Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is the case of<i>
Hendricks v. Pacheco.</i> Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Ms. Hendricks, you were once
in a committed relationship with the defendant,
Mr. Pacheco. Now you say
the doubts about your six-month-old son,
Isaiah's, paternity has destroyed
your relationship and torn the rest
of your family apart. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE:
Now, Mr. Pacheco. You say your doubts
about paternity began when you overheard
a conversation with Ms. Hendricks'
family member and another man who claimed
to be the baby's father. Yes, Your Honor. AUDIENCE: Oh! JUDGE LAKE: Furthermore,
you recently moved out of the home you once shared
and will not return unless DNA results prove little Isaiah is
indeed your son. Yes, Your Honor. Ms. Hendricks, please
share with the court how this all unraveled
for you and Mr. Pacheco. Um, well, he's listened
to rumors that an ex-boyfriend
is possibly the father of our son. Um, the rumors are
coming from my brother. Which is with him. Um, we met about
two years ago. Uh, we met online. About three months
after, um, talking online, we met in person. We moved in together
within like four months of meeting each other. It was like love
at first sight. Like I, I think
we both fell in love over the telephone, before we even met. AUDIENCE: Aw. So, you all were in
a real relationship. HENDRICKS: Yes. You had love
for one another. Was it a committed
relationship? Yeah, we was
together every day. Like, we...
We was never apart,
we was inseparable, every day. And so, at some point
you realized you are pregnant? Yes, and we was both happy. It was like,
very exciting. Like, the
whole pregnancy. Up until I was about seven
months pregnant when my brother and him
had a conversation, and my brother told him
that he possibly may not
be the father because he has
seen the ex around. AUDIENCE: Oh. PACHECO: Uh... Before the ex situation,
I heard her over, talking on the phone
with a family member. The family member
was telling her, "Uh, your ex wants me to
tell you to tell the baby "that, oh, I... HENDRICKS: That was... "that I love him,
I wanna be there for him. That was after... "If I go to jail, please
keep in contact with me." I was pregnant. And all those type of things. In ways, I feel heartbroken. And then I was like... That's what started
giving me more doubts. As I got more doubts
about the situation,
you know, Mr. Hendricks here,
that's on the side of me, you know, he starts
telling, one day we went out. No, that's not true. PACHECO: And... (CHUCKLES) You know, he starts
telling me things about that he's seen
the ex-boyfriend, you know, at the house or while at the time
that me and her was talking. And that for me,
it broke my heart, you know,
because I do love her. You know, I do
wanna be with her, and I do wanna...
Hopefully that the tests do come back
saying that he is my son. You know what I am
saying, because when I got to see
him be born. HENDRICKS: That's not true. You know, I got
to see him be born. Seriously. That's the first time,
you know, it's my first son, I don't got no kids,
26-years-old. (STAMMERS) And this is
really breaking us apart. There's a rumor here,
a rumor there,
a rumor over there. No, Your Honor, there
was a rumor when I was seven months pregnant,
that's when it came
from my own brother, that he thought that
he was possibly
not the father. And then we got
past that, like, he left me when I was
seven months pregnant. The whole preg...
the rest of my pregnancy
I was by myself. Um, which was
very depressing. Um... So... PACHECO: Okay,
then why, then why... When I let him be
in the delivery room. He wanted to be
in that delivery room. He came to the hospital
with me. I didn't see him since I was seven
months into the... When I went into labor. He was in the room with me. He's seen the baby be born AUDIENCE: Aw. and he cut the
umbilical cord and everything... PACHECO: Yeah,
but then after that her... a family member of hers says, "Oh, that's the
mailman's baby." HENDRICKS: No. You know,
that for me... While you were
at the hospital? PACHECO: No, that was when we had a
little, a family gathering
at Mrs. Hendricks' house. HENDRICKS: That's
because my son has
blue eyes and light hair. And then her family member
came and said... HENDRICKS: And light skin. PACHECO: "Oh, that's
the mailman's baby." My reaction when they
said that, I was mad. I walked out. I didn't know
what to do. And then her ex
sat there. Whatever time it was,
for him to say, "Oh, that's my son,
I love him, "I can't wait to see him,
when I get out of jail "I want to...
Can I keep in
contact with you?" That's what really
hurt me the most. Why do you wanna
be with someone that's
in jail all the time. What future do he got? HENDRICKS: And he's
talking about an ex that I haven't seen since
I got with him this summer. Me and him got together,
is when I cut it off
with the ex. I haven't seen
him since then. Um, I was talking
to a close family
member on the phone, on speaker phone, because
I was doing the dishes,
I was busy. So, the person was like,
"Oh, well I've seen
such and such "and he thinks that
he is Isaiah's dad." And I'm like, "What?" Like, I was shocked. And then he
overhears it and he hears me
responding back and I'm like, "I don't know
why he would even think that." (STAMMERS) This just
came out of nowhere. Like, I was in total shock. So you think your ex
just made this up? HENDRICKS: Um... Yeah, because I guess
he said that when he went to jail,
I was the last girl
that he was dating, and then
when he got out of jail, he's like, "How
is Angela doing?"
And then to my mother. And my mother's like,
"Oh, she had a baby,
blah blah blah." And then he was like, "Oh." Then he went around telling
everyone that he thinks the
baby is his. I don't understand where
that would come from... PACHECO: But... And anyway because
I haven't even seen
this guy. Your Honor,
but for me to, saying about her mother,
her mother was the one
that gave the dude the number. Her ex, the number,
to get in contact
back and forth all about the baby situation. For me... Oh! For me, it really
bothered me and
it hurt me, you know what I'm saying,
because at one point I felt like her mother
was a mother to me. And how she's gonna come
and, you know,
stab me in the back and gave,
and gave her... She did not mean no harm. You don't understand
how I really feel though. Okay, I do understand
how you feel... But maybe my mom
didn't know... You don't. You don't, this
being my first baby you don't even know
how I feel, though. Yeah, I do know. You don't. Because it breaks
my heart, because when I was pregnant
and when our son was born, he didn't sign the
birth certificate. He was there when I did,
you know, labor, um... Also too...
Your Honor, can I speak? Also too, when she was
seven months pregnant, me and her got into a little like, disagreement at
the hospital, right? She gonna
go ahead and say, like... We got into a
verbal discussion so I got kicked out
of the hospital that day. When I got kicked
out of the hospital... You got kicked out
of the hospital because you were being
rude to me. I wasn't doing
nothing to you. PACHECO: I couldn't... When she was seven months
pregnant, she came out
and say, "Oh, you might not be
the dad of baby Isaiah." And for her to say... So, that actually came out of your mouth? PACHECO: Her mouth. JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Hendricks.
You said that? All right. Yes. I did. JUDGE LAKE: You know,
we hear women say in this courtroom
all the time. When you get angry and you
tell a man that this isn't
their child, you can't un-ring that bell. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) You rang it. Now what's in his mind? HENDRICKS: Yeah, I understand. Along with all the other
things everybody else
is saying. PACHECO: And another
thing too, Your Honor... Well, the thing about... It just came about,
a couple months ago. I tried and... The baby, you know, got
released from the hospital, whatever, I tried...
When I got kicked out I tried to sign
the birth certificate. If you see, his name
is Isaiah Hendricks, it's not Isaiah Pacheco. HENDRICKS: I cannot make him a
Pacheco, if you wasn't there. And for me... Yeah, but every time
I called you
and I told you to... For us to
make an appointment, How am I supposed... you never
wanted to do it. Okay, but you have to call... You always had excuses
for everything. It's like a process. PACHECO: You had
excuses for everything. It's not something... I can't just call and be like,
oh, I want to change his name. Look, look how... JUDGE LAKE:
So, Mr. Pacheco, let me understand this,
let me understand this. You say, you... your
intention, the day you
were in the hospital was to sign that
birth certificate. PACHECO: Yes. What happened
that prevented you? You got thrown out? Yeah, I got kicked out... JUDGE LAKE: Because you
all had a disagreement. It was a
petty disagreement. I told him, "Quiet It was... She kicked me out. "or you'll end up leaving,"
and he kept going. Like, I got forced
out of the hospital, they... FARONE: He got kicked out. Whatever. Yeah, I didn't kick you out,
the nurse kicked you out. Mr. Pacheco, you've brought
a witness today, we'd like to
hear from him, please stand. State your name
for the court, sir. Matthew Hendricks. JUDGE LAKE:
Mr. Hendricks, okay. You are Ms. Hendricks'... Brother. JUDGE LAKE: ...brother. (AUDIENCE REACTING) JUDGE LAKE: And yet
you're Mr. Pacheco's witness. And also Mrs. Farone's fiance. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING) Wow. So, this truly is
a family divided. HENDRICKS: Yes. MATTHEW: Yes. It's like tearing
us all apart. JUDGE LAKE: Do you believe
Mr. Pacheco has reason to have doubt that
he's the father of Ms. Hendricks' baby? Yes, Your Honor, I do. AUDIENCE: Oh. JUDGE LAKE: Really? Why is that? Well, when we was
all living together at the beginning of
their relationship, I was living
with my sister. And I had noticed coming
back and forth from work that there was
this other man kind of, hanging out. But one morning
when I was leaving
for work, I had noticed that this man's
belongings was on
the living room floor. I don't know exactly
what went on but that had caused
some suspicion. That was different times.
Like, totally different times. He, uh, he came after that. (STAMMERS)
The ex. He came after that. You had 'em both. They was... It was the... It wasn't
at the same time. They was together. FARONE: No. No, it was not. FARONE: That's a lie. FARONE: That's so wrong. It was totally
different times. FARONE: So wrong. HENDRICKS: And even
if it wasn't, you're my brother,
like even if...
I'm not saying anything, but why would you
even say anything? JUDGE LAKE: So, when you say he was there in the
morning, you mean... (APPLAUSE) You believe he
spent the night. Yeah. JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Hendricks, you gotta understand,
your own brother... Yeah. JUDGE LAKE: Is telling Mr. Pacheco that there was another man intermingled, (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) during the time Yeah. you were with him and that he has
reason to doubt. Yeah, and that
breaks my heart because this is my brother. PACHECO: You don't think it
breaks my heart finding out
if that's my baby or not? Explain, Mr. Pacheco, explain it, because I don't
know if she feels your pain, and I certainly see it. (VOICE BREAKING)
She don't because I look at him every day and there's a doubt
in my head, like, if he's not my son. You know, I've been there
for seven months. You know, I did
everything for that kid. Bought him clothes,
bought him diapers. Yeah, there are times now
that I'm not there like
I used to be. But why is that?
All the rumors. You know what I'm saying,
she don't see that. HENDRICKS: That breaks
my heart because I feel that he doesn't
even treat him, or look at him like, he looks
at him so different now. And he deserves a
lot better than that. Like, I was raised
and I didn't have my biological
father around. PACHECO: I didn't
have mine either. And I do not... And he didn't either
and I do not want my son
to ever go through that. Your Honor, look,
at the point. What my son is going
through right now, I go through that with my dad because my dad is, you know, denying me
and my older sister. I was never
raised with a mom or a dad. The one that raised me all
my life, was my grandmother. She gave me everything. You know what I'm saying,
and I want the same thing
for him. I want him to have me and her in his life,
know what I'm saying,
because I do love her. If I didn't love her,
I wouldn't even be here
right now. I would have been like
other dads and just
walked out and say, "You know,
I don't even care." (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) And then,
another thing too, like, look at his eyes,
he got blue eyes. Look at my eyes,
I got brown eyes. HENDRICKS: I got green eyes. I got dark hair. I got green eyes. FARONE: It comes
from the Grandma. Comes from the Grandma. My brother don't...
He has green eyes. I mean, I don't know... JUDGE LAKE: So, when you look at this
beautiful little boy... I got brown skin. ...you just don't
see yourself and
it makes you nervous? PACHECO: Yeah, it do. It makes you concerned,
it makes you fearful. PACHECO: It do. His own family think
that that's not his son due to his light hair color
and his eyes being blue. Just, for that,
just to let you know... HENDRICKS: His family Just to let you know, has so many people. even your other baby daddy
came and told you, "Oh, that doesn't
even look like him, "that could be the
other baby's daddy." (AUDIENCE REACTING) I can't control
what people say but I know who is his father. PACHECO: Well, you don't
understand how really
that hurts me. 'Cause you're not
in my shoes. That's just unregarded. HENDRICKS: I can't control
what people say. (HENDRICKS AND FARONE
TALKING OVER EACH OTHER) He was in her shoes
when you left her. Why was I
in her shoes? If I'm supposed
to be the woman you love... You love me but
you don't trust me... The only person. ...or believe anything I say. The only person in her
family that likes me is him. He's the one that
stuck with me
through everything. Yeah, because
I am on her side
the whole time, I'm gonna be on
her side no matter what. JUDGE LAKE: Okay, ma'am. Yes. Since you're talking,
step up to the podium. (AUDIENCE LAUGHING
AND APPLAUDING) State your name. Marcelina Farone. JUDGE LAKE: And you are? Her best friend and Matthew...
Mr. Hendricks' fiance. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. What do you know
about this situation? He was there 100%. Me and Mr. Hendricks, we have a seven-month-old
daughter together. (VOICE BREAKING)
I see my nephew every day growing up without
his dad in his life. He's missing "dada," he's missing crawlin', he's missing the first walk. He's missing so much
out of his life. I am there for her
through thick and thin. AUDIENCE: Aw. When he wasn't there,
buying her diapers,
who was? I was. This causes conflict between
mine and Mr. Hendricks
relationship. I can't bring it up at home. And me and my
brother's relationship. I can't bring it
up at home because I'm scared that
my daughter is gonna miss out on her father because of the drama. HENDRICKS: This has,
like, it ruined us. I don't think we'll ever
have the relationship
that we had before. We used to all
double date together. He was there
all the time. Yeah, the ex was
there some... Well, sometimes.
But he was there
all the time. We double dated! (AUDIENCE CLAMORING) HENDRICKS:
The ex wasn't there... He wasn't there
all the time! ...with me. He was there sometimes
but they broke it off! I'm her best friend,
she tells me everything. JUDGE LAKE: So, wait. Everything. JUDGE LAKE: I'm glad you
stood up to testify,
Ms. Farone. (AUDIENCE CLAPPING) Because you say that the ex was
there sometimes. FARONE: Well,
he was there like... But he was there all the time. HENDRICKS: In the beginning,
when me and him was
just talking, we didn't meet. I was dating the ex. Hold on one second,
Ms. Hendricks. I want to get
something straight from Ms. Farone's testimony. Now, you said, while she was
with Mr. Pacheco... FARONE: No. She...
He was not around when... She was with Mr. Pacheco,
the ex was not there. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. She broke it off. Okay, that's not what
you just said though. MATTHEW: In the beginning
stages it was... On the record, you said, "He was there all of the time (LOUD CLAPPING
FROM AUDIENCE) "and the ex was there
some of the times." MATTHEW: Some times. When they were...
When they first started, yeah. Like, for like a week. He would try to...
The ex would still try to go... So, Mr. Hendricks,
is this the time
you are talking about? More or less, yeah. Mr. Hendricks,
do you feel like baby Isaiah looks
like Mr. Pacheco? It's extremely hard to tell
on a baby, Your Honor. (STAMMERS)
I've seen a lot of accounts. (AUDIENCE GROANING) Mr. Pacheco, you say if Isaiah's not
your biological child you can't be there. PACHECO: No. JUDGE LAKE: You said, you
can't be in a relationship
with her. There's no way
I can forgive it. (AUDIENCE CLAMORING) I cannot imagine a man not wanting to
be in the child's life. I can't. He has a bond
with this child. PACHECO: Look how
white Isaiah is. FARONE: And my baby is white! HENDRICKS: I'm white! My baby is white, I have
a seven-month-old daughter, they are three weeks apart,
me and Mr. Hendricks. My baby is as white as
can be, and look at me. Look at her dad. Um, look at her daddy. HENDRICKS: It's the
blue eyes which is funny, but it's not like
I got brown eyes and he got brown eyes
and our baby got blue eyes. I got colored eyes. JUDGE LAKE: Hoo! I am
ready for the results. And he's white though! That's all I'm saying. JUDGE LAKE: Jerome. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) I'm not gonna sit up and argue about how white a baby is. Okay. FARONE: Hold my hand. That's... Hold my hand. JUDGE LAKE: These results were prepared by
DNA Diagnostics, and they read as follows... In the case of<i>
Hendricks v. Pacheco</i> pertaining to
six-month-old Isaiah. Mr. Pacheco, you are his father. WOMAN: Oh, yeah! (AUDIENCE CLAPPING) (HENDRICKS CHUCKLES) That's good. That means
he has a father, that's good. I'm sorry for everything
I put you through. AUDIENCE: Aw. JUDGE LAKE: I'm
happy for all of you. Thank you. And I say that
only to point out that secrets, lies,
and a lack of trust... It can permeate the fabric
of any relationship. Now you have the truth. The question is,
will you use that truth as a building block to create a better foundation
in your relationship. This was very difficult, but you've made it through, you've got the truth, and now it's time
to figure out what you wanna do
for baby Isaiah's sake, and if you don't
wanna be together, that's fine, just raise him
and raise him well. Okay? PACHECO: Okay. I wish you all,
the best of luck. (AUDIENCE CLAPPING) Court is adjourned. Um, I got something
to tell you. You know, I love you. I'm so sorry for everything I put
you through and... Whoa.
(GIGGLES NERVOUSLY) Will you please be my wife? Oh, my... Would you? (EXCLAIMS)
