You may be seated. -Hello, Your Honor.
-Hello. This is the case of<i>
Valentin v. Jordan.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. [audience] Good day. Ms. Valentin,
you are here to prove your three-and-a-half-month-old
son, Michael Jordan, is the defendant's
biological child. You claim Mr. Jordan
did not deny your son until you moved on
and began dating other men. -Is that correct?
-Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Jordan, you claim
you have always known you are not Michael's
biological father after discovering
a text message Ms. Valentin sent
to another man. -Is that correct?
-Yes, ma'am. So, Ms. Valentin,
tell the court. why did you open
today's case? Um, because I know I'm 100%
sure that Michael is the father
of my baby Michael. So, Mr. Jordan,
you don't believe you are little Michael's
biological father? No, not at all.
That is not my kid. [Valentin] That is a lie because this whole pregnancy
and after birth, you begged me
to name him after you. <i> And you've been there
through my pregnancy,</i> <i> and you've been there
after he was born.</i> <i> I mean, you cut his cord.</i> <i> So, if you want to keep
lying in front of this judge,</i> it's gonna cause
problems for you
outside this courtroom. -So, I suggest that
you tell the truth.
-Yes. -I'd suggest that
you tell the truth.
-Yes, I was there. I was there
during the pregnancy. I was there
during the pregnancy, but that was because
if it was my kid
and I wasn't there, then I would feel bad. But if it is my kid,
I would rather be there
throughout everything. But I wanted the paternity test
from the beginning. And I begged you
several times to get it. Right when I had him,
"Swab his mouth, send it off." -You didn't do it.
-You moved to Chicago. -You didn't! No, that's a lie.
-[Judge Lake] Okay, wait, wait. How did you all even meet?
How did you get together? Okay. So, I went
on a dating app, okay? I did. I went
on a dating app 'cause I was looking
for a one-night stand, 'cause that's all
it was supposed to be. So, you know,
I was on the dating app, and I saw Michael. And I swiped right on him,
and apparently he had swiped
right on me as well. So, you know,
I like my men... I like 'em with a dash
of ugly and stuff, and it's like
he fit the description 'cause he had a beautiful...
He had a beautiful smile, -but he had a little dash
of ugly that I liked.
-Wait, wait, wait. I think that's a first.
I've never heard that. You say you like your men
with a dash of ugly? -Yes.
-[audience laughing] -Ugly, right.
-[Valentin]
It's only a dash. He's still a very handsome man.
He has a very beautiful smile, -but he still has
a dash of ugly.
-[Judge Lake] "Dash." [Valentin] Just a dash.
He's not ugly. He has a dash of ugly. -Okay.
-He's very handsome, but, you know... -You know how men are.
-Is the ugly outside -or inside?
-[Valentin]
Little bit of both. A little bit of both. -[Judge Lake] Ah.
-You got it all around, though. In my day, we used to say,
"We don't like 'em too pretty." -[Valentin] Exactly.
-You alls,
it's "a dash of ugly" now. -[Valentin] Right. Exactly.
-Yeah. Yeah, I get it. I get it, I get it,
I get it, I get it. So, how soon after you swiped
did you meet him? [Valentin] The... The next... -The same night.
It was the same night.
-No, same night. -Yeah.
-It was the same night. -[Jordan] We did
what we did that night.
-I paid for his cab. I sure did.
I paid for his cab -to come over my house.
-Yeah, that you did. Because it was gonna go
on my terms. Like, I paid for it
so he can come. And it was
the very same night. Like I said, it was
only supposed to be
a one-night stand. -If she gonna do it for me--
-[Judge Lake] But, wait. Now, Ms. Valentin, you weren't
paying for no taxi for no man you saw
on a dating website to come to your house? But we had protected sex,
Your Honor. -[Judge Lake]
You had protected sex?
-We had protected sex. No, I'm talking more about
you didn't know who he was
coming to your new house. But I had just wanted
a one-night stand. -I wasn't really
thinking about all of that.
-Her kids were asleep. -All right, so, wait,
let me understand.
-Don't bring them up in this -'cause that ain't got
nothing to do with this.
-Listen. Hold on, hold on. When he gets there,
you say that night
you have the one-night stand, -but you used protection.
-We did use protection,
Your Honor. -We did.
-Then what happened? Um, we had sex a lot more. We started hanging out some. He came over one night
and he was eating my... Then we did have
unprotected sex
that same night. You don't--
All right, she lying. She is lying for a fact.
That is not true, Your Honor. -You really gonna
lie like that?
-You want to say I'm lying? -You want to say I'm lying?
-Never has that ever happened. -That has never, ever
happened in your life.
-It did happen. -You wish it did.
-It happened on
several occasions. -You wish it happened.
-It happened
on several occasions. No, it never happened.
Never happened. -Oh, my Lord!
-[Jordan] Never in my life. -[Valentin] It happened
on several occasions.
-Order in the court. Let's get some order
in the court. -It still happens.
-[Judge Lake] Okay. So... [Valentin] Just admit it.
Just admit it. I appreciate you
being detail-oriented,
Ms. Valentin. So, we know you were having
sexual relationship. At what point did this
turn into a sexual relationship
which was unprotected? Because... -The beginning of March.
-A few weeks later. All right.
And then, Mr. Jordan, how did you find out
Ms. Valentin was pregnant? I came home one night,
and she had somebody
living with her. -I had never met the man
one day in my life.
-Oh, you're lying! -No, you're lying.
-[Judge Lake] Wait,
you said you came home. -Because you never
lived with me.
-I came home one night. -She didn't know I was coming.
-You're a liar. 'Cause every time
you came over,
you called my phone. -Hey.
-No. Let me talk.
I let you talk,
let me talk. -Okay, so you came
to her house...
-[Jordan] Yes, ma'am. -...one day unannounced.
-[Jordan] Yes, Your Honor. And what happened? Well, I'm knocking
on the door,
nobody's coming. The light's off upstairs. Now, I see a light come on. So, I'm like, "Who's this?" Somebody with hair like mine,
he came downstairs, and she followed behind
with a broom. I'm like, "Okay. I see
what's been going on." He opened the door.
The first thing I asked,
"Who is he?" She's like,
"No, he's here for the kids.
He's babysitting the kids. He was cleaning up
my house." This and that. So, I'm like, "All right."
I didn't think too much
of it. I started walking upstairs. Tell me why ESPN
was playing in her room
with messed up sheets? Your Honor...
She don't know. She don't watch basketball.
She never watched basketball. Can you even name
an NBA player? Besides LeBron James. -What about Michael Jordan?
-Michael Jordan. -[laughter]
-Michael Jordan. Michael Jordan. -Yeah.
-Yeah, she can. -[Valentin] Okay.
-Well, anyway,
after that happened, we had unprotected sex
that same night, and I did not talk to her
no more for two weeks
because of that. [Judge Lake] Wait, wait, wait. You got into the sheets
you thought another man
had just got out of? -It was on the counter,
Your Honor.
-Why did I ask? -It was on the counter.
-Why did I ask? [Valentin] It was.
It was on the counter. After that,
I would not talk to her. Then she came to me
with a paper and she said, "Come here. I gotta
show you something." She showed me her
pregnancy test. She showed
me a couple of them. How long after
the unprotected sex night
did she give you the paper? I wouldn't talk to her
because I saw -a man over at her house.
-That's a lie. And she kicked the man out
just to get me to come back. -That's a lie.
-'Cause she knew I had a job, she knew I'd keep
money around. Michael, you...
[stammering] -You have no income!
You have no income!
-What money do you have? -I make money off features,
you have no income whatsoever.
-What money do you have? -What money do you have?
-What money do you have? I pay her bills,
electric bill, -gas bill, water bill.
-'Cause you borrowed
money from me. -I pay it all.
-Okay. All right. -I bought her kids food.
-[Judge Lake] Okay. You ain't ever bought
my kids a damn thing. Oh, so all the restaurants
we went to? -I took her and her kids out.
-But anyway, that's the way
he was thinking. [Judge Lake]
Okay, one at a time. I'm gonna give Ms. Valentin
a chance to respond
to your testimony, -Mr. Jordan.
-[Valentin] Back to
what he was saying. -Okay.
-So, while I was living
back in Chicago, yes, I had somebody
that I was involved with
previously. We were no longer involved
for months at a time. Months. So, yes, he came down
because that's
the only other man besides my kids' father
who has ever been around
my kids. No other man.
He is the third man who has only ever
been around my kids. So, yes, he came
to my house, and he... My friend was there. I had a three-bedroom
town house at the time, so I had only one TV. So, if him and my son
wanted to watch TV, they were gonna
have to watch my TV 'cause there was
no other one. -My witness told me
he's seen multiple men--
-And this particular... -This multiple--
-Coming out of her house. -Hold on.
-This select witness that
he bring with him today, I didn't meet till
I was already pregnant. [Judge Lake]
You brought this witness, and I want to hear from him. Please stand, sir. State your name for the court.
Step over to the podium. -Elijah Kreps.
-[Judge Lake]
Okay, Mr. Kreps, what do you know
about this situation? Well, I actually got an exhibit
I'd like to show you. -Oh, you brought an exhibit?
-[Kreps] Yes, ma'am. Yes, please step over
to your exhibit. Let's see this exhibit. So, let me see
what Mr. Kreps
has to offer -on this exhibit.
-[Kreps] I'd go to
my friend's house. He lived in the same
apartment complex she did. He lived right over here. She lived right over here. And in order for me
to get to and from his house, I'd have to go this way
to go to the bus stop. And when you would walk past,
what is your testimony? I'd see men coming
in and out of her house. -[audience] Whoa...
-Your Honor. [Kreps] On multiple
occasions, Your Honor. Did you, during that time, -have different men
coming in and out?
-No. -[Jordan] Who is Pizza King?
-[Kreps] Exactly. -[Jordan] The pizza place
texted you.
-[Valentin] I didn't talk to him except for the beginning
before I met you. -Before we even started
really talking like that.
-No, I knew him. -I checked messages.
-And why are you bringing
his social media up? 'Cause that's his social media. -You don't even know his name.
-That is not his social media.
That's the name you gave him. [Valentin] What do you mean,
that was not social media? -That wasn't even
text messages.
-No, no, that was not. -That was not, at all.
-That wasn't even
text messages. [Judge Lake] Okay,
I have a question. I didn't even
have his number. -Hold on.
-You had his number
and his messages! -No, it was his number.
-[Judge Lake] Hold on. -Who is Pizza King?
-[Jordan] I don't know. -I never found out
who Pizza King was.
-No, I never met him. She's like,
"It's the restaurant
texting me." -I never met him in person.
-I've seen the messages. No... They ain't texting you. -No restaurant texts.
-Talking about to not
come over tonight. You're talking about
a restaurant. You're talking about
his social media. I never had his number. But who is Pizza King? Some boy I ignore
'cause he blows my phone up. [Jordan] She try to cover up,
absolutely, Your Honor. What did you see her
texting to Pizza King? They was talking about
linking up, meeting up,
at the house, that she supposedly
don't bring men over. -So, what did you read?
-[Valentin] I think you were
the only man -that was there.
-What did you read? It was like, "Baby."
Like, just emojis
and stuff like that. -Like, "Not come over."
-Oh, you're such a liar. -Why would I lie about this?
-You are such a liar. You've been lying
this whole time
we've been here, -so why not keep lying?
-The baby is probably
Pizza King's. -Why not keep lying?
-It's definitely not mine. [Valentin] You've been lying--
Every word that has
came out of your mouth has been a lie
since we've been here. -And you're gonna keep lying!
-[Jordan] No, that was you. You have to remember
this is gonna really
affect your real life. It's gonna affect you.
People are gonna know
what type of person you are. -[Judge Lake]
Okay, hold on now.
-The same day I met you, I slide in? -[Judge Lake] Listen, listen.
-[Jordan] Is that
how it work now? -[Judge Lake] Hey, hey.
-Yeah, that's how it works. [Jordan] You have
multiple men over there. -Let's get some order.
-[Jordan] I'm sorry,
Your Honor. First I'd like to say,
this is real life. 'Cause y'all are really getting
on my nerves in real life. Y'all are wearing me out. I want to understand,
but that screaming
and hollering at the top of your lungs,
y'all could have done that
before you came. You got a little baby here
named Michael Jordan, named after you, and you're sitting up,
acting this way, saying now
it's Pizza King's baby. And all of this,
this is a living,
breathing person. This is real life right here. <i> A beautiful little boy,</i> <i> and you're saying
you're not his father,</i> and yet, he has your name, you were at the hospital, you said he cut
the umbilical cord. [Valentin crying]<i> He signed
the birth certificate.</i> [Judge Lake]<i>
What are you feeling,
Ms. Valentin?</i> Because he's lying,
and he's doing this
to hurt me. He's doing this to hurt me. He's been in love
with my son since he was born. And he has pictures
of him everywhere, all over his social media, <i> and he asks me
for pictures of him
all the time.</i> [Judge Lake]<i>
So, why do you think
he's denying him?</i> [Valentin]<i> Because
of his friends!</i> -Because of his friends.
-That have nothing
to do with... Oh, you think people
are getting in his ear and giving him reason
to doubt the baby. You feel like
if it was just him having to make
his own decision-- [Valentin] He has
reasonable doubt. -He does.
-We talked about it. -Okay.
-He does have reasonable doubt. Because my friend
was over there. He was. And if I'm gonna admit to it,
why am I gonna lie about
something else? I've been honest with
everything I've said. He was there,
and he did live with me. So, is this is a friend
you've been intimate with
at some point? A long time ago, yes.
And I admitted to that. We did have
a sexual relationship
months, months before. -Months before he came down.
-She never told me that,
Your Honor. -Yes, I did!
-She never told me. She denied it. She said
he's just a babysitter. She used him, she finessed him
to clean up the house,
and he cooked for her. Because that's all
he used to do. He used to cook for my kids
and he used to clean my house. You said yourself,
he does have
a reason to doubt, but you're saying that
that is not what
you were doing. -This is not what I was doing.
-Now... Okay, I get it. Mr. Jordan, your doubt
is fueled by that
occurrence you witnessed. -Yes.
-And also, by
your friends saying men are coming
in and out, -and also the text messages
you got with Pizza King.
-[Valentin] What text messages? -He says he saw the text--
-You don't have text messages. You should have
screenshotted it and sent it to your phone,
like you did everything else. I keep everything-- -She told another man
that she was pregnant.
-If there's text messages... -If there's text messages
of where--
-This is before I even knew
that she was pregnant. She told another man
that she was pregnant after he took her key
and went back to Chicago
with the key. First of all,
that didn't even happen -when I met you.
-That did happen.
You know it happened. That happened in December
when he bring-- -[Valentin] You're lying.
-Mr. Jordan, Ms. Valentin,
stop. You all are proving
why I always say that sex is not
an after-school activity. It's not an
extracurricular activity. It's not soccer,
it's not baseball,
it's not bowling. It's serious. You don't just get
on the computer and decide, "Oh, I'm gonna
have sex today," because it turns into this. And now, we've got
a little person. Look at this beautiful baby. I don't want him to grow up
in this level of negativity
and drama. Mr. Jordan,
what are your intentions? If this baby is yours,
do you plan to be a dad or do you plan
to just do this? Yes, I will be there. And she knows that for a fact
'cause I've been there through every single
doctor's appointment. -I've been there
at the pregnancy.
-Okay, lie again, 'cause you weren't there for
all my doctor's appointments. Jerome, let's get the results. Here you go. These results were prepared
by DNA Diagnostics and
they read as follows. In the case of<i>
Valentin v. Jordan...</i> When it comes to
three-month-old
Michael Jordan... it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Jordan, you... are the father. That's your
beautiful little boy. -He's just precious.
-Yes, he is. -And he doesn't deserve this.
-[Valentin sniffles] Y'all got to
get this together. -This is messy.
-I'm sorry. This is... You know what? I'm taking it
all the way to ignorant. This is ignorant. 'Cause y'all now just yelling
to hear yourselves talk. And this little beaut...
Look at this beautiful baby. And that's one thing
you need to understand. Whatever you do
to each other,
you do to him. Once you bring life
into this world... Y'all swiping right,
swiping right,
now, you got to live right. Now you gotta
parent right. He's here now. And I'm looking
at his little face.
Look at that joy. Y'all are gonna yell
and scream the joy
out of the child. 'Cause you sure enough
did it to me today. So, we gonna stop. Go talk to Dr. Jeff. Figure out what's what. You're not gonna solve
everything that happened
in the past. You don't have to
be together. Just because
you share a child doesn't mean
you have to share a bed. That is not
what we have to do. But we do have to learn
to communicate. We have to learn
how to cooperate. And we have to get clarity
about how we move forward in the best interest
of this child. Are we clear? [both] Yes, Your Honor. Thank you. I wish you all
the very best. Court is adjourned.
