You may be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello.
This is the case of Short v. Johnson. Thank you, Jerome.
Good day, everyone. ALL: Good day. Ms.
Short, you and your mother opened your case today because your first love, the defendant, denies he fathered your 21-month-old son, Jabari. You are a single, teenage mother who needs help, and you demand Mr Johnson step up and be a father. Is that correct?
Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Mr Johnson. You are in court with your mother and say you might have been the plaintiff's first love, but you weren't the only one.
You refuse to do anything for her son until the DNA results prove you are his biological father, is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Ms.
Short, you say you need help. Yes. Explain.
Yes, because he's the father of my son. And my son, as a boy, needs a father figure. And I need extra help, like while I'm in school.
(CRYING) We got to do this for Jabari, stop. SYLVIA: She just needs to know, is he the father, so he could step up and do the right thing, hopefully. You know, we can't make him but we need to know because I did.
. . I did stop him from coming over because I didn't want no feelings to get involved.
Like, them get attached if he wasn't the father, because she did tell them it's a possibility he may not be the father. JUDGE LAKE: Jabari is almost two years old. How did you meet?
Well, it was on Facebook, and we used to text. He was my first kiss, first everything. Okay, so after you met, you all started having sex, and at some point you find out you're pregnant.
Yes. Me and Mr Johnson had sex, April 23rd. I see him on Facebook with another female.
And he was like, "I don't want you, I want her. " He was talking about the other female. And I was like, "He just left.
He just left me. " After that happened, it was May 3rd. I went out eating with some friends.
Okay. And at night, I had met the other boy. And this is not my first time meeting him but it's the first time we ever had sex.
SYLVIA: Mm-hmm. So, I'm like, "Well. .
. "Mr Johnson don't care about me. Why not?
" Okay, so, did you confront that other guy? I sure did. Did you say, "I'm pregnant and you're the father"?
I said, "A possibility. " She really believed in her heart, it's Mr Johnson. JUDGE LAKE: All right, and she.
. . SYLVIA: I'm hoping it's not.
Mr Johnson, at what point did you realize Ms. Short was even pregnant? See, Your Honor, I was away.
I found out she was pregnant six months into her pregnancy. Okay. And were you informed that you were the biological father?
Yes, ma'am. She told my mom that she was pregnant and I could be the father. So, at the time I'm thinking that the baby's mine.
But at the end of the day when I come home from being away, I got her friends coming to me, talking to me about the other dude. So, you know how that making me feel, I was there to see the baby. I was doing the hair of the baby.
I was there, when she called me and asked for help I was there to help her. I was there. Her own mother was not in the hospital room when she had her baby.
I sure wasn't 'cause I wasn't happy about the situation. Well, it don't matter. .
. It does matter. You're just full of it.
You're full of it, honey. Okay, okay, to the moms, hold on. Let this young man talk.
SYLVIA: I hope he's not the daddy. Go ahead, Mr Johnson. But when I found out about the baby, and I talked to Ms.
Short on the phone, I told her if he was mine, I was gonna be there for her. I was gonna help her with the baby. But when I got out and her friends started telling me that, that's when I started having my doubts.
All right. Did you know your friend, Ms. Short, was telling Mr Johnson that he may not be the child's father?
Your Honor, it was an ex-friend. I thought she was my friend. I was like, it was a possibility, so I was scared to let the mom know.
She was like, "You need to let them know, "so there won't be any confusions when the baby gets here. " After that, I called her and I said "It's a possibility that Mr Johnson "can be the father of my son. " She said, "If you need any help with anything, please let me know.
" I didn't expect that because I'd said "possibility" already. JUDGE LAKE: Was that Mr Johnson's mother you were speaking to? Yes, Your Honor.
Okay, so you were speaking to Ms. Mabry. SYLVIA: Uh, Your Honor, she then came to the baby shower, bought the baby one box of Pampers, he bought the baby a small pack of Pampers.
It had been a struggle, let me tell you. I've been raising him. I've been doing the best I can.
It's very, very expensive. I guess he has babies for trophies. He don't pay child support for none of his kids.
And I didn't go. . .
None of em. So this has been very difficult on you to have to raise the child without any financial support from the father. It was a point in time where her mama would get into our arguments and tell me not to come back to the house.
None of that, if I come over she's gonna call the police. That's why I stayed distant. I never said that to you about calling the police.
But it was worse being said about. . .
He has another family member that wasn't even around when this happened but he knows about everything. How does he know about everything when all the. .
. Well, the truth is, is somebody knew about the other guy, and he really does exist, and so they just told him truthfully, what he needed to know, which was, "Before you go and start stepping up "and taking care of this baby, "there is a possibility that another man could be the biological father as well. " He was merely informed about what was true.
And there is another possibility, and there is a question of paternity which is why you are here. All right, I want to hear from you, Ms. Mabry.
Because, you remember having this conversation with Ms. Short? Yes, ma'am.
JUDGE LAKE: You did. And you said to her, "If you need anything, just let me know. " Yes, and it also went further into a blood test.
They wanted me to do a blood test because this other dude saying he wanted to know if Demarzyea was the father, if Demarzyea's not the father, that makes him be the father. I'm not gonna go through all that. And another thing about the baby, when we try to get the baby, she have to come and sit with us.
We can't get the baby, and she's talking about flexing and fronting and all of this. . .
We was trying to be involved with this baby even though we know it was a possibility that it's not my son's baby. And I could back her up on that. There was times that I tried to come see the baby but her mother wouldn't let me come to the house.
He's still trying to do things for the baby. Her mother wouldn't let me come to the house. You'd always have someone with you when you'd come.
Your homeboys, you could never come by yourself. JUDGE LAKE: So hold on, ladies. Ladies, before we go there and all that, this is the issue I'm having at this point.
I need to establish a connection. I need to establish a reason why Ms. Short, you decided that Mr Johnson is the biological father of your child when you said you also had slept with another person as well.
I'm going by the dates. My due date was January 14th. JUDGE LAKE: Okay.
I had him on January 8th. I had sex with Mr Johnson, April 23rd. And May 3rd is just too close.
JUDGE LAKE: So Ms. Short, the bottom line is, is the other person that was a possibility. .
. You reached out to them as well to say that it is a possibility that he could be the biological father. You also know that Mr Johnson is a very real possibility because of the close proximity of the time you had sex with Mr Johnson and the time you had sex with the other guy, right?
Yes, Your Honor. All right. So when the baby was born, Mr Johnson, were you there?
JOHNSON: Yes, Your Honor. Did you sign the birth certificate? JOHNSON: No, Your Honor, I went to, but I didn't have my ID at the time to sign a birth certificate.
And he wasn't gonna sign nothing until we found out the truth. SHORT: But I felt like they came back when I had him, to see, did he look like Mr Johnson. (VOICE BREAKING) I don't want to go through this.
It's okay, baby. Shh. It's okay, baby.
It's okay, we're gonna find out the truth today. JOHNSON: Well, Your Honor. .
. All I want to say is, I just wanted to know the truth for if he is mine, I will be there for him. And I just don't want to be in the midst of "This is that, that's that," I don't want to be in the midst.
. . I just want to know the truth.
That's all I want to know. JUDGE LAKE: So he's almost two now. Who's been his father?
SHORT: My mom, my dad, my sister. And. .
. My family. It's just been my family.
I'd like to see your evidence. Hand it to me, please, Jerome. So this is a communication between you and Mr Johnson.
Am I correct? SHORT: Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: And this is something he wrote to you?
SHORT: Yes, Your Honor. He writes. .
. (JUDGE LAKE READING) So he wrote that letter and promised you in that moment that he was gonna be a good father to his child. And believed, it seems, that it was his child.
Do you remember writing that, Mr Johnson? I remember writing that letter, but at the time I thought that Jabari was mine. Me, growing up 20 years, I never had a father.
If he's mine, I'm going to be there. Blink, end of that discussion. JUDGE LAKE: So when you wrote that letter, you had no idea the other guy existed?
I didn't know nothing about it. It wasn't until you got back home and then people told you there is another guy, and then once you confronted her about it she admitted that, yes, there was. Yes.
And there is another possibility, and there is a question of paternity which is why you're here. And what is troubling me in this moment, I have done my best to be patient. I have been frustrated, I have been trying to be compassionate because you all are young people, and now you've gotten yourself into this whole big drama with adult situations and adult problems.
You can't even string two good sentences together in this courtroom about the situation, much less be prepared to take care of a living child, this beautiful little boy, almost two years old. And this is babies having babies, and this has got to stop. (APPLAUSE) Now.
. . Mr Johnson, you say you got more than one child.
How many children do you have? I have four. .
. With Jabari, I have five in all. (AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS) JUDGE LAKE: So you got four other children.
. . Yes, ma'am.
. . .
and Jabari would make five? Yes, ma'am. And you're 20 years old?
Yes, ma'am. That is not his kid, Your Honor. They're not his.
They're not his. I wish they can do blood tests too, but they don't want to. JUDGE LAKE: You're saying that some of the other ones you feel like are not his?
Yes, ma'am. But the fact that he is in the running for the position as father. .
. And I don't mean it. .
. It is not a joke, I mean it. (APPLAUSE) The fact that you are in the running to be the father means that you admittedly slept with these women without protection because if you used protection you would know, "That's not me.
" Hmm. JUDGE LAKE: Right. And so that goes back to my point of, you all are young people.
Potentially five children at 20 years old, that's unacceptable. You all aren't dating anymore, are you? 9 No, Your Honor.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHING) It's a lesson learned. It's a lesson learned. That's what I'm talking about.
You make mistakes in life. But I will tell you this, this can be the last time you make this mistake if you make that decision. Raising a child ain't no joke.
I had a child at 41. Some days it takes me to my knees. I don't know what I'm gonna do.
SYLVIA: Yes. And I got one. 'Cause some days it's just that hard.
And you're responsible for another human being in this world. They're looking at you. Everything revolves around you.
You don't just change your own life, you change the life of your family, your family's lives, the child's life. Everybody has to chip in, everybody has to be responsible. Your mother's just here.
Mr Johnson's saying. . .
She doesn't even know for certain if the other children are truly her grandchildren. She doesn't know for certain. And I'mma really, really drop a dime here.
Matter of fact, I'mma drop a dollar. And I want you to pick this up. Our people, historically, were used to be baby factories.
A man like you, a tall, young, handsome black man like yourself would be on a plantation, making babies, right? JOHNSON: Yes, ma'am. You are no longer.
. . (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) .
. . supposed to be a baby-producing machine.
Do you understand? JOHNSON: Yes, Your Honor. You have a future.
You have a calling in this life. And it's more than just being a father to a whole bunch of kids you can't take care of. Do you hear me?
Yes, Your Honor. And Ms. Short, you can't say nothing and you just burst out in tears.
You're so overwhelmed, I don't know what to do. I don't know whether to put you on punishment, or hug you. I don't know what to do with it.
(APPLAUSE) Yeah. But when you don't have purpose in your life, and when you don't understand that there's more to do in this life than lay down with boys and make babies, that you can go to college and you can make something of yourself, and you can have a job and you can run a corporation and you can be the President of the United States. .
. Then you don't sit around. .
. And not even sit around, lay around with young men who are busy with multiple women because you're better than that. But we here now and Jabari is here.
Now I wanna get these results. Jerome, give me the envelope. (JEROME CHUCKLES) (APPLAUSE) These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows.
. . In the case of Short v.
Johnson, when it comes to 21-month-old Jabari Short. . .
JUDGE LAKE: It has been determined by this court, Mr Johnson. . .
You are the father. (APPLAUSE) Like I said. .
. I'll be there for him. JUDGE LAKE: Good.
I'm glad you will. This is all I wanted, you know, to get all the extra stuff outta the way. It shouldn't have took this.
JUDGE LAKE: You had to. But no, no, Ms. Short, this happens in life.
It should not have taken this. But it did. SYLVIA: Yes, Your Honor.
And we're here now. Yes, Your Honor. And now you at least have the answer.
Yes. So now we've got to figure out how to get you two on the right path to be able to raise this child together. So let's get real.
You all are gonna have to work out, together, when and how you all will see the baby, when Mr Johnson and his family will be able to see the baby. And you can do this in your living room or you can do this through the courtroom. It's up to you.
Because if not, the court will order him to pay support, and they will also set guidelines with which he can see the child. And the best example you can set for Jabari in this moment is to go after your dreams. But there's more to being a father than just running around and taking pictures for Facebook.
Hello, hello. JUDGE LAKE: I'm just telling. JOHNSON: I don't even get on Facebook.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) But you know my point. Yes. It's more than just pictures and this and sneakers.
It is food, it is care, it is time, it is setting the example, right? Yes, ma'am. Okay.
Moms, y'all gonna have to get in there. SYLVIA: Yes, no problem. JUDGE LAKE: Get in there and help 'em.
I've been in there. I have been in there. I've been there, too.
And you all are gonna have to stop that little bickering and all that nonsense. I have no problem with nobody. JUDGE LAKE: Good, good.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) JUDGE LAKE: Because, Jabari needs his whole village, all right? SYLVIA: Mm-hmm. Take care of yourselves.
Court is adjourned.
