Stacey Dash’s estranged husband, Jeffrey Marty, has filed to have their marriage annulled.  Marty, a lawyer, claims he was hypnotized by Dash and her pastor, to get him to consent to their union.  Dash announced this past April that the two had split, and in June she filed for divorce.

Marty and Dash married on April 6, 2018.  Marty claims that Dash’s pastor “unexpectedly and suddenly proclaimed that it was God’s will” they wed.  He did not elaborate on the hypnotic techniques allegedly used.

Dash has not admitted to Marty’s claims, but has noted that she also would like the marriage annulled as soon as possible.

Dash and Marty married in Florida, which means an annulment must fit in to Florida law.  Under Florida law, a marriage must meet at least one of the following criteria for an annulment:

• Lack of, or inability to consent: if someone did not have the mental capacity to consent to the marriage;
• Bigamy: When the person someone married is already married to another person;
• Impotence: When one of the spouses knows that they are impotent and did not disclose it to the other prior to the marriage;
• Fraud: If a spouse withheld certain facts that would have prevented someone from marrying them in the first place;
• Force: If threatened into it by force, duress, or coercion; or
• Underage spouse: If someone or their spouse is underage and the consent of the minor’s parents was not obtained.

Since Marty is claiming he was hypnotized, he could potentially argue that he either lacked the ability to consent, or that he was forced into the marriage.  To petition for annulment, he will need to prove that one of the above circumstances is present in the marriage.

What do you think of Marty’s claim?