JUDGE LAKE: You may be seated. RON: Hello, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Hello.
This is the case of Webster v. Ware. Thank you, Ron.
Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. JUDGE LAKE: Ms.
Webster, you recently learned shocking news that Myron Smith, the man you believed to be your dad, and who paid child support for you, may not be your biological father? WEBSTER: Yes, Your Honor. Now you've dragged the defendant, Mr Ware, to Paternity Court to prove that he is your father and claim today's results will prove your case?
Yes, Your Honor. Mr Ware, you admit that you had a relationship with Ms. Webster's mother around the time of conception, but say for the past 40 years you were told Mr Smith was her father?
Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: So Ms. Webster, tell me why you now believe Mr Ware is your father?
Your Honor, I worked in a beauty salon with some of his relatives, and they always kinda had something against me. Um, I heard a relative say that, "That's not none of your father. " So I started questioning.
I asked my mom, I talked to Mr Smith, like, "Why are they saying that I'm not a part of their family? " When you questioned Mr Smith, what did he say? He said, "You will always be my daughter.
"I believe in my heart that you are "and no matter what, you'll always be my daughter. " And that still wasn't answer enough for you, you still had doubts. WEBSTER: I still had doubts, um, I was a blood donor, we'd talked about blood types, and I know that the mother and the father.
. . The child will have one or the other.
And me and Mr Smith don't have the same blood type. I was in question again, I'm very curious. I was with my cousin, Ms.
Smith, and she said, "You know, I really believe in my heart that Mr Ware is your father. " She said, "You walk like him, you chuckle like him. " She said, "If I close my eyes, and you both chuckle, "you wouldn't know the difference.
" Really? I had a baby book for a long time and I never really started putting things together until the blood type wasn't the same. And I'm looking in the baby book, and there's relatives of Mr Ware's family that signed it when I was born, they brought gifts.
There was an address. . .
JUDGE LAKE: Really? Relatives of Mr Ware. .
. WEBSTER: Yes, Your Honor. .
. . have signed into your baby book when you were born?
Correct, Your Honor. So Mr Ware. .
. WARE: Yes, ma'am. You knew of this young woman.
. . Yes, I did.
But you do not believe you're her biological father? No, I do not. Because at the time when her mom and I were dating, she was in between two cities, Louisville, Kentucky and Dayton, Ohio, and she would spend months there and months here.
And during that time when she became pregnant, she explained to me that she was and that it was another man's child. So she told you. .
. Yes, she did. .
. . that it was someone else's baby?
Yes, she did. Did you ever do the math and think about when she possibly was conceived and whether or not you were in a relationship with her mother at that time? No, Your Honor.
At that time, being I believe, around 15-16 years old, I didn't know anything about timelines. So you just took her word for it? Yes.
At 15-16 years old, I see that. So Ms. Webster says she would hear things.
Did you ever get any trickles of information? No, Your Honor, I never got anything, never got any information. How did you lose contact?
You all dated? Were you boyfriend and girlfriend in high school? Yes, Your Honor, we were, but we lost contact because a couple of years after that, I went into the military.
Okay. And when you came back, no one said to you, "You may have a child"? No one said that to me and the mom had moved back to Ohio, so I never saw her for years.
Were you there when her mom was pregnant? Yes, I was there when her mom was pregnant. As a matter of fact, we continued to date at that point.
I remember times of being with her mom and rubbing her belly, and just always there to support her. Are you sure you had not impregnated her? I was sure that I had not impregnated her because she told me that.
All right, so let's fast forward to the day you finally get to meet Mr Ware. We went to visit him at his church. I knew who he was but he didn't know who I was.
I'd just been praying, you know, that I find out who my father is. There's things in my life, there's roadblocks there's stumbles I've been going through. There's things that.
. . Goals I'm achieving.
And knowing who my father is, is one of them. And I came to the Lord, I went to the altar, they had altar call. And I went up and I just prayed that.
. . (CRIES) God give me a sign to reveal.
. . Reveal what's going on.
So, I'm praying, and I'm nervous, but I just felt this energy, and they asked for the prayer warriors to come out. And when I got up, Mr Ware was standing right behind me, so. .
. And did you know it was Mr Ware? When I was down, no, I didn't know who was standing there when I got up.
You know, I get up and I turn around and he's right there. So, I mean, something, there's gotta be some energy, there's gotta be something. It can't be in vain.
You are a deacon, right? Yes, I am. And he's a spiritual person.
Did you know it was her? Did you know it was Ms. Webster, this baby?
WARE: I did not. That you knew before she even left the womb? Did you know?
No, I did not know at that time until she introduced herself. Well, I also went to meet your mother and she said. .
. I knocked on the door, and I said, "Hi, Demisha, I'm Marica's daughter. " And she stepped back, she said, "Well, baby, what took you so long?
"Did your mama get that blood test done? " Maybe my mom knew something that I didn't know. But at that time, I took it from her mother to be truth that this was not my child.
I never believed in my heart that she was my child. So you did not feel a connection like "This could be my daughter," the way in which she says your mother reacted when she met her and said, "What took you so long? " No, Your Honor, I did not.
The fact of the matter is, is that you are not my child. I love you like a child and like a sister, but you're not my child. My name is Tamara Smith, and I grew up in the household with Demisha's mother, Ms.
Webster. Okay. Mr Ware was like a part of our family.
I know what Ms. Webster may have told him, that he wasn't the father, but I believe in my heart, when Ms. Webster left Louisville to move back to Dayton, Ohio, that she left there pregnant.
How is it that as the cousin, you know more than the mother? Is there something you observed? You knew that they were in a sexual relationship around the time?
So you know for certain that around the time Ms. Webster was conceived, your cousin, which is her mother, was having sex with Mr Ware? Yes, I know that.
Do you know anything about why her mother chose to tell him, "You're not the father"? I think she may have told him, because when she moved back to Dayton, she started a relationship with this other guy. I think that's what happened.
Well, I wanted to get your opinion on it, and Ms. Webster's mother is in court today and so I'm going to have a chance to ask her that very same question. But before we get to that point, I'd like to speak to the other possible father.
Uh, Ron, can you please escort him into the courtroom? Yes, Your Honor. You can go right up there to the witness stand, please.
Thank you for joining us, Mr Smith. As you know, we're here discussing the paternity as it relates to Ms. Webster.
You have been paying child support? Yes, I have. But you don't believe you're her biological father?
No, I don't. I can tell you why. Please.
Ms. Webster was born September 17th, which means that she had to be conceived either late December or January of '76 or late December of '75. I was in the United States Army stationed at Fort Hood, Texas.
Really? I can show you right there, she was born on September 17th. The last time I was home on leave was late November.
So in order for her to be born in September, she had to be conceived either late December or early January. I was in Fort Hood, Texas. And if you'd come home for Thanksgiving, that's too far away.
That would make Ms. Brady 42 weeks pregnant. And I don't know nobody to carry a child 42 weeks.
So how did you end up paying child support if you weren't even there? Because I was raised to do the right thing and I was naive about it and I signed the papers. Ms.
Webster, you were initially told he was your biological father? Yes, Your Honor. Mr Smith has always said that, "No matter what, you'll always be my daughter.
" So I just accepted it, but as the older I got, I'm like, it's not enough, it's not making sense in the end. They don't share a father-daughter relationship. I can see that this confusion just really eats away at you.
I can see it in your eyes. It does, Your Honor. It's just like there's something missing.
I just want to know who I belong to, my identity, I deserve to know that. JUDGE LAKE: Yes, you do. I feel that I can get some closure and move on.
I might be a bride one day. I need my dad to walk me down the aisle. I'll have grandchildren, I might need advice.
You're right. You deserve that. I wanna get some more answers for you.
I would like to call your mother into the courtroom. And Mr Smith, I'm going to ask you to please step down and stand right next to Mr Ware, if you don't mind. Ms.
Brady? This way. You can walk up to the witness stand right next to the judge.
Ms. Brady, thank you for joining us today. You're welcome.
Of course, we are here regarding your daughter and her search to find her father. What was going on at the time? And who is her biological father?
Her biological father is Mr Myron Smith. (DEMISHA SNIFFLES) JUDGE LAKE: Standing right there? BRADY: Yes.
He says he was gone, he was serving the time that she was conceived. Is that not true? Right, but Mr Smith also came home on leave.
Once we got together, Mr Smith went back to the service, and then I was pregnant. When Mr Smith called me one day, I said, "You know what? I'm pregnant.
" (CHUCKLING) I never received that call, Your Honor. BRADY: Yes, you did. Okay.
Yes, you did. You don't remember this conversation, Mr Smith? No, I don't.
Not at all. When I come home from the military, I got a letter in the mail, stating that I had to come down to the child support. When I got there, Ms.
Webster was waiting. . .
Ms. Brady was there. She said I was Ms.
Webster's dad. So, being naive, I just took her for her word. I signed the papers, I said 'cause I'm gonna do the right thing and step up to the plate.
If that's my child, then I'm gonna be there for her. But as she got older, in time, and you start hearing different things and different parts of stories of this, that and the other, and Ms. Webster and myself got together some years ago and discussed this about.
. . We went into detail about, you know, who her natural dad is.
And I think we both should know because we've been struggling with this for over 10-15 years now, and I feel like that we both should know. And Ms. Brady, do you have any doubts.
. . No.
. . .
as to whether or not Mr Smith is Ms. Webster's biological father? No.
You don't? You will say it just as plain? Yes.
You know it's him? Yes. And you're positive?
Yes. So when Mr Ware talks about being there and rubbing your stomach and all of that, you weren't also in a relationship with him? I was in a relationship with Mr Ware.
He was my supporter, I mean. . .
He did everything for me, with me and everything. But he's not the father. JUDGE LAKE: So why do you think your cousin is saying this?
BRADY: I don't know why Ms. Smith is saying this. She know more than I do, I guess.
She said she remembers during the time Ms. Webster was conceived that you were also sleeping with and having a relationship with Mr Ware. Right.
So you were? Right. So he is, potentially?
No. It's not Mr Ware's baby. MS.
SMITH: Okay, well. . .
It's not. All right, the only way we are truly going to get down to the bottom of this since everyone seems to have a different story, is to get the results. Ron, the envelope, please.
I have two of them, ma'am. Thank you. In the case of Webster v.
Ware, when it comes to 40-year-old Demisha Webster, it has been determined by this court, Mr Smith, you. . .
. . .
are not her father. Are you surprised? Hurt, yes.
Surprised, no. I thank you for everything that you've done for me. Always, baby.
I appreciate you, and like you said. . .
Always. Always, sweetie. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDS) (MR.
SMITH SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY) Ms. Brady, you just told me you were sure. I thought I was sure.
I thought. . .
I really had it in my heart that Mr Smith was her dad. Well, I have the results here for Mr Ware. These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows.
Let me say this before you read those results. Demisha was named for my cousin Marica and Mr Ware, his middle name and Marica's name together, and that's how she got to be Demisha. Mr Ware, did you know she was named after you?
Yes, I did, Your Honor. And of course, Marica and I, we got together to name her at the time. I do remember that.
You dated through the process, you named her together, but you were sure he was not the father? Right. And you made him certain he was not the father?
Right. Let's go to the results. (SIGHS) In the case of Webster v.
Ware, when it comes to 40-year-old Demisha Webster, it has been determined by this court, Mr Ware, you. . .
. . .
are not her father. (AUDIENCE GASPS) (GROANS) (SNIFFLES) JUDGE LAKE: I'm so sorry. Thank you.
Thank you. (CRIES) (WAILS) (CONTINUES WAILING LOUDLY) JUDGE LAKE: Please sit down. Have a seat, ma'am.
JUDGE LAKE: Sit down. We shouldn't have opened up a can of worms. That can of worms should have been closed.
But I deserve to know. Baby, I'm so sorry. (SNIFFLING) It is okay.
JUDGE LAKE: I have to ask you who do you remember? Do you have any idea? No.
WEBSTER: It's all good. This will do nothing but make me stronger. It don't even matter at this point.
I'm 40 years old. My stepfather's been in my life. He's raised his grandkids and my kids.
He's been there. That's my dad. Well, this court has counseling for all of you available right now.
And Ms. Brady talk to whomever you need to to say, "Hey, do you remember anybody else I dated? " Because it's not about you, it's about her.
I wish you all the very, very best of luck. Court is adjourned. Thank you.
