Cannistraro v. Cannistraro

The issue on this appeal is whether the Probate judge rightly ruled that the libellant was barred from divorce for desertion (G. L. c. 208, § 1) by the decree of legal separation between the spouses entered by the Civil Tribunal of Agrigento, Italy, December 18,1946, adjudging that “the legal separation of the spouses must be pronounced on the basis of the guilt of both of them.”

The Probate judge made the following findings. The spouses, Carmelo and Maria, were married on March 2, 1943, in Aragona, Agrigento Province, while Carmelo was on military leave. “Prior to his return to military…