History Main / SpousalPrivilege

* On ''Series/OneLifeToLive'', David blackmails Dorian into marriage so that neither of them can be forced to testify against each other regarding their obstruction of justice regarding Victor Lord's murder. It's a classic example of HollywoodLaw; spousal privilege applies to things discussed ''during'' the marriage. Even married, what each of them knew about the other before the wedding is fair game.

** In another episode, [[=McCoy=]] tries to claim that spousal privilege has been nullified because a third party was present when a man divulged some pertinent information to his wife. Unfortunately, said third party was the couple's marriage counselor, which falls under "doctor-patient" privilege. [=McCoy=] then tries to claim that ''that'' privilege is void because of the presence of a third party, but the judge tells him he can't have it both ways.
*** He gets his own back later when he realizes the doer and his wife were ''legally separated'', a fairly significant legal distinction compared to the normal state of a married couple. He's able to convince a judge that since the "sanctity of [their] marriage" was legally suspended, spousal privilege shouldn't apply. The judge admits they're in uncharted territory but chooses to accept [[=McCoy's=]] argument.

** One episode revolves around the concept that two villains had married their victims ''precisely'' to abuse spousal privilege, something with which they openly mock the detectives. Their overconfidence eventually backfires when [[spoiler: investigations dig up a prior marriage license they hadn't gotten annulled, making their ''current'' marriages null and void]].

* On ''Series/TheGoodPlace'', Jason doesn't quite get how it works. He suggests that if he and Pillboi get caught robbing a restaurant, they should just marry each other and then nobody will be able to testify against them.

* In Scotland, the privilege against self-incrimination extends to an admission of adultery. Similarly, a wife cannot be guilty of reset (selling or profiting from) of goods stolen by her husband.

--'''Rafael Barba''': If I thought the husband was good for a murder? I'd cross-examine the ''priest''.

** The "Criminal Hatred" episode had a homosexual rapist stop his husband testifying this way. [[spoiler: The husband still provides evidence that convicts the rapist for the death of one of his victims.]]

* In the Creator/SidneySheldon novel ''Master Of The Game'', Keith blackmails Eve into marrying him by revealing that he knows she killed George Mellis (as revenge for brutally assaulting her several years prior). When he tells her that if they were married, he couldn't be forced to testify against her, she reluctantly agrees - but is infuriated when she realizes that they have to ''stay'' married because there's no statute of limitations on murder.

* In ''Film/AngelFace'' (1952), Diane Tremayne conspires with chauffeur Frank Jessup to murder her parents by tampering with their car. Both Diane and Frank are arrested for the deaths, but they get married so they cannot be made to testify against each other.

* In the Perry Mason book ''The Case of the Curious Bride'', the defendant's husband has damaging testimony against her. His family does not approve of her, so they're trying to get the marriage annulled so his testimony will be admissible.

When this is used in fiction, it tends to be ... [[HollywoodLaw broadly]] used to say that the other spouse ''can't'' be a witness, even if they want to be (note that it was true for some time in the past in some jurisdictions (including UK), but definitely not anymore, except in some strict interpretations of [[Islam/UsefulNotes Sharia law]]).

When this is used in fiction, it tends to be ... [[HollywoodLaw broadly]] used to say that the other spouse ''can't'' be a witness, even if they want to be (note that it was true for some time in the past in some jurisdictions, but definitely not anymore, except in some strict interpretations of [[Islam/UsefulNotes Sharia law]]).

When this is used in fiction, it tends to be ... [[HollywoodLaw broadly]] used to say that the other spouse ''can't'' be a witness, even if they want to be (note that it was true for some time in the past, but definitely not anymore).

When this is used in fiction, it tends to be ... [[HollywoodLaw broadly]] used to say that the other spouse ''can't'' be a witness, even if they want to be.

# Spousal testimonial privilege: If one spouse is on trial, the other cannot be compelled to testify against the one on trial. "Compelled" is important here; if one spouse wants to, say, sell the other out to the cops, the spouse is free to do so (note that this is considerably different from other sorts of legally recognized privileges. In those cases, the party the information is adverse to has the control.) Unlike the Marital confidences privilege, the two have to be married at the time, but this privilege also covers things before marriage.

When this is used in fiction, it tends to be ... [[HollywoodLaw broadly]] used to say that the other spouse ''can't'' be a witness, whether he or she wants to or not.

* In ''[[LordPeterWimsey The Nine Tailors]]'' by Creator/DorothyLSayers, the police won't allow [[spoiler:William and Mary Thoday]] to marry until the case is resolved, as they might need her testimony against him.

* A plot point in Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Witness for the Prosecution'', though, as the story was originally written in 1925, the relevant legal clause was spousal ''incompetency'' (e.g., total inability of the wife to testify against her husband regardless of her own will) rather than ''incompellability''. That's why Romaine, wishing to testify against Leonard, has to assert that she is not his spouse (claiming to be legally married to another man), though it's left unclear whether this really was the case and whether it could realistically be proven in the court at the time.

* A plot point in Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Witness for the Prosecution'', though, as the story was originally written in 1925, the relevant legal clause was spousal ''incompetency'' (e.g., total inability of the wife to testify against her husband regardless of her own will) rather than ''incompellability''. That's why Romaine, wishing to testify against Leonard, has to assert that she is not his spouse (claiming to be legally married to another man), though it's left unclear whether this was really the case and whether it could realistically be proven in the court at the time.

* A plot point in Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Witness for the Prosecution'', though, as the story was originally written in 1925, the relevant law clause was spousal ''incompetency'' (e.g., total inability of the wife to testify against her husband regardless of her own will) rather than ''incompellability''. That's why Romaine, wishing to testify against Leonard, has to assert that she is not his ''legal'' spouse (claiming to be legally married to another man), though it's left unclear whether this was really the case and whether it could realistically be proven in the court at the time.

* A major plot point in Creator/AgathaChristie's ''Witness for the Prosecution''.

* In ''Angel Face'' (1952), Diane Tremayne conspires with chauffeur Frank Jessup to murder her parents by tampering with their car. Both Diane and Frank are arrested for the deaths, but they get married so they cannot be made to testify against each other.

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* In ''Series/{{Weeds}}'', Peter, who is a DEA agent, gets Nancy to marry him in UsefulNotes/LasVegas to convince her that he won't try to arrest her for selling pot. The implication is that he'd be in huge trouble if his wife was a drug dealer, so he'd have a selfish reason to avoid arresting her rather than merely his word, but [[HollywoodLaw since he knew she was a drug dealer before they got married, the marital confidences privilege wouldn't apply and the spousal testimonial privilege wouldn't stop him from testifying if he wanted to]]. This of course doesn't cover the fact he legally blackmailed and coerced her into marriage (a legal contract), as well as a whole slew of other issues.

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