It's now up to a
judge to decide how much alimony and child support to
award the soon-to-be ex-wife of New Jersey's gay former
governor, following three weeks of testimony laying
bare the couple's dire financial straits.
Lawyers delivered
their final arguments Wednesday, wrapping up the money
phase in the bitter divorce of Jim McGreevey and Dina Matos.
Matos has asked
the judge for $2,500 a month alimony for four years,
$1,750 a month support, and for McGreevey to foot her legal
bills for the divorce, which exceed $250,000.
McGreevey does not want to pay alimony and is hoping
to be assessed support payments of about $100 a month.
The judge is not
expected to rule until July at the earliest.
A final phase in
the divorce -- Matos's claim that she was duped into
marrying a gay man who thought he needed a wife to advance
his political ambitions -- won't be heard until after
the money issues are settled. The fraud claim, if it
reaches trial, could include salacious testimony from
a former campaign aide who claims to have had sexual trysts
with the McGreeveys.
During
Wednesday's summation Matos's lawyer John Post challenged
McGreevey's claim that he's broke, saying the 50-year-old
seminary student is intentionally underearning to
avoid paying alimony. Post also dismissed a claim by a
McGreevey-hired employment expert who testified that
the former governor is so tainted by scandal that he's
''radioactive'' in the work world.
''He finds
himself where he is today because he is doing work he wants
to do,'' said Post, who called McGreevey's claim of a
dire financial situation ''a contrived farce.''
McGreevey lawyer
Stephen Haller said his client doesn't owe Matos a dime
in alimony based on a marriage lasting just four years
before the couple split in 2004.
''We've got a
marriage so short that kids date longer than these two were
married,'' he said.
Matos and
McGreevey are both deeply in debt, their grim finances made
ever more difficult by exorbitant legal bills incurred in
the divorce. Matos, who lost her job as a hospital
fund-raiser when the hospital closed last week,
testified to owing about $750,000 for a mortgage,
personal loan, and legal bills. McGreevey said he owed his
boyfriend more than $200,000, mostly for lawyers, and
is $11,000 behind in support for a daughter from his
first marriage. Neither have any savings.
McGreevey
abruptly resigned in 2004, acknowledging that he is ''a gay
American'' who'd had an affair with a male staffer. The
staffer denied the affair and said he was sexually
harassed by the governor.
The McGreeveys
split three months after the speech, leaving the
governor's mansion and going their separate ways.
Part of her
alimony claim was staked on the fact that she would have
lived as New Jersey's first lady for 13 additional months
had her husband not resigned in disgrace. McGreevey
maintained that the so-called gubernatorial lifestyle
was not a marital asset.
Matos later
backed off the claim that she was entitled to a compensation
package that included the value of a personal assistant,
chef, and round-the-clock state police protection, all
perks of the governor's office. (Angela Delli
Santi, AP)
