Please be seated.
Hello, Your Honor.
Hello.
This is the case of Browne v. Hampton.
Thank you, Jerome.
You're welcome.
Good day, everyone.
Ms. Browne, you stand before the court with your mother, Alicia Browne.
You say your world was recently
turned upside down when you were contacted by a man
whom you've never even heard of before,
claiming to be your birth father.
Now that man, Mr. Hampton, is waiting in our courtroom hallway
and he will join us in a moment.
Now, he claims he has evidence to prove
he is, in fact, your biological father.
(AUDIENCE MURMURING)
Now, what happened when you were first contacted by Mr. Hampton?
How did you even hear from him?
Well, first and foremeost,
I'm adopted.
I was adopted when I was three months old.
So, I have no idea who my extended family is,
or my biological mother.
I was recently contacted by someone claiming to be my sister
on what's called Instagram.
(AUDIENCE MURMURING)
And from there he messaged me on Facebook,
and he said, "Kayla, I think I finally found your Facebook.
"Please let me know.
"I have no idea how much you or your adoption parents know about how things were,
"but I'll be more than willing to answer your questions,
"that they may have, and I have pictures also.
"Talk to you later."
As if he already knew.
(AUDIENCE MURMURING)
Wow.
And so, what were you thinking when you read that?
"Who are you?"
So, you've never met this man?
KAYLA: No.
Never heard of him?
Nope.
JUDGE LAKE: And, next thing you know, he's on your Facebook saying,
"I'm your birth father."
KAYLA: Yeah.
He's not my dad.
Wow. Well, Jerome, I think it's time we meet Mr. Hampton.
What a story.
JEROME: Hello, Mr. Hampton.
JUDGE LAKE: Hello, Mr. Hampton.
Thank you for joining us today.
Hello, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: Thank you for being here.
So, we just heard an amazing story from Ms. Browne.
HERBERT: I've been looking for my daughter for 20 years, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: Okay.
I was in love with her mother, Your Honor, and...
JUDGE LAKE: You all were in a relationship?
Yes, we was in a relationship, Your Honor.
And she was pregnant, Your Honor, this was my first child.
I'm the one that gave her her name, Your Honor.
I did everything that I...
So, you were participating in this pregnancy and in the birth?
Your Honor, I moved to Alaska to be with her mother while she was pregnant,
I was there at the hospital when she was born...
I'm confused. If you did all that stuff,
I don't know why I'm here with my mom today and not with you.
I just don't... I don't know.
I don't get it,
to be honest. I'm just being honest.
Your mother was goin' through some problems.
I had the opportunity to take you when I met her at the mall.
I didn't know whether she wanted me to take you permanently,
I couldn't take you at the time.
I had to go back to Seattle.
I cried every minute on the plane.
Do you have any proof of this?
This is it, Your Honor, this is the toys that I first
bought her before they left, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: Jerome, hand me the evidence, please.
Thank you.
So, this is a picture of the person
you say is Ms. Browne's birth mother.
HERBERT: Yes. Yes, Your Honor.
And she's pregnant?
HERBERT: Yes, Your Honor.
Okay.
I've kept this photo for years, Your Honor,
because I knew that someday I would find her, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: And who's in this photo, Mr. Hampton?
HERBERT: That's me, that's my daughter here,
and, and that's her mother, Your Honor.
So, Ms. Browne, what are you thinking as you see these photos?
I look at that baby. That could be you, or you.
It's just, there's nothing that distinguishably says it's me.
Maybe if I had that wrap that was around that baby,
uh, maybe if I had something...
So when you look at these pictures, you don't feel a connection
'cause in your mind you're saying,
"There's nothing identifiable that says it's me."
Yeah. Nothing that...
That's my daughter in those pictures, Your Honor.
Okay. And listen, that may be true,
that in the picture,
the baby you're holding is your daughter.
But why are you so sure that it is Ms. Browne?
I know her birth date,
and I knew the situation surrounding it.
JUDGE LAKE: Okay, now we're getting somewhere.
So, the exact date of Ms. Browne's birth
is the exact date of your Kayla's birth?
Exactly, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: And you named this baby Kayla?
Exactly, Your Honor.
(AUDIENCE MURMURING)
Okay. When's the last time you saw her?
Before today?
If this is, in fact, your daughter?
I haven't seen her since she was...
(SIGHING) Since she was about two weeks old, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: About two weeks old?
Two weeks old, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: In your statement to the court,
you said you have a picture of her at two years old.
How did you get that picture?
HERBERT: Your Honor, when I went back to Alaska, Your Honor,
I came across her mother, Your Honor,
and her birth mother gave this picture
to me, Your Honor.
Jerome, let me see this picture.
JUDGE LAKE: Her birth mother?
So you went back to Washington and then you came back to Alaska
and her birth mother gave you this picture?
(AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING)
HERBERT: Yes, Your Honor.
And I still have that... (STAMMERING)
I've kept that photo on my wall for the last 20 years, Your Honor.
This picture?
I've kept that photo on my wall.
JUDGE LAKE: And she's two years old?
And she's two years old, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: So this is a picture of... Wow.
So this picture of the young
baby girl that you say is your daughter Kayla
has been up on the wall in your home?
HERBERT: Exactly, Your Honor.
(AUDIENCE MURMURING)
KAYLA: I don't know if that's true.
Ms. Browne, is this a picture of you?
Um...
HERBERT: She's got the eyes, Your Honor.
I think it looks like me.
Yeah.
Has a little devious smile that I had.
(AUDIENCE LAUGHING)
JUDGE LAKE: This is amazing.
Have you ever seen this picture?
No.
It looks like you, to me.
It looks like your eyebrows,
and look, I don't know the results of the test either,
so I am here inside this mystery with you,
and I want to figure it out for you.
I know that it's my daughter, Your Honor.
Your Honor, I contacted Social Services, Your Honor,
and I told them that yeah, I didn't want my daughter to be adopted.
They told me that I needed to get a paternity test, Your Honor.
KAYLA: I don't know why. I mean, I'm 20.
I'm 20 years old.
But she's still my daughter, Your Honor.
That's a long time to go without seeing your child you love so much.
I've been looking for you.
I've been looking for you for 20 years.
I searched everywhere.
I want to hear from your adoptive mother.
Ms. Browne, please stand,
and I'll first ask you, have you ever seen this picture of your daughter?
ALICIA: Yes, I have.
You have?
(AUDIENCE GASPING)
I have, and I'm...
I'm curious to know how her
biological mother got that picture.
Oh! Okay, wait.
So you know this to be your daughter?
Yes, that's my daughter.
JUDGE LAKE: But...
But I never gave that picture to anybody,
and I don't know where...
(AUDIENCE MURMURING)
We've had Kayla since she was three months old.
JUDGE LAKE: So when you adopted her,
did you have any information given to you about a father?
There's no one listed as a father on...
What are you reading?
Her adoption papers.
JUDGE LAKE: May I see that, please?
Yeah.
HERBERT: Your Honor, I got child support papers right here, Your Honor.
The State of Alaska was collecting child support from me for her.
Wait a minute.
(AUDIENCE MURMURING)
HERBERT: So they knew that I was the father.
Hold that piece of evidence, let me just see this first.
I took this child, several different times, at least,
for sure, three times, if not four times, in for blood tests...
Don't cry.
And watched them draw blood from her
to try to determine who her father was.
And they never could determine who the father was,
so they kept listing different men,
"Okay, now we think this is the father,
"can you please bring her in for another another test?"
And I'd take her in, and then...
I mean, at this time...
But they never came to me.
(AUDIENCE GASPING)
JUDGE LAKE: I understand your emotion.
The thought of being a mother and bringing your baby in
to have blood drawn,
to try to figure out who their father is,
I know that was really tough.
And yet, you're telling me,
three or four men were tested?
ALICIA: Yes.
And every test...
Yeah, because we wouldn't have been able to legally adopt her.
We had her from the time she was three weeks old.
She came to us...
Normally, we were foster parents,
and I normally wouldn't take an infant in
because I knew I'd be attached to them...
Mmm-hmmm.
But it was supposed to be just a weekend.
Then it turned into a week, and then I'm like, "Oh, God, please," you know?
JUDGE LAKE: "Don't take her."
"Don't take her from us."
And we went on for two years of trying, them trying to determine who,
because they told me they could not...
That can't be true.
JUDGE LAKE: So, hold on, I just wanna be clear.
Out of the three to four times that you took
your baby, Kayla, Ms. Browne, in to be tested,
so they could try to establish paternity,
ALICIA: Yes.
never once was Mr. Hampton tested? You don't remember him being...
I've never heard his name in my life.
JUDGE LAKE: Never heard his name.
Now, I wanna confirm from you, Mr. Hampton,
were you ever tested in the past? Were you ever contacted
as a potential biological father for this baby to be tested?
No, ma'am, no I wasn't.
They had me paying child support, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: Let me see that paperwork.
They knew!
That doesn't make sense.
JUDGE LAKE: You were paying child support...
HERBERT: That's what they had me doing.
Don't they have to determine paternity to be able to make you pay child support?
HERBERT: I didn't know...
KAYLA: Yeah, you do have to have a paternity affidavit.
Well, then, they must have proved that I was your father, then.
There couldn't have been another man listed.
I wouldn't have been able to adopt Kayla...
JUDGE LAKE: All right, so here on this page it says
the paperwork you completed
states that there is an order for child support
in Alaska, and that the order names you
as the father.
Of...is my name on there?
HERBERT: Yes, it is.
Yes, it is.
(AUDIENCE EXCLAIMING)
I mean, my mom...
JUDGE LAKE: So, listen...
My biological mom has... I have biological siblings
that are literally consecutive years under me.
No, there is no other man, Your Honor, we were together every day.
I've celebrated her birthday every single year, Your Honor.
I've always put her name on the cakes, Your Honor.
Because, Your Honor...
JUDGE LAKE: Jerome, let me have...
HERBERT: I didn't forget about her, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: Every year, you put her name on a birthday cake?
HERBERT: That's right, Your Honor.
'Cause I wanted to show her, 'cause I knew someday that I would find her,
and I wanted to show her that I've been looking for her, Your Honor.
And do you have any paperwork to prove that
you were reaching out to Social Service?
HERBERT: Your Honor, I gave you the letter from Social Services, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: Department of Health and Social Services.
HERBERT: I've reached out, Your Honor.
In May, 1994,
"Dear Mr. Hampton, two phone messages from you.
"And I don't have a number to contact you. Please be advised
"that you need to establish paternity of Kayla King,
"and we can discuss reunification."
HERBERT: Exactly, Your Honor, and that's what I did, Your Honor,
but when I tried to do that,
they wanted her mother, Your Honor, to take part in this, Your Honor.
I didn't know where her mother was...
How did you not have contact, if she gave you a picture of her at two?
JUDGE LAKE: And look, Mr. Hampton, can you not understand their doubt?
They've never heard of you!
HERBERT: Your Honor, they knew, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: Do you understand their doubt?
ALICIA: We've never heard of you, I've never heard your name in my life.
I have this birth certificate.
And my parents are on it,
I don't see your name on it. I don't know.
Those are your adoptive parents that are on that birth certificate?
Yes. Which are my parents.
JUDGE LAKE: Exactly. Absolutely. Um...
Your Honor, my name is on her original birth certificate, Your Honor.
They had me paying child support for her.
I was there. I'm the one that gave you your name.
Where were you through all these months that
Kayla was with us as a foster child
and they were trying to find out who the father was?
Do you feel like Mr. Hampton is her biological father?
(SIGHING)
I mean, honestly, I kind of feel like you are,
but, you didn't take me when she asked you.
You know?
(STAMMERING)
I don't care for how long.
It does... You know, even if you couldn't...
(STAMMERING)
I look at my son today, I would do anything.
(STAMMERING)
I had no place. I had no place!
I don't... It doesn't...
Live in a car, you know, go to a shelter,
there are so many resources.
JUDGE LAKE: Let me just say this.
This has got to be
the most incredible mystery that
we've ever heard in this courtroom.
Jerome, right?
But the only way we're gonna be able to move forward is to get the results.
HERBERT: Uh...
That would be nice.
That'd be really nice.
HERBERT: Your Honor...
Jerome, the envelope.
Yes, sir, would you like to say one more thing, before we get to the results?
I've gone through a lot the last 20 years, Your Honor.
This is my life, Your Honor.
I've made some, some bad choices, Your Honor,
but I've never run from any of my children, Your Honor.
I've run to them, Your Honor.
And that's why I'm here today, right here in court, 'cause
(STAMMERING) everything that she has felt,
all of her life, Your Honor,
I felt the same thing, Your Honor.
I felt all the hurt, everything, Your Honor.
JUDGE LAKE: I see your heart is breaking, I really do.
I can see the emotion, written all over your face.
I'm glad that her adoptive parents were able to take her, Your Honor.
I worried about her, all the time, Your Honor.
She's had a good home.
And I've had it great, I've had a great home.
I owe that to your adoptive parents, for having you.
Well, are we ready for the results?
(MUMBLING)
These results were prepared by DNA Diagnostics,
and they read as follows.
If anyone would like to take a seat, they can.
In the case of Browne v. Hampton,
pertaining to 20-year-old Kayla Browne,
Mr. Hampton, you have desperately waited for this answer.
You...
In the case of Browne v. Hampton,
pertaining to 20-year-old Kayla Browne,
Mr. Hampton, you have desperately waited for this answer.
You...
...are not her father.
(AUDIENCE GASPING)
That can't be right, Your Honor.
But that is me in the picture.
I don't know what's going on here, Your Honor.
This is where paternity secrets destroy our lives and our perceptions,
and what we believe to be true,
because it may, in fact, and it unfortunately, obviously, is true,
that her biological mother was involved with someone else
besides you, during that time.
I've been wanting to bring some closure to myself, Your Honor.
This had to be done, Your Honor.
It had to be done, and, um...
(SIGHING)
I'm real sorry that things didn't work out.
Don't be sorry.
It's okay, I'm... I'm good. I am, I'm fine.
And ultimately, Ms. Browne, Kayla, that's what we want to know, that you're okay.
And that's what he wanted to know.
HERBERT: Exactly, Your Honor.
So with that said, court is adjourned.
Take care, everyone.
I was pretty shocked.
I think, I'd, like, convinced
myself at first that he wasn't.
In the courtroom I then convinced myself that he was,
and then he wasn't.
I feel very thankful that she's in a good home.
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