You may be seated.
Hello, Your Honor.
Hello.
This is the case of Marks-McGhee v. Wright.
Thank you, Jerome. Good day, everyone.
AUDIENCE: Good day.
Ms. Marks-McGhee, you say the defendant
needs to step up and take responsibility,
for your two-year-old son Ahmari,
because you know he is your son's biological father. Is that correct?
Yes, Your Honor.
Mr. Wright, you claim Ms. Marks-McGhee,
didn't even tell you about her baby,
until he was three weeks old,
and you know you are not the father.
Yes, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Wright, why do you believe
the plaintiff is claiming you are the father?
Well, I believe, the other guy she had in her life,
didn't want anything to do with her or the baby anymore,
so she decided to push the baby off on me.
(AUDIENCE MUTTERING)
Is that true, Ms. Marks-McGhee?
No, that's not true.
I mean, I did tell a couple lies, play a mean game,
however, I know that Mr. Wright is Ahmari's father
and I just want the truth to be out.
So that my son can get to know his family
and you know, be a part of his family's life.
JUDGE LAKE: So, tell me what was the nature of your relationship?
Uh, the nature of our relationship
was, he was religious,
supposed to be something for me to get over someone else,
but things went further than what they were supposed to go...
Oh, he was first just a convenient distraction?
MARKS-MCGHEE: In my mind, yes.
(AUDIENCE EXCLAIM)
WOMAN: Oh, okay.
But, um, you know, like I said,
things went farther than what they were supposed to go.
JUDGE LAKE: When you say went further...
I started getting feelings for him.
So, it was supposed to be a rebound, then you start having feelings for him.
Real feelings.
Mmm-hmm, yes ma'am.
He was there for me a lot, and my other son...
Um, we had sexual intercourse a week after we met.
Um, I let him move in about a couple of weeks after that.
So, a month of us knowing each other, I let him move in.
He was very helpful.
He would watch my son,
not Ahmari, my other son, while I would go to work.
He would clean, cook, help me out around the house.
When I couldn't get something he would make sure that he got it.
And he made sure we were straight,
so my feelings for him got stronger for him.
You know, so one day he cared...
He's a very wonderful man, he really is.
And I just, I fell in love with him too,
so, I call it a lost love triangle that I was caught in.
However, I know for a fact,
that Mr. Wright, is Ahmari's dad.
Because he was the only man that I was sleeping with,
around the time of conception.
So...
Did it start off as a rebound for you too, Mr. Wright?
Or you had feelings from the beginning?
I mean, I didn't have feelings in the beginning,
because, you know what I'm saying, when I first met her,
I was introduced to her by a friend.
In the beginning though, she was telling a lot of lies,
you know, that I always picked up on, you know?
But, if you knew she was lying, why move in with her?
(AUDIENCE MURMURS)
WOMAN: Exactly.
I was vulnerable.
JUDGE LAKE: You were vulnerable?
(AUDIENCE EXCLAIMS)
I was vulnerable.
All right. Explain.
(CHUCKLES)
I was... I had left for a minute and came back...
You know, when I came back here and I met her,
you know what I'm saying, I really didn't have anything.
You had a place in your life where you needed somewhere to stay.
I guess you could say that.
Okay. Was it a relationship,
or was it, "I'm just gonna stay here for a while."
What was the plan?
Yes, it was a relationship.
And then at some point you realize
you're pregnant, Ms. Marks-McGhee.
Tell me what happened, um,
Mr. Wright, when she told you she was pregnant?
Well, she always used to joke around saying that she was pregnant a lot,
like she said it plenty of times.
Like she would joke about it right now, "No, I'm not pregnant."
Then, "I'm pregnant." to the point where...
You just like, now in the back of my mind,
"Oh, she's always lying when she's talking about that," you know.
Me, being in my position hearing that constantly,
what would you think?
Well, I mean, at some point, I'm not gonna lie, Ms. Marks-McGhee,
you know, you've heard the story about the boy that cried wolf.
You've become the girl that cried pregnant.
Right, but that wasn't the case.
So, what was the issue? You kept thinking you were pregnant?
No, I thought I was pregnant, one time,
before I really found out that I was pregnant.
I wasn't feeling myself, I know how I feel,
you know, when I'm pregnant, I'm a female,
I've had a child before, I've had kids before.
When the time came,
we were moving out of our apartment October first,
I took a test that morning
and it was positive and I told him.
But, um, then I kind of
found out some stuff on his social media, that I didn't like,
and there was another female saying that,
she was pregnant by him,
and he was saying she was lying.
I broke it off with him.
Then I told him that I was gonna get rid of the baby.
Then he was seeing pictures of me big and pregnant,
I wanna say about five, six months...
So, were you lying when you said that?
Yes, ma'am, I was.
All right.
So, this is what you talk about
when you say she was lying.
WRIGHT: Yes, ma'am.
First she's pregnant,
then she's not pregnant, then she's...
I mean, there's a whole story behind that too, because,
once we left from the apartment,
you know, I barely had any contact with her at all.
So you moved out?
Right.
Okay.
Apparently, she started messing with somebody else.
And, that's who she tried to put the baby off on.
Oh, in the beginning she told someone else they were the child's father?
In the beginning, I told Mr. Wright, he was the father,
but the someone else was the one that I was trying to get over,
by even starting anything with Mr. Wright.
Oh, so the ex, came back in the picture.
Right. Right.
After Mr. Wright moved out.
Right. But see, he was away.
Like, far away.
JUDGE LAKE: Okay.
And, you know, after I found out that I was pregnant,
was when my ex came back,
me and Mr. Wright had no contact, we weren't speaking,
after I told him, you know, I got rid of the baby,
and I got re-pregnant by someone else.
Did you say re-pregnant?
Yes ma'am. Yes ma'am.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHS)
JEROME: I heard that.
MARKS-MCGHEE: I said it.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHS)
So, you have sincere doubt, Mr. Wright?
Yes.
JUDGE LAKE: You truly don't know?
I don't know at all. I don't know what to believe right now.
There's too many lies around it.
There's just too many lies around this whole situation.
You know about how females have their little girl code, right?
Girl code? Okay.
How you can look at your friend
and you can tell a whole paragraph just by doing this.
(LAUGHTER)
You know what I mean?
That's how we do?
(SCATTERED CLAPPING)
Look, how you looking right now...
We really can do this.
We really can do that.
Uh-uh, I'm listening.
Okay, so...
(STAMMERING)
I can also do it to Jerome and he knows what I'm saying.
(LAUGHTER)
WRIGHT: Maybe he just picked up on a girl talk.
(APPLAUSE)
He's been with me long enough,
but I understand what you're saying. You're saying,
uh, girls have non-verbal communication.
Right.
All right, I'm listening.
So, you could be around... Being around enough of that
you could pick up on it sooner or later.
You know, like, there's actually one incident,
I acted as if I was her,
texting her friend.
JUDGE LAKE: Oh!
You text from your phone or you text from her phone?
I text from her phone.
Okay, so you got her phone...
It just so happened on this specific day,
she was on the phone a lot.
You know, and I was like "What's going on?
"What you got going on, on the phone?"
So, when I finally had a chance to grab it, you know,
as if I was playing a game or something,
I went ahead and texted a friend.
Texted one of the friends on her phone.
You text one of the friends that she has girl code with...
Yes.
JUDGE LAKE: All right.
And so, you're gonna crack that code.
Yes, ma'am.
So, you submitted these text messages, to the court,
so, you text...
WRIGHT: I was like, "Girl this guy's acting up."
(JUDGE LAKE READING)
Oh!
(WRIGHT CHUCKLES)
Then she says back, "Who?"
Now, mind you...
Females are smarter than what people really give them credit for...
Now you know...
(AUDIENCE LAUGHS)
Well, Mr. Wright, I'm glad you filled me in on that today.
(LAUGHTER CONTINUES)
...is that, "What do you mean, who?"
That's the first thing, "Why you said who?"
Who else? Like, who that... Who's with...
So, your spidey sense is up now.
Yeah.
'Cause if it was only you,
she would have just responded.
Right.
JUDGE LAKE: Okay, then what happened?
So, I text back... I was still in character as her.
(WRIGHT READING)
And I was just waiting, I'm waiting.
Just like, "Okay, what is she about to say? What is she about to say?"
There's actually one incident,
I acted as if I was her,
texting her friend.
JUDGE LAKE: Oh!
So you text...
WRIGHT: I was like, "Girl this guy's acting up."
She says back, "Who?"
I text back, "Who do you think?"
And I was just waiting, I'm waiting...
Just like, "Okay, what is she about to say? What is she about to say?"
A whole different name popped up, I was like...
JUDGE LAKE: Who is that?
WRIGHT: You see how you looking right now? I was stuck just like that.
(AUDIENCE CHUCKLING)
Your Honor, he's...
JUDGE LAKE: That's how you were?
He's not lying about that, it happened.
When I felt like I'm a lady, like...
I'm not finished sitting around and just be played,
when I was the only one working.
I mean, he was cooking, he was cleaning, he was watching the kids.
However, like, you wanna go hang out with your friends,
but you don't hang out with me.
You wanna go always be with your brothers,
but you don't wanna be with me,
so, yeah, I was texting other people.
Sexually engaging with other people?
No, Mr. Wright, was the only person
that I was having sexual intercourse with.
He had open access to my phone anytime he wanted it,
because I felt like I had nothing to hide.
Let's talk about that though, Mr. Wright.
If she did have something to hide,
usually people that have something to hide in their phone,
they don't give you their phone to play a game.
She didn't give it to me.
Oh!
She set it down while she was watching TV...
Oh, you picked it up
and acted like you were gonna play a game.
She didn't give you authorization.
No.
All right, so, did you confront Ms. McGhee?
Did you confront her?
WRIGHT: Yes, ma'am.
And what did you say?
I asked her... I asked her who is this guy?
She's like, "Oh, that's a friend."
You know, from the past.
Way back in the day.
You know what I'm saying.
MARKS-MCGHEE: Right after that...
I can't even sit here and tell you...
He walked around mad,
punching holes in my wall with his head.
So, I'm asking, I'm like, "What is wrong with you?"
Like, what do you... You know, what's wrong?
And he asked me and I told him who it was.
A lot of people didn't know about Mr. Wright.
And that was for a reason.
Because I had a lot of problems
with a lot of my friends with my ex.
And why are you so certain
he is your child's biological father?
Oh, I got the proof, the looks.
My son has his mouth, his eyes, I have big eyes.
Ahmari has beady eyes like his father.
Look at the mouth, the bridge of his nose.
And he was the only man that I was, you know, having intercourse with.
I don't think Ahmari's mine at all.
JUDGE LAKE: You don't?
No, ma'am.
Tell me why?
I mean,
if you want to, you can bring up, I don't see him in me.
Like, I don't see me in him, like...
He doesn't look at all like me.
It was just too much going on,
it was just... It was just too much going on,
she was messing with some other guy.
You know? And I just don't feel like none of this add up.
Even while... Even after he was born, you know?
I tried to reconcile, you know, try to be around.
She would disappear all the time, I couldn't find her.
'Cause she won't answer the phone.
She's never around. Like, she says she's at work.
They say she never came in.
But, she'll leave with a full work uniform...
No.
There's never been a time that I have never went to work,
because, like I said, I was the one paying the bills,
paying the rents, by naturally taking care of my kids.
So...
How many children do you have?
Your Honor, I wanna say this.
I have five boys.
She cut me off, you know?
Five boys at 24 years old.
Yes, ma'am.
(AUDIENCE MURMURING)
I don't got no reason to come up here and lie.
You know what I'm saying, it's like...
I can tell you about times where, you know,
she was supposed to have been at work
when her family members done came around,
go up there, "Where you at?" "I'm on break."
Y'all set that up! Y'all set that up!
Playing a game.
Here it is.
I was at work. I went to work...
But, Your Honor, after I got off of work,
yes, I did go,
and I went and did something else
instead of going straight home.
I don't have to report to nobody when I'm doing everything.
JUDGE LAKE: Well, Ms. Marks-McGhee,
as it relates to the paternity and why we are here today,
I hope you understand that it's really about the lying
and it's gotten to the point now, where he doesn't believe
anything you say.
Right. But, Your Honor, this is what I don't understand,
he doesn't believe anything I say,
but he's so quick to play daddy.
And we're... You know, we have been... Everything's everything.
But then, when we're separated,
and we're not talking,
you know, he goes to his family members,
and he's telling them that my son is not his.
And my son love him. You've just seen that.
I did...
My son loves him to death.
Just, you know,
the other day, we seen him,
and when he left, my son was crying.
Because, he wanted his daddy.
JUDGE LAKE: And he calls him Daddy?
Mmm-hmm, he does.
WRIGHT: You know, I'm not gonna sit here leave him out here,
to be out here without a dad. You know what I'm saying?
I can't do it. I feel like I should just walk away from him.
You know what I'm saying? Disappear.
But, I wouldn't do that.
Because, that's who I am.
JUDGE LAKE: You just want answers before he gets older,
and you both get more attached.
Because, I didn't, like, I didn't get to spend much time with my father.
My father got killed when I was 12.
AUDIENCE: Aw!
So, I couldn't see...
I couldn't see somebody else like that, but I could prevent it.
You understand?
I do understand.
And so, as you look at his beautiful innocent child,
you don't want him to experience what you experienced.
Right. That's exactly what I'm saying.
I did him wrong, in a big way. I love him to death.
I'll never, you know, regret that.
And I was wrong and I do not blame him at all for not believing it.
All I can do was bring him here to prove to him
that Ahmari is his son.
That's why we're here and I have those results for you. Jerome.
Here you go, Your Honor.
Thank you.
These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows.
JUDGE LAKE: In the case of Marks-McGhee v. Wright,
when it comes to two-year-old Ahmari Marks-McGhee,
it has been determined by this court,
Mr. Wright, you...
...are not his father.
(CHUCKLES)
JUDGE LAKE: What are you feeling, Mr. Wright?
I don't know if this is a sad feeling
or angry feeling that I'm feeling right now.
So, I was saying,
he wasn't mine, I did build the bond with him.
JUDGE LAKE: Yeah.
It's been two years.
You know what? Ain't nothing gonna change.
Ain't nothing gonna change.
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
That's still my little boy.
Ms. Marks-McGhee, I have to ask you,
do you know, who Ahmari's biological father is?
Yes, Your Honor, I do.
Is it your ex?
It has to be, because they were the only ones.
You know, when you lie...
Mmm-hmm.
...it permeates every part of your life.
You gotta start telling the truth.
So that you can tell Ahmari his truth.
You understand what I'm saying?
Yes, ma'am.
All right. We have counseling and resources for both of you.
Mr. Wright, I know you're disappointed.
I'm very sorry that this did not turn out,
I think, even though you were uncertain,
you were hopeful.
And I could see that.
I wish you all the very best of luck.
Court is adjourned.
(GAVEL STRIKES)
(AUDIENCE APPLAUDING)
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