You may be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of<i>
Robinson v. Parker.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Ms. Robinson, you're
here desperately trying to save
your relationship. You've petitioned the court
for a DNA test to prove to the defendant,
Mr. Parker, that he is the father of your
23-month-old
daughter, T'nyla. ROBINSON: Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Parker, you put your wedding on hold
because you're positive you are not the father. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Not only
did Ms. Robinson hide the pregnancy, she didn't tell you
about T'nyla until she was
five months old.
Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: You say today's
results will prove your case. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: So, Mr. Parker, today's results pretty much
determine everything. PARKER: Yes, Your Honor.
It does. Explain. T'nyla really means
the world to me. She's my everything. She's the reason why I get up
every morning to go, to go work and go do
something in my life. <i> I also love
Ms. Robinson as well.</i> <i> But I refuse to continue
this relationship if,</i> <i> if they're just lies.</i> So has there been a lot
of lies, Ms. Robinson? Yes, Your Honor. There have. There have been a lot of lies. Um, he didn't know
around that time that I was pregnant
that I was seeing
someone else. AUDIENCE: Oh. That's where the possibility
comes from that T'nyla might not be his. JUDGE LAKE: And you say he
didn't know this? No, ma'am. I do know. Yes, I do.
You cheated on me. I was sitting there and saw
you with another guy, holding hands at a park. Okay, but when you seen me
why didn't you say
nothing to me then? PARKER: (STUTTERS) Because,
why did you cheat? When she was five months... PARKER: Why did you cheat? ...and I came to you
and I told you that she might
be yours, you could've got the
DNA test then. But you wanna wait
until almost two years to get a DNA test. PARKER: I mean,
I feel like... (STUTTERING) Where
were you at one of
those other five months? ROBINSON: You ain't tell
me that you postponed
our wedding. I mean, you should
know that though. JUDGE LAKE: <i> Hold on.
Let me get caught up.</i> Mr. Parker, you already
suspected she was cheating. Yes, Your Honor. Tell me what happened. Well, we had met
October of 2012. It was a great time,
we loved each other, watching Netflix. You know, we was doing
everything together, you know. We chill, you know.
Do what we do best,
you know. But then, you know, she
started to be more distant
herself and, you know, the calls started
not coming in. She didn't start showing up... ROBINSON: I was not
distant towards you. Yes, you were. ROBINSON: I was spending
multiple times... With someone else. She started not coming
in the home a lot. You weren't even
living there. And things started changing everything then... Your Honor, we was not
living together. I was living with
my grandmother. We were spending
nights together. You wasn't spending
the night with me. So, you started disappearing,
Ms. Robinson? A little bit. But, I was spending the
most time with him. I'll admit, it was
a time where it was some
disappearance because I was in a relationship
with someone else. So, Mr. Parker, when did you
first get the sense Ms. Robinson was
cheating on you? I was walking in the
park one day and I saw her
holding hands
and hugged up with some other guy. At first I saw that,
I suspected that she might've
been pregnant. So I did a little hand
gesture. I was like,
"Oy, are you pregnant?" So she said, "No." You know. So I
left her alone. I went on my
separate way,
you know. Met somebody else, you know.
I did my own thing. I wasn't really too much
worried about her. Then all of a sudden,
you know, things start to
come back around. She came to my house. I asked her,
I was so shocked. I was like, "Hey,
how you doing today?" You know, "I seen
a long time ago." And all of a sudden it was a baby there.
So I'm like, "Who is this baby of yours?" And she was like,
"This your child." I said, "What? My child?
What do you mean 'my child'?" She said, "Yeah,
this your baby. "You know, can't you tell the
features and everything?" Wait, and at this point T'nyla
was five months old? PARKER: Five months,
Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: <i> So the entire
pregnancy, birth,</i> <i> you weren't around?</i> PARKER: <i> I was not there.</i> JUDGE LAKE: <i> You didn't even
know she was pregnant.</i> No. Didn't get a phone call
or nothing. She know I was there. I stay
at the same address
that we met at. At the time, the first
time I went to the doctor they kept telling me it was
pancreatitis in my stomach. So, the pain kept getting
worser and worser, I kept getting sleepier
and sleepier. So about the second or third
time that I went to
the emergency room they confirmed that I was
four months pregnant. Then you didn't call? JUDGE LAKE: So when you first
found out you were pregnant did you contact Mr. Parker
at all? During my pregnancy,
Your Honor, no, I had not. JUDGE LAKE: You didn't? No. Were you with anybody
else during that time? ROBINSON: Yes, Your Honor.
I was. JUDGE LAKE: The one he saw you
holding hands with? ROBINSON: Yes, Your Honor. Did you tell that guy
you were pregnant? Um, when I confirmed my
pregnancy, Your Honor, yes, I have told him. But I did not inform
Mr. Parker that
I was pregnant. JUDGE LAKE: So you told the
other guy you were pregnant but you never told
Mr. Parker? At all. Never told... ROBINSON: Yes, Your Honor. And so did this other guy go with you during, to appointments and was
he with you at the hospital? No, Your Honor.
I was by myself during the pregnancy. Carrying the child... PARKER: I could've been
there for you. If you would've
told me. If you would've told me
that you was pregnant
and everything I would've been down there
with you since day one. And you know I would. Okay. Why didn't you
tell Mr. Parker? I don't understand. I was nervous, Your Honor. I was going through
my pregnancy hormones and I was just distraught.
I was going through a lot. I was nervous. I didn't know
how to go about coming to him with
the bad news. JUDGE LAKE: What bad news? That I was sleeping around
with someone else. JUDGE LAKE: Oh, that you were
sleeping with someone else? Yes. PARKER: And that still
hurt me today. Did you tell the other guy <i> that Mr. Parker could
also be the father?</i> ROBINSON: <i> No, Your Honor.</i> JUDGE LAKE: Did you tell
the other guy that he
was the father? Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: You did? You did? Oh, you told the other guy from the park
holding hands, "You're the father." ROBINSON: Yes, Your Honor. PARKER: You told him that
he was the father? Are you serious? ROBINSON: Yes. I thought you told me
I was the dad. I did. I, I... So am I the father or not? I have my doubts. This is the thing I've
been talking about. I have my doubts. JUDGE LAKE: You told the other
he was the father? Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: You didn't tell
Mr. Parker he was the father until T'nyla
was five months old? Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Who was
at the hospital then when T'nyla was born? Not me. Me, and the other guy had
came just that one time. Where is he? I could've
been there, that's my baby. I could've been there for her. So the other guy
came to the hospital? Yes, Your Honor. Did the other guy sign
the birth certificate? Yes, Your Honor. What? Are you serious? (AUDIENCE MUMBLING) I didn't know
how to tell you. Are you serious?
A birth certificate? Yes. Yes. He signed the
birth certificate? And you let this guy
that's not, that's probably not be
his child, sign
a birth certificate? Yes, yes. And that could be
my baby? AUDIENCE: Wow. Why would you let him
sign it, Ms. Robinson, if you knew it could
potentially be
Mr. Parker's as well? 'Cause, Your Honor,
at the time, he was there. And around that time I had
lost contact with Mr. Parker. And I didn't know how to
come to him and tell him that this other guy has
signed the birth certificate. And also, I knew that he would
be devastated. I didn't know how to
come to him and just say, "Oh, the other guy has
signed her..." JUDGE LAKE: <i> But you don't
let somebody sign
a birth certificate</i> <i> just 'cause they're there.</i> ROBINSON: <i> You're right,
Your Honor.</i> (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) You're right. In, in that moment,
when it was time for the birth certificate
to be signed, you knew that there was
more than one
potential father, right? Yes, Your Honor. PARKER: And this is crazy... That supposed to be my child.
If that is my child, how did this man
sit here and just sign the birth certificate? And that just really hurts
me right now, Your Honor. Because I feel like I love
this baby to the death of me and that's all I love. ROBINSON: <i> Just last
night when we got
into an argument,</i> <i> what you say?</i> <i> "Oh, if she's not mine,"
what you gonna do?</i> <i> You gonna leave, right?</i> How do you think she's
gonna feel if you
walk out of her life when you've been
in her life
almost two years? PARKER: How do you think I
feel? What about me? How would you feel if I
just brought you a baby... ROBINSON: How about,
what about... To your doorstep? And say, "Oh, this is
your child."
How would you feel? I'd feel sorry like
you feel sorry. Okay, then. So what you
expect me to do? To just, "Oh, this my baby.
I'm gonna see her and
take care of her." ROBINSON: But what you
do when I did tell you
that she was? What you do then? I stepped up.
I became a man. You gave her her life. I became a man. I was a boy, I was a
boy to a man. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) I was a party type, you know
I was a party type guy. ROBINSON: Okay, and I
thank you for that. You know what type of
guy I was. ROBINSON: And I thank you
for that. My dad raised me,
he told me about responsibility. And that's what I did. I took my role as a man
and became a man. JUDGE LAKE: So listen, I wanna
know this, Mr. Parker. Once she came to you when
T'nyla was five months old, what happened then? My whole life changed. I mean,
Your Honor, I was, like... ROBINSON: Happy. I was happy, you're right. I was excited, you know, I felt like I was on heaven. <i> You know, that was everything
in the world to me.</i> <i> I saw this little girl and
Mama kept in my ear
telling me,</i> "Oh, she look just like you, "like you was a baby
and everything." And that was just everything
to me, you know. Ms. Robinson, you didn't tell
him T'nyla was even born... ROBINSON: No, Your Honor. Until five months after
she was born. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE:
Who was in her life up until the five month mark? Me. (MUMBLES) JUDGE LAKE: Just you? Yes, Your Honor. Was the other guy
involved at all? The one that signed the
birth certificate? No, Your Honor. You let this man sign
a birth certificate. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE:
Then he just disappears? He stayed for like,
I'd say a month. And then after that he just... The relationship...
It just fell apart. When T'nyla was about
five months, that's when I decided to reach
out to Mr. Parker to let him know about it. Why five months? Why couldn't
you do it after you left him? Was it because you thought
he was the father? You truly believed he
was the father? Or was it just because you broke up with the
other guy and now you wanted somebody
to help you? No, I truly believe... I truly believe Mr. Parker
is the father. So, I wanna hear from
your witness. Ma'am, would you please stand? Will you stand, ma'am?
I'd like to hear from you. SHEMEIKA: Of course. Yes, yes, yes. So ready to stand.
I was itching. JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Robinson,
you are? I'm her sister. What do you know about this? I talk to her a lot
on the phone. I hear her crying a lot. I, like, moved down
from Chicago to help her out. Um, I keep the baby for
weeks at a time. I provide financially
for the baby. Uh, she wants to
go to school. I must say, financially-wise he,
he's good, he's excellent. About to say. But lately it's been a
lot of bickering. So I take the...
I don't want her... My niece around it. I don't want, you know,
he's unsure about... I'm a little mad
because, um... PARKER: It's not mine. There's a lot of things
that I didn't know. JUDGE LAKE: Like what? Like what she just said. It was, you know,
she told me that, I asked her. I don't wanna
look like a fool. And I asked her,
"Is there any other, "any other guy? "Is there
any other possibility?" She assured me, "No." So to hear this,
now I'm kinda, you know, but at the
end of the day, you know, that's still
my sister. She rockin', I'm rollin'.
I'm rollin' with sis. JUDGE LAKE: There were
two potential fathers
the whole time. You knew that. How did you keep it
from everybody, even you sister that
came to your aid? I was ashamed, Your Honor. And at the same time I just didn't want to
inform her into, in my personal business
like that. But I am your business. So only I lied a little bit, I lied. I came, I relocated
from Chicago. All the way here.
Working two jobs. So, Ms. Robinson, you admit
you were ashamed? Yes, Your Honor. I was. JUDGE LAKE: So you kept this
from everyone? Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Even your sister. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Was the other guy, were you two
in a relationship? We were in a relationship,
Your Honor, but he was cheating on me, so. So you said you knew
the whole time that the child
was Mr. Parker's even though you lied and
said it was the other guy's. ROBINSON: Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: How can you
be so certain if you were with
both of them during the
window of conception? I had sex with Mr. Parker
more than I did the other guy. (AUDIENCE GROANS) We had sexual relations
probably once or twice a week. All it take is one time. Right. That's all it takes. PARKER: From each dude though. JUDGE LAKE: You, Ms. Robinson,
submitted a diagram
to the court. ROBINSON: Yes, Your Honor. That outlines what you believe <i> is the ratio of certainty.</i> (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) ROBINSON: <i> Yes, Your Honor.</i> JUDGE LAKE: Because you claim
you were intimate
with Mr. Parker 80% of the time... PARKER: 80%? JUDGE LAKE: And only intimate
with the mystery man <i> 20% of the time.</i> ROBINSON: <i> Yes, Your Honor.</i> JUDGE LAKE: <i> And that's why
you're convinced...</i> ROBINSON: That Mr. Parker
is my baby's father. Mr. Parker is
your child's father? ROBINSON: Yes, Your Honor. Now, you are well aware that it only takes one time? Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: That it is not
about quantity. (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) (CHUCKLES) Not even about quality,
unfortunately. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE: It's about
just the biology, really. ROBINSON: Yes, Your Honor. I have a picture of Ms... JUDGE LAKE: What is that?
May I see that, Jerome? Yes, Your Honor. ROBINSON: As you see in
the picture, Your Honor, she do look like him. She got that
pretty skin color, <i> she got that big forehead.</i> PARKER: <i> I don't see it.</i> JUDGE LAKE: <i> So you believe she
looks just like Mr. Parker.</i> ROBINSON: To me,
yes, Your Honor, she do. JUDGE LAKE: You see the
resemblance, Mr. Parker? ROBINSON: Yes, he do. Nah, I don't
see anything. ROBINSON: Yes, you do. JUDGE LAKE: You don't? I don't see no resemblance. Yes, you do. JUDGE LAKE: But, Mr. Parker, let's be clear.
The stakes are high for you because you've built a bond
with this little girl. SHEMEIKA: Exactly. JUDGE LAKE: They say you've
been financially present
in her life, physically as well.
You're her daddy. Yes, Your Honor.
You're right about that. It's a lot... Look at the bond that
they have. And he gonna sit here and
tell me if the baby not his,
he gonna leave. <i> That would devastate
my child if,</i> <i> you know, he walked
out of her life.</i> <i> She call him Daddy.</i> If this child's not mine,
I mean, it will hurt
me to death because I love this baby to the break
of me, like... I'd be heartbroken
if it's not mine. Look, I mean,
if he is not this child's
biological father, a year and a half
of them bonding... Mm-hmm. Her calling him Daddy... ROBINSON: It will hurt.
I understand. I completely understand. So, I think his
feelings of doubt and... They're understandable. Because ultimately even though
you say, Ms. Robinson, "I was
ashamed," and I get that. It was almost like
you thought you could hide it so well
it would go away. Yes, Your Honor. But now I realize... I just want the
whole truth, Your Honor. It's killing me
right now. And we will get
to the truth. JUDGE LAKE: All right,
I have the answers. I'm ready
for the results.
Jerome? (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case of<i>
Robinson v. Parker,</i> pertaining to
23-month-old T'nyla, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Parker, you are not T'nyla's father. SHEMEIKA: Oh, my God.
Whoo! I'm sorry. Sis. I'm sorry. (SOBBING) It's like a whole
year wasted, isn't it? SHEMEIKA: Oh, my God. I'm sorry. PARKER: I wanna be her dad.
I want to be. You can still be her father. I want to be so bad. You can still be her father. JUDGE LAKE: I know this
news is devastating. But T'nyla is an
innocent little girl. And you're her daddy. I feel like now
I do wanna <i> still be a part of her life.</i> <i> 'Cause I love
that baby to death.</i> <i> And I know she gonna
need someone special,</i> so I just wanna be that
special guy for her. ROBINSON: I give you
full permission. I don't never want you
to walk out of her life. Would you also like to have a relationship
with Ms. Robinson? I feel like that
I might as well keep a relationship
with Ms. Robinson. You know, we go through
thick and thin. You know, we've been
through a lot. Truthful and everything. ROBINSON: I have to earn
that trust back. You have to earn the
trust back. Yes. JUDGE LAKE:
That's very mature. And I will do that. And, Ms. Robinson, you've
done a lot of maneuvering. You've done some lying. What I thought was
very telling, you just said,
"And then it all
caught up to me." Because that's what lies do. Yes. You weave a web of lies and then you get tripped up and fall into it. It's that ownership
and admission that's gonna help
you move forward. I wish you the
very best of luck. You have a
beautiful little girl. ROBINSON: Thank you. Court is adjourned.
