Lawyer for wife says e-mail messages not adultery
Jason Romney (jromney@werple.mira.net.au)
Mon, 12 Feb 1996 12:59:40 +1100
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LAWYER FOR WIFE SAYS E-MAIL MESSAGES ARE NOT ADULTERY
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Copyright © 1996 Nando.net
Copyright © 1996 The Associated Press
ROSELAND, N.J. (Feb 7, 1996 00:23 a.m. EST) -- A woman whose husband
said she committed adultery by writing steamy computer messages will
sue him for defamation and invasion of privacy, her lawyer said
Tuesday. The husband has already filed for divorce.
Diane Goydan also claims extreme cruelty in the couple's deteriorating
8-year marriage, and says John Goydan violated state wiretap laws by
retrieving her e-mail, said lawyer Thomas M. McCormack.
He described her exchanges with a North Carolina man whose on-line
name was "The Weasel" as "romantic" and "daydreams." Mrs. Goydan did
not commit adultery because she never had sex with "The Weasel," he
said.
"It is ludicrous to characterize this dialogue ... as adulterous,"
McCormack told reporters at a news conference. "My client is
devastated by the allegation of adultery, that I believe is without
basis in law or fact."
Dozens of the exchanges -- some sexually explicit -- were described in
John Goydan's Jan. 23 divorce lawsuit, which also accuses Mrs. Goydan
of extreme cruelty, and seeks custody of their 7-year-old daughter and
3-year-old son.
The Goydans both still live at their Bridgewater home, McCormack said.
John Goydan's lawyer, Richard Hurley, said he would not comment until
he had read the counterclaim, which is to be filed in state Superior
Court in Somerville.
Goydan said in court papers that he learned about the cyber-romance by
reading his wife's electronic mail.
McCormack said Mrs. Goydan never shared her password with anyone and
said the messages could not be retrieved without the password.
Furthermore, the on-line account is in her name, he said.
The marriage failed, McCormack said, because "he became distant and
removed from her, which may have led to her going on-line."
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