Candace Bush Ms Van, Ms N, Harassment, Stalking and Obcession with Ex-Husband's Current Wife Chicago, Illinois

First let me introduce myself. I am a current law student at John Marshal focusing on family law and was told to look on ripoffreport.com for some good case studies for my class. This posting was one of the current ones and seemed interesting. All my finding are based on my opinion and I pulled data from public records (divorce, marriage, etc, and public records). In the following paragraphs I will point out why I feel Reggie Bernard is a bigamist and how his current marriage with Shay Williams is void.

Law and Facts

What is Bigamy? Bigamy (bĭ'gəmē), crime of marrying during the continuance of a lawful marriage. Bigamy is not committed if a prior marriage has been terminated by a divorce or a decree of nullity of marriage. Bigamy is an offense of willfully and know- ingly entering into a second marriage while validly married to another individual. Bigamy is punishable by either a fine or imprisonment, depending on the law of each individual state. In some jurisdictions, bigamy is a ground for divorce. A bigamous marriage is always void. In the United States if a husband or wife is absent and unheard of for seven (or in some states five) years and not known to be alive, he or she is presumed dead, and remarriage by the other spouse is not bigamous.

In Georgia Code 16-6-20. Bigamy (a) A person commits the offense of bigamy when he, being married and knowing that his lawful spouse is living, marries another person or carries on a bigamous cohabitation with another person. (b) It shall be an affirmative defense that the prior spouse has been continually absent for a period of seven years, during which time the accused did not know the prior spouse to be alive, or that the accused reasonably believed he was eligible to remarry. (c) A person convicted of the offense of bigamy shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years.

16-6-21. Marrying a bigamist. (a) An unmarried man or woman commits the offense of marrying a bigamist when he marries a person whom he knows to be the wife or husband of another. (b) It shall be an affirmative defense that the prior spouse of the bigamist has been continually absent for a period of seven years, during which time the accused did not know the prior spouse of the bigamist to be alive, or that the accused reasonably believed the bigamist was eligible to remarry. (c) A person convicted of the offense of marrying a bigamist shall be punished by imprisonment for not less than one nor more than ten years. Divorce in Georgia A couple may be legally separated in Georgia but it does not end the marriage. The separation must be granted by a court. A separation can be thought of as putting the marriage on hold until there can reconciliation or the couple decides to dissolve the marriage by divorce. In Georgia a couple may be legally separated but only a divorce actually ends a marriage. To file for divorce in Georgia you must have lived in the state for 6 months. The divorce action must be filed in the county where the defendant lives. There is a 31 day cooling off period required after the defendant is notified before a divorce can be granted. Divorce can be a jury trial.

Getting Married in Georgia ,Requirements for the state of: Georgia

• Generally, both applicants must apply in person together, but there may be exceptions to this requirement.

• You can obtain a license at the County Probate Court.

• Both applicants must be at least 18 years old to obtain a marriage license. With parental or guardian consent, the male must be at least 16 years old and the female must be at least 16 years old. Parental or guardian consent generally must be provided in person but there may be exceptions.

• If either applicant has been married before, you are required to bring Proof of Dissolution.

• There is no waiting period..

• Once the unsigned license is issued it is valid indefinitely.

• The unsigned license is good throughout the state.

• The cost of a license varies from around $30.00 to $65.00.

• SPECIAL NOTE: If you are under 18 years old you must pay an extra dollar for your license and you have a 3 day waiting period.

My Opinion/Findings

Shay Williams (Garrett) marriage to Reggie Garrett is void by Georgia law. Williams can not use or take Reggie Garrets last name until he is legally divorced from Candace Bush. Even if Bush separated from her husband June 2008, by Georgia law they are not legally divorced since separation does not end marriage. Furthermore, seven (7) years without contact has not lapsed for Garrett to seek a divorce from the courts.

In your posting about Bush you state, “..I assured her that we would have never gotten married while knowing that they were still legally married on paper. I explained to her that her ex-husband, my current husband filed for divorce over a year and a half ago after SHE left him and took their son to another state with out his knowledge. The attorney he hired failed to file the proper paper work to officially dissolve the marriage on the grounds of abandonment. Evidently there is an extra step that must be taken when a spouse abandons the other spouse and a child is involved. ” How where you able to get married in the first place without a marriage license? In Georgia, you must obtain a license at the Probate Court before any ceremony. If married before you also must submit a Proof of Dissolution.

SO my question is…Did you file a license before or after you had a ceremony? I have researched the vital records of Georgia and do not see a married license in either Garrett or Williams name. With this information I assume 1.) Reggie knew he was legally married and did not bother to tell Williams 2.) You both knew he was legally married and did not care. It’s very shocking that a professed relationship counselor would not do her own background check or follow the requirement/law before getting married. Reggie Garrett also filed his divorce in September 2009, which was after the frivolous wedding ceremony date for Reggie Bernard Garrett and Shay Williams (wedding video is posted on several sites so you can just Google it!)

 In addition to your lack of knowledge or disregard to the processes of Georgia Marriage law, you quote several bible scriptures to condone your idiosyncrasies. Williams states …Although we have hired another (qualified) attorney to complete the dissolution of his previous marriage on paper, we recognize ourselves to be married in the eyes of God and society. In our hearts, minds and spirits we are married and believe that a Covenant is made between a man/woman and God not man/woman and state. In our spiritual beliefs a divorce occurs per 1 Corinthians 7:15 when a non-believing spouse abandons the other. In the quoted text Williams contradicts her self with stating “we recognize ourselves to be married in the eyes of God and society” and then states, “In our hearts, minds and spirits we are married and believe that a Covenant is made between a man/woman and God not man/woman and state.” Williams, society and state are the same thing! So if you believe you are married in the eyes of god and society you are agreeing you are married in the name of God and state! Furthermore, in Romans 13: 1-5 1 Obey the government, for God is the one who put it there. All governments have been placed in power by God. 2 So those who refuse to obey the laws of the land are refusing to obey God, and punishment will follow. 3 for the authorities do not frighten people who are doing right, but they frighten those who do wrong. So do what they say, and you will get along well. 4 The authorities are sent by God to help you. But if you are doing something wrong, of course you should be afraid, for you will be punished. The authorities are established by God for that very purpose, to punish those who do wrong. 5 So you must obey the government for two reasons: to keep from being punished and to keep a clear conscience.

You can not go around breaking rules and using bible verses to justify your wrongs. God wants us to obey the laws of the land. And by the laws of the land state that you are not Garrett wife!!! No matter what Candace Bush ill feeling against her husband Reggie Garrett; Shay Williams is married to a bigamist and living in bigamy, additionally she is not married to Reggie Garrett.

Lessons Learned:

1.) File a Marriage License before the ceremony. It is required in all 50 states.

2.) If you were previously married, please provide marriage dissolution along with marriage license.

3.) You can be punished too, if you marry a bigamist

4.) A background check on your significant other will not hurt. Maybe Shay Williams was given false information about Garrett. *Reggie Garrett was incarcerated for not paying child support for another child he has :(

This was a great exercise for me to use my law on a real issue. I’ve attached supporting documents for others that would like to give their opinion on Bigamy in 2010.

Shay did not even show up for court today.  She makes allthis hoopla about someone stalking her, when in fact, Shay is the only one doing any stalking.  Today's victory was the third in less than a month's time (Candace had to fly here for a December 21st case that was dismissed, file a motion for the January 11th case that was dismissed regarding the same matter, and now today's criminal case involving the same matter which was also dismissed).

What this should tell that psychopath, Shay Williams, is that justice will always prevail.  Shay is abusing the legal system by continually stalking Candace and making these frivolous claims.  Candace is having to spend money that she really doesn't have, to come to Atlanta, WHERE SHE HASN'T LIVED IN OVER A YEAR, to defend this insanity.  Furthermore, it causes a strain on her friends who have to take time from their jobs to assist Candace in court, because its no secret she has epilepsy and needs someone to be with her, especially in exceptionally stressful situations as these, which may cause her to go into a seizure.

We are glad that Candace once again prevailed, and hopefully Shay will stop this relentless attack she has begun against Candace, and her family/friends.