Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of<i>
Johnson v. Davis.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Mrs. Johnson,
you and your husband
have been together for five years. <i> You are in court
to save your marriage</i> by proving
to the defendant that your husband is not
the biological father of her 13-month-old twins <i> Christian and Christiana.</i> JASMINE:<i> Yes, Your Honor.</i> <i> Is that correct?</i> Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Davis, you contend that you had
a sexual relationship with the plaintiff's
husband, and say that led
to your pregnancy, and birth of your twins.
Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Mrs. Johnson,
you say you are
Mr. Johnson's mother, and you contacted the court
hoping to bring closure to this ongoing DNA drama. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. All right, Ms. Johnson,
explain to me why are you so desperate
for these results? I just wanna prove it so we can move on
with our life. I want Ms. Davis
out of our lives
for good. It's bringing problems
with us and with me and
my mother-in-law. And so how is this
affecting your marriage,
Mr. Johnson? I just feel like we'd
have a lot more closure if I go ahead and find out
if they're mine or not. So you admit
you're a married man, and you're torn
between two women now? Basically, but...
Now, I'm not going
to say "now", because me
and Mrs. Davis don't have
any more dealings. But she's still
wreaking havoc
on your relationship? Ma'am, I'm not gonna
necessarily say that... What are you gonna say? (AUDIENCE CHUCKLES) (CHUCKLING)
I'm gonna say being that
I don't know for sure if the kids are mine, <i> yeah, that's causing havoc.</i> <i> Because my wife is not
gonna get any rest at all</i> if she got to wonder
if I got other kids
outside of her. And who's responsible
for that? Me, I take full
responsibility... Say something, then. That's what
I'm talking about. I'm a grown man. Let's say something.
Let's tell the truth. So the bottom line
is you potentially
have children outside your marriage? Yeah. One minute they're his,
then the next minute,
they're not. When we're together,
we're doing good, <i> he'll go off
with Ms. Davis</i> <i> to spend time
with those kids.</i> And so you're saying that
Ms. Davis says one minute
they're his and one minute... Yes, Your Honor. Are you swtichin' up,
Ms. Davis? No, ma'am.
I'm sure not. So, tell me about
your relationship
with Mr. Johnson. Somebody introduced me
to him. Okay. So we was together
for a little while,
you know what I'm saying? Did you know he was
in a relationship
with Ms. Johnson? Not, not really.
Until a couple years... Probably like a year or so,
I seen their
little marriage pictures on Facebook or whatever, <i> so I was like, "Mmm,
so when these come about,"
you know?</i> Did you confront him
about, "Are you married?" No. No, I didn't confront him.
But, you know, I asked him
about it. I was going,
"It ain't my concern, "'cause you ain't
my man," you know? And so what did he say? "I wanna be with you,"
and, you know, "Well, get the papers,
and we can go
from there." "I got the papers."
"Okay." Oh, you told him
to get the papers as in divorce papers? Yeah. And if he really wanted
to be with you, then you would let him
be with you. Yeah, we can go
from there, talk about it. WALTER:
Your Honor... But see, there's another
lady involved, too. AUDIENCE: Oh! Oh! DAVIS: Yeah. Yeah. Well, since
she's not in court, we'll just leave
that one alone. We got enough
to deal with in here. DAVIS: Yeah. Mr. Johnson's
married to his wife. DAVIS: Mmm-hmm. But you find out
you're pregnant. When you find out
you're pregnant,
do you tell him? Well, no, not really. No, I told his mama
you know, we... No, I still have
a relationship
with his mama. You know, I talk
to his mama all the time. So, you told his mother, "I'm pregnant?" Yup. Yeah, but I say
I don't think they're his. You said you don't think
they're his? You're right. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. Ms. Johnson, how did
you find out your husband potentially had
another woman pregnant? I actually seen her.
We went to the same
doctor's office. What? Yeah, she wanna be
the wife, she will never be the wife.
I'm not going anywhere. JUDGE LAKE: Well, hold on,
take me backwards. Wait, I wanna go back
to the same doctor part. And you're talking about
OB-GYN doctor, baby-delivering doctor? JASMINE:
The baby doctor. So you both we're pregnant
at the same time? We were pregnant
at the same time. AUDIENCE: Oh! Yup. All of us. There's another,
the other woman, too. <i> All of us...</i> JASMINE: Our babies
might be seven weeks apart. Like back to back. Did you know that she
potentially was pregnant
by your husband? No, I didn't even know
they had any dealings
when I was pregnant. Your Honor, at the time
nobody knew that she was possibly
pregnant by me. No, naturally. Ms. Davis never came by
and told anybody that she was pregnant
by me. Because she said
she suppressed it. But she told
your mother. Yes, and she also told... That it was
a possibility. Mom? LAURA: Yes, ma'am.
Yes, Your Honor. So, it sounds like
Ms. Davis confided in you. I heard that the twins
might be my grands, so I asked Ms. Davis were they my grands
and she said, "No, ma'am." I think after she had 'em, I asked her again. And I said, "Well,
bring 'em by
so I can see 'em." And she brought 'em
to my house. I think they were maybe
four or five months, and, um, I looked at 'em,
and I said, "Well, this one
looks like his son." <i> And I said, "So, you're sure
there's nothing that
you don't need to tell me?"</i> And she just smiled,
like she's doing now, and she said, um,
"Talk to your son." And she said,
"I'd give him a test
if he want it." And that's when she basically
confirmed for me that he could
possibly be the father. We got married...
We will be married
one year, June 11. Me and my husband
met five years ago. I was the very first girl
that he met. So, I'm the very first one. So, they always
tell my mother, all, like, "I knew him first."
No, I knew him first. WALTER: Mmm-hmm. JASMINE: Me and him
been rockin' years.
I'm not going nowhere. No matter whatever
we go through, he always tell me...
I never asked my husband
do he want a divorce? "No, I'm not leaving you
for nobody." She wanted to play
the wife role. She even asked
my mother-in-law, "Can you go to her house
and get BJ clothes?" Never was gonna happen. The day that another woman
come to my house for my husband's clothes,
that will be the day. He's not going anywhere. I'm not going nowhere. Excuse me, Your Honor, he told me to go get
his clothes. JASMINE: It don't matter
who he's with.
He's with me now. I'm not going nowhere.
So... It don't matter. I don't care about that.
He done it anyway. You the one looking
stupid, not me, baby. JUDGE LAKE:
Wait a minute... I'm the wife, baby. You the one who's
going back and forth... No, baby... Hold on, hold on, hold on. I'm not going nowhere. Ladies, ladies, ladies. Ms. Davis, were you
saying that Mr. Johnson
was texting you just... Not too long ago.
"I'm gonna come home,"
and this and that. Saying, "I wanna
come home?" Yeah. How long ago was that? I wanna come home... Like a month ago! Like a month ago!
Like a month ago! Before he just went
with the other lady. Like a month ago! Before you just went
with the other lady. It wasn't a month ago. Yes, it was. It had been way more
than a month ago. I'd say maybe at least
three months ago when she heard from me. What you're saying... We ain't never
gonna agree on it. Ms. Davis. You, you do admit,
though, I mean, Ms. Johnson
has testified to this, and you said, too,
because of your denial. You admit that, initially,
you told Mr. Johnson and his mother
these are not his children. Yeah. And so, you now believe
the twins are his children. DAVIS: Well, one of 'em. 'Cause they fraternal.
They was in different sacs. Okay, so they're
fraternal twins... Yes. ...and you believe
one... The girl twin, 'cause my ex...
I had an ex at the time. So you believe
the girl twin is Mr. Johnson's
biological daughter? DAVIS: Yes. JUDGE LAKE:<i>
Why do you believe that?</i> 'Cause, like I was saying,
like, all the girls
that he got, you know,
they all favor... They got face features,
hair, everything. Your little girl
favors his other children? Yes, ma'am. <i> So, you basically
submitted these pictures
to the court.</i> <i> This is
Mrs. Johnson's daughter,</i> <i> and this is your daughter?</i> <i> Ms. Davis? Your daughter
on the right?</i> <i> And you believe
you see similarities?</i> Yeah. Look at their cheekbones,
look at their nose, look at their eyes,
the hair, definitely. JUDGE LAKE:<i>
Mr. Johnson, when you
look at the picture,</i> <i> do you see
the similarities?</i> WALTER:<i> I mean,
other than the ones
she pointed out, no.</i> So you don't really
feel like these
are compelling similarities? No, I don't never go
by no pictures. How about you, Grandma? When you look at
these pictures, Mrs. Johnson, do you see similarities? LAURA:<i> With me,
I'm seeing the similarity</i> between his son
and her son. You do? Between his...
Yeah, his older son. You see similarity
between the boys? Yes, yes. JUDGE LAKE:<i> This is
a photo of Mr. Johnson.</i> <i> And then this is
a photo of Christian,</i> <i> Ms. Davis' little boy.</i> Ms. Davis,
I wanna ask you. So since you believe
Mr. Johnson fathered your girl twin, who do you believe
fathered your boy twin? My ex. Your ex? My ex, yes, Your Honor. So does that mean
you had sex
with both gentlemen? I probably
had sex with him
that night, probably... Later on, couple
of days probably,
had sex with my ex. WALTER: Mmm. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. So, Mr. Johnson, have you met the twins? WALTER: Yes. Yes, Your Honor.
I've met 'em multiple times. I haven't actually
spent time with 'em... You have? Yes. When you spend time
with them, do you
feel connected to them? Do you feel like... I mean, like... Even Ms. Davis
can tell you. Me and
the little girl bond. But the little boy,
me and him don't
have too much dealings. So, this is
the first time actually that this court has
heard a case where twins could
potentially have two different,
biological fathers. And we wanted
to further understand
this matter. So, Mrs. Johnson, I'm gonna ask you
to step down, please. You can step over to the podium
next to your son and your
daughter-in-law. And at this point, the court
would like to call Dr. Jackie, an OB-GYN who appears on Bravo's<i>
Married to Medicine.</i> Jerome, would you
please escort Dr. Jackie in? JEROME: Yes. I'll have you
come up right here to the witness stand
next to the judge. Okay. JUDGE LAKE:
Hello, Dr. Jackie. Hi, Judge. Thank you for joining us. Dr. Jackie, we are here
discussing the paternity a matter related to
beautiful twins,
Christian and Christiana. And their mother,
Ms. Davis, says she believes that the twins
were fathered
by two different men. And so I called upon you
because this court wants
further information. Can you explain? Certainly. Um, it is something
in medicine we call
superfecundation, or basically saying a female will ovulate
more than one egg in that one
ovulatory cycle. The egg typically lives
about 12 to 24 hours, sometimes 48. However, sperm can last
for three to five days. So should a female ovulate two... One or more eggs
in that cycle, and she has two, or
one or more partners, certainly, you can have
a set of twins
with two different fathers. And, Ms. Davis,
you did testify you were very honest
about the fact that it is very possible
that you slept with Mr. Johnson
one day, and then, a couple
of days later, also had sex
with your ex. Yes, Your Honor. All right, so... Can you tell us
what the odds are? What are we looking
at here? Is this something
that's close to a miracle? Or is this something
that is more common than
we are informed about? What they've found is, and there's a lot
about genetics now, is there is actually
a gene where it typically follows
the maternal line. There are some women
who will have that gene where they either...
The hormone
responds more, the egg responds more,
or the hormone
is more virulent. And you will release
more than one egg at a time. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. Is that the phrase
you hear commonly
referred to as, "Twins running
in a family?" Yes. Yes, exactly. He got twin brothers. JUDGE LAKE: Oh! May have
that gene, Judge. So, with that said,
Ms. Davis, your thought
is not so farfetched. This courtroom
is about not just helping people
find their fathers, but helping us
all understand, uh, the biology
of this all. Well, I think we've heard
enough testimony, and I don't know about you,
but I am ready to get the results
for these babies.
Jerome... We have two sets
of results. These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case of<i>
Johnson v. Davis,</i> when it comes
to one-year-old
Christian Davis, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Johnson, you are not the father. I will say this,
Ms. Davis, you said Christiana
is the one you believed was his? Yes, Your Honor. So that result
didn't surprise you? (LAUGHS) Not at all. JUDGE LAKE: All right. The next result
reads as follows. In the case of<i>
Johnson v. Davis,</i> when it comes to
one-year-old Christiana Davis, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Johnson, you are not the father. I'm fine. I know now. So, you know. Yes, ma'am. And you say... The father of both twins,
then, it's your ex. Yes. But you say he is
in the twins' life right now? Yes. I know you've formed
a bond with the children. You've talked about
that, Mr. Johnson. How are you feeling
at this moment? I mean, not really, like,
shocking to me, 'cause I knew that
there was a possibility
that they weren't mine. You had prepared yourself. Yes. How do you feel,
Mrs. Johnson? Um, I mean... Either way it goes,
I'm still gonna be... ...close, you know,
with Senner, because I knew her. But I'm glad this issue
has been resolved. That way, there won't be
any more drama between her
and my daughter-in-law, because now she has
the answers that she needed. And everybody
can just move on. And now, the truth is it's up to your son.
It's up to you,
Mr. Johnson to stop the behavior that causes this. LAURA: Mmm-hmm. Can you do that?
'Cause I don't wanna
see you in here again. Yes, Your Honor. We have counseling
and resources for you all. I appreciate you so much
for having the courage
to come in this courtroom. And, Dr. Jackie, I thank you
for shining a light on a very fascinating
medical issue. I wish you all the very best.
Court is adjourned.
