The legal system allows for spousal privileges in the evidentiary procedures. The spousal privileges intend to maintain the sanctity of the institution of marriage by avoiding scenarios where spouses are pitted against each other as much as possible. The marital privilege is only valid for lawfully recognized marriages. The spousal privilege contains two elements, the testimonial privilege and confidence privilege (Mueller et al., 2018). The testimonial privilege covers issues on criminal proceedings. It gives spouses the liberty to refuse to testify against each other, and in some states, allows spouses to foreclose their partners from testifying against them. The confidence privilege covers confidential communications in marriages. It keeps spouses from disclosing this information in criminal and civil proceedings. In the John Joe and Jane Joe case, Jane cannot prevent her husband from testifying against her. The Trammel v. the United States case of 1980 ruled that the spousal testimony privilege is only entitled to the witness spouse (Mueller et al., 2018). As such, the witness spouse is at liberty to voluntarily provide adverse testimony against the defendant spouse. The basis of this ruling was that the damage done to the marriage by a spouse willing to adversely testify in criminal proceedings of the defendant spouse could not be remedied by granting spousal privileges to both parties. Federal courts are bound by the Trammel v. the United States ruling, and some states in the US have readjusted their statutes to match this ruling (Mueller et al., 2018). As such, Jane Doe cannot prevent her husband from testifying in court. However, Jane can contest the testimony on what she had told him under the confidential privilege. The details on money in their account are not covered in this privilege; John can provide this as a testimony. If John Doe does not want to testify against Jane Doe, the prosecution cannot compel him to give his testimony. This is because the spousal testimonial privilege grants an individual the freedom to decide whether to testify for or against a spouse in criminal proceedings. Thus, John is at liberty to refuse to testify against his wife. These privileges are guaranteed under URE 504 (Mueller et al., 2018). The Trammel v. the United States judgment stated that the witness spouse should not be coerced to give their testimony. The ruling of this judgment is binding; thus, the prosecution cannot force him to testify.
References
Mueller, C. B., Kirkpatrick, L. C., & Richter, L. (2018). § 5.31 Spousal Testimonial Privilege. C. Mueller, L. Kirkpatrick, & L. Richter, Evidence , 5 .
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