Source: New York Daily News, (Newark) Star-Ledger
On Tuesday, after three years of failed negotiations, insults, and nonstop bickering over everything from Barnes & Noble parking lots to pony rides, the McGreevey divorce finally goes to trial. Legal analysts expect New Jersey's former first couple will approach new lows, even for divorce court.

"I'm not going to tell you this is going to be the worst case ever in the history of New Jersey divorces," said Charles Abut, a matrimonial lawyer who operates the New Jersey Family Law blog. "But I think if you asked longtime matrimonial lawyers, 'Give me the your top 10 worst,' this one is going to appear on everyone's list."

Wed in October 2000, Jim McGreevey, a 50-year-old career politician-turned seminary student originally from Carteret, NJ, and Dina Matos McGreevey, a 41-year-old Portuguese immigrant who grew up in Newark, have been separated since August 2004, when he announced he was a "gay American" who had romanced male aide Golan Cipel.

Their attempt at an out-of-court settlement -- hashed out while they wrote clashing tell-all memoirs -- foundered in early 2007.

"They ought to make it a soap opera," Raoul Felder, the New York-based celebrity divorce lawyer, told the Star-Ledger "It's so bizarre. And with every turn, each one of them only damages themselves more."

They've been fighting ever since they left the governor's mansion, spewing enough hatred that Union County Superior Court Judge Karen Cassidy has expressed fear for the welfare of their 6-year-old daughter, Jacqueline.

When allegations of three-way sex orgies emerged in the case six weeks ago, the judge warned that the revelations were "just the tip of the iceberg."

Now the public will get to see what other bombshells lurk beneath the surface as the former New Jersey governor and his estranged wife take their war to trial this week.

That is, if they go the distance.

Even with all the mud splattered in pretrial hearings, some experts doubt the exes have the stomach -- or the cash -- for a full-blown courtroom battle, New York Daily News reports.

"These people don't have that much money. The chances are this is all going to be settled," said Suzanne Bracker, a New York divorce lawyer who has been closely following the seamy soap opera across the Hudson.

The proceedings, which could last up to six weeks in Elizabeth's Union County Courthouse, have been divided into three sections. Superior Court Judge Karen Cassidy has said she will rule separately on each part: Custody of the couple's 6-year-old daughter, Jacqueline; the amount of child support and alimony McGreevey must pay Matos McGreevey; and, finally, Matos McGreevey's claim McGreevey defrauded her, tricking her into a marriage of political convenience even though he knew he was gay. Because of this, Dina Matos argues that she deserves damages for the time she did not get to live in Drumthwacket, the governor's mansion.

Already, the pretrial motions and associated publicity have included enough prurience to make a stripper blush, as Newark's Star-Ledger puts it.

Legal experts say that the first two parts of the trial are likely to be relatively mundane, but they expect fireworks during the third part which will involve an examination of McGreevey's homosexuality.

McGreevey has said his wife knew of his homosexual tendencies before their marriage. A former McGreevey aide Theodore Pedersen, has said he had three-way sex  -- the so-called "Friday night specials" -- with the McGreeveys before they married.

McGreevey's lawyers say testimony from Pedersen is relevant because McGreevey needed Pedersen's presence in order to be able to perform sexually with Matos McGreevey. 

McGreevey's lawyers claim Pedersen's story proves that Matos McGreevey knew her future hubby was gay -- why else would he want another man present for sex?

Cassidy is expected to rule on Tuesday whether Pedersen can testify.

Matos McGreevey has denied that the trysts with Pedersen took place. She said she did not become aware of her husband's homosexuality until Aug. 12, 2004, just hours before the press conference at which he announced he was gay.

Matos McGreevey is seeking alimony to keep her in the lifestyle she enjoyed as first lady and has tried to pry open the books of McGreevey's lover, investment adviser Mark O'Donnell.

She claims McGreevey's alleged fraud cost her 13 months of having the perks of being New Jersey's first lady and living in Drumthwacket, the elegant governor's mansion in Princeton. Her lawyers have valued this at $600,000.

When not bickering through memoirs, book tours, and press statements from their lawyers, the McGreeveys have resorted to name-calling.

McGreevey has described Matos McGreevey in court papers as a "bitter, vengeful woman" and called the dress she wore during an appearance on "The Oprah Winfrey Show" "inappropriate and ill-fitting."

Matos McGreevey accused her husband of being a master manipulator who put their daughter "in the center of a media maelstrom."

Judge Cassidy, who has tried -- mostly in vain -- to keep the case as nonpublic as possible, also has pushed the couple toward the settlement table, but with no success.

Cassidy has told the couple they can't afford a full trial and pleaded with them to consider what's best for Jacqueline -- who eventually will learn how to use Google and discover every nasty word her parents lob at one another in what will undoubtedly be a media spectacle.

McGreevey has said in both court filings and interviews he wants to settle. Matos McGreevey has not commented on settlement talks, but in court filings has seemed to indicate her husband only wants to settle on his terms.

Full article: McGreevey divorce trial: Fireworks start Tuesday | Star-Ledger
McGreevey divorce trial looms - so do sordid details | New York Daily News