The lawsuit is asking for the return of the giant diamond ring, and while Texas law says an engagement ring is a 'conditional gift' -- that is, conditional on marriage -- our legal analyst says the lawsuit isn't necessarily an easy score for Williams.
When defensive end Mario Williams signed on with the Buffalo Bills last summer, then-fiancée Erin Marzouki was by his side, wearing a 10-karat, $785,000 rock on her finger.
The couple called off the engagement in January, but according to a lawsuit filed by Williams' attorneys, Marzouki still has the ring. While common wisdom would have it that Texas law requires that the return of the pricey bauble, KTRK legal analyst Joel Androphy says, not so fast.
"Sure, there is a law that says that, but there's a lot of what ifs and there's a lot of facts that come into play in something like this," he explained.
The couple met when Williams was a Texans player. Marzouki was listed as the Texans' premium seating development manager in 2007 and 2008. According to the lawsuit, Williams proposed to her on February 19, 2012, but less than a year later, she called it off. If true, Williams' lawsuit could have more of a chance.
"By misrepresenting that she really wanted to marry him when all she wanted the ring then he would get the ring back," Androphy said.
But as far as other allegations in the lawsuit -- that Marzouki dated Williams for his money, but never intended to marry him, that she charged $108,000 on an American Express in 2012, and that Williams spent $230,000 on her ...
"Gold-digging is not illegal," Androphy said.
I reached out to Williams' lawyers and the Buffalo Bills, but my phone calls have not been returned.
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