Husband W. v. Wife W.
Supreme Court of Delaware
297 A.2d 39 (1972)
Husband W. (plaintiff) sought a divorce from Wife W. (defendant) on grounds of incompatibility, presenting evidence that Wife had poisoned his food with lye and tried to stab him with an ice pick, while he had locked her outside in cold weather, hit her over the head with a chair severely enough to require hospitalization more than once, threatened her with a piece of iron, and threatened to burn down their home. Despite this record, the trial court found Husband hadn't proven the marriage was irretrievably broken without possibility of reconciliation, and Husband appealed.
Whether a marriage marked by mutual violence, a year of separation, recurring police involvement, and the parties' own statements that reconciliation was hopeless, is sufficiently proven to be irretrievably broken to support a divorce decree on grounds of incompatibility.