Please be seated.
Hello, Your Honor.
Hello.
This is the case of Harris v. Sterling.
Thank you, Jerome. Good day, everyone.
AUDIENCE: Good day.
Ms. Harris, you claim that your 15-year on and off relationship
with Mr. Sterling has produced a baby
that he is trying to get out of helping raise.
You are here to prove paternity
and force him to step up. Is that correct?
Correct, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: Mr. Sterling, you say the plaintiff told you
her son, Ca'son, was not yours,
and you're tired of taking care of another man's baby.
You've come to get the DNA proof you need
to remove your name from the birth certificate
and finally get Ms. Harris out of your life. Is that correct?
Yes, Your Honor.
All right. So, Ms. Harris, you say you're not going to raise this baby alone?
Yes, Your Honor. Basically, Mr. Sterling needs to step up
and take care of his baby that he knows is his.
You know, I'm not going to do this by myself.
So, I'm here because I want to prove paternity to him
that this is his child.
And so, you've been doing it by yourself thus far?
Yes, ma'am.
Eleven months Ca'son is?
He's... Our birthday is tomorrow.
So, he'll be one. I had him on my birthday last year.
AUDIENCE: Aw!
JUDGE LAKE: And so, Mr. Sterling,
Ca'son is almost one year.
No help, no support?
First of all, that's not my baby
and I'm going off of what Charity is telling me.
Oh, what did she tell you?
HARRIS: First of all,
it is his baby and he knows it's his baby.
That is not the truth.
It is his baby.
She tells me, when we get to arguing,
"This is not your baby."
Yeah.
And you need...
Because he gets on my nerves
and I don't want him to be in my life.
So...
JUDGE LAKE: Oh...
Just like he want to move on and move out...
Move on with his life, I do too sometimes.
I hate I even met him.
(AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING)
Okay, so, Ms. Harris, the truth is you did ring that bell.
You have said to him, "It's not your baby."
HARRIS: I did.
And you know, as a woman, once you ring it, you can't unring it.
I und...
He's always gonna have that thought in his mind
and that doubt to hang his hat on.
Right, but he wasn't doing nothing
before the bell got wrong
about him not being the father.
JUDGE LAKE: You're saying before your said this,
he was not stepping up to the plate.
Exactly, and he was cheating the whole time I was pregnant.
That's a negative.
He was cheating.
That is a negative.
He was cheating the whole time.
That is a negative.
And he's lying.
Hold on, Mr. Sterling.
Yes.
Because, even if he was cheating, that's bad enough
and we don't want that and we do not condone that in this courtroom.
The question concerning paternity would surround
whether or not you were sleeping with somebody else...
No.
...at the time.
And so, Mr. Sterling,
what I'm saying is, I want to understand
your doubt.
First off, you're saying she's told you, point blank,
you're not Ca'son's biological father?
Yes. The timeline doesn't add up at all.
She told me
her finger was broken or something,
she went to the hospital
to a random doctor or whatever,
and they told her she was pregnant.
And when they told her that she was pregnant, she called me.
Six, eight weeks,
is supposed to be when she...
When they said that she was pregnant.
I mean, how long she was conceived.
And you submitted a calendar to the court.
Yes, ma'am.
I'd like to go through that calendar
so I can better understand this.
Thank you.
JUDGE LAKE: So now, the first date on this calendar
says the doctor's appointment
was on March 21st.
And the doctor says Ms. Harris is six to eight weeks pregnant.
And you had sex on Valentine's Day.
So now, if we count back six to eight weeks,
one week, two weeks, three weeks, four weeks,
five weeks, six weeks, seven weeks, eight weeks,
that is the last week in January.
HARRIS: (CHUCKLES) Your Honor.
STERLING: Thank you.
Um, first of all, they told me that hCG number of the blood test
showed that I was between six to eight weeks.
When I went to my primary care gynecologist,
they confirmed that I was six weeks pregnant
and because of my last menstrual period
that was on February 1st,
my conception date was Valentine's weekend.
So, why would my doctor make that up?
Ms. Harris, I'm gonna be completely honest with you.
There are women, grown women,
that stand in this courtroom that don't completely understand
the workings of their reproductive organs and systems.
They don't.
Right.
And so, as we look at this...
HARRIS: But I had a baby.
Look, and that's why you understand it.
Yes.
What I asked him was,
is what is your doubt based on?
Why're you so distant from this baby?
Why don't you believe this baby is yours?
And he's trying to say to me,
"These are my reasons."
Number one, "She told me I wasn't."
Number two, "When I did the calculation,
"this is what I came up with."
This is his evidence he's submitted to the court.
HARRIS: Right.
Your explanation of the evidence is your explanation.
Exactly.
But his understanding is something different.
And so that's why I'm trying to understand why he doubts.
And I want him to enumerate it.
Now, Mr. Sterling.
Yes, ma'am.
JUDGE LAKE: Please tell me
if there is any other reason why you doubt
Ca'son is your biological child.
When she was eight months pregnant,
she told me that, uh,
there was another guy who could be the baby's father.
And it broke my heart.
First of all, that's a lie.
We had an argument,
and she just brung that up.
I don't know if she was mad or what,
but whatever it is...
JUDGE LAKE: What happened? Tell me the story.
...it implanted a doubt in my head.
He's lying.
What happened?
She said, "Don't worry,
"you're not my baby's father anyway.
"So you need to like go and kick rocks,
"get on with your life or whatever." I'm like, "What?"
Like, we were just together,
I was just, you know, the baby's father, and everything. But now...
Did she tell you when...
...all of a sudden...
Did she tell you when
she was with this other guy?
Yes, two weeks before,
before we had sex on February 14th.
It's not funny.
It is very funny.
So, if you go back to the calendar,
you're now saying
if we count two weeks before,
the time when you were intimate with her,
which is February 14th,
two weeks before that would be
around the first week
in February, last week of January.
You're saying it puts the window right at the time
when she claims she was intimate with somebody else.
Amen, Your Honor.
So, Ms. Harris, did you have sex with another man
two weeks before you had sex with Mr. Sterling?
It wasn't two weeks, it was like three weeks.
It was like not even three weeks.
(AUDIENCE MURMURING)
So, it's two to three weeks
before you were intimate with Mr. Sterling,
you were intimate with another man.
Yeah. Yeah.
JUDGE LAKE: Okay.
Did you ever tell this other man you were pregnant?
No, because it was not a possibility
because I did not have unprotected sex with this man,
like I did with Chris when I conceived.
JUDGE LAKE: So you never...
He didn't tell you that part.
So you did have sex with the other guy but you used protection?
Yeah.
That's what she says.
I don't know.
That's what I did.
I don't got to lie to myself.
Man.
We're here today for a reason.
Things happen.
Because she is lying. Because she is a liar.
That's the reason we're here today.
Exactly, 'cause you're a liar. You need to step up pretty much.
No, listen. I don't want to take care of another man's child.
You don't want to take care of the children that's yours.
Yes, I do. I love him. I love that little boy and you know that.
HARRIS: Don't sit here and play it like you just...
STERLING: You know that. That's the reason you wanted me to be the baby's daddy.
You don't take care of yourself or the child that you already got.
Don't sit here and kick it like that, baby.
I ain't got nothing to do with this situation.
Don't sit here and kick it like you do...
JUDGE LAKE: Hold on, hold on, hold on.
Your biggest issue is
you don't want to take care of another man's child.
You want to know if this child is yours.
You don't believe this child is yours.
He don't like responsibility, Your Honor.
And, Ms. Harris, you believe he's avoiding responsibility.
He's avoiding responsibility. Let me tell you something.
Whether my son is or is not his,
he don't take care of himself or the one that he knows is his.
But now you just said, whether your son is or isn't his.
So do you have doubt?
No, I don't, Your Honor. I know he's my baby's daddy.
I know this. I know Mr. Sterling
is my child's father because I was not having sex like that.
Yeah, we were getting it in.
Yeah, we were getting it in, just like you done got it in and the "condom" broke,
with another girl.
Okay.
That's another story.
We can save that for Couples Court.
JUDGE LAKE: Okay.
Jesus.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
Okay.
Well, I guess this will be an ongoing saga.
Let's deal with the paternity issue now.
Well, Your Honor, I just want to say, with all the doubt that he has,
first of all, he was there with all my doctor visits.
Yes. Yes.
He was there when I delivered my baby,
along with flirting and cheating on me
throughout my whole pregnancy.
He was at the hospital flirting with nurses.
And I'm about to get in a fight.
Your Honor...
You're nothing to treat me like that.
Hold on, sir.
Your Honor. No.
MAN, no.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
He signed the birth certificate.
Please don't let her finish that
And cut the umbilical cord, I want you to think about it.
If you thought that this was not your baby then,
I didn't have no gun to your head.
Why did you sign the birth certificate?
Why you was there through my delivery?
Man.
Why did you cut the umbilical cord?
So, here is the birth certificate that he signed.
JUDGE LAKE: Let me see that.
Jerome, let me see the birth certificate.
Because you got our life all the way twisted, sir.
That's your brain.
No. That's your brain.
So this is evidence of Ca'son Sterling's birth certificate
where Christopher Sterling has signed as father.
Yes.
So, she asked a very good question, Mr. Sterling.
If you had this doubt,
when the baby came and you were at the hospital,
why execute the birth certificate
if you know you have doubt?
The thing about it, Your Honor, um,
like at the eight month when we got into an argument,
I thought it was just because she might have been mad,
maybe she did just say this out of...
'Cause you know you cheated and you lied, you were wrong.
Whatever. So maybe she did say this out of just spite.
You know what I'm saying?
So, when she had the baby, I still was there.
I was still there, and I was still doing what I can,
being by her side.
What was you doing?
Rubbing your big, old feet.
Rubbing your big, old legs.
(LAUGHTER)
Yeah.
He's trying to joke.
"Baby, I look ugly."
"No, baby, you look good."
JUDGE LAKE: No, don't worry.
Ms. Harris, I'm not laughing.
...big old feet.
STERLING: I was there.
HARRIS: Get away.
I rubbed them big, old feet.
You were up my...
JUDGE LAKE: But listen, listen. No, no, no.
We're not laughing at you, Ms. Harris.
I'm laughing with you though because I was just looking at some old pictures
when I was eight, nine months pregnant.
And, I mean, my feet were huge.
It's so crazy. It was crazy.
I know that's fine.
But, listen, listen.
The point is, is he's saying,
he did think when you said that in the argument
that you were just being mean.
And he didn't really believe it.
And so, you executed the birth certificate, right, Mr. Sterling?
Yes, ma'am.
And you were happy to do so because you believed this was your child.
Yes.
But somehow, from that point on,
the doubts began to grow?
STERLING: Yes.
JUDGE LAKE: Based upon...
Sure enough...
He thinks the baby don't look like him.
Four months,
she texts me.
And when she texts me, she say, "The baby...
"The baby is somebody else's."
She said... She said it again.
I couldn't believe she told me through a text again.
I told you once.
No, you told me again through a text
four months later.
I told you once.
And told me it wasn't mine again.
JUDGE LAKE: Hold on. Hold on.
The communication you're talking about, Mr. Sterling,
you submitted to the court.
Yes.
JUDGE LAKE: It says...
(JUDGE LAKE READING)
JUDGE LAKE: And then you respond.
(JUDGE LAKE READING)
(SCOFFS)
Boy, you don't know how to spell.
You're very illiterate.
You didn't even graduate from high school.
JUDGE LAKE: So, listen, the point is...
HARRIS: One thing your're not going to do is
just sit here and try to play me like I'm stupid.
That's what you're not going to do.
No, you're not stupid, I'm stupid.
Yeah, you are.
I'm very stupid because I'm dealing with your broke ass.
No.
Hold on, hold on.
Ms. Harris, hold on, hold on.
Let's not go there with it.
What he submitted it for is to show
that you have said in writing, and you admittedly said it
in an argument,
this child is not his.
Mmm-hmm.
What he is establishing is there has been a reoccurring theme in this relationship
that the baby is not his.
No, it was one time. He's using it because he don't like responsibility.
He won't do nothing before I told him it was his.
What was the difference?
JUDGE LAKE: So was this the only time
you told him the baby wasn't his?
HARRIS: Yes, he's lying.
So the argument that he's talking about
you didn't tell him that you had sex with the other man and the baby...
No. Listen,
the time he's talking about when he told me I was with the dude two weeks before.
First of all, me and Chris was off and on
with our pregnancy
because at the end of the day, he was still cheating,
and still trying to be with his previous relationship
and other females.
That's one thing.
Number two, he took me through a lot of emotional distress
that I don't deserve, after losing,
between the time that we weren't together in ten years,
I lost my boyfriend of eight years.
And he knew that.
And he was insecure of a deceased person.
He took me through hell.
So, how he feels is bull.
It was the way she went about it.
Because at the end of the day,
you don't like responsibility.
You didn't like it before I got pregnant,
before we reunited,
because you went and took care of your firstborn.
So don't sit here and kick it like this for these folks.
Okay, so listen. The whole point...
HARRIS: This ain't a classroom.
Listen, the whole point as to why we are here
is because we want to find out
the answers relating to Ca'son's paternity.
That's why we're here.
And the truth is,
if it is determined he is Ca'son's biological father,
whether he likes responsibility or he does not,
he will have it.
Because if he does not take care of it,
the court will ensure that he does.
STERLING: No problem.
JUDGE LAKE: So now, let's get to
finding out the answer we came here for.
Before I go to the results,
Mr. Sterling, what is your hope?
I still don't really understand
whether you want Ca'son to be your biological child
or whether you don't.
HARRIS: He don't. I understand it.
I do, Your Honor.
I done grown a bond with him.
Like, he called me "Daddy."
He is the one like I'm always looking for...
You don't got to do all that.
You save all that drama for your mama, baby, because they like that.
But no, Mr. Sterling, so when that...
Like I said... Like I said, I love him.
If we can't...
If I find out he's not mine,
that's just what it is. I have to move on.
It is what it is. Move on back to your previous relationship that you,
just last week got caught.
I hope he's mine.
Still trying to hold on to these faults, man.
I hope he's mine, you know what I'm saying like,
not because of her.
I just want the results so I can move on with my life.
If he's mine or he's not.
I just want to go about it the right way.
I am ready to go to the results.
HARRIS: All right, me too.
(APPLAUSE)
JUDGE LAKE: It's time.
These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics and they read as follows.
In the case of Harris v. Sterling...
Yes, I do. I love him. I love that little boy and you know that.
JUDGE LAKE: When it comes to 11-month-old Ca'son Sterling,
it has been determined by this court,
Mr. Sterling,
you are the father.
Exactly. Exactly.
Exactly.
So what you got to say now, baby?
All this, all this. We got to leave here, you know that, right?
JUDGE LAKE: You know what, Ms. Harris,
there are men that don't come see their children
'cause they don't want to deal with a woman that acts like you.
I'm keeping it real.
But...
Uh-uh-uh.
It's not 'cause it's wrong or right.
It's just 'cause it's the reality of how relationships are.
I can see how frustrated you are.
I've heard exactly what you said.
He's a liar. He cheats.
JUDGE LAKE: But the point... I get that.
That's why our relationship dynamic is like that.
You think I don't get that?
HARRIS: So, it's not me.
No, no, no, it's not about that.
What I'm saying to you is it's not about you.
It's about Ca'son.
HARRIS: That's why I'm here.
And that's what I want you to understand.
Exactly.
JUDGE LAKE: And what I'm saying to you is
create a situation where your son
has the best opportunity
to have his father in his life.
And also for his father to care for him
and be present to help you raise him.
Just understand
that at the end...
HARRIS: Well now, we can move forward.
Yes.
We can move forward. I am with that.
That's it.
You can move forward. And, Mr. Sterling,
are you ready to move forward?
Yes.
JUDGE LAKE: Good. So that's what I want you to do.
I want you to go talk to Dr. Jeff.
I want you to figure out how to do that.
You have a beautiful baby.
Thank you.
If anything in the world is worth
just the effort...
HARRIS: He is definitely worthy.
He is worth it. All right?
HARRIS: He is worthy.
I wish you all the very best of luck.
HARRIS: Thank you.
Court is adjourned.
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