While some of the Ten Commandments are also laws, in most states, there are no laws that say "Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery" or "Thou Shalt Not Covet Thy Neighbor's Wife," but that's not the case in North Carolina.
NC, along with five other states, have an old, rare law on the books called "alienation of affection," that allows a spouse to sue a third party who is responsible for the failure of a marriage, and one man just successfully did it, winning himself $8.8 million dollars.
His name is Keith King and in 2010, he married his wife Danielle and went on to have a child together, who is now five years old. Together, Keith and Danielle ran a BMX bike stunt show company that toured across the country, performing at events. It was at one of those shows in 2015 that Danielle met a man named Francisco Huizar III. The pair started texting each other, but Keithstumbled upon the messages and called Huizar, demanding he stop communicating with his wife.
Danielle wound up moving out of Keith's house in 2017, but the couple remained married. However, when she let her husband know about some electrical issues she was having at her new apartment, he dropped by to help and found out that she was actually living with Huizar. Keith emotionally confronted the man once more, and this time it was caught on film - a video Keith's lawyer claims is part of a plot to support domestic violence allegations.
The clip shows King pleading with Huizar, crying out, "She's my wife! You're picking him over me?!" as Huizar held him back.
In his lawsuit, Keith stated that the affair not only broke up his family, but it ruined his business and cost him tons personally. He also sued for intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent infliction of emotional distress and assault and battery.
A Superior Court judge ruled in favor of King and awarded him $2.2 million in compensatory damages and $6.6 million in punitive damages. Even with big ruling, Keith said, "There isn't a dollar amount that you can put on it for what I think my family's worth."
Huizar hasn't decided if he will appeal or not.
Photo Credit: Getty