Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello.
This is the case of Robinson-Palmer v. Rollins. Thank you so much, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. ALL: Good day. Ms.
Robinson, you and your mother have opened your case today in hopes of giving you closure. You say you've always known the defendant was your father, and his denial has crushed you. Once you prove that he is your dad you hope he will finally accept you, is that correct?
Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Mr Rollins, you testify that you're 1,000 percent certain you did not father Ms. Robinson.
Yes, ma'am. You say her mother was busy with multiple men back in the day, and the DNA will prove you are not the dad, is that correct? Correct.
So, Ms. Robinson, explain, how has the feeling of denial affected you? Your Honor, it affected me real bad, like, I feel like that he wasn't responsible to even say I am his daughter or not.
And so for 24 years, you've had to deal with this? Yes, Your Honor. Ms.
Palmer, all her life you have been telling her, that Mr Rollins is her biological father. PALMER: Yes, ma'am. You've never told her any other man was her biological father?
No. And you've never gotten any level of recognition or acknowledgment from him. No, I haven't.
JUDGE LAKE: So Mr Rollins, you do not believe you are Ms. Robinson's biological father? No, ma'am.
You say you are 1,000 percent sure. . .
One thousand and one. (AUDIENCE GROANS) JUDGE LAKE: So Ms. Robinson, as you grew up, were you told his name?
Yes, I knew him as "Dooby. " JUDGE LAKE: But you knew his name? Mm-hmm.
Did you ever have an occasion to visit Mr Rollins, Ms. Robinson, or did you run into him? Um, when I was nine, I was on the school bus, my mama and him was on the porch, so when I had got off the school bus, I went upstairs, seen them talking.
Went and put my book bag down, ran back. . .
Talked to my mama, and I asked her, "Who was that man? " She was like, "That's your father. " So I was like, "Are you sure?
"That's my father? " And she was like, "Yeah, that's your father. " So, Your Honor, I ran down the stairs, he was in the apartment next to ours putting in furniture.
I was like, "Well, "Is Dooby here? " And they was like, he came out, he was like "What does this mean? " So I asked him, I was like, "Well, are you my father?
" He were like, "No, I am not your father. " I was like, "Well, my mom telling me you are my father. " He was like, "Well, no, I am not your father.
" So after that encounter how were you feeling? I was feeling like he. .
. He didn't own up to nothing, like, if you laid down with my mom, you should have just owned up and been like, "Oh, I might could have been your dad. " Instead of saying, "Oh, no, I'm not your father.
" That's not right. Mr Rollins, I do need to ask you. .
. ROLLINS: Yes, ma'am. Do you remember this encounter with a nine-year-old little girl?
Yes, ma'am, I do remember. . .
Tell me what you remember. She was just kind of observing me. And I was looking at her and I say to myself, and I also said to Ms.
Palmer that we had no resemblance, why would you keep. . .
So she has to resemble you for her to be your child? Ain't nobody resemble all their parents, right? ROLLINS: She had to have the same blood, ma'am.
We are finna see the data. PALMER: Okay, we will. JUDGE LAKE: Do you remember a nine-year-old child saying to you, "Are you my daddy?
" Do you remember that? I remember a child observing me, but not coming to me and saying that, "You are my father. " You see, this is what I am talking about.
He is not a man to own up to nothing, like, if you're my father, just say you are, if you ain't, you ain't. And like, come on now, he ain't got to do all of this. .
. Switching your stories and stuff, that's not right. I never switched the story.
Okay. Are you a DNA tester? You don't.
. . JUDGE LAKE: Hold on, Mr Rollins.
What you're not gonna do. . .
What you're not gonna do. . .
I am not gonna prosecute her. No, you're not going to prosecute her, 'cause you don't have no law degree. You're not a prosecutor.
Feels like you're prosecuting me, though. JUDGE LAKE: What you are. .
. Hold on, hold on, hold on. Hold on.
Hold on. Hold on. (ROLLINS SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY) This is the issue here.
Ms. Robinson is in court because she is trying to find her father. That's why I'm here.
And you are in court because you admittedly slept with her mother. BOTH: Yes. Right!
Twenty-plus years ago. And she is 20-plus years old. PALMER: Uh-huh.
So therefore you are a possibility. ROLLINS: Okay. Ms.
Robinson has to replay, and begin to put the pieces of this puzzle together. In her mind, when she came up to you and said. "You're my father," and you said, "No, I am not," in her mind, "That was my father rejecting me," because it was all her mother ever told her.
Right? So. .
. Hold on! I'm listening.
I am listening to you testify, but in that testimony, what I am not gonna allow you to do is further traumatize this young woman, who for 24 years has been looking for her father, believing it was you. ROLLINS: But let me ask you this question, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Please do.
ROLLINS: After the truth and everything, will the tables turn on her? The mother, that's what I am talking about. JUDGE LAKE: No, no, listen.
You know what, I am looking like the deadbeat and the bad guy. . .
JUDGE LAKE: No, no, no, no! You're just. .
. You're taking on a level of guilt that nobody is really putting on you. They're telling their side of the story and you're telling yours.
This had nothing to do with guilt. You can't. .
. No, you said, "persecution. " With persecution, there's guilt.
Don't bring up. . .
(INDISTINCT ARGUING) Hold on, honey. This is my business. If you talk about persecution, then you're talking about somebody's making you feel guilty.
What I am telling you, is you are not guilty. But what you are is a possibility. So, now, listen, Mr Rollins, I am not gonna do a verbal dance with you because I am going to win that contest every time.
So what I'm gonna do. . .
(ROLLINS ARGUING INDISTINCTLY) That's what I am saying, we are not. . .
We are not gonna do that. What we are gonna do is, we are gonna get down to the facts so that we can get this young woman some answers, and you too. So now moving on, Mr Rollins, that encounter where you saw Ms.
Robinson, what was your reaction once you saw her? ROLLINS: Honestly, I looked at her and I already knew, if she really took time out to pursue the other people that was involved with this. .
. PALMER: There weren't no other people involved. Mr Rollins, who were the other people involved?
I am not a name-dropper. JUDGE LAKE: You don't have to drop the name. But I have associates.
PALMER: Mmm-hmm? What kind of associates are these? I wanna know.
JUDGE LAKE: I wanna understand these associates. Who are you talking about? What do you know?
ROLLINS: The thing is, I can't prove it right now, but the only thing I can do is verbally tell you. . .
JUDGE LAKE: Verbally state it. . .
. that she was, had multiple partners, she was multitasking. No, I was not.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) You were probably the multitasker, I know I wasn't. You are saying in a polite way, she was having sex with more than one man during that time. .
. Exactly, Your Honor. .
. . and you know that for a fact because these men were associates of yours?
Yes, ma'am. PALMER: Your Honor, I only had one boyfriend, and me and him had broke up when I had a two-night stand with Mr Rollins over there, and that's the only one. And when it came to his test, he was not the father, so I know, he is the father.
I am 100 percent on that. Okay, so you've already had the other man tested. .
. Yes, Your Honor. .
. . and he was not the father?
Yes, Your Honor. And that's why you know Mr Rollins is. .
. Yes, Your Honor. .
. . in your own estimation.
Yes, ma'am. JUDGE LAKE: All right. So, Ms.
Robinson, when was the next time you saw Mr Rollins? When I had added him as my friend on Facebook and he accepted me. He.
. . I texted him, I was like, "Hey, do you know who I am?
" He was like, "Yeah, years ago you mentioned to be my daughter. " So he was like, "Do you wanna call me? " I was like, "Yeah.
" He gave me his number, I called him, I told him, I said, "Well, my baby's birthday is tomorrow. . .
" JUDGE LAKE: Tell me when this is happening. It was October the 6th, 2015. So you were about 22 around then?
ROBINSON: Yes. Okay. And so you said.
. . I asked him, did he want to come to by baby's first birthday.
He was like, "Yeah. " So he came, he brought a home DNA test. We didn't know how to use it.
He brought a home DNA test to your baby's first birthday? ROBINSON: Yes. That was because I was asked to bring it.
JUDGE LAKE: Who asked you to bring it? You had said to Mr Rollins, "And bring a DNA test"? ROBINSON: Yes.
'Cause you wanted the answer. Yes, Your Honor. So did you bring the test, Mr Rollins?
We both came to the conclusion that, that test, we had to send it off to get the results, so we gave up on that issue. Okay, so that day you did not follow through with the test even though he brought it? BOTH: No.
Because you realized that it wasn't just about doing the swab that day, that you then had to mail it off, pay fees. . .
All right. ROLLINS: Right. So at the first birthday, do you enjoy yourself, Mr Rollins?
Are you there like a grandfather? What is the dynamic like at this party? Basically the same thing it is now.
It's like, you know, you point me out truly, and eventually, they're gonna understand that they. . .
I am not that. . .
Mmm. But I am not, you know, I am sorry. I mean, if I am, I am gonna hold up to my responsibility.
That's good to know. PALMER: Oh, Your Honor, when he came there, they was in the kitchen, talking, and he gonna. .
. Said, "Let me see your feet. "Your feet do not look like mine.
" (ROLLINS LAUGHING) And he says, "Your mama been sleeping "with a lot of men. " And my daughter said, "No, you don't talk to my mama like that. "About my mama like that.
" So you told her, "Let me see your feet"? PALMER: Yeah. Why, Mr Rollins?
Well, I am not a genetic specialist. But I do know she has, uh. .
. A congenital digital deformity. Uh, what?
ROLLINS: Congenital digital deformity. He don't know. In her foot.
Yeah. JUDGE LAKE: Oh, okay. And from studying her feet.
. . ROLLINS: And the other parties I was speaking upon.
. . .
. . you discovered that.
ROLLINS: Yes. Oh, yes. And therefore, you came to the medical conclusion.
. . I know it's hereditary, you know.
I did a lot of research on it. (PALMER LAUGHING) We got it. But now, she has a lot of features that the other parties have.
That's what he thinks. JUDGE LAKE: Oh. So you're saying that there are.
. . You felt like there was a physical characteristic that was similar to one of the other people you know Ms.
Palmer had sex with. Yes. How do you know she even was intimate with that guy?
PALMER: That's what I want to know. I observed it. JUDGE LAKE: Whoa!
Excuse me? Yes, I observed it. Tell me what happened.
Look, I'd know her walk from anywhere. And it was dark. She wiggling down the street, entered the backyard of my partner, into one of my partner's house she went, so.
. . I waited 40 minutes.
Ain't no way I believe that. When I come back, I thought it was two dogs back there, fighting or something. That was them rolling around in Bermuda grass.
(CHUCKLING) (AUDIENCE WHOOPS) Oh baby, you gotta be messed up. I don't think that was me, it probably been somebody you was with. ROLLINS: (CHUCKLES) No, ma'am.
No, ma'am. So you thought that was Ms. Palmer?
ROLLINS: I knew it. . .
Did you ever follow up with your partner, your associate, and say, "Were we you with Ms. Palmer as well? " Every night, he.
. . They had done their little thing, he would always come back and high-five me, telling me how much, you know, he enjoyed the sex with her, so.
. . (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) Yes.
I sure want to know when that was, because I don't. . .
It wasn't me. Okay. Your Honor, I look just like his mother.
You never met my mother, how do you. . .
I got the evidence, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Oh, please, I'd like to see that. Jerome, will you please hand me Ms.
Robinson's evidence? ROLLINS: So y'all been on YouTube. .
. JUDGE LAKE: So on the left, this is a shot of you, Ms. Robinson.
. . And on the right is a shot of Mr Rollins' mother.
Beautiful woman. Oh man, I never noticed that. JUDGE LAKE: Beautiful picture.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) PALMER: Okay, baby. So Mr Rollins, are you saying you see a resemblance now? I mean, yeah, with the makeup and everything on, I notice that now.
JUDGE LAKE: You see it. You do? ROLLINS: Yeah.
Yeah, that's crazy. PALMER: Mmm-hmm. Yes, I do.
I. . .
Honestly I do, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: I appreciate your honesty. PALMER: Mm-hmm.
Thank you. So, Ms. Robinson, how does that make you feel, to hear Mr Rollins say, "Actually, as you put those pictures side by side, "I do see my mother"?
At least he's owning up to something, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: And I know the stakes are very high for you. I know this matters to you, I can see it in your eyes, you've held back tears during this entire hearing, and have done your best to keep your composure while you've had to hear some very difficult testimony.
Take a moment, Ms. Robinson, and just look at Mr Rollins, and just talk to him about how you feel. I feel like, that.
. . I never had a father in my life.
And my mama, she was always there for me. ROLLINS: I understand. Like, I don't know how a man is supposed to treat me.
ROLLINS: I understand. ROBINSON: Like, I wish you was in my life. So do I.
So I can know how a man is supposed to treat a woman. So do I. But I didn't have any kind of clue that, no solid proof that I was your biological father, so.
. . And she never pursued me, and I weren't finna pursue her about it, so what was I to do?
Be a man and get a DNA test. Okay, we're doing it now. We're doing it today.
JUDGE LAKE: We doing it today. ROLLINS: We're doing it. .
. Yeah. I don't want to make you wait any longer.
Because I know how important this is to you. ROLLINS: Man. .
. Jerome. I am ready for the results.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. JUDGE LAKE: In the case of Robinson-Palmer v. Rollins, when it comes to 24-year-old L'Angela Robinson, it has been determined by this court, Mr Rollins, you.
. . Are not the father.
PALMER: Well. . .
You are not the father. ROLLINS: Baby, I'm sorry. It was my mistake, but I know I didn't sleep with nobody else.
JUDGE LAKE: Well, we know that that's a lie. When I read the result and he was not the father, you weren't even surprised, in my mind. So that says to me that you knew all the while that there was at least one other possibility.
Did you know the whole time that there was at least one other possibility, no matter how small? I don't really. .
. I recall, but I don't remember. JUDGE LAKE: "Recall" and "remember" are synonyms.
It's been so long, I mean. . .
It wasn't no boyfriend and girlfriend thing, it was just probably a hit thing. "A hit thing"? Well, a hit thing can lead to pregnancy, which can lead to your beautiful baby girl.
Yes, ma'am. I know you've loved her, I know you've raised her, and I know you would do anything for her, but sometimes doing anything for your child means putting yourself on the line. Yes.
It means being honest about the dirt you've done. PALMER: Yeah, I do. Right?
Yes, ma'am. Ms. Robinson, are you all right?
Yes, Your Honor. PALMER: I am sorry. And Mr Rollins, I apologize.
And I accept your apology. JUDGE LAKE: Mr Rollins? Ma'am.
Before we go, we may need your help. All right? I am always open to.
. . And I've told her that from the start.
JUDGE LAKE: All right. And she knows it. This courtroom, Ms.
Robinson, is here for you. This is why it exists. And I want you to keep that same tenacity that you had at nine years old, when you said, "I am about to go ask some questions.
" I want you to keep that, so that you can get the answers that leads you to the next possibility, because I know you need that answer. Right? Yes, Your Honor.
All right. I have counseling and resources for you. I want you to talk to Dr Jeff, and I want you to all to begin to figure out how to move forward.
I wish you the very best of luck. Court is adjourned.