A jury has returned a half-million dollar alienation-of-affection judgment against a woman accused of stealing another woman's husband.
"I hope this sends a message that you should wait until people are single, or at least separated" before pursuing a relationship, said Paige Bigelow, Candace Wagner's lawyer in her alienation-of-affection case against Cathy Nolan.The award is believed to be the biggest ever in a Utah spouse-stealing lawsuit.
Nolan's lawyer, Curtis Wenger, said the verdict likely will be appealed and that the alienation-of-affection law should be thrown off the books in Utah, as most states already have done.
"We were shocked by the verdict," said Wenger. "It's really sad this cause of action still exists in Utah. It allows an angry spouse to punish someone else and jeopardize the future happiness of a new couple."
It was unclear late Wednesday whether his client could afford to pay the verdict.
Utah is among a dozen or so states that still allow such lawsuits.
The Utah Supreme Court abolished lawsuits for criminal conversation, or having sex with a married person, in 1991, but that same year it upheld the alienation-of-affection law.
Bigelow said her client was happily married to Gary Vessel when he met Nolan during a convention in Albuquerque. Nolan then looked up Vessel at his Salt Lake home, sent him a card and the two developed a relationship, Bigelow said.
A year later, the Vessels filed for divorce, ending a nine-year marriage that had produced three children.