Stamford Superior Court Judge Kevin Tierney found himself at a loss for words recently when attempting to describe the divorce trial of Jacqueline Anom and John Ofori-Tenkorang.
So he borrowed a term that, according to his research, had never been used in Connecticut jurisprudence, and only appeared in one other state court opinion: the "Stalingrad defense."
Anom's marriage only lasted 23 months, but the case has been pending 43 months and the bitter divorce trial stretched from Oct. 8, 2003, to Dec. 23, 2004. In a March 10 motion to reargue, the husband contends Tierney's solution is "impermissible palimony and non-contractual property division" between two people who had never been married at all.
In addition to alimony, child support and whatever else, the judge "ordered the husband to immediately pay his wife's legal fees of $150,491." This article makes me thankful for two things: First, that I don't practice family law; and second, that I've never been married. Details here from The Connecticut Law Tribune via Law.com.