Alice Suzanne Hayes was divorcing her husband, Farrell Hayes, in 2005, in Tennessee.  She allegedly decided to install a program on his laptop computer from eBlaster called SpectorPro without his consent or knowledge.

The program surreptitiously intercepted the husband’s emails and sent them to Mary Jo Davis, the wife’s sister, who lives in Silver Spring, Maryland.  The sister gave them to Mrs. Hayes who gave them to her divorce attorney, Marvin Berke.  Mr. Burke tried to use the emails in the divorce.

Now Mr. Hayes has filed a lawsuit in Tennessee against Mr. Berke and his law firm.  The suit says interception of emails is against state and federal laws.  He is asking for $1 million compensatory damages and $1 million punitive damages.

In an uncontested divorce case in Maryland, the plaintiff needs to appear in court to testify.  The Court of Appeals once issued a rule that allowed for summary judgment in divorce cases so no one would have to appear.  However, the Legislature felt that divorce should be treated as a more serious matter, and so it passed the following law in 1984:

Oral testimony required for final decree.  In an action for alimony, annulment, or divorce, a final decree may not be entered except on oral testimony by the plaintiff in a hearing before an examiner or a master or in open court.  MD Family Law Article, Section 1-203(c).

The defendant need only appear if he or she wants to do so. You will need to bring a witness with you to corroborate the facts of your divorce.

WUSA TV News Anchor, Andrea Roane, interviewed TGC Attorney, Jill Breslau, today about South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s marital difficulties.

“Right now it appears that Governor Sanford is more intent upon self-justification than he is on changing himself,” said Breslau.   ”His behaviors have been completely inconsistent with the values he says he holds, and he is glamorizing his relationship, and characterizing himself as a tragic hero, because he has risked everything for it—his marriage, his family, his political life, his reputation.  Only if he inflates the meaning of his affair is it worth all those potential losses.”

Regarding putting his marriage back together, Breslau, who is also a trained psychotherapist, said, “As much as the public finds it irresistible to be judgmental about Sanford’s behavior, a primary purpose of counseling is to have a private, confidential setting where the therapist is nonjudgmental.”