Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello.
This is the case of Johnson v. Carr/May. Thank you Jerome.
Good day everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day. Mr Johnson you say the defendant, Mr.
Carr has been playing an emotional DNA game with you over her daughter's paternity for the past 18 years. You've brought her to court to finally end this game and prove you are not her daughter's biological father. Is that correct?
Yes, ma'am, Your Honor. Ms. Carr, you say that Mr Johnson has been dodging a DNA test and his responsibilities as a father since the day you told him you were pregnant.
You claim the only reason he is denying her is because you are married and will no longer sleep with him, is that correct? Yes, Your Honor. Mr Johnson, what upsets you the most about this?
The lies. The up-and-down roller coaster. One minute I'm not her father.
The next minute I am. It's been a burden with this paternity, you know. Ms.
Carr, you say this is not true, what he's saying. Your Honor, Mr Johnson has always acknowledged my daughter and he has always attempted to be in her life. JOHNSON: Your Honor, that's incorrect.
When her daughter was first born her father came to my house, sat me down on my couch and said that they had a DNA test with another man and I was not the father. He was the father. Take me back to the nature of this relationship.
You all used to be boyfriend and girlfriend? No, ma'am. My uncle married her aunty.
. . JUDGE LAKE: Okay.
And they adopted her. I used to go over to their house and help him out like cutting grass and things of that nature. And I would stay the night.
And they would allow us to sleep in the same room. AUDIENCE: Oh! We had sex one time.
JUDGE LAKE: Okay. One time. It was a lot of touchy feely before, and the one time we had sex it was, you know, wham bam thank you, ma'am.
Your Honor, that's not true. Yeah. Well, do you agree that you had sex with him just one time?
I agree that we had sex on multiple times. We have had sex. .
. And at some point you realized you're pregnant. Yes, ma'am.
At the time I was young. I was just coming on my menstrual, so this was still new to me. So it was brought to my attention that my menstrual was late or it had not come on when it was supposed to.
So I was taken to the doctor and later on determined I was pregnant. I then called Mr Johnson and told Mr Johnson that I was pregnant. And Mr Johnson's response was, "I'm going to Dayton, Ohio.
" Right. I was moving back to Dayton, Ohio at this particular time. Uh, family members were there.
It was an emotional day. She gave me a call, "I'm pregnant. "Do you think it's yours?
" Wait, do I think it's mine? Do you think it's mine is the question. You know what I'm saying?
We never had the conversation about, "Do you think it's yours? " It was just, "I'm moving to Ohio. " Your Honor, I remember this conversation verbatim.
You hear me? This is something I cannot forget. I remember the whole day like it was yesterday.
Crying and snotting. I told my family member after I got off the phone with Ms. Carr, "I could have a baby on the way.
" Your Honor, nobody else in the family knew about him being a possibility until I had her on the delivery table. That's when I told my mom. JUDGE LAKE: And then once you had the baby what did you do?
Did you call him back and. . .
MS. CARR: I did not call him. I did not pursue him.
I had a boyfriend at the time. And Mr Johnson was aware. .
. So they thought the boyfriend was. .
. . .
. of my boyfriend. .
. . the father of the child.
The whole time. JUDGE LAKE: All right. They came to my house and told me they got a DNA test with somebody else so I moved on with my life.
What else am I supposed to do? The head of your household comes to me and tell me that. .
. That's not true. You know what I'm saying?
"I got a DNA test. " What am I. .
. Okay, okay, let me understand this. At that time you had a boyfriend?
I did tell him. I pursued it with him and it went nowhere. JUDGE LAKE: When you say you pursued it with him, what do you mean?
When you pursued it with the other guy, what did that mean? Yeah, what does that mean specifically? She told him he was the father.
That's why they came to my house two years later and told me they had a DNA test with another guy. There was no DNA test. There was never a DNA test.
When you found out that you were pregnant, you told Mr Johnson and you told the boyfriend. Yes, ma'am. I left that part out.
I apologize. JUDGE LAKE: Okay. Now this is coming together.
So you got the boyfriend and you told both. I told both. Mr Johnson said, "I'm moving away.
" So at that point when the baby was born you still had your boyfriend, right? There was no one involved, no one. No one's name went on her birth certificate.
So why would you get excluded from the equation? No one was involved. And you never did a DNA test with the ex-boyfriend?
We had a DNA test within the last three years. JOHNSON: Wow. Me and the other father.
And you did not know this, Mr Johnson? No, ma'am, I didn't. Mr Johnson has been active in her life periodically.
At one point of time after her father came to my house and said that I wasn't the father, I move on with my life. Maybe about five, six years later, I had my first daughter. They see how I'm, uh, interacting with her and so I guess they say, "This is your daughter now.
" No, this is not true. JOHNSON: Let me tell you. I've seen the daughter in a grocery store.
She runs up to me. She ran up to me. Like, "Daddy.
" Uh, I'm, I'm shocked at the moment, like, "What? Wait a minute. Daddy?
" When I tell you, I'm looking for cameras to pop out. I thought I was on a prank show or something, like. .
. How old is she? She's about five or six at this time.
Your Honor, this is my first time ever hearing this story about the grocery store. JUDGE LAKE: Okay, so let's hear it. She run up to me like, "Daddy.
" You know what I'm saying? And I'm like, "Oh, wait a minute. Okay.
"Uh, hey. " I wanna say, "I'm not your daddy. " But I can't tell this little girl this, you know what I'm saying?
I recognized the family members so I just assumed this was Ms. May, but. .
. That it was her. I'm confused as to why she's calling me Daddy.
So I'm asking for a DNA test. Like, "No, you can't just say that "she's my daughter without me getting a DNA test. " So what happened when you requested the DNA test after the run-in at the grocery store, Mr Johnson?
It never happened. So about three to four years later, I move in with a family member that they are close to. And, uh, Ms.
May is constantly interacting with these family members. So she comes to the family member's house and like, "Your daughter is coming. " Like, this is not my daughter.
I, I. . .
Your Honor, that is not true. Can I finish my story? I said I need a DNA test.
And all the family, like, "No, she's yours. You don't need to get a DNA test. "She look like another family member when she was younger "and.
. . " So I'm just full of emotion and so against my better judgment, even without the DNA test, I started accepting Ms.
May as my child. I know that I need to get this DNA test based on what they told me in the past. I'm a full-blown father now.
Birthday parties. Clothes, school clothes. Your Honor, I donated.
. . I donated a plasma to have Ms.
May a Hannah Montana birthday party. How old was Amber at this point? It was her ninth birthday, her tenth birthday.
I'm a full-blown father. MS. CARR: Your Honor, he never communicated to me about this.
I'm a full-blown father, everything. So uh. .
. So if you're a full-blown father and you throwing birthday parties, what brings you to court today? You still have doubt?
I got a phone call about a year or two later requesting a DNA test. That's not true, Your Honor. Now, after I've done.
. . I'm a full-blown father.
Why get a DNA test now? Why not when I asked for one? I want the answers to both of those questions.
Number one. I want the answer to why after all that time he's doing birthdays? He's showing up, he's a daddy.
Why, why the DNA. . .
MS. CARR: He's not communicating with me. Again, he's not communicating with me, and I always find out about things after the fact.
And so you didn't have any idea all this time that Mr Johnson had been stepping up and trying to be a father to your daughter? MR. CARR: And that is false.
That point of time I stepped up. She had a. .
. He did one birthday party, one. How old was she?
Facts. One. This is a fact.
Yes, one birthday. And who are you? Okay.
I don't even. . .
I've never seen this man a day in my life. You know what I'm saying? Who are you?
You know, there has been a lot of talk about Amber. And I personally am ready to meet her because I want to ask her myself. .
. JOHNSON: Yeah, yeah. .
. . what is going on.
Jerome. (APPLAUSE) Will you please escort Ms. May into the courtroom?
Yes. Hi, Amber. Hello, Your Honor.
What memories do you have of Mr Johnson being in your life? Memories with Mr Johnson. Um, my tenth birthday he threw me a party at the water park.
I remember that. And then there was the time from summer at the fifth grade. I remember that day because he made me stay in the house while all my cousins playing outside.
There was a lot of boys out there. She was the only girl. (LAUGHTER) I was not.
I was not. And so when's the last time you saw Mr Johnson? Last time I saw Mr Johnson was the fifth grade summer.
Was probably around. . .
Hmm. . .
. 2010. So you have not seen her or laid eyes on her?
No, ma'am, she's extremely beautiful. . .
(VOICE BREAKS) (CLEARS THROAT) JUDGE LAKE: Yes. (APPLAUSE) JUDGE LAKE: Ms. May, what was your understanding as it related to your paternity?
What were you told? I was told by family members that he was my father and they would show me pictures of him and they were like, "Oh, you look just like him. " And so I was like, "Okay, that's my dad.
" And growing up my mother had told me that he was a part of my life and so I don't have that many memories with him. Like, there was this time I called him on the phone, I asked for a birthday present. He gave me a false tracking number and we was all waiting for it, I was like so excited to get the present and it never came so I just.
. . I forgot about it and.
. . Did you give her a fake tracking number, Mr Johnson?
JOHNSON: I may have, Your Honor. At the time I probably had got the phone call to take the DNA test and I told Mr. Carr that I'm not doing anything else until we get proof that this is my daughter.
We never had that conversation, Your Honor. We had a conversation when I went through the court system and pursued him for DNA testing and child support. This is after, this is after I stepped.
. . It was screwed up that I did that, but this was while, this was during the same time as the tracking number and the gift that he had promised her.
So when you requested the DNA test, he never showed up? No, he did not. And so at that point your desire to pursue Mr Johnson was to collect child support?
I just wanted a DNA test once and for all so that I could quit hearing, "I don't know if she's mine" or you know, I didn't wanna hear that because one moment you're her father. The next moment you're not. It gets really confusing.
I mean, it is, it is amazing to me how much you all were doing. You did everything but get a DNA test. I mean, everything.
(APPLAUSE) And now Amber is the one who's hurting. . .
JOHNSON: At the end of the day. . .
. thinking you're her biological father. And you only showed up for a birthday party and, I mean, Amber what was that like?
Well, at there, Mr Johnson, like, left me, that's when the man I call my father, Mr Carr over there, that's when he came and stepped up and took his place. And so all these years I was like, "Hmm, okay, so you know, "he doesn't want to spend time with me. " And so I recently got in contact with him and over social media and asked, "Are you going to come to my graduation or are you gonna lie and say you're coming "and then not show up?
" JOHNSON: Yeah. I have copies of text messages. Jerome, let me see that, please.
This is not the whole conversation, but it's just the part that really stood it out. She said, "What, you don't want to talk to your first born that you abandon? " AMBER: Because he actually contacted my mother.
He has told me to tell my mother to call him. And so you said, "I did abandon you. "I take responsibility for my actions.
"But it's a lot you don't know. " And then Amber writes back, "Well, I'm of age, please enlighten me, Brandin. " And then you say, "You may not be my daughter.
"We were supposed to get a paternity test "about four or five years ago "but your mom never went through with it. " JOHNSON: Correct. And when you reached out, all you wanted was your biological father and the man you know to be your father figure in your life.
You wanted them to be at your graduation. Yes, ma'am. And Mr Johnson, if you are her biological father, would you like to go to her graduation?
JOHNSON: Gladly. I would love to. It's hard on her.
You know I'm saying? She's the number one being hurt out of this. You know I'm saying?
But I got feelings and emotions tied up in this as well. I have missed out on a lot. They deprived me of the chance of her.
. . MS.
CARR: That's not true. . .
. falling in love with me for the first time. They deprived me of seeing her first steps.
That's not true, Your Honor. They deprived me of her first birthday. Father-daughter dances.
They deprived me of a lot of stuff, too. Your Honor. .
. You have an opportunity to tell him. I felt like you could've gotten in contact with her.
You could have. But you didn't try. And so that doesn't make me feel like you want to be with me.
Look, it's, it's over with now. It don't have to be over with if you're my daughter. It's over with now.
You know what I'm saying? We can be over from now for. .
. You know, we can't ever get back the past. It don't have to be over if you're my daughter, Amber.
(APPLAUSE) We're here to get you the answers, Amber, you deserve and you need and we have those answers for you. Jerome. These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows.
In the case of Johnson v. Carr/May. .
. JUDGE LAKE: When it comes to Amber May, it has been determined by this court, Mr Johnson, you. .
. . .
. are her father. (APPLAUSE) MR.
CARR: I knew that. All the time. May I go hug my parents?
Absolutely, honey. Okay. It's okay, honey.
It's okay. (APPLAUSE) JUDGE LAKE: We came here for a beautiful young woman who deserves to know who her biological father is. And now we have that answer.
Yes, we do. And I am so thankful that you have Mr Carr in your life and I am so happy that your mother has been there for you. Every girl needs her daddy.
And you've been blessed with two. (APPLAUSE) You have two men who love you very much. And that's a beautiful thing.
Mr Johnson. I just want to apologize to Amber first. I, I.
. . I'm extremely sorry.
I love you. I will be here for you from now on. (SOBBING) (APPLAUSE) I have counseling and resources for all of you 'cause I want you to figure out how to take the next step.
And it won't be easy but it's gonna be worth it. Yes, it will be. JUDGE LAKE: Yes.
MR. CARR: Yes, it will. JUDGE LAKE: And I wish you all the very best of luck.
JOHNSON: Thank you, Judge. Court is adjourned.
