ROKER:
And that's your latest weather.
Meredith
:
VIEIRA:
Al
,
thank you very much
.
MEREDITH VIEIRA, co-host:
Millions of people love checking out their friends' and families' pictures on
Facebook
, but what if you went online and the photos you saw there showed your spouse was living a
double life
?
That's what
this woman claims. We're going to talk to her exclusively in a moment. But first,
NBC
's
Jeff Rossen
has the story.
Jeff
, good morning to you.
JEFF ROSSEN reporting:
Hey,
Meredith
, good morning to you. What usually happens during an affair? The cheating spouse lies and tries to cover it up. But this woman says her
husband
didn't hide it. He did the unthinkable;
married
another woman while still
married
to her, took the kids and began a new life posting all the photos on
Facebook
for everyone to see. It was
2005
, the ultimate destination wedding along
Italy
's breathtaking
Amalfi Coast
. A couple in love, exchanging their vows and rings against a beautiful backdrop. Back then
Lynn
and
John France
planned to live happily ever after. Ms.
LYNN FRANCE
(
Saw
on
Facebook That
her
Husband
was
Married
to
Another Woman
): It was a movie star wedding. It was a
fairy tale
wedding. Absolutely.
ROSSEN:
And you were happy.
Ms. FRANCE:
Very happy, yes. Life was good as far as I knew.
ROSSEN:
They had two kids together, but just three years after that
fairy tale
wedding,
Lynn
got a feeling that
John
was cheating.
Ms. FRANCE:
He said he was going to
China
and he called me and said, `I'm here,' but his passport was at home.
ROSSEN:
Lynn
says she actually caught him with another woman and soon got the
shock of a lifetime:
pictures of her
husband
marrying that other woman posted online. You see the pictures of their wedding on
Facebook
.
Ms. FRANCE:
Right.
ROSSEN:
Yet you still took him back.
Ms. FRANCE:
We have
little children
. I think you just want to believe the good in someone, that they can change. He begged, he said he'd changed.
ROSSEN:
But back in May, he left
Lynn
again, this time for good, taking their
children
with him.
That's when
even more photos popped up on
Facebook
of the new family together at home, on vacation.
Ms. FRANCE:
Somebody living my life on
Facebook
, viewing day-to-day life with my
husband
and my
children
and it's another woman.
ROSSEN:
Lynn
and
John
's two boys are now living with
John
and his new wife in
Florida
. But a
custody
fight is brewing.
Ms. FRANCE:
My
children
are in the family photos and her posts are referring to them as her boys, as her
children
.
ROSSEN:
For his part,
John France
says he'll fight
Lynn
for the kids. He says their marriage in
Italy
wasn't even legal because of a clerical error. What's your response to that?
Ms. FRANCE:
The IRS
thinks we're
married
, the federal government thinks we're
married
.
Family and friends
, our
children
.
ROSSEN:
As far as you're concerned, you're
married
.
Ms. FRANCE:
As far as I'm concerned, we're
married
.
ROSSEN:
These photos could become evidence in
John
and
Lynn
's upcoming
court case
. In fact, 80 percent of divorce lawyers say they've used
social media
Web sites
in their cases, too.
Mr. ANDREW ZASHIN (Lynn France's Attorney):
Be very careful with whom you connect on these
social networks
because what you share with them, either inside the
social network
or outside it, could also be
broadcast to the world
.
ROSSEN:
But here the accusation is far more bizarre.
Lynn
says her
husband
not only cheated, not only
married
another woman while still
married
to her, but the proof is out there for the world to see.
Ms. FRANCE:
To
the two of them
, this is a big joke, and to me it's devastating because it's my
children
.
ROSSEN:
It is important to note
John France
, the
husband
, denies the accusation that he's a bigamist, marrying multiple women. In a statement late last night to
NBC News
, his lawyer told us "While it appears that
John
and
Lynda France
were both under the impression,
once upon a time
, that they were
married
,
the fact of the matter
is that their marriage was never legally proper and, therefore, it does not actually exist." He has now filed a lawsuit to void the marriage to
Lynn
, and he told us he is confident,
Meredith
, he will get
custody
of the
children
.
VIEIRA:
All right,
Jeff Rossen
,
thank you very much
.
Lynn France
is here along with her
legal adviser
,
Andrew Zashin
, who has done extensive work in
family law
. Good morning to you both.
Ms. FRANCE:
Good morning.
Mr. ZASHIN:
Good morning.
VIEIRA:
Lynn
, this is just such a shocking story to me. You
married
John France
in
2005
, storybook wedding, as
Jeff
just said.
2008
you discover that he is cheating on you. Had you suspected anything wrong with the marriage leading up to that?
Ms. FRANCE:
Not particularly, just increasing business trips. But...
VIEIRA:
Where you couldn't explain -- like he would say he was gone someplace and it just didn't ring true to you?
Ms. FRANCE:
Correct. He'd gone to
China
at one point in the fall of '08 and had left his passport at home. So that was...
VIEIRA:
You realized something was -- something was...
Ms. FRANCE:
Exactly.
VIEIRA:
2008
, in the fall of
2008
...
Ms. FRANCE:
Right.
VIEIRA:
...you follow him to a hotel, basically, and you find him with another woman. You confront her; she says `I'm engaged to this guy.' You then put two and two together, figure out she probably has a
Facebook
page. Go on the
Facebook
page and you see pictures of her with your
husband
...
Ms. FRANCE:
Right.
VIEIRA:
...the bridal shower and eventually the wedding photos. They were
married
at
Disney World
, I believe.
Ms. FRANCE:
Correct.
VIEIRA:
What's going through your head as you see these photos, just one after another after another of this
double life
that he's leading?
Ms. FRANCE:
A lot of mixed feelings. But shock, hurt, disbelief, denial. This can't be happening. The whole gamut of emotions that everyone feels when they're betrayed by the one they love. But it was just -- it added salt to the wound of already he's already cheated and then one step further. It's out there for the world to see and they're -- he's basically flaunting it, so.
VIEIRA:
Almost like throwing it in your face is what...
Ms. FRANCE:
Exactly, exactly.
VIEIRA:
So you did file for divorce in January of
2009
, but he came back to you a few months later said, `
Look
, I'm going to get this marriage annulled.' He begged you, as
Jeff
reported in his story.
Ms. FRANCE:
Mm-hmm.
VIEIRA:
You took him back against your lawyer's advice. Was it against your advice in particular?
Mr. ZASHIN:
It was against our
law firm
's advice.
Lynn
was fortunate enough to have a legal team and I think that she would tell you that we gave her good advice, and the predictions we made, in fact, played out as we told her they would. Unfortunately, you know, emotions, as is often the case, controlled her decision-making as opposed to
a little bit more
objective rational approach to the problems that were very obvious to us.
VIEIRA:
Yeah. And you fast-forward to May of this year...
Ms. FRANCE:
Right.
VIEIRA:
...and for all his claiming that he wants
to be with you
, he suddenly takes off with both of your
little boys
...
Ms. FRANCE:
Right.
VIEIRA:
...and goes back to
Florida
where he is still
married
to this woman, and now you are faced with -- you really -- the only way you can keep tabs on your sons is to put up her
Facebook
page, essentially, and see their pictures at this point.
Ms. FRANCE:
That's right
.
That's right
. That's exactly -- the only way I've seen my babies since May of this year.
VIEIRA:
How painful is that for you because I know she's also apparently taunted you on the
Facebook
page.
Ms. FRANCE:
Right. It's a sick -- it's lunacy, it's just a sick -- it's a sickness to me. And the fact that the two babies are involved and put into the middle of it is -- it's just terrible beyond belief.
VIEIRA:
So what happens at this point,
Andrew
? I mean,
John France
says that he is going to -- he's filed for
custody
of the kids. He said that these two were not really
married
, there was a technicality and they're not really
legally married
at this point.
Mr. ZASHIN:
Well, it's a complicated situation. The legalities are very, very technical. There's proceedings going on in two courts. The court in
Ohio
where we
practice law
has, on the one hand, dismissed her claim, but that's going to be appealed and we're proceeding in
Ohio
and believe that the case is property venued in
Ohio
. But there's also proceedings Mr.
France
has filed in
Florida
, where I'm also licensed and we're going to have to deal with those issues, too. So we're going to have fights on many levels about the kids, about the marriage, and about which state is going to control this matter.
VIEIRA:
And how will you use the postings on
Facebook
in terms of your own legal strategy?
Mr. ZASHIN:
Well, I don't think we should try the case on television, but --
and I
'm not sure that the strategy that we have now will play out exactly and I'm not sure that's something I'd want to broadcast on television anyway. But certainly, issues that come up in
Facebook
, where things that come up in
Facebook
can be used not only to support arguments people make, and
Lynn
might make them, anyone might make them or use them, but also to impeach the credibility or the testimony or maybe just be used as an admission by a party that they've done something that perhaps they shouldn't have done.
VIEIRA:
What I don't understand was how he could just up and take your kids away from you and you could lose all
custody
of them.
Ms. FRANCE:
Well, I don't -- I don't know if I could lose like
custody
, but because we're
married
and we don't have a
custody
order and he -- either parent has the right to the child. So the...
VIEIRA:
Have you considered at all going down there and trying to get these
children
?
Ms. FRANCE:
Oh, yes, I've considered it. But against attorney's advice they asked me not to do that.
Mr. ZASHIN:
Self-help
can be a very dangerous thing.
Ms. FRANCE:
Right.
Mr. ZASHIN:
And I
think even agencies that
Lynn
has consulted with have told her not to go in and try and physically take the
children
.
That's what
's so problematic.
Ms. FRANCE:
Yeah.
Mr. ZASHIN:
When there's no
court order
and when the temporary restraining orders were originally dismissed in the
Ohio
action, each parent has 100 percent right to their
children
. OK, and we can call it
custody
, but essentially if you're a parent and there's no
court order
preventing you from taking your child, you're allowed to take your child and that's what's happened. So is it up to
Lynn
now to be her own policeman and go down there and take the kids back and act as her own judge? It's usually not a good idea. But these are the sorts of things that are going to have to be fought out in court and, you know, unfortunately she's in the situation where if she wants to see the boys, the other parent, as I understand it and as
Lynn
has explained it, is demanding that she sign certain things or commit to certain things.
VIEIRA:
Yeah.
Mr. ZASHIN:
And that's not the right way to handle
custody
litigation, whether they're
married
or whether they're not, and we're going to have to sort that out for her.
“ ”