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September 23, 2009
From Husband to Landlord
Justin Katz
Readers will no doubt recall the bizarre tale of Paul Kelly, whose ex-girlfriend moved into his house for a brief period while he prepared to depart for a Middle East war zone in July 2007 and refused to leave, claiming in court that they were married under common law. At last, Superior Court Judge Ojetta Rogeriee Thompson issued a ruling, yesterday, with the following results, as Kelly's lawyer, Pat McKinney, describes them:
The Judge found emphatically that there was no common-law marriage; awarded Paul possession of the premises; and awarded Paul $12,705.25 in back rent, with prospective rent for any continued occupancy, first installment due Thursday.. It came as absolutely no surprise to anyone present that Ms. Cooley immediately announced her intention to appeal to the RI Supreme Court and asked that the judgment be stayed pending the outcome of her appeal. The court responded to this by indicating that any Superior Court stay would be conditioned upon a supersedeas bond in the amount of $35k; ordered an immediate inspection of the interior of the house by Paul; and set the matter down for review on October 22.So two-plus years into a stunningly obvious case, Paul has at least made the transition from false husband to landlord, and now the process begins to restore him to status as "resident." We must safeguard the due process rights of estranged spouses, of course, but this is just unreal.
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Wow. Two years seems like an awfully long time to resolve this case.
What took so long?
Posted by: donroach at September 23, 2009 2:52 PMHow long will it take for the state Supreme Court to say "Nah, we don't want it. Lower court ruling stands."?
Posted by: Patrick at September 23, 2009 3:07 PMImagine if the roles were reversed, he would have had his ass thrown out in less than a day.
Posted by: bobc at September 23, 2009 3:40 PMI could be mistaken (does happen) but although the term is frequently bandied about, I was under the impression that common law marriage disappeared about 100 years ago.
I just Googled it, RI is one of 11 remaining states that still permit common law marriage. Massachusetts does not.
Posted by: Warrington Faust at September 23, 2009 3:50 PMRI justice moves slower than Charlie Bakst does away from the buffet table.
Posted by: joe bernstein at September 23, 2009 4:49 PMJoe,
Posted by: bobc at September 23, 2009 6:06 PMThat's because his pockets are full of pork chops.
"Paul has at least made the transition from false husband to landlord"
At last, movement in the right direction.
The two years that it took to get here, however, are a travesty of justice.
"What took so long?"
Don, that's exactly what we've all been wondering.
Posted by: Monique at September 23, 2009 9:03 PMImagine if the roles were reversed, he would have had his ass thrown out in less than a day.
Quoted for truth.
Posted by: EMT at September 23, 2009 10:45 PMI think it was lamb chops,but in any event Charlie recently had a heart attack.His swinish gobbling caught up with him.
Posted by: joe bernstein at September 23, 2009 10:53 PM