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Thank you for
joining us today. Pleasure. As you are aware, we are discussing the paternity
of De'Marcus Patterson Jr. A young boy who has
Mr. Patterson's name, but could potentially have
your DNA. Yes, Ma'am. Do you believe you are
De'Marcus Junior's
biological father? Yes, Ma'am.
Yes, Your Honor. You do? Yes, Your Honor. Why do you
believe that? All right. In the midst of me
and Kayland having dealings or intimacy, I... I was the one who
told her she was pregnant. JUDGE LAKE: Oh. And when I told her
she was pregnant, she say, "Well, if you feel like that,
take me to the clinic." So, I did. So, when we got back
from that situation, we had conflict. She like, "It could
possibly be his, "it could
possibly be yours." So, that for now,
like she said,
"Oil and water." JUDGE LAKE: You weren't
part of the pregnancy. No, Ma'am. You weren't there
for the birth. No, Ma'am. So, when
did you learn that you were,
in fact, potentially, DJ's biological father? Okay, prior to that picture
right there, I seen him probably
a week before that picture. And he was
three months old when I first met
De'Marcus. He was three months. So, I did get
an attachment
to him as well, but I understood
the situation. That come down to...
Is this baby. JUDGE LAKE: Mm-hmm. We wanna know, he wanna know, he need to know, we need to know. Before it get any farther,
or get out of hand, I don't want him
growing up, 'cause he do know
both of us. He do look
at both of us
like fathers. JUDGE LAKE: Does he
call you "Daddy" too? Yes, Ma'am. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) JUDGE LAKE: Oh, Lord. So, the child is calling
two men "Daddy"? Yeah, I mean, it is what it is. De'Marcus, I don't care
how he act, after this, when he find out
he ain't the daddy, he ain't goin' nowhere. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) (SCOFFS) She thinks that, man. Listen, I wanna know
from Mr. Sigler, what are your hopes, sir? Do you hope De'Marcus Jr.
is your biological child? The love that I have for him is the same love
that he have for me. JUDGE LAKE: Mm-hmm. I know one thing
about this young man, if don't nobody else
love me, he gonna love me. And so, Mr. Patterson,
I have to ask you, how do you feel knowing that your son is calling
another man "Daddy" too? To be honest, I used to think about it
a whole lot back in the days, but it's her mess,
she gotta clean it up. That's what we're here
for today, you know? JUDGE LAKE:
It's all of your mess. PATTERSON: Yeah. Thank you. Because if you're
not the father, this four-year-old young boy
has your name. And if you are the father, he's still calling
Mr. Sigler "Daddy" too, and would presumably miss
his presence in his life if Mr. Sigler decided
he no longer wanted
to be a part of his life. So, this is a tangled web... Here, <i> and DJ is caught up in it.</i> With that said, I think
it's time we get the results. Jerome. (AUDIENCE CLAPPING) (PATTERSON SPEAKING
INDISTINCTLY) JUDGE LAKE:
Before I open this envelope, are you ready for this? Have you prepared yourself? No, Ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: So,
you're being honest,
Mr. Sigler? I'm being honest.
I'd rather step out. (SCOFFS) You just really feel that strongly that you
want the baby to be yours? Yeah. I won't make you
wait any longer. (PATTERSON MUMBLES, CHUCKLES) These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. "In the case of<i>
Patterson v. Knight...</i> "pertaining to whether "Mr. Patterson or Mr. Sigler "is the biological father "of four-year-old
De'Marcus Patterson Jr..." (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) JUDGE LAKE: It has been
determined by this Court... The biological father is... Mr... Sigler. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) (PATTERSON CHUCKLES) JUDGE LAKE: You are DJ's
biological father, Mr. Sigler. What do you feel right now? Hurt. Could've been avoided. JUDGE LAKE: It could
have been avoided? SIGLER: I love
that little boy right there. I know he gonna be happy. You bring him out here
right now, he gonna run
straight to me. Mr. Patterson,
are you all right? PATTERSON: Oh, yes, Ma'am. I know this is hard. I'm hurt about it. I looked at him as mine, but... At the end of the day,
I'm happy for him we figured out who
his real daddy is, you know? SIGLER: (SOBS) I know. (AUDIENCE CLAPPING) JUDGE LAKE: That is
mighty big of you. PATTERSON: He's still my kid,
you know, in a way, 'cause I watched him, and I helped him
develop as a child. KNIGHT. Tch. I know. Well, you are his legal father,
that's for sure, you're on
the birth certificate. Yeah, I'm his legal... Yeah. Are you going to go back
to your home state
and address the legal issue surrounding this? Or is it your intention
that you are going to leave your name
on the birth certificate and remain his legal father? No, Your Honor, I wouldn't
do something like that. That's his father, he deserve
the rights to have his name
on the birth certificate, alter his name,
change his name,
do whatever he want to. JUDGE LAKE: You, young men, you are making me proud today,
I'm not gonna lie. (AUDIENCE CLAPPING) And... Ms. Knight, what we have to do,
going forward, for this baby, it is very serious. Do you call him De'Marcus
or do you call him DJ? We call him DJ. I call him De'money. KNIGHT: I'm not
naming him De'money. Oh, Lord. We... (AUDIENCE CHUCKLING) Look, we're doing so well,
let's not start here now. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) I only say, from where I sit, you've been blessed
with a situation now, where your son knows who his biological father
really is. I want you all to go
and see Dr. Jeff right now, and I want you all to
take a moment to discuss this, and figure out
where you go from here. I wish you all
the very best of luck, okay? Court is adjourned.
