Please be seated.
Hello, Your Honor.
Hello.
This the case of Davies v. Hunter.
Thank you, Jerome. Good day, everyone.
AUDIENCE: Good day.
Ms. Davies, you say that
after being with Mr. Hunter for five years,
he's now given into your lies and rumors about your past,
scrapped your wedding plans,
and is now denying your son Jayden.
Is that correct?
Yes, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Hunter, you say
you've never fully accepted that Jayden is your son
because Ms. Davies has a questionable past.
In fact, you say, you believe you even caught her in the act
of cheating on you.
Is that correct?
Yes, Your Honor.
Ms. Davies, Jayden is four years old.
What took you so long to come to court?
Well, Your Honor, me and Devon, like you stated
have been together for five years, almost six.
And due to all the rumors,
he no longer wants to get married.
He has cut off our wedding plans.
So I'm here to prove that he is the father of Jayden.
You called off the wedding plans, Mr. Hunter?
Yes, Your Honor. Because...
Things I have seen... I don't really trust the things she do.
I have seen too much to keep going along with this.
So I have to make sure that
this child is mine.
So this was once a very happy relationship?
Am I correct?
Yes, Your Honor.
Take me back.
Well, Your Honor, we met, like, five and a half years ago,
through a mutual friend
I would say that
we were happy when we first got together.
But then I started finding text messages,
phone calls from other females.
So at that point of the relationship, Your Honor,
I no longer trusted him, at all.
Well, I found messages in her phone too.
Same, same thing.
So that's why I started doing the things I was doing.
Messages from whom?
Messages like, "When you coming out? Can I come get you?"
"When are we going to hang out?"
From men?
Yes, from men.
Ms. Davies, were you entertaining other men?
Yes, I was, Your Honor.
AUDIENCE: Oh.
You were?
DAVIES: Yes.
Because Devon was out with other females.
That's not true. I caught her first.
So that's when I started...
DAVIES: That's a lie, Your Honor.
You caught her doing what?
HUNTER: I caught her with her phone messages first.
And then I started going out, stepping out.
DAVIES: That's a lie, Your Honor.
After I see the text messages,
the females calling my phone,
then I decided that,
"Okay. Two can play that game."
And I decided to go out and talk to someone else.
Now, once you did that what happened?
Well, once I did that, I briefly had a relationship
with a guy.
We were...
(SIGHS) We were sexually...
Together.
A few times.
JUDGE LAKE: Did you use protection?
While she was with me.
Uh, um...
A couple of times we did not, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: All right, so,
that's pretty much why we're here.
DAVIES: Yes.
You find out you're pregnant.
Yes, Your Honor.
He was denying my son from the gate.
He's all, "Are you sure it's mine?
"I found messages so I know you were with other guys.
"So are you sure this is my son?"
I said, "Yes, I am sure this is your son."
How were you sure?
HUNTER:She wasn't.
Okay. I can't say I was 100% sure at that time.
But I wanted Devon to be the father.
Because he has been there in my life for...
At this time we have been together for like two and a half years.
All right. Now we, we are getting honest now.
And that's what we are here to do.
DAVIES: Right, right.
The truth is that when you told him, you wanted him to be.
DAVIES:Yes.
But you didn't know for certain.
Yes, Your Honor.
When she told you that she was pregnant, Mr. Hunter,
how about you? What did you feel in that moment?
Immediately I said, "I have doubt." Because it was just...
I couldn't trust her and that's why I came here.
I need to understand what was really going on
before we move on with our relationship.
When she told you she was pregnant,
did she tell you, she was 100% sure?
Yes.
So what were you basing this doubt on?
Rumors and things that I had heard and seen myself.
JUDGE LAKE: What kind of rumors?
Like people tell me that she had been hanging out, hopping in and out of cars.
I had friend that told me they went to a party one time
and she hooked up with some guy at the party.
That was around the time the baby was conceived.
Uh, you not denying it.
You're just smirking, Ms. Davies.
DAVIES: Um, um...
What's the story?
I did go to parties.
But as far as me hooking up with the guys at a party,
that is false, Your Honor.
I didn't hear it that way.
JUDGE LAKE: You also just testified
that when you told him you were pregnant
you told him that there was no other possible father.
And then you have admitted in court today
that that statement was untrue.
Because you weren't 100% sure.
She is a liar.
(SIGHS)
So if you're not telling the truth now
why should he believe you were telling the truth then?
Well, Your Honor,
he should trust me the same way I trusted him.
JUDGE LAKE: You all going to trust one another?
How can I trust her?
That's another lie in court.
When one day...
Your Honor.
Can I speak?
No. No, let me speak.
One day, I'm at her house, right.
She let me stay over at her house.
I had been drinking so I wanted to go lay down, right.
I accidently fall asleep longer than I'm supposed to.
So she's thinking I'm gone.
She brings another guy and another girl upstairs into the room.
What?
(AUDIENCE GASPS)
So then she makes me leave.
That is true, Your Honor.
That's true.
Okay.
DAVIES: That is true.
Well, explain that.
And I did let him come over.
Because he was drinking. He says he need to sleep it off for a while.
So I'm thinking he's gone.
And so I did come with a guy and a girl
to my house and my room.
What were you brining the guy and the girl in your room to do?
(SIGHS)
(HUNTER CHUCKLES)
Your Honor.
We...
I think we all know what you were going to do.
We did plan on having a sexual encounter.
Me and the guy and the girl.
Now, is this is a different guy
from the guy that you said you were...
Messing around with?
Yes, Your Honor.
And so when you saw that, Mr. Hunter,
were you certain that this guy was excluded from potential fathers?
I didn't even know the guy. I don't know how long
she'd been messing with the guy or anything.
So he could be the father.
Your Honor, I don't...
Your Honor, he has...
I don't know the guy.
He has, he has, um, ex-girlfriends.
They were calling my phone.
You know what, Ms. Davies, I don't doubt
your testimony.
So I felt like I wanted to...
Seems like you had a lot going on.
...step out and have fun too.
Because he was doing it also.
He didn't get pregnant, you did.
You're right. You're right.
And that's why we're here.
I mean, at the end of the day,
we want to say it's a double standard,
but really it's just biology. It's how we're made.
We get pregnant, we carry the children,
and we often carry the burden.
DAVIES: Right.
JUDGE LAKE: Why the tears?
Because this is hurtful to hear all these things he thought about me.
You can't be too hurt right now.
'Cause this is not even the first time. I caught her in the kitchen.
We were sitting in the living room one day
and then she gets up and walks to the kitchen
and she's in the kitchen for like, maybe 10-15 minutes.
She was supposed to come back earlier.
I walk around to the kitchen,
and she is downright standing there in-between this guy's legs.
Like, you know what I mean? What was that about?
JUDGE LAKE: What is this about?
Because you say that it hurts to hear you...
HUNTER: It was multiple times.
You said... Hold on now, Mr. Hunter.
'Cause you're not innocent, but I am more concerned about Ms. Davies in this moment
because she is the mother of this four-year-old little boy,
and we don't know who his father is.
Ms. Davies,
when you say, "I'm upset because I didn't know
"he felt all these things about me."
You do understand that these are things you've shown him.
Yes.
Because you're admitting in court that they happened.
He's not just thinking it up, it happened.
Now we know he was up to no good too.
No good.
Don't think I don't understand that.
But when you are upset in this moment
and you say, "I didn't think he..."
Did you think he didn't know or did you think...
I didn't think that
he really believed all those things.
JUDGE LAKE: That people were saying about you?
Right.
Because all of it isn't true is what you're saying.
DAVIES: Yes.
I'm going to admit to what the truth is
like I have done so far.
But as far as me hopping in and out of cars with guys,
leaving parties with guys, that's false.
What is Jayden's relationship like with Mr. Hunter?
He's present in the home.
But, he does not physically interact with Jayden...
JUDGE LAKE: Really?
DAVIES: Yes, Your Honor.
We just had a birthday party for Jayden.
Devon didn't show up.
Why didn't you show up to the child's birthday party, Mr. Hunter?
'Cause she was gonna be tripping on me and all kinds of stuff.
'Cause we weren't... Like at that time, she was mad at me, anyway.
Doesn't matter you were still supposed to show up to his birthday party.
If I came to the birthday party,
she would be jumping all over me
in front of all the guests at the birthday party.
But if this could potentially be your biological child
why wouldn't you just show up at the party?
It's not about Ms. Davies, it's about Jayden.
He didn't show up when I had the baby.
I didn't want to mess the party up.
Cause that's how she is going to do...
You felt like if you came you all would get into it
and then the party would be destroyed.
Exactly, the party would be over.
So my concern is this,
you two are living together now.
I could do more but...
BOTH: Yes.
So for four years you've been having this dispute.
And during our relationship he was denying that he was even with me
the whole time we were in a relationship.
And so this just led you to feel insecure...
Lonely,
and I wanted to have someone that was with me all the time.
Because he was out of the house 90% of the time!
'Cause she would kick me out.
She would kick me out, like, every week.
Yes. Because I'm always finding text messages.
You want to come home at 4:00 and 5:00 in the morning.
It happened like twice.
So, yeah, I was kicking him out.
Twice too many?
I had good reasons. I had a party, we had a party.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHS)
When did a party become a good reason to stay out till 5:00 in the morning
when you have a girlfriend at home?
And a four-year-old son. What grown man does that?
I have physical proof, that he's the father.
HUNTER: It happened only twice, Your Honor.
Only twice you stayed out till 5:00 in the morning?
HUNTER: Yes, Your Honor.
Jerome.
What day did you get to stay out till 5:00 in the morning?
I didn't do it.
Right.
(LAUGHING)
So, Ms. Davies, I heard you say, "I know for certain, I have proof."
I have evidence right here.
Jerome, may I see that?
DAVIES: Look at Mr. Hunter's hair and look at my son's hair.
They both have curly hair, nice hair.
My hair is nothing like that. My hair is nappy, I need a perm.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
Can I just say...
Both of their hair look a mess,
but I'm going to give the baby a pass.
(LAUGHING)
All right.
JUDGE LAKE: Um...(LAUGHS)
HUNTER:I always get mine done, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: And I understand
you're looking at texture of hair.
Don't say good hair, baby.
All hair, if you have some, is good.
All right.
Now, listen, the next piece of evidence, is what?
DAVIES: The height of my child, Your Honor.
A height chart? Explain this to me.
DAVIES: The average four-year old, Your Honor, is only 40 inches tall.
Jayden is 48 inches tall already.
My whole family and everyone on my side of the family is short.
The other possible father, he's average height.
Which Devon is 6'1".
So you feel like Jayden is tall.
Is tall.
And Mr. Hunter is tall.
Yes.
The other guy not so tall?
Not so tall.
JUDGE LAKE:Next, you submitted a photo.
Oh, he's so cute.
DAVIES:Thank you.
Jayden and Mr. Hunter, they're both slew footed, Your Honor.
I don't know if you know what that means.
I do.
Okay. Which means both of their feet goes out like this.
And they stand just like that.
He had to get that from Devon.
Now, I see it in Mr. Hunter, but do you really think Jayden...
DAVIES:Yes.
...looks slew footed right there?
DAVIES:In that picture he is probably playing and doing something else.
If there was another picture,
when he stands, he stands just alike, Your Honor.
Both of their feet are pointed outwards.
Now do you think this slew footed trait is genetic?
DAVIES: I think so.
No one in my family is slew footed, Your Honor.
The other guy isn't slew footed.
Devon is and so is my son.
Okay. So, Mr. Hunter, if today's results prove
that you are not Jayden's father,
where do we go from here?
I'm done. I'm done with the marriage and everything.
I'm not even, I'm just...
Wash my hands of everything.
JUDGE LAKE: And if you are,
are you gonna try to rebuild trust?
Put your wedding bands back on?
And you all try to pull this thing together?
Yes, Your Honor. I'm willing.
That's why we're here.
I'm willing to move forward,
put all the trust issues we had behind us.
So that...
I don't want Jayden feeling that...
How I'm feeling that his father is not there for him.
He knows who I am.
He knows just who I am.
With these results, this is either
gonna push us forward
or I guess we are done.
And that's why these results are so important.
DAVIES: Yes.
And I have them for you, Jerome.
Thank you.
You're welcome.
These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows.
In the case of Davies v. Hunter,
when it comes to four-year-old Jayden,
it has been determined by this court...
Mr. Hunter.
You
are not the father.
I told you.
JUDGE LAKE: I'm very sorry.
(SOBBING)
(SNIFFLES)
Don't cry now.
(SNIFFLES)
Oh, my God.
Ms. Davies, are we to assume that this other gentleman
is Jayden's biological father,
the one you spoke about in your testimony?
Or is there someone else?
Let's be honest.
No, there is no one else, Your Honor.
I know the other guy has to be the father.
JUDGE LAKE: Jayden is four years old. That means
his entire life he thought Mr. Hunter is his father?
Yes. Yes.
Calls him "Daddy"?
HUNTER: Yes.
How long has this engagement been?
Maybe four, five months.
(DAVIES EXHALES)
We was going to get married.
Mr. Hunter,
is it possible to still grow this relationship and figure things out?
Your Honor, I'll still be there for him.
But, I'm not dealing with her no more.
I can't do it.
I can see that this upsets you very much too, Mr. Hunter.
Yes, it does. Really.
And just for her to sit there and lie like that
I don't understand it.
JUDGE LAKE: You do.
You all created...
It was just an environment
of infidelity.
Back and forth. You're supposed to be in a committed relationship.
You're supposed to be boyfriend and girlfriend.
And both of y'all are just sleeping with other people.
As you can see, four years later
the main person that's going to be hurt in this entire equation
is Jayden.
DAVIES:Yes, Your Honor.
So we have to figure out how to move forward.
Mr. Hunter has indicated that he still would like to be in Jayden's life.
So this will be between the two of you,
and how you handle it.
But I hope you keep this little boy first
because he is old enough to feel love and old enough to feel loss.
We have resources I want you to take advantage of.
And I want you to figure out how to help make this right for this child.
I wish you all the very best of luck.
Court is adjourned.
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