You may be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello, Jerome. This is the case of <i> Brown v.
Rutledge and Rutledge.</i> Thank you. Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Ms. Brown, you say,
the only thing that
matters to you today is the future of your
one-year-old daughter,
Sah'niyah. BROWN: <i> Yes, Your Honor.</i> You state, you're here
to prove the defendant,
Mr. Rutledge, is her biological father
because she needs
two parents. Yet, he's seen her
only once in her life. AUDIENCE: Oh. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Rutledge, you say, despite
Ms. Brown's denial, there are indeed
other men that could be
her child's father. Yes, Your Honor. AUDIENCE: Oh. Your sister, Ms. Rutledge,
is also involved in this case, and we'll hear more
from her shortly. So, Ms. Brown,
why are you so sure Mr. Rutledge is
your daughter's father? Yes, Your Honor,
me and Mr. Rutledge, you know, we had
sexual relations
and things like that. And my doctor
told me that I
conceived May 25th, which was
Memorial's Day, which I was
over there, um,
at his mother's house. She left to go to
a cookout and everything, and me and him,
you know, had sexual
relationships
on that day. I did not have sex
with anyone else
on that day. Did not have sex
with anyone else
around that time. Now, yes, you know,
before me and
Mr. Rutledge got serious, I did... You know,
I had relations
with other people, but never around
the time that
I conceived. Or never around
the time that
I got pregnant. So, you know,
I'm pretty sure.
(CHUCKLES) Okay. Mr. Rutledge,
she gave a pretty
clear account of her version
of the story. Do you agree
with that? No, I do not,
Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Please
tell me... AUDIENCE: Oh. (CHUCKLES) Tell me
what your side of
the story is. Well, first of all, me and Ms. Brown
was never in
a relationship. There was only
sexual relationship. AUDIENCE: Oh. RUTLEDGE: I...
(STUTTERS) I met... I met Ms. Brown
from... She was seeing my
cousin, they was
dating for a while. Um... After they broke up,
they split up,
whatever. She got with
my other cousin, had a one...
Had a one-night... Had a one-night stand
with him. Then parted from him
and got with my brother. (AUDIENCE GASP) Now, let me tell you this. When she got
with my brother, she ran the same story
on my brother and told my brother that
she was pregnant by him. AUDIENCE: Oh. She tells...
She tells my brother that, "Oh, I need you to
give me money for
a morning-after pill." Ms. Brown, you left
these facts out BROWN: Yes, I left
them out, Your Honor, because they are
not facts. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. First of all,
you don't have to pay
for a morning-after pill because everyone knows that
a morning-after pill is free, whether you have
insurance or not. So, I never would say, "Can you pay for
a morning-after pill?" As far as me having,
um, one-night stands and all of that
with his cousins... JUDGE LAKE: Yes. ...if he felt that I had
one-night stands with his cousin
or his brother, why would you turn around
and have unprotected sex
with me? (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) I never was that
type of person. He knew...
He knew who I was.
He knew how I was. He knew everything
before, you know... Before we started even
messing with each other, because we had
mutual friends. We were around
each other. He had a chance to get
to know me and everything. And as you can see,
he still decided to
have contact with me, so obviously, I couldn't
have been that much
of a bad person that he is stating
right now. And, um, his claims
that we were just friends
and we were never... It was never
that serious, it was
just sexual relations... If it was just
sexual relationships, why were your clothes
at my house? AUDIENCE: Oh. RUTLEDGE: What? He was always at my house
until he went missing for, like, four days,
and... You know, I didn't know
where he was at, 'cause usually he would
at least text me or call me even if he didn't
come over. And, like, out of nowhere,
like, for four days straight,
I didn't hear from him
or anything, and he came back
out of nowhere, new sneakers, dressed,
and everything now. Mind you, you know,
in the midst of everything, I went on Facebook
and seen pictures of him and his, um, daughter's
mother together. So, I'm like,
"Okay, so this is where
he's at, you know." I'm all upset
and everything, so I couldn't wait
till he came, so I can, you know,
talk junk to him about
what was going on. And when he came in
the house, thinking
everything was okay, I'm like, "No, you was just
with your child's mother. "You were gone.
Where were you?" And he got mad
because I was
questioning him. And that's when,
you know,
the drama started. And he's like,
"Oh, you're not
my girlfriend." And that's when
I found out... From my knowledge,
I'm 22 years old. He's about to be 31
this September. AUDIENCE: Oh. I didn't know.
He could have made
that quite clear, you know, that we weren't
in a relationship. I didn't know.
I only knew what
I being led to believe. If someone's coming over
to your house every day, sleeping with you, or,
you know, coming over,
calling you, texting you, and leading you to believe
you're their girlfriend, of course you're gonna
think that I'm the one... Why would I lie? So, Mr. Rutledge, you've now heard... RUTLEDGE: Mmm-hmm. ...that part of the story. Do you agree with that? No, I do not,
Your Honor AUDIENCE: Oh. JUDGE LAKE: How did
I guess? So, in your
estimation, this was just
a casual
sexual relationship. And that's all
it was. That's all
she good for. Um, Your Honor... AUDIENCE: Whoa. JUDGE LAKE: Hold on. BROWN: Your Honor, can I... Let's be respectful,
Mr. Rutledge. RUTLEDGE:
Okay. I'm sorry. Be respectful. I apologize. BROWN: Can I
just say this? Um, he said that
that's all
I'm good for, I must have been
good for a lot 'cause he used to ride
his nine-year-old
daughter's pink and gray bike to
my house all the time with his
30-year-old self. RUTLEDGE: Mmm-hmm. I have no reason
to sit there and
have to lie or... I'm not gonna
come here and lie,
or anything like it. I know what
I used to be, and I
have changed a lot. And also in the same
breath, like I said,
I'm 22 years old. When you say, "I know
what I used to be,"
what do you mean? Yes, um, back when
I was, like,
you know, younger, I used to be wild.
I mean, like,
partying, drinking, hanging out
and stuff like that. And, you know,
I've been through a lot
in my life, and I didn't... It was to the point
where I wasn't really
feeling like I was loved, so I would say,
I would look for love
in different places. It may not have been
the right way that
I was doing it, but I did, and I can
admit to that. But that was
in the past. JUDGE LAKE: And I'm happy
you got yourself together. But I need to ask you, when you were
looking for love in all the wrong places... BROWN: Mmm-hmm. ...and you were,
maybe being a little more sexually promiscuous
than you are now... Right. ...was this at all during
the window of conception... No. No, this... ...so that he could
maybe be doubtful
about the paternity? No. No. I'm not saying that,
"Oh, he should
just be so sure." I'm not
saying that at all. But I know for a fact
that around the time
that I conceived, I didn't have sex
with no one else. So, when you found out
you were pregnant... Mmm-hmm. ...you told Mr. Rutledge. Um, I told his sister first,
Mrs. Rutledge. All right, so you told
his sister first. BROWN: Yes. How did that conversation go? Um, I just told her
I was pregnant. Um, you know, she kind of
was in shock and stuff, and she just let me know,
like, you know, "You do know,
if you decide to
keep this baby, "there's a chance that
you're gonna go
through it by yourself, "because he does have
other multiple children." But when I told her
that I was pregnant... After I told her,
I called Mr. Rutledge. I called him to
let him know, like,
"Yes, I'm pregnant." Um, I told him, actually,
to come to the house first. I'm like,
"We need to talk." He's like,
"Talk about what?" So I'm like, "I'd rather
you come here. I wanna
talk to you in person." He's like,
"No, what is it?" So, I told him,
like, I'm pregnant. So, he kind of got
quiet for a little bit. He's like,
"You're pregnant?" He's like,
"So, what you gonna do?" Then he's like,
"Never mind,
I'll be over there." Probably like 30 minutes
to an hour later, he came over there
on his daughter's
pink and gray bike. And wanted to know,
you know, what was going on. About the pregnancy,
so you know, I show... RUTLEDGE: Wow. He didn't believe me at first.
I had to show him the paper. I showed him the paper
and everything, like, "See. You know,
I'm pregnant." And basically, he was
just like, you know, he already got kids. He don't know
what I'm gonna do. He's really kind
of leaning towards me
gettin' an abortion. He wanted me to
get an abortion. AUDIENCE: Oh. But he was like,
you know,
"But if she's mine..." He always kept saying,
like, "If she's mine." So he's like,
"But if she's mine,
I will take care of her." So, Mr. Rutledge,
when you heard
from Ms. Brown, what did she
say to you? Like she said, I went
over to her house
and everything, you know. We talked about it
or whatever and I told her that
I wanted a DNA test. And that was because
you were doubtful
from the start. From the beginning. So, at that point, what real proof
did you have
to be doubtful? I used to pick
Jasmine up, Ms. Brown,
from dudes' house. She'd be around me,
texting dudes. This is my friend, this is my homeboy,
we're just cool. This and this,
and that. And first of all,
it was never
about the baby. It was all about
she wanted to be
with me. She don't care
whether the baby's
mine or not. So, when you gave
birth to Sah'niyah, did Mr. Rutledge, did he show up
to the hospital? No, his sister,
Mrs. Rutledge,
was there. <i> When I had the baby,
she was there,
like, every day.</i> <i> Um, while I was
in the hospital,
she was there.</i> She sent her
mother pictures, and I guess she sent
Mr. Rutledge pictures. And he called,
and he told her that
he hoped my baby die, and that he don't
want my baby. That is incorrect,
Your Honor. BROWN: And that's
something that come
out of her mouth. That is incorrect. Now she wanna come in here
and try... That is incorrect,
Your Honor. But everything
that I know that
he said about me, mostly she told me. That is incorrect. He didn't want my kid, my daughter,
around his other kids. That came out
of her mouth. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. No. JUDGE LAKE: And breathe,
Ms. Brown. Just breathe. Is this true? I have to
ask you, Mr. Rutledge. RUTLEDGE: Your Honor... RUTLEDGE: I'm gonna... You please don't
tell this court you said something
that vile. I would never
say that. I have kids
of my own. She said
I hoped the baby die. I'm not gonna tell you
what she told me
about my kids. She came to my mom house, (SCOFFS) say she's gonna
leave her daughter
on the doorstep of my ma. I said, "Don't do that,
because I'm not there,
no one's there." She said,
"I don't care, man." "I'm coming there..."
(STUTTERS) She took a picture
of the door... Yes, ma'am. ...and sent it to my phone. No. Your Honor... Your Honor, first of all... That she was there
with the baby, and she was gonna
drop the baby off. Your Honor,
I'm not gonna lie... SHAWANDA: Yes, ma'am,
that is correct. That is the truth. I did not... The day that I took
the picture of his door was not the day
that I so called and told him
something like that. I took a pic...
I came to his house because me and him
had got into it
on the phone. He's telling me,
"Oh, she don't look
nothing like me. "That's not my daughter."
And yes, I was enraged. I was very upset. If somebody told you
they hope your child
die and stuff, you're gonna lose
all respect that
you have for them. I don't care what the problem, what the rage,
what the issue is. I don't know how
the two of you can be
having conversations that contain statements like, "I hope your baby dies" and, "I'm gonna run some
kids over with a car." (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) SHAWANDA: May I say something? That's just... Disgusting. So, Ms. Brown,
as I listen to you, your concern is not just what transpired
during this time... BROWN: Mmm-hmm. ...but also the fact that... RUTLEDGE: Your Honor. Now that your
child is here.... <i> And he knows
there's a possibility</i> <i> he could be
the child's father.</i> <i> Your concern is,
he hasn't come around.</i> Correct? Yes, Your Honor. I don't expect him... He doesn't have to
go through me to see her. I was the one who told her,
she had no business
dealing with him, being that he already
had five kids, four different baby mothers. AUDIENCE: Oh. She already knew that. Right. Right. I'm the one
who told her that. But Your Honor... I'm the one who
told her to stay away
from my brother, but she kept on
communicating with him. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. But when she took it
upon herself... She's a grown woman. I'm not gonna keep
telling you anymore. JUDGE LAKE:
I understand
your statement. I'd like to hear
from your witness,
Ms. Brown. Please stand, ma'am, and state your name
for the court. Laconya Brown. Ms. Brown, what do you
understand about
this situation? Some stuff that
she say are not true, a lot of stuff that
they say are not true. Like... That's my niece,
and I love her,
but I'm... What's real is real. And at the end
of the day,
I feel like, if you know
it's a possibility
that this is your baby, then why not... Yes, my niece was
runnin' the streets
and partying, and doing
what she did... She still is. She did abandon
her kid. Shut up. She's pregnant now. And she left her kid... That's none of
your business... She left her kid... She's pregnant now. (ALL TALKING AT ONCE) JUDGE LAKE:
Let's get some order. You worrying about the wrong
things. Get some business so you can stay out of mine. Let's get some order. SHAWANDA: I was taking
care of your business. No, you wasn't. Yes , I was. You and your children. No, you never was. Let the judge speak.
Let her talk. I apologize,
Your Honor. Continue, Ms. Brown. I did call
Child Protective Services
on my niece. And it was because
she had left her children
at my mom's house, with me and my mother. But it was not
a removal situation. It was a situation
for her to woman up, like, these are
your children and you need to
take responsibility
for your children. And at the end
of the day, Shawanda was involved.
Like... JUDGE LAKE: And so... Well, Ms. Rutledge,
I called Ms. Rutledge to come over
so we could talk with the CPS worker
to try to find out what we were gonna do
as far as Sah'niyah
is concerned, and gave Mr. Rutledge
the opportunity to take a DNA test
in our hometown. JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Brown,
you said in your testimony just a second ago that you offered to have the defendant,
Mr. Rutledge, take a DNA test
in your home state. LACONYA: Yes.
I told his sister... <i> I went down to our courthouse,
I got the paperwork,</i> <i> and she said,
"Well I don't know
if he's gonna take it."</i> And he never showed up
to take the test. JUDGE LAKE: He never
showed up...
Why, Mr. Rutledge? Why not take the test? She never showed up
to take the test. It was two times... I came up... It was just recently,
Your Honor. It was just.... She just
had to go to court again,
for him, and he didn't show up. Ma'am, the first one,
he was notified, because I actually
met with... The first one... With her aunt.
She gave me
the paperwork, she told me that
they were filing
for paternity. I told her that
I will go ahead
and relay it to him, which I did. When the court came...
When the day of
the court came, neither one of them showed. The first one,
Jasmine showed up. JUDGE LAKE: So... The second one, neither
one of them showed up. Let's... Let's make
something clear, 'cause there's
a lot of talking, but I just don't
feel like we're
getting anywhere. It's a lot of drama
with these people. It's a lot of drama
with these people. You know, Jerome,
it's like we're
running into a brick wall over and over again, and I just keep
thinking about
Sah'niyah, saying to myself,
"If I'm this
frustrated, <i> "what kind of
nonsense is this
baby living in?"</i> (APPLAUSE) Ms. Rutledge,
do you really believe he's her
child's father? SHAWANDA: I believe
there's a possibility. Do I believe 100%? No, because,
like I said, she was in and out
of my home as well. She was there at
my home as well. And I've physically
witnessed her
talking to other men, but I can't say for sure that... So you have
a strong doubt. 100%. But the reason
why I was involved,
because I felt obligated. My brother did
have sex with her, so there is
a possibility that Sah'niyah might
be his daughter. JUDGE LAKE: And so,
Mr. Rutledge, <i> are you hoping
Sah'niyah is
your daughter?</i> 'Cause I'm not
reading any emotion
or commitment, or anything
from you... Well... ...as it relates
to this child. It's just
the character. It's just
the character of her. Like, I would be
happy if she is mine, but at the same time,
I would be sad
because the mother
that she has... The mother that she
has to grow up with. AUDIENCE: Oh. You understand
what I'm saying? 'Cause she's been
through a lot. JUDGE LAKE: I just
don't understand, though. Because when you
lay down with somebody with no protection... RUTLEDGE: Right. ...on more than
one occasion... RUTLEDGE: Right. ...are you allowed
to get up later and talk about
their character? (APPLAUSE ) Right. After you potentially
made a child with them? I mean, I'm just
keeping it real. You have a choice. RUTLEDGE: Mmm-hmm. JUDGE LAKE: So, let's get to
the results, because, um... (APPLAUSE) I think that's the only way
we're gonna be able to
move forward, is to have the results. These results were
prepared by
DNA Diagnostics, and they read
as follows... In the case of <i> Brown v.
Rutledge and Rutledge,</i> when it comes to
one-year-old
Sah'niyah Rutledge Brown, Mr. Rutledge,
it has been determined
by this court that you are her father. BROWN: What? Now what? What you
gotta say now? What do y'all
got to say now? Exactly. Exactly. I thought that's
what y'all had to say. RUTLEDGE: I apologize. (SCOFFS) I just wanted to know
for sure, Jas, that's it. But now you know,
but you missed
16 months, though. You're right. You've been gone, so how you gonna
make that up? I can make that up. I don't care how
you're gonna... You can
go through my aunt if you don't wanna
go through me. I can make that up. I'm glad to hear you say that. RUTLEDGE: I can make that up. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) And it was nice to
hear you apologize. Can I see her again? Would you love to
see your daughter? I would love to see her. Is there any way
we can go to
counseling and work this out? JUDGE LAKE: Absolutely. WOMAN IN AUDIENCE: Wow! (AUDIENCE CHEERING) Now, that's what
I wanna hear from a young man
that knows he has a child
with a woman that he needs to
just work some things
through with. The little girl, this beautiful
little girl, Sah'niyah,
is what's important. Take that with you,
be the father I know
you can be, and allow him
that opportunity for your daughter's
sake, okay? That's all that I ask. I wish you
the best of luck.
Court is adjourned. I just wanted to
know for sure. That's it, I just wanted
to know for sure. Now that I know, she won't have to
worry about nothing. And hopefully,
that's what you
really plan on doing. Hopefully you plan on
being there and making up for
the time that you lost. I'm not gonna keep her
away from you. If you wanna see her,
you can see her, and we could just move
forward without the drama.
