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 Sex Claims Argued Behind Closed Doors At Gay
Ex-Governor Divorce Trial
by The Associated Press
Posted: May 6, 2008 - 1:00 pm ET
(Trenton, New Jersey) After two tell-all books,
tawdry sex claims and 3 1/2 years of living apart, New Jersey's gay ex-governor
and his estranged wife showed up for court Tuesday morning to begin the process
of ending their marriage.
"It's a beautiful
day," former Gov. Jim McGreevey said as he entered alone
through the back entrance of the courthouse.
Dina Matos McGreevey had no
comment when she arrived with her lawyer through the front
courthouse entrance.
The first three days of the
trial will be closed to the media as Union County Superior
Court Judge Karen Cassidy considers custody issues surrounding
the couple's 6-year-old daughter. The judge has sealed
documents and testimony about the kindergartner, their only
child.
McGreevey and his wife have
been going at each other publicly for months about everything
from his partner's financial assets to their daughter's
birthday party.
The issues to be decided in the
divorce settlement involve custody, alimony and child support,
and whether McGreevey, now openly gay, committed fraud by
marrying a woman.
Matos McGreevey, 41, is seeking
$600,000 for time she would have spent at the governor's
mansion had her husband not resigned in disgrace. McGreevey
stepped down during his first term after a nationally
televised speech in which he acknowledged being "a gay
American" and having an affair with a male staffer. The
staffer has denied the affair and said he was sexually
harassed by McGreevey.
Since his resignation in the
fall of 2004, both he and his soon-to-be-ex wrote books about
their time together, including their sex lives. She claims she
never knew he was gay until just before he told the rest of
the world. He claims their marriage was "a contrivance on
both our parts," but that he fulfilled the marriage
contract by providing companionship and a child.
The most sensational witness
could be Teddy Pedersen, a 29-year-old former aide who claims
he had regular three-way sexual encounters with the McGreeveys
beginning when they were dating in 1999 and ending two years
later, after they were married and McGreevey had been elected
governor.
John Post, a lawyer
representing Matos McGreevey, is seeking to bar Pedersen's
testimony. Matos McGreevey claims the encounters never
happened. McGreevey says they did.
McGreevey, 50, who now lives
with a male partner and is studying to be an Episcopal priest,
wants joint physical and legal custody of their daughter. He
currently has the child one night a week and every other
weekend.
Child support payments will
depend on custody arrangements, lawyers have said.
©365Gay.com 2008
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