You may be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of<i>
Hodges v. Willard.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Mr. Hodges,
you and your mom
opened your case today because you both say
the defendant is a liar and a cheater. You don't believe
you fathered her
one-month-old daughter, Lilian Willard and plan to prove that today. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Willard, you too
are here with your mother, and the two of you testify that you are
1,000% sure Mr. Hodges fathered
your daughter.
Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. So, Mr. Hodges, explain to me
why you think Ms. Willard is a liar and a cheater? She cheated on me, and I caught her
with multiple guys. Ooh. She had one hidden
in the room. And when we first
got together, she said that she would
never hurt me
or cheat on me. She would be truthful. And yet she's lied to me
left and right. Ms. Willard, you kept lying
and you keep cheating? Um, no, I did not. I had a guy over
at my house, yes. He was visiting
because he was
a childhood friend, and I didn't tell him, because I knew he'd flip out.
Because I know how he is. I want to understand
the nature of
this relationship. Where did you meet? I met him through
a family member of his. She had
a one-night-stand
with him, and I was there
to comfort her, and we talked
for a week or so, and... Oh, you met her after
she had a one-night stand
with another guy, and then she cried
on your shoulder? And then you
and she got together? Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Blevins... BLEVINS: Yes, ma'am. I understand that you are the one
who pushed your son
to open this case. Yes, Your Honor. And why did you do that? Um, because I knew
that she had been
cheating on him. He had caught her
with another guy, that she said
was a friend, but yet, he was
hidden in her house when my son got there. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) You found him
hiding in the house? HODGES: Yes, Your Honor. Hiding in the house where? In her mother's bedroom. (AUDIENCE GASPING) But...
But, Your Honor...
But, Your Honor... Did you help hide
the other guy
in your bedroom when Mr. Hodges came? CHAMPION: I did... They had broke up. So why do you have
to hide anybody? Because she didn't
want him to know. She didn't want
to hurt him. She didn't want to start
no trouble, because
Harley's got a temper. Well, we was engaged. CHAMPION:
It was my understanding
they had broke up. So were you engaged,
or were you broken up? We was engaged. Yeah, we...
We were engaged. JUDGE LAKE: So you were
engaged, Ms. Willard? Yes, ma'am. So now, that makes
more sense. When your fiance
came in the house, then you hid
this other guy... 'Cause I didn't want
a fight to start. And, Your Honor,
she was already married when they got engaged that my son
didn't know about. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) JUDGE LAKE: So you were
engaged to Mr. Hodges, but you were married
to another guy
at the time? Yes, Your Honor. BLEVINS: I feel like
he has been deceived and took advantage of. JUDGE LAKE: What was
your first impression
when you met Ms. Willard? What did you think? I thought she was sneaky. She always kept
her phone on her, <i> she never let him
get a hold of it.</i> And when she was on it,
and he would come around,
she would hide it. I've had messages
from a guy that she was seeing, while she was
seeing my son. JUDGE LAKE:
How did you find him? It's the guy that was
with her when Lilian
was born at the hospital. Do you have
those messages? BLEVINS: Yes, ma'am. Let me have those. Jerome, can you please
bring me those messages. Thank you. JEROME: You're welcome. <i> Ms. Blevins says,</i> <i> "I do understand my son
was engaged to her</i> <i> "and caught her cheating."</i> <i> The other mans says,</i> <i> "We got together
on June 2
of last year."</i> <i> Ms. Blevins, you say,</i> "Let me check the dates,
give me a minute." Yes, ma'am. Ms. Blevins, you say, together,
"August split up
a few times in between
and broke up for good <i> "October 6, 2017."</i> <i> The other man said,
"So she cheated
on both of us."</i> (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) And you write back,
"Looks that way." Yes, ma'am. So, Ms. Willard, were you dating this man
and Mr. Hodges at the same time? No, Your Honor. Your Honor... So why is this man
saying this? He's giving all these
specific details
to Ms. Blevins. He was at the hospital
when Lilian was born. Yes, I was with him
at that time. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Your Honor,
he's saying that, he's saying that
because he wants
my daughter. I've been through it
with this person. <i> When, I think it was
in February, right after
Christmas sometime,</i> <i> when she didn't even know
that she was pregnant
at that time.</i> She left my house
with him, and she texted
me about... She was about five months,
six months pregnant,
something like that, maybe. And she told me
she was pregnant. You're speaking about
when your daughter
was pregnant with Lilian. CHAMPION:
Yes, that's when... Is Lilian your only child? No, Your Honor. She hid that
from us, too,
at first. Back it up.
Back it up. So she hid that she had
a husband before she met you, and you were engaged to her
when she really already
had a husband. She hid that she had
had a child, and she also hid
a man in her
mother's house, when you came over? Yes, Your Honor. So, Mr. Hodges, take me to the day
you found out Ms. Willard was pregnant. She called me
and she said that she was
eight months pregnant, And... Yes, ma'am. Eight months? Later on
down the road, I'm sitting there
texting her every day, asking about the baby,
seeing if the doctor's appointments
are going well
and everything, come and find out
when we called her OBG to see when
her next appointment was, they said it was
a check-up for the baby. JUDGE LAKE: Check up? HODGES: Yes, ma'am. For the baby in her stomach... BLEVINS: I have the evidence,
Your Honor. ...or the baby... Out. Postpartum, Your Honor.
Postpartum. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) This is just too much lying. You have evidence?
What's that? I have evidence... JUDGE LAKE: Let me see that,
please. ...that he could take to her. JUDGE LAKE:<i> May 27.</i> <i>Ms. Hodges writes
to Ms. Willard,</i> <i> "How's the baby doing?"</i> <i>Ms. Willard says,</i> <i> "She's okay, her lungs
aren't fully developed
right now."</i> And then you write,
"And when is she due?" And you write back,
Ms. Willard, "I don't know.
Doc is showing me
a different due date <i> "and she won't be here
'til July.</i> <i>"So if that's the case,
you ain't got nothing
more to worry about."</i> That was on May 27
at 8:25 a.m. And Lilian was born
on what day? May 23. Twenty-third. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Ms. Willard, this is too much lying. I know. JUDGE LAKE: This is
just too much lying. Now, I've heard about
five lies already. What is going on? Why are you texting him
like the baby isn't born when the baby is born? Okay, he's married now. And I just didn't want
to break up a marriage when he found out
he had a kid
by another person. That's it. But you had told him "I'm pregnant
eight months, "I didn't find out
'til I was six months." You told him anyway. So what is this
about breaking up
a marriage? You'd already told him
you were pregnant. Because I was
with the other guy, and I had been
living with him
for a while, and I thought I was gonna
keep living with him,
but we broke up. And this is
the other man that was at the hospital
when Lilian was born? WILLARD: Yes, Your Honor. Did you ever tell
this other man that he was Lilian's
biological father? No, I did not. So why not allow
the man who supposedly is
her biological father to be present
for the birth, or at least know
she's in the world? That was my fault,
Your Honor. Well, listen, and I'm not
just being hard on you, I'm trying to uncover
what's going on, 'cause it is your fault,
but I want to know why. Why are you lying?
What was the lie about? Was it because
you didn't want... You wanted to be
with the other guy, so you didn't want
Mr. Hodges up there? No, that's not why. So what was it? BLEVINS: Your Honor,
she wanted... She wanted to do
a DNA test on
the other guy first. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) Just to make sure. So wait, hold on now.
Now, that's another lie
you just told right here. I just asked you, did you tell
the other guy,
could he possibly be the biological father,
and you said no. I never told him that. He wanted a DNA test,
so I was gonna
give him one. And then we found out
he was the dad, and he was like, "Well,
don't worry about it,
'cause now I know." How'd you find out
he was the dad? We're here in this
courtroom to find out. Because of the way
that she looked. She looks just like him. Have you seen her?
She looks just like him. JUDGE LAKE:<i> Oh,
so you're saying
once the baby was born,</i> <i> you felt like,
"This is
Mr. Hodges' baby,</i> <i> we don't even have
to do this."</i> I felt that way. When that baby come out... When that baby came out,
I was standing right there
when she popped out, that baby was
Harley made over. JUDGE LAKE:
Okay, and look, we... We often examine
physical appearance
in this courtroom... CHAMPION: There you go. ...because we know that
that's a natural way that people tend
to identify or how they deal
with paternity questions. They often compare
physical features. What we also have
come to know
in this courtroom, is that does not
prove anything. CHAMPION:
Well, no. So, what I want
to understand is, did you ever
test the other guy? The one that said that
"I want the DNA test." No, Your Honor. But if another guy says,
"I want a DNA test "because I think
this could be my baby", then that says to me, you might be lying about whether or not
he could potentially
be the father. Okay, Your Honor,
he actually would
do anything to be with my daughter. But see, what I'm
concerned about is,
we've got text messages that indicate
you were lying
about the time frame. So do you believe
this other guy thought you might
have been lying
about the time frame as it relates to him? He might have. And that's why
he asked
for the DNA test? Yeah. What are you feeling
in this moment,
Ms. Willard? I see your hand,
you have tears
in your eyes. I feel like
I'm being jumped on. Mmm-hmm. Basically. Everyone's against me. Do you also feel like you know
you're responsible for a lot of
what's happening here? Yes, and I take
credit for that. JUDGE LAKE:
Do you have a reason or an understanding
as to why you do tell all of
the lies you tell? You mean, be honest
with you? He's married, and I just wanted
a family. JUDGE LAKE:
That's okay. You can take your time,
'cause I knew something
was on your heart. 'Cause you're out there
just spinning. I've never seen her
in all her time
of dating guys... I have never seen her
take a guy with her
everywhere she goes. But what I think
your daughter is saying...
And this is... And you are giving me...
You are giving me
great insight, Ms. Champion, to what's happening here. (WILLARD SNIFFLING) You're not listening to her. Kristina, I heard you. You say you just
wanted a family. You love Mr. Hodges, but it's not just about
wanting to be family
with him, it's that you
wanted a family. You wanted to try
to make the family you didn't have
growing up, right? Now I get it. (SNIFFLES) I know it's not easy
to be here, and you're caught here
in this lie, and that lie, and this lie
and that lie, it's hard when
it all comes out
on the table. It's the breaking down
so it can build you back up. I just want to know, do you truly believe Mr. Hodges is
the biological father, without a doubt? <i> Or is it that you
so desperately
want him to be,</i> <i>because this is the family,</i> in your mind, you wanted
to put together? No, I believe it. JUDGE LAKE: You do? WILLARD:
That's the only
person I was with. Mr. Hodges, and Ms. Blevins, what kind of relationship
have you built with Lilian
thus far? She's one month old. We've been keeping her. We've been seeing her
since we first
found out about her. <i>Kristina lets us see her,</i> <i>and we've had her
for over a week now.</i> <i>I'm spending time
with her.</i> And... And, Your Honor,
I want to say, I don't want
no hard feelings
with Kristina. (VOICE CRACKING)
I just want to know
if this is my grandbaby. Mr. Hodges, HODGES:
Yes, Your Honor. Tell the court
how you feel. You've developed a bond
thus far with
this beautiful baby, (KRISTINA SOBBING) HODGES:
I feel betrayed. And hurt. I want the baby
to be mine. I do. JUDGE LAKE: You do? Yes, Your Honor. You sincerely want
this baby to be yours? I do. Even though you're
married to someone
else right now, you still really want
this baby to be yours? Yes, Your Honor.
Being there with her,
just got attached. I'm used to her
being there. Well, I believe
I've taken
enough testimony, and I am ready
for the results.
How about you? (APPLAUSE) Thank you, Jerome. These results were
prepared by
DNA diagnostics, and they read
as follows. I want the baby
to be mine. In the case of <i> Hodges v. Willard,</i> when it comes to one-month-old
Lilian Willard, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Hodges, you are the father. We have the answer
we needed. And it was actually
the answer
all of you wanted. You okay, honey? Yeah, I'm fine. I want to meet
with you both
in my chambers. Do you understand? Yes, Your Honor. Yes, Your Honor. Court is adjourned. (APPLAUSE) Well, Mr. Hodges,
Ms. Willard, I know that was
an emotional hearing. After I reviewed
your court papers earlier, I found out that
both of you had dropped out
of high school
very early on. And neither one of you
have your GED. We here
at<i> Paternity Court</i> have paid for GED courses
for both of you that we want you
to take advantage of so that you can go on
and go to college
if you wish, and pursue
whatever it is
you want. Because in this life,
we know knowledge is power, right? And in order for you
to be able to teach Lilian the things you need
to teach her, you have to be willing
to do the same. Is that something that
you all will take
advantage of? Yes. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: Good. I know it was
a tough day on you,
Ms. Willard, but you were
honest today, but going forward,
I want you to understand
how important the truth is, right? Not just telling
the truth to others, but telling the truth
to who? Myself. JUDGE LAKE:
To yourself. We have counseling
and resources for you to help you figure out
how to take
the first step. Okay? Okay. All right. I wish you
the very best of luck.
