May 15, 2006
Life in America (3)
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Charlie Hicks never thought of himself as a forgetful man. A little absent-minded, maybe. The sort who'd put something down and then forget where he'd put it. But who hasn't done that once in a while?
So, he told the judge, maybe he had a lapse of memory. How was he supposed to remember in the joy of the day he married his sixth wife that he was still actually married to his fifth?
If he was expected to remember that sort of thing, he'd never have gone on the Dr Phil television show. And then no interfering girlfriend's sister would have called the TV station and the police and started all that trouble for him.
Surely, Charlie thought, he should be regarded not as a creator of his own misfortunes but a victim of them.
The court tried to be as sympathetic. Hicks' lawyer did his best to persuade the judge that the bigamous marriage was just an oversight. What made his argument less convincing was that of Hicks' seven marriages, not just one but two were while he was married to someone else.
The prosecutor called Charlie a predator and two of the former Mrs Hickses said Charlie had left them deeply in debt and emotionally wounded.. Wife No 6 said Charlie had deceived her about everything including his age (which is now 62).
The serial Romeo can expect 10 years in jail.
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