Cecil and his wife Geraldine and have been married for close to thirty years. They both work at a local university. She works in the admissions office and he is the head of the history department. He spoke emphatically.
Cecil: I have never cheated on my wife, and I have never given her any reason to believe that I have not been faithful to her.
His attorney only asked him one question: “How do you respond to your wife’s claim that you routinely stay out all night long and that she has found hotel receipts in your wallet?”
Cecil: A few weeks ago I left the house and checked into a hotel because I could not take another night in that house with her. So I packed a bag and went to stay in a hotel. I told her I was planning to stay in a hotel. I just didn’t tell her which one because I didn’t want her showing up and making a scene. If she had shown up and insisted on speaking with me it would have defeated the purpose of leaving home. She is constantly accusing me of one thing or another. And when I say “constantly,” I mean daily. And when I say “daily,” I mean every single day. Every day at the same time she starts asking me questions about my day.
He said her questioning usually began innocently enough with her asking him something like, “How was your day?”
Cecil: If I say I had a meeting, she will want to know who else attended the meeting. And if I mention the names of any females she will want to know who they are and whether or not we were alone together. She will also want to know what we talked about and if she had ever met them.
Cecil said that Geraldine knows he hold office hours where he meets with students one on one in his office, and she insists that he tell her the names of the students he has met with, what they met about, and how long the meetings lasted.
Cecil: She wants me to describe in graphic detail what the female students were wearing and whether the door was opened or closed. There was an incident several years ago where a female student accused a professor in our department of sexual harassment. As soon as it was brought to my attention, I followed established protocol and turned the matter over to the proper authorities.
He said Geraldine accused him of turning a blind eye to what was going on until he had no other choice.
Cecil: Her claims are not supported by the facts, but when she is in the throes of making false allegations she refuses to allow the facts to distract her. I have gotten to the point where I just ignore her. She now contends that because I just listen to her and don’t respond to her accusations, I must be trying to hide something. And she has made it clear that she is going to keep probing until she finds out what I am up to.
Jackie’s Note: The cases posted in Courthouse Chronicles are real-life court cases that involve real people. For the record, I do not include any of the cases I have actually worked. If I hired a lawyer to represent me I would not want him or her writing about me so that’s why I don’t write about any of my clients. My research for these posts consists of sitting in the back of courtrooms listening to the testimony and witnessing the antics of other lawyers, their clients and people who chose to represent themselves.
Photo Credit: Visual Hunt