INTERESTING POINT.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 5 February 1925, Page 4

INTERESTING POINT.

RErMARRIAGE AFTER DIVORCE.

CASE FOR APPEAL COURT

(by TELEGRAPH PRESS ASSOCIATION.) AUCKLAND, Feb. 4. It was recently set down in an English Court of Appeal case that ere a man may marry for the- second time, he must have proof in fact that he is a free man to do so. This decision was involved in a case at. the Supreme Court to-day, when Thomas Clftrence Carswell was charged with bigamy and hawing made a false statement to the registnar of marriages. The facts were'not disputed. The accused married in 1901. On a crosspetition in 1921 accused’s wife obtained a decree nisi. It was not made absolute till December, 1922, but on October 10, 1922, accused went throughv a form of marriage with another woman. Accused’s defence was that he thought a decree absolute had been granted, prior to the second marriage, although he had not been informed about the date. Three 'months prior to the marriage he had instructed his then solicitor to complete the divorce, proceedings, and he had made the final payment a month before the marriage. The facts he gave tile registrar were true so far as he knew. When the accused said he was a. bachelor, he thought he was right because he “had lived as a bachelor for years.” On learning that the marriage was irregular, accused immediately remedied it by going through a form of marriage a second time after the decree absolute had been made. 1 Mr Justice Herdman put a query to the jury as to whether in their opinion the accused at the time of the second marriage had reasonable grounds to believe that lie was free to marry again, and whether he had acted in good faith.: At the same time, said His Honour, in view of the English decision, lie could only hold that this would not be a legal ground on which to rely, and a case would have to be made out far the New Zealand Court of Appeal in any case. The jury answered the judge’s question in the affirmative, and returned a verdict of not guilty to the false statements charge. In accordance with the judge’s direction, however, a formal verdict of guilty was returned on the bigamy charge. The jury added a rider that it sympathised with the accused in the •unfortunate position in which he had been placed by his former solicitor. The accused was admitted to- bail pending ’the Court of Appeal decision-.