Bigamy Charge Is Man’s 3rd Strike

Bigamy, a crime normally punishable by no more than three years in prison, could send a Visalia man away for 25 years to life.

It all began when Todd Givens, 30, was on trial in 1997 on drug and weapons charges. Assuming that he was on his way to prison, Givens got married so he could have conjugal visits, said his attorney, Charles Rothbaum.

But a Tulare County jury acquitted Givens. Then last month, the district attorney’s office charged him with getting married in a jailhouse ceremony while still legally married to another woman.

Because Givens has two prior felony convictions, prosecutors have turned the bigamy into a third strike that could mean 25 years to life.

“I thought I had heard it all--stealing vitamins, bouncing your own check--but bigamy?” said three-strikes critic Roberta Robles, founder of Californians 2 Amend 3-Strikes in Orange County.

Prosecutors say Givens has been in and out of custody since 1992, when he was convicted on two counts of armed robbery, which constitute his first two strikes.