Apr 27, 2007 6:10 pm US/Eastern
McGreevey, Estranged Wife Agree To Joint Custody
Judge Urges Use Of 'Common Sense' In Handling Of Issues
ELIZABETH, N.J. (CBS) ―
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James McGreevey and his wife Dina on the day he announced he was resigning because he is a "gay American."
Former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey and his estranged wife, Dina Matos McGreevey, agreed to have joint custody of their daughter, a judge said on Friday afternoon. The resolution is the latest development in what's been a very public divorce battle since the former governor announced he is gay.
It was the first time the pair appeared publicly together since the shocking announcement in 2004.
After meeting behind closed doors with their attorneys, both parties also agreed on hiring a parenting coordinator, who will be utilized to solve parenting issues between the two without having to go to court. They also agreed that Matos McGreevey would be the primary parent of their 5-year-old daughter Jacqueline, who would visit her father every other weekend.
Attorneys for the two both said they were pleased with the outcome of the proceedings.
After meeting privately with their lawyers regarding custody issues and other motions in the couple's contentious divorce case, Superior Court Judge Karen Cassidy convened court and said that the former governor's sexual orientation is not significant.
She also said their daughter was prohibited from sleeping in the same bed with anyone other than her mother or father.
Matos McGreevey declined to comment to reporters Friday morning as she arrived at the courthouse. The former governor arrived soon afterward, also declining to speak with reporters.
In August of 2004, McGreevey made a bombshell confession when he publicly stated: "My truth is that I am a gay American." But while the news may have been a surprise to many, it apparently wasn't a surprise to his wife at the time.
"Although it is clear that the defendant knew of my sexual orientation before our marriage, she chose to either ignore it or block it out of her mind, even where questioned by her friends," McGreevey said, according to court documents.
"This is homophobia in its worst form," he went on to say.
Prior to this, both McGreeveys contended that Dina found out her husband was gay when he confessed to her hours before he resigned.
But others say she knew while McGreevey was allegedly having an affair with Golan Cipel.
Dina told Oprah magazine that she would not have married the former governor if she had known he was gay.
At the center of the marital dispute was the couple's 5-year-old daughter, who currently lives with her mother and visits her father every other weekend.
According to published reports, Dina made McGreevey and his partner take down a nude photograph in their home, and contends that their daughter should not be allowed to sleep in her father's bed or receive Communion in an Episcopal Church because she is being raised Roman Catholic.
McGreevy has already written a book.
In his book, "The Confession," the former governor talks about how Dina caught him on the telephone with Cipel in the summer of 2002 and asked angrily: "Are you gay?"
We will hear more from Dina next week, when she has her own book coming out, called "Silent Partner."
Since the split, Dina Matos McGreevey and daughter Jacqueline have lived in Springfield. Jim McGreevey lives in Plainfield with his partner, Australian-born money manager Mark O'Donnell.
(© 2007 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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