IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON In the Matter of the Marriage of: ) No. 77924-9-1 ) ROTANA EK, ) DIVISION ONE ) Appellant, ) UNPUBLISHED OPINION ) and ) ) LAYHEANG SAN, ) ) Respondent. ) ) FILED: August 19, 2019 HAZELRIGG-HERNANDEZ, J. — Rotana Ek appeals the superior court's denial of his motion to vacate an order invalidating his marriage to Layheang San. Because Ek fails to show that the superior court's decision was an abuse of discretion, we affirm. FACTS Ek and San were married on November 18, 2010 in Cambodia. They separated on March 7, 2015 in Washington. On April 8, 2015, San filed a petition to invalidate the marriage in King County Superior Court.' San alleged that at the time of their marriage, Ek was already married to another woman in Cambodia, I RCW 26.04.020(1)(a) prohibits marriage when either party has a spouse living at the time of the marriage. Pursuant to RCW 26.09.040(4)(b), a court shall declare a marriage invalid if it finds that a prior undissolved marriage of one of the parties existed at the time of the marriage. No. 77924-9-1/2 Laline Rim.2 Ek filed a response to the petition, asserting that Rim died before his marriage to San and thus the marriage was valid. Ek attached an English translation of Rim's death certificate, which states that Rim died on December 21, 2009. According to Ek, Rim died when her motorcycle was hit by a car. San moved for summary judgment. San supported the motion with her own declaration stating that Ek admitted to her after their marriage that Rim was still alive, and that he only married her for immigration purposes because San was a naturalized United States citizen. San also attached declarations from several individuals stating that they had personally witnessed that Rim was still alive and living with her parents in Cambodia. These individuals included a husband and wife who were neighbors of Ek's family, the chief of Rim's village, and a local police inspector. In addition, San attached a copy of Rim's current government-issued identification card. San also provided a declaration from a provincial chief of police stating that there were no reported traffic fatalities on December 21, 2009 and no records indicating that anyone named Laline Rim had died on that date. In the meantime, Cambodian prosecutors initiated a criminal proceeding alleging that Ek had fraudulently procured a death certificate for Rim. On October 12, 2016, a Cambodian trial court found Ek guilty as charged. The Cambodian trial court issued a detailed 14-page opinion making findings of fact and specifying the evidence it relied upon, which included the evidence San presented to the superior court. Ek appealed the conviction. 2 The record contains multiple other spellings of Ek's wife's name, including "Lalin Roehm" and "Lalin Roem." 2 No. 77924-9-1/3 The superior court held a summary judgment hearing on January 30, 2017. It issued an order "provisionally" granting summary judgment in favor of San. After ...
Original document
Source: All recent Immigration Decisions In All the U.S. Courts of Appeals