The wife of
former New Jersey governor Jim McGreevey wants to ban
testimony in their divorce trial from a former aide who
claims he had sexual trysts with the couple.
Dina Matos
McGreevey's lawyer argues in court papers that the testimony
of former campaign aide Teddy Pedersen is ''irrelevant,''
''inflammatory,'' ''far-fetched,'' and should not be
allowed.
''The only reason
for calling him is to elicit salacious sexual
testimony,'' her lawyer John Post wrote.
McGreevey lawyer
Stephen Haller contends that Pedersen's testimony is
relevant to disproving Matos McGreevey's claim that she was
duped into marrying a gay man with political
ambitions.
Judge Karen
Cassidy will rule on the testimony and other issues when the
couple's divorce trial starts May 6.
Matos McGreevey
argues that McGreevey concealed his sexual identity,
which amounts to fraud and entitles her to more money in the
divorce. She is seeking $600,000 for time she would
have spent at the governor's mansion as first lady had
he not resigned in disgrace in 2004.
Pedersen said in
sworn testimony that he participated in regular
threesomes with the couple beginning in 1999 while they were
dating and continuing until McGreevey became governor
in 2001. The couple married in 2000.
McGreevey has
said the encounters happened, but his wife denies it.
Pedersen, 29,
said he came forward to buttress McGreevey's contention
that his wife had to have known he was gay when they
married. She says she had no clue, although in a book
about her marriage, she acknowledged missing several
signs.
McGreevey, Matos
McGreevey, and Post did not return messages for comment.
Haller said
McGreevey would like the case settled. But if there is a
trial, he wants the facts heard since they will ''forcefully
contradict'' Matos McGreevey's account. (Angela Delli
Santi, AP)
