High court annuls marriage of girl, 15

Thursday, April 11, 2002 | 11:11 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- In a split decision the Nevada Supreme Court today ordered the annulment of a Las Vegas marriage last year of a 15-year-old girl to her 48-year-old guitar teacher.

The court said the consent to the marriage was not properly obtained in District Court, and it vacated the order of District Judge Robert Gaston that allowed the wedding.

The issue may be moot since the 15-year-old girl, Sierra Dawn Kirkpatrick, turned 16 in December and can now marry without consent of parents or a court.

Sierra and Sauren Crow lived in New Mexico, but the law would not permit them to be married there. They came to Las Vegas, where Nevada law allows a minors under 16 to marry if they have the consent of one parent and the District Court's authorization.

Sierra, her mother and Crow traveled to Las Vegas. The mother filed a petition with the court to allow the marriage, which was granted by Gaston.

The father of the girl, Bruce Kirkpatrick of Oakland, Calif., objected that he was not aware of the marriage and the judge did not make sufficient inquiries before approving it.

The court, in the majority opinion written by Justice Deborah Agosti, said the law governing the marriage of minors was constitutional. But in this case, Agosti said, Gaston failed to list any extraordinary circumstances that would permit the marriage.

"Because the District Court failed to explain that anything out of the ordinary would justify Sierra's marriage, we conclude that the District Court manifestly abused its discretion in authorizing it," said Agosti.

The court said the district judge must also consider objections from the non-consenting parent. It found that the father's due process rights were violated because he did not have notice of the proposed marriage and did not have an opportunity to be heard.

Justice Cliff Young, in a dissent, said the 1977 Legislature changed to law to require minors to obtain the consent of either parent. He noted that the wedding business is one of Nevada's main industries.

He said couples would not come to Nevada if the laws were burdensome. "Nevada depends on tourism. The Legislature did not want Nevada at a disadvantage to other states."

Young noted Sierra is now 16 and can remarry without court approval.

"This case represents less than one percent of petitions filed in Clark County in the past three years for minors to marry. Left alone, a similar issue will perhaps not arise for another 25 years. Our energies can better serve public interest if directed elsewhere," he wrote

Justice Miriam Shearing and Chief Justice Bill Maupin also dissented. They said Gaston was right in finding that the father lacked standing to challenge the validity of the marriage.