News Item: Putting a price on love
(Category: More on SEX)
Posted by angelight
Monday 16 July 2007 - 09:14:46
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/450874,CST-NWS-sexlaw01.article
COURT | Husband pushed sex with others, wife says, and she fell for one of her lovers. Now her husband will get $4,800 in rare alienation of affection suit.
July 1, 2007
BY STEVE PATTERSON Staff Reporter/spatterson@suntimes.com
After 10 years of marriage, Arthur Friedman told his wife they needed to spice things up a bit -- that their sex life was too boring, she said.
The Northbrook man wanted to begin having sex with other couples and wanted to watch his wife, Natalie, have sex with other men and women, she said.
The Northbrook man wanted to begin having sex with other couples and wanted to watch his wife, Natalie, have sex with other men and women, she said.
But along the way, Natalie Friedman, 35, wound up falling for one of the men she had sex with in her effort to please her husband, also 35.
Natalie and Arthur Friedman were married for 10 years. German Blinov (inset) was stunned to learn he could be sued for having a relationship with Natalie.
Arthur Friedman decided that was crossing the line.
Friedman sued German Blinov under the state's alienation-of-affection law, claiming the Glenview man stole his wife's love away.
Illinois is one of only eight states where such a case can still be filed. They are rarely filed, and when they are, they are usually thrown out.
But last week, a Cook County jury heard Friedman's case and awarded him $4,802.87, derived from a formula that considered, in part, her contributions to the household for a period of time. The Friedmans are divorcing. German and his wife, Inessa, have divorced.
'This is stupid'
"This guy ruined my life -- he backstabbed me," Friedman said in an interview. "What he did was wrong. And I did what I had to do to get my point across."
Arthur Friedman denies he had sex with anyone else, though Natalie Friedman described their trysts in detail -- including four-way sex in a hot tub with Blinov and another woman.
"That's what he said would keep our marriage going," she said in an interview. "That was exciting to him. Then he cries about losing his love? When I'm having sex with another person?"
Blinov doesn't deny having a relationship with Natalie while she was married but was stunned to learn he could be sued for doing that.
Natalie Friedman, meanwhile, says it wasn't Blinov who caused her to stop loving her husband -- it was Arthur Friedman himself and the humiliating things he made her do in the name of love.
"German was not the cause of this," she said. "I stopped loving Arthur. He made me do all these things. How could he say he loved me? If he'd been such a great husband, wouldn't he protect me instead of making me do these things?"
But Friedman convinced jurors Blinov was the cause, though jury foreman Eric Heisig, of Palatine, said "way more than once," the jurors said "this is stupid."
"The statute is ridiculous," he said.
'Never about the money'
Katharine K. Baker, an associate dean at Chicago Kent School of Law who has written extensively about family law, said few states allow these cases because the laws they're based on are archaic.
But even where it's allowed, they're rare because "they assume the main focus of the suit has no decision-making ability. And that's pretty insulting."
Friedman had to prove there was love between him and his wife until Blinov took it away.
Yet even his own attorney, David Shults, conceded "it's kind of remarkable" that the case wasn't thrown out earlier, as most are.
"Oftentimes, it's both people's fault when there's a breakdown in a marriage," Shults said. "There often isn't that one catalyst that we had here."
Blinov was no catalyst, said his attorney, Enrico Mirabelli, and "this type of lawsuit is not designed to be a vehicle for vengeance or vindication. Sadly, in this case, it was used for both."
But Arthur Friedman said he had no idea his wife was unhappy in their relationship. And when Natalie began working out at the gym owned by Blinov and his now-ex-wife, Arthur says they all quickly became friends.
"German was not a pirate of her affections," Mirabelli countered. "Her affections were already adrift."
Jurors disagreed, even though Heisig said many of them wanted to give Arthur Friedman nothing -- or just $17.20, the amount they got for each day served.
"This case was never about the money," said another of his attorneys, David Nemeroff. "This was about vindicating Arthur for what German did to him and to his family."
But Natalie Friedman said hearing dollar values tossed about was "humiliating."
"This law allowed him to put a price tag on me," she said. "That hurts more than anything."
This news item is from Infidel-club : Don't hate him girl
( http://infidel-club.com/news.php?extend.34 )
(Category: More on SEX)
Posted by angelight
Monday 16 July 2007 - 09:14:46
http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/450874,CST-NWS-sexlaw01.article
COURT | Husband pushed sex with others, wife says, and she fell for one of her lovers. Now her husband will get $4,800 in rare alienation of affection suit.
July 1, 2007
BY STEVE PATTERSON Staff Reporter/spatterson@suntimes.com
After 10 years of marriage, Arthur Friedman told his wife they needed to spice things up a bit -- that their sex life was too boring, she said.
The Northbrook man wanted to begin having sex with other couples and wanted to watch his wife, Natalie, have sex with other men and women, she said.
The Northbrook man wanted to begin having sex with other couples and wanted to watch his wife, Natalie, have sex with other men and women, she said.
But along the way, Natalie Friedman, 35, wound up falling for one of the men she had sex with in her effort to please her husband, also 35.
Natalie and Arthur Friedman were married for 10 years. German Blinov (inset) was stunned to learn he could be sued for having a relationship with Natalie.
Arthur Friedman decided that was crossing the line.
Friedman sued German Blinov under the state's alienation-of-affection law, claiming the Glenview man stole his wife's love away.
Illinois is one of only eight states where such a case can still be filed. They are rarely filed, and when they are, they are usually thrown out.
But last week, a Cook County jury heard Friedman's case and awarded him $4,802.87, derived from a formula that considered, in part, her contributions to the household for a period of time. The Friedmans are divorcing. German and his wife, Inessa, have divorced.
'This is stupid'
"This guy ruined my life -- he backstabbed me," Friedman said in an interview. "What he did was wrong. And I did what I had to do to get my point across."
Arthur Friedman denies he had sex with anyone else, though Natalie Friedman described their trysts in detail -- including four-way sex in a hot tub with Blinov and another woman.
"That's what he said would keep our marriage going," she said in an interview. "That was exciting to him. Then he cries about losing his love? When I'm having sex with another person?"
Blinov doesn't deny having a relationship with Natalie while she was married but was stunned to learn he could be sued for doing that.
Natalie Friedman, meanwhile, says it wasn't Blinov who caused her to stop loving her husband -- it was Arthur Friedman himself and the humiliating things he made her do in the name of love.
"German was not the cause of this," she said. "I stopped loving Arthur. He made me do all these things. How could he say he loved me? If he'd been such a great husband, wouldn't he protect me instead of making me do these things?"
But Friedman convinced jurors Blinov was the cause, though jury foreman Eric Heisig, of Palatine, said "way more than once," the jurors said "this is stupid."
"The statute is ridiculous," he said.
'Never about the money'
Katharine K. Baker, an associate dean at Chicago Kent School of Law who has written extensively about family law, said few states allow these cases because the laws they're based on are archaic.
But even where it's allowed, they're rare because "they assume the main focus of the suit has no decision-making ability. And that's pretty insulting."
Friedman had to prove there was love between him and his wife until Blinov took it away.
Yet even his own attorney, David Shults, conceded "it's kind of remarkable" that the case wasn't thrown out earlier, as most are.
"Oftentimes, it's both people's fault when there's a breakdown in a marriage," Shults said. "There often isn't that one catalyst that we had here."
Blinov was no catalyst, said his attorney, Enrico Mirabelli, and "this type of lawsuit is not designed to be a vehicle for vengeance or vindication. Sadly, in this case, it was used for both."
But Arthur Friedman said he had no idea his wife was unhappy in their relationship. And when Natalie began working out at the gym owned by Blinov and his now-ex-wife, Arthur says they all quickly became friends.
"German was not a pirate of her affections," Mirabelli countered. "Her affections were already adrift."
Jurors disagreed, even though Heisig said many of them wanted to give Arthur Friedman nothing -- or just $17.20, the amount they got for each day served.
"This case was never about the money," said another of his attorneys, David Nemeroff. "This was about vindicating Arthur for what German did to him and to his family."
But Natalie Friedman said hearing dollar values tossed about was "humiliating."
"This law allowed him to put a price tag on me," she said. "That hurts more than anything."
This news item is from Infidel-club : Don't hate him girl
( http://infidel-club.com/news.php?extend.34 )