A Connecticut judge has ordered Liz Cho and Josh Elliott to proceed with their divorce trial in December regardless of whether their arbitration session produces a settlement.
Judge Steven Dembo set firm trial dates of Dec. 14 and Dec. 21 in a September order, rejecting any further delays in the case that has now stretched 412 days. The warring former spouses, both 55, had agreed to enter arbitration this month with a retired judge empowered to rule on alimony, property division, and legal fees and even to issue contempt findings. Dembo approved that alternative path but made clear it would not push back the scheduled courtroom showdown.
“The case is 412 days old and trial has been continued multiple times,” Dembo wrote, citing the ongoing back-and-forth between the estranged exes.
Elliott filed for divorce from Cho on June 20, after nearly a decade of marriage, marking the end of a relationship that began when the two met while working for ABC. It was the second marriage for both, and each has one child from a previous relationship. They wed in July 2015.
The hostility between them surfaced almost immediately in the legal process. In a Nov. 6 court filing, Cho demanded copies of Elliott’s communications with “any person… With whom [he] has or has had a romantic and/or sexual relationship, from July 11, 2015, to the present,” as well as any “communications in connection with [his] search for any employment.”
Elliott’s legal team fired back with accusations of its own. In January court papers, his lawyers claimed Cho had shown “escalating and erratic behavior directed at not only [Elliott] but his minor child as well.” Elliott stated in a separate filing that he had removed only limited furniture items, “many from the basement, solely to furnish a new residence after removing himself and his child from a hostile environment created by [Cho].”
He went on to accuse her in court documents of “monitoring and listening to [Elliott’s] private phone calls; rifling through [Elliott’s] personal belongings and closet; leaving the marital residence for extended periods without communication despite the presence of two dogs requiring daily care.”
The former CBS anchor also claimed his estranged wife “lashed out” at him as he was “washing grapes for his daughter’s lunch, exclaiming that the grapes were hers and he was not permitted to put them in the child’s lunch.”
Cho had earlier accused Elliott of removing a “significant amount of furniture and furnishings” from their Connecticut home, including their two Portuguese water dogs. She also claimed she was missing a watch and earrings from her jewelry bag, with Elliott being “the only other person who had access to the missing watch and jewelry.”
The document demands have continued to fuel the conflict. In August, Cho filed for a protective order to block a deposition scheduled for July 23, arguing it was “noticed without any inquiry as to the availability of [Cho] and her counsel.” She also objected to Elliott’s team requesting she turn over “copies of any written correspondence, emails, cards, text messages, or any written forms of communication between you and any person, other than the Plaintiff, with whom you have or have had a romantic and/or sexual relationship from July 11, 2015 to June 23.” Despite her objections, she ultimately agreed to produce the communications at a July court hearing.
Elliott spent three years as an anchor on Good Morning America from 2011 to 2014 before moving to NBC and later CBSN. He is currently not employed with a network. Cho has remained in her long-running role with Eyewitness News throughout the proceedings.
The arbitrator in their upcoming session must issue a decision within 30 days of the meeting, but Judge Dembo’s order ensures the courtroom battle will proceed either way.
