La Quinta woman charged with bigamy
Authorities say the case may be the first of its kind in Riverside County.
A woman accused of marrying a man in Palm Springs while allegedly still married to another man was ordered today to stand trial on one count of bigamy -- perhaps the first case of its kind in Riverside County, authorities said.
Carolyn Yvonne Ko, 45, was charged with bigamy Dec. 6 after her husband, Brian Davies, provided the Indio Police Department with a marriage certificate indicating that Ko had married Steven Hardy Satterstrom two years earlier in Phoenix.
Ko, who police said lived in La Quinta, is believed to be the first person prosecuted for bigamy in the county, said district attorney's office spokeswoman Ingrid Wyatt. If convicted, Ko faces up to three years in state prison and a $10,000 fine, Wyatt said.
Ko and Davies were married in 2004 in Palm Springs and were going through a separation last year when Davies presented the document to investigators, according to an Indio police report. Ko's marriage certificate with Satterstrom states that the two were married in 2002 in Phoenix.
Satterstrom told Indio police that he and Ko were still legally married and had not filed for divorce. He said he was unaware that Ko had remarried in California, according to the statement.
Ko, who is free on $5,000 bail, is scheduled for pretrial arraignment Sept. 16.
joanna.lin@latimes.com
