A North Carolina judge ordered a man to pay $8.8 million for cheating with another man’s wife.
North Carolina is a state with so-called “jilted spouses” laws, which allows people to pursue monetary damages if they’ve been cheated on.
Keith King, who sued for the damages, said that Francisco Huizar III followed him and his wife around the country even after he had supposedly ended his affair with King’s wife.
Huizar’s attorney says King manipulated his wife throughout their marriage and made her work without pay.
A North Carolina judge ordered San Antonio resident Francisco Huizar III to pay Keith King $8.8 million for damages related to him having an affair with King’s wife.
North Carolina is one of the few states with so-called “alienation of affections,” or “jilted spouses” laws. These laws allow a deserted spouse to pursue damages against the third party that allegedly caused the separation.
The nearly $9 million ruling is among the largest ever. In 2011, another North Carolina judge ordered a woman to pay $30 million in a “jilted spouse” case.
In this case, Keith King, who runs BMX stunt bike shows around the country, sued Huizar for alienation of affection, as well as several other charges related to emotional distress, as reported by The Herald Sun. King holds Huizar responsible for splitting up the marriage between himself and Danielle King. Since Danielle King was also an employee of the BMX company, King also sued to cover lost revenue because of a lost employee, as well as money to cover increased costs on household help, child care, and counseling.
The ruling comes after a messy three-year separation process. Danielle King and Huizar met at a BMX show in August 2015 and began an affair shortly afterwards, according to court documents and testimony viewed by the Herald Sun. Keith King found out about the affair soon after, and told Huizar to leave his wife alone. But Huizar allegedly booked hotels rooms near the couple when they traveled, which according to Keith King, made it impossible for him to reconcile with his wife.
In her testimony, though, Danielle King said she’d been unhappy for the entirety of the marriage — since the couple were wed in 2010. After initiating her relationship with Huizar, she began the separation process from her husband in 2016, and has been fully separated from him since January 2017, according to the Herald Sun.
Cheri Patrick, Huizar’s attorney, also alleged that Keith King manipulated his wife throughout their marriage — controlling her access to money, snooping through her phone, making her work without pay, and making her work when she said she needed time for childcare. Patrick also claimed he insisted that she keep her hair blonde and wear bikinis and high heels.
Huizar plans to appeal the ruling, but he may have a difficult court fight. The loser in the $30 million 2011 “jilted spouses” case also appealed her case — and lost.
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