Cooper Vs Kelley Case Study
Court of Appeals of Georgia
KELLEY v. COOPER.
No. A13A0982.
-- November 22, 2013
Following a bench trial, the trial court awarded Melissa Cooper damages on her claims of breach of promise to marry, fraud, and attorney fees. Without having moved for a directed verdict in the trial court, which limits his possible recourse to a new trial, Christopher Ned Kelley raises five enumerations of error, including that a promise to marry is not enforceable when the parties are in a meretricious relationship. We find no error and affirm.
Construed in favor of the judgment, the evidence produced at trial shows that Kelley and Cooper had been living together since at least 2000 and had one child together, when, on December 23, 2004, Kelley proposed …show more content…
First, at the very time that he gave her a $10,000 ring and proposed marriage, he was having an affair with another woman that began before his proposal to marry and continued after Cooper accepted the proposal. He certainly equivocated frequently about his actions and his intent at the time. When asked whether he had seen another woman within three months prior to the proposal, Kelley testified, “It 's possible.” He gave the same answer when asked if he saw the same woman within three months after the proposal. He also testified “We never had very many discussions around marriage. I personally never initiated any conversations around marriage” and “I never initiated the concept of marriage with her, outside of giving her that ring.” Kelley 's testimony about the proposal itself was that although he gave Cooper the ring, “I never said the words will you marry me to her.” When asked if he gave Cooper a card that started with “What is a wife?”, Kelley responded, “Throughout our ten-year relationship, there will be very emotional times and you will do things that doesn 't necessarily represent, you know, the actuality of
KELLEY v. COOPER.
No. A13A0982.
-- November 22, 2013
Following a bench trial, the trial court awarded Melissa Cooper damages on her claims of breach of promise to marry, fraud, and attorney fees. Without having moved for a directed verdict in the trial court, which limits his possible recourse to a new trial, Christopher Ned Kelley raises five enumerations of error, including that a promise to marry is not enforceable when the parties are in a meretricious relationship. We find no error and affirm.
Construed in favor of the judgment, the evidence produced at trial shows that Kelley and Cooper had been living together since at least 2000 and had one child together, when, on December 23, 2004, Kelley proposed …show more content…
First, at the very time that he gave her a $10,000 ring and proposed marriage, he was having an affair with another woman that began before his proposal to marry and continued after Cooper accepted the proposal. He certainly equivocated frequently about his actions and his intent at the time. When asked whether he had seen another woman within three months prior to the proposal, Kelley testified, “It 's possible.” He gave the same answer when asked if he saw the same woman within three months after the proposal. He also testified “We never had very many discussions around marriage. I personally never initiated any conversations around marriage” and “I never initiated the concept of marriage with her, outside of giving her that ring.” Kelley 's testimony about the proposal itself was that although he gave Cooper the ring, “I never said the words will you marry me to her.” When asked if he gave Cooper a card that started with “What is a wife?”, Kelley responded, “Throughout our ten-year relationship, there will be very emotional times and you will do things that doesn 't necessarily represent, you know, the actuality of