Please be seated. Hello, Your Honor. Hello. This is a case of<i> Whitman v. Mapson and Anderson.</i> Thank you, Jerome. You're welcome. Good day, everyone. AUDIENCE: Good day! Ms. Whitman, the man you claim you love is standing in our courtroom hallway. Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: But you confess you cheated on him with the defendant... WHITMAN: That's right, Your Honor. ...Mr. Anderson. (AUDIENCE GASPING) So today you're here to determine the paternity of your one-month-old daughter, Makayla, in hopes of saving your relationship. Yes, You Honor. Mr. Anderson, you say you knew Ms. Whitman was in a relationship when you slept with her, yet claimed she was also intimate with other men as well. (AUDIENCE GASPING) Furthermore, you say you hope today's results will prove you are not the father of Ms. Whitman's daughter. Yes, Your Honor. So, Ms. Whitman, you were in a relationship with Mr. Mapson? Yes, we were in a relationship. Then you ended up cheating on him with Mr. Anderson? That's right, Your Honor. (AUDIENCE GASPING) So now, explain. Well, me and Mr. Mitchell met at a bus station, when I was coming from Chicago to Arkansas and we kind of like kicked it off quick, we became girlfriend and boyfriend, and two months into the relationship I met Mr. Anderson. And we were pretty much like friends, and because I thought Mr. Mitchell was cheating, I kind of went to him and we were texting. And you... So then you started giving Mr. Anderson a little bit more attention. Yes, Your Honor, that's right. JUDGE LAKE: Continue. And we kind of pretty much was just friends at first and then it just was kind of like friends with benefits. It wasn't like all the time. That would be casual, right, Jerome? Absolutely. Yes, Your Honor. Okay, and now your fear is that Mr. Anderson... (CHUCKLING) ...is Makayla's father. That's right, Your Honor. So, Mr. Anderson, you have doubts? ANDERSON: Yes, I do. Please explain. Well, I have doubts, because I know she was sleeping with other men besides me. (AUDIENCE GASPING) Specifically, how do you know that? Because I've seen them up there, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Up where? Me... No, no, no, I need details. This is court. I need details, I need facts. ANDERSON: Okay. I'm gonna tell you. You say... Yeah. You say you saw them with your own eyes. ANDERSON: Yeah, I... Explain to the court. Look, we are all... This is a small town. A small town, everybody knows everybody, everybody knows who drives what. This particular person I know stayed with her a week. (AUDIENCE GASPING) JUDGE LAKE: Really? And you know who this guy is? ANDERSON: I know him. He's one of my cousins. (AUDIENCE GASPING) Oh. So one of your cousins stayed up there with her for a week? Yes. Did your cousin tell you that he slept with her? Yeah, we even gave each other daps and everything. (AUDIENCE GASPING) JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Whitman, do you know who this cousin is? Yes, I know who his cousin is, but his cousin did not stay a week. Well, how long did he stay? His cousin never stayed at my house, period. JUDGE LAKE: Was he at your house? He came there, yes. JUDGE LAKE: Did you sleep with him? No, I did not. His cousin liked me, but we never slept together, he bought me a bed when I first moved to my apartment. ANDERSON: I'm not talking... I'm not talking about that cousin. He bought you a bed? I'm not talking about that cousin. Yes. Well, I don't know... I'm not talking about that... Wait, wait, there's more... There are more cousins? (CHUCKLING) Hold on. No, I don't know what cousin he's talking about. Hold on, Mr. Anderson, so you do know his car? Yes. And so you know it was him? Yes. JUDGE LAKE: And you saw the car parked there? Yes. All right, I want to understand how did you figure out or find out that Ms. Whitman was pregnant? Well, actually, Facebook, uh... (AUDIENCE CHUCKLING) My baby mama, she didn't even call me... I sent you the picture of the pregnancy test. And you sent it to Mr. Anderson? WHITMAN: Yes, Your Honor. Did you send it to anybody else? ANDERSON: Yes, she... Yes, she... I, um, sent it to Mitch, too, through Facebook. JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Mapson? Yes, Mr. Mapson, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: Was he excited about the pregnancy? Yes, he was very excited and then, like, maybe two weeks later, I told him that it could be someone else. JUDGE LAKE: You did? Yes. So two weeks after you initially told him, "I am pregnant," you were honest and said... WHITMAN: That's right. "This child could be someone else's." Yes, Your Honor. Jerome, I think it's time we talked to Mr. Mapson. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Please escort him in. Alright, come on with me. I'm gonna have you go up to the witness stand next to the Judge. How you doing, Your Honor? Hello, sir. Thank you for joining us, Mr. Mapson. So we're here, of course, discussing the paternity as it relates to beautiful Makayla. And we understand Ms. Whitman has testified that she was in a relationship with you at the time the child was conceived. Yes. Did you have any idea that she was sleeping with other people? I kind of had suspicions, because of our relationship, it was a long-distance relationship, and after a while, you know how a long-distance relationship is. Did you show up to the hospital and participate in the birth with her? At first, my intentions was to show up at the hospital, but just knowing that it could have been somebody else's kid, I didn't want to just involve myself. To involve myself in that situation and then find out it is not mine... It just... I didn't feel comfortable with that. So you didn't go to any doctor's appointments with her? Nope. And sometimes I would call and promise that I would come, but I just couldn't show up. (AUDIENCE GROANS) And were you all still supposed to be in this relationship at the time? Were you all trying to work through this? Yeah, we was in... We was... We were working through it. I feel bad for not showing up, telling her that I was going to show up, but it was just, the situation, it wasn't right. I went through the whole birth alone, the whole nine months. He even... He even stopped talking to me and I couldn't... I couldn't get a hold of Mr. Anderson, 'cause he blocked all communications. Facebook, the telephone. (AUDIENCE GASPING) ANDERSON: Yeah, I did that. And he stopped answering the phone for me, Mr. Mapson. The reason I blocked her off is because of the stuff she was doing on Facebook. She was, you know what I'm saying, just out there just saying, "This is my baby daddy," knowing she been with other people. I've never put on Facebook that you were my baby daddy. You know what I'm saying? People were asking me, even my baby mama. The one... The girl I'm with. I ain't with her now, because that's destroyed, you know. So since you had such real doubts, did you pursue a DNA test at all? Did you say I want to have a paternity test? Yes! Yes, I did. What happened? And we argued about that. What... What is the argument? She admitted she didn't know. He wanted me to pay half of the DNA test, but Mr. Mapson also wanted me to pay half. I wasn't going to pay half for both the people. JUDGE LAKE: Wait a minute! (AUDIENCE LAUGHS) She done gone half on the baby, and won't go half on the DNA test. ANDERSON: Your Honor... Now, that doesn't make no sense. Your daughter, Makayla, has a right to know. Yes. That's obvious. So now that Makayla is here, has anyone bonded with her? Have either of you two gentlemen... You have, Mr. Mapson? So now that she's here... I went to see the baby and that... She was pretty, she was a beautiful baby. So I showed her around to my family. <i> Even called my kids, asked them what they think about her,</i> <i> and they all said, "We believe it's yours,"</i> <i> 'cause she kind of look like my youngest son or whatever.</i> JUDGE LAKE: <i> So you had to take this beautiful new baby around to your family</i> <i> and to your children, and literally just say,</i> "Do you all think she looks like me?" Correct. AUDIENCE: Wow. JUDGE LAKE: And are you all in a relationship? No, we're not, because we're trying to get the results of this and then maybe we could move forward. But I don't want to lose Mr. Mapson, but I'm afraid that if he's not the father, our relationship is basically over. So, Mr. Mapson, are you willing to work on this relationship... You did that. I didn't do that. ...if in fact it's determined that Makayla is your biological daughter? Oh, if she mine, I'm willing to be with her. I told her once that marry or whatever, we'll just do what we gotta do. And what if she's not yours? If she's not, that right there, that'd hurt. AUDIENCE: Aw! Mr. Anderson, have you spent time with the baby? Well, I came up there one time, you know, uh... WHITMAN: Yeah, he came one time. Came up there one time. When I came out the hospital. Looked at, you know... Talked to her... JUDGE LAKE: And when you saw the baby, did you feel like, "This child could be mine"? Well, not really. I mean, you know, I had them doubts, you know, I had my doubts. But, you know, that's... That's a child, you know, and, uh, a child deserves to know who their parents are, you know. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) (INDISTINCT TALKING) You seem like you feel emotional right now, Mr. Anderson. What are you feeling? I already been through so much. Y'all don't know... Y'all don't know what I went through before I got here. What... What are you feeling now? I'm feeling pain! Hurt! JUDGE LAKE: Because this situation really bothers you? This situation has affected our life, you know. My baby mama takes on all the time talking about this situation. We get into it, she called the police on me, had to get my stuff, get out. You know, I got on out. After that happened, another man there. She done kicked me out. I done spent money... He's there right now. And now Mr. Anderson's relationship is destroyed, Ms. Whitman, but the truth of the matter is, is you're worried that the situation is gonna destroy your relationship with Mr. Mapson, because you don't want to be with Mr. Anderson. No, there's no way that me and Mr. Anderson could be together. But you want to be with Mr. Mapson? Yes, that's who I want to be with. And if... I'm afraid if the baby is not his, he will not be... He will respond the way Mr. Anderson's girlfriend did, and not want to be a part of a relationship with you. Yes. Probably, basically, yes. Yeah, you might be right on that one. But I love Mr. Mapson and that's who I want to be with... But, see, I just want to know, you know... You know, if the child is mine or not. JUDGE LAKE: And she... I didn't want to come on here just blasting her. I'm just trying... You know, I'm just telling the truth about the situation. And that's exactly why you're here, is to tell the truth and to get the truth. Right. Right. JUDGE LAKE: Which is what I have for you. Right. Ms. Whitman, I'm gonna go to results, and I just have to ask you, because, like I said, we're here to tell the truth. Mmm-hmm. JUDGE LAKE: I've heard Mr. Anderson's testimony. Is there any chance that neither one of these gentlemen are the father of your child? WHITMAN: No, Your Honor. No, Your Honor, there's no chance that anybody else could be the father. JUDGE LAKE: So you are positive that there is absolutely no other possibility... WHITMAN: Yes, Your Honor. ...no other man, besides these two, could be the father of your child? That's right, Your Honor. There's one. No, there's not. You agree with Mr. Anderson, Mr. Mapson? You believe there's a third? All I know is about Mr. Anderson. I don't know nothing about nobody else. WHITMAN: There's no one else... People... I was texting people, people might have come over to my house to chill, but I was not having sex with anyone else, but Mr. Anderson. And me and Mr. Anderson was not together, so I couldn't have cheated on him or anything like that. We were just friends with benefits... ANDERSON: What about the guy that stayed up there a week with you? No guy stayed there a week. I don't know what guy he's talking about. There's no one else... Do you see that same smirk, Mr. Mapson? ANDERSON: Look at you. You know. JUDGE LAKE: Every time we mention this car and this week... (LAUGHING) JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Whitman! Yes, Your Honor. JUDGE LAKE: What's that smile about? JUDGE LAKE: 'Cause I personally don't see anything funny. ANDERSON: I'm looking like the bad guy here! JUDGE LAKE: You know... I'm thinking about a little girl, who's sitting up here, waiting any minute, "Somebody put me on my daddy's lap. "Oh, I know, first we gotta figure out who he is." Well, there was a guy that stayed there a week. But, uh... This is the guy... (AUDIENCE GROANS) Me and the guy was not together. His girlfriend put him out, and me being as a friend, because he has to get all his... Y'all weren't friends. That was just like me and you were. WHITMAN: No, we was not. So you admit it that you lied in the court room previously, you said a man was not staying there with you for a week. But we were not having sex. He was staying there. He was sleeping on the couch. He stayed there until he got all his utilities at his house back on... But you didn't tell Mitch about that, did you? I didn't know nothing about that. I did not tell Mitch. JUDGE LAKE: So the bottom line is you've just admitted that you lied in the court room previously, because you previously stated that a man did not stay at your home for a week, when Mr. Anderson testified that he did. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) But... JUDGE LAKE: So now I need to ask you again, is there any possibility that... WHITMAN: No. No, Your Honor. ...the father of your beautiful little girl could be someone other than these two men? No, Your Honor, because that happened way before I even got pregnant. He was there in the same month. JUDGE LAKE: All right. No... There's nothing... No, we was not! He was there... I got pregnant the beginning of October, and he was there one week, and after he left, then you came in. JUDGE LAKE: All right, let me tell you what. WHITMAN: No, no, no. JUDGE LAKE: Ms. Whitman, Ms. Whitman, look, your credibility just went down the tube, so, Jerome... (AUDIENCE LAUGHING) Thank you. These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows. In the case of <i> Whitman v. Mapson/Anderson</i> as to whether Mr. Mapson or Mr. Anderson is the biological father of one-month-old Makayla... (AUDIENCE GASPING) JUDGE LAKE: As to whether Mr. Mapson or Mr. Anderson is the biological father of one-month-old Makayla, it has been determined by this court, Mr. Anderson, you are not her father. Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, Jesus. I knew it! I knew it! All the time, all that stuff you've done to me. We have another result. Boy... It has been determined by this court, Mr. Mapson, you are her father. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Can I come up and shake his hand? He'd like to shake your hand. I'd like that. (AUDIENCE APPLAUDING) Oh, yeah, good luck. All right. That's a beautiful girl you got. Ms. Whitman, you're a very lucky young woman, because he still took his place right by your side. And, Mr. Mapson, I hope that means that you are willing to give this a try. To give her the opportunity to show and prove more to you than she has in the past. I'll never leave my little girl, that's my baby. I'm very happy for you both. And good luck to you as well, Mr. Anderson. Thank you. Thank you, Your Honor. Court is adjourned.