Judge Randall Rogers forces a young couple into a "shotgun" wedding.
Josten Bundy found himself before Judge Randall Rogers in an east Texas courtroom to face a misdemeanor charge stemming from a fight he got into with the ex-boyfriend of his girlfriend, Elizabeth Jaynes. With Elizabeth by his side, the judge asked Bundy if
"she was worth it" and then put him on probation with bizarre stipulations:
“I said, well to be honest, sir, I was raised with four sisters and if any man was talking to a woman like that,” recalled Bundy, “I’d probably do the same thing.”
Judge Rogers asked Bundy if he was married to Jaynes and then said, “You know, as a part of my probation, you’re going to have to marry her…within 30 days.”
That's right. Judge Rogers forced the young couple to get married, which they did. Bundy was fearful the jail sentence would cost him his job and the couple had previously talked about getting married.....in the future. Judge Randall also forced Bundy to get counseling and write Bible verses.
The young couple were heartbroken when most of their family could not attend due to short notice:
“It just felt like we weren't going to be able to have the wedding we wanted,” said Jaynes. “It was just going to be kind of pieced together, I didn't even have a white dress.”
.................
"My father didn’t get to go, and that really bothers me, I know he would have liked to be there,” said Bundy. “None of my sisters got to show up, it was such short notice, I couldn’t get it together."
An east Texas attorney said in no way were the judge's order legal:
“To say you're not going to be criminally punished if you get married is way out of left field,” said Bailey. “It sounds like the old days of shotgun weddings, but not even the judge is capable of enforcing, what he thinks is best for some people in his court.”
You can see full interviews with the couple, their family and a local attorney at
KLTV News 7. The judge is refusing to comment on the case, but with some attention, you only hope it'll be reviewed. Even if it's too late for Josten and Elizabeth.