Hello, Your Honor.
Hello.
This is the case of Richardson vs Robbins.
Thank you, Jerome. Good day, everyone.
ALL: Good day.
Mr. Richardson.
DWIGHT: Yes.
You claim you made a huge mistake.
You signed the birth certificate
of the defendant's two-month-old son, D'Marlynn,
even though you doubt
you are his father.
You want to prove your case
before you end up paying child support
for a baby you know isn't yours.
Miss Robbins, you say the plaintiff's only mistake
is denying your son,
because you claim that the DNA will prove that he is
D'Marlynn's father, is that correct?
That is correct.
Mr. Richardson, why did you sign
the birth certificate if you doubted paternity?
It was at the moment, and I felt that...
I don't know, he may be mine. But, I don't know.
CATHERINE: He was there during the whole entire time,
during delivery and birth... Uh, pregnancy.
He was there, but he also signed the birth, uh...
Signed the recognition of parentage.
JUDGE LAKE: And did you try to guilt him into it,
or did you guys have a conversation?
No.
Did he express to you any reservation...
No.
...that he really didn't want to sign this birth certificate?
No, I asked him twice.
"Are you sure you want to do this?"
Oh, why did you ask him twice if you know that's his child?
Because we...
During the whole, during my entire pregnancy, he had doubts.
And I asked him, "Before we do this recognition of parentage,
"are you sure you want to sign this?"
Your Honor, I didn't want to seem like the bad guy at the time.
And I was in my emotions and...
When I saw the baby, I was like, "Yeah..."
And I asked her.
I said, "You sure this baby is mine?
"Is there no one else?" And she was like...
She was like,
"No, there's no one else."
But does that...
When I saw the baby...
He was so white.
He was so...
(AUDIENCE GASPING)
He looked like a Mexican or something. He was just real light.
A Mexican?
CATHERINE: I'm light-skinned.
Come on now.
Yes, you are. You're very light skinned.
But listen, listen, listen...
That doesn't matter, children come in all shapes and sizes
and he just had spent nine months
or more in the womb.
DWIGHT: That's true.
But, Your Honor, you gotta realize,
when I was dating her, she was very sneaky.
She's very sneaky.
So are you.
Hmm.
So are you.
How, Mr. Richardson?
She was sneaky from the start
when I met her, Your Honor.
I met her at a club.
I came, approached her.
I didn't think she was gonna give me the time of day or nothing.
CATHERINE: So, he pursued me.
I did.
You're right about that. I did pursue you.
Yup.
For a long time. Yup.
I pursued her. I got out there.
And we got to talking, and she told me, she said, "I'm married, but..."
(SCOFFS) When she said the word "but", that means...
"I'm willing to maybe see you or something,
"I'll play around with you." So...
CATHERINE: Okay.
So, did Mr. Richardson
start off as a side piece, Miss Robbins?
Of course, I was.
(AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS)
Yes.
So, that's true?
Yes.
Very true.
But when we got into, being more into a serious relationship,
and I knew that I wanted to be with him,
I decided that I wanted,
you know, that I wanted it to be just me and him
and I did tell him and I showed him proof
that I was divorced.
I hadn't been with no one else except for him,
so, I don't understand the whole DNA part.
Especially if it was just me and him,
for the last three years.
We were each other's side piece.
We, I was...
That was at first.
And you know that,
When you showed me
that paper on the internet, I looked it up...
And he said that anybody can be on the internet,
but I showed him that declaration, so he's...
He just doesn't believe anything.
Including that D'Marlynn is his.
No, I don't.
So, you had to go on the internet
to show him your divorce papers?
What I did is that I pulled it from our county.
You didn't have a physical copy?
I didn't have a physical copy, but I know that you can get it on...
You can get it off of the...
You didn't have a physical copy
of your own divorce decree?
DWIGHT: Hmm.
No, I didn't.
So, Miss Robbins, you assertion today is,
you have no doubt
Mr. Richardson is D'Marlynn's biological father.
No doubt, and I know that, like, the night we conceived, it was just...
It was me and him.
Yeah, and there's another story behind it.
I remember a lot, he doesn't remember, like...
I remember that night.
...people's names,
his middle name.
He don't remember nothing.
I'm horrible with names.
I'm horrible with names.
He doesn't remember anything.
How're you gonna say that you
remember the night that we conceived...
I remember that night...
Well, do you remember the night?
Do you remember the night?
CATHERINE: I remember the night.
Okay, tell the court what happened.
So, the night we, um, it was during Christmas.
And we had just bought a couch,
and I just moved in to my place
and within that week time,
(LAUGHS)
like, me and Mr. Richardson, basically, gave our house a blessing,
or my house a blessing.
(DWIGHT AND AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
A blessing that I didn't finish.
Okay, but that's not no one's fault but your own.
Okay.
That's not no one's fault but your own.
It is my fault.
Look at your age, how old are you?
I'm... At the time, I think I was 43.
Okay, so that could be the reason.
So, Mr. Richardson, you said, um,
you did not finish delivering the blessing?
(LAUGHING)
Yes, Your Honor, I did not finish that day.
JUDGE LAKE: The act?
The whole act.
That's not the first time, though.
No, it's...
So, Miss Robbins, take me to the point in time,
when you found out you were pregnant.
I wasn't feeling good,
so, I decided to go get a pregnancy test and it was positive.
I also got another pregnancy test
because Mr. Richardson, he's so doubtful on a lot of things.
We took the pregnancy test together, in the bathroom,
set it on the counter and we watched it.
She asked me, "What do you wanna do?"
I said, "We're gonna have the baby," 'cause we doin'...
We doin' some stupid stuff,
we're not gonna blame this child.
"We're gonna have it."
CATHERINE: So, you decided
that we should have the baby.
I'm pretended I was happy.
I just pretended...
Oh, you were pretending?
I pretended like I was happy.
Okay.
You were pretending like you were happy?
CATHERINE: Oh, okay.
I was pretending like I was happy, Your Honor.
That's nice. That's nice.
Why would you pretend you were happy?
Uh, because she...
And still be with me?
And still be with me the whole time.
But, I mean...
Like, I don't get it.
I mean, because it was... 'Cause...
Because of what? I'm sorry?
(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
Pregnant sex.
CATHERINE: Okay, but you didn't get that.
Pregnant sex.
And you know why.
I got it one time.
JUDGE LAKE: Wait, wait, wait. Hold on, Mr. Richardson.
Are you saying you weren't happy about the baby coming,
you were happy because you could have pregnant sex?
Yes, I mean, pregnant sex is the best sex, Your Honor.
WOMAN: What?
(AUDIENCE GASPING)
So, Mr. Richardson, please,
tell me if there's any other reason you have doubt.
Oh, my God, there's a million, but I'm gonna try to
narrow it down to at least one or two.
I went to one doctor's appointment with her, right?
And then, I wanted to go to the other ones,
she told me, "No, you don't have to come."
CATHERINE: I don't need you to hold my hand.
I said, "Why?"
"I don't need you to hold my hand."
You kept telling me, what?
This is not mine, this is not my baby,
all this through the whole time, so...
Exactly.
Why would I let you be a part of that?
And so the fact that she, admittedly,
didn't want you at the appointment, made you feel like,
"Well, if I'm the biological father,
"no matter how we're fighting or how I'm getting on your nerves,
"why would you not want me at the doctor's appointment?"
DWIGHT: Yes. Yes.
And, um, Your Honor, you gotta realize...
Tell the truth.
Christmas time.
Uh, she just moved into our new place.
Told me she had to put down $2,800.
She was complaining to me that, you know, "I have no..."
This is, like, three days before Christmas.
"I have no Christmas money to buy gifts."
But I didn't ask you
for any money that time either, did I?
Let me speak. Let me speak.
She come up with all this money after she put this down payment
on her... To move in her place.
And I said, "Where you get this money from?"
She told me, "I got it from my 401k." I said, "That fast?"
Well, Your Honor, I have been...
It was that fast.
CATHERINE: Your Honor, I have been...
On my job, this is what they call a Christmas account.
But why were you crying about having no money?
And so I told him that,
I told him that I didn't have any money at the time,
but if I can't get it, if I can't get it from other resources,
then I would use the money part of the Christmas account.
So, wait a minute, you felt like,
"How three days before Christmas,
"you say you don't have any money,
"and all of a sudden, you have a 401k?"
I had a 401k from...
So why are you surprised,
that she was able to take a loan or something from that?
That fast, three days before...
I think there was another guy.
That was kinda hanging out...
JUDGE LAKE: Oh, you think...
What guy is that?
We're gonna keep his name anonymous,
but there was someone kinda hanging around.
Did you have any reason to believe
that Miss Robbins was intimate with this other man
you saw hanging around?
I'm not gonna say him,
but I believe she was intimate with someone.
During the time that we were together?
Why?
Because, I remember this one particular time that I'm at her house
and I'm watching TV shows, she claims she was at work.
She came home, Your Honor.
She sat next to me, I'm like... (SNIFFS)
"What's going on? Oh, my God, I recognize that smell.
"I mean, I haven't had it in a while,
but I recognize it."
Really? What?
I said, "You smell like sex."
Oh, wow.
And I'm like, "You've been having sex?"
So, that's what I smell like...
I said, "You've been having sex?"
You know, "Did you go to work?"
I don't know that you're at work,
you're saying you were at work.
I'm at work all day,
but that's how I come home smelling? Really?
Yeah, sometimes you tell me you've been at work...
Are you not gonna say how you smell when you come home from work?
Well... (LAUGHING)
Well...
Okay, but that's not no one's fault, but your own.
So, is this the first time
you've tried to get a DNA test, Mr. Richardson?
No, it's not, Your Honor.
She made an appointment, we were supposed to split 1:35,
it was 2:00 something, to go get a DNA test.
She said, "I set an appointment,
"I'm gonna come, come at 4:30, when you get off work."
I got there at 3 o'clock.
But I made the appointment.
Yes, you made the appointment.
But you said it was 4:30. I got at your house at 3 o'clock.
3:30 come, we sitting around.
"Okay. Appointment's at 4:30."
4 o'clock come, we sitting around. 4:15, we sitting around.
I'm like, "What's up? Are we going to get this?"
But I'm the one who made the appointment.
I asked her.
I'm the one who agreed on DNA even though...
And I asked her...
...that's all you talked about.
JUDGE LAKE: But did you go to the appointment?
No, Your Honor.
We did not.
Why, if he was at your house at 3 o'clock?
I just... At that time, I didn't do it.
I wasn't worried about anything,
it's just that I had other things that I hadn't planned.
What were you doing? You were just sitting in the house.
Other things, other plans to do.
What? Watching TV?
I was on maternity leave.
Hold on. You had a chance to...
Exactly.
...resolve this.
CATHERINE: Correct.
And he was there to pick you up
to take you there.
That is correct.
You all had the appointment.
That is correct.
When you decide you don't want to go,
in his mind, I can see,
why he would feel like you're dodging this task.
Exactly, and I agree with that and my thing is he...
I'm not worried about anything...
But Mr. Richardson, you believe she's dodging this test.
At that point now, you've been over there
for an hour, 15 minutes and she's still not ready to go.
She's not ready to go.
We're just sitting in her house.
Nope, I wasn't ready to go, but,
at this time I was...
And she said, "I'll make another appointment."
She said, "I'll make another appointment."
I said, "Okay." So, I come, I say,
"Did you make that appointment?"
This was during the time that I had just had D'Marlynn.
And I was not feeling well.
Everybody...
And I told him I was willing to do it.
I was willing to do it without a problem.
This is, this is it.
You've got this man. He's on the birth certificate.
He's been having doubts about you all along.
I can see this conversation we're having today
is not the first time, probably won't be the last.
And he's talking about what you did.
You were sneaky, you were this, you were that.
DWIGHT: Very.
And this is, this is honest, Miss Robbins.
CATHERINE: Mmm-hmm.
Whether he's right or wrong,
only the DNA's gonna be able to decide that.
DWIGHT: Thank you, Your Honor.
But the point is that,
you know, at this point in time,
he feels like what you say has no credibility.
'Cause when you met him, you was not married, then you was married.
Then you got to get your divorce decree online.
You don't have a physical copy of it.
I mean, the stories just keep coming and coming and coming.
And in this moment in time,
you have the opportunity to resolve all of this
and shut him up.
DWIGHT: ...him up!
Hmm.
JUDGE LAKE: Really.
Put a zip on my mouth.
And Lord knows...
DWIGHT: Oh, my... (LAUGHING)
...we need that to happen.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
(LAUGHING)
So, I just don't understand...
CATHERINE: Well, I didn't...
Wait, no. I'm, I'm... Let me finish.
I just... I don't understand.
I know what it means to have a baby, I get it.
I don't understand why after you make that appointment
and he's there,
ready, willing and able, to go to this appointment,
do you not get yourself and your baby packed up,
and just get it done?
As much as Mr. Richardson talks,
the truth is, is I see how he could be doubtful
and now I'm trying to figure out
why are you resentful of the doubt
that you placed in his mind?
Hmm.
That looks like you're dodging the test.
CATHERINE: But I'm not, though.
"We got the appointment."
But I did... I rescheduled it.
"And I'm here to pick you up."
"Are we going to reschedule it now?"
Why?
We rescheduled it because I told him that we could do it at a later...
I told him that it was... I was reaching out...
Was it because he was already... No. No. Listen.
Was it already...
Was it because he was already on the birth certificate and you felt like,
"You know what? You're the legal father anyway,
"so, I don't really have to get out of my bed..."
No, I really didn't care about that.
So what it is, is you are both in here playing games
and being silly, while D'Marlynn is still on pause...
DWIGHT: True.
...waiting to figure out, "Who my daddy is."
And that's unfair.
You're all talking in circles in here today.
He's sitting up here, two months old
and his potential father is denying him,
his mother can't make it to the DNA test.
And now you want to sit up in here for 30 minutes,
arguing back and forth doing a, "he said, she said"
when you've all had every opportunity to resolve this.
Exactly.
But instead, you run your mouth so long
that you gotta now come to the courtroom to get it done.
This is silly.
I'm thankful this courtroom exists,
so that the buck can stop here
and we can really get the result.
Yeah, result.
And I have them. Jerome.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
Here you go, Your Honor.
These results were prepared by DNA diagnostics
and they read as follows.
In the case of Richardson vs Robbins,
when it comes to,
two-month-old, D'Marlynn Richardson,
it has been determined by this court,
Mr. Richardson,
you
are the father.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
You really didn't know?
(SNIFFLING)
This is what I'm talking about.
(GULPING)
CATHERINE: He doubted it the whole time.
(CRYING)
JUDGE LAKE: Exactly.
The whole time, like he...
JUDGE LAKE: And that's what he was trying to tell you.
I can't believe I'm even here.
After all these years, I'm...
I was with him.
But what I'm saying to you, Miss Robbins,
now he knows for sure.
DWIGHT: Mmm-hmm.
And now, you have been vindicated
in the sense that you said it all along.
This is your child.
Sign the birth certificate if you want or if don't want,
but this is your child.
Are you ready for him to be able to hold his child
with the understanding, without a doubt, clarity,
that he is this child's...
D'Marlynn needs his father.
I'll sign.
All right. I will meet you in my chambers. Court is adjourned.
DWIGHT: Thank you.
Before I bring your beautiful,
innocent little son in here, to you,
I want you all to promise me
that you all are gonna work on
learning how to co-parent together,
learning how to speak to one another more respectfully.
He's counting on you all to get it together
so he can have the healthy life that he deserves.
Can you give me your word that you will?
Well, for sure.
Excellent.
Let's bring in this beautiful baby. Jerome's bringing him.
He is gorgeous.
Oh, he went to sleep.
That's what's up.
Hi, baby.
Let's have you...
What's up big boy?
What's up? What's going on?
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