GLENDALE : Husband of 4 Won’t Fight Bigamy Charge

A Glendale man accused of marrying four women without divorcing any of them said he’ll plead guilty to bigamy charges because “basically, I have no case.”

Vernon Pierce said this week that he’ll change his plea when he goes to court in Arizona on Friday. He pleaded innocent Jan. 11 in Maricopa County Superior Court to two charges of bigamy.

“I’m not going to insult anyone’s intelligence by putting up some mock defense,” Pierce said.

A spokesman for the Maricopa County attorney’s office declined comment and Pierce’s attorney, Reginald Cook, didn’t return phone calls.

His court appearance is scheduled for Friday, the same day he is scheduled to go to court in Glendale over his first wife’s attempts to quash a protective order he obtained against her Jan. 3. He wants the order kept in place.

Pierce, 33, separated from his first wife, LaDranda Pierce, in 1991, then set out on his wedding spree. According to Glendale police, he also married Charmaine Whalen of Palmdale, Jamillah Thompson of Phoenix and Lemitri Reed of Las Vegas.

He lives in Glendale with Reed, who reportedly has pledged to stand by him.

Police had sought Pierce since September. He made and broke several appointments with investigators, who stumbled on the case in June when two of the wives ran into each other and compared notes. He unexpectedly turned himself in Dec. 27.

Pierce has said he fantasized about having many wives and kept up the charade, living at various times with the three women, telling them he was a salesman, a model and an engineer--jobs that kept him on the road.

He said LaDranda Pierce has repeatedly harassed him and Reed since he was indicted in January.

LaDranda Pierce’s attorney, Martin Bihn, called the claims ridiculous.

“We believe wholeheartedly that we are being harassed,” said Pierce, adding that he’s filed nine police reports against his first wife since the order was put in place.

The order was obtained through the Glendale court and forbids LaDranda Pierce from coming within 100 yards of Pierce’s townhouse and from making phone calls to his home.

LaDranda Pierce was cited for violating the order, but Bihn said he anticipates the order will be dismissed. A hearing on the citation has yet to be scheduled, he said.