Opinion ID: 1309013
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: Appellant's First Marriage

Text: The record indicates that on April 14, 1950, in Kanawha County, West Virginia, the appellant married Vance Bernard Pauley (hereinafter Pauley). At that time, however, Pauley was married to another woman by the name of Patricia Fletcher. Pursuant to W.Va.Code, 61-8-1 [1931], [1] Pauley was indicted in the Intermediate Court of Kanawha County for the felony offense of bigamy. [2] Pauley entered a plea of guilty to that charge and on May 15, 1952, was sentenced to the West Virginia Penitentiary for an indeterminate term of one to five years. The appellant asserts that at the time Pauley was sentenced in Intermediate Court, the trial judge informed Pauley, in the presence of the appellant, that Pauley's marriage to the appellant was annulled. In September, 1980, the appellant instituted an action to annul her marriage to Pauley. Prior to that time, however, neither the appellant nor Pauley took any action to terminate the marriage, although in the action before this Court the appellant asked that her marriage to Pauley be declared void. The appellant asserts that, because of the prosecution of Pauley for bigamy, she believed that her marriage to Pauley had been terminated.