Alienation of Affection Lawsuit Sees Bitter Husband Awarded $8.8 Million From Wife"s Lover

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.

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Taylor Swift Wins Again! Singer Awarded $1 in David Mueller Groping Case

Taylor Swift 2, David Mueller 0.

A few days ago, a judge dismissed a lawsuit filed against the singer by the aforementioned DJ, who claimed that Swift’s accusation of sexual misconduct against him cost Mueller his job in 2013.

Now, the singer has been declared victorious in her countersuit against David Mueller.

As previously reported, the incident at the center of both these lawsuits took place after a Swift concert about four years ago in Denver.

During a meet and greet with the artist, Mueller posed for a picture with Swift, smiling on her left side while allegedly placing his hand on her bare backside.

This is what Swift said at the time, at least, prompting her bodyguard to escort Swift out of the arena and for the DJ to get fired from his job at KYGO radio station after word of the harassment went viral.

In response, Mueller sued Swift for $ 3 million, arguing she defamed his character and cost him his job.

In response to that lawsuit, however, Swift sued Mueller, refusing to back down and only asking for $ 1 to prove she was not making these allegations as any kind of money grab.

On Monday afternoon, a Denver jury sided with Swift and determined Mueller had to pay his symbolic $ 1 to the pop star.

Said Swift in a statement after the verdict was read:

“I want to thank Judge William J. Martinez and the jury for their careful consideration, my attorneys Doug Baldridge, Danielle Foley, Jay Schaudies and Katie Wright for fighting for me and anyone who feels silenced by a sexual assault, and especially anyone who offered their support throughout this four-year ordeal and two-year long trial process.”

She added:

“I acknowledge the privilege that I benefit from in life, in society and in my ability to shoulder the enormous cost of defending myself in a trial like this.

“My hope is to help those whose voices should also be heard.

“Therefore, I will be making donations in the near future to multiple organizations that help sexual assault victims defend themselves.”

Both Mueller and Swift took the stand during this six-day trial.

Mueller contended he may have made contact with Swift’s ribcage or ribs during their brief encounter… but insisted he never touched her inappropriately.

Taylor, though, stood strong in the case of cross examination and argued otherwise.

“He stayed latched onto my bare ass cheek as I lurched away from him,” Swift told the jury. “It was a definite grab. A very long grab.”

Swift rolled her eyes, shook her head and fought back tears during Mueller’s lawyer’s closing argument, in which he claimed Swift did not appear to be in distress during the photo.

But the victim-shaming did not work.

In the end, Swift proved that she’s a winner on the charts and also in the courtroom.

Now maybe she can back into the studio and finish her latest album!

View Slideshow: Taylor Swift Albums: The Definitive Countdown!

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Student Who Knocked Up Teacher Awarded $6 Million Settlement

A former student who impregnated a high school teacher was awarded $ 6 million in a settlement, officials in Redlands, Calif., confirmed.

Vince Finaldi, an attorney for the former student, said the egregious conduct of the Redlands Unified School District warranted the payment.

“The size of this settlement represents the gravity of the damage done to this young victim and his family,” he said in a statement.

“It also highlights the extreme malfeasance and neglect by school officials who turned a blind eye to the criminal conduct of a teacher.”

Administrators, he reiterated, “failed to protect a student.” 

Laura Whitehurst, 29, was arrested in July 2013 and charged with 41 felony counts of unlawful sex acts. Yes. Forty-one felony charges.

That could have meant up to 29 years in prison.

Ultimately, she pleaded guilty to four counts of unlawful sexual intercourse and two counts of oral copulation with a person under 18.

Her sexual dalliances involved three boys at Citrus Valley and Redlands high schools during her tenure as a teacher in both locations.

As part of a plea bargain in which she admitted having the student’s baby, she was sentenced to a year in jail and released after six months.

On probation, she is a registered sex offender.

Laura Whitehurst shares custody of the love child with the former high school student, who is now 21, according to the victim’s attorneys.

In the lawsuit, attorneys for the student alleged that school officials knew of his romance with Whitehurst and failed to warn his family. 

Teacher Pleads Guilty To Having Sex With Students

The lawsuit also claimed that a colleague of Whitehurst’s was aware of the relationship and that school officials questioned her about it.

Despite the huge payment, district officials said they were admitting no wrongdoing by settling the lawsuit, blaming Whitehurst alone.

Spokesman Tom DeLapp said the district is “not pleased with this” but settled “this tragic case once and for all so we can move forward.”

“We felt there could be serious damage to the reputation of a very fine school district” if the legal case were to be drawn out, he added.

Throwing a bit of shade, he said they ended this before “the plaintiff’s lawyers were allowed to drag the [school] through the mud all over again.”

“In the long run, $ 6 million is high, but it could have been much higher if this had been left to an empathetic jury in another city.”

DeLapp feared a jury “looking past the facts” to find a “financial scapegoat for the unprofessional, criminal actions of one individual.”

He cited the explosion of media attention, noting “there was a picture of her in the birthing suite circulated to people at the school with the boy.”

View Slideshow: 24 Teachers 2 Hot 4 Students

The former student who fathered Laura Whitehurst’s baby said the relationship started in 2012 when he was 16 and lasted for a year.

He told authorities Whitehurst began driving him home from school functions and spending long hours with him away from the school.

On a trip to Disneyland, she grabbed his hand and told him she wanted to kiss him, and shortly after the trip, things escalated. Hard.

She and the boy began having repeated sexual intercourse at her apartment, he said, and Whitehurst gave birth to their child in June 2013.

The boy was in attendance for the birth.

He said later that Whitehurst gave him alcohol and told him it was a “miracle pregnancy” as she did not believe she could get pregnant.

As if that weren’t a bizarre enough series of events, she even gave him a Bible on his 17th birthday and took him to church, he said.

View Slideshow: Strange But True News Hall of Fame

Meadow Walker Awarded $10 Million in Settlement Over Father"s Death

Meadow Walker, daughter of the late actor Paul Walker, was awarded $ 10.1 in a settlement with Roger Rodas’ estate.

Roger Rodas was the driver of the Porsche involved in the accident that killed both Walker and Rodas in 2013, which left fans shocked and devastated.

Jeffrey Milam, Meadow’s attorney, released the following statement:

“The amount paid by the estate of Roger Rodas into a trust for Meadow Walker only covers a fraction of what her father would have earned as an international movie star had his life not tragically been cut short.

“Through his estate, Mr. Rodas, the driver of the car, took partial responsibility for the crash. Meadow’s lawsuit against Porsche AG—a $ 13 billion corporation—intends to hold the company responsibly for producing a vehicle that was defective and caused Paul Walker’s death.”

Earlier this week, Rodas’ widow lost her lawsuit against Porsche, which included allegations of negligence, wrongful death and product liability. 

Speaking on the Rodas case, Milam pointed out that the cases were too different to compare.

“The issues in the cases are very different,” he told E! News. “The federal case was filed on behalf of Roger Rodas, who was the driver of the Porsche Carrera GT and was killed instantly upon impact.” 

“Meadow’s father, Paul Walker, was a passenger in the car. He survived the crash but was trapped and burned to death because of the vehicle’s defects.”

Last Father’s Day, Meadow, who is now 17, shared a sweet throwback photo of herself as a baby embracing her late father.

Hulk Hogan Awarded $115 MILLION in Sex Tape Lawsuit

Hey, Erin Andrews: Hulk Hogan will see your $ 55 million and raise you a cool $ 170 million more.

Just a few days after the sports reporter was awarded that massive sum because a pervert filmed her walking around naked through a peephole in her hotel room… the professional wrestling icon received an even larger amount for a different kind of nude act.

A Florida jury decreed on Friday afternoon that Hogan is owed $ 115 million – yes, that’s $ 115 MILLION – for having his privacy violated by the company Gawker.

Back in 2010, the website published clips from a 2007 sex tape that featured the former WWE champion.

They did so without his permission and Hogan has said the tape was also filmed without his knowledge.

According to Variety, the jury found that Hogan had suffered “severe emotional distress” in the last three years since the sex tape went viral.

It featured Hogan having intercourse with the then-wife of his then-best friend, a DJ named Bubba the Love Sponge.

Gawker’s attorneys unsuccessfully argued the tape was newsworthy because Hogan openly discussed his sex during various media interviews.

Hogan had sued for $ 100 million, but his peers in court decided that he was owed $ 55 million for economic injuries and $ 60 million for emotional distress.

In a statement issued Friday, Gawker Media indicated it is already contemplating an appeal.

View Slideshow: 13 Celebrity N-Word Scandals

Erin Andrews Awarded $55 MILLION in Nude Peephole Case!

Fox Sports anchor and Dancing With the Stars co-host Erin Andrews just scored a major legal victory in her highly-publicized lawsuit against the Marriott International hotel chain.

Back in October, Andrews sued Marriott for $ 75 million, alleging that the company allowed peeping tom Michael barrett to request the room next to hers without informing her of the potential danger.

The result was a nude video of Andrews that went viral online in 2009.

The veteran sports journalist and TV personality says she was severely traumatized by the incident, and was nearly forced to abandon her career due to feelings of shame and humiliation.

Andrews stated in court testimony that she believes the Marriott corporation and Barrett are both directly responsible for her years of suffering, and today, the jury agreed with her.

It was reported moments ago that Andrews has been awarded $ 55 million in her lawsuit.

The damages were divided equally between the two defendants, with Barrett ordered to pay $ 28 million, and the Marriott the remaining $ 27 million.

Barrett already pled guilty in a criminal case and spent two years behind bars.

Andrews – who had previously given highly emotional testimony – reportedly broke down in tears as the ruling was announced.