Jayford O.

Powao LLB-1
Legal Writing

Bill Bo Law Office

123 Neverwhere Avenue
Shire City
Telefax: 456789
Miss Beru
321 Nowhere St.
Shire City
Re: Defense in Serious Physical Injury and Custody Case
Dear Miss Beru:
Good Day! I am writing on behalf of the Bill Bo Law
Offices. This letter will inform you of your chances of
acquittal or conviction in the criminal case of Bigamy you are
facing.
The facts we know are as written below. Please let us
know if there is anything we missed.
You got married in 2002 with your current husband
Owen. He filed a complaint for bigamy against you in 2012.
Owen claimed that you had contracted a prior marriage in
1998 with a man named Lando. You admitted that you were
a party in a simulated earlier marriage that took place in
1998 with your first boyfriend Lando. The reason was that
Lando at that time impregnated another woman named
Corde, and in order to discourage Corde from pursuing him,
Lando convinced you to sign a simulated marriage contract
for the purpose of only showing Corde that he was married
already. You said that you and Lando did not even live
1

together as husband and wife after the simulated marriage.

It was only after the bigamy complaint was filed in court
when Beru discovered that Lando in fact registered the
simulated marriage contract without her knowledge, much
less consent.
The main issue to be resolved in your case is that
whether can you be held criminally liable for the crime of
Bigamy after you conducted a subsequent marriage when in
fact you had a subsisting marriage with Lando.
Before I can answer that, let us define first the crime
that you are charged with. You are charged with the crime of
bigamy, which is punished under Article 349 of the Revised
Penal Code. The law states that t the penalty of prision
mayor shall be imposed upon any person who shall contract
a

second

or

subsequent

marriage

before

the

former

marriage has been legally dissolved, or before the absent

spouse has been declared presumptively dead by means of a
judgement rendered in the proper proceedings.
As the case of Mercado v Tan enunciates, the elements
of bigamy are: (1) that the offender has been legally married;
(2) that the marriage has not been legally dissolved or in
case his or her spouse is absent, the absent spouse could
not yet be presumed dead according to the Civil Code; (3)
that he contracts a second or subsequent marriage; (4) that
the second or subsequent marriage has all the essential
requisites for validity.
To simply put it, the crime of Bigamy is the act of
conducting

subsequent

marriage

marriage is still legally existing.

when

previous

However, the criminal proceedings cannot continue,

because the issue of the validity of your previous marriage
with Lando should be decided first by a competent court. In
legal terms, it constitutes a prejudicial question. This simply
means that it the findings of this case shall determine
whether or not the criminal action filed against you shall
proceed.
Now, we can sufficiently answer the main issue here.
We as your legal advisers firmly believe that you cannot be
held guilty for Bigamy when you conducted a second
marriage with Owen. Applying the law and court decisions,
your marriage with Lando was not valid. It fails to comply
with the essential and formal requisites of a valid marriage.
To enlighten you, the Family Code which is the law that
governs marriages states that:
No marriage shall be valid, unless these essential requisites are
present:
(1)Legal capacity of the contracting parties who must be a male
and a female; and
(2)Consent freely given in the presence of the solemnizing officer.
The formal requisites of marriage are:
(1) Authority of the solemnizing officer;
(2) A valid marriage license except in cases provided for Chapter
2 of this Title; and
(3) A marriage ceremony which takes place with the appearance
of the contracting parties before the solemnizing officer and
their personal declaration that they take each other as
husband and wife in the presence of not less than two
witnesses of legal age.

A simple interpretation of the law will tell us that your

marriage with Lando was valid. You have failed to comply
3

with

the

above

mentioned

requisites

which

are

indispensable. You and Lando only executed a marriage

contract privately, which is not an essential requisite or a
formal requisite of marriage. Thus, your marriage with Lando
is not valid.
In an identical case decided by the Supreme Court in
the case of Cario v. Cario, the court declared that the
marriage between the parties was void ab initio for the
failure of the parties to secure a valid marriage license even
if there was a marriage contract.
Thus, we are confident that you will not be found guilty
for the crime of Bigamy charged against you.
However, the other party might raise the argument that
even if you knew that your marriage was fictitious, you
should have filed an action for the declaration of nullity of
your previous marriage. This court action is required by
Article 40 of our Family Code which states that:
The absolute nullity of a previous marriage may be
invoked for purposes of remarriage on the basis solely of a
final judgement declaring such previous marriage void.
The prosecution will also raise that your inaction or your
failure to abide by the requirements of the will not excuse
you from the crime you had committed as bigamy was
already consummated by the time you conducted a second
marriage with Owen. It is mandatorily required that you have
to file an action to nullify your marriage before you can
remarry as provided by law.
However, we assure you that the court will uphold our
cause and exonerate you from the charge of bigamy. It was
4

clearly established that you did not intend to commit the

crime of bigamy. This good faith will be given credence by
the court and might led to your exoneration. Penal laws are
liberally in favour of the accused, intent is necessary for a
felony to be consummated. Hence, good faith will be
appreciated by the court.
To

sum

jurisprudence

up,
is

we
on

assure
your

you

side.

that

Thank

the

law

and

you

for

your

correspondence.

Respectfully Yours,
Anna Quinn
Associate Attorney