In a stunning case, a jilted husband exploited an archaic law to sue the man who had an affair with his wife — and won.
What is truly shocking is how well it worked. The court awarded him an $ 8.8 million judgment, most of which is punitive.
This story and this case is sensational and even ridiculous — but it"s also more troubling than it may sound.
A man named Keith King sued Francisco Huizar III, whom his wife had been seeing for 16 months.
Of the $ 8.8 million that the judge awarded to King in damages, only $ 2.2 were over allegedly tangible losses — because King claims that his company lost money and a valuable employee in the process.
That employee being his wife, Danielle Swords.
King sued Huizar for criminal conversation, alienation of affection, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress, and assault and battery.
"Criminal conversation" is essentially a legalese euphemism for extramarital sex acts.
The allegations of "assault and battery" are … well, based upon something that happened later.
A little over five years after Danielle Swords married Keith King, she met Huizar at a bike show for her husband"s company, King BMX Stunt Shows.
According to allegations made by King"s attorneys, Huizar "pursued" Swords, which eventually led to him renting a home near her.
From there, the two enjoyed spa days and hotel visits and, you know, normal affair stuff. Please don"t cheat on your spouse, folks.
Apparently King first noticed that his wife was exchanging inappropriate texts with Huizar. If he learned that by going through her private messages without permission, that is a huge red flag.
King has hotel reciepts and call logs that he says support his claims about Huizar.
King"s 33-year-old wife Danielle Swords says that their marriage was already in trouble when Huizar came along, but King disagrees, and lays the blame at the feet of Huizar.
Swords eventually separated from King, moving into an apartment of her own.
When Keith went there, he was apparently "shocked" to see Huizar there with her.
It appears that he freaked out, and Swords recorded a video of him whining "that"s my wife!"
Under other circumstances, one might choose to feel sorry for the guy. As it is, he used the incident to accuse Huizar of assault and battery.
From footage that Swords herself recorded, it looks like all that Huizar did was keep King from entering an apartment where he was not welcome.
Here is why this is serious.
Alienation of Affection laws essentially treat women as property instead of as independent human beings who can make their own choices.
Most states do no have "alienation of affection" laws still on the books, because it"s 2018 and most of us agree that women are people.
But North Carolina still has this law on the books. And so do Hawaii, Mississippi, New Mexico, South Dakota, and Utah.
Huizar is going to appeal the judgment (paying isn"t even an option, of course), and hopefully, his case"s appeals could get his barbaric law thrown out.
If you"re wondering why so many feel disgust and contempt towards King and not for Swords, who cheated, even though cheating is bad … listen to the way that he talks about her.
Speaking to Inside Edition, King s
"If she had been in a car accident," King says. "And I walked up on the car accident and saw her dead in the car, that"s what it felt like to me."
That is a very creepy comparison. Especially considering that she is a person who is alive and well, but just decided that she didn"t want to be married to him.
"I felt like I had just witnessed her die," King says.
If he feels that the mother of his child only has any value if she"s still "his," it"s no surprise that he dedicated his time and resources to exacting revenge upon the man she prefers in court.
We definitely think that Swords should have not had an affair and instead separated before taking up with Huizar.
But, at the same time, we hope that Huizar"s appeal is successful. The court"s judgment may have followed the law, but the law is dehumanizing to consenting adults and should be overturned or abolished.
