## Facts

- Alfred T. Staley and Hettie Bixler, first cousins and Nebraska residents, married in Council Bluffs, Iowa, in 1907.
- Nebraska law declared marriages between first cousins void if contracted in Nebraska, but Iowa law treated the marriage as valid.
- Staley and Bixler lived together as husband and wife in Omaha until February 1908, when Staley left.
- Without obtaining a divorce or annulment, and while Bixler was still living, Staley married Pearl Stoner in Lancaster County, Nebraska, on August 7, 1909.
- At trial for bigamy, Staley offered to prove he relied on advice from lawyers and a deputy county attorney that his Iowa marriage was void and that no divorce was necessary; the trial court excluded this evidence.
- Staley was convicted of bigamy and sentenced to one year; this was his second conviction after a prior reversal for error.

## Issues

1. Whether bigamy requires proof of a culpable intent beyond intentionally contracting a second marriage while a valid prior marriage exists.
2. Whether a defendant may negate liability for bigamy by showing a good-faith belief—based on advice of counsel or a prosecutor—that the prior marriage was void as a matter of law.
3. Whether evidence of mistaken legal advice and an official’s statements is admissible when the disputed point concerns a question of law (marriage validity) rather than fact.

## Decision

- The Nebraska Supreme Court affirmed the conviction.
- The court treated the Iowa marriage as valid in Nebraska because it was valid where celebrated.
- The elements of bigamy were satisfied once Staley intentionally entered a second marriage while his first, lawful spouse was living.
- The trial court properly excluded evidence that Staley relied on legal advice or a prosecutor’s statements, because it amounted to mistake or ignorance of law, which does not excuse the offense.

## Legal Principles

- A marriage valid where celebrated is generally recognized as valid in Nebraska, even if the same marriage would be prohibited or void if contracted within Nebraska.
- Bigamy is established by proof of a valid existing marriage and a subsequent marriage contracted during the life of the first spouse; the offense does not require proof that the defendant specifically intended to violate the law.
- Mistake or ignorance of law is not a defense to criminal liability; efforts to learn the law, including reliance on incorrect advice from attorneys or officials, do not excuse conduct where the asserted mistake concerns a legal conclusion rather than factual uncertainty.
- Evidence offered solely to show a defendant’s misunderstanding of the law may be excluded as legally irrelevant to guilt.

## Conclusion

The court upheld Staley’s bigamy conviction because his out-of-state cousin marriage was valid in Nebraska, and his claimed good-faith reliance on mistaken legal advice about that marriage’s legal validity could not defeat liability or require admission of the excluded evidence.


Staley v. State, 89 Neb. 701, 131 N.W. 1028 (Neb. 1911)