You may be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is a case of<i>
Mitchell v. Dalton.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Mr. Mitchell, you are
petitioning the court for two DNA tests to determine if
you are the father <i> of your estranged wife's
two children.</i> <i> Two-year-old Deshawn Junior</i> <i> and one-year-old Bishop,
is that correct?</i> DESHAWN: <i> Yes, Your Honor.</i> <i> You currently have
custody of the two boys,</i> so the stakes of today's
results couldn't be higher. Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Dalton, you admit you
cheated on your husband. And today you're here
hoping to salvage
what's left of your marriage. Is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Mitchell,
so you have custody. Today's results obviously
mean a lot to you. Yes, Your Honor. Explain. DESHAWN: Over the
past few months, Ms. Dalton has put me
and my kids
through a lot, Your Honor. You know, um,
she done left and between the last
seven, eight, nine months she done made us struggle, she done walked out
on us, Your Honor. So, what I'm trying
to do right now,
Your Honor, is, um... (CLEARS THROAT)
Excuse me, Your Honor. <i> Cause I get very
emotional when it comes
to talking about my kids</i> <i> and talking to
my kids because...</i> JUDGE LAKE:<i>
That's understandable.</i> DESHAWN: How she
abandoned us, Your Honor. Like I said, she done
put us through
hell and back. Um, she just don't
care, Your Honor. So I just wanna know
the paternity of my kids just for my sake,
Your Honor, because, um... And it hurts you because
you truly don't know. I really don't, Your Honor. Like I said, she's
running back and forth,
and she's cheating and this and that,
Your Honor. If she wants a divorce,
Your Honor, I got
these divorce papers and we can go ahead
and divorce
and keep it moving. She can keep it moving,
I can keep it moving and continue to
go with my kids,
Your Honor. <i> Like I've been doing
the last eight or
nine months, Your Honor.</i> (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) And Mr. Mitchell, you say
your family is destroyed because you're saying
she's in and out of the home <i> and you have the boys.</i> DESHAWN: <i> Yes, Your Honor.</i> What she did is,
she left with another man. She just came home one day,
Your Honor and said, "Here are your kids,
um, take the kids, "take the food stamp cards." (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) And just walked out
and just left. Your Honor, that's not,
that's not what happened. That's not how it happened. JUDGE LAKE: And so when
she walks out <i> she leaves you with
these two children
and you don't even know</i> <i> if you're their
biological father?</i> DESHAWN: <i> Yes, ma'am.</i> So you say that isn't
true, Ms. Dalton? DESTINY: No, Your Honor,
that's not true. In the beginning,
like, me and Deshawn we weren't really,
like, serious when
we had our first son. Um, I did cheat on him,
in the beginning. Um... It's okay, go ahead
and explain. DESHAWN: Your Honor,
what I did... He went away for some time, and like I said, from
the beginning I've been
doing everything by myself. He wasn't working, um... There was costs and
I worked two jobs, in the beginning when I was
pregnant with my first son. I worked two jobs to
make sure that the household
was taken care of. He didn't work,
he gambled. Your Honor, but... You know, he didn't
do anything that he was supposed
to do as... Your Honor, I may... Let her finish
her testimony, I'll give you a chance
to respond. ...as a husband
and as a father if we were gonna work
together and do things. And, like, I said
it was something
I was bearing on me, by myself, alone and he didn't care about it. So I just got tired. But he's raising
the children. DESTINY: Yes, Your Honor. Did you just leave
the children with him? There was something
that happened... I was forced
to leave my home. DESHAWN: Nobody
forced her to leave. When she left
me, Your Honor and left the kids and
walked out, Your Honor, <i> I was on our city bus
in the freezing cold
with my two kids...</i> DESTINY: I did the same. ...going to all my kids appointments that
they had to go to, <i> I was making sure that
me and my kids had</i> <i> what we needed,
Your Honor. Because
I didn't have anything.</i> And so listen...
And that is commendable. It really is. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) But it's also
what a parent does. DESHAWN: Yes, Your Honor,
you're absolutely right. You get it done. Yes, Your Honor. Whatever she calls
her eloping or whatever she
calls herself doing. I don't know what she does.
She has these spurts and these moments
where she feels that if
we get into an argument, it's okay for her to
stay out all night or
stay gone for a week. JUDGE LAKE: Do you leave
the house, Ms. Dalton? That's happened
one time when we... DESHAWN: It's happened
more than once, Your Honor. ...the last altercation
that we had when we were gone
for the seven months? That's when
that happened. I couldn't deal with it. When there was an issue... DESTINY: Yes, I admit. You admit you left? Yes, Your Honor. But did you run
into the arms
of another man when you left? No, Your Honor. You didn't? No, Your Honor. I was living with my
sister, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE:
So during the time... With a man who was sleeping
over with her every day. During the time you all
were together,
you in your relationship, did you sleep
with another man? In the beginning, yes. But since we've
been married, no. DESHAWN: She was just with
another man, Your Honor, so we're still married. I don't... And we were separated, and we both agreed
on the separation,
we weren't together. We were gonna move on
with our lives... I never talked to her so... We were gonna
move on with our
lives and divorce. I've never talked to her. She got this
party wildly... I don't party, Your Honor. I don't go out to
the club, Your Honor. I don't go out and party
or do any of that. Your Honor, we was in a
different city, Your Honor. I moved to the city where her mother
and sister was staying. So she can be, her mother
and sister to help her and she was being
close to her mother. I didn't have no family
where she was staying. It was about an hour
away from where
I'm originally from. You know, she'd get down
here, got all her
little friends down here. And, you know, everyday
she'd leave me with the kids cause I guess she tell
me she works, she do this, she do that, she wanna
be able to have fun. She wanna be able
to do something for herself because
she's so young. You know, that's what she
keeps using as an excuse. She's young, she's young,
she's young... DESTINY: I don't party. So she wants to be able
to get out and be able to do what she
wanna to do. And I did notice in the
court papers that you are 37. Yes, ma'am. And Ms. Dalton is 21. Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: How long
have you been married? 2 years. DESHAWN: 2 years. So you got married
when you were 19? DESTINY: Correct. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) It's hard. I'd like to first examine,
Mr. Mitchell, the doubt. Because you say
when she leaves, she leaves you
with the two boys
and you don't even know... DESHAWN: <i> Yes, Ma'am.</i> <i> ...if they're your
biological children.</i> DESHAWN: <i> Yes, Ma'am.</i> JUDGE LAKE: <i> What is
your doubt based on,
specifically?</i> For each child so let's
start with Deshawn. When I met her,
I met her off of
Facebook, Your Honor. She was already
staying with another
guy, Your Honor. I didn't know
at the time. I happened to end up
finding out once we were
over at my sister's house and, you know,
some guy calls
her phone, Your Honor. So when the guy calls
her phone, I'm like
"Who was that?" It's her cousin,
that's what she says,
"It's my cousin." You know, so, when I
say, "Okay, well call
your cousin back" because the way she was
talking and her demeanor, it seemed funny
and like I said, I'm much older
than her so I done
been there done that. You know, trying to
play these little,
run these little games. I asked her to
call him back. Once she calls him back
he talking about, they've been having sex
and he ain't been using, he ain't been using condoms
and she may be pregnant. This is what he's
saying, Your Honor. DESTINY: There was
never a time... You spoke to him? There was never a
time, Your Honor... Yes, Your Honor, I spoke to
him, I made her call him back and I spoke to him. He spoke to him,
Your Honor, but that was not even
the conversation
that was being held. Me and the guy were
not sleeping... That was the conversation. Me and the guy haven't
been sleeping together for a whole month after
me and Deshawn had started
talking, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE:
Okay. Mr. Mitchell, you said during this time
you had this phone call... DESHAWN: Yes, Your Honor. You believe she was
sleeping with this man... DESHAWN: Yes, Your Honor. Also with you, this is when
Deshawn was conceived. Yes, Your Honor. Did this man say to you,
"I could be the father?" He said, "It's a possibility
that she's pregnant." That's what he said. Wait, was this before
or after you knew
she was pregnant? This is before
I even knew! Really? So you get on
the phone with this man
and he tells you that your girlfriend
may be pregnant? DESHAWN: Yes, Your Honor. But at the time I don't
think he even knew that I was even
messing with Destiny. She was talking to him and talking to me being
real, um, conniving and being real sneaky. So, he didn't know
nothing about me, just like I didn't know
nothing about him. I didn't conceive
until March and last time I slept
with this man
was in January. Mr. Mitchell, did you sign
Deshawn's birth certificate when he was born? DESTINY: <i> Yes, he did.</i> DESHAWN: <i> Yes,
Your Honor, I did.</i> JUDGE LAKE: <i> You did?</i> DESHAWN: <i> Yes, I wanted to
believe it, Your Honor.</i> I really did. He was there the
whole pregnancy
and the whole night in the delivery room
and everything. Was he expressing
doubt to you? No. he was not
and that's why it was
so shocking to me that he even thought that. And the baby's
named after him. Yes. Mr. Mitchell, what is
this doubt based on? Your Honor, it's the
cheating that she's constantly
been doing, Your Honor, it's been three, maybe
four guys that she been
cheating on me with, probably three since
we've been married. And then after
Deshawn was born, you all obviously
stayed together
because not long after, you have another child. DESTINY: <i> Correct.</i> DESHAWN: <i> Before
Bishop was born,
which is my youngest son,</i> before he was born, she
was going around with some
dude that she worked with. So this is a different
man than the one that told you she
may be pregnant. Yes, Ma'am. Well, a friend of mine's,
Your Honor, actually
works with her. So he was always saying
she's flirtatious towards this in particular guy at her
job which she works at a... Was working at a
fast food restaurant. She'd come home
and then she'd be
like, "You know, "my job, they're taking us
to the movies this weekend"
or something. Her job. Let me
remind you it's just
a fast food restaurant. (WOMAN SCOFFS) And then the
following week,
they're going to a... Her job's taking her
to an amusement park. I'm like
"Golly, you know, "her job doing all these
great things for them." When did I ever say that? And then what ended
up happening is, she's going out to
the movies with this guy and back and forth and
I'm just sitting here with the kids, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Were you out
and about supposedly
for work, Ms. Dalton? I went to the movies
one time and this is after we
had our son Deshawn. I went out to the
movies, yes I did. He was doing what
he was doing, there was, like I said,
there was days going
back and forth. We weren't getting along. So yes, I did cheat
with the guy and I'm
not saying I didn't. DESHAWN: Your Honor,
I came home one day,
Your Honor, this guy is sitting on
my couch, Your Honor. (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) On your couch? And she even made
dinner or lunch... Whatever you wanna
call it for this guy. JUDGE LAKE:
You made lunch for the... Yes, I did. ...the new guy in
your house where you
live with your husband? DESHAWN: Yeah. Yes, I did. And he wasn't my
husband at the time, we weren't, like I said our
relationship was real rocky. There was nothing
where it was committed. You weren't married
at the time? I don't know how
much committed do you get more than that.
We were staying together. But what were
you doing though? What were you doing? JUDGE LAKE: I see
that it makes you
very emotional. Are you feeling offended,
insulted that he thinks that the children aren't his
or is it just that the relationship...
What are you feeling? DESTINY: (SNIFFLES)<i>
Around the time I
conceived both of my kids,</i> <i> he was the only
person I slept with.</i> The only person... JUDGE LAKE:
And you sure of that? I'm positive. DESHAWN: Your Honor,
can I say this, Your Honor? She just left and
when I say didn't give
a care in the world, Your Honor, I'm seeing
on her Facebook
and her Instagram that this other guy
that she's been
sleeping with, how much she's
so in love with him... DESTINY: Never was I
saying I was in love
with this guy and... And, Your Honor, he's
about how I put him
through hell and back... DESHAWN: <i> She ain't say
nothing about her kids,</i> <i> how much she
miss her kids or,</i> <i> or "I'm about to go
do this for my kids,"
Your Honor.</i> All the time that I talk to
her family, her cousin that she was staying
with, Your Honor, she ain't never
told her cousin one time, "You know take this
$20 over here" or "I'm gonna get 'em
some diapers or get
'em some shoes" or... Anything, Your Honor.
She just been
letting me do everything by myself
like I don't need help. And, Your Honor,
I've took care of
them the whole time they've been on
this earth living. He didn't work,
he didn't
contribute a dime to our household
as far as anything... DESHAWN: Yes, I did,
Your Honor. With the kids, food... Your Honor, he did not.
He did not, Your Honor. I worked two jobs to make sure they were
taken care of. DESHAWN: Your Honor... JUDGE LAKE: And so, and so, are you
saying Ms. Dalton that
while he was gone, you handled it all. So while you're not in
the home, you expect
him to handle it all? What I'm saying is he wants
to sit here and throw it
in my face what you did. I mean you've done
it for 7 months and half of this time,
you act like you were
doing it on your own. Your family was helping,
I didn't have that. My family was not
helping, Your Honor. But Ms. Dalton, he does
have the children <i> and he does not
know whether or not</i> <i> they are his children
for certain.</i> But, we can at least say
we know they are
your children, for certain. DESTINY: Right. So is there a reason why you haven't
been contributing and giving him some
money in the
last seven months? DESTINY: He didn't
want me to, Your Honor. Every time he would say
"You need to do this
for the kids" and "you need to
do that for the kids" and then it'll be
like "Oh I don't
need your money, "my kids good
over here"
and this and that. So I'm like, "Okay fine."
If you wanna
tell me that... Your Honor, I don't
need her money but
these are your kids... ...you want to throw
something that I do
in the trash? I'm gonna make sure
my kids are okay. What I wanna
understand now is you say you don't
believe these
children are yours. You can't be certain. Yes, Your Honor. So what if one or both of these
children are not your
biological child? Then where do we
go from here? Well I wouldn't want
to split the kids apart,
Your Honor. I will still be in
the kid's life. I just need to know. And if both children
aren't yours, can this marriage survive? No, Your Honor. I... No. It's no way it could
because too much deceiving, lying
and cheating. It couldn't survive. She don't wanna listen,
she don't know how to listen and sit down and
communicate and talk. While I empathize with
your position Mr. Mitchell, because I can only
imagine what it would feel like to raise
two beautiful, young boys <i> but if you constantly
have a question</i> <i> as to whether or not they're
your biological children,</i> I'm sure that is difficult. You must've understood
as a 35-year-old man, when you marry
a 19-year-old, you gonna have
some growing pains
in the marriage. Because, she's
still growing up. DESHAWN: Yes, Your Honor. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) I think it's time for the
results, are we ready? Yes, Your Honor. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE:
In the case of<i>
Mitchell v. Dalton,</i> pertaining to one-year-old
Bishop Mitchell, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Mitchell, you are Bishop's father. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) JUDGE LAKE:
In the case of<i>
Mitchell v. Dalton,</i> pertaining to two-year-old Deshawn Mitchell Junior, it has been determined
by this court, Mr. Mitchell, you are Deshawn's father. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) I can see that smile, it's genuine,
you're happy to know? Yes, Your Honor.
And I appreciate it,
Your Honor. It's just all the lies
and stuff she put me
through, Your Honor. And I'm gonna try
to put this behind. If she really wants to
go to counseling and really wants to
try to make it work, I'm willing to do that,
Your Honor. Where do you want
to go from here? I want to work
on our marriage. JUDGE LAKE: You do? I'm the one who
suggested counseling. I hear you both saying
the same thing, I don't know if
you two can hear it but you're saying
the same thing, that "I'm willing to try." So, when you leave
out of this courtroom, you just have to
follow through on what you're saying. So it's a choice,
at the end of the day,
that's all it is. Will you or won't you? You understand? Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKEL You're
such a beautiful family. I hope you
can work it out. You have two beautiful
boys. I wish you the
very, very best of luck. DESHAWN:
Thank you, Your Honor. Take care of yourselves. Court is adjourned. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS)
